California in Chaos & Democrats side with the Rioters plus "Maryland Man" Indicted for Human Trafficking & Biden's Autopen Investigation
44:51 Share

This is an iHeart Podcast. We've all tried protein drinks on the go, but why don't they taste more like the ones we make at home or from the juice bar? They're too chalky and too sweet from sugar or artificial sweeteners. We love the health benefits, but hate the taste. Now you can finally get both with Don't Quit Protein Drinks. Loaded with 33 grams of proteins,

Only one gram of sugar and a cleaner approach to ingredients that use no artificial flavors or sweeteners, but still delivers that smooth texture and delicious taste we all crave. Don't let the wrong ingredients knock you down. Fuel your perseverance with Don't Quit Clean Protein Drinks. Get yours now at Jewel Osco.

And here we have a specimen from the early 2000s, a legacy investing platform. Please don't touch the exhibit, folks. It could crash. Ready to step out of the financial history museum? At public.com, you can invest in almost everything, stocks, bonds, options, and more. You could even put your cash to work at an industry-leading 4.1% APY.

Ryan Seacrest here.

When you have a busy schedule, it's important to maximize your downtime. One of the best ways to do that is by going to ChumbaCasino.com. Chumba Casino has all your favorite social casino games like Spin Slots, Bingo, and Solitaire that you can play for free for a chance to redeem some serious prizes. So hop on to ChumbaCasino.com now and live the Chumba life. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW group void where prohibited by law. 21 plus terms and conditions apply.

... ... ... ...

We have a winner. Yes. Listen to Armstrong and Getty on demand on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. And Senator, we've got one packed show for people today. Well, once again, California has descended into chaos. We're seeing riots. We're seeing cars lit on fire. We're seeing protesters waving Mexican flags, waving flags of other countries and defying, assaulting law enforcement. And amazingly, we're seeing a parade of Democrats all over the country.

all lining up to say, we the Democrats, we're with the rioters. That's the side we're on. Likewise, if you think about the illegal alien that we saw a parade of Democrats going down to El Salvador saying, we're on your side as well. Well, that particular illegal alien has been brought to America to be tried for human trafficking. This is an amazing illustration of exactly where today's Democrat Party stands.

And finally, we're going to talk about Joe Biden's use of the auto pen, use of the auto pen to sign legislation, use of the auto pen to issue pardons. What does that mean legally? What's the consequence of it? And what does it mean that President Trump says he's going to investigate it?

What happens next? Yeah, we're going to deal with that in a moment. I also want to talk to you about your cell phone service right now. How would you like to know that every time you make a phone call and every time you send a text and every time you pay your bill, you're actually standing up for the values you believe in? You're standing up for our First and Second Amendment rights, the rights of unborn children. And you're also supporting and advocating for our wounded warriors, our veterans and our first responders.

Well, when you're with Patriot Mobile, that's exactly what you do. And most of you are going to save real money when you make the switch to Patriot Mobile. So why are you waiting? They have cutting-edge technology just like everyone else now. In 2025, it is so easy to switch. No store visits.

No hassle. Keep your same number and keep your phone or upgrade to a new one. Plus, you're going to love the team at Patriot Mobile. They have a 100% U.S.-based customer team that can literally activate you in minutes right over the phone. And get this, Patriot Mobile is one of a few carriers with access to all three major U.S. networks.

That means you're going to get amazing nationwide coverage. And they can even put a second number on a different network on your same phone. So maybe you walk around with two phones right now. You don't have to do that with Patriot Mobile. They've got unlimited plans, mobile hotspots, international roaming, internet on the go devices. They've got it all, even home internet backups.

So what are you waiting for? Make a difference with every call you make, every text you send. Go to patriotmobile.com slash verdict. That's patriotmobile.com slash verdict or call them 972-PATRIOT right now. Use the promo code VERDICT for a free month of service. Switch to Patriot Mobile and defend freedom with every call and text you make. Patriotmobile.com slash verdict or 972-PATRIOT.

to Patriot. All right, so Senator, I just want to be clear. There's no riots in California. No.

peaceful protesters out there. This is completely normal. Maybe there's some cars on fire. Maybe there's some Mexican flags being flung by people that are angry that they're getting deported. You cannot make up what Democrats will defend. Well, look, it's tragic. It's tragic. The chaos, the violence that seems more and more commonplace in California, that seems more and more to be the face of today's Democrat Party.

I want you just to watch and see what is unfolding right now in California, in Los Angeles. And this is who today's left is.

