October 22, 2025 • 21 mins
-
Political Surveillance Allegations:
- The document centers on claims that Jack Smith, under the direction of the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ), conducted surveillance on Republican lawmakers.
- Specifically, Senator Ted Cruz and eight other Republican senators, along with one House member, allegedly had their phone metadata subpoenaed during investigations related to the January 6th Capitol events and broader election interference concerns.
-
Ted Cruz’s Response:
- Cruz shares his personal experience, stating he was unaware of the subpoena until recently.
- He explains that his phone records were not initially obtained because his carrier, AT&T, refused to comply with the subpoena, citing constitutional protections under the Speech and Debate Clause.
- Cruz criticizes Verizon for allegedly complying with the DOJ’s requests without resistance.
-
Claims of Political Persecution:
- The speaker argues that the surveillance was a “fishing expedition” aimed at targeting political opponents.
- The investigation is described as “Arctic Frost,” which the speaker likens to a modern-day Watergate, accusing Jack Smith of being a “partisan prosecutor drunk on power.”
- There are suggestions that the surveillance and investigations were politically motivated, especially following Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign announcement.
-
Historical Comparisons and Broader Accusations:
- The narrative draws parallels to Richard Nixon’s abuses of power and claims that Barack Obama institutionalized similar tactics.
- The document accuses federal agencies like the FBI, DOJ, and IRS of being weaponized against conservatives.
- It references alleged efforts to turn Trump’s children against him, and broader surveillance of conservative organizations like Turning Point USA.
-
Call for Accountability:
- The speaker calls for Congressional hearings and transparency.
- There is a push for reforms to prevent future surveillance of elected officials and political opponents.
Please Hit Subscribe to this podcast Right Now. Also Please Subscribe to the The Ben Ferguson Show Podcast and Verdict with Ted Cruz Wherever You get You're Podcasts. And don't forget to follow the show on Social Media so you never miss a moment! Thanks for Listening
X: https://x.com/benfergusonshow
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Today, I'm calling on every Senate Democrat to stop the madness,
to be smart. It's not working.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
They're getting killed in the polls. The public understands.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
What they're doing.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
They're doing the wrong thing.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Good Wednesday morning. Nice to have you with us on
the forty seven Morning Update. Ben Ferguson with you, and
we have got one bomb shell of a story. We
have now learned that Jack Smith and the Democrats of
the DOJ and the FBI, we're spying on even more
members of Congress, spying on Senators, congressmen, and maybe others
we don't even know about yet. All of this coming
(00:38):
from the ex Trump Special counsel, Jack Smith, and what
we now know is he was going after major conservative leaders.
I'm gonna have all the details on this coming up
in just a moment, but first I want to talk
to you about an incredible opportunity. As I was at
the memorial service for Charlie Kirk, there was a really
(00:58):
interesting moment that took place. He was the president of
Hillsdale College coming out and talking about how when he
sat down with Charlie Kirk when he was younger. He said,
You're going to have to put in the work. It's
going to be painful, You're going to have to continue
to learn and to study. And then that is when
Charlie Kirk started taking classes at Hillsdale College. Well, I
(01:22):
am now taking two different classes at Hillsdale College specifically
because of that moment, because it's time that all of
us go back to our roots and learn or take
refreshers on vitally important things that are happening in this country.
Hillsdale College is now offering more than forty free online courses.
(01:44):
That's right, more than forty free courses that you can take.
You can learn about the works of C. S. Lewis,
the stories of the Book of Genesis, the meaning of
the US Constitution, the rise in the fall of the
Roman Republic, or the history of the ancient Christian Church,
all with Hillsdale College's free online courses. Personally, I'm enjoying
(02:07):
the Constitution one oh one. I feel like I know
a lot about the Constitution. I talk about it, I've
studied it, but I wanted a college refresher course, and
that's why I'm studying it right now. In this course.
