Joe Biden is Incompetent, HIS OWN DOJ ARGUES! - The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

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[00:01]
Ben Ferguson
Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz. Ben Ferguson with you, Senator, for about 45 minutes tonight, you and I are doing this. At 12:30am There was a moment in this country where the media, the White House press corps, Democrats and Republicans were wondering if Joe Biden was going to step down as president, the United States of America, after the special counsel report called him, quote, an elderly man with a poor memory who was so deteriorated with his cognitive decline they couldn't charge him with crimes even if they wanted to. Your reaction?
[00:43]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, today the U.S. department of justice released a formal report laying out the evidence that the sitting president of the United States is not competent to stand trial. That is extraordinary. Look, today was a big news day. Today the Senate capitulated on securing the border and passed or moved forward with a Ukraine funding bill. Today, the U.S. supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Colorado case about whether Donald Trump should be thrown off the ballot. And what does it say that both of those have been relegated to the BNC story in every news broadcast in America? Well, that's because what broke later today was so damn big. Listen, you and I and kind of anyone with eyes and common sense have been observing for a long time that Joe Biden's cognitive decline is massive. But it's easy for some observers to dismiss that and say, you know, these, these guys are biased. They're partisans. They don't like Biden. So what they're saying is not true. In this instance, the people speaking are the Biden Department of Justice and not any Department of Justice. This is a Department of justice that has proven itself the most politicized and part partisan Department of Justice in history. And they have argued. So, for example, I'm going to read you a paragraph from the report. In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden's memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended, quote, if it was 2013, when did I stop being vice president? And forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began in 2009, am I still vice president? He did not remember even within several years when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he, quote, had a real difference of opinion with General Carl Eikenberry, when in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama. All of that was authored by the Biden Department of Justice and when they are describing the sitting president is a well meaning elderly man with a poor memory, the natural question for anyone to say is holy crap, if he's not competent to stand trial, why is he the commander in chief with the authority to send our sons and daughters into harm's way? Why does he have access to the nuclear codes? Understand the description here. They say you couldn't charge him with a crime because he's, he's not aware of enough to have the requisite mental intent. And yet Joe Biden tonight, if he so desired, could literally exterminate humanity from the face of the planet. As commander in chief, if he gave the order, launch the nuclear weapons. Now, unless the military refused to obey the commander in chief, Joe Biden could exterminate every life on this planet. And if he's not mentally competent to stand trial, that is terrifying.
[04:38]
Ben Ferguson
The other part, and I mentioned this at the beginning and I want to play this for you on Fox. Kayleigh McEnany, former White House press secretary, came out and talked about the shock in Washington, talked about the shock of the president trying to respond in an angry way to this report that had come out, holding this impromptu press conference. Listen to this.
[05:00]
Kayleigh McEnany
Saw an unmitigated disaster play out before our very eyes. We just watched a wounded political animal hobble to a podium and react with defensiveness, with anger. And you know it's bad, Jesse, when you have the White House press corps, they are essentially an extension of the Joe Biden press and communications team when they are shouting at him, asking repeatedly, are you going to step aside, Mr. President? The CNN correspondent asking that when NBC, NBC of all places, writes a headline, a nightmare special counsel report triggers panic among Democrats. And when you have a president who for 45 minutes announces a press conference with no topic, giving the world 45 minutes to speculate, is he stepping aside? What would life be like under a president? KAMALA HARRIS? For 45 minutes, the nation got to feel that panic. And I don't think they will forget it come November.
[06:03]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, we were.
[06:04]
Ben Ferguson
By the way, Senator, this was real. I was in FOX News in New York City doing a hit when all this broke and my phone exploded. Everyone in the building's phone was exploding with people asking the question, oh my gosh, is Joe Biden about to say he's stepping down or at the bare minimum, say, I am no longer running for president, United States of America. That was real. And the entire world was thinking this, including our adversaries.
[06:34]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, our adversaries, our allies, the Democrat Party. Look, we have Talked about at length how Democrats and their supplicant cheerleaders in the media were getting cold feet on Joe Biden. And I had previously said on this podcast that I thought the odds were about 50, 50 that Democrats at the convention this coming summer would pull the cord on Joe Biden, yank him out and replace him with Michelle Obama. I have to say, after today, I'm going to adjust those odds from 50, 50 to about 65, 35. I think they have increased substantially. I think it is now significantly more likely than not that Democrats will not have Joe Biden on the ballot. And, and listen, the problem is if you're a Democrat hack and you're spinning, how do you spin this away? They're used to saying, oh, those are just partisans. Those are their favorite phrase MAGA Republicans. Well, the one thing we know is the Biden Department of Justice. They are not MAGA Republicans. And this is his own Department of Justice saying he has severely diminished mental faculties. And then I got to tell you, Ben, he made it worse. He made it worse BY A. For 45 minutes, nobody knew what the press conference was going to be. And everyone was like, oh my God, are we going to have a President Kamala Harris? Like that was really frightening. But then when he got up there, he did not perform well. And I think that only increased the concerns. And so we ought to listen to listen to a portion of his press conference that occurred on Thursday night.
[08:28]
Ben Ferguson
And let's point this out too. The media listened to them in the background. Joe Biden as president has never had to deal with a media that was this in his face. I would even argue this hostile to him. They've always given him softball pitches. Something changed in the media tonight and you could hear it and watch it in real time. Now, before I play this audio for you, I want to talk to you real quick about blackout coffee. The world is in flames and Bidenomics is a complete and total disaster. I'm not going to let it ruin my day. And I start every single morning with an amazing premium cup of coffee. It is an America first cup of blackout coffee. This coffee is 100American and 0% woke. Blackout coffee is 100 committed to conservative values. From sourcing the beans to the roasting process, customer support and shipping. They embody true American values and they accept no compromise on taste or quality. Now you know about the woke coffee companies are out there. Don't give them your money. I can tell you if you want a premium cup of coffee at a great price, you can start your day with you have got to check out and support companies like Blackout Coffee that love conservative values and support America. They are family owned so go to blackout coffee.com verdict that's blackout coffee.com verdict use the promo code verdict for 20% off your first order blackout coffee.com verdict be awake not woke. That's blackout coffee.com verdict promo code verdict now listen to the media completely turn like piranhas on Joe Biden. It's incredible. Here it is.
[10:20]
Joe Biden
Thank you. And I'll take some questions.
[10:22]
Ben Ferguson
President Biden, something the special counsel said.
[10:25]
Senator Ted Cruz
In his report is that one of the reasons you were not charged is because in his description you are a well meaning elderly man with a poor memory.
[10:36]
Joe Biden
I'm well meaning and I'm an elderly man and I know what the hell I'm doing. I've been president. I put this country back on his feet. I don't need his recommendation. It's totally up is your memory and.
[10:47]
Senator Ted Cruz
And can you continue as president?
[10:49]
Joe Biden
My memory is so bad I let you speak.
[10:54]
Senator Ted Cruz
Your memory has gotten worse.
[10:56]
Joe Biden
No, look, my memory is not. My memory is fine. My memory. Take a look at what I've done since I become president. None of you thought I could pass any of the things I got passed. How'd that happen? You know, I guess I just forgot what was going on.
[11:10]
Ben Ferguson
Mr. President, voters have concerns about your age.
[11:13]
Kayleigh McEnany
How are you going to assuage them?
[11:15]
Senator Ted Cruz
And do you fear that this report.
[11:16]
Ben Ferguson
Is only going to fuel further concerns about your.
[11:19]
Joe Biden
Only by some of you.
[11:20]
Kayleigh McEnany
Mr. President, clear of criminal liability today, do you take responsibility for at least being careless with classified material.
[11:30]
Joe Biden
I take responsibility for not having seen exactly what my staff was doing. It goes in and points out things that appeared in my garage, things that came out of my home, things that were moved, were moved not by me, but my staff. But my staff.
[11:54]
Kayleigh McEnany
Mr. President, for months when you were asked about your age, you would respond with the words watch me. Many American people have been watching and they have expressed concerns about your age.
[12:04]
Joe Biden
That is your judgment. That is your judgment. That is not the judgment of the press.
[12:10]
Kayleigh McEnany
They express concerns about your mental acuity. They say that you are too old. Mr. President, in December you told me that you believe there are many other Democrats who could defeat Donald Trump. So why does it have to be you? Now what is your answer?
[12:22]
Joe Biden
I'm the most qualified person in this country to be President of the United States and finish the job I started.
[12:29]
Senator Ted Cruz
Do you believe that? President?
[12:31]
Kayleigh McEnany
Why are you excusing the names of world leaders?
[12:35]
Joe Biden
I did not Share classified information. I did not share. With your ghostwriter. With my ghostwriter. I did not guarantee. You did not. What the. Well, no, they did not say that. He did not say that. Let me answer your question. The fact of the matter is, what I didn't want repeated, I didn't want him to know and I didn't read it to him was I had written a long memorandum to President Obama why we should not be in Afghanistan. And I was. Multiple pages. And so what I was referring to, I said classified. I should have said it should be private because it was a contact between the president and the vice president as to what was going on. That's what he's referring to. It was not classified information in that document. That was not classified.
[13:35]
CNN Correspondent
When you look back at this incident, is there anything you would do differently now?
[13:39]
Ben Ferguson
And do you think that a special.
[13:40]
CNN Correspondent
Prosecutor should have been appointed first place in both of these cases?
[13:46]
Joe Biden
First of all, what I would have done is oversee the transfer of the material that was in my office. In my offices. I should have done that. If I go back, I didn't have the responsibility to that. My staff was supposed to do that. And they referenced that in the report. And my staff did not do it in a way that, for example, I didn't know how half the boxes got in my garage until I found out staff gathered them up, put them together and took them to the garage in my home. And all the stuff that was in my home was in filing cabinets that were either locked or able to be locked. It was in my house. It wasn't out in, like in Mar a Lago, in a public place where. And none of it was high classified, didn't have any of that red stuff on it, you know what I mean, around the corners, none of that. And so I wish I had paid more attention to how the documents were being moved and where I thought they were being moved to the archives. I thought all of us were being moved. That's what I thought. Now, what was the last part of your question?
