Judging Freedom - Larry Johnson : How Good Is Russian Military and Intel?

Episode Date: September 15, 2025

Larry Johnson : How Good Is Russian Military and Intel?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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That's an equivalent to $15 a month. Limited time new customer offer for first three months only. Speeds may slow above 35 gigabytes on unlimited. plan. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details. Hi, everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Monday, September 15th, 2025. Larry Johnson will be with us in just one moment, but first this. Why do so many financial experts call silver the most undervalued asset today?

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You can hold it in your hand or put it in your 401k or IRA. That's why I urge you to call my friends at Lear Capital and get their free report. The AI Revolution and see why silver prices are set to soar. Call 800, 5114620, 8005114620, or go to Learjudsonap.com. Don't wait. The government can print dollars, but it can't print. Silver. Larry, welcome here, my dear friend. I want to talk to you about the Russian military and Russian intel. But before we get there, have you any idea why Prime Minister Netanyahu

went on international television over the weekend to state publicly that Israel did not assassinate Charlie Kirk? Yes, and let me first say, thank you, Judge, for accommodating my schedule again. It's the second time I've said that in three days. Pleasure, Larry. Pleasure. Look, the circumstantial evidence pointing to the fact that Charlie Kirk was re-evaluating his position vis-a-vis Israel, and I was looking forward. I was hoping I'd see Max Blumenthal before me, but I guess he's coming on after me.

Right. And so people will definitely want to watch that because I think the article that Max and Anya Parampil, his wife, produced the other day, lays it out an exquisite and horrifying detail that this journey that Charlie Kirk was on, that, you know, he was not a rigid ideologue frozen in time, unwilling to make any kind of changes or movements.

He, in fact, was making movements. And I think the one thing that was sort of driving him was because of his passion for the unborn and for children, that they did not be killed or destroyed or murdered, that he began to see the contradiction that how could he uphold that position and then, you know, claim to support the genocide that the Zionists are carrying out in Gaza. And, you know, he said he had a, he said someone, comfortable thanks to Ben Shapiro, just the day before he died. He held that debate with Dave.

He hosted the debate between Dave Smith and Josh Hammer in mid-December. So clearly his position was changing. Now, the fact that he had been funded early on by a lot of pro-Zionist Israelis and Christians was a factor weighing upon him, because money and there's a threat can be significant. But the other thing we have, and our friend George Galloway did a magnificent job of this in his commentary the other night, that anybody who raises the possibility that Israel was involved with the murder of Charlie Kirk as an anti-Semite, and he says, no, no, no, no, Israel lost the right to use that accusation years ago, starting with the murder of U.S. military

personnel on the U.S. liberty. And there have been other examples. There's strong circumstantial evidence pointing to their involvement as well with the death of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. So it's not far-fetched. This is not some grand conspiracy theory pulled out of nowhere. Now, what could they possibly have done? Incited these transgender activists to be able to take the action, providing a shield between them. But nonetheless, the facts that are there in the last few months,

is that Charlie Kirk appeared to be re-evaluating his relationship with Israel and then told specific people he was afraid, afraid of Benjamin Netanyahu. That's why Netanyahu got out in front of this. Here's a portion of the Charlie Kirk, Ben Shapiro interview, cut number 11. We pushed back against the media on COVID, on lockdowns, on Ukraine, on the border, on, so maybe we should also ask a question, is the media totally presenting the truth when it comes to Israel? Just a question, you know, that maybe we shouldn't believe everything the media says because I know I've been conditioned to ask a lot more critical questions over the last couple of years. So, Ben, some people would accuse Israel of wanting to ethnically cleanse. Some people in the Israeli government are saying, again, it's all over the place, right? You have opinions all over.

in your opinion what would a good outcome five years from now be and how does one respond to the claims of ethnic cleansing no question but that he was changing his mind ben or um forgive me max is going to uh demonstrate some very very strong and breaking news about the level of threats uh imposed uh on uh on uh on charmed Charlie. Jumping to Doha, what do you think the geopolitical response will be to the United States-enabled Israeli perpetrated assault on a residential neighborhood in Doha? Well, this may be another Mark in Trump's column to get him the Nobel Peace Prize, because he has brought together the Arabs and the Iranians. the Persians, and they're like

all united right now today putting out this very strong statement condemning what Israel did in that strike and indirectly condemning the United States for facilitating it. So hey, congratulations President Trump. You've brought them together again.

