The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show – Bonus Episode Summary

Episode Title: Biden Autopen Pardons are Null & Void plus Fighting Horrific Nigerian Persecution of Christians
Hosts: Ben Ferguson & Senator Ted Cruz
Date: September 11, 2025
Producer: iHeartPodcasts

Overview

This episode, predominantly hosted by Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz, dissects two major stories:

1. The Biden Administration’s Use of Autopen in Mass Pardons and Commutations – Ted Cruz argues these actions may lack constitutional legitimacy and could be declared "null and void."
2. Persecution of Christians in Nigeria and Cruz’s introduction of new legislation to counteract religiously motivated violence and government complicity.

With a tone blending urgency, skepticism, and advocacy, the hosts delve deep into both legal and humanitarian crises, seeking to inform and mobilize listeners.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Biden's Mass Pardons via Autopen

The Allegations and Constitutional Concerns

• Cruz details new evidence that President Biden was "completely disengaged" from the end-of-term marathon of pardons and commutations, which he did not personally review or approve.
• Cruz references the Constitution’s requirement (Article II, Section 2): only the President can grant federal commutations or pardons; delegation is impermissible.
• Massive numbers:
  • December 12, 2024: 1,500 commutations, 39 pardons.
  • January 17, 2025: 2,490 additional commutations in one day – "more in a single day than any president had ever granted over an entire presidency." [08:04]
• Use of “autopen”—a device that automatically writes the President's signature—raises red flags, particularly as Biden’s physical and cognitive participation waned.

How It Unraveled

• Cruz describes emails and reports showing staff, not the President, often initiated or certified decisions.
• "Staffers who weren’t in the room with the President wrote written directions directing that commutations or pardon be granted." [10:45]
• Large “categorical” pardons were issued based on broad criteria, not specific individual review by Biden.

Potential Illegality and Accountability

• Ferguson asks: “If you are a staffer at the White House and you’re handing out these commutations or pardons like candy…is that illegal if you’re doing it without the President’s knowledge?” [20:46]
• Cruz responds: Not a crime per se, unless a quid pro quo or fraud can be proven. “It would be difficult to get any criminal conviction on that…you’d have to prove mens rea.” [22:18]
• Quid pro quo (kickbacks) would be “bribery, and that you can be prosecuted for.” [23:08]

Next Steps and DOJ Role

• Cruz calls for the Department of Justice to review and potentially void all commutations/pardons lacking clear presidential involvement.

  "For any pardon, any commutation, that there is not clear evidence that Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. personally signed off…DOJ declare them null and void and pursue legal avenues to have them declared null and void and to challenge them in court.” [15:27]

• Legal process: DOJ could re-arrest those improperly released, with ensuing habeas corpus challenges in court. [26:57]
• Hunter Biden was the only final pardon Joe Biden personally signed. “He auto penned Mark Milley, he auto penned Liz Cheney, he auto penned Anthony Fauci...The only one that Biden signed…was Hunter Biden.” [24:17]

Notable Quotes

• “There have been multiple reports about just how disengaged Joe Biden was in this process... If a staffer makes it, if somebody else in the White House makes it, it has no legal force. It is null and void.” – Senator Ted Cruz [03:19]
• “The wow moment is there. 2,490 commutations, more in a single day than any president had ever granted over an entire presidency.” – Ben Ferguson, reacting to Cruz's figures [08:41]
• “These and other reports suggest that Biden-Harris officials took advantage of the decline in the President’s mental acuity...to usurp authorities solely reserved for the President...Such an act would constitute a direct and unprecedented assault on our constitutional order.” – Senator Ted Cruz [14:20]
• “Instead of Hail to the Chief, it was Hail to the Bicycle” – Senator Ted Cruz, on Trump trolling Biden with the “autopen presidency” [25:34]

2. Fighting Horrific Nigerian Persecution of Christians

The Crisis

• Over 50,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria since 2009 by jihadist extremists like Boko Haram. [30:58]
• >18,000 churches and 2,000 schools attacked; 145 Christian priests kidnapped between 2015–2025. [31:45]
• Multiple officials in the Nigerian government are complicit or indifferent.