[14:48]
CNN Correspondent
Whether a special counsel should have been appointed in this case and in the case of your rival former president?
[14:53]
Joe Biden
I think a special counsel should have been appointed. And the reason I think a special counsel should have been appointed is because I did not want to be in a position that they looked at Trump and weren't going to look at me, just like they looked at the vice president. And the fact is they made a firm conclusion. I did not break the law. Period. Thank you all very, very.
[15:16]
Ben Ferguson
Senator, you hear the president there and he lied, by the way. He lied. He lied on tape, by the way. After he was out of the vice presidency, he's saying to his autobiographer, quote, the classified documents are in the basement. He knew this. And then he's acting like he's telling the truth. And there's those documents in his garage next to his Corvette that he completely didn't even talk about there.
[15:41]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, look, look, there is so much in that press conference that is revealing. Number one, you're right. The press has turned on him. In his entire presidency, Joe Biden has never had a press conference remotely like that. They are suddenly asking the questions that millions of Americans have been asking since the day Biden became president and before that. And, and, and to see the press turn on him is a big deal, I promise you. After this press conference, the White House team was horrified. They were terrified. They were going, oh, crap, this has gone really, really badly. And these questions are not going away. And, you know, he stated there that the special counsel concluded he did not violate the law. That is not remotely what the Biden Justice Department concluded. Let me read to the beginning of the report, the executive summary. It begins with, quote, we conclude that no criminal charges are warranted in this matter. We would reach the same conclusion even if Department of Justice policy did not foreclose criminal charges against a sitting president. Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen. Now, note he said in that interview, I did not disclose them. Well, in the second paragraph of the report, it says, our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizens. These materials included. I'm still reading from the report. These materials included one marked classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and two notebooks containing Mr. Biden's handwritten entries about issues of national security and foreign policy, implicating sensitive intelligence sources and methods, by the way. Sources and methods. What that means is this was sensitive enough that disclosing this could endanger the lives of COVID operatives. That when you're disclosing sources and methods, it means you can reveal the identity of a spy, or it means you can reveal that, say we have somebody's phone tap or with the ability to engage in surveillance. And so if you're revealing sources and methods, that's a big damn deal. Let me. Let me finish reading. FBI agents recovered these materials from the garage offices and basement den in Mr. Biden's Wilmington, Delaware home. However, for the reasons summarized below, we conclude that the evidence does not establish Mr. Biden's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecution of Mr. Biden is also unworted based on our consideration of the aggravating and mitigating factors set forth in the Department of Justice's principles of Federal prosecution. For these reasons, we decline prosecution of Mr. Biden. Now, what are the reasons they say don't prosecute him? That one of the key reasons they rely on front and center is they say he's too old and can't remember anything, and so therefore you could not prosecute him. But I'm going to read from just a couple of pages later. This is again from the report Mr. Biden wrote, his 2007 and 2017 memoirs with the help of a ghostwriter. In a recorded conversation with his ghostwriter in February 2017, about a month after he left office, Mr. Biden said, while referencing his 2009 Thanksgiving memo, that he had, quote, just found all the classified stuff downstairs. So he expressed an awareness that it was classified materials. And by the way, they have this because they have the tape. So he's literally on tape admitting it. And it continues in the next paragraph. Evidence supports the inference that when Mr. Biden said in 2017 that he had, quote, just found all the classified stuff downstairs in Virginia, he was referring to the same marked classified documents about Afghanistan that FBI agents found in. In 2022 in his Delaware garage. Now, notice, they say marked classified documents. He said, well, gosh, I didn't know it was classified. If it's marked, it has it stamped right on it. And. But they go on to say, none. Nonetheless, we do not believe this evidence is sufficient, as jurors would likely found reasonable doubt for one of several reasons. And they go on to say, several defenses are likely to create reasonable doubt. For example, Mr. Biden could have found the classified Afghanistan documents at his Virginia home in 2017 and then forgotten about them soon after. So he's just so old and senile that he's like, oh, classified documents. What? What? I'm sorry, what was I talking about? I mean, that's reason number one. While they don't prosecute him, they go on to say, another viable defense. Another viable defense is that Mr. Biden might not have retained the classified Afghanistan documents in his Virginia home at all. They might have been stored by mistake and without his knowledge. But then they say, given Mr. Biden's limited precision and recall during his interviews with his ghostwriter and with our office. So notice the Ghostwriters back in 2017 and with our offices this past year, jurors may hesitate to place too much evidentiary weight on a single eight word utterance to his go ghostwriter about finding classified documents in Virginia in the absence of other more direct evidence. And they go on to say, we have also considered that at trial Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him as a sympathetic, well meaning elderly man with a poor memory. Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt. It would be difficult to convince a jury that they could convict him by then a former president well into his 80s of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness. Now stop and think. This is the Department of Justice saying you couldn't convince a jury he is capable of a mental state of willfulness. That's a big damn deal.
[22:22]
Ben Ferguson
Real quick, I want to tell you about something that's really important to us here at verdict. It is the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. So many of you have been asking about how you can help when it comes to the atrocities that were committed by Hamas last October 7, which kicked off a vicious war as Israel is defending herself from terrorists on every side. The toll on the Israeli people is staggering and it is massive. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been forced from their homes. Entire communities have been torn apart. Lives have been devastated by death and destruction. And that is where the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews comes in. They are right there, literally in the middle of all this, every single day. And what are they doing? Distributing critical essentials like food, food, medicine and emergency supplies for hundreds of thousands of suffering Jews. The need is great and that is why I'm partnering with IFCJ right now and I'm asking for your help. I want you to visit ifcj.org so that you can get involved. Every donation is urgently needed to help the people of Israel to give the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Please go right now to support IFCJ. That's IFCJ.org and give as generously as you can. Your gift will be matched to double in impact and help provide twice the support. So help those in need, help those in Israel. Go to ifcj.org supportifcj.org and they say as always, thank you for those that can help and God bless you. All right, I have like 15 different questions and I want to go semi rapid fire with you Senator. So when this first came out and I read what you just read to the audience. The first thing I thought was, yes, this is damning of the President, United States of America. But this also lays a massive pretense down that Joe Biden cannot be held accountable for any of his crimes he's committed, any of the money that's come in from China, Russia, Ukraine, any of the money laundering with the Biden crime family and all these LLCs and couldn't be held accountable for any of the suspicious activity reports because they just gave the precedent that they couldn't hold them accountable for this. So in a weird way, is this the Justice Department basically saying, look, we know what's coming down the chute. We know how bad it is. We, we know what's gonna happen with impeachment. We know what's happening with the Republican investigations, so we're gonna give him an out right now to spare him. Is that a real possibility?
[25:12]
Senator Ted Cruz
Listen, this is a basis. If someone's not competent to stand trial, this is a basis that can keep him, prevent him from liability for any criminal offense. That is absolutely a basis. That's not limited to classified documents. And to be fair, they didn't find he is. The standard of being incompetent to stand trial is an exceptionally high standard. What they said is he's so old and senile that you couldn't convince a juror that he was capable of acting willfully, that you couldn't prove that he had the mens rea the intent to commit a crime. Well, if that's true, that's as true about documents as it is about anything else. But if that is true, he shouldn't be in the Oval Office with his finger on the button number two.
[26:02]
Ben Ferguson
This concerned me even more. Biden's lawyers apparently wrote to the special prosecutor her asking that he revise descriptions of the President's memory, notable given voter concerns about his mental capacity. Now, when I read that, I thought, okay, this is a full blown cover up on a level that we've never seen from the White House, including Watergate, by a president staff, by the President's lawyers saying to the special counsel, you got to take out all the bad stuff here because he's running for reelection. How the hell is that not a massive story of COVID up on its own?
[26:42]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, look, this is damage control and it's bad damage control. And it's out in the open and they got caught. And it shows. These guys are terrified. They understand that if Joe Biden is the Democrat nominee in November, there are going to be two things that you're going to see on TV ads all over America. Number one, and we talked about this on a podcast last week, the image of illegal aliens walking out of jail in New York City after having beaten up two New York police officers, being released with no bail and then flipping the bird with both hands at the American people. That image, if Republicans are even marginally competent, will be played to the American people millions of times. And secondly, the quote that he is a sympathetic elderly man with an exceptionally poor memory that from the Biden Department of Justice that will be quoted over and over again that he could not remember when he was vice president. That is an enormous problem. And so his lawyers are desperately trying to engage in damage control, saying, please don't say to the American people what is obvious for anyone who's watching to see.
[27:55]
Ben Ferguson
Let's talk about the politics now of this, because you and I witnessed it for the first time in history. We played it for everybody listening. The White House press corps turning on him. This is something he's never experienced. In fact, I wanna play for you just an example of how quick CNN turned. You would have thought they were talking about Donald Trump, except they were talking about Joe Biden. Take a listen to this from cnn.
[28:20]
CNN Correspondent
