Judging Freedom - President Trump Pardons January 6 Defendants in Sweeping Clemency Action

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

President Trump Pardons January 6 Defendants in Sweeping Clemency ActionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thank you. Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Tuesday, January 21st, 2025. Ambassador Charles Freeman will be here with us in just a moment on is the ceasefire in the Middle East a ceasefire or just an inauguration pause. But first this. We're taught to work hard for 35 to 40 years. Save your money, then live off your savings. Unfortunately, there are too many threats undermining the value of our hard-earned dollars. The Fed's massive money printing machine is shrinking your dollar's value. Just the cost of groceries is absurd. Let me be brutally honest.

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Before the show began, we were speaking in general terms about the incident, incidents that occurred at Secretary of State, former Secretary of State, thanks be to God, Blinken's final press conference. Why do you think he had his thugs throw out Max Wilmenthal and Sam Hussaini, and in Sam's case, brutally so? Well, there's been a steady evolution in our country, unfortunately, away from the First Amendment. The press is now routinely expected to echo the official narrative on matters and not to challenge those in power. And both Max Blumenthal and Sam Hosseini are representatives of the classic journalist

tradition of challenging those in power. And this is something that Mr. Blinken is extremely uncomfortable with. And this is essentially the sort of action one expects in a police state. And I would say that yesterday's inauguration did not interrupt the evolution at all toward authoritarian rule in this country, including the oppression of journalists

who have the courage to ask uncomfortable questions. Do you expect journalism to be suppressed in the Trump administration, contrary to the president's statement in his inaugural address about the freedom of speech? Well, I think we've seen an immediate flurry of executive orders, most of which have the effect of establishing political surveillance of government functions, rather like a Leninist commissar system. So every department is to evaluate the performance of senior career people to determine whether they are in line with Mr. Trump and his thinking.

And he began his administration by stripping the security clearances of those members of the intelligence community retired who had opposed his story about Hunter Biden's laptop. And he also stripped John Bolton of any residual security clearances he had. So these are not the actions of someone with respect for free speech or willingness to tolerate dissent. I think we will see, of course, but it is not promising. had a Mossad asset on the dais with him yesterday in the person of Mrs. Adelson. Is there any reason to expect that he will be as subservient to Prime Minister Netanyahu? Is there any reason to expect that he won't be as subservient to Prime Minister Netanyahu, is there any reason to expect that he won't be as

subservient to Prime Minister Netanyahu as Joe Biden was? Well, unlike Joe Biden, he was prepared to send someone to talk, give Mr. Netanyahu some tough love. But that man, Mr. Witkoff, New York real estate dealer, billionaire, although he talked tough to Netanyahu, probably also gave him some sweeteners to bring about the phony ceasefire that we're seeing. That has been quite revealing because it demonstrates that the effort to destroy Hamas has resulted, of course, in the destruction of Gaza, but Hamas is intact and able to exert its authority there. It has also demonstrated, if you watch the pictures, the film, that the Israeli hostages were well treated. They're in good health.

Their experience undoubtedly was traumatic. But unlike the Palestinian prisoners, the hostages that Israel has taken over the years, they were not subjected to the kind of brutality that has been well documented in the case of Israel. So I would say two things. First, Maryam Adelson apparently, in return for a $100 million contribution to the Trump campaign, got support from him for the annexation of the West Bank and the continued ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Mr. Witkoff, although he talked tough,

is entirely in line with the Zionist program. In fact, he is quoted in the Jerusalem Post as talking about removing the Palestinians and resettling them in Indonesia. There's no indication whether he asked Indonesia anything about that. And there's no reason for anyone to accept that Israel or anyone else has the right under international law to dispossess the people it has oppressed. So I don't think we're in for any change at all. It'll be more of the same. The rhetoric will be more honest. There will be less nonsense about human rights and opposing genocide and so forth, but there will be just as little tolerance for anyone who dares to ask about these things, honestly. If the rumors about Mr.

Witkoff's sweeteners to Prime Minister Netanyahu are true, They are, of course, reprehensible. That has to do with NSO slash Pegasus and ZeroClick. That's the catastrophic software that the Israelis manufacture, which under Joe Biden was illegal to import into the United States. If Trump lifts that embargo, that would be crazy because the Israelis will use that on Trump. They'll use it on the American government. Of course, the government will use it on all of us. It allows the government to, or the owner of it, the possessor of it, to hack into computers without tricking someone into clicking onto a link. The other two so-called sweeteners,

again, these are rumors, this is not written down anywhere, are that Trump will support the repopulation of the Israeli settlers of the West Bank and the re-entry into Gaza of the IDF. It would take a very small trigger or conflagration for Netanyahu to claim the right to re-enter Gaza militarily, don't you think? Well, first, I don't know why you imagine that Israel is not already using these instruments to eavesdrop on American politicians in the White House. I believe they are.

