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As we navigate through Holy Week, Sekulow brings you a packed episode touching on various pressing issues. From the newly surfaced allegations against Letitia James and their potential political motivations to an informative discussion with Coach Bruce Pearl on the enduring support for Israeli causes, this episode blends legal analysis with community insights. Tune in for a thought-provoking conversation on justice, accountability, and the power of international advocacy.
SPEAKER 05 :
We got breaking news. New York Attorney General Letitia James referred to the DOJ over alleged fraud.
SPEAKER 01 :
Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Logan Sekulow.
SPEAKER 05 :
Welcome to Sekulow. Of course, it is Holy Week for most of you who probably listen to this show. We’ve got a packed one for you. So as we start to wind down and celebrate the Easter holiday, we do want to still provide you with some of the breaking news items that are happening. And, well, this is a pretty big one. And later on in the show, we are going to be joined by some special guests, including Auburn basketball coach, You know him. You love him. He has been a big supporter of Israel and a friend of this show. Bruce Pearl is going to be joining us a bit later on the show. So stay tuned. He got his team to the Final Four this year. Amazing run by the Auburn Tigers. So we’re going to take… Your questions and comments as well at 1-800-684-3110. And if you are just tuning in right now, we’re going to tell you about the breaking news item that happened. And that is about New York Attorney General Letitia James. But, Will, it may be a little different than what our audience expects when they’ve heard that name before.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, especially when you hear about maybe falsifying documents to get favorable loan terms or something like that, and then you hear about Letitia James, you may think about when she took a civil case against the President of the United States, Donald Trump, alleging that these issues happened. But what we received last night, what was kind of released, was this criminal referral letter From the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and it was sent to the Department of Justice, addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch. And what it lays out is multiple instances of what they allege could be mortgage fraud. And they even say that these allegations… The Federal Housing FHFA believes this and other alleged misconduct could be violations of the criminal code under wire fraud statute, mail fraud statute, bank fraud statute, and false statements to a financial institution and or other relevant or state laws.
SPEAKER 05 :
And look, we look at this and we go, okay, is this political targeting? Is this something we need to look at and go, this is not fair. This is something that’s happening because this is retribution. But no, when you actually dig into this, these are real claims that are happening that have been spurring on for years. They’ve just now gotten to this point where they are going to be sent, obviously, to Attorney General Bondi and to figure out what the process is. But it comes with some potentially very hefty fines and very hefty sentences, potentially.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. And we’ll get into some of the specifics of what the Federal Housing Finance Agency lays out. But when you’re applying for a mortgage, especially the types of mortgages that Letitia James was applying for, many times, especially when it’s Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac forms that are involved, these are mortgages that are backed by The U.S. government, the federal taxpayer at the end of the day. And if you’re defrauding the government in that way by making misrepresentations or lying on forms to get more favorable terms, you’re defrauding the U.S. government and ultimately the taxpayer at the end of the day. So these are very serious allegations that are being brought forward by Republicans. the the administrators at the federal housing finance agency and we’ll get into some of the details of what these allegations are in the next segment but uh this is a criminal referral sent over the doj it’s now in their court uh so to speak and and we’ll see what comes from it from their phone lines are open for you if you have any questions or comments related to this or any of the topics we’re going to hit today 1-800-684-3110 great time to get your voice
SPEAKER 05 :
heard in the next segment we’re going to keep this discussion going break it down a little bit more and like i said bruce pearl is going to be joining us a little bit later talk about his very public support of israel and of course a new position that he has it’s very cool we’re going to discuss that as well as mike pompeo who will be joining us towards the end of the broadcast but it’s a great time to get in line right now though folks i can’t stress enough how important it is to support the aclj during our life and liberty drive the things you love the things that are you need to feel like are protected they’re vulnerable right now And the law is how we protect what we love. So if you want to support our legal team, this is a great way to do it. Scan the QR code right now on your screen or go to ACLJ.org and your donation will be doubled today. The power of the ACLJ is fighting for you and what you love. We’ll be right back. Welcome back to Secular. I do want to restate our topic of the day because I know a bunch of you are just joining us right now. So right now, Will, I think we should need to go through this. They may see the headline, Letitia James, alleged fraud sent to the Department of Justice. What does that mean? What does it mean where there is fraud coming from New York Attorney General Letitia James? And again, when you start breaking this down, this has to do with mortgages and properties that she has. Where’s the primary residence? When you’ve ever gotten a mortgage, you’ve got to go through what feels like an endless amount of paperwork, an endless amount of questioning. And look, it can be a pain, but you gotta be careful because things like this could happen. And it feels like whether it was her or maybe her team, you’d say her mortgage brokers, wherever it may be, seem to be pushing some untrue narratives.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. So this is a criminal referral that was sent to the Department of Justice from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. And that’s a regulatory agency that oversees things like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Administration, which provides largely the mortgage insurance premiums that people pay to. And so what we’re looking at here is that this regulatory agency is sending over what they believe as instances of criminal activity, of violating U.S. law when it comes to obtaining several mortgages for Letitia James. And they are referring it to them saying it could be a violation of these statutes. It goes through a wire fraud statute, a mail fraud statute, a bank fraud statute, and false statements to a financial institution. And these aren’t small… Statutes that would be in violation, that 18 U.S. Code 1014, which is the false statement to a financial institution, has a maximum sentence of a fine of not more than a million dollars or imprisoned not more than 30 years or both. Now, that is the maximum, obviously, statutory, but that’s what could happen for people that violate these laws and are found guilty through our judicial system. So the agency that oversees it sends this criminal referral to the DOJ because the regulatory agency doesn’t prosecute it. That is what the Department of Justice does. And here are some of the allegations, Logan.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, let’s go through them. Let’s list these off. And again… Maybe just make them a little more simplistic for people to understand.