Ultimately, what Robert Hirst says in this report is essentially the technical elements of a crime. It appears Robert Hurst saying were met. But what he ends up doing is looking at the soft factors. And you're allowed to do that. You have to do that as a prosecutor. And he takes into consideration things like what he says. And maybe this is overstated, maybe not. I'll leave that to the political folks. But he says essentially Joe Biden would have created a sympathetic picture in front of a jury. He had memory issues, he had age issues. And that goes into did he, was he able to form the mental intent here?
[28:52]
Ben Ferguson
That's cnn and they weren't done there. They also then went on to say that Joe Biden was in essence a liar at his press conference. Here's this.
[29:02]
CNN Correspondent
That is what blew my mind about Joe Biden's statement set two major things he just outright contradicts or is contradicted by. However you look at this, this report, there are two things he said that are completely the opposite of what Robert her found. And who do you believe is up to? I guess the individual consumer. First, Joe Biden says, I did not act willfully. Willfully just means voluntarily, intentionally. Well, the second sentence of this whole summary says President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials. The facts in here show it was willful. He knew he talked about it. And the second thing he says is, I did not disclose classified documents to my ghostwriter. Page three says that he did that. It says Mr. Biden shared information, including some classified information from those notebooks.
[29:49]
Ben Ferguson
Senator, I watched that on cnn and I said, holy crap, they're turning on him. And this is the end of Joe Biden's presidency as we know it. They're trying to offload him in real time because of this report saying, here it is, let's take him out.
[30:08]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, look, this is a massive problem. And it's not a problem that goes away in a day or two or a week or a month. This is a problem that continues every day Joe Biden remains in the presidency. I'll also point out something else, which is this report implicitly exonerates Donald Trump, which is an enormous problem for, for Biden as well, because, look, one of their big marquee cases against Trump, now they're prosecuting him for damn near everything, including late library books. But, but one of their marquee cases is that Trump possessed classified documents in Mar A Lago. And, and let me read again from the report. This is what they say about Biden, Quote, contemporary evidence suggests that when Mr. Biden left office in 2017, he believed he was allowed to keep the notebooks in his home. In a recorded conversation with his ghostwriter in April 2017, Mr. Biden explained that despite his staff views to the contrary, he did not think he was required to turn in his note cards to the National Archives, where they were stored in a skiff, and he had not wanted to do so at trial. He would argue, plausibly, that he thought the same thing about his notebooks. If this is what Mr. Biden thought, we believe he was mistaken about what the law permits. But this view finds some support in historical practice. The clearest example is President Reagan, who left the White House in 1989 with eight years worth of handwritten diaries, which he appears to have kept at his California home, even though they contain top secret information. During criminal litigation involving a former Reagan administration official in 1989 and 90, the Department of Justice stated in public court filings that the, quote, currently classified diaries were Mr. Reagan's, quote, personal records. Yet we know of no steps the department or other agencies took to investigate Mr. Reagan for handling mishandling classified information or to retrieve or secure his diaries. Most jurors would likely find evidence of this precedent and Mr. Biden's claimed reliance on it, which we expect would be admitted at trial to be compelling. Evidence that Mr. Biden did not act willfully, as with the marked classified documents, because the evidence is not sufficient to convict Mr. Biden for willfully retaining the notebooks, we decline prosecution. Now, that entire passage, you could write word for word and simply replace the word Biden with Trump and it would be a major defense for Trump. And this incoherence, the Department of Justice is going to have a nightmare because I promise you, Trump's defense lawyers are going to quote that back at them and say, you know what, the Department of Justice was right and if they were right about Biden. And by the way, on this podcast, we walk through how the historical precedent was president after president after president had kept documents, including President Reagan, including President Obama, including President Clinton. We walked through the history. That's what the Department of Justice just concluded as their reason not to prosecute Biden. And the obvious screaming question is, well, then why do you go after the opposing party other than because you are politically trying to stop the voters from voting for the other guy?
[33:39]
Ben Ferguson
Let me just say this. You look at the headlines right now, it's pretty clear that the world is going crazy. It's up in flames. Bidenomics is a complete and total disaster. And I try to make sure that every day when I wake up that doesn't ruin my day. Now, most of you know I do a radio show every morning at 7am and I start my day with a hot America first cup of blackout coffee. I'm sick and tired of giving my money to companies that hate my values. And you know which coffee companies I'm talking about? Those woke liberal companies out there. Well, that's why I want you to try blackout coffee. This coffee is 100% America and 0% woke. Blackout coffee is 100% committed conservative values. From sourcing the beans to the roasting process, customer support and shipping, they embody true American values and they accept no compromise on premium taste and premium quality. Now, I love the cup of coffee and I drink coffee every day. It's important. I can't do this show without it. I promise you, you are going to freak out at how good the cup of coffee is from blackout coffee. So if you drink coffee, try it and I'm going to save you 20% off your first order. Go to blackout coffee.com verdict. Use the promo code verdict for 20% off your first order. That's blackout coffee.com verdict. Be awake, not woke. That's blackout coffee.com Verdict Promo code verdict for 20% OFF your first order. You go back to politics of this for a second. And I can only imagine how stressed out White House staff is tonight. I'm sure you agree with me. It's 1:00 in the morning right now, as you are.
[35:21]
Senator Ted Cruz
They're all awake. Nobody is asleep.
[35:23]
Ben Ferguson
They're all awake. Yeah. And they're probably at the White House still. They lost Democrats today and they lost the media today. And now it's gotta feel like you're either inside the inner circle of Team Biden to prop him up and protect him, and now the Democrats seem to be circling the wagon. In your opinion, is this the beginning of the end of the Biden presidency? Do you think he actually makes it to Election Day? Because he's going to dig in. That was clear from the press conference tonight. But it looks like. And this could change. But as of 1am right now, it looks like Democrats are saying, it's official, we are not going to support Joe Biden in this presidential run any longer. We got to figure out how to offload him.
[36:08]
Senator Ted Cruz
Look, I think the odds remain very low that he steps down before the end of his term. I think as long as he is able to stand vertically and not fall over, he is going to finish out this year. That being said, as I said at the beginning of this pod, I think the odds that the Democrats push him aside and replace it with Michelle Obama, about 65 to 35. Or put it another way, it's about 2 to 1 now, more likely than not that the Democrats decide this guy cannot be our nominee in November.
[36:45]
Ben Ferguson
One other question I do want to ask you. Does this change the way that Republicans investigate Joe Biden, knowing that the DOJ is now basically said, you can't charge this guy with anything or we're not going to charge this guy with anything. If they wouldn't do it now, why would they change that logic moving forward? How does that change the way that James Comer and Jim Jordan are doing their investigations? And should it change the way they're doing their investigations at all?
[37:11]
Senator Ted Cruz
It shouldn't, and I don't think it will. And as we've discussed at great length on this podcast, the evidence of Joe Biden's corruption, of his deliberately selling favors from the Vice President of the United States to foreign oligarchs, to Russian oligarchs, Ukrainian oligarchs, Chinese Communists for millions and millions of dollars. That evidence is very significant. And it is repeated evidence, not only of doing so, but doing so willfully, doing so deliberately and then aggressively covering it up and lying about it. And I think we will see the House continue to lay out that evidence and to lay it out at great length. And I would point out, number one, an immediate step for that potentially, is impeaching Joe Biden. And the Department of Justice doesn't get a vote on whether or not to impeach Joe Biden. But number two, great point. Whether or not. Whether or not Biden gets prosecuted for bribery is ultimately not going to be a question decided by this Department of Justice. The chances that Merrick Garland brings charges are 0.00%. He is acting, and he has acted his entire tenure like a political operative who works for the dnc. So Merrick Garland's not going to do it. And indeed, there is considerable evidence, underscored by two IRS whistleblowers who are career employees and Democrats, that Merrick Garland actively lied to Congress under oath, committed felonies, and obstructed justice. So with or without this report, this DOJ was never going to prosecute Joe Biden. That being said, if the House continues to lay out the evidence and we have a Department of justice that is not controlled by Joe Biden, if there's a Trump Department of Justice and there is real evidence of bribery and corruption of Joe Biden and Hunter Biden and the extended Biden family, I think the possibility of a prosecution is real and significant.
[39:13]
Ben Ferguson
One other question, and this is something that I think so many Americans want to know. When you see this report that just came out and you see the cognitive decline and what they're stating in this report, you got to ask this question, who is running this country right now? Because if it is as bad as the special prosecutor is saying it is behind closed doors. And we know how this media has propped him up and protected him, and we know how the White House is limited his schedule. He sleeps in the morning. He works usually between, I think they said, what, noon and four. He's not doing big events. He's getting the name of leaders wrong now. And who's alive and who's dead now on a regular basis. It's happened three times in the last three days. Who is running the country, Senator? And does that concern you as well?
[39:59]
Senator Ted Cruz
So I can tell you, I get asked that question regularly. I got asked that question tonight. Every week someone asks me, who's running the White House, who's running the government? The honest answer, and this is really scary. I don't know. I genuinely don't know. I have a theory. I think it is Barack Obama, but I can't prove that. I don't know. That to be a fact. It's just that there are various data points, including the fact that Obama remained in D.C. something no president in modern times has done. He's regularly in D.C. he's regularly holding court. He's meeting with Democrats, he's meeting with members of the administration at his house. And so I think it is likely Obama, but I can't prove that. I can't. I just know it's not Joe Biden. So it is some combination of Obama and other senior White House officials and people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and aoc. But the candid answer is, I have no idea.
[40:53]
Ben Ferguson
One or two things is for sure. Either the media is going to calm down the next couple days or they're going to keep going after him. And that can change an awful lot if he does continue to lose the media. We're going to keep covering it here. D Don't forget we do this show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Make sure you hit that Follow, subscribe or auto download button wherever you're listening. I will keep you updated on my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcast, in those in between days as so much news is breaking right now. So make sure you download my podcast as well, the Ben Ferguson Podcast and the Senator and I will see you back here on Saturday for the weekend review. Plus next week on Monday. Have a great night.