So, yeah, you know, I apologize for the sarcasm, but reading the various statements that were made, you know, Erdogan, yeah, he's a big talker. He talks tough, doesn't actually act. Pajeshkin of Iran, though, he was very strong. Muhammad bin Salman, very strong.

Even the king of Jordan, Abdullah, was there condemning in the strongest terms possible. Because, you know, I think he recognizes this as well. They could be next. Right. You know, despite the relationship with the United States, what was demonstrated as this is that despite the role that the Qataris have played and hosting, for now more than 25, 30 years, the base at Al-Udidi that has been used to conduct the war in Iraq, played a major role in the war in Syria, that they've been a de facto ally of the United States, and that the United States would allow the Israelis to attack them in this way. It has enraged them. It has sort of torn the scales from their eyes. and I think it was the Prime Minister Al-Tani

was I mean he was delivering quite a list a tirade almost directed at Israel and indirectly directed at the United States So this is this is any of them going to take any military action Against Israel No no But you know candidly they don't need to take military action

Take economic action Follow up with what the Houthis are doing. Let the Houthis be the one that are launching the missiles, but stop all trade, cut off all relations, isolate Israel, and all of those countries have leverage with other countries that are trading. Where does Israel get its oil from? Through Turkey, Azerbaijan, a significant portion of it. Well, Erdogan could stop that with a phone call. Absolutely. But the reason Erdogan has it is, hey, his family is making money off of it.

You know, the attack occurred in Doha. Correct. After the United States lured Hamas there, just like the attack on Iran occurred after the United States lured the Iranian negotiators to wherever they were going to negotiate. Both of those involved Whitkoff. Whitkoff, we now know, is cutting deals for himself and his family as he goes from Middle Eastern country to Middle Eastern country, very, very lucrative financial deals. Do you think Whitkoff was a dupe used by Trump or a willing participant in the deceptions? No, dupe. He was duped. He was used.

you know this is in most states in the united states i believe it is illegal during deer season people that want to go hunt deer and kill deer to put a salt lick out in the middle of a field so that they can attract the deer bait them and then shoot them right well that's illegal and yet that's exactly what we're doing the equivalent of that it's not so much a salt lick as it is hey have your phones available we'll give you a call So we can know where you are So we can have the Israelis send a bomb or a missile on top of you And I don't believe that Whitkoff was actually read into that

Or even clued into it So he would have plausible deniability But I think the word is now getting around If Whitkoff caused you to set up a meeting You might want to think twice before going to it Right, right Chris tells me you can beat all you want in Georgia, you can't bait in New Jersey, that I know my farm, as you know,

is in the height of the heart of the deer and bear shooting area. On Ukraine, has anything toward peace come of the Anchorage meeting, any structure, any working group, any agreement to agree? no nothing in fact what we've seen is that I don't know if Trump planned it this way you know maybe they'll take credit for it

after the fact but by him staking out this condition hey you know we're willing to we'll impose the most massive sanctions and tariffs on Russia India and China but Europe you go first this is your fight not ours

so you take the lead you show us how important this is and Europe's going, we're not doing that. And then Trump's going, well, if you're not going to do it, we're not going to get out in front of this parade. So, you know, now it's just, it's complete stalemate, not between the West and Russia. Russia's winning.