SPEAKER 02 :
No, I’m going to read in detail and give a lot more information. A lot of people love hot mortgage news. That’s right. One highlight or low light, depending on how you want to look at it, comes from August of 2023 while she is the Attorney General of New York. She purchases a property in Virginia, Norfolk, Virginia.
SPEAKER 05 :
Will and I have spent a lot of time on the streets. We have.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. She just wanted to be close to the greening of Ghent, the St. Patrick’s Day Festival. But what happened here is… One of the gutter punks of Norfolk, Will and I, back in our day. Is that she purchased this property and they listed it as a primary residence and then also reaffirmed that statement in Fannie Mae Freddie Mac form 3047 and in mortgage documents. now the problem with this is that everybody knows that form number if you get if you get a primary residence if you list something as your primary residence you’re going to get more favorable loan terms yes smaller down payment than is required for a second secondary investment property and that’s because the bank sees you as more risky on a secondary property if you hit financial straits and you have to choose between your primary residence yeah or the secondary, you’re gonna let one lapse before the other. And there’s a lot of issues with this. One, she’s the sitting Attorney General of New York while purchasing this property. By law in New York, she has to be a resident of New York. But at the same time, she’s saying this would be a primary residence. So that is one allegation in this criminal referral of a fraudulent misstatement to gain something which would be more favorable terms in a mortgage. The second issue is another mortgage on a property in Brooklyn. It’s a building. It’s a multi-family unit. As most of New York is. Right, exactly. So that’s not unusual. The certificate of occupancy for the building is for a five-family unit, so it can hold five families. In mortgage documents and other filings, she would claim it as a four-family unit. Now, this is like, okay, is this just a mistake or whatever? What the allegation is, is that… a building that exceeds four units is treated differently and typically has a larger down payment and higher interest rates. So in that little discrepancy of a four unit versus a five unit, she was getting more favorable loan terms. She was also using different permitting routes within the state of New York. That would be different than what this agency would oversee, but she was gaming the system it appears in these allegations to seek more favorable things and this is an individual who prosecuted president trump in a civil trial got a half a billion dollar judgment against him in a completely different set of facts where the banks were wanting to do business with him here these are government-backed loans and
SPEAKER 05 :
big allegations here and she is this very same individual who was tweeting things like no one is above the law yeah let’s go to a call because i think there’s a call of course people are seeing the irony in all of this right now let’s go to jerry in rhode island line one you’re on the air hello team are some of the statutes being cited were they the same statutes being cited against trump Not specifically. Of course, as I said, the irony is there that this is happening, but they wouldn’t be the same because of the way it’s structured.
SPEAKER 02 :
State versus federal. That’s right. So it’s kind of the same concept, but she’s a state attorney general, so she’s not prosecuting a federal crime. These are under 18 U.S. Code, different sections under Chapter 18. So, no, they are not the same law. And also, that was a civil law. trial that she had against him and was able to get that huge judgment. She also was able to say there doesn’t have to be a victim in this civil case against President Trump. These would have criminal penalties under federal law. This would even be a different structure of a case, not just state and federal, but that was a civil suit against him there. And this would allegedly, if the DOJ decides to accept the criminal referral and open the investigation this would be a criminal investigation uh against uh potentially against uh leticia since we have a packed show i want to continue taking calls in this segment if you want to call in 1-800-684-3110 ronald’s calling in south carolina on line two watching on rumble you’re on the air thanks for taking my call i’m enjoying the show um one thing that comes to my mind is that uh uh
SPEAKER 06 :
Of all that is going on with Attorney General James and with all these others, they are literally that were attacking Trump and bringing charges against him while he was out of office, while he was in office, while he was campaigning and everything like that. She and the liberals were already guilty of doing those very same things.