Summary5 min read

Summary of "Joe Biden is Incompetent, HIS OWN DOJ ARGUES!" from The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Introduction and Context

In the February 9, 2024 episode titled "Joe Biden is Incompetent, HIS OWN DOJ ARGUES!", host Ben Ferguson engages in a profound discussion with Senator Ted Cruz about a groundbreaking report released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). This episode delves into the implications of the DOJ's findings on President Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities and the potential ramifications for his presidency and the upcoming elections.

DOJ Report on Biden’s Competency

The centerpiece of the discussion is a DOJ report that asserts President Joe Biden is "not competent to stand trial" due to severe cognitive decline. Senator Ted Cruz expounds on this, highlighting the seriousness of the report:

Senator Ted Cruz (00:43): "Today the U.S. Department of Justice released a formal report laying out the evidence that the sitting president of the United States is not competent to stand trial. That is extraordinary."

Cruz emphasizes the gravity of the DOJ’s conclusions, noting that if Biden lacks the mental faculties to be tried, it raises alarming questions about his capacity to lead, especially as Commander in Chief with access to nuclear codes.

Reactions and Media Shift

The episode further explores the shift in media portrayal of Biden. Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany is cited for her critical remarks:

Kayleigh McEnany (04:59): "We just watched a wounded political animal hobble to a podium and react with defensiveness, with anger."

McEnany criticizes the White House press corps for aggressively questioning Biden’s ability to continue his presidency, suggesting a media crackdown unprecedented in Biden’s tenure.

Senator Cruz responds to McEnany’s observations by addressing the tangible panic within Democratic ranks:

Senator Ted Cruz (06:34): "I think it is now significantly more likely than not that Democrats will not have Joe Biden on the ballot."

He predicts a shift in the Democratic Party's strategy, potentially nominating Michelle Obama over Biden for the upcoming election.

Biden’s Press Conference Excerpts

A significant portion of the podcast features excerpts from President Biden’s press conference, where his responses appear confused and contradictory. For instance:

Joe Biden (10:25): "I'm well meaning and I'm an elderly man and I know what the hell I'm doing."

Joe Biden (10:48): "My memory is so bad I let you speak."

Joe Biden (12:22): "I'm the most qualified person in this country to be President of the United States and finish the job I started."

These responses are scrutinized by Cruz, who accuses Biden of lying and showcases the stark contrast between the DOJ’s report and Biden’s public statements.

Analysis of Biden’s Responses and DOJ Report

Senator Cruz delves deeper into the DOJ report, highlighting discrepancies and alleged contradictions in Biden’s statements:

Senator Ted Cruz (15:40): "The DOJ report finds that Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials, yet he denies these actions."

Cruz meticulously reads excerpts from the DOJ report, pointing out how Biden’s own admissions and the report’s findings are at odds. He underscores concerns about Biden’s ability to remember critical information, which challenges his qualifications to hold the highest office.