So the ban on the importation of these technologies was basically ineffectual. Second, Netanyahu has made it very clear in his discussions with the fascist elements of his cabinet that the only reason he agreed to phase one of the so-called ceasefire was because he had assurances from both President Biden and President Trump that he could resume the war of annihilation in Gaza at any moment. And he also authorized, with his cabinet authorized, an intensification of the ethnic cleansing operations, the programs, militarily supported programs in the West Bank. So I think anyone who thinks this deal was anything other than a pause in the genocide to facilitate an exchange of hostages is dreaming. Here's Prime Minister Netanyahu saying just what you summarized. Chris, cut number five. Towards the next stages of the agreement, we are holding on to some significant assets so that we can bring back all of the hostages and in order to accomplish all the goals of the war. Both President Trump and President Biden have provided full backing to Israel's right to resume fighting, to resume

combat if Israel reaches the conclusion that the negotiations over the second stage are pointless. I truly appreciate that. I also appreciate the decision of President Trump to lift all the remaining restrictions on the providing of essential munitions and weapons to the state of Israel. If we need to resume combat, we will do so in new ways and we will do so with tremendous force. He may need to resume combat just to stay in office. Well, I think this is a typical Israeli negotiating pattern. That is expedient agreement to immediate advantages against the deceitful promise of progress on longer term issues. He just said, frankly, phase two of this agreement is pointless. In his view, he will find an excuse to resume the fighting. And I note that he referred to an assurance from President

Trump, meaning, I assume, through Mr. Witkoff, that any restrictions on the use of 2,000-pound bombs, for example, will be ended, and Israel will have a totally free hand to continue the slaughter. Now, here I want to point out that the way the hostages were released was a dramatic demonstration of the utter failure of the use of force by Israel in Gaza to secure the release of hostages. The hostages, these hostages, have been released in the same way as the initial release occurred, that is through negotiations. And Mr. Netanyahu and before him President Biden, Secretary Blinken, National Security Advisor Sullivan did everything possible to prevent a ceasefire over the previous period. Mr. Trump

is not interested in a ceasefire. He's interested in courting Israel and its domestic political support. And he probably genuinely believes in the lies that Israel depends upon for its support in the United States. He may actually have an interest beyond that. He may have an interest in the real estate, Ambassador. Here's what he said when asked asked do you think the ceasefire will hold cut number seven then are you surprised then that you can keep the ceasefire in gaza and conclude the three phases of this deal i'm not confident that's not our words their war but i apologize i'm not confident but i think they're very weakened on the other side. Do you support the two-state solution? Gaza, boy, I looked at a picture of Gaza.

Gaza is like a massive demolition site. That place is, it's really got to be rebuilt in a different way. Are you going to help rebuilding Gaza? My mind. You know, Gaza's interesting. It's a phenomenal location. On the sea, the best weather. You know, everything's good. It's like some beautiful things could be done with it, but it's very interesting. But some fantastic things could be done with Gaza. How do you see the future in governance for the ASEAN? Well, it depends.

I can't imagine you could have, well, you certainly can't have the people that were there. Most of them are dead. All right. Not sure he knew exactly what he was talking about, but you think he's interested in developing the property? Well, if you recall, when he was talking to North Korea, he was talking the same language,

talking about real estate developments in North Korea, resorts and the like. And so this is entirely consistent with his approach. There was no evidence at all, by the way, in that statement of any concern about the genocide, about the slaughter of Palestinians, about the right of Palestinians to self-determination. And the underlying assumption appeared to be that Israel would be doing the rebuilding, perhaps with the Trump organization involved in it. So this does not augur well for peace in the Holy Land. Are Israel and Iran actively preparing for war with each other, Ambassador?

Yes, they are. We got through the inauguration and the arrival of the new president without the attack by Israel on Iran that many feared, but the danger has not subsided. And one has to imagine that the assurance that Prime Minister Netanyahu cited from Mr. Trump about untrammeled arms sales includes an attack on Iran. Mr. Trump, after all, was the one who pulled the plug on the international control of the Iranian nuclear program in the so-called JCPOA, and he remains implacably hostile to Iran and committed to supporting Israel. So the Iranians, for their part, have been redoubling their production of munitions for use against Israel.