SPEAKER 02 :
Ronald, it’s what Rick Grinnell has said on this broadcast many times, is that when the left is accusing you of something, many times they’re doing that exact thing that they’re accusing you of doing. And I do think that for many people, it’s like, ah, going after Letitia James, getting back at her. And some people may like that. I want to have a system where there isn’t political retribution. Absolutely. And it may look like that because she went after him on this and now she’s guilty of or alleged having similar situations.
SPEAKER 05 :
I do think we have to be careful that we don’t play that. Right. That it’s probably very tempting. It’s probably very tempting for the Trump administration, very tempting for Attorney General Bondi or whoever may be to… you know, not only just smirk at this and say, this is ridiculous, but to take out your feelings, your emotional feelings, because you feel like you, this was done to you. I think it’s important. I know that a lot of people will disagree with me and they’ll say, Logan, no, they did it to us. We’ll do it to them. Well, then it’s an endless cycle and it’s impeachment. It’s all of those things that we talked about become an endless cycle and it doesn’t matter anymore. All of those issues just start compiling. And I really hate that. And I don’t want to see that happen in this country where we are taking that. But it doesn’t seem like this is what that is.
SPEAKER 02 :
It’s honestly too specific. Well, and I also think there’s a flip side to that. While we don’t want just endless political lawfare. If there are very valid allegations that are investigated and it’s taken to trial and that person is convicted on those charges and the rules of the law are followed, if they were to find this and not do something about it because they were concerned about political optics, I think that also could be just as bad. I don’t think that you should only prosecute because of political reasons. That’s not good for the country. But if you discover something and you’re afraid the optics may be that it looks like we’re just getting revenge and you decide to do nothing, that also doesn’t uphold the rule of law.
SPEAKER 05 :
I encourage you to support the work of the ACLJ as we head into break. I want to give Will a moment, though, to say who’s coming up and why people should stick around for it.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. Head coach of the Auburn Tigers basketball team, my alma mater, is joining us in the next segment. Bruce Pearl led the Tigers to the Final Four this year, had an incredible season. AP Coach of the Year, and he’ll be joining us to talk about some of the bold stances he took during that tournament, advocating on behalf of the hostages that are still being held by Hamas.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, absolutely. And he has a new position we’re going to talk about as well. Very cool. Give us a call if you want to be on the air, 1-800-684-3110. And then we’ll be joined a little bit later by some more special guests. So you don’t want to miss that. Phone lines are lighting up. If you want to support the work of the ACLJ, great time to do it. Scan the QR code that’s on screen right now. Have your gift doubled today. We can’t stress enough how important it is when everything we love is currently vulnerable. We need your help. We’ll be right back. back to secular we are going to take some of your phone calls coming up we’re still working on getting our connection set with bruce pearl so stay tuned for that that’s going to happen a little bit later in the broadcast and anticipate it but that’s okay a lot of you are calling in give us just a second to get some of those screened and of course i did want to tell you yesterday we had on john and drossick from five for fighting you may have heard that if you didn’t go back and listen to it very similar a guy who has stood up uh when it’s not popular when it maybe could be detrimental to his career and and has released a new version of his hit song, Superman. You can find that on all of your favorite YouTube, or just go to his social media accounts, and you can find it there. So I encourage you to check out Five for Fighting and John Androsik. We’re going to take some calls really quick. We’re going to discuss a little bit more about this Letitia James situation. Let’s go to Nina, who’s calling in New York, listening on the radio. Nina, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 10 :
Hey, how are you? I’m just driving around here, and my thought was simply that It’s not so much lawfare tit-for-tat type of thing, but if these people are going to do this foolishness and tie up everyone else in this litigation, somebody needs to be the example. So you have to, someone else is going to have to feel the pain, pay the money, get tied up in this litigation and make an example of them. So the next person who goes to do it might say, well, I better be pretty squeaky clean if I’m going to bring these foolish charges up against someone, waste everybody’s time and money. that I better make sure I’m squeaky clean. I can guarantee you these people are not. Maybe somebody has to be the example. If it’s got to be Letitia, oh well, got to be Letitia.