The stalemate is now between the United States and Europe, because Europe has talked a good game, but they're not willing to put their economic relations with India, China, at risk, and also deprive themselves of what oil is coming out of Russia. Their economies are already suffering. Just the other day, we saw the French bond was downgraded by Fitch, rating agency from AA to just plus A. So they're going in the wrong direction.

UK, France, and Germany, they've all got significant economic problems and significant political problems. So none of them are in any kind of strong position to put together an organized effort to go out and, quote, confront Russia. So, you know, Trump has sort of found a way out where he's, hey, I'm rolling. I'm going to go full, full Monty on him. Boy, I'm going to impose everything. But you guys got to go first. And as long as they don't go first, Trump then doesn't have to do anything. I'm going to play a clip from Trump for just a minute and ask you what you think of it. In my opinion, he doesn't know what he's talking about. However, he did say over the weekend, I need every country in NATO to impose sanctions. Well, he knows

that's not going to happen. Turkey's not going to do it. Hungary's not going to do it. There it is. I am ready to do major sanctions on Russia when all NATO nations have agreed and started to do the same thing. And when all NATO nations stop buying oil from Russia, that is a practical and economic impossibility. Yeah, yeah. So he's, yeah, I mean, it really, it's clever and we can't, you know, whatever we want to say about Donald Trump's lack of organization and failure to hire, you know, well-vetted people, I give him, you know, on this one, and again, I don't know, did he come up with

it or did fall into it, but it's extremely clever and it's extremely effective. It allows him to say, hey, I'm willing to be the hard. guy here and to take and to really impunish Russia but you guys got to go first you know you show this is like someone saying hey you know I want you to invest in this multi-billion dollar company and you say great I'll put my money in as soon as I see that you guys have put in as much if not more than what you want me to invest here he is over the weekend about Europe stopping its purchases of oil Chris cut number eight. Europe is, they're my friends, but they're buying oil from Russia.

So we can't be expected to be the only ones that are, you know, full, full bore. But Europe is buying oil from Russia. I don't want them to buy oil. And the sanctions that they're putting on are not tough enough. And I'm willing to do sanctions, but they're going to have to toughen up their sanctions commensurate with what I'm doing. Yeah. It's not going to happen.

Not going to happen at all. The kind of economic turmoil that is really starting to shake the world, we haven't felt as much as the Europeans are starting to feel it. But, for example, inflation is somewhat hidden, but it is taking off, both here and abroad. The stagnation. It looks like the U.S. economy, now that they've got the correct fix. figures in place for unemployment has actually been in recession since April of 2024. The Chinese are moving their purchases.

They used to think, many in the Trump team thought that, oh, China couldn't get along without our market. And yet I posted a piece last night on Sonar 21 that was based on information from Bloomberg, reporting that there's just been an explosion of trade between China and Africa with the Africans importing a lot more and on top of it, the Chinese using their own currency to finance loans to those people. Loans in the past that used to be in dollars

and have to go through the IMF or the World Bank. Doesn't Trump have people around him who could have anticipated this? Yeah. Well, in theory, yes, but they didn't. They refuse to look at it. Right. It's not like I'm... I think they're afraid to tell him when they think he's wrong.

Yeah, that may be. Look, I'm not some great economic genius, not some great military strategist, but look, I can add and subtract and just sit there and look at what's happening. Look at who's, you know, you always ask yourself, does somebody have an alternative?

And, you know, the example is like the nuclear power plant industry. years ago the West said we're going to teach those Chinese by God we're going to sanction them and they're not going to get access to our technology so what did the Japanese do they said oh okay we'll develop our own internal capability so now what's happened in a period of 20 years China is building 10 new nuclear reactor power plants a year the United States hasn't built one and I don't, I can't remember the last one we built. And what that means is we therefore don't have the personnel trained to build them. The personnel trained to operate them.

And China, meanwhile, it's doing 10 a year. They've been doing 10 a year for, I think, the last three years. Think about that. All right. On the Russian military, and I've been dying to show you this all day. Sorry for the acid this will put in your belly. General Kellogg three days ago, Chris, cut number nine. If he was winning, he'd be in Kiev.

