Sekulow Weekend

Narrator: We got breaking news. The ACLJ exposes a new California election scandal. 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.
Logan Sekulow: Welcome to Sekulow. We made it to a Friday. Not only is it a Friday, it's the final day of our Liberty Drive. That's right. We've been celebrating the entire month of July. All of what we love about our country. Obviously, the 250th of America. If you want to be on the show, by the way, about that, and the work we do here at the ACLJ, protecting your liberties, protecting your freedoms, I want you to call in about that as well. Even if it's just a message of encouragement or thank you. Because we are going to have a packed show today. We did uncover some real fun stuff out of the state of California. I know you've always loved to hear about that. We're going to get to it in just a second but phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. It is the final day, as I said, of our Liberty Drive, which means if you like this show, if you like the free legal work that we provide. If you like the fact that you can come on here, get informed and engaged as it says in the intro, and also be updated with truth. We always tell you the truth. Again, whether you like it or not, we always make sure we tell you what we believe. And all that happens because your donations come in, especially during these really special months where other ACLJ members, ACLJ Champions give during these times and the donations are doubled. Essentially, they're matched. So if you give 20 bucks right now before midnight, it becomes 40 and so on and so on. Let's take it over to the West Coast. Let's take it over to California where there's always some kind of fun happening. And we did a little ACLJ digging and got some pretty Californian responses.
Will: This comes after a FOIA request that we submitted on July 16. Now, FOIA is the federal nomenclature for the Freedom of Information Act. This is actually a California public records Act request is what it's called there. But the state equivalent of a FOIA and you can see that on the screen, that we sent that in to two entities in California: the Secretary of State's Office as well as the Attorney General's Office of California. The Attorney General responded and they asked for a little bit of an extension to comply with the request. They asked to go until August 10th. And that's fine. That's granted sometimes when you're asking for a lot of records, like the ACLJ does, they need a little bit extra time. The Secretary of State's office, though, has replied. And this is where you get, start to get interesting. Remember in New Jersey, we talked just a week ago about how they were like, "Oops, all these people that were non-citizens through the DMV were added to the voter rolls and some of them actually voted." Well, this entire time, the ACLJ has been digging into states that have questionable record-keeping when it comes to their voter rolls and sending things like these Freedom of Information Act requests. These these public records requests. And they responded. Here's what we asked for. We said we want records showing the number of voter registration records canceled because the registrant didn't satisfy the citizenship requirements for voter registration. Pretty pretty straightforward. We also say, obviously, don't send us personal information, we're just looking for a number. Their response, and this is on graphic number two. The statewide voter registration system does not contain voter status reason for cancellation due to non-citizenship. Therefore, there are no records responsive to this request. And there's a lot more and we're going to get to it when we get back. But they're admitting that they don't keep record of if they remove someone from their rolls for being a non-citizen. They do keep record if there is a removal for death, for moving. These these records exist for the rationale, and it's actually federal law that they keep these records. But they don't keep a record if someone is removed because they're a non-citizen. We have a lot of questions that this brings up and we'll get to them in the next segment of the broadcast.
Logan Sekulow: That's right. Phone lines are open. Again, if you just want to call as we wrap up the end of our July Liberty Drive. Call in. Tell us what you're thankful for in this country. You know, we celebrated a lot at the