SPEAKER 05 :
Look, I’m not saying this shouldn’t be held accountable. She should be. If there is real mortgage fraud and those kind of issues, if that’s happening right now, of course there should be accountability. What I want to make sure of is that this does not appear and does not feel like it’s just politically motivated because we don’t want politically motivated prosecution. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case here. But it’s going to be easy for the left, if you will, to point that out and act like it is.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. And that’s what we were conveying at the end of the last segment, where the allegations here are serious allegations and that it was repeated uses of information that wasn’t factual in documents, as well as they even point out that back in 1983 and then again in 2000 on mortgage forms, Letitia James listed her father as her husband, and that would be allegedly to receive more favorable terms in the way that it was processed. That wouldn’t be something that would be, according to them, because of how long ago it is, something that they are referring for criminal prosecution because of statute of limitations and things like that. But it does raise the issue here that, that potentially this is a pattern. And that’s what they are giving over to the Department of Justice. And to your point also, Nina, yes, we want our officials, we want attorneys general in this country to be squeaky clean. We don’t want them to be corrupt or doing bad things behind the scenes while also trying to be a symbol as well as the actionable person for justice in the United States. So yes, I agree in part that she better be squeaky clean and that if these people are not and that these are apparent crimes that they be prosecuted appropriately, but not just for the fact of making an example out of one person if they have done nothing wrong. And that’s where they need to present a case. They will have a lot of critics looking at them just trying to say, this is only political retribution.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, absolutely. Phone lines are still open for your calls at 1-800-684-3110 as we wait to potentially connect with Coach Pearl. I do want to give you a moment as we head into the second half hour of this broadcast because it’s a packed show. Take a moment and consider supporting the work of the ACLJ. I can’t stress enough again how important it is right now when everything feels vulnerable, when all of your beliefs feel like they’re under attack. This is a time that you can help us during our life in Liberty Drive. Of course, we have maybe a more friendly administration now in the White House, but sometimes that means the attacks get bigger and bigger. Today, we are doing a lot. I’m going to go through some of them. Today, the ACLJ, we’re filing a critical amicus brief to the Supreme Court in defense. Have you heard about that preacher in Chicago? The street preacher who wanted to share his faith was criminally charged, just like our clients in Chicago. We’re fighting each of these cases, by the way. This is Easter week, and our team is still fully involved, whether that is our team here or even our team at ACLJ Jerusalem. Of course, we know this is also the week of Passover. Today, we’re also filing the first of several cases. legal demand letters to the UN Secretary General and world leaders to defend Israel against their latest legal attacks where they are blaming Israel for Hamas’s violent sexual assault. I mean, it is unbelievable. We’re going to discuss that on a later show because it is very intense and we’ll make sure we give you proper warning before we discuss this topic, but you can find it. Go to ACLJ.org. You can learn more. and you can support the work. Let’s go ahead and take another call. Let’s go to Carrie, who’s calling, who’s an ACLJ champion. I want to tell you, ACLJ champions get bumped up to the front of the line when they call, but what that means is that someone gives on a monthly basis, a recurring basis. When you make your first donation right now, it is still matched, but you can opt in to become a champion just like Carrie. Carrie in Montana, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 09 :
Hi, Logan. Well, I agree with the previous caller that Letitia James, whoever they are, if I did these things, If I was spending billions and billions of your taxpayer dollars and I got caught in anything even less than what they’ve been doing, I would go to prison. I think it’s time for, just like the other caller said, for all these people, it’s not only fraud and waste, it’s theft of our tax dollars. You guys have a blessed Easter. We love you. Thank you.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you so much for your call, and thank you again for supporting the work of the ACLJ and being an ACLJ champion. And we have said that, we have made that statement very loudly, and she did as well, Will, saying no one is above the law.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, my favorite tweet was her from Valentine’s Day in last year, 2024. It said, roses are red, violets are blue, no one is above the law, even when you think the rules don’t apply to you. When you put statements out like that, and have these potential allegations. Now, obviously, she has already put out a statement saying that she will not stand for any lawfare or abuse of government power against her. But if they have the goods here at the… federal or the federal housing finance agency not one that you typically say uh if they have the documents i mean they they’re the ones that that would be able to provide information to the department of justice uh if this is what they say it is then those statements about no one is above the law even when you think the rules don’t apply to you those words could come back to haunt her because that is the way america should work The rules do apply to everyone. And that is the rule of law. And for so long, we saw a weaponized justice system against a people of a certain political party or ideology. And that has to stop.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, absolutely. Phone lines, again, are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. We only got about a minute left in this first half hour of the broadcast, and I want you to not only support the work of the ACLJ, but stick around. We got a second half hour coming up, and if you don’t get it on your local radio station, I know some of you right now even on hold are listening on the radio. Some stations only pick up the first half hour. One, they shouldn’t, but they should pick up the full hour. Not that they shouldn’t pick up the first half hour. They should be out the whole hour. But it’s available live for free on many different platforms. ACLJ.org, YouTube, Rumble. And whether that’s live or whether you want to pick it up later on in sort of a podcast version, of course, you can see us on those as well. And on the Salem News Channel, available on a lot of great free outlets, including Pluto. and including us samsung plus and many others you can be a part of that conversation there live every day and you can give us a call as always at 1-800-684-3110 but i can’t stress enough how important it is right now let’s get that qr code up support the work of the aclj every donation made right now is doubled That means another ACLJ supporter or an ACLJ champion like you just heard call in. They are ready to unlock their donation. So if you give $10, they’re going to unlock another $10. If you give $1,000, they’re going to unlock $1,000. If you give $10,000, they’re going to unlock $10,000 and make it a $20,000 donation. Help us have a big day and a big week as we head into the holiday. We’ll be right back. keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever this is seculo and now your host logan seculo welcome back to seculo phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110 mike pompeo is going to be joining us in the next segment we’re going