Political Implications and Democratic Party’s Strategy

The conversation shifts to the potential political fallout within the Democratic Party. Cruz speculates on the likelihood of Biden being replaced as the party’s nominee:

Senator Ted Cruz (36:07): "I think the odds that the Democrats push him aside and replace it with Michelle Obama are about 65 to 35."

He suggests that the DOJ’s report provides a precedent that could be used to justify removing Biden from the presidential race, citing the party’s need to maintain credibility.

Discussion on Republican Investigations

Addressing the DOJ’s stance on prosecuting Biden, Cruz argues that Republican investigations led by figures like James Comer and Jim Jordan will continue regardless of the DOJ’s findings:

Senator Ted Cruz (37:11): "The evidence of Joe Biden's corruption... is very significant. And it is repeated evidence, not only of doing so, but doing so willfully, doing so deliberately and then aggressively covering it up and lying about it."

He posits that Republican efforts to investigate Biden’s alleged misconduct are motivated by political opposition rather than legal impartiality.

Conclusion: Implications for Biden’s Presidency

As the episode draws to a close, the discussion encapsulates the broader implications of the DOJ report and the shifting political landscape:

Senator Ted Cruz (39:59): "I have no idea" who is running the country, suggesting a lack of transparency and possible behind-the-scenes control by other figures, potentially former President Barack Obama.

Cruz warns that the DOJ’s findings, coupled with aggressive media scrutiny, could signify significant challenges ahead for Biden’s administration and his reelection prospects.

Final Thoughts

Ben Ferguson underscores the tumultuous state of Biden’s presidency, highlighting the DOJ’s report as a pivotal moment that could alter the course of American politics. He emphasizes the potential end of Biden’s presidency and the consequential shifts within the Democratic Party.

This episode of "The 47 Morning Update" presents a critical examination of President Biden’s capabilities and the political dynamics at play, offering listeners a comprehensive overview of a developing story that could shape the future of the United States.

Notable Quotes with Attribution:

Senator Ted Cruz (00:43): "Today the U.S. Department of Justice released a formal report laying out the evidence that the sitting president of the United States is not competent to stand trial. That is extraordinary."
Kayleigh McEnany (04:59): "We just watched a wounded political animal hobble to a podium and react with defensiveness, with anger."
Joe Biden (10:25): "I'm well meaning and I'm an elderly man and I know what the hell I'm doing."
Senator Ted Cruz (06:34): "I think it is now significantly more likely than not that Democrats will not have Joe Biden on the ballot."
Senator Ted Cruz (37:11): "The evidence of Joe Biden's corruption... is very significant."
Senator Ted Cruz (39:59): "I have no idea" who is running the country.

Key Takeaways:

The DOJ released a report questioning President Biden’s cognitive competence.
Senator Ted Cruz argues this raises serious concerns about Biden’s ability to lead.
Media portrayal of Biden has shifted sharply, with increased scrutiny and criticism.
There is speculation within the Democratic Party about potentially replacing Biden as the nominee.
Republican investigations into Biden’s alleged misconduct are expected to continue.
The episode highlights the potential political turmoil and future implications for Biden’s presidency.

Listeners are encouraged to follow upcoming episodes for further updates on this evolving situation.

