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Ben Ferguson
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Ben Ferguson
Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz Ben Ferguson with you and it's so nice to have you with us Especially if you are listening on the radio around the country. We've got a lot to discuss that happened this last week, including some incredible crime stats that the media is not connecting back to the policies of the Trump administration.
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, we have a big show today. We start with the numbers that were just released that show murder rates in the United States dropped more than 20%. That is on top of data that just came out that show drug overdose deaths dropped more than 20%. Both of these this year compared to last year. We're gonna break down those numbers. We're going to talk about why that's happening and how literally tens of thousands of Americans are alive today because President Trump was reelected and Republicans have control of both houses of Congress. We're also going to talk about Jack Smith's disastrous testimony before the House of Representatives. He got up and brazenly tried to defend his abuse of power, and it did not go well. We're going to give you all the details.
Ben Ferguson
I want to take a quick moment and talk to you about an incredible organization, and it is called Compassion International and how you can get involved. I want you to meet Maria. In 15 years, she'll be a nurse bringing health care to her village. Right now, she's eight. And she just needs someone to believe she can get there, someone to help her stay in school, someone to tell her she's capable of extraordinary things. I want you to meet James, a future engineer. He'll design clean water systems for his community. Today, he's learning multiplication and dreaming big. But he needs more than dreams. He needs nutrition. He needs mentorship and someone who won't give up on him. Meet Sophia. She'll become the first in her family to graduate university. She'll teach dozens of children who remind her of herself. But right now, at age 10, she's at a crossroads. And your support could be what tips the balance. Through Compassion International. You're not helping a child survive poverty. You're investing in who they'll become. The teacher, the leader, the parents who will change their family story forever, impact the world one child at a time. Learn how@compassion.com that's compassion.com. all right, Senator, so let's just get back to this headline. Lot of people not paying attention to it because why? Well, no one's covering it because it's good news. There are fewer Americans that are becoming victims of crime, fewer people in America that are being murdered. All of this because of Donald Trump's leadership in trying to go into dangerous cities and make them safer for all Americans.
Senator Ted Cruz
That's right. Let's start with crime. And what was released this week is the latest murder rates. And the murder rates across the United States decreased nationwide roughly 20%. And let's put that in specific numbers. If you look at January through October of 2025, and you compare it to the same time period in 2024, in 2025, approximately 5912 murders were recorded in the U.S. in that same time period in 2024, 7369 murders were recorded. In other words, one, there are about 1400 people, 1400 people alive who were not murdered because of common sense law and order policies, because of not releasing murderers onto the street, because of deporting murderers and violent gang members. And let's break the numbers down. Chicago, the murder rate dropped 30%. New York City, the murder rate dropped 20%. Birmingham, Alabama, it dropped 49%. Albuquerque, New Mexico, it dropped 32%. Baltimore, Maryland, it dropped 31%. Atlanta, Georgia, 26%. Oakland, California, 33%. Washington, D.C. where President Trump deployed the National Guard, 31%. These are historic lows. And if these Trends continue, the US may record its lowest murder rate since 1960. That is 66 years ago. That is a stunning result, by the way. Border crime. Border crime. Other violent crimes also decreased in 2025, including a 25% drop in motor vehicle theft, an 18% drop in robberies, and an 8% drop in aggravated assaults. Now, these data are being reported. And, and what is really quite interesting is, is the media is doing everything they can to cover it up. So Axios wrote the first story on this, and they talk about the murder rate has fallen, but they say, well, it's unclear that this has anything to do with Donald Trump or DOJ or the FBI or policies that Republicans have put in place deporting violent criminals and murderers and gang members, which is truly, it is a level of dishonesty that is incredible. And I want to give you some of the raw backgrounds that explains why the murder rate has dropped so profoundly. Here are some raw numbers. And this was put out by FBI Director Kash Patel of what has happened. That would explain why is it that we've seen a 20% drop in murder rate in the last year? We've seen an increase in violent crime arrests. What rate do you think the increase in violent crime arrest has been?
Ben Ferguson
What has it been? I have no clue.
Senator Ted Cruz
100%. Wow. All right, how about this? Gangs and criminal enterprises disrupted. What rate do you think that that increase has been?
Ben Ferguson
I'm going to guess it's got to be significant.