to take as many calls and questions as we can i did want to take a minute here because i didn’t get to do this earlier in the broadcast and uh So, you know, our thoughts, our prayers are with our friends in the Martindale family. Wink Martindale, legendary TV host and game show host, passed away in his 90s yesterday. He had been on this broadcast many times. I first met him when I was a small child. I toured him around the Regent University campuses with my dad. And then now we had him on the show about five years ago on a super show we did. Always been a great man, always been a great supporter and a man of strong beliefs and convictions. and just a class act all around. So our thoughts and prayers are with his family and a life very well lived. And a congratulations to our friend Jonathan Isaac on the Orlando Magic as the Orlando Magic have made it into the NBA playoffs. You remember Jonathan, we had a segment for him in our last film that we did. Maybe we could pull up a bit of that. Maybe we could play that a little bit later in the show. He has an incredible company called Unitas, which is a great faith-based company. apparel company I wear his sneakers all the time the Bible verses right on him he’s wearing them yesterday on the court so again I wanted to give some props to him as well and that whole team a very cool moment and hopefully they have a great run from here on out but again these are people who have been connected with us and the ACLJ for many years. And whether that’s Week Martindale or whether that’s NBA players, we’re able to have this sort of really large scope of who we were able to have on this show, who we’ve been able to talk to, whose influence we’ve been able to have on. It’s really phenomenal. And we can’t do that without your support and know that I really appreciate it. I want to go ahead and take another phone call. Let’s go to Maria who’s calling on line four in Oregon. Maria, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, thank you. Well, I have a couple of things to say about all this elected officials. First of all, the majority of them are legal. They are attorneys, so they know the law. They also are sworn under oath to follow the law. We as lay people are, you know, if we commit a crime, we don’t know how the law is structured. Many times we don’t understand things. And so therefore they should be more. accountable or if they are you know um conducting uh on business that is not legal they have to you know they have to they understand the law you know and not only that most of the elected officials uh also have the government pays for uh any kind of lawsuit against them So they’re very protective. So I think that they really should look into whoever, you know, with Letitia to see what’s going on because she’s, she’s been, you know, right. She knows the law and she’s sworn.
SPEAKER 02 :
I would say that, uh, I don’t believe that the state of New York would be covering a criminal prosecution against the attorney general. That would be if it was a lawsuit against the attorney general’s office or something of that nature. But in reality, Maria speaks a lot of truth to this, is that when people put themselves in these positions of power and then are not playing by the rules, allegedly here, then it will come to light. Truth will come to light. And that is what we’re seeing. We saw it with the Fannie Willis saga that took place about the way that she was structuring her office and how that prosecution fell apart. But they were so dead set on political prosecution. that they they couldn’t remove the plank from their own eye as the bible says when when they had issues right there that they need to take care of and and look at how it’s playing out phone lines are still open for you when we get back uh mike papayo is going to be joining us it’s going to be a packed show again you’re going to want to miss that we’re going to be talking about including the um
SPEAKER 05 :
The horrible attacks on Governor Shapiro’s residence on Passover. Of course, we’ve heard about it. We’ve been talking about it for a few days. But you see the images and you see what really happened there. It’s horrifying. That’s what’s happening in our country right now. And we’re also going to talk about some of those meetings that are going on with Iran. Stay tuned for that. Phone lines are open. We’ll take as many calls as we can in that final segment of the broadcast at 1-800-684-3110. Once again, 1-800-684-3110. Give us a call right now. Get in line. We’ll take your calls at the end of the show. Welcome back to secular. We are going to take your phone calls in the next segment. So give us a call. I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments about that. It’s about the Letitia James situation. What’s going on in Israel. Of course, what’s happening all over the country is we are celebrating Easter Passover this week. It is Holy week for a lot of our listeners. It’s an important time for reflection, for prayer, and of course for celebration as well. But this is coming at an unprecedented time when so much is happening around the country in terms of anti-Semitic and anti-Christian behavior. So I encourage you to call in. I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’d love to hear your thoughts on what you’re doing, what your plans are to celebrate this week. Again, at 1-800-684-3110. Mike Pompeo is joining us right now, Senior Counsel for Global Affairs. Mike, thank you so much for joining us. When we talk about anti-Semitism happening in America, of course our minds are going… kind of immediately to what happened to Governor Shapiro in Pennsylvania. We’re getting a clear picture of the motivation. I think a lot of us kind of knew what that motivation likely was. It happened to be on the first night of Passover. He happened to be promoting that, hey, we’re celebrating Passover. But the court documents have even said that the suspect targeted Governor Shapiro over his views specifically on Palestine. What are your reaction to that? I think that it could have probably been clearer beforehand, but now it’s in the evidence.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, I think that’s certainly true. First of all, we pray for Governor Shapiro and his family. This kind of violence is completely unacceptable. We’ve seen this in synagogues, we’ve seen this in churches before, and I think it tells us a couple of things. One, what we saw on campuses happen last fall and the year before that has real security implications, but it’s also fundamentally indecent and puts ordinary families like that of Governor Shapiro at risk. This anti-Semitism cannot be tolerated. It can’t be permitted. We need every institution, whether it’s our governmental institutions or schools or even in our own communities, we need to make clear that whatever our political persuasion, whether we’re a Democrat or a Republican or a conservative or a liberal, religious freedom matters, the capacity for people to practice their faiths, especially we see it in these important times when our high holidays come. For me as a Christian, this is obviously a huge week to reflect. We need to make sure that we are doing all the things that make sure that our community never acknowledges that this kind of violence, this kind of behavior is remotely acceptable.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, and to some degree, this is what we have been warning about, is that when it started at the universities, that it would spread if it wasn’t shut down. This open hatred of Jews and the intimidation and the violence that we saw on college campuses spread. that the Biden administration mostly did not much about. And we saw this week your alma mater, Harvard, had a big pushback of, you’re not going to take away our academic freedom and academic independence by dictating how we should protect Jewish students on campus. But the logical and unfortunate likely scenario was that the violence would escalate in the United States when it wasn’t shut down from the beginning.