You're going to explore the design and the purpose of
the Constitution, the challenges it faced during the Civil War,
and how it had been undermined by more than a
(02:27):
century of progressives and liberals. This twelve lecture course is
self pace, so you can start whenever and wherever you
want to. And our country needs now more than ever,
Americans who understand the Constitution and can defend the freedom
of the American people against the encroachment of an insanely
large and unaccountable government. So start your free Constitution one
(02:51):
oh one course or any of the other courses at
Hillsdale College now for free. So go right now to
Hillsdale dot edu sam Morning Update to enroll for free,
no costs, and it's easy to get started. Hillsdale dot
edu slash Morning Update to enroll for free. Hillsdale dot
(03:14):
edu slash Morning Update. It's the forty seven Morning Update
and it starts right now.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Story number one.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It is very clear now that it was intentional, It
was targeted political spying that likely went to the very
highest levels in the Biden administration, and there should be
the broadest possible investigation and accountability for what Jack Smith
and the Democrats were doing. We have learned a lot
(03:42):
more now and there are more centers names to add
to the list of those who were spied on by
Jack Smith. Ted Cruz's phone records, we've now learned were
subpoena as part of an investigation the Jacksmith conducted or
oversaw into the January sixth events and the broader quote
interference matter. The subpoena in his case specifically covered the
(04:05):
period of January fourth through the seventh of twenty twenty one,
just before and around the time of the January sixth disturbances.
The Axios piece says that Cruz is the ninth Republican
US senator whose phone records were targeted or subpoenaed by
the Justice Department under Smith's leadership and direction. The subpoena
(04:29):
apparently requested a broad set of metadata inbound and outbound calls,
text messages, direct connect voicemail messages, plus names and even addresses.
Some Republican centers, for example Marshall Blackbird of Tennessee, have
now sent letters to the Attorney General and to the
(04:52):
telecom carriers alleging that this amounts to politicize surveillance of
Congress by the Department of Justice and the FBI, I
calling it spying on duly elected members of Congress. One
report from October to eighth places the number of GOP
lawmakers senators plus at least one representative whose metadata was
(05:14):
actually obtained, and nine eight centers and one House member
in that initial batch, which now is expanding. The reporting
is based on subpoenas and metadata requests. It is not clear,
at least in the public, what the contents are, what
they did with the communications, what was accessed, or what
(05:35):
was done by the DOJ and the FBI with the metadata.
For Ted Cruz specifically, this is what we do know.
The reason why he wasn't in the first batch is
because he was not with Verizon. Instead, his carrier was
AT and T, Which brings me to a special part
of the show. Senator Ted Cruz and I set down
(05:56):
to talk about this spying, exactly what happened and why
we're now seeing this expand to other members of Congress,
and there could be more to come that were spied
on by the Democrats and Jack Smith. So take a
listen to what he had to say about finding out
that he was a target. All right, Senator, So let's
(06:17):
start with the big news. Where were you when you
found out that you were spied on as part of
Jack Smith's investigation into Donald Trump. This clearly is a
fishing expedition. And what were you told? Have you been
briefed on this or are you just getting to say
mentel we are from reading it in the news.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
So I found out about this last week last Thursday,
I got the information. And let's back up a couple
of weeks ago. A couple of weeks ago, the news
broke that Jack Smith, the prosecutor and the Biden DOJ
that was going after January sixth, that was going after
President Trump had subpoenaed eight senators and one Republican house
(06:56):
member and had gotten their cell phone records. And the
eight Senators who had been subpoena were Marsha Blackburn, Ron Johnson,
Bill Haggerty, Josh Holly, Cynthia Lumus, Lindsey Graham, Dan Sullivan,
and Tommy Tubberville. And then Mike Kelly, a Republican House
member from Pennsylvania, was also subpoena. All nine of them
(07:16):
had their cell phone records handed over to the Biden
Department of Justice. Now I got to admit Just over
a week ago, Sean Hannity was in town and I
had dinner with Sean and with several of the senators
on that list as well, and I was laughing with Sean.
I was saying, I'm actually kind of offended, Like how
(07:38):
did I get lift out of this list? Like? What
did I have to do? I was literally standing on
the Senate floor on January sixth, objecting and leading the fight.
And I had brought together eleven senators to stand together
in fighting for an election commission to assess the evidence
(07:58):
of voter fraud, and including many of the senators who
were subpoena were in the group that I'd brought together.
So I was I was joking with Sean, but I
wasn't entirely joking. Well, it turns out the reason I
was not on the list is apparently all eight of
those senators their cell phones are with Verizon, and the
evidence had come out that Verizon had handed over their
(08:18):
their their cell phone information. Well, my cell phone is
with AT and T and I didn't know it at
the time, but I found out late last week that
Jack Smith sent a subpoena at AT and T H
demanding my cell phone records, and AT and T told
him to go jump in a lake. AT and T
did not give my cell phone records. I really look.
(08:41):
AT and T is based in Texas. I'm proud of them.
They did the right thing. I appreciate that. And and
they assessed it. They had a subpoena from Jack Smith.
By the way, the subpoena called for quote, detailed records
for inbound and outbound calls, text messages, direct connect and
(09:04):
voicemail messages, among other things. So they were seeking that.
There was an also an order from Judge Boseburg, who
was you know this, this left wing judge has been
presiding against over much of the litigation against against Trump.
Had an order from Judge Boseberg ordering AT and T
you cannot disclose to Cruise that we're seeking his cell
(09:27):
phone information for a year.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Isn't that amazing? By the way, and you're sitting unin
State Center, don't tell him, we don't want him to know.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Yes, and so AT and T examined it, and they
actually they came to the conclusion. Now, the way it works,
so the subpoena just comes and they get a cell
phone number. So the Biden DOJ didn't identify who they
were seeking. And by the way, look the telecom companies
typically if they get a subpoena for phone records on
(09:56):
a number, they typically hand it over because it's usually
a drug dealer or criminal. You have a subpoena that's
issued from a grand jury, so so it it they
will routinely in a criminal proceeding hand over.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Well, it's so happened that that at and T. Even
though they just asked for the number, they looked and
realized whose number it was, and and and they talked
with their legal team and and and they said, listen,
what what Cruz is saying is it? And any member
of Congress, what they're saying is protected by the Speech
and Debate Clause of the Constitution. The Constitution uh protects
(10:31):
the ability of of of Senators and House members to
engage in debate, to to do our jobs. Article one
of the Constitution vests all legislative power in the Congress.
And and in fact, we you know, on January sixth,
it was very literally speech and debate. As I said,
I was standing on the Senate floor giving a speech
(10:52):
and raising an objection. So it's literally the heart of
what one does as an elected member of Congress, and
and so a concluded, listen there, we're not going to comply.
As I said, I'm grateful for AT and T doing that,
but that now makes it nine senators that we know
of and one House.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
So I'm guessing there might be other senators that were
also at AT and T and they probably said no, we're
not going to do that either. Right, it would be
Verizon just caved instantly and said, sure, here's everybody you're
asking for. There could be easily, I would say, another four, five,
six others. Who knows how many outside the Senate right
that they could have asked for that they could have
said no to as well. And I would assume there
was a lot of people on AT and T well.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
And look the Biden DOJ also after the Republican Attorney
General's Association, it went after Turning Point USA. This was
a massive fishing expedition and this was a political persecution. Understand.
Jack Smith was appointed Special Counsel to investigate and prosecute
January sixth, three days after Donald Trump announced his campaign
(11:59):
for reelection into four literally three days later, so it
was twenty twenty two, So it was two years after
January sixth, they had not appointed anyone, and yet suddenly
when Trump announces his campaign, they rushed to appoint Jack
Smith to say, go after Donald Trump because we want
to stop the voters from voting for him. Sure, but
nine senators, that is twenty percent of the Republicans in
(12:22):
the United States Senate, and I got to say for
the executive branch to engage in wholesale spying on their
political opponents and spying with Let's be clear, none of
us engaged in criminal conduct. None of us can engage
in anything remotely criminal, arguably criminal. This was political persecution.
(12:45):
This was snooping. This is hoping. Someone said something.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I was going to ask you, what were they hoping
to find? Right, you go fishing and what is this
smoking gun? In that scenario, they were just, hey, we'll
just go after all these conservatives and maybe we get lucky.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Look.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
I don't know what they were hoping to find, but
but but they were asking for the cell phone records
from from January fourth to January seventh, so all surrounding
January sixth. I assumed they were looking for some some
modicum of coordination, uh with with with those who engage
in active violence on that day. Part of their theory
(13:25):
was was the alternate electors that were being sent from
various states. So I assumed they were looking for some
modicum of coordination there. But this was a political prosecution
because they did not have evidence. And so they said, well,
let's let's go through their cell phone records and see
if we can find something. And by the way, who
knows if if somebody had sent something stupid a text,
(13:49):
had a voicemail, had you know, I mean people when
you go through someone's emails, when you go through someone's
cell phones, when prosecutors go looking for or a crime,
the nature of a fishing expedition is, let's go look around.
You know, there's a book that was written decades ago.
(14:09):
Uh that that that that's called three Felonies a Day,
And and it talks about how the average American commits
three felonies a day, that that in our regulatory state,
things are so complicated, things are so mired in complexity
that that that you can violate you know, you you
step on a wetland in your backyard and and and
you know there's an old line that a prosecutor can
(14:33):
indict a ham sandwich. Yeah, that that a prosecutor goes
in front of a grand jury. When a prosecutor goes
in front of a grand jury, you know, there's no
defense attorney there. It's just the prosecutor and members of
the grand jury. And so I don't know what they
were looking for. I think they were looking for anything
that could stick because this was a political prosecution. Let
me ask you this, if and and so, Ben, I
(14:55):
just want to say, I'm really grateful they did not
find the make sures you sent to me of you
and a pink too too, because I just think that
it's not criminal all.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
The league jokes that I send you about the Ivy
League snobs. I mean, Jack Smith probably ended up going
to one of those places. That could have been very
bad for me.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
I I it, you know it, it would have been
uh and and I got to say, just the typos
and misspellings that that that you have in your text,
that that alone would have been been a little bit
embarrassing too. So I'm glad none of that.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Good news is they're very hard to decipher when you're
if there, if it's in front of you know, Congress,
like it's what was been really trying to say? And
I'm like, you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
I will tell you about I. I talked to AT
and T today and I said, look, you guys got
to start a marketing campaign and shift to AT and T.
We'll we'll protect your stuff. Like yeah, like who knows
to them? Look, I I don't have a good answer
to that. But but but but I did.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
And I didn't know about this until just a few
days ago. So this was when the first news broke.
I like, I was joking that I felt excluded, but
it wasn't entirely a joke. And then I was like, oh, okay,
that makes sense, and and here.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
We are all right here. I don't question on this.
What is gonna be the response from Congress? Will there
be any to this or is this just old administration
abusive power? It is what it is. We're going to
move on. Or is there gonna be a way to
make sure like we have standards of this is not
allowed to happen and that people are held accountable for this.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Look, I think we're going to see hearings. I think
we've we've got hearings coming in the House. I think
we'll see hearings in the Senate. I will tell you,
the nine of us who were targeted. We're talking to
each other because we want to prevent this. We want
to prevent a subsequent DOJ from doing this, from spying
on their political opponents, particularly in Congress. The executive doesn't
(16:50):
have the ability to go engage in spying on members
of the opposing party in Congress. That is an abuse
of power. It is it is politicization. Uh. And and
this that this entire effort, so so this prosecution was
called Arctic Frost. And I think this is going to
(17:11):
be the watergate of the Biden d o J. I
think it is a demonstration that Jack Smith was a
partisan prosecutor who was drunk on power and and and
and I don't believe Jack Smith made this decision on
his own. I think the decision making goes all the
way up. I think it goes up to the Attorney General.
I think it goes up to the White House. And
(17:32):
and so I expect number one, some some real investigation
and hopefully transparency in terms of who approved let's go
spy on members of Congress and and and and and
that that I think we're gonna work to have some
real transparency on and that I think we're gonna look
at real and concrete steps we can take to make
sure this never happens again, because this kind of is
(17:53):
there part.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Of you that just thinks like maybe this has just
been going on and never really stopped. After after you know,
the famous FBI director that had you know, files on everybody,
and people said, well, we won't have that again after Jagger,
And now it's like they're just like they wild West.
You can do what the hell you want to if
you're a Democrat and you're in charge, Like we can
(18:16):
spawn the present, we can spy in the campaigns. We
can go after people in this situation room and the
trap them. We can try to go after their business
associates and their kids and get them to turn against them,
like Eric Trump was talking about that on our show
the day. If you missed that show, people should go
back and listen to. He's like they were literally trying
to turn Donald Trump's own children against him, threatening that
your life's gonna be over and you're gonna be in jail,
(18:36):
so you better get a get out of jail free card.
And now it's like yeah, and we were also spying
on senators. I'm assuming some congressmen will come out like
who knows who's there. I mean, Charlie Kirk said recently
before assassination. It came out that he said during the campaign,
we either win the campaign or I may go to jail.
I actually believe now witnessing what we've seen, that that's
(18:59):
not far off from reality at all.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Look, the left was willing to weaponize the Department of
Justice in the FBI, as you know, I wrote an
entire book entitled Justice Corrupted, How the Left is weaponized
our legal system, and it talked about it actually started
with Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon tried to do that, and
and you look at some of the some of the
hair brain schemes that the Nixon Justice Department came up with,
(19:23):
including creating underground stings to to to get people, uh,
to get people on film taking drugs and with prostitutes
to use to essentially blackmail them and to go after
their political opponents. I mean, it was grotesque abuse of power.
And and and when when that came to light, we
actually saw an improvement. And there were a couple of
(19:45):
decades where I think this this receded and occurred far less.
And then what Richard Nixon tried to do to the
justice system. Barack Obama succeeded in doing. He came in
as this this almost miss I figure and and and
and do o j Eric Holders Attorney general. You had
(20:05):
Lois Learner at the I r S. They began targeting
their political opponents, targeting targeting anyone that they disagreed with,
and also protecting their friends. During the Trump administration the
first term, they went underground, but they waged war on
the president. These are the people that created fraudulent documents
submitted to the FISA Court in order to in order
(20:27):
to try to go after President Trump. They wanted to
reverse the results of the twenty sixteen election because they
were furious that the American people elected Trump. And then
during Biden they were open, they were flagrant. They were
out in the open, and they were they were abusing
their power. And I think they felt that the ends
justified the means, and and and anything was acceptable and
(20:49):
and and so I think we need to take real steps.
Do I think this has been going on forever? And ever?
I don't. I certainly hope not. I'm not aware that
it has. There is there, there's ancient history, but it
took really, i think, under Biden to make it just
as viciously partisans as m McCain.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Yes, yeah, thank you for listening to the forty seven
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
Today, I'm calling on every Senate Democrat to stop the madness,
to be smart. It's not working.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
They're getting killed in the polls. The public understands.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
What they're doing.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
They're doing the wrong thing.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Good Wednesday morning. Nice to have you with us on
the forty seven Morning Update. Ben Ferguson with you, and
we have got one bomb shell of a story. We
have now learned that Jack Smith and the Democrats of
the DOJ and the FBI, we're spying on even more
members of Congress, spying on Senators, congressmen, and maybe others
we don't even know about yet. All of this coming
(00:38):
from the ex Trump Special counsel, Jack Smith, and what
we now know is he was going after major conservative leaders.
I'm gonna have all the details on this coming up
in just a moment, but first I want to talk
to you about an incredible opportunity. As I was at
the memorial service for Charlie Kirk, there was a really
(00:58):
interesting moment that took place. He was the president of
Hillsdale College coming out and talking about how when he
sat down with Charlie Kirk when he was younger. He said,
You're going to have to put in the work. It's
going to be painful, You're going to have to continue
to learn and to study. And then that is when
Charlie Kirk started taking classes at Hillsdale College. Well, I
(01:22):
am now taking two different classes at Hillsdale College specifically
because of that moment, because it's time that all of
us go back to our roots and learn or take
refreshers on vitally important things that are happening in this country.
Hillsdale College is now offering more than forty free online courses.
(01:44):
That's right, more than forty free courses that you can take.
You can learn about the works of C. S. Lewis,
the stories of the Book of Genesis, the meaning of
the US Constitution, the rise in the fall of the
Roman Republic, or the history of the ancient Christian Church,
all with Hillsdale College's free online courses. Personally, I'm enjoying
(02:07):
the Constitution one oh one. I feel like I know
a lot about the Constitution. I talk about it, I've
studied it, but I wanted a college refresher course, and
that's why I'm studying it right now. In this course.
You're going to explore the design and the purpose of
the Constitution, the challenges it faced during the Civil War,
and how it had been undermined by more than a
(02:27):
century of progressives and liberals. This twelve lecture course is
self pace, so you can start whenever and wherever you
want to. And our country needs now more than ever,
Americans who understand the Constitution and can defend the freedom
of the American people against the encroachment of an insanely
large and unaccountable government. So start your free Constitution one
(02:51):
oh one course or any of the other courses at
Hillsdale College now for free. So go right now to
Hillsdale dot edu sam Morning Update to enroll for free,
no costs, and it's easy to get started. Hillsdale dot
edu slash Morning Update to enroll for free. Hillsdale dot
(03:14):
edu slash Morning Update. It's the forty seven Morning Update
and it starts right now.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Story number one.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It is very clear now that it was intentional, It
was targeted political spying that likely went to the very
highest levels in the Biden administration, and there should be
the broadest possible investigation and accountability for what Jack Smith
and the Democrats were doing. We have learned a lot
(03:42):
more now and there are more centers names to add
to the list of those who were spied on by
Jack Smith. Ted Cruz's phone records, we've now learned were
subpoena as part of an investigation the Jacksmith conducted or
oversaw into the January sixth events and the broader quote
interference matter. The subpoena in his case specifically covered the
(04:05):
period of January fourth through the seventh of twenty twenty one,
just before and around the time of the January sixth disturbances.
The Axios piece says that Cruz is the ninth Republican
US senator whose phone records were targeted or subpoenaed by
the Justice Department under Smith's leadership and direction. The subpoena
(04:29):
apparently requested a broad set of metadata inbound and outbound calls,
text messages, direct connect voicemail messages, plus names and even addresses.
Some Republican centers, for example Marshall Blackbird of Tennessee, have
now sent letters to the Attorney General and to the
(04:52):
telecom carriers alleging that this amounts to politicize surveillance of
Congress by the Department of Justice and the FBI, I
calling it spying on duly elected members of Congress. One
report from October to eighth places the number of GOP
lawmakers senators plus at least one representative whose metadata was
(05:14):
actually obtained, and nine eight centers and one House member
in that initial batch, which now is expanding. The reporting
is based on subpoenas and metadata requests. It is not clear,
at least in the public, what the contents are, what
they did with the communications, what was accessed, or what
(05:35):
was done by the DOJ and the FBI with the metadata.
For Ted Cruz specifically, this is what we do know.
The reason why he wasn't in the first batch is
because he was not with Verizon. Instead, his carrier was
AT and T, Which brings me to a special part
of the show. Senator Ted Cruz and I set down
(05:56):
to talk about this spying, exactly what happened and why
we're now seeing this expand to other members of Congress,
and there could be more to come that were spied
on by the Democrats and Jack Smith. So take a
listen to what he had to say about finding out
that he was a target. All right, Senator, So let's
(06:17):
start with the big news. Where were you when you
found out that you were spied on as part of
Jack Smith's investigation into Donald Trump. This clearly is a
fishing expedition. And what were you told? Have you been
briefed on this or are you just getting to say
mentel we are from reading it in the news.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
So I found out about this last week last Thursday,
I got the information. And let's back up a couple
of weeks ago. A couple of weeks ago, the news
broke that Jack Smith, the prosecutor and the Biden DOJ
that was going after January sixth, that was going after
President Trump had subpoenaed eight senators and one Republican house
(06:56):
member and had gotten their cell phone records. And the
eight Senators who had been subpoena were Marsha Blackburn, Ron Johnson,
Bill Haggerty, Josh Holly, Cynthia Lumus, Lindsey Graham, Dan Sullivan,
and Tommy Tubberville. And then Mike Kelly, a Republican House
member from Pennsylvania, was also subpoena. All nine of them
(07:16):
had their cell phone records handed over to the Biden
Department of Justice. Now I got to admit Just over
a week ago, Sean Hannity was in town and I
had dinner with Sean and with several of the senators
on that list as well, and I was laughing with Sean.
I was saying, I'm actually kind of offended, Like how
(07:38):
did I get lift out of this list? Like? What
did I have to do? I was literally standing on
the Senate floor on January sixth, objecting and leading the fight.
And I had brought together eleven senators to stand together
in fighting for an election commission to assess the evidence
(07:58):
of voter fraud, and including many of the senators who
were subpoena were in the group that I'd brought together.
So I was I was joking with Sean, but I
wasn't entirely joking. Well, it turns out the reason I
was not on the list is apparently all eight of
those senators their cell phones are with Verizon, and the
evidence had come out that Verizon had handed over their
(08:18):
their their cell phone information. Well, my cell phone is
with AT and T and I didn't know it at
the time, but I found out late last week that
Jack Smith sent a subpoena at AT and T H
demanding my cell phone records, and AT and T told
him to go jump in a lake. AT and T
did not give my cell phone records. I really look.
(08:41):
AT and T is based in Texas. I'm proud of them.
They did the right thing. I appreciate that. And and
they assessed it. They had a subpoena from Jack Smith.
By the way, the subpoena called for quote, detailed records
for inbound and outbound calls, text messages, direct connect and
(09:04):
voicemail messages, among other things. So they were seeking that.
There was an also an order from Judge Boseburg, who
was you know this, this left wing judge has been
presiding against over much of the litigation against against Trump.
Had an order from Judge Boseberg ordering AT and T
you cannot disclose to Cruise that we're seeking his cell
(09:27):
phone information for a year.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Isn't that amazing? By the way, and you're sitting unin
State Center, don't tell him, we don't want him to know.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Yes, and so AT and T examined it, and they
actually they came to the conclusion. Now, the way it works,
so the subpoena just comes and they get a cell
phone number. So the Biden DOJ didn't identify who they
were seeking. And by the way, look the telecom companies
typically if they get a subpoena for phone records on
(09:56):
a number, they typically hand it over because it's usually
a drug dealer or criminal. You have a subpoena that's
issued from a grand jury, so so it it they
will routinely in a criminal proceeding hand over.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Well, it's so happened that that at and T. Even
though they just asked for the number, they looked and
realized whose number it was, and and and they talked
with their legal team and and and they said, listen,
what what Cruz is saying is it? And any member
of Congress, what they're saying is protected by the Speech
and Debate Clause of the Constitution. The Constitution uh protects
(10:31):
the ability of of of Senators and House members to
engage in debate, to to do our jobs. Article one
of the Constitution vests all legislative power in the Congress.
And and in fact, we you know, on January sixth,
it was very literally speech and debate. As I said,
I was standing on the Senate floor giving a speech
(10:52):
and raising an objection. So it's literally the heart of
what one does as an elected member of Congress, and
and so a concluded, listen there, we're not going to comply.
As I said, I'm grateful for AT and T doing that,
but that now makes it nine senators that we know
of and one House.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
So I'm guessing there might be other senators that were
also at AT and T and they probably said no, we're
not going to do that either. Right, it would be
Verizon just caved instantly and said, sure, here's everybody you're
asking for. There could be easily, I would say, another four, five,
six others. Who knows how many outside the Senate right
that they could have asked for that they could have
said no to as well. And I would assume there
was a lot of people on AT and T well.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
And look the Biden DOJ also after the Republican Attorney
General's Association, it went after Turning Point USA. This was
a massive fishing expedition and this was a political persecution. Understand.
Jack Smith was appointed Special Counsel to investigate and prosecute
January sixth, three days after Donald Trump announced his campaign
(11:59):
for reelection into four literally three days later, so it
was twenty twenty two, So it was two years after
January sixth, they had not appointed anyone, and yet suddenly
when Trump announces his campaign, they rushed to appoint Jack
Smith to say, go after Donald Trump because we want
to stop the voters from voting for him. Sure, but
nine senators, that is twenty percent of the Republicans in
(12:22):
the United States Senate, and I got to say for
the executive branch to engage in wholesale spying on their
political opponents and spying with Let's be clear, none of
us engaged in criminal conduct. None of us can engage
in anything remotely criminal, arguably criminal. This was political persecution.
(12:45):
This was snooping. This is hoping. Someone said something.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I was going to ask you, what were they hoping
to find? Right, you go fishing and what is this
smoking gun? In that scenario, they were just, hey, we'll
just go after all these conservatives and maybe we get lucky.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Look.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
I don't know what they were hoping to find, but
but but they were asking for the cell phone records
from from January fourth to January seventh, so all surrounding
January sixth. I assumed they were looking for some some
modicum of coordination, uh with with with those who engage
in active violence on that day. Part of their theory
(13:25):
was was the alternate electors that were being sent from
various states. So I assumed they were looking for some
modicum of coordination there. But this was a political prosecution
because they did not have evidence. And so they said, well,
let's let's go through their cell phone records and see
if we can find something. And by the way, who
knows if if somebody had sent something stupid a text,
(13:49):
had a voicemail, had you know, I mean people when
you go through someone's emails, when you go through someone's
cell phones, when prosecutors go looking for or a crime,
the nature of a fishing expedition is, let's go look around.
You know, there's a book that was written decades ago.
(14:09):
Uh that that that that's called three Felonies a Day,
And and it talks about how the average American commits
three felonies a day, that that in our regulatory state,
things are so complicated, things are so mired in complexity
that that that you can violate you know, you you
step on a wetland in your backyard and and and
you know there's an old line that a prosecutor can
(14:33):
indict a ham sandwich. Yeah, that that a prosecutor goes
in front of a grand jury. When a prosecutor goes
in front of a grand jury, you know, there's no
defense attorney there. It's just the prosecutor and members of
the grand jury. And so I don't know what they
were looking for. I think they were looking for anything
that could stick because this was a political prosecution. Let
me ask you this, if and and so, Ben, I
(14:55):
just want to say, I'm really grateful they did not
find the make sures you sent to me of you
and a pink too too, because I just think that
it's not criminal all.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
The league jokes that I send you about the Ivy
League snobs. I mean, Jack Smith probably ended up going
to one of those places. That could have been very
bad for me.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
I I it, you know it, it would have been
uh and and I got to say, just the typos
and misspellings that that that you have in your text,
that that alone would have been been a little bit
embarrassing too. So I'm glad none of that.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Good news is they're very hard to decipher when you're
if there, if it's in front of you know, Congress,
like it's what was been really trying to say? And
I'm like, you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
I will tell you about I. I talked to AT
and T today and I said, look, you guys got
to start a marketing campaign and shift to AT and T.
We'll we'll protect your stuff. Like yeah, like who knows
to them? Look, I I don't have a good answer
to that. But but but but I did.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
And I didn't know about this until just a few
days ago. So this was when the first news broke.
I like, I was joking that I felt excluded, but
it wasn't entirely a joke. And then I was like, oh, okay,
that makes sense, and and here.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
We are all right here. I don't question on this.
What is gonna be the response from Congress? Will there
be any to this or is this just old administration
abusive power? It is what it is. We're going to
move on. Or is there gonna be a way to
make sure like we have standards of this is not
allowed to happen and that people are held accountable for this.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Look, I think we're going to see hearings. I think
we've we've got hearings coming in the House. I think
we'll see hearings in the Senate. I will tell you,
the nine of us who were targeted. We're talking to
each other because we want to prevent this. We want
to prevent a subsequent DOJ from doing this, from spying
on their political opponents, particularly in Congress. The executive doesn't
(16:50):
have the ability to go engage in spying on members
of the opposing party in Congress. That is an abuse
of power. It is it is politicization. Uh. And and
this that this entire effort, so so this prosecution was
called Arctic Frost. And I think this is going to
(17:11):
be the watergate of the Biden d o J. I
think it is a demonstration that Jack Smith was a
partisan prosecutor who was drunk on power and and and
and I don't believe Jack Smith made this decision on
his own. I think the decision making goes all the
way up. I think it goes up to the Attorney General.
I think it goes up to the White House. And
(17:32):
and so I expect number one, some some real investigation
and hopefully transparency in terms of who approved let's go
spy on members of Congress and and and and and
that that I think we're gonna work to have some
real transparency on and that I think we're gonna look
at real and concrete steps we can take to make
sure this never happens again, because this kind of is
(17:53):
there part.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Of you that just thinks like maybe this has just
been going on and never really stopped. After after you know,
the famous FBI director that had you know, files on everybody,
and people said, well, we won't have that again after Jagger,
And now it's like they're just like they wild West.
You can do what the hell you want to if
you're a Democrat and you're in charge, Like we can
(18:16):
spawn the present, we can spy in the campaigns. We
can go after people in this situation room and the
trap them. We can try to go after their business
associates and their kids and get them to turn against them,
like Eric Trump was talking about that on our show
the day. If you missed that show, people should go
back and listen to. He's like they were literally trying
to turn Donald Trump's own children against him, threatening that
your life's gonna be over and you're gonna be in jail,
(18:36):
so you better get a get out of jail free card.
And now it's like yeah, and we were also spying
on senators. I'm assuming some congressmen will come out like
who knows who's there. I mean, Charlie Kirk said recently
before assassination. It came out that he said during the campaign,
we either win the campaign or I may go to jail.
I actually believe now witnessing what we've seen, that that's
(18:59):
not far off from reality at all.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Look, the left was willing to weaponize the Department of
Justice in the FBI, as you know, I wrote an
entire book entitled Justice Corrupted, How the Left is weaponized
our legal system, and it talked about it actually started
with Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon tried to do that, and
and you look at some of the some of the
hair brain schemes that the Nixon Justice Department came up with,
(19:23):
including creating underground stings to to to get people, uh,
to get people on film taking drugs and with prostitutes
to use to essentially blackmail them and to go after
their political opponents. I mean, it was grotesque abuse of power.
And and and when when that came to light, we
actually saw an improvement. And there were a couple of
(19:45):
decades where I think this this receded and occurred far less.
And then what Richard Nixon tried to do to the
justice system. Barack Obama succeeded in doing. He came in
as this this almost miss I figure and and and
and do o j Eric Holders Attorney general. You had
(20:05):
Lois Learner at the I r S. They began targeting
their political opponents, targeting targeting anyone that they disagreed with,
and also protecting their friends. During the Trump administration the
first term, they went underground, but they waged war on
the president. These are the people that created fraudulent documents
submitted to the FISA Court in order to in order
(20:27):
to try to go after President Trump. They wanted to
reverse the results of the twenty sixteen election because they
were furious that the American people elected Trump. And then
during Biden they were open, they were flagrant. They were
out in the open, and they were they were abusing
their power. And I think they felt that the ends
justified the means, and and and anything was acceptable and
(20:49):
and and so I think we need to take real steps.
Do I think this has been going on forever? And ever?
I don't. I certainly hope not. I'm not aware that
it has. There is there, there's ancient history, but it
took really, i think, under Biden to make it just
as viciously partisans as m McCain.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Yes, yeah, thank you for listening to the forty seven
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
Host
Ben Ferguson
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.