The Liberty Update Ep. 18: The Durham Report

Happy Friday everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Liberty Update with Jake and Bree. We've got another packed show today and you won't want to miss any of it. But first, do us a favor and subscribe to this podcast, share it with a friend, and follow Convention of States on social media. It really does make a difference. This week we're diving into a new case of the FBI seemingly attempting to intimidate a pro-life activist. The growing and successful push to ban transgender treatment on children. The latest updates on the federal government's debt-sewing negotiations and the long-awaited Durham reports. All that right here in the Liberty Update, this is your Need to Know News. Stay tuned. Many have already accused the Biden Department of Justice of being weaponized against the president's political enemies and unfortunately, the FBI just added fuel to the fire. The camera footage obtained by the Daily Signal reportedly shows two female FBI agents visiting the childhood home of a least catch, an anti-abortion activist. Captured by the home's ring doorbell, the video shows the women addressing Catch's mother, flashing their badges and requesting to speak to her daughter, whom they are informed does not live in the home anymore. She's not in any trouble, one agent assures Tracy Catch, we just have some information we need to ask her about. The footage also shows Tracy calling her daughter before becoming visibly uneasy and motioning for the agents to leave. At least Catch is a member of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising Group, an organization of left-wing women opposed to abortion. The group has reportedly faced charges from the Justice Department for violating the freedom of access to Clinical Entrances, or Face Act, which prohibits threats of force, obstruction and property damage intended to interfere with reproductive healthcare services. These incidents however took place before Catch joined the team. She has participated in non-violent abortion protests, but told the Daily Signal that she quote, does not believe that she has ever been involved in any kind of activity that would allow authorities to bring Face Act charges against her. Catch explained that one of her colleagues is being prosecuted by the federal government and speculated that the FBI may be seeking derogatory information about her. However, she suspects that the true reason the FBI visited her mother's home was to intimidate her and her team. This weaponization of our government institution protects the abortion-industrial complex, she explained, and it reinforces that we must disrupt these unjust power structures. The most prevalent domestic threat to our country is the murder of thousands of pre-born people by abortion each day. It is not terrorism to non-violently intervene and rescue these powerless children before their slaughter. I am willing to risk my own freedom and sacrifice my rights in order to secure theirs. As I already noted, Biden's Justice Department, spearheaded by the enemical Merrick Garland, has been hounded by accusations of being weaponized against the president's enemies. From treating parents like terrorists to cracking down on pro-life activism, Garland's renegade DOJ seems bound and determined to forcibly enact Biden's far-left agenda. It's time for the American people to stand up to our runway federal government and prove that we will not back down. While the states are uniting in efforts to ban transgender treatments on children, in recent months, 19 states have restricted or banned sex change treatments on minors, underscoring both the severity of the issue and the significance of state power. The leftist medical publication MedPage is tracking state legislation that bans or hinders what they call gender-affirming care. While most of the 19 states have implemented bans through legislation, some states like Florida, Missouri, and Texas have taken a different approach that involves new medical board rules, emergency rules, and actions through the state's child welfare agency. At least 13 states have rules that either went into effect this year or will soon be in effect in 2023. And these bans include penalties that doctors could face for noncompliance, including felony offenses up to 10 years in some states, discipline from medical boards, license, cancellation, and up to a $25,000 fine per incident as Tennessee legislators recently decided. In March, the governor of Iowa signed two bills into law that aggressively countered the transgender cultural movement. The first law bans doctors from providing gender affirming health care to minors and the second measure requires that students use the restroom and locker room that corresponds with their biological sex. Meanwhile, government officials like the White House press secretary are actively advocating for transgender youth procedures. Over the weekend, the press secretary said that these are our kids. They belong to all of us when she criticized bans that are happening across the country. Well, while the mainstream media reports that restrictions on transgender medical treatments quote, will restrict the rights of transgender young people, these combined efforts emphasize the importance of state authority over the federal government. Up next, President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy both say that they are determined to reach an agreement regarding the