SPEAKER 03 :
No doubt about that. That is precisely right. It’s what we were arguing when we were critical of the Biden administration and of the administrations on these campuses. It’s not free speech to threaten students. It’s not a First Amendment right to encamp and take over buildings. Those are criminal acts, and they are indecent. And this ostensible claim that somehow you’re making a free speech argument on behalf of students The so-called Palestinians in Gaza who have murdered hundreds and hundreds of Israelis don’t withstand the reality that what you were actually doing is putting the security of these young people on campus at risk. You were denying their ability to do what they wanted to do, just come to these campuses and learn. And you see the fallout from that. It’s not just the fallout that was evidence from this guy who invaded the home of Governor Shapiro. But you can see it now all across the country where people are feeling freer to conduct heinous acts that put people’s lives at risk. And you see anti-Semitism continue to rise under the guise of free speech. You have to shut down this violent activity. It is a far cry from exercising your First Amendment rights to what we have seen happen all across this country. And when law enforcement won’t do its job and the President of the United States won’t call it out for what it is, this is what it begins.
SPEAKER 05 :
Absolutely, Secretary Pompeo. And let’s shift focus. Honestly, same problem, different issue, if you will, in many ways. You had this morning members of the Trump cabinet meeting about their negotiations with Iran. That’s happening. I want to get your read on where that situation currently stands. Can a deal get done? You’ve had to deal with people like this before. Again, there’s always uncertainty when you’re sitting down with Iran. There’s always uncertainty just even having these meetings. There’s a lot of people who feel passionately that maybe we shouldn’t even be sitting down across the table from terrorist regimes, if you will.
SPEAKER 03 :
Look, I’m untroubled by the fact of the meeting. I met with terrorists. I met with the Taliban. I met with Chairman Kim in North Korea. The act of trying to engage with them, that doesn’t bother me. I get the slippery slope that it presents. But if you know what your principles are and you know the things that really matter for America to put our country first, then the fact of the meeting doesn’t bother me. Having said that, I’ve been worried by some of the comments that I’ve heard from some of the administration talking about that enrichment in Iran might still be OK, that we’re not going to address their ballistic missile program, which is really the tool that they would use to put these nuclear weapons in the homes of innocent civilians. And indeed, perhaps one day in America, we need to make clear our red lines are bright. No enrichment of uranium, no weapons program, the complete dismantlement of of Natanz and Fordow. I don’t think it’s likely that the Iranians will permit that to happen. They’re not going to let us. diminish their capacity to conduct terror at the negotiating table. There’s no evidence that they’re likely to do that. And I think President Trump knows that. It’s why we withdrew from the JCPOA a couple weeks after I became Secretary of State. We knew that the Obamacare model of negotiating with the Iranians on the likelihood that they’d actually tell us the truth and comply with agreement is zero. And I think the Trump administration this time will see that as well.
SPEAKER 02 :
And to that point, that was kind of also the red line for Bibi Netanyahu, Prime Minister Netanyahu, when he met with President Trump and they were talking about negotiations with Iran. He brought up kind of the Libya model, where Libya, there were real monitoring of dismantling of WMD programs, and they were able to see that through, that that no longer existed. Iran is a different nation, obviously, but… different set of ideals and ideology that guides them. And I think the concern many people have is that sitting with the Iranians because of the JCPOA, that somehow you end up with a JCPOA 2.0 or a scenario that doesn’t really address the problem. I think to your point, President Trump came from a position of strength on this and the options, even hearing the Secretary of Defense saying that no option is off the table if we don’t see that real goal through. But it also has to be not just let go without talking about that. There has to be a real dismantling of that program with tangible checks on them to make sure that there is no nuclear weapon.