Loading summary

Transcript57 lines

[00:01]
Ben Ferguson
Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz. Ben Ferguson with you, Senator, for about 45 minutes tonight, you and I are doing this. At 12:30am There was a moment in this country where the media, the White House press corps, Democrats and Republicans were wondering if Joe Biden was going to step down as president, the United States of America, after the special counsel report called him, quote, an elderly man with a poor memory who was so deteriorated with his cognitive decline they couldn't charge him with crimes even if they wanted to. Your reaction?
[00:43]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, today the U.S. department of justice released a formal report laying out the evidence that the sitting president of the United States is not competent to stand trial. That is extraordinary. Look, today was a big news day. Today the Senate capitulated on securing the border and passed or moved forward with a Ukraine funding bill. Today, the U.S. supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Colorado case about whether Donald Trump should be thrown off the ballot. And what does it say that both of those have been relegated to the BNC story in every news broadcast in America? Well, that's because what broke later today was so damn big. Listen, you and I and kind of anyone with eyes and common sense have been observing for a long time that Joe Biden's cognitive decline is massive. But it's easy for some observers to dismiss that and say, you know, these, these guys are biased. They're partisans. They don't like Biden. So what they're saying is not true. In this instance, the people speaking are the Biden Department of Justice and not any Department of Justice. This is a Department of justice that has proven itself the most politicized and part partisan Department of Justice in history. And they have argued. So, for example, I'm going to read you a paragraph from the report. In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden's memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended, quote, if it was 2013, when did I stop being vice president? And forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began in 2009, am I still vice president? He did not remember even within several years when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he, quote, had a real difference of opinion with General Carl Eikenberry, when in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama. All of that was authored by the Biden Department of Justice and when they are describing the sitting president is a well meaning elderly man with a poor memory, the natural question for anyone to say is holy crap, if he's not competent to stand trial, why is he the commander in chief with the authority to send our sons and daughters into harm's way? Why does he have access to the nuclear codes? Understand the description here. They say you couldn't charge him with a crime because he's, he's not aware of enough to have the requisite mental intent. And yet Joe Biden tonight, if he so desired, could literally exterminate humanity from the face of the planet. As commander in chief, if he gave the order, launch the nuclear weapons. Now, unless the military refused to obey the commander in chief, Joe Biden could exterminate every life on this planet. And if he's not mentally competent to stand trial, that is terrifying.
[04:38]
Ben Ferguson
The other part, and I mentioned this at the beginning and I want to play this for you on Fox. Kayleigh McEnany, former White House press secretary, came out and talked about the shock in Washington, talked about the shock of the president trying to respond in an angry way to this report that had come out, holding this impromptu press conference. Listen to this.
[05:00]
Kayleigh McEnany
Saw an unmitigated disaster play out before our very eyes. We just watched a wounded political animal hobble to a podium and react with defensiveness, with anger. And you know it's bad, Jesse, when you have the White House press corps, they are essentially an extension of the Joe Biden press and communications team when they are shouting at him, asking repeatedly, are you going to step aside, Mr. President? The CNN correspondent asking that when NBC, NBC of all places, writes a headline, a nightmare special counsel report triggers panic among Democrats. And when you have a president who for 45 minutes announces a press conference with no topic, giving the world 45 minutes to speculate, is he stepping aside? What would life be like under a president? KAMALA HARRIS? For 45 minutes, the nation got to feel that panic. And I don't think they will forget it come November.
[06:03]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, we were.
[06:04]
Ben Ferguson
By the way, Senator, this was real. I was in FOX News in New York City doing a hit when all this broke and my phone exploded. Everyone in the building's phone was exploding with people asking the question, oh my gosh, is Joe Biden about to say he's stepping down or at the bare minimum, say, I am no longer running for president, United States of America. That was real. And the entire world was thinking this, including our adversaries.
[06:34]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, our adversaries, our allies, the Democrat Party. Look, we have Talked about at length how Democrats and their supplicant cheerleaders in the media were getting cold feet on Joe Biden. And I had previously said on this podcast that I thought the odds were about 50, 50 that Democrats at the convention this coming summer would pull the cord on Joe Biden, yank him out and replace him with Michelle Obama. I have to say, after today, I'm going to adjust those odds from 50, 50 to about 65, 35. I think they have increased substantially. I think it is now significantly more likely than not that Democrats will not have Joe Biden on the ballot. And, and listen, the problem is if you're a Democrat hack and you're spinning, how do you spin this away? They're used to saying, oh, those are just partisans. Those are their favorite phrase MAGA Republicans. Well, the one thing we know is the Biden Department of Justice. They are not MAGA Republicans. And this is his own Department of Justice saying he has severely diminished mental faculties. And then I got to tell you, Ben, he made it worse. He made it worse BY A. For 45 minutes, nobody knew what the press conference was going to be. And everyone was like, oh my God, are we going to have a President Kamala Harris? Like that was really frightening. But then when he got up there, he did not perform well. And I think that only increased the concerns. And so we ought to listen to listen to a portion of his press conference that occurred on Thursday night.
[08:28]
Ben Ferguson
And let's point this out too. The media listened to them in the background. Joe Biden as president has never had to deal with a media that was this in his face. I would even argue this hostile to him. They've always given him softball pitches. Something changed in the media tonight and you could hear it and watch it in real time. Now, before I play this audio for you, I want to talk to you real quick about blackout coffee. The world is in flames and Bidenomics is a complete and total disaster. I'm not going to let it ruin my day. And I start every single morning with an amazing premium cup of coffee. It is an America first cup of blackout coffee. This coffee is 100American and 0% woke. Blackout coffee is 100 committed to conservative values. From sourcing the beans to the roasting process, customer support and shipping. They embody true American values and they accept no compromise on taste or quality. Now you know about the woke coffee companies are out there. Don't give them your money. I can tell you if you want a premium cup of coffee at a great price, you can start your day with you have got to check out and support companies like Blackout Coffee that love conservative values and support America. They are family owned so go to blackout coffee.com verdict that's blackout coffee.com verdict use the promo code verdict for 20% off your first order blackout coffee.com verdict be awake not woke. That's blackout coffee.com verdict promo code verdict now listen to the media completely turn like piranhas on Joe Biden. It's incredible. Here it is.
[10:20]
Joe Biden
Thank you. And I'll take some questions.
[10:22]
Ben Ferguson
President Biden, something the special counsel said.
[10:25]
Senator Ted Cruz
In his report is that one of the reasons you were not charged is because in his description you are a well meaning elderly man with a poor memory.
[10:36]
Joe Biden
I'm well meaning and I'm an elderly man and I know what the hell I'm doing. I've been president. I put this country back on his feet. I don't need his recommendation. It's totally up is your memory and.
[10:47]
Senator Ted Cruz
And can you continue as president?
[10:49]
Joe Biden
My memory is so bad I let you speak.
[10:54]
Senator Ted Cruz
Your memory has gotten worse.
[10:56]
Joe Biden
No, look, my memory is not. My memory is fine. My memory. Take a look at what I've done since I become president. None of you thought I could pass any of the things I got passed. How'd that happen? You know, I guess I just forgot what was going on.
[11:10]
Ben Ferguson
Mr. President, voters have concerns about your age.
[11:13]
Kayleigh McEnany
How are you going to assuage them?
[11:15]
Senator Ted Cruz
And do you fear that this report.
[11:16]
Ben Ferguson
Is only going to fuel further concerns about your.
[11:19]
Joe Biden
Only by some of you.
[11:20]
Kayleigh McEnany
Mr. President, clear of criminal liability today, do you take responsibility for at least being careless with classified material.
[11:30]
Joe Biden
I take responsibility for not having seen exactly what my staff was doing. It goes in and points out things that appeared in my garage, things that came out of my home, things that were moved, were moved not by me, but my staff. But my staff.
[11:54]
Kayleigh McEnany
Mr. President, for months when you were asked about your age, you would respond with the words watch me. Many American people have been watching and they have expressed concerns about your age.
[12:04]
Joe Biden
That is your judgment. That is your judgment. That is not the judgment of the press.
[12:10]
Kayleigh McEnany
They express concerns about your mental acuity. They say that you are too old. Mr. President, in December you told me that you believe there are many other Democrats who could defeat Donald Trump. So why does it have to be you? Now what is your answer?
[12:22]
Joe Biden
I'm the most qualified person in this country to be President of the United States and finish the job I started.
[12:29]
Senator Ted Cruz
Do you believe that? President?
[12:31]
Kayleigh McEnany
Why are you excusing the names of world leaders?
[12:35]
Joe Biden
I did not Share classified information. I did not share. With your ghostwriter. With my ghostwriter. I did not guarantee. You did not. What the. Well, no, they did not say that. He did not say that. Let me answer your question. The fact of the matter is, what I didn't want repeated, I didn't want him to know and I didn't read it to him was I had written a long memorandum to President Obama why we should not be in Afghanistan. And I was. Multiple pages. And so what I was referring to, I said classified. I should have said it should be private because it was a contact between the president and the vice president as to what was going on. That's what he's referring to. It was not classified information in that document. That was not classified.
[13:35]
CNN Correspondent
When you look back at this incident, is there anything you would do differently now?
[13:39]
Ben Ferguson
And do you think that a special.
[13:40]
CNN Correspondent
Prosecutor should have been appointed first place in both of these cases?
[13:46]
Joe Biden
First of all, what I would have done is oversee the transfer of the material that was in my office. In my offices. I should have done that. If I go back, I didn't have the responsibility to that. My staff was supposed to do that. And they referenced that in the report. And my staff did not do it in a way that, for example, I didn't know how half the boxes got in my garage until I found out staff gathered them up, put them together and took them to the garage in my home. And all the stuff that was in my home was in filing cabinets that were either locked or able to be locked. It was in my house. It wasn't out in, like in Mar a Lago, in a public place where. And none of it was high classified, didn't have any of that red stuff on it, you know what I mean, around the corners, none of that. And so I wish I had paid more attention to how the documents were being moved and where I thought they were being moved to the archives. I thought all of us were being moved. That's what I thought. Now, what was the last part of your question?