federal government's federal debt limits before America defaults on its debts. But despite ongoing negotiations, progress seems to have stalled. President Biden met with several high ranking lawmakers this week in the White House for face to face brokering. The general consensus among both parties was that America will not default, which could happen as soon as June 1st if Congress does not hike its debt limits. To be clear, this negotiation is about the outlines of the budgets, not about whether or not we are going to pay our debts. Biden assured reporters, The leaders of Congress have all agreed we will not default. Every leader has said that. For both parties disagree, however, is on what must be done before the ceiling is raised. Republicans have vowed not to increase the federal government's borrowing limit until spending cuts are agreed to. Democrats, on the other hand, prefer to raise the limit without any stipulation for Congress to mend its spending habits. As both control a chamber of Congress, either could thwart a proposal that is not favorable to them. Party leadership on both sides have expressed a willingness to concede on a few points for the sake of preventing a catastrophic default, but face potential backlash from their respective bases if they do so. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for example, threats in Biden with quote, push back on nearly any significant concession. We have made it clear, agreed that the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, that if they give on these core democratic values, there will be a huge backlash. On the Republican side, McCarthy has thus far enjoyed better favor with his proposed budget cuts praised by GOP lawmakers. If he were to capitulate, however, his good standing would no doubt spoil. But in all of this politicking, one crucial factor is woefully left out of consideration. What are the American people once? Well, according to new polling, nearly 60% of voters are completely opposed to raising the debt limit ceiling, or say that the ceiling should only be raised if spending cuts are included in the proposal. Those opposed include more than 60% of independents, 90% of Republicans, and nearly 30% of Democrats. Additionally, most Americans say that the federal government spends too much and has too much debt. Regardless of how the present impasse is resolved, one thing is clear. The federal government is a broken system dangerously out of control. For decades, we have had a runaway Congress, and the only way to stop it is through an Article 5 Convention. While this week, America's sickening reality was revealed after the release of the Durham Report. The long-awaited Durham Report was released on Monday, and it revealed that the FBI had actually no verified evidence for opening an investigation into former President Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The Justice Department opened the crossfire hurricane probe during the 2016 presidential election season to investigate Trump's connections to Russia. As Special Counsel John Durham concludes in the report, there was no basis for the claims, proving the agency was set on taking down Trump's campaign and destroying his public image. In the 300-plus-page report, Durham writes that neither U.S. law enforcement nor the intelligence community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement of the crossfire hurricane investigation. So in simple terms, this means the federal government targeted an American citizen on absolutely no grounds, a frightening reality for every single citizen. Another key finding in the report explains that the Clinton campaign was behind the entire plot. The FBI received intelligence from, quote, a trusted foreign source pointing to a Clinton campaign plan to vilify Trump by tying him to Vladimir Putin so as to divert attention from her own concerns relating to her use of a private email server. So there was not just a double standard between Hillary Clinton and Trump, but a coordinated strategy with Clinton's campaign to take down Trump. Another point of relevance is that former intel agents promoted the narrative even though they knew there was no legitimate evidence. Former CIA Director John Brennan said to the House Intelligence Committee in 2017 that he was, quote, aware of information and intelligence that revealed contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign. But many years later, as the report proves, Trump had no connection to the Russian government and there was no evidence that John Brennan or other government officials had while they claimed they had the information at hand. The entire report demonstrates a sad reality for America. We are not as free as we think and the DOJ and the FBI can attack anyone anytime they please. Freedom requires mutual respect for individual rights and the Durham report confirms our own government doesn't abide by the rule of law. Once again, proving that Article 5 appears to be the only true solution that people possess. That's all the news for today folks. Thank you guys so much for joining us for another episode of the Liberty Update. Subscribe to this podcast and we'll see you next week. Also, don't forget to follow Convention of States on social media and go to conventionofstates.com to follow our blog. All of this will help you stay up to date on the fight to save liberty in America. Thank you guys for joining us in that fight. God bless. Good night. Bye. you Thank you.