SPEAKER 03 :
Precisely right. Look, I’m not optimistic. I don’t see any sign that the Ayatollah himself was prepared to do what is necessary to protect America. That is, the outcome of a negotiated solution would be adequate to protect America or our friends in the region, the Gulf states and the Israelis both. And so I’m happy if they want to continue to have the conversation, but we can’t let it drag out. We can’t let the Iranians hand us some tepid deal like they handed to President Obama. But I think President Trump comes from a different place. He has made clear he is prepared to do what it takes to dismantle the Iranian weapons program and their enrichment capabilities. If they don’t sign up for that, maybe. maybe that risk will be evaluated by the ayatollah and i’ll be surprised i hope not and i hope i’m not surprised too by a trump administration this time that signs up for something that doesn’t actually protect america i don’t think it’s likely but i suppose it’s possible i will just as i oppose secretary kerry entering a bad deal i’ll suppose this administer i’ll oppose this administration entering one too
SPEAKER 05 :
Secretary Pompeo, I always appreciate you coming on and having your honest feedback. I think that’s what people need right now. They need to hear from people like you and people like our group here at the ACLJ. We always say we don’t necessarily always tell you what you want to hear. We tell you the truth and the facts, whether you like it or not. And that’s what you need. Honestly, that’s what you need from the ACLJ. We don’t need to be just mouthpieces. We need to be able to tell you the truth, what’s happening, the good and the bad from our point of view and from people on our team’s point of view, whether they represent our views or not. It’s always good to hear a diverse group of people. And we can’t do that without you. We can’t do that without your support. So I encourage you to go to ACLJ.org. We are going to take as many calls as we can coming up in the next segment, but you can support the work of the ACLJ right now. We are headed towards one of our deadlines here at the end of this month. We are over halfway through the month right now. And like you’ve heard, the ACLJ is filing right now at the Supreme Court in defense of a preacher who wanted to share his faith and was criminally charged. Very similar situation to our client in Chicago. And we are fighting in each of these cases to defend the gospel right now this Easter. So I encourage you to support the work of the ACLJ as you can. The power of the ACLJ is fighting for what you love, and we cannot do it without you. All donations… are matched right now including if you become an aclj champion your first donation will be matched when we get back we are going to hear from you so i’d love for you to give us a call we got a couple lines open but if you’re on hold right now mario royce and sean we will get to you coming up in the next segment but few lines are open at 1-800-684-3110 1-800-684-3110 we’ll be right back with your calls and your comments to wrap it up back to Sekulow. We’re going to have a special guest and it’s happening right now. Coach of the Auburn Tigers, you know him, basketball legend Bruce Pearl. We’re really excited to have you back on and we’ll My friend here, my executive producer, is a proud graduate of Auburn University. So I told him, Will, you get to start this interview, this conversation, because there are people like you, Coach Pearl, who have been so loud and so supportive of our Jewish friends, families, and, of course, of what’s going on in Israel still with the hostage situation. This is the second day we’ve covered this in a row, and I can’t believe we’re still having to talk about it. It’s unfortunate. It’s sad, but it’s the truth.
SPEAKER 02 :
But, Will, I’ll let you go from here. I just wanted to start off, Coach Pearls, that you’re coming off a historic season with the Tigers, number one overall seed in the tournament. All eyes are on Auburn. And throughout that entire run to the Final Four, you repeatedly used your platform, one of the biggest in sports, to advocate for Eden Alexander and the hostages. I just wanted you to tell us a little bit about that decision to highlight this in one of these huge moments in sports.