[14:48]
CNN Correspondent
Whether a special counsel should have been appointed in this case and in the case of your rival former president?
[14:53]
Joe Biden
I think a special counsel should have been appointed. And the reason I think a special counsel should have been appointed is because I did not want to be in a position that they looked at Trump and weren't going to look at me, just like they looked at the vice president. And the fact is they made a firm conclusion. I did not break the law. Period. Thank you all very, very.
[15:16]
Ben Ferguson
Senator, you hear the president there and he lied, by the way. He lied. He lied on tape, by the way. After he was out of the vice presidency, he's saying to his autobiographer, quote, the classified documents are in the basement. He knew this. And then he's acting like he's telling the truth. And there's those documents in his garage next to his Corvette that he completely didn't even talk about there.
[15:41]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, look, look, there is so much in that press conference that is revealing. Number one, you're right. The press has turned on him. In his entire presidency, Joe Biden has never had a press conference remotely like that. They are suddenly asking the questions that millions of Americans have been asking since the day Biden became president and before that. And, and, and to see the press turn on him is a big deal, I promise you. After this press conference, the White House team was horrified. They were terrified. They were going, oh, crap, this has gone really, really badly. And these questions are not going away. And, you know, he stated there that the special counsel concluded he did not violate the law. That is not remotely what the Biden Justice Department concluded. Let me read to the beginning of the report, the executive summary. It begins with, quote, we conclude that no criminal charges are warranted in this matter. We would reach the same conclusion even if Department of Justice policy did not foreclose criminal charges against a sitting president. Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen. Now, note he said in that interview, I did not disclose them. Well, in the second paragraph of the report, it says, our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizens. These materials included. I'm still reading from the report. These materials included one marked classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and two notebooks containing Mr. Biden's handwritten entries about issues of national security and foreign policy, implicating sensitive intelligence sources and methods, by the way. Sources and methods. What that means is this was sensitive enough that disclosing this could endanger the lives of COVID operatives. That when you're disclosing sources and methods, it means you can reveal the identity of a spy, or it means you can reveal that, say we have somebody's phone tap or with the ability to engage in surveillance. And so if you're revealing sources and methods, that's a big damn deal. Let me. Let me finish reading. FBI agents recovered these materials from the garage offices and basement den in Mr. Biden's Wilmington, Delaware home. However, for the reasons summarized below, we conclude that the evidence does not establish Mr. Biden's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecution of Mr. Biden is also unworted based on our consideration of the aggravating and mitigating factors set forth in the Department of Justice's principles of Federal prosecution. For these reasons, we decline prosecution of Mr. Biden. Now, what are the reasons they say don't prosecute him? That one of the key reasons they rely on front and center is they say he's too old and can't remember anything, and so therefore you could not prosecute him. But I'm going to read from just a couple of pages later. This is again from the report Mr. Biden wrote, his 2007 and 2017 memoirs with the help of a ghostwriter. In a recorded conversation with his ghostwriter in February 2017, about a month after he left office, Mr. Biden said, while referencing his 2009 Thanksgiving memo, that he had, quote, just found all the classified stuff downstairs. So he expressed an awareness that it was classified materials. And by the way, they have this because they have the tape. So he's literally on tape admitting it. And it continues in the next paragraph. Evidence supports the inference that when Mr. Biden said in 2017 that he had, quote, just found all the classified stuff downstairs in Virginia, he was referring to the same marked classified documents about Afghanistan that FBI agents found in. In 2022 in his Delaware garage. Now, notice, they say marked classified documents. He said, well, gosh, I didn't know it was classified. If it's marked, it has it stamped right on it. And. But they go on to say, none. Nonetheless, we do not believe this evidence is sufficient, as jurors would likely found reasonable doubt for one of several reasons. And they go on to say, several defenses are likely to create reasonable doubt. For example, Mr. Biden could have found the classified Afghanistan documents at his Virginia home in 2017 and then forgotten about them soon after. So he's just so old and senile that he's like, oh, classified documents. What? What? I'm sorry, what was I talking about? I mean, that's reason number one. While they don't prosecute him, they go on to say, another viable defense. Another viable defense is that Mr. Biden might not have retained the classified Afghanistan documents in his Virginia home at all. They might have been stored by mistake and without his knowledge. But then they say, given Mr. Biden's limited precision and recall during his interviews with his ghostwriter and with our office. So notice the Ghostwriters back in 2017 and with our offices this past year, jurors may hesitate to place too much evidentiary weight on a single eight word utterance to his go ghostwriter about finding classified documents in Virginia in the absence of other more direct evidence. And they go on to say, we have also considered that at trial Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him as a sympathetic, well meaning elderly man with a poor memory. Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt. It would be difficult to convince a jury that they could convict him by then a former president well into his 80s of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness. Now stop and think. This is the Department of Justice saying you couldn't convince a jury he is capable of a mental state of willfulness. That's a big damn deal.
[22:22]
Ben Ferguson
Real quick, I want to tell you about something that's really important to us here at verdict. It is the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. So many of you have been asking about how you can help when it comes to the atrocities that were committed by Hamas last October 7, which kicked off a vicious war as Israel is defending herself from terrorists on every side. The toll on the Israeli people is staggering and it is massive. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been forced from their homes. Entire communities have been torn apart. Lives have been devastated by death and destruction. And that is where the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews comes in. They are right there, literally in the middle of all this, every single day. And what are they doing? Distributing critical essentials like food, food, medicine and emergency supplies for hundreds of thousands of suffering Jews. The need is great and that is why I'm partnering with IFCJ right now and I'm asking for your help. I want you to visit ifcj.org so that you can get involved. Every donation is urgently needed to help the people of Israel to give the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Please go right now to support IFCJ. That's IFCJ.org and give as generously as you can. Your gift will be matched to double in impact and help provide twice the support. So help those in need, help those in Israel. Go to ifcj.org supportifcj.org and they say as always, thank you for those that can help and God bless you. All right, I have like 15 different questions and I want to go semi rapid fire with you Senator. So when this first came out and I read what you just read to the audience. The first thing I thought was, yes, this is damning of the President, United States of America. But this also lays a massive pretense down that Joe Biden cannot be held accountable for any of his crimes he's committed, any of the money that's come in from China, Russia, Ukraine, any of the money laundering with the Biden crime family and all these LLCs and couldn't be held accountable for any of the suspicious activity reports because they just gave the precedent that they couldn't hold them accountable for this. So in a weird way, is this the Justice Department basically saying, look, we know what's coming down the chute. We know how bad it is. We, we know what's gonna happen with impeachment. We know what's happening with the Republican investigations, so we're gonna give him an out right now to spare him. Is that a real possibility?
[25:12]
Senator Ted Cruz
Listen, this is a basis. If someone's not competent to stand trial, this is a basis that can keep him, prevent him from liability for any criminal offense. That is absolutely a basis. That's not limited to classified documents. And to be fair, they didn't find he is. The standard of being incompetent to stand trial is an exceptionally high standard. What they said is he's so old and senile that you couldn't convince a juror that he was capable of acting willfully, that you couldn't prove that he had the mens rea the intent to commit a crime. Well, if that's true, that's as true about documents as it is about anything else. But if that is true, he shouldn't be in the Oval Office with his finger on the button number two.
[26:02]
Ben Ferguson
This concerned me even more. Biden's lawyers apparently wrote to the special prosecutor her asking that he revise descriptions of the President's memory, notable given voter concerns about his mental capacity. Now, when I read that, I thought, okay, this is a full blown cover up on a level that we've never seen from the White House, including Watergate, by a president staff, by the President's lawyers saying to the special counsel, you got to take out all the bad stuff here because he's running for reelection. How the hell is that not a massive story of COVID up on its own?
[26:42]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, look, this is damage control and it's bad damage control. And it's out in the open and they got caught. And it shows. These guys are terrified. They understand that if Joe Biden is the Democrat nominee in November, there are going to be two things that you're going to see on TV ads all over America. Number one, and we talked about this on a podcast last week, the image of illegal aliens walking out of jail in New York City after having beaten up two New York police officers, being released with no bail and then flipping the bird with both hands at the American people. That image, if Republicans are even marginally competent, will be played to the American people millions of times. And secondly, the quote that he is a sympathetic elderly man with an exceptionally poor memory that from the Biden Department of Justice that will be quoted over and over again that he could not remember when he was vice president. That is an enormous problem. And so his lawyers are desperately trying to engage in damage control, saying, please don't say to the American people what is obvious for anyone who's watching to see.
[27:55]
Ben Ferguson
Let's talk about the politics now of this, because you and I witnessed it for the first time in history. We played it for everybody listening. The White House press corps turning on him. This is something he's never experienced. In fact, I wanna play for you just an example of how quick CNN turned. You would have thought they were talking about Donald Trump, except they were talking about Joe Biden. Take a listen to this from cnn.
[28:20]
CNN Correspondent
Ultimately, what Robert Hirst says in this report is essentially the technical elements of a crime. It appears Robert Hurst saying were met. But what he ends up doing is looking at the soft factors. And you're allowed to do that. You have to do that as a prosecutor. And he takes into consideration things like what he says. And maybe this is overstated, maybe not. I'll leave that to the political folks. But he says essentially Joe Biden would have created a sympathetic picture in front of a jury. He had memory issues, he had age issues. And that goes into did he, was he able to form the mental intent here?