And of course, on the 17th of January, three days before the inauguration, they signed a comprehensive treaty of cooperation with the Russian Federation. That agreement with Mr. Putin, between Mr. Pozeshki and the President of Iran and Mr. Putin, the Russian President, was light on military matters, but it included references to military cooperation. And indeed that cooperation has been significant. I expect now to see an intensification of technology exchanges between Iran and Russia, not just limited to drones and drone technology which Iran has supplied to Russia, but extending to many other areas, including air defense, to repair the damage that Israeli attacks on the earlier version of air defense that Iran had inflicted.

I guess the inauguration of Donald Trump has reawakened a madman. Here is your favorite member of the United States Senate calling for war on Iran, cut number four. This war will never end with Hamas in charge of Gaza, politically or militarily. Their days are numbered. And the next question for the world is what do we do about the Iran nuclear program? That's where we're going to move to next. There's diplomacy.

There's a one in trillion chance you'll degrade the Iranian nuclear program through diplomacy. There's a 90% chance you'll degrade it through military action by Israel supported by the United States. So the next topic I will be engaging in with President Trump is to take this moment in time to decimate the Iran nuclear program because they're so exposed. What does that mean? Help Israel deliver a knockout blow. What does that mean? You're going to urge him to have Israel bomb Iran's facilities that are underground and would require U.S. military support to actually be effective?

I'm going to urge the decimation of the Iranian nuclear program. I don't think diplomacy works. This is a religious Nazi regime. They want to destroy the Jewish state. They want to purify Islam and drive us out of the Mideast. It would be like negotiating with Hitler. I am hoping there will be an effort by Israel to decimate the Iran nuclear program supported by the United States. And if we don't do that, it will be a historical mistake.

I think he's the United States. And if we don't do that, it will be a historical mistake. I think he's the madman. Well, this is the way you get a forever war. I would note that the world is not with us on this, Senator Graham notwithstanding. And here I want to refer, if I may, to a different issue, which is the statement in the inaugural address that we're going to take back the Panama Canal. That is a statement of not just indifference to international law and practice or to diplomacy, but of contempt for both. The Panama Canal is governed by two treaties signed by the United States and the government of Panama. The first of those two reserves the right to the United States and the government of Panama, the first of those two reserves the right to the United States to intervene if the canal is administered in a discriminatory

fashion. Mr. Trump charges that it is. I'll come back to that. The second treaty gives the control of the Panama Canal and its administration to the government of Panama, irrevocably. So, Mr. Trump charges that the Chinese are running the Panama Canal. This is just as credible as his theory that people in Springfield, Ohio are eating dogs, cats, and other pets, and it comes from the same source. There are two ports out of five on either end of the Panama Canal,

which are operated by a privately owned Hong Kong company, Hutchison Wong Poa, and very efficiently. And the Chinese, in fact, are building a bridge over the canal for a billion dollars and putting money into improving the canal. We are not. The charge that we are being discriminated against by Panama has been roundly refuted by the Panamanians and has no basis whatsoever in fact. So this is another delusional fantasy foreign policy. I have no doubt Senator Graham supports it, but it is a potential catastrophe.

Among other things, it will set all of Latin America against us. It gives the Chinese exactly the sort of demonstration of American imperialism that they love to exploit for their own purposes. And it is, as foreign policy, it is little short of insane. What about Graham's advice to the president that we should bomb Iran? They don't have a nuclear weapon, do they? All of the intelligence agencies have repeatedly investigated this, including Mossad in Israel, including the CIA, including others in the Western Collective, and found that Iran has not made a decision to build a nuclear bomb. It has the fissile material available for rapid re-enrichment to build probably four bombs. Whether it has the technology to mount those bombs on ballistic

missiles or not is uncertain. But it doesn't have a bomb. By threatening Iran in this way, you provide hardliners in Iran with all of the incentive they could hope for to get the leadership to overcome its religious scruples and build a bomb. So this is an entirely counterproductive approach, unless you imagine, contrary to what experts inform us, is the case that somehow an Israeli attack backed by the United States could eliminate Iran's nuclear capabilities. Those capabilities reside in two places. One is in the heads of Iranian scientists and engineers who exist in large numbers and who would not be obliterated by an attack. And second, a deep underground in concealed facilities.

Israel and the United States may well know where those facilities are and may be able to damage them, but we cannot hope to eliminate the Iranian nuclear program. An attack on Iran would galvanize Iran into developing a nuclear weapon and probably retaliating with it. Ambassador, thank you very much for your time, my dear friend. All the best. And I hope we can see you again next week. Thanks. Keep up the good work. Thank you. Coming up later today, Pepe Escobar, Kivork, Almasian, Madho, and Karen Kwiatkowski, Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom. Thank you.