Turning now to a Fox News alert. Anti-ice protesters are still rioting in Los Angeles County and setting a car on fire. You're looking at live pictures in Paramount, California, right now. In the last hour, Border Czar Tom Homan told us they were sending in the National Guard police.

to California. You know, Lydia, the damage is just striking here that we're seeing. We also have seen reports, there's a Fox Los Angeles reporter who's just there on scene trying to cover this story. He said his car was destroyed by protesters. You know, let's hope that no one is hurt.

And no one is injured. And it doesn't escalate from here. Look at the flag. Yeah, guys, there it is. You Mexican flag can, you know, you know, this is this is criminal activity that I hope is people are held accountable for. And I'm talking about the riots right here. Where are the cops? Yeah. Where are they? We heard earlier that Karen Bass, the mayor of L.A., an allegation that she had prevented the LAPD from responding yesterday when these are first developing guy for upwards of two hours or more. To your point, where are the police?

Well, the officials in this part of the country, in Los Angeles and California, are too busy tripping over themselves to attack Donald Trump and law enforcement. I guess those are the cops back there to actually condemn these people doing these things. And in the intro, Alicia, you said these are anti-ICE protesters. Yes, but if you just squint, it

It could easily be the BLM protesters or the Free Palestine protesters or the resist Doge protesters or the resist ICE in this case protesters. It is this dirtbag coalition of leftist, violent, so-called protests that has been a huge problem in this country for years. And they are escalating. Yeah. You don't see Democrats coming out with any sort of outrage over the destruction here. Is there?

Their outrage is the opposite. It's over the ICE officials who are out there. Let me give you five names where we're not hearing a lot from right now, except to attack these ICE officials, which is leading to attacks like this. Karen Bass, Los Angeles mayor, Gavin Newsom, California governor, Adam Schiff, who's awfully active on

X and social media condemning, to Guy's point, Donald Trump, not hearing anything from him. Eric Swalwell as well. You can't get away from this guy on social media attacking Trump. Nancy Pelosi, the former House Speaker. Where are you? This is war right now that we're seeing in terms of our federal agents being attacked and California officials doing nothing to stop it.

Now, it's going to be an incredibly bad look in the next 24 to 48 hours if you don't get the governor out there, if you don't get someone out there, to at least get people to stop. Because right now you have city leaders...

encouraging people to join the resistance. You have city leaders, let's just pick it up there, encouraging people to go out there and do this. You watch that video. There are a lot of Mexican flags. So I'm just trying to get my head around this. So Ben, I have an idea. Let's you and me, let's go illegally to France. Let's just break into France. Once we get there, let's start rioting against France because we hate France.

let's light the Eiffel Tower on fire. Let's start waving the American flag around while we're lighting the Eiffel Tower on fire. And let's say, don't you dare send us back to America, the flag we're flying, because you have no right to decide if we get to come into your country illegally. We can do anything you want. And if you try to enforce your laws illegally,

I guess we'll just light things on fire. And even better, your elected officials would say, damn right, you keep burning. And we'll send you more. This is truly through the twilight zone. And what is striking, let's break down several pieces of it. First of all, let's take the media. So we saw Fox News where they actually covered what's going on. Yes. I want to contrast that with CNN because CNN, look,

If you're a propaganda outlet, you've got a message to get out. And you know what the message is? Nothing to see here. This is peaceful. This is fine. I mean, they are famous for the police station being on fire. Remember in the summer of rage? Fiery but peaceful. Yeah, fiery but peaceful protest here. So, all right, I want you to watch CNN covering this same riot. Watch.

So there's unrest. Let's start with there's protest, lawful protest, which is allowed in this country. There is some unrest generally dealt with by local law enforcement and that there needs to be state support through state police and sometimes even National Guard under a governor's authority. What is happening tonight is is unprecedented.

I mean, I love that she's like, it's unrest. Oh, I can't say that. Hold on, I got to back that up. This is just peaceful, and that is something that is protected, and we're totally fine with this. She admitted unrest and immediately had to run away from it. And I got to say, it's striking also the video that they don't show anything on fire there. They've learned the lesson already.

where during the Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots, where they literally put on, if you don't remember this, they had a video of an entire store on fire. Yeah. And their chyron said, fiery but peaceful protests. Yeah. As buildings are burning. It is. They've got a message and...

Look, in the first video on Fox where the folks are talking, they say, where are the cops? And you see way up at the top a block away, and yet there are no police officers anywhere near the protesters, no police officers anywhere near the car that's on fire. Yeah.

And it's clear. It goes back to leadership. That's the question I want to ask you. You look at this. You're allowing it. Of course the mayor ordered them to stay away. Okay. So I want to be, that was the question I want to ask you. Of course. Okay. Of course. Of course. But here.

You're in my friend, Dana Bash. She's got to jump in now and really defend what's going on here. Here, give a listen. It's pretty bad. That's a different question. But I just I just want to just state for the record that what did happen in 1992 was so different from what we're seeing now. I mean, that was that was a real a real riot that went all across the city of Los Angeles after a verdict.

in the Rodney King case. This is a situation where the L.A. County police, it's not good, but they're saying that they have it under control and the president is sending national troops, federal troops in a way that hasn't been done in a long time. We can look at this and we can obviously see that it is not under control.

It's not under control. You and I both can see that. It's not under control. And a riot is a riot. They're throwing all types of objects at law enforcement, and the president is absolutely right. By the way, ask the people whose cars and buildings are on fire if this is a riot or not. No, no, no. Dana told us it's not a real riot. It's not a real one. It's a fake one. It's a fake. You know, they are familiar with fakes. At CNN, they are experts in fakes.

You know, it really is striking. This is nothing to see here, not a real riot. It's all okay. And then she says, well, okay, it's not good. But, but, but...

But it's nothing like a real riot back in the old days of the 90s. And look, there have been multiple arrests because you have these protesters are actively, aggressively trying to stop ICE from carrying out their jobs, from enforcing immigration laws. One of the people arrested was the president of the SEIU union who was arrested for physically, actively stopping federal agents from carrying out their jobs and

Now, what is the reaction of Democrat politicians? Well, here, take a look. The reality is we see peaceful protests launching in Los Angeles. And again, any violence against police officers should not be accepted. Local authorities can handle that.

But remember, a lot of these peaceful protests are being generated because the president of the United States is sowing chaos and confusion by arresting people who are showing up for their immigration hearings. They love the word peaceful, don't they? So the phrase peaceful protest, which they say repeatedly and notice that. So that was Cory Booker.

And he's saying, look, you can't commit violence against cops. Look, I'm glad he says that, in part because they've seen where these riots go. But at the same time, he's repeatedly saying what CNN is saying, which is it's only the governor and local law enforcement that can do it, nothing federal, because President Trump has called up the National Guard, and they are so unhappy that we're actually going to see

These violent protesters will be stopped from terrorizing the communities they're engaged with. And that's a nightmare scenario for the Democrats, because any time you have violence like this, they are on the side of the violence. Do you notice Booker also said the beginnings of?

I that we've talked about how orchestrated Democrats are when they do these things on college campuses where there's people behind them and advocacy. Booker said this. You're suggesting the people who are paying for this are also paying for the Democrats are going on TV. I'm saying Cory Booker seems to have some pretty good insider information that this is the quote beginning.

His words, not mine, of something big. Like this is the beginning. And he said that on Sunday morning after a weekend of this violence, the beginning. So you got to ask the question, are they all in on it?

Well, look, you know, you look at so much of today's Democrat Party that's paid for by George Soros. It kind of makes you wonder if it's now George Zorro and it is all about go back and they want California to secede from America and go back to Mexico. But look, Cory Booker was not alone. Give another listen. Every single ICE agent who's engaged in this aggressive overreach...

and are trying to hide their identities from the American people will be unsuccessful in doing that. This is America. This is not the Soviet Union. We're not behind the Iron Curtain. This is not the 1930s. And every single one of them, no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, will, of course, be identified. I have a dad who's spent the majority of his life in law enforcement.

That is a threat. Yes. To law enforcement. Yes. That we're going to make sure that everyone that hates you knows who you are, where you live, who your kids may be, who your wife is. And we're going to make you feel unsafe for doing your job. Look, that is grotesque. It's one of the most grotesque things I've ever seen. That's Akeem Jeffries, the Democrat leader in the House of Representatives. And he's not he's not hiding what he's saying.

He is threatening to dox, to expose, to reveal the identities of federal law enforcement agents, ICE, because he wants threats. He wants violence. He wants intimidation. He wants violence and intimidation directed at federal law enforcement. That is grotesque. By the way, the mayor of Boston analogized ICE to Nazis. Yeah. I mean, that is, understand, today's Democrat Party, this is not your grandfather's Democrat Party. No.

This is a Democrat party now. If you are an illegal alien, if you are a gang member, if you are a murderer, if you are a rapist, the Democrats stand with you. If you're a police officer, the Democrats are not with you. If you are an ICE agent, they are not with you. If you're a Border Patrol agent, they are not with you. If you are enforcing the law, they are not with you. And listen to what Cory Booker said. Cory Booker said, well, Trump is causing it

because he's enforcing the law. Yeah, because he's enforcing the law. It is. Well, and then you've got to look at Newsom. I mean, look at Newsom. We had this very interesting rebranding. I would call it Newsom, maybe 3.0, 4.0. He's rebranded himself a lot. He's really good at it. He's pretending to be a moderate. He suddenly discovered that boys and girls exist. Yeah. It's really remarkable because—

You know, 12 seconds ago, he didn't know that. And yet here's his true colors yet again. So here's what he tweeted out. He says the federal government is taking over the California National Guard and deploying 2000 soldiers in Los Angeles.

not because there's a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle. Don't give them one. Never use violence. Speak out peacefully. So understand the end of that. Speak out peacefully. He's calling for I'm the governor. I want more riots. Yeah, they're not enough of you out there. More, more, more. Somebody get Soros online to George. We need more money. Can you send out more protests now?

That is his message, and they are furious, furious with President Trump for actually defending the communities. Look, we saw in that first video, the law enforcement, the police officers are ordered

Don't do anything about it. Don't keep people safe. We've seen, by the way, we've seen this video before. We saw it during the Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots where, again, Democrat mayors, Democrat governors prevented law enforcement from doing their jobs. And by the way, look. Well, and the word is on the street that local, I mean, local law enforcement were told on Saturday that.

And Friday night, stand down. Like, don't get involved. Let them do what they're going to do. If that turns out to be like the entire policy of L.A. and the local government there, doesn't that give even more credence to why Donald Trump should send in the National Guard? Absolutely. And look, I will give the Democrats credit for being the voice of reason.

The voice of moderation. I want you to listen to this very careful, calm, measured analysis from a Democrat California congresswoman. She's assessing the situation carefully. She's trying to balance competing interests. Trying to protect property and lives. And give a listen to what she has to say.

ICE get the f*** out of LA so that order can't be restored. There it is. If ICE would just leave and all the illegal immigrants can do what they want to do, and we've had no crime problems in California in the last year or so. So understand their message also. They do not want federal immigration laws enforced. She wants ICE out of the state. And by the way, to be clear, her message also, every illegal alien in America, please come to California. Yeah. Because that's who she represents.

That is, and I don't even know that Congresswoman. She's one of the many left-wing Democrats. There's a lot of them from California. They blur together. You know, she has, look, I give her credit. Apparently she's volunteering to join AOC and Ilhan Omar and the other kooks to be the face of today's Democrat Party. This is sad. Final question on this. You look at the president's decision to send the National Guard.

And you look at Democrats now clearly wanting a fight. They're wanting more illegals to come out.

Is this one of those things where they think this is a positive nationwide? I mean, how could you think that burning down cities, attacking your neighbor's property, burning cars, attacking law enforcement is somehow a political win? I don't understand that. While you're riding a motorcycle around a burning car waving a Mexican flag. Bingo. Look, at the end of the day,

And apparently those individuals, and we saw Mexican flags everywhere you look, apparently those individuals, they want America to be Mexico. What else do you, and by the way, look, Mexico is a beautiful country. If you want to go to Mexico, go to Mexico. If you want to fly the flag, go to Mexico. But you don't have a right to defy federal law, to come here illegally, and yet that is illegal.

At the end of the day, that is what today's Democrat Party stands for. It is their core belief. It is their reason for being. And you asked if they think this is a winning message. Well, it depends who you're talking to.

If you're talking to your radicals, if you're talking to your zealots, if you're talking to the people that fund this stuff, if you're talking to the big money donors, yes, that's a winning message. If you're talking to the people who wrote checks on the anti-Israel and anti-America protests on college campuses, it's a great message. If you're actually talking to ordinary Americans, if you're talking to soccer moms, if you're talking to people who would like their kids safe, if you're talking to people who don't really want to see their neighborhoods lit on fire,

I question, as Brer Roberts said, throw me in that briar patch. Well, you know, I question if they're going to be happy with this decision come next election day.

You know, in the book of Genesis, God makes a promise to your offspring. I promise this land. Now, that promise is the foundation of Israel, a land the Jewish people have returned to after centuries of exile and bondage and even the horrors of the Holocaust. But that promise is still under threat, especially after October 7th.

Now, Israel's safety today depends on the very brave men and women of the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces. Every citizen is required to serve. Your gift of $45 will help provide aid to soldiers and their families by helping to provide food and other bare necessities for these families and emergency supplies for soldiers

Now you can help secure their future, honor those who are defending the Holy Land. Call now, 888-488-IFCJ. That's 888-488-IFCJ. Or just go to their website. It's ifcj.org, and you can give today. They are in desperate need of help.

When it comes to protein drinks, other brands like to tout a lot of things, but never mention their harmful ingredients that can cause digestive issues and other issues. But with Don't Quit Protein Drinks, we like to start with what we don't have. No soy, no corn, no wheat, no gluten, no artificial flavors or artificial sweeteners. Don't Quit is made with all clean ingredients. Yes, we hit all the important numbers, 33 grams of protein and only one gram of sugar. But most importantly, we focused on feeling good with every sip.

Don't let the wrong ingredients knock you down. Fuel your perseverance with Don't Quit Clean Protein Drinks. Get yours now at Jewel Osco. And here we have a specimen from the early 2000s, a legacy investing platform. Please don't touch the exhibit, folks. It could crash.

Ready to step out of the financial history museum? At public.com, you can invest in almost everything. Stocks, bonds, options, and more. You could even put your cash to work at an industry-leading 4.1% APY. Leave your clunky, outdated platform behind. Go to public.com and fund your account in five minutes or less. Paid for by Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA, and SIPC. Full disclosures at public.com slash disclosures.

Hey guys, this is Lisa Booth from The Truth with Lisa Booth. Let's face it, healthcare has gotten so complicated. Delayed appointments, insurance hassles, out-of-stock pharmacies. That's why more and more families are switching to all-family pharmacy, your go-to pharmacy for everyday meds, emergency kits, and essentials like ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, antibiotics, and over 200 other meds. They handle everything. You

You order online, a licensed doctor writes the prescription, your medications ship right to your door, no waiting rooms, no chasing down doctors, no insurance roadblocks. They've helped over 100,000 families already, and now they're here for you. It's simple, reliable, and built for people who are tired of the system making things harder than they need to be. Go to allfamilypharmacy.com and use code USA20 to get 20% off today. Again, that's allfamilypharmacy.com with code USA20 to save 20% today.

Why should you listen to Armstrong and Getty On Demand?

We have a winner. Yes. Listen to Armstrong and Getty On Demand on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Which brings me to story number two, and it's one that is just maybe one of...

I laughed when I saw the news. I thought this was a brilliant move by the Trump administration. Democrats have been obsessed with the Maryland father, the Maryland man who just happened to get deported, who was an illegal immigrant, who was caught human smuggling through my home state of Tennessee, and they act like it never happened. And now all of a sudden, we're like, they were demanding you bring him home, bring him back to America. Well, guess what? The dude's coming home. He

He is indeed, and he has been brought to be prosecuted. He has been indicted. He has been indicted for human trafficking. Wait, I thought he was just a Maryland dad, not a human trafficker. Well, I will tell you, I'm holding the indictment in my hand, and it is stunning. So how long was he a human trafficker? Well, according to the indictment, from in or around 2016—

through in or around 2025. So for nine years. That's a pretty good career. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia and others known and unknown to the grand jury conspired to bring undocumented aliens to the United States from countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador, and elsewhere, ultimately passing through Mexico before crossing into Texas. Very nice. They came into Texas.

The co-conspirators knew the undocumented aliens did not possess authorization to enter the United States. They used cell phones. They used social media applications. The indictment also alleges Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was a citizen of El Salvador, was not a United States citizen, was living in the United States, and was also a member and associate...

of the transnational criminal organization MS-13. No, he's a dad. Hold on a second. You can't say that. This is just a Maryland dude. Maryland dad. Maryland man. And by the way, they accurately describe MS-13. MS-13 was a criminal enterprise engaged in, among other activities, acts and threats involving murder,

Now, how many...

Illegal aliens. Do you think he's charged with smuggling? I'm assuming zero because he's just a Maryland man. He's just a Maryland dad. He's a Maryland dad. I want to read this paragraph. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, as detailed further below, used his status in MS-13 to further his criminal activity. Right, not his status as a father or dad, as a MS-13 gang member. Over the course of the conspiracy...

The co-conspirators knowingly and unlawfully transported, wait for it, thousands of undocumented aliens, many of whom were MS-13 members and associates. So you're bringing in people that are now a member of a terrorist organization.

into the country, so not just random people paying. He was smuggling in members of the terrorist organization in the United States of America for not one year, not two, not three, not four, not five years, but nine years. Yes, and look, the fact that DOJ brought this indictment

means, presumably, they have the evidence to prove this indictment. They're going to put on that evidence. They're going to put on that evidence that this guy was a gang member for nine years, that he was part of a conspiracy that smuggled thousands of people illegally, including other gang members. So,

You think the media is going to apologize for any of their stories? We're attacking Trump and saying that he just sent a Maryland dad, a Maryland man. And understand this is the same the same illegal immigrant that my colleague Chris Van Hollen, Democrat from Maryland, said.

flew down and had really what was a very sweet margarita with. I mean, it was a bromance. It was a moment. It was a bro moment. You know, as I tweeted out at the time, you know, find somebody who looks at you the way Democrats look at illegal alien MS-13 gang members. Like the sweet nothings in his eyes as

As he looked on, and by the way, you saw Democrat House members, you know, all on a parade to go down there. They wanted to use your tax dollars to go see the Maryland man. This is the face of the Democrat Party. This is who they stand for. So look, you ought to ask yourself at home, am I an MS-13 gang member who's a human trafficker who smuggles in thousands of illegal aliens, who smuggles in gang members? If so, the Democrats of the party for me.

If you're not, if you kind of think we don't want human traffickers and gang members in America, well, then I don't know what the Democrats have to say. Is this like the ultimate FAFO moment? Because for Democrats, and I want people to understand the funniest part of the story, Democrats demanded we bring him back.

He's coming back, going to go to jail for a long time, and then after he serves his time, apparently, we're going to send him right back to the country where he just came from. It didn't just go from bad to worse. He would have been better off just staying where he was. Democrats actually are putting this man in jail. And these facts...

The facts that prove he was a human trafficker, the facts and evidence that DOJ is going to put on, I hope and believe the American people need to know those facts because they need to know. Look, we've already in this podcast cover how the guy is allegedly a wife beater, that he has a long history of criminality. We played the audio of him being caught human trafficking.

But but at the time, we didn't know that there was a decade worth of thousands of people being trafficked, including other gang members. Cal for what you wish for. Right. And by the way, to understand. Look, I don't know specifically what this gang member did, but I'll tell you, MS-13.

When they are human trafficking, they are raping women. They are raping children. They are abusing women and children. They are abusing little boys, little girls. They're soulless. They do not care about human life or using human life. MS-13 is evil. And in Texas, we see the atrocities they carry out. I fully expect the evidence that comes out in this trial to be nothing short of horrifying.

And I got to say, if you're a Democrat and you've decided the entire future of your party is defending this guy. Yeah. You know what's weird, Ben? I'm not sure the Democrats are worried right now. I don't think they are. I mean, that's the strangest thing.

is in the face of this. There used to be in politics moments where you knew you screwed up, where even your party. They're all in on California and still on defending this guy. Their position is that one Democrat congresswoman said, law enforcement, get the F out. That's their message. No cops, no ICE, no border patrol. We don't defend. We don't defend California. We don't defend America. We don't arrest bad guys.

But gang members and murderers, you're a peeps. Amazing. I want to move to one final issue, and it's one that has gotten a lot of attention in conservative circles. It's certainly one that the media just refuses to talk about. And the president clearly wanted to use the power this week of his microphone.

to bring up the issue of the auto pin when it comes to Joe Biden investigating. What did he know? When did he know it? Did he have any clue what he was signing with the auto pin? Was even directing the auto pin to be used? Or were there people that were literally playing president that were saying, I want to hook this political favor up or this pardon up or this piece of legislation or this executive order up? And he had no idea it was even happening.

Well, and President Trump did a really good job explaining this in the Oval Office this past week. Give a listen. Your predecessor dismissed your auto pen investigation. He said he made all the decisions during his presidency. I'm curious your reaction to his dismissal. Well, the auto pen, I think, is the big scandal outside of the rigged election of 2020. I think the biggest scandal of the last many years is the auto pen and who's using it. I happen to think I know, OK, because I'm here.

And I'm not a big auto pen person, fortunately. I'm glad. I'm very glad. It's an easy way out. But it's a very bad thing, very dangerous. You know, I sign important documents. Usually when they put documents in front of you, they're important.

Even if you're signing ambassadorships or, and I consider that important. I think it's inappropriate. You have somebody that's devoting four years of their life or more to being an ambassador. I think you really deserve, that person deserves to get a real signature, not an Autopen signature. And I can tell Autopen easily. I can look at it like two little pinholes from pulling the paper, right? You always see the pinholes. It's real easy to tell about Autopen.

I think it's very disrespectful to people when they get an auto-penn signature. Outside, auto-penn to me are used when thousands of letters come in from young people all over the country and you want to get them back. And, you know, people use auto-penns for that. To send a little signature at the bottom of a letter. We have thousands of them. We get thousands of letters a week. And it's not possible to, you know, I'd like to do it myself, but you can't do it.

To me, that's where auto pens start and stop. But I don't think, I'm sure that he didn't know many of the things. Look, he was never for open borders. He was never for transgender for everybody. He was never for men playing in women's sports. I mean, he changed, I mean, all of these things that changed so radically. I don't think he had any idea that what was, frankly, I said it during the debate and I say it now,

He didn't have much of an idea what was going on. He shouldn't be. I mean, essentially, whoever used the auto pen was the president. And that is wrong. It's illegal. It's so bad. And it's so disrespectful to our.

I look at what he said there, and I go back to something that you've seen auto-pinned. Do you have the auto-pin? I've never asked you that. Okay, so I've gone in office before to get a birthday card or something done when I worked in D.C. People would come over and say, hey, can we get this written? It's somebody's 70th anniversary or 70th birthday. And they'll go, yeah, sure. And they'll put it together, and they'll get an auto-pin signed because there's so many requests like this. But he's right. Being the president of the United States of America, there's a lot of, if it's being put in front of you,

It probably deserves a signature if it's making it to be in front of you. Well, let's draw a distinction. First of all, let me explain what an auto pen is. It's a machine where literally you have a mechanical arm that holds a pen, typically a Sharpie, most...

signatures are used with sharpies. And so I've got an auto pen. As far as I know, I think every member of Congress has an auto pen. So my birthday card, you're telling me, was not really you signing that? No, no, no. When I made fun of you, that was definitely written by me. But you use it for, you know, correspondence. I mean, in my time in the Senate, I've literally gotten millions of letters from constituents. And we send out...

of letters in response. And so you could spend literally every waking moment doing nothing but signing that correspondence. And so what you do instead...

Every congressional office has a correspondence office where for a given topic, if you ask me about illegal immigration, we have a letter in the office where that lays out your plans, my views on illegal immigration. And they're the policy team helps draft those and they get approved. You know, I suspect we'll have a letter shortly on on these these L.A. riots and what's happening there. Whatever the topics are that people are writing in on.

A congressional office will prepare a letter that's responsive to it, and those will get auto-pinned. That is very different from something that requires a signature to have legal effect. And they're really... That's a great distinction way of describing it. There are three categories that are consequential here. Pardons, executive orders, and laws. And let me break all three of these down because there's real legal significance in the question that President Trump is raising.

All right. First of all, pardons. Yeah, there are a whole bunch of folks that Joe Biden pardoned. Controversial pardons, by the way. So including so on the same day, Joe Biden pardoned Anthony Fauci. He pardoned General Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

And then he pardoned every member of the January 6th commission. So he pardoned Benny Thompson and Liz Cheney and Zoe Lofgram and Adam Schiff and Pete Aguilar, Stephanie Murphy and Jamie Raskin and Elaine Luria and Adam Kinzinger. And by the way, they were they were begging for these pardons. All nine of them got pardoned.

It's being reported now that the one pardon that Biden signed personally was his son Hunter Biden's pardon, but that all of the rest of these pardons were auto-penned. And here's what President Trump tweeted out. He said, quote,

The pardons that Sleepy Joe gave to the unselect committee of political thugs and many others, I got to say, I love, nobody writes like Donald Trump, are hereby declared void, vacant, and of no further force or effect because of the fact that they were done by auto pen. In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them, but more importantly, he did not know anything about them. The necessary pardoning documents were not explained to or approved by Biden. Now,

Let's talk about pardons first. So pardons do not have to be in writing. Okay. If you look at the language of the Constitution, Article 2, Section 2, Clause 1,

says in relevant part, the president shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States. So the Constitution does not specify any particular form of a pardon. It doesn't specify it has to be in writing. It simply says the president shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons. So the

With respect to pardons, whether it's signed or not, that's not a constitutional requirement. But what is a constitutional requirement is that the president grant it. Interesting. And so what President Trump alleged is Biden didn't know about this, didn't know what he was doing. It was not his decision. I think it is entirely possible that we will see the Department of Justice prosecute someone

who has received one of these auto pen pardons. Really? If they prosecute someone, it's going to be someone for whom there is clear evidence of a federal criminal violation. But also it will be someone who there is evidence that Biden didn't know about it. So they would have to bring to do that. They would have to bring evidence he didn't know about it.

And then does that kick off the big grand debate and the investigation because you bring those charges and say, OK, let's see if you can prove that he did know about it. So look, if DOJ brought an indictment against someone that Biden had pardoned using an auto pen, the defense lawyer would almost immediately seek to get the indictment dismissed because of the pardon. Sure. And I would expect the court to litigate that DOJ would argue this is not a valid pardon because it was not issued by the president.

It was issued by a staffer manning the auto panner. And the question would be, did Joe Biden approve and authorize it personally? Or was this just the staff? They just said, hey, give my buddy or a friend or a colleague or ally this. So, for example, they would look to, all right, did Biden make public statements about it? Was he interviewed? Did he stand at a podium? What did he say? Because that would go to, was he aware of it and did he approve it? Now,

Let's focus on statutes. Can the president sign a law and have it become a federal law by auto pen and not by signature? And here, actually, the question is actually pretty similar to the pardon question.

It comes down to what Biden knew. So actually, in 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Office of Legal Counsel, they issued a formal opinion whether the president may sign a bill by directing that his signature be affixed to it. And the summary of the conclusion was the president need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign in order for the bill to become law.

Rather, the president may sign a bill within the meaning of Article 1, Section 7 by directing a subordinate to affix the president's signature to such bill, for example, by autopent. And here the statutory language is, or rather the constitutional language is more explicit. So here's what Article 1, Section 7 says, quote, Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it becomes a law,

be presented to the President of the United States. If he approves, he shall sign it. So sign it is explicitly there. You can't orally sign a law. You have to sign it. That's why bill signings are such a big deal. What the Department of Justice concluded, and this is a lengthy opinion, is the settled understanding of the meaning of sign is

an individual can sign a document by directing that his signature be affixed to it by another. And so they conclude, this settled understanding of the meaning of sign leads us to conclude that Article I, Section 7, permits the president to sign a bill by directing a subordinate to affix the president's signature to it. Now, I've got to say, as a legal matter, I think there's a strong case to be made that that is accurate, that that

You can authorize someone to sign a binding legal document for you if you're the decision maker. And you say, hey, I'm on a plane is a great example, national emergency, worst case scenario. And you say, sign that right now to do what X, Y or Z. And let me give you an example I have personal experience with. So as you know, when I came out of law school, I was a law clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist on the U.S. Supreme Court.

And every time there is an execution in this country, almost without fail, there are emergency appeals that go to the Supreme Court and they often will go and be concluded at midnight or one or two or three in the morning because typically the death warrant is carried out right before midnight. And so the appeals are filed last minute. And so

When that happens, there is a law clerk from every justice that remains at the court until the matter is resolved. And the chief justice had jurisdiction over the D.C. Circuit, but also the Fourth Circuit, which covers a number of states that have capital punishment. And so when the execution occurs in the circuit that your justice is the lead for, the justices will vote. They do it by phone, so you will vote.

read the emergency appeals, you'll summarize the emergency appeals, you'll call your justice, wake him or her up, explain the issues, and then the justices will vote. At the end of the process, the very last thing that happens in the process is there is a form that is sent to the prison. And there were multiple, essentially, death warrants that I signed, and I would sign them, WHR slash TC.

WHR was William Hubbs Rehnquist. So I'm signing for the chief justice slash TC because the chief was home in bed. So he was not physically signing it. But because I had authorization to sign it, you'd literally put it on then a fax machine and at the prison, they'd pull it off the fax machine. And that signature that I had signed for the chief justice was sufficient to carry out an execution.

The TC at the end, is that just to clarify that you did it on behalf? Yes. Okay. And you see that sometimes secretaries, when they sign for someone, will do the same thing and put the slash to say who is signing it. What I would say the critical question in terms of a law, look,

There will be an argument that the word sign in the Constitution means sign. And so it's not a frivolous argument that the auto pen can't do it in any circumstance. And I would expect that potentially to be made. But the more powerful argument is, did the president direct that his signature be affixed to it? Or did a staffer go rogue?

Did a staffer just say, yep, this is our policy, so put it in the auto pad it's signed. And listen, White Houses keep records. You've worked in a White House. They keep meticulous records. Especially on this level. And so I fully expect there to be litigation questioning

Looking for a statute where there is not clear indication that Biden was aware of it, that he made a decision to sign it, but rather that simply you had a White House staffer say, OK, this is our policy. Let's sign it. And if that's the case, I think there's if the president did not direct that his signature be be affixed to it.

I think there's a real argument that is not a law. That is not validly in the United States Code. That law is null and void. I think that, and by the way, it's not sufficient for the president at the outset to say, hey, I support this law. Okay, that's different from, you can say you support all sorts of law. Sure. That's different from making the decision, I am going to sign this law right now.

Look, there are all sorts of laws that you could say you support, but the legislative process is like sausage baking. You don't even know what's in the thing till it passes. And so finding early statements from Biden that I support such and such policy is not enough. I expect the question to be, and by the way, you don't have to wait for litigation because Donald Trump has access to all of the White House records that will show that

Did Biden make those decisions? That's why ordering that investigation is so strong, because if they find a law that there is no record of Joe Biden saying, I want to sign this and I am directing you to sign this.

then I think there's a real argument that law is not validly enacted. It's incredible. We're going to keep covering it. Don't forget we do the show Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Hit that subscribe or auto-download button so you do not miss an episode. Also, if you're watching this episode on YouTube, make sure you subscribe on YouTube as well as we put these out so you don't miss them either. Tell your family, tell your friends about the show, and the Senator and I will see you back here in a couple of days.

We've all tried protein drinks on the go, but why don't they taste more like the ones we make at home or from the juice bar? They're too chalky and too sweet from sugar or artificial sweeteners. We love the health benefits, but hate the taste. Now you can finally get both with Don't Quit Protein Drinks. Loaded with 33 grams of proteins,

You know what's great about your investment account with the big guys? It's actually a time machine. Log in and Zoom. Welcome back to 1999.

Why should you listen to Armstrong and Getty On Demand?

This is an iHeart Podcast.