[28:52]
Ben Ferguson
That's cnn and they weren't done there. They also then went on to say that Joe Biden was in essence a liar at his press conference. Here's this.
[29:02]
CNN Correspondent
That is what blew my mind about Joe Biden's statement set two major things he just outright contradicts or is contradicted by. However you look at this, this report, there are two things he said that are completely the opposite of what Robert her found. And who do you believe is up to? I guess the individual consumer. First, Joe Biden says, I did not act willfully. Willfully just means voluntarily, intentionally. Well, the second sentence of this whole summary says President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials. The facts in here show it was willful. He knew he talked about it. And the second thing he says is, I did not disclose classified documents to my ghostwriter. Page three says that he did that. It says Mr. Biden shared information, including some classified information from those notebooks.
[29:49]
Ben Ferguson
Senator, I watched that on cnn and I said, holy crap, they're turning on him. And this is the end of Joe Biden's presidency as we know it. They're trying to offload him in real time because of this report saying, here it is, let's take him out.
[30:08]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, look, this is a massive problem. And it's not a problem that goes away in a day or two or a week or a month. This is a problem that continues every day Joe Biden remains in the presidency. I'll also point out something else, which is this report implicitly exonerates Donald Trump, which is an enormous problem for, for Biden as well, because, look, one of their big marquee cases against Trump, now they're prosecuting him for damn near everything, including late library books. But, but one of their marquee cases is that Trump possessed classified documents in Mar A Lago. And, and let me read again from the report. This is what they say about Biden, Quote, contemporary evidence suggests that when Mr. Biden left office in 2017, he believed he was allowed to keep the notebooks in his home. In a recorded conversation with his ghostwriter in April 2017, Mr. Biden explained that despite his staff views to the contrary, he did not think he was required to turn in his note cards to the National Archives, where they were stored in a skiff, and he had not wanted to do so at trial. He would argue, plausibly, that he thought the same thing about his notebooks. If this is what Mr. Biden thought, we believe he was mistaken about what the law permits. But this view finds some support in historical practice. The clearest example is President Reagan, who left the White House in 1989 with eight years worth of handwritten diaries, which he appears to have kept at his California home, even though they contain top secret information. During criminal litigation involving a former Reagan administration official in 1989 and 90, the Department of Justice stated in public court filings that the, quote, currently classified diaries were Mr. Reagan's, quote, personal records. Yet we know of no steps the department or other agencies took to investigate Mr. Reagan for handling mishandling classified information or to retrieve or secure his diaries. Most jurors would likely find evidence of this precedent and Mr. Biden's claimed reliance on it, which we expect would be admitted at trial to be compelling. Evidence that Mr. Biden did not act willfully, as with the marked classified documents, because the evidence is not sufficient to convict Mr. Biden for willfully retaining the notebooks, we decline prosecution. Now, that entire passage, you could write word for word and simply replace the word Biden with Trump and it would be a major defense for Trump. And this incoherence, the Department of Justice is going to have a nightmare because I promise you, Trump's defense lawyers are going to quote that back at them and say, you know what, the Department of Justice was right and if they were right about Biden. And by the way, on this podcast, we walk through how the historical precedent was president after president after president had kept documents, including President Reagan, including President Obama, including President Clinton. We walked through the history. That's what the Department of Justice just concluded as their reason not to prosecute Biden. And the obvious screaming question is, well, then why do you go after the opposing party other than because you are politically trying to stop the voters from voting for the other guy?
[33:39]
Ben Ferguson
Let me just say this. You look at the headlines right now, it's pretty clear that the world is going crazy. It's up in flames. Bidenomics is a complete and total disaster. And I try to make sure that every day when I wake up that doesn't ruin my day. Now, most of you know I do a radio show every morning at 7am and I start my day with a hot America first cup of blackout coffee. I'm sick and tired of giving my money to companies that hate my values. And you know which coffee companies I'm talking about? Those woke liberal companies out there. Well, that's why I want you to try blackout coffee. This coffee is 100% America and 0% woke. Blackout coffee is 100% committed conservative values. From sourcing the beans to the roasting process, customer support and shipping, they embody true American values and they accept no compromise on premium taste and premium quality. Now, I love the cup of coffee and I drink coffee every day. It's important. I can't do this show without it. I promise you, you are going to freak out at how good the cup of coffee is from blackout coffee. So if you drink coffee, try it and I'm going to save you 20% off your first order. Go to blackout coffee.com verdict. Use the promo code verdict for 20% off your first order. That's blackout coffee.com verdict. Be awake, not woke. That's blackout coffee.com Verdict Promo code verdict for 20% OFF your first order. You go back to politics of this for a second. And I can only imagine how stressed out White House staff is tonight. I'm sure you agree with me. It's 1:00 in the morning right now, as you are.
[35:21]
Senator Ted Cruz
They're all awake. Nobody is asleep.
[35:23]
Ben Ferguson
They're all awake. Yeah. And they're probably at the White House still. They lost Democrats today and they lost the media today. And now it's gotta feel like you're either inside the inner circle of Team Biden to prop him up and protect him, and now the Democrats seem to be circling the wagon. In your opinion, is this the beginning of the end of the Biden presidency? Do you think he actually makes it to Election Day? Because he's going to dig in. That was clear from the press conference tonight. But it looks like. And this could change. But as of 1am right now, it looks like Democrats are saying, it's official, we are not going to support Joe Biden in this presidential run any longer. We got to figure out how to offload him.
[36:08]
Senator Ted Cruz
Look, I think the odds remain very low that he steps down before the end of his term. I think as long as he is able to stand vertically and not fall over, he is going to finish out this year. That being said, as I said at the beginning of this pod, I think the odds that the Democrats push him aside and replace it with Michelle Obama, about 65 to 35. Or put it another way, it's about 2 to 1 now, more likely than not that the Democrats decide this guy cannot be our nominee in November.
[36:45]
Ben Ferguson
One other question I do want to ask you. Does this change the way that Republicans investigate Joe Biden, knowing that the DOJ is now basically said, you can't charge this guy with anything or we're not going to charge this guy with anything. If they wouldn't do it now, why would they change that logic moving forward? How does that change the way that James Comer and Jim Jordan are doing their investigations? And should it change the way they're doing their investigations at all?
[37:11]
Senator Ted Cruz
It shouldn't, and I don't think it will. And as we've discussed at great length on this podcast, the evidence of Joe Biden's corruption, of his deliberately selling favors from the Vice President of the United States to foreign oligarchs, to Russian oligarchs, Ukrainian oligarchs, Chinese Communists for millions and millions of dollars. That evidence is very significant. And it is repeated evidence, not only of doing so, but doing so willfully, doing so deliberately and then aggressively covering it up and lying about it. And I think we will see the House continue to lay out that evidence and to lay it out at great length. And I would point out, number one, an immediate step for that potentially, is impeaching Joe Biden. And the Department of Justice doesn't get a vote on whether or not to impeach Joe Biden. But number two, great point. Whether or not. Whether or not Biden gets prosecuted for bribery is ultimately not going to be a question decided by this Department of Justice. The chances that Merrick Garland brings charges are 0.00%. He is acting, and he has acted his entire tenure like a political operative who works for the dnc. So Merrick Garland's not going to do it. And indeed, there is considerable evidence, underscored by two IRS whistleblowers who are career employees and Democrats, that Merrick Garland actively lied to Congress under oath, committed felonies, and obstructed justice. So with or without this report, this DOJ was never going to prosecute Joe Biden. That being said, if the House continues to lay out the evidence and we have a Department of justice that is not controlled by Joe Biden, if there's a Trump Department of Justice and there is real evidence of bribery and corruption of Joe Biden and Hunter Biden and the extended Biden family, I think the possibility of a prosecution is real and significant.
[39:13]
Ben Ferguson
One other question, and this is something that I think so many Americans want to know. When you see this report that just came out and you see the cognitive decline and what they're stating in this report, you got to ask this question, who is running this country right now? Because if it is as bad as the special prosecutor is saying it is behind closed doors. And we know how this media has propped him up and protected him, and we know how the White House is limited his schedule. He sleeps in the morning. He works usually between, I think they said, what, noon and four. He's not doing big events. He's getting the name of leaders wrong now. And who's alive and who's dead now on a regular basis. It's happened three times in the last three days. Who is running the country, Senator? And does that concern you as well?
[39:59]
Senator Ted Cruz
So I can tell you, I get asked that question regularly. I got asked that question tonight. Every week someone asks me, who's running the White House, who's running the government? The honest answer, and this is really scary. I don't know. I genuinely don't know. I have a theory. I think it is Barack Obama, but I can't prove that. I don't know. That to be a fact. It's just that there are various data points, including the fact that Obama remained in D.C. something no president in modern times has done. He's regularly in D.C. he's regularly holding court. He's meeting with Democrats, he's meeting with members of the administration at his house. And so I think it is likely Obama, but I can't prove that. I can't. I just know it's not Joe Biden. So it is some combination of Obama and other senior White House officials and people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and aoc. But the candid answer is, I have no idea.
[40:53]
Ben Ferguson
One or two things is for sure. Either the media is going to calm down the next couple days or they're going to keep going after him. And that can change an awful lot if he does continue to lose the media. We're going to keep covering it here. D Don't forget we do this show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Make sure you hit that Follow, subscribe or auto download button wherever you're listening. I will keep you updated on my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcast, in those in between days as so much news is breaking right now. So make sure you download my podcast as well, the Ben Ferguson Podcast and the Senator and I will see you back here on Saturday for the weekend review. Plus next week on Monday. Have a great night.