Cruz’s Legislative Response

• Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025:
  1. Designates Nigeria a “country of particular concern” for religious persecution.
  2. Ensures the State Department maintains designations for Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa as “entities of particular concern.”
  3. Sanctions Nigerian officials who facilitate or turn a blind eye to persecution.
  4. Requires a detailed report within 90 days identifying responsible Nigerian officials, especially those enforcing blasphemy laws.

American and Global Role

• Cruz laments that the Biden and previous Obama administrations failed to robustly confront international Christian persecution.
• Tells the story of Miriam Ibrahim, a Sudanese Christian formerly on death row, as example of advocacy success given international pressure, even when President Obama refused to publicly say her name.
  “I could not get Obama to say her name even once. Ultimately, though, the international pressure became so acute...she came to the United States to be with her husband.” [37:30]
• Cruz recalls asking Ibrahim how she kept hope. Her reply: “Jesus was with me.” [39:43]

Notable Quotes

• “The sheer scope of it in Nigeria is staggering. Boko Haram...since their 2009 insurgency, has killed over 50,000 Christians in Nigeria.” – Senator Ted Cruz [30:58]
• “Violence against Christians in Nigeria has been a horrific problem…And it’s a problem that occurs with the complicity of many officials…in the Nigerian government.” – Senator Ted Cruz [33:25]
• “If you sanction individual government officials who are complicit...that can have a real and powerful effect.” – Senator Ted Cruz [40:19]

Memorable Moments & Quotes (with Timestamps)

• Record Pardon Numbers:

  "2,490 commutations, more in a single day than any president had ever granted over an entire presidency." (08:41)

• On the Autopen and Legitimacy:

  “If a staffer makes it, if somebody else in the White House makes it, it has no legal force. It is null and void.” – Cruz (03:19)

• Practical Impact:

  "The only one that Biden signed...was Hunter Biden." – Cruz (24:17)

• On Persecution in Nigeria:

  “Boko Haram...has killed over 50,000 Christians in Nigeria.” (30:58)

• On Advocacy and Faith:

  “When you’re looking at your babies…how did you not lose hope? ...She just said, 'Jesus was with me.'” – Cruz, quoting Miriam Ibrahim (39:43)

Important Timestamps

| Time | Segment | |:---------:|:-------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:44 | Show proper begins, Ben Ferguson introduces key topics | | 03:19 | Cruz outlines constitutional problems with autopen pardons | | 08:04 | Cruz reads key parts of his letter to AG Pam Bondi | | 10:45 | Deep dive into the evidence and White House staff involvement | | 24:17 | Cruz reveals Hunter Biden was the only direct pardon | | 30:58 | Start of Nigerian Christian persecution discussion | | 33:25 | Cruz details Boko Haram and legislative strategy | | 37:30 | Story of Miriam Ibrahim and international advocacy | | 39:43 | “Jesus was with me” quote from Miriam Ibrahim |

Tone and Style

• Direct, Legalistic, and Advocative:
  Senator Cruz’s tone blends legal argumentation with moral urgency, while Ferguson alternates between skepticism and outrage, seeking clarification on points of law and propriety.
• Personal, Occasionally Humorous:
  The hosts aren’t above dry wit, especially in their discussion of Biden’s cognitive decline and the "autopen presidency."
• Empathetic and Motivational:
  In the segment on Christian persecution, the mood shifts to impassioned storytelling with appeals for international action.

Conclusion

This episode takes listeners through two urgent controversies: the constitutionality of mass pardons executed via autopen at the end of Biden's presidency, and the spiraling crisis of Christian persecution in Nigeria, with legislation poised to make a real difference. Cruz and Ferguson combine legal analysis, advocacy, and storytelling to inform and activate listeners on issues they describe as fundamental to American values and global human rights.