SPEAKER 04 :
You know, guys, great to be with you. And thank you for the amazing work that you guys do. Grateful. You know, we beat Creighton and we’re going to the Sweet 16 and I’m walking in the halls of Rupp Arena and thanking God for the blessing and wondering why we’re worthy and so grateful. And God spoke to me and he said, remember who you are. And remember where you came from. And do you understand why you’ve had this success and this blessing? And I understand what my responsibilities are. My Hebrew name is Mordecai. And as you know from the story of Purim, Mordecai had a responsibility. And that was to try to educate his niece Esther. Look, if you don’t do something about this, the Jewish people are going to be killed. And you could be amongst them. And so what people think sometimes when they see this basketball coach out there involved in tweeting, they think it’s political. And it’s not political. It’s survival. The Jewish people and the people in Israel have been under attack since they were born in 1948 by a segment of the Arab and Palestinian population that simply do not want to live next door as neighbors. They do not want peace. They want Israel from the river to the sea. At the same time, guys, as you know, there are many Arab nations who want peace with Israel, who have entered into the Abraham Accords. We want to live as Arabs and Jews side by side in the Middle East like we’ve done for 3,000 years. And so, unfortunately, after October 7th, that was a message that Israel must do two things. One, we must protect ourselves from those that want to kill us. And two, we still, as Jews, have responsibility, as God’s chosen people, to let the light shine upon us and love better, be kinder, be more generous, and try to continue to live in peace with all neighbors that are willing to live in peace.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, Coach Pearl, I think that that is something that comes up time to time. It feels like… The story, obviously, we’re in Passover week, we’re in Easter week. It couldn’t feel like a more appropriate time to discuss this kind of topic because it is so powerful right now. What’s happening even in our college campuses, and we’ve seen that at Harvard. We’ve seen Harvard have to kind of push back on saying, I don’t know if we’re going to protect our Jewish students as well as we can. Look, my son is preparing for his bar mitzvah right now, and we’re having to have real discussions about what security looks like. These aren’t things that we would normally have to talk about. But you’re talking to a party planner and that starts to come up. This is the world we’re living in. And you have the attack on Governor Shapiro’s house in Pennsylvania. How do we? I mean, you’ve done such a good job of keeping this out there and talking about it. But as Jewish Americans, as even Jewish Christian Americans, it feels like a very intense time and it can become very easy to get concerned, scared and hide. Right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, well, we can’t do that. I mean, we absolutely cannot do that. And you’re right. Listen, since the day I was born, there’s been a police officer outside of the temple. And he’s not there to park cars. He’s there to protect the worshipers inside praying. And I grew up with that. I’m 65 years old. I would not know anything different than going to synagogue than having two police cars out there, keeping an eye just to make sure somebody doesn’t want to walk in and shoot off a gun or kill the people that are in there praying. So, wow. While it’s not a surprise to me, it is a surprise to some of our young Jewish students. They didn’t necessarily grow up with it, you know, or haven’t understand it. You know, I am for peaceful protests. I am all about our Constitution and all about this great republic and this great democracy. I’ll even go as far as saying in the House of Representatives, if Rashida Tlaib is going to be voted into the House of Representatives by the people in Michigan that want her to be there, even though I disagree with everything she stands for, This is what makes our country great. If Ilhan Omar can be a congresswoman voted by a Somali population in Minnesota, that’s what the House of Representatives was designed for. And then let them have debate and let them go about their business and so forth at the same time. There is a difference between free speech and hate speech. There is a difference between breaking the law. If you’re gonna be out there protesting and you’re gonna be threatening me and my survival and my ability to live in this country, I don’t call that free speech. I call that breaking the law. If you’re going to be intimidating Jewish students from going to class or closing down buildings or doing whatever you’re doing, That is breaking the law. That is not free speech. If those protesters on Columbia campuses or Harvard’s campus, if they were out there wearing white hoods asking for the death and destruction of the African-American people in this country, we wouldn’t have it. We wouldn’t stand for it. We wouldn’t allow it for one second. But somehow it’s okay when they’re protesting Israel or the Jewish people. And it’s not okay. And we’re not going to have it. And I’m so glad that President Trump is now taking on this task of saying, look, if this is who you’re going to be as visiting students, as green card holders, as people that are guests in our country, you’re not welcome in our country. And you can go back home. And there is a different level of due process for a… a green card holder, and somebody on a student visa than there is a United States citizen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Coach Pearl, thank you so much for joining us today. And we just have about a minute left, but I did also want to bring up, in addition to many accolades this year, being Coach of the Year, you also have a new title as Chairman of the U.S.-Israel Education Association. So congratulations on that. You’re going to do great work with that and continuing not just as a coach using that platform, but other platforms as well. Thank you for joining us in War Eagle.
SPEAKER 04 :
I appreciate it, War Eagle. I’ll come on some other time to tell you about the amazing work that U.S. Israel Educational Association is doing and appreciate the work that you guys do very much. God bless America.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you so much, Coach Pearl, for joining us. Hope you have a great week. And again, thank you so much for joining us. I have to apologize to our callers who we didn’t get to today. You know, we had Coach Pearl on and it was an amazing segment. So I was excited to have him on. I did want to take this last minute here. One, this is an important week. As Coach Pearl said, as we’ve been saying, this is Holy Week for a lot of our Christian listeners. Of course, this is Passover for our Jewish listeners and really for your Christian listeners as well. You should be celebrating. They go hand in hand. I don’t know if you’ve heard the stories, but they seem to dovetail a little. They bookend each other a little bit. I want to encourage you right now to support the work of the ACLJ. Do it today. Scan the QR codes on your screen. This is an unprecedented time. You’ve just heard from some amazing people. Mike Pompeo. You heard from Coach Pearl. Obviously our team here. You’ve heard about the work the ACLJ is doing around the country and around the world. We can’t do it without you. When your values are under attack, we’ve got to make sure we’re there for you any way we can and for all of our friends and neighbors around the world that need it as well. Go to ACLJ.org right now.