If he's winning, he'd be west of the Nepe River. If he was winning, he'd be on Odessa. If he was winning, he would have changed the government. Russia is, in fact, losing this war. Now, they may make movements and say, well, they're advancing in the Donbass region and in the desk. But if you consider advancing moving by meters, not miles, well, then, okay, that's successful. But if the cost they're having, it's enormous. And I don't think people truly appreciate it.

It's a number. But the numbers they have lost, when you're talking dead and wounded, well over a million, they left Afghanistan after losing 18,000. We left Vietnam after losing 65,000. They have lost over a million debt or wounded. These numbers are World War II level numbers when you think about it. They're stunning in the loss. And this is in their first line units that they came and tried to take key with a little

over four years ago. Those first-line units are gone. So they've gone through a second or third or fourth iteration of wartime commanders. They're pulling tanks out of mothballs out of museums to put on the battle line. They can't operate in large movements because the Ukrainians would kill them. Yeah, he's lying. I mean, look, look, let's just very simple. So let me get this straight.

The Russians are moving very, very, very slowly, you know, and in the process, man, they're suffering massive casualties. Okay, so in the last two months, when the Russians have turned over the dead Ukrainians that they have and the Ukrainians have turned over the dead Russians

that they have, the Ukrainians gave the Russians 19 dead Russians in the last two turnovers. 19 the first time, 19 the time before that. Each time the Russians turned over a thousand.

That's a 50 to one difference. For every dead Russian, there's 50 dead Ukrainians. So what does that mean? Well, he could come back and say, well, actually, what it means is that the Russians were moving so fast forward that the Ukrainians didn't have time to recover the body and go, whoa, whoa, wait a second. You just told us that they were moving so slowly that they were hardly advancing. Now you want to say that they're moving so fast. that the Ukrainians didn't have time to pick up the bodies?

I may figure out a story, stick with it. But the story he's pushing is, as our good friend, Ray McGovern calls it, male bovine excrement to the maximum. Agreed entirely, but here's the danger. He gets to whisper into Donald Trump's ears. Yeah. And if Trump's dumb enough to believe him, then Trump's going to reap the whirlwind. You know, again, this Trump's got it.

Is Trump the president? Is he the adult? Does he have any kind of independent thought process? I believe he does. I believe he's capable of that. And so he should recognize and understand. There is, I did hear our friend Alexander McCurrah's comment that he has picked up that there's going to be sort of a re-evaluation and a presentation of new intelligence from the United States

to update significantly the actual casualty figures. because the situation that Kellogg was describing is actually what the Ukrainians are experiencing. Massive losses, they've turned over multiple. They're on their fourth army right now, whereas the Russians have not suffered those kinds of losses at all. And again, there's no independent indicator. For example, if the Russians were suffering those kinds of losses, then you would see it on social media in Russia. It's not on social media. You would see it in the obituaries that are published

in all of the republics in Russia. You're not seeing that. You'd see it in hospitals that were overflowing. You'd see it in graveyards, cemeteries that were being expanded. You're not seeing that. You're seeing all of that in Ukraine. And so, you know, Kellogg's going to end up eating his words here because, you know, perhaps before the end of the year,

the Russians will be in Kiev, they'll be in Odessa. And then we'll call and finally say, well, damn, I was wrong. Russia has won, maybe. Larry, thank you very much, my dear friend. I know you've been traveling, and you're accommodating my schedule, deeply appreciated. Hey, anything for the judge. God bless you. I was thinking of our friends in Russia when he said the Russians are taking tanks out of museums.

Yeah, yeah. This is just crazy. We'll see you Friday with Ray. Yes, sir. I'll be there. Of course, all the best. If you're watching us live, you don't want to miss Max Blumenthal coming up in five minutes at six o'clock Eastern. Judge Napolitano for judging freedom. Thank you.