Senator Ted Cruz
210%. A total of 1,800 gangs and criminal enterprises disrupted. All right, fentanyl. More than 2,000 kilos of fentanyl seized. That's up 31%. That's enough to kill 130 million Americans. There have also been more than 6,000 child victims located. That's an increase of 22%. There have been more than 1,700 child predators arrested. That's an increase of 10%. There have been more than 300 human traffickers arrested. That's up 15%. There's a 35% increase in espionage arrests. And four of the FBI's top 10 most wanted fugitives were captured. And to give you a sense of that, in one year, do you how many. How many of the FBI's top 10 list were captured in the four years of the Biden presidency?
Ben Ferguson
I'm gonna guess it's less than five.
Senator Ted Cruz
Four. So in one year, they captured as many on the top 10 list as Biden did in all four years. And the media want to do everything they can to say, nope, nope. This drop in the murder rate, it just happened magically. It's probably due to global warming or something. It has nothing to do with. With arresting murderers. It has nothing to do with deporting murderers. It certainly has nothing to do with Ms. 13 gang members being put in jail and deported, despite the fact that the way you join ms.13 is by murdering someone. And this is real results. And then you put on top of it. You put on top of it the drop in overdoses. And when we come back, we're going to give you the drop in overdoses, which is even more profound. Even more lives have been saved in the past year.
Ben Ferguson
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Ben Ferguson
We also have some incredible data when it comes to overdoses in this country. Saving countless lives by securing the border but also going after the cartels and doing everything we can to stop the flow of drugs in this country. And it's working quickly.
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, you're right. Although the one thing I'll disagree with you on is you said countless lives. We actually can count the lives that have been saved. And the lives that have been saved are staggering. We just discussed how the murder rate has dropped 20% in the first year of the Trump administration to the lowest rate since 1960, the lowest rate in 66 years. That means roughly 1400Americans are alive today who would have been murdered if Joe Biden and the Democrats soft on crime, open border policies were still in effect. Now that's a lot. 1,400 people still alive. Nobody knows who it is. It may be you, it may be me, it may be our family or loved ones. We don't know who it is that would have been murdered, but there would have been more murders. As big as that is, that's not even close to the biggest decrease in deaths because of President Trump and because of common sense policies. The biggest decrease in deaths comes from the drug overdose deaths numbers. And I want to pause for a second and ask everyone listening to this, have you seen this on the six o' clock news? Have you read this in the New York Times? Have you seen the corporate media covering this? They don't want to cover this. Here are the stats. In 2025, drug overdose deaths in America dropped roughly 21%. Now, what does that mean? That means in 2024 there were 91,694 deaths from drug overdoses. 91,694, same time period. And that's actually year long projected. Looking at the data from January to August, and this is from the CDC, 91,694 in 2024. What do you think they were in 2025? Well, the answer is 72,836. In other words, the deaths fell from 91,694 to 72,836. That means there are about 19,000 people who did not die because of drug overdoses. And what are the policies that led to it? Well, number one, securing the border. We've seen a 99% decrease in illegal crossings. Number two, targeting the drug traffickers. All of the images you've seen of the administration taking out Venezuelan drug boats filled with drugs. Those drugs are not arriving in the United States at nearly the same rate. And there are 19,000Americans who are alive today. These are sons and daughters. These are husbands and wives, brothers and sisters that are alive that did not die. You combine the decrease in deaths from drug overdoses with the decrease in deaths from murders and you're looking at more than 20,000Americans that are alive today. And so you may not think that government policies necessarily impact your life, but there are 20,000Americans, and none of us will know for sure who those 20,000 are that are alive today. Because the administration is rightly focused on public safety, rightly focused on locking up violent criminals, on putting murderers in jail, on putting rapists in jail, on putting child molesters in jail, and on deporting violent criminal illegal immigrants and gang members. And America is much, much safer as a result.
Ben Ferguson
You know what's interesting about this Senator and I just talk about a compare and contrast. Donald Trump comes in and we lower crime statistically nationwide. And it's in a level, as you mentioned earlier, that we haven't seen in decades. You compare that to what Democrats were doing to lower crime. They were just lying about the crime stats. Washington, D.C. is a prime example of this. Before the election, they wanted to look like crime had gone down. They straight up lied about the crime statistics. We've seen this happen in other cities around the country where they got busted lying or recategorizing certain crimes and putting them in different categories so they wouldn't be reported the same way to make it artificially look like crime had gone down. And the difference here is one party really fights crime and goes after the criminals and wins, and the other one says, when you do a crime, we'll make it look safer by altering the numbers. That is the difference between the Republican, the Democratic Party on the issue of crime in America today.
