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BONUS POD: Comer Wrapping Up Biden Autopen Investigation plus Defense Secretary in Puerto Rico
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Ben Ferguson
This is an iHeart podcast. The US electric grid is approaching a breaking point. As demand soars from data centers and.
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Ben Ferguson
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Ben Ferguson
This is for guys who like being guys. We're public rec and we make clothes that are lightweight, breathable, that look good and feel great even for summer golf with our new Medina series. Shop now@publicwreck.com radio public rec. Support for today's show comes from Sonos. You know what makes Draft Day even better? Surround sound that hits harder than a sleeper pick in the 12th round. I just hooked up the Sonos Arc Ultra and let me tell you, this thing booms crystal clear highs, deep bass and it looks sleek enough to sit next to my fantasy draft board. Whether it's game day or mock draft night, Sonos makes every moment feel like a stadium experience. Trust me, your fantasy team deserves elite sound upgrade with sonos@sonos.com America has always been a nation that believes in the power of prayer and we will never apologize for our faith. Ever, ever. Never. We will never surrender our God given rights. We will defend our liberties, our values, our sovereignty and we will defend our freedom. And with the Help of amazing faith communities across the land. So many are represented with us today. We will truly make this the golden age of America. You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Good Tuesday morning. So nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update. And we've got two major stories for you coming out of the White House that you need to know about. First up, it's a smoking gun. We're now finding out a lot more because of the investigation into the Biden administration about what was actually going on in the final days when the auto pen was, well, catching on fire. And apparently the president knew nothing about it. How do we know this? There were people raising concerns within the Biden administration. So just how bad did it get? We'll have all that for you as well. Also, the man in charge of the Pentagon, Pete Hedge. Seth visits Puerto Rico without telling people in advance. Advance? Why? Well, apparently it's connected to fighting the drug cartels that have now been declared as terrorist organizations. So what does this mean next? We'll have that story for you in a moment. But first, I want to talk to you about my friends over at Patriot Mobile. You've got a lot of choices for cell phone service with new ones popping up all the time. But if you want to make a difference and you want to stop giving your money to liberal companies, well, one way you can do that is by getting rid of Liberal Mobile. You probably have right now. That is where hundreds of thousands of Americans are now coming together and have made Patriot Mobile what they are today. They've been in service now for 13 years. And right now is the best time ever to switch because it's never been easier. Now, before I tell you about that, I want you to know why switching is so important. Because every time you make a call, every time you send a text, and every time that you pay your bill, you're actually standing up for the value you believe in your first and your second amendment rights, the rights of unborn children. And you stand with our military, our veterans, our wounded warriors, and our fallen soldier families. Because Patriot mobile takes about 5% of your bill every month at no extra cost to you. And they give it back to these organizations that fight for our values. Now, let's talk about switching. It has never been easier. You can keep your same number, keep your same phone, or upgrade. Patriot mobile's got a 100 US based customer service team. And literally they can now, with technology, get you activated in minutes from the comfort of your home or your office if you're stuck in a contractor, owe money on your phones. No worries. Patriot Mobile has a contract buyout program. And this is how we win, folks, by aligning our spinning with our values. Every dollar we spend matters. Now let me also give you a free month of Service. Go to patriotmobile.com ferguson that's patriot mobile.com ferguson or you can call them 972-patriot. Use the promo code Ferguson and you're going to get one month free service by switching today. So again, patriotmobile.com Ferguson use the promo code Ferguson. You'll get a free month of service today. PatriotMobile.com Ferguson or 972-patreon. It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts right now. Story number one, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said his panel is now wrapping up its investigation into President Joe Biden's use of the auto pin after a new report revealed major concerns that were raised within the former Biden administration itself. The new records reveal that President Biden's own administration @ the highest levels closest to the president, raised significant concerns about not only the auto pin use, but especially for it to grant thousands, dozens of pardons. This is a historic scandal with massive repercussions is what James Comer said in response to the newest report, quote, as President Joe Biden declined, his aides carried out executive actions without his approval, casting even more doubt on the legitimacy of thousands of pardons and also other executive actions. Comer added, the House Oversight Committee is in the final stages of its investigation and they said there must be accountability for this scandal. President Trump has also weighed in on this newest breaking news, saying, quote, the Biden auto pin scandal is big, not as big as the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax or the rigged 2020 presidential election, but nevertheless, one of the biggest ever. Now, don't worry, the left is pushing back. In fact, a former White House Biden staffer said the pard process, it was totally fine, saying Republicans like to talk about Biden whenever news hits that they don't want to talk about. Today, they don't want to talk about, what is it, the worst job gain since 2020. Instead, they want to talk about Biden because Trump, he says, is responsible for the latest numbers. Now let's go back to what the reality of the situation is. I want you to hear from Mark Smith. He's a constitutional attorney on FOX News Channel. And here's what he had to say about the developments, especially when it comes to Bide and top aides saying they rarely saw or even talked to the president while giving out thousands of pardons.
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Podcast Host Brian
Let's bring in constitutional attorney Mark Smith. Mark, thank you so much for being here. This story just keeps on going and going. Let's bring up this snippet from this Axios report that says that there were people within the Biden administration who had major concerns about this. Quote, an email from Biden's chief of staff, Jeff Zients at 10:31pm the night of January 19, less than 4:14 hours before Biden was to leave office, confirmed the use of the presidential auto pen for those pardons. I approve the use of the auto pen for the execution of all of the following pardons. Thanks, Jay Z. That was an email from Biden's chief of staff. What do you make of this latest Axios report?
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Ben Ferguson
Mark?
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Mark Smith
Brian, I think the big picture here is this is very good news politically and legally for President Donald Trump. As you know, there are a series of these Supreme Court cases over the power of the president to control Article 2, the executive executive branch. And historically, in the last several decades, Brian, as you know, the deep state, these unelected bureaucrats have been running amok, controlling the executive branch and running the government in many respects. And this is just a recent, more recent example and a very good example to highlight the problems with an unelected people will run the auto pen, run the White House and so on. And I think all this is going to be very good in terms of atmospherics to helping Donald Trump continue to win these cases before the Supreme Court. Because the one thing Donald Trump is doing very, very well is reminding people that as the president of the United States, all of the executive powers in Article 2 of the Constitution is vested in him as the president, the one person that's elected by all the people, voted on by all Americans. And I think this is very helpful in front of the U.S. supreme Court, which is why Donald Trump keeps winning before the Supreme Court these questions of executive power and his authority.
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Podcast Host Brian
Well, atmospheric, some politics aside, what about legally by the law? Is there any sense here that these more historic a record number 4250 Pardons and clemencies that were signed with this auto pen, do they get thrown out the door?
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Mark Smith
Well, at a very high level, certainly a president is allowed to use an auto pen or an electronic signature. I mean, people use electronic signatures to sign contracts every day in American life. And that is legally fine. But this all assumes, Brian, that the person who is doing this is signing off on this is actually approved the use of in this case, the auto penalty. And that really gets into did Joe Biden actually approve these pardons using the auto pen or not? And I think the only way to know whether or not this is true is, would be if somebody comes forward from the Biden administration says, you know what? He really didn't know what was going on. These were being, these parents were being issued with an auto pen by people that lack the authority from the president to do so. And it's going to be very difficult to get those inside facts, I suspect. But the oversight committee is certainly working on trying to get to the bottom of this. But the question is that Joe Biden as president really authorized these or not. That's the factual question. That's key.
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Ben Ferguson
There is a very good chance this is going to work its way all the way to the Supreme Court. And you heard him mention there that the president keeps having big victories at the Supreme Court. That is true. I'll give you a breaking news update on that. The Supreme Court has allowed ICE agents, we're now being told, to keep arresting illegal aliens in the sanctuary city of Los Angeles. So whether it's on the auto pin or on this issue of arresting illegal immigrants in la, the Supreme Court keeps backing the President of the United States of America. And they granted the request from President Donald Trump's administration to override a lower court's ruling from an activist judge that barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE agents from carrying out federal immigration enforcement operations under the claim that such raids could constitute racial profiling. So what did the court say? No, we're not buying it. California, and they can still do their job to keep Americans safe. Now, story number two, Pete, Ed, Seth, he is the defense Secretary. He has arrived in Puerto Rico amid the U. S. Venezuela tensions that are continuing to rise. This is an important visit because it was unannounced. And not only was the U. S. Defense Secretary there, but the Joint Chief's chairman, General Kane, also was on the trip. It was an unannounced visit, an unplanned visit for the public to Puerto Rico as the U. S. Has ramped up military activities in the Caribbean aimed at drug trafficking networks. They met officials at the 156 Wing Air National Guard Base. Headset addressed roughly 300 service members while he was there. And the question you may be asking yourself is this, why now? Well, it's pretty simple. The trip follows a September 2 US military strike in the southern Caribbean that sank a vessel departing Venezuela with US officials saying 11 suspected members of the Trend Cartel, they are also a terrorist organization, were all killed Some regional leaders back the action. Others urge more transparency. Venezuela also denied the US Allegations and criticized the operation. And that's exactly what should be expected. So now the question is why is the Pentagon weighing Puerto Rico as a hub or is this more about expanding counter narcotics operations altogether? Now we also know that plans include deploying 10 F35 fighter jets to the island and conducting military flights out of Puerto Rico. An unusually large cluster of U.S. warships, about eight, is already operating in the region as well. Marines are also on the island. Elements of the 22nd Marine Unit are in Puerto Rico for amphibious and flight training. We've been told Puerto Rico's governor estimated a thousand Marines on the island. And the Guard says the training was pre planned and, quote, not tied to the new maritime force. CBS News had it this way on the unplanned visit and what it could mean.
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Carol Martin Markowitz
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dan Kane arrived in Puerto Rico this morning as tension continues to build between the United States and Venezuela. They were welcomed there by Puerto Rico Governor Jennifer Gonzalez, who said on in part on X. We thank President Trump and his administration for recognizing the strategic value Puerto Rico has to the national security of the United States and the fight against drug cartels in our hemisphere perpetuated by narco dictator Nicolas Maduro. For more on this, I want to bring in John Burns. He is the strategic director for Concerned Veterans for America after serving more than 22 years in the Marine Corps and the Army National Guard. Thank you very much for joining us. What does this arrival here of Hexath and Kaine to Puerto Rico signal to you?
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John Burns
Well, thank you, Nancy, for having me on. I think there's a lot of signals there. One of the key takeaways for me, aside from just the situation with Venezuela and the drug situation in the Caribbean, is the national defense strategy, which is a little overdue, is said to be released within the next seven to 10 days. And early reporting indicates that there's a large pivot towards defense of the American hemisphere and away from heavily being heavily engaged in other parts of the world, Europe. I think there's probably still going to be an emphasis to a degree on the Indo Pacific, maybe not as much as we thought, but this is the key role that our Department of Defense, Department of War should be playing. Our primary interest is securing our hemisphere and our homeland.
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Carol Martin Markowitz
John, of course, this arrival, this trip comes with a backdrop of the United States deploying eight warships and fighter jets into that area in addition to amassing troops off Puerto Rico. If this is a war on drugs. What kind of guardrails, if any, exist for the President to send troops into Venezuela?
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John Burns
Well, the President has said that he doesn't want to or he's not considering this a regime change mission, which I think was very, very encouraging.
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Ben Ferguson
That's right. As much as the media tries to lie to you and tell you that the President's going for regime change, that is not what this is about at all. This is all about fighting narco terrorism. And yes, they are terrorists that are killing Americans. So you may ask yourself this question. Why Puerto Rico? Why would you choose this for this counter cartel operation? Well, it's pretty simple geography. Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands sit inside the Caribbean transit zone, historically a gateway for cocaine, fentanyl and other drugs headed to the mainland usa. That strategic position plus US sovereignty eases the basing the logistics and also the prosecutions of those that are caught alive. And then you just have access and response times from a military, military standpoint. From Puerto Rico, aircraft and ships can quickly reach the Mona Passage, the Dominican Republic Puerto Rico corridor and the sea lanes north of Venezuela, improving time to intercept for go fast boats and mother ships. This builds on the intricacies and the model that has been used by the Coast Guard there for years as well. What is this all really about? It's about sending a clear message that the President is going on offense, that the literal war on cartels has just begun. And this is part of where Puerto Rico also comes in. You have additional air and maritime assets in Puerto Rico. This will help with surveillance and interaction coverage over the choke points where traffickers are most vulnerable at sea. The Coast Guard's layered approach, as it was described by the White House, will have large cutters, aircraft and partner forces and all the benefits of the DoD platforms and their increased presence combined. So it's pretty simple. President United States of America is saying we are going all in and we're going to do this with all of the technology and the forces that America has. Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. And for more in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast and we will see you back here tomorrow.
- [18:05]
Advertisement Announcer
Right now, America's Christian Credit Union is offering the top 12 month certificate rate in the nation. This limited time offer is just for new Accu members earn 4.75% APY on deposits up to 1 million. And it only takes $1,000 to get started. It's called a Term Share Certificate, similar to a cd but with a mission and supports. What matters Christian schools, churches, adoptions and more. Visit americaschristiancu.com to get started. America's Christian Credit Union is federally insured by the NCUA.
- [18:35]
Ben Ferguson
This is for guys who like being guys. We're Public Rec and we make clothes that are lightweight, breathable, that look good and feel great even for summer golf with our new Medina series. Shop now@publicwreck.com radio public rec.
- [18:52]
Carol Martin Markowitz
You want smart political talk without the meltdowns? We got you. I'm Carol Martin Markowitz.
- [18:57]
Ben Ferguson
And I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm. We've been around the block in media.
- [18:59]
Carol Martin Markowitz
And we're doing things differently. Normally is about real conversations, thoughtful, try.
- [19:04]
Ben Ferguson
To be funny, grounded, and no panic. We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day.
- [19:11]
Carol Martin Markowitz
Join us every Tuesday and Thursday Normally on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [19:21]
Ben Ferguson
What I told people I was making a podcast about Benghazi.
- [19:25]
John Burns
Nine times out of ten they called.
- [19:27]
Ben Ferguson
Me a masochist, rolled their eyes, or just asked why Benghazi? The truth became a web of lies from prologue projects and Pushkin Industries. This is Fiasco Benghazi.
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Carol Martin Markowitz
What difference at this point does it make?
- [19:44]
Ben Ferguson
Listen to Fiasco Benghazi on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast.