Washington Examiner reporter Gabe Kaminsky and I will be discussing the bizarre and sordid ending (we hope) to the State Department censorship story, involving the Global Engagement Center
I applaud your tenacity in the fight against censorship and hope your interest includes the recent moves by the Chairman of the FCC to reinstate complaints against CBS, NBC and ABC but not against Fox.
Sorry to say, but I think what we've been dragged through these past O'Biden years is nothing compared to what Ai will bring the world! Something meant for good initially is and will soon become a tool for nothing but EVIL!
On the pardons: since it's fundamental to this country that there is a presumption of innocence, any pardon of an unproved, untried, and unconvicted act is invalid, since it's a logical contradiction to pardon someone that is innocent. Apparently this fundamental idea has been forgotten, with all the #MeToo and cancellation activity, but it's a fact worth recalling.
I doubt you'll succeed in that view in court. The pardon power in the Constitution is really without any limitation as to potential or only actual crimes. That said, as Taibbi pointed out the loss of 5th Amendment protection for these folks means that Congressional investigations won't likely get stymied by lawyers, etc.
Has the Supreme Court ever ruled on whether blanket presidential pardons are constitutional?
Note that president Biden's pardon's of Jan. 19, 2025 were not personally signed by him - they used facsimile signatures, as you can see by comparing them, as they're all identical (1). This includes pardons of the Jan. 6 committee, Dr. Fauci, General Milley, Biden family members, and others.
At Matt recently pointed out, that's considered acceptable, but it would be nice if a reporter asked president Biden why he did not personally sign those pardons. Was he mentally checked out that day? If so, are the pardons valid?
The only prior prospective Pardon I am aware of was Ford's of Nixon. Of course it was not tested in court.
If Biden is still coherent whenever he is asked that question his answer should or will be that for ~8,000 pardons that is just too difficult to do by handa and time was so short. So that is not any issue.
Also you know that Biden did not know any of the details of these Pardons. One of his handlers said, Mr. President, here are the Pardons we discussed [points to a stack of papers in official binders] do you approve the use of the auto signature for them?
That said, you will never get to ask Joe that question. He's not going to give interviews and the only thing he's gonna do is have his memoir ghostwritten. Then he'll expire in the garage of his Wilmington house, sitting in his Corvette.
Note that the pardons of Jan. 19 were not pardons of thousands of people - there were only seven pardons that day, easily signable by hand. For example, the second one (Warrant 2) only pardons Anthony Fauci.
I haven't seen the pardons of thousands of people. I wondered if they listed all the individuals being pardoned; that would make for a long document.
Added later: It looks like Joe personally signed Hunter's pardon (link below). We could make a parlor game of guessing which ones he personally signed.
This is amazing! I really love the America This Week project — one of the only pods I don't miss — but I'd love to see you do regular interviews with interesting journos/politicians/etc. (The Marianne Williamson Substack livestream was great, and I don't know if that is even available to watch.)
I agree. I'd like to see Matt occasionally discuss some current issues, such as the legal history of birthright citizenship in the U.S., with an impartial legal expert.
I recall some clever person saying democrats love employment but hate employers. In light of all these efforts to control what people can hear and say, I’d update it to state that they love democracy but terribly distrust voters.
Good stuff. I personally think free speech is the most important issue in the US and world. It is a requisite for democracy, which makes the Democrats always harping about the end of democracy so funny. They are the ones trying to end it. Keep this line of reporting going. If you still have access to Twitter Files, I would love to see more, especially where other social media and tech companies are implicated. Try to get Zuckerberg to open up his files. That really would have some impact and, arguably, Facebook was the worst offender (not counting Google controlling search results).
Every podcaster, commenter, and analyst needs to attend to conquering censorship, at home and globally first. If the truth can be hidden or twisted, the mission is doomed.
Matt, the man-made global pandemic should inform you that until a total tear down of these corrupt deep state systems occurs, the lies will continue until your morale improves.
Any questions? Didn't think so. Report accordingly.
Niceee. I love to pay you to report the shit out of this beat. Also nice to see (hear?) you mix it up with new interlocutors :)
Illuminating. Gabe!
In summary — the mega-criminal (weaponization of government) started with St Obama
I applaud your tenacity in the fight against censorship and hope your interest includes the recent moves by the Chairman of the FCC to reinstate complaints against CBS, NBC and ABC but not against Fox.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/01/trumps-fcc-chair-gets-to-work-on-punishing-news-stations-accused-of-bias/
Sorry to say, but I think what we've been dragged through these past O'Biden years is nothing compared to what Ai will bring the world! Something meant for good initially is and will soon become a tool for nothing but EVIL!
On the pardons: since it's fundamental to this country that there is a presumption of innocence, any pardon of an unproved, untried, and unconvicted act is invalid, since it's a logical contradiction to pardon someone that is innocent. Apparently this fundamental idea has been forgotten, with all the #MeToo and cancellation activity, but it's a fact worth recalling.
I doubt you'll succeed in that view in court. The pardon power in the Constitution is really without any limitation as to potential or only actual crimes. That said, as Taibbi pointed out the loss of 5th Amendment protection for these folks means that Congressional investigations won't likely get stymied by lawyers, etc.
Has the Supreme Court ever ruled on whether blanket presidential pardons are constitutional?
Note that president Biden's pardon's of Jan. 19, 2025 were not personally signed by him - they used facsimile signatures, as you can see by comparing them, as they're all identical (1). This includes pardons of the Jan. 6 committee, Dr. Fauci, General Milley, Biden family members, and others.
At Matt recently pointed out, that's considered acceptable, but it would be nice if a reporter asked president Biden why he did not personally sign those pardons. Was he mentally checked out that day? If so, are the pardons valid?
[1] https://www.justice.gov/pardon/pardons-granted-president-joseph-biden-2021-present
The only prior prospective Pardon I am aware of was Ford's of Nixon. Of course it was not tested in court.
If Biden is still coherent whenever he is asked that question his answer should or will be that for ~8,000 pardons that is just too difficult to do by handa and time was so short. So that is not any issue.
Also you know that Biden did not know any of the details of these Pardons. One of his handlers said, Mr. President, here are the Pardons we discussed [points to a stack of papers in official binders] do you approve the use of the auto signature for them?
That said, you will never get to ask Joe that question. He's not going to give interviews and the only thing he's gonna do is have his memoir ghostwritten. Then he'll expire in the garage of his Wilmington house, sitting in his Corvette.
Yes, I realize we'll never get an answer.
Note that the pardons of Jan. 19 were not pardons of thousands of people - there were only seven pardons that day, easily signable by hand. For example, the second one (Warrant 2) only pardons Anthony Fauci.
I haven't seen the pardons of thousands of people. I wondered if they listed all the individuals being pardoned; that would make for a long document.
Added later: It looks like Joe personally signed Hunter's pardon (link below). We could make a parlor game of guessing which ones he personally signed.
https://www.justice.gov/pardon/media/1378646/dl?inline
I erred. I lumped commutations in with Pardons. Brandon issued a lot of commutations. Sav3ed the Pardons for those near and dear to him.
This is amazing! I really love the America This Week project — one of the only pods I don't miss — but I'd love to see you do regular interviews with interesting journos/politicians/etc. (The Marianne Williamson Substack livestream was great, and I don't know if that is even available to watch.)
I agree. I'd like to see Matt occasionally discuss some current issues, such as the legal history of birthright citizenship in the U.S., with an impartial legal expert.
Bottom line, our tax dollars spent on propagandizing us, is not okay. This is not a trivial issue.
Kudos Gabe Kaminsky....you are officially on the telling the truth list....no elongating of your nose...look forward to reading more of your work.
excellent. Thanks Matt and Gabe
I recall some clever person saying democrats love employment but hate employers. In light of all these efforts to control what people can hear and say, I’d update it to state that they love democracy but terribly distrust voters.
Good discussion! Nice of Matt to give well-deserved kudos to a younger journalist 👏
Good stuff. I personally think free speech is the most important issue in the US and world. It is a requisite for democracy, which makes the Democrats always harping about the end of democracy so funny. They are the ones trying to end it. Keep this line of reporting going. If you still have access to Twitter Files, I would love to see more, especially where other social media and tech companies are implicated. Try to get Zuckerberg to open up his files. That really would have some impact and, arguably, Facebook was the worst offender (not counting Google controlling search results).
Every podcaster, commenter, and analyst needs to attend to conquering censorship, at home and globally first. If the truth can be hidden or twisted, the mission is doomed.
Matt, the man-made global pandemic should inform you that until a total tear down of these corrupt deep state systems occurs, the lies will continue until your morale improves.
Any questions? Didn't think so. Report accordingly.
Good discussion, guys.
More of this format. Very informative- much more. I'll still watch your conversations with Walter.