Senator Ted Cruz
That's exactly right. And you also have, you have the media deliberately lying. So for example, this past week there was a story that was breathlessly reported, which is that the Trump administration has arrested a five year old, ICE has targeted a five year old. And there's an adorable picture of a little five year old. And, and, and the left went crazy with that. Twitter went crazy with that. There are multiple reports. It turns out that the five year old, what happened is his father was an illegal immigrant. ICE showed up to arrest the illegal immigrant father and the father abandoned the kid, he ran off. And so the ICE agents understandably stayed back with the five year old kid because the father had just left him alone. And you know, I guess the alternative, which the media would want ICE to do is just to let a five year old kid be alone on the streets and freeze to death. Like it is. The level of duplicity, the level of mendacity, the level of just flat out lying is astonishing. And why is that? It is because the Democrats and the media, although I repeat myself, do not want you to know that the people they're showing up and arresting are overwhelmingly violent criminals. They're not five year old kids. In this instance, the five year old child was abandoned by his father. And by the way, there are instances all over the country where, where if you have someone who's pulled over on the side of the road and they have a child in the car and the adult abandons the child, law enforcement will always take care of the kid. That's what your father's been in. Law Enforcement his whole life. That's what your dad would do. It's what any law enforcement would do. If a parent abandons a child and it is fundamentally dishonest to claim, aha. What they were doing was arresting the child. That's not what they were doing and the media knows it.
Ben Ferguson
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Senator Ted Cruz
Jack Smith was the point of the spear on the greatest abuse of power we have seen in modern times. And to put it in context, what Jack Smith did was orders of magnitude worse than what the Nixon administration did during Watergate. During Watergate, you can a couple of half freight burglars break into the headquarters of the dnc, the Democrat National Committee, in this instance, Jack Smith, what he did was orders of magnitude worth. He went directly after President Trump indicted him multiple times. He did so for a very explicit reason because he wanted to prevent the American people from re electing him. It was an effort directly to subvert democracy. It was the first time in the history of the United States that a president or former president has been indicted. Jack Smith did it twice. And then he also teamed up with his rogue Democrat local prosecutors to do it two more times. He also subpoenaed the phone records of roughly 20% of the Republicans in the Senate. In a fishing expedition, he targeted over 400 Republicans. It was a political persecution. If you're a fan of Les Mis, Jack Smith would make Javert blush. He was out of control and he continues to be brazen. And I will tell you, his testimony testified for the House of Representatives. It was a disaster. Jim Jordan, your friend and mine, he's been a guest on the Verdict podcast before. Jim Jordan chaired the hearing. He opened the hearing by pointed out that the FBI, when it raided Mar? A Lago, that it searched Melania's closet because apparently her clothing and underwear is a matter of national security, according to Jack Smith and the Biden doj. And it searched Barron Trump's bedroom because, you know, going after a teenager is really the best use for the Department of Justice. And I guess it is if you're willing to abuse your power. I want you to listen to to Jim Jordan talking about Jack Smith at the hearing. Here, give a listen.
Jim Jordan
Gentleman yields back. Mr. Smith, is Cassidy Hutchinson a liar. She was their star witness. January 6th committee, their star witness in one of those staged and choreographed hearings they paid the former president of ABC News to put together. She was fact the only witness at this special prime time hearing. Tuesday, June 28, 2022, 8:00, clock in the evening. And she told some stories I mean, these were, these were some stories she talked about present. Lunged across the back seat, grabbed the steering wheel, tried to drive the car to the Capitol. And I just want to know, you think she was lying?
Jack Smith
Chairman Jordan? My assessment of, of that particular issue is that with respect to the testimony about someone lunge or the President lunging towards the driver, my recollection of her testimony about that is that it was secondhand. She had said she'd heard that from somebody.
Jim Jordan
You familiar with the name Tony Ornato?
Jack Smith
I'm sorry?
Jim Jordan
You familiar with the name Tony Ornato?
Jack Smith
Yes.
Jim Jordan
White House Deputy Chief of Operations. Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations. Right. Remember what he said about it as.
Jack Smith
I sit here right now. I do not.
Jim Jordan
Yeah, he said it didn't happen. How about Bobby Engel? You familiar with that name?
Jack Smith
Yes, I am.
Jim Jordan
Secret Service agent who was actually in the car that day. You know what he said? He said it didn't happen. And they both said the first time they ever heard this story was when Ms. Hutchinson testified in the primetime hearing as their star witness of the January 6th committee. By the way, did you ever confirm her testimony about this particular incident?
Jack Smith
We conducted, as I said before, our own independent investigation of all aspects of the case that we thought was relevant. We attorneys from my office.
Jim Jordan
Did you ever confirm it? That's a simple question.
Jack Smith
We interviewed her, I should say attorneys.
Jim Jordan
In my office, did you ever confirm the President leaping across the seat, grabbing the steering wheel? This whole concoction she brought up in the January 6th hearing, do you ever confirm that?
Senator Ted Cruz
Right.
Jack Smith
We interviewed a. Another first hand witness who was in the car who did not confirm that that happened.
Jim Jordan
But also your deposition to the committee last month, Mr. Smith, you said this. My recollection with Ms. Hutchinson was a number of the things that she gave evidence on were secondhand hearsay. You remember making that statement to us last month in the deposition?
Jack Smith
I did. And I was referring particularly to what we're talking about now.
Jim Jordan
Yeah. And you also said, Ms. Hutchinson, regarding this particular claim, was a second or even third hand witness. We ask you, if you were a defense attorney, how would you handle cross examining her if she was on the witness stand? And you said, if I were a defense attorney, Ms. Hutchinson were a witness, the first thing I would do was seek to preclude her testimony because it was hearsay. You remember saying all that?
Jack Smith
Yes, that's correct, sir.
Jim Jordan
That's correct. Right. Were you going to put her on the witness stand if you ever got to trial?
Jack Smith
We had not made final determinations as to who we were going to call as a witness. We had a large.
Jim Jordan
Still considering her.
Jack Smith
We had a large choice of witnesses in this case.
Jim Jordan
Are you familiar with what Washington Post reporters Carol Lennig and Aaron Davis said in their book? They did his book, 300 some pages book on Chronicle and the whole investigation of the Justice Department. And here's what they said on page 310, they said Jack Smith had wondered whether some of Hutchinson's claims might be relied upon at trial. Still, at one point, Smith told the elections team he wasn't ready to give up on Hutchinson's account. Ultimately, however, Trump administration officials uniformly fiercely disputed her accounts under oath. Prosecutors on your team told Smith they wouldn't want to use Hutchinson as a witness in court. And Smith agreed. Are Carol Lennig and Aaron Davis, who wrote this, are they lying?
Jack Smith
My recollection is that I certainly had not made any final determinations about and who we were going to call.
Jim Jordan
And that's the point. That is the point. The fact that they used her in a primetime hearing and you won't rule out using her. Didn't rule out using her. Putting her on the witness stand when everybody knows she wasn't telling the truth, that says it all. That's the degree the left and Democrats were willing to go to get President Trump putting on the witness stand. Someone everybody knows is making it up. Everybody knows that. And you are willing to do it. By the way, you know how many times Cassidy Hutchinson was mentioned in their report, the January 6th report? Any idea, Mr. Smith?
Jack Smith
I do not.
Jim Jordan
185 times. Someone that the whole country knows wasn't telling the truth and you were still considering putting her on the witness stand because you had to get President Trump. And everybody can see that.
Ben Ferguson
Senator, you, you listen to that line of questioning, and that's just five minutes of pure facts and gold from Jim Jordan reminding people what they were trying to do on the left, even when they knew that things were being made up, that lies were being told. And this is no different than Russian collusion back in 16 when the FBI had already declared that they thought that the Steele dossier was, quote, user generated and they used it anyway. That's exactly what was happening here with the special counsel. It was weaponize and do whatever you want to do to try to stop Donald Trump from becoming president again.
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, and what Jim Jordan did there was also highlight the willingness to rely on people that were lying, that were obviously lying. You know, I will say it's interesting. Cassidy Hutchison, I don't know her personally before she Worked in the White House. She was apparently an intern in my office. I have no recollection of her. We have lots of interns who come in and out of the office. We tend to have interns in the spring semester and the fall semester and also during the summer. And typically I will sit down with the group of interns that are with us for like a 20 minute meeting in my office and I'll talk with them a little bit. So I assume I met her when she interned, but I don't remember her. She wrote a book. Right after her star testimony, she wrote a book of all of her stories. And in it she describes this exchange with me, this conversation that she says happened with me that is truly fantastic because it never occurred. And it was an exchange that she said occurred after she went to the White House. And the dialogue back and forth she makes up has me kind of like tugging on her shirt sleeve and asking for her help. And it has her strongly sticking it to the senator, I have to admit. So I didn't read her book and I think very few people actually did. I did what's called the Washington read. When someone writes something about you that's sort of making a little bit of news, which is, I went and read the like page where she talks about it and I literally laughed out loud at the exchange because it was truly fiction. And the fact that she was willing to fictionalize a conversation with me that did not occur tells me that the other pages of the book are quite likely to be fiction as well. And it speaks volumes that both Jack Smith and the democrats running the January 6th commission were perfectly happy to rely upon a fabulous whom they knew was not telling the truth.
Ben Ferguson
Senator, one of our good friends actually did a great back and forth in this hearing. Brandon Gill, a guy who his tone and his demeanor is always really cool and calm and kind of quiet, but very direct. And it's a. A personality that I love watching because of the way that he asks questions and gets answers. And he did a really fabulous job in this situation as well.
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, as you know, Brandon Gill is a good friend. He's a freshman representative from Texas. He's someone I supported when he ran in a very crowded primary. He had a big win. And I told the voters of Texas if they elected him, he was going to be a leader in Washington. And already just in his first year plus on Capitol Hill, he's already proven to be a leader in Washington. Here he's cross examining Jack Smith about Arctic Frost and in particular his willingness to trample on the Constitution to target both the speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy and also roughly 20% of the Republicans in the United States Senate. Give a listen to this exchange and how ridiculous Jack Smith's responses are to Brandon Gill's questions.
Jim Jordan
The gentleman from Texas, Mr. Gill is recognized for five minutes.
Podcast Announcer
Mr. Smith, in January of 2023, did you subpoena then speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy's toll records?
Jack Smith
Yes, sir, we did.
Podcast Announcer
Yes, you did. And the subpoena covered the time period between November 2020 and January 2021, is that right?
Jack Smith
I'm sorry sir, could you say that again?
Podcast Announcer
We're not going to delay like this. The subpoena covered the time period between November of 2020 and January 2021. How many days after Kevin McCarthy was sworn in as speaker did you subpoena his records?
Jack Smith
I don't recall. But those two things had nothing.
Podcast Announcer
It was 16 days after becoming the highest ranking Republican in the House of Representatives. You subpoenaed his toll records. Do you agree that that might reasonably be considered a violation of the speech or debate clause?
Jack Smith
I do not. And I want to be clear that.
Podcast Announcer
The toll records you were collecting months worth worth of phone data on the Republican speaker of the House, the Leader of the Opposition, right after he got sworn in as speaker, all around the time of a major vote. That sounds like a flagrant violation of the speech or debate clause to me. And I think most people agree with me. And Speaker McCarthy had no recourse, did he? Because you issued a non disclosure order ensuring that neither he nor any of the American people knew about these subpoenas, is that right?
Jack Smith
The toll record, the non contact toll record subpoenas. We did secure non disclosure orders for those subpoenas.
Podcast Announcer
You did. And let me ask you, Mr. Smith, at the time you, you secured those non disclosure orders, was Speaker McCarthy a flight risk?
Jack Smith
The non disclosure order was based on concerns about.
Podcast Announcer
Was Speaker McCarthy a flight risk?
Jack Smith
He was not.
Podcast Announcer
He was not. Then why did your non disclosure order refer to him as a flight flight risk? It says right here the court finds reasonable grounds to believe that such disclosure will result in flight from prosecution.
Jack Smith
Sir, when securing a non disclosure order, the risks don't have to be associated.
Podcast Announcer
You think that the speaker of the House is finishing the question? No. This is not your time. This is my time. You think, you think the speaker of the House is a flight risk? You think he's going to hop on a plane and leave the country?
Jack Smith
No, no. What I was trying to explain is with respect to a non disclosure order the risks aren't necessarily associated with the subscriber to the phone. There's the risks to the investigation.
Podcast Announcer
I think that you were using. This is clearly in reference to Speaker McCarthy and you were using clearly false information to secure a non disclosure order to hide from Speaker McCarthy and from the American people the fact that you were spying on his toll records. But I've got more.
Senator Ted Cruz
More.
Podcast Announcer
So let's move on. In May of 2023, you also issued subpoenas for toll records of nine U.S. senators and an additional representative, is that right?
Jack Smith
In May of 23 we did issue.
Senator Ted Cruz
You did.
Podcast Announcer
And there were non disclosure orders in conjunction with those subpoenas as well, right?
Jack Smith
That's correct. Consistent with Department policy and the law.
Podcast Announcer
So again, nobody would know what you were doing. The Senators wouldn't, the Representatives wouldn't, the American people wouldn't know what you were doing. Is that right?
Jack Smith
The toll records that we secured and the non disclosure orders were consistent with.
Podcast Announcer
Policy and you knew whenever you were doing that that there was a risk you were violating the speech or debate clause, Is that right?
Jack Smith
The toll record subpoenas that we secured were with the concurrence of the Public Integrity.
Podcast Announcer
Your own analysis says that you knew there was a risk you were violating the speech or debate clause. I have it right here. This is an email from John Keller at Public Integrity Section to your team. As you are aware, quote, as you are aware, there is some litigation risk regarding whether compelled disclosure of toll records of a member's legislative calls violates the speech or debate clause in the D.C. circuit. That's from your own analysis right there. So you did know, didn't you, sir?
Jack Smith
With respect to the item you just put up on the screen, the last sentence states.
Podcast Announcer
Oh, we're going to get to the last sentence. Okay, we're going to get to the last sentence and you cite case law in here. Quote, the bar on compelled disclosure is absolute is right. Is that right or do you think that you didn't have to abide by that precedent?
Jack Smith
To be clear, this is not. This statement is not from my office. This is the statement.
Podcast Announcer
This is your justification for those subpoenas and indos that you ordered? This was part of your analysis. It's a cursory analysis. I think it's worth noting. But let's get to that last sentence then, quote. Given my understanding of the low likelihood that any of the members listed below would be charged, the litigation risk should be minimal here. In other words, you're using a novel legal theory which you knew was Novel has never been tested by any court. You're not charging any of these members. Nobody's going to know about it because you, you issued ndos. Nobody's going to sue about it. So sue this. So who cares? We're going to do it anyways. I mean, you walked all over the Constitution throughout this entire process. Chairman, the gentleman's times I members of Congress and you know it. It's absolutely disgraceful.
Ben Ferguson
It's incredible when you, when you hear just how out of control our government was under the direction of the Biden administration and Jack Smith and the unlimited powers that clearly he believed he had to just do and create whatever he wanted to try to bring down Donald Trump and anyone around him.
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, Jack Smith knew that what he was doing was illegal, that it violated the Constitution, that it violated the speech and debate clause. But as that email exchange indicates that Brandon Gill read, he was counting on the fact that no one would ever know about it, that it would stay secret, that it would never be made public so he could violate the law. And his objective was to prevent the American people from re electing President Trump. And let's be clear. If Kamala Harris is doj were were in office, we wouldn't know about this. Nobody would know about this. He would have succeeded. You know, he, he, he's like the, the villain in Scooby Doo. You know, he would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids. And by the way, by the meddling kids, he means the voters of America who decided, no, we've had enough of this dumpster fire. We'd like to get back to common sense. And, and, and I gotta say, Jack Smith is just calmly telling Congress that he went, but went before the judge and he lied. He lied over and over again. I thought the exchange is Kevin flight risk. He says no. Well then why did you tell the judge he was a flight risk? And he has no good answer? Well, you know, we're not referring to the actual target of the subpoena. It's complete nonsense. He also told, told the judge that every Republican that he subpoenaed was likely to destroy evidence, completely made up false statements and it's an abuse of power. And Jack Smith is completely unapologetic.
Ben Ferguson
Incredible. Don't forget we do this show as a podcast three days a week. So make sure you hit that subscribe or auto download button wherever you get your podcast so that you don't miss a single episode. And the center and I will see you back here on this radio station next week and on your phone or wherever you get your podcasts as well. This week, all week long, can you buy real Bitcoin in your retirement account? If not, it's time to upgrade to Bitcoin ira. You can buy and sell Bitcoin with major tax advantages. Visit bitcoin ira.com or call call 866-679-7871 now.
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Podcast Announcer
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Senator Ted Cruz
Guaranteed Human.
Episode Title: Murder Rate Plummets—Trump Literally Saving Lives plus Disastrous Jack Smith Testimony
Date: January 23, 2026
Hosts: Senator Ted Cruz & Ben Ferguson
In this episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz, Senator Ted Cruz and co-host Ben Ferguson dive into recent crime and drug overdose statistics, attributing significant nationwide reductions to President Trump’s leadership and Republican policies. They also analyze Special Counsel Jack Smith’s recent testimony before Congress, arguing it exposed serious overreach and constitutional violations in the pursuit of Donald Trump and his allies.
[02:50-10:41]
Latest Data: Newly released statistics show a nationwide murder rate drop of over 20% from Jan-Oct 2024 to the same period in 2025.
Senator Cruz details:
Broader Crime Trends:
Media Reaction:
“These are historic lows... If these trends continue, the US may record its lowest murder rate since 1960.”
—Sen. Ted Cruz [06:18]
“In one year, [the FBI] captured as many on the top 10 list as Biden did in all four years.”
—Sen. Ted Cruz [09:47]
[13:21-17:05]
Drug Overdoses Down:
Key Drivers (according to Cruz):
“There are 19,000 Americans who are alive today. These are sons and daughters, these are husbands and wives... You combine the decrease in deaths from drug overdoses with the decrease in deaths from murders and you’re looking at more than 20,000 Americans that are alive today.”
—Sen. Ted Cruz [15:40]
[17:05-20:02]
“The difference here is one party really fights crime and goes after the criminals and wins, and the other one... make[s] it look safer by altering the numbers.”
—Ben Ferguson [17:56]
“‘The left went crazy with that... In this instance, the five year old child was abandoned by his father… law enforcement will always take care of the kid... It is fundamentally dishonest to claim, aha, what they were doing was arresting the child.’”
—Sen. Ted Cruz [18:43]
[22:44-40:11]
“If you’re a fan of Les Mis, Jack Smith would make Javert blush. He was out of control and he continues to be brazen.”
—Sen. Ted Cruz [23:53]
Chairman Jim Jordan’s Cross-examination [24:45-29:23]:
Cruz Anecdote:
“You think the Speaker of the House is a flight risk? ...You walked all over the Constitution throughout this entire process... It’s absolutely disgraceful.”
—Rep. Brandon Gill [35:31-38:21]
Cruz on Trump policy results:
Ferguson on media treatment:
Cruz on Jack Smith’s justificiations:
Cruz on Smith’s legacy:
Cruz on Cassidy Hutchinson’s book:
| Timestamp | Segment | |:---:|:---| | 02:50 | Main discussion begins: murder & overdose statistics | | 05:26 | Murder stats broken down by city | | 08:33 | Violent crime arrests data | | 13:21 | Overdose deaths data and analysis | | 17:05 | Media and Democratic reaction, crime stat comparisons | | 22:44 | Jack Smith background and context | | 24:45 | Jim Jordan questions Jack Smith | | 31:57 | Cruz critiques Cassidy Hutchinson’s book | | 33:08 | Rep. Brandon Gill questions Jack Smith | | 38:22 | Discussion on Smith’s justification, constitutional violations | | 40:11 | Episode wrap-up |
The episode asserts that the Trump administration and Republican policies have produced measurable declines in both violent crime and drug overdoses, saving tens of thousands of American lives. Cruz and Ferguson argue these achievements are underreported due to political bias in the media and contrast them with what they frame as Democratic efforts to misrepresent or downplay crime stats. The second half dissects Jack Smith’s congressional testimony, highlighting GOP critiques of his conduct and the underlying legal, ethical, and constitutional concerns in his investigation of Trump. The episode is marked by a sharp, partisan tone and a blend of data analysis, anecdote, and direct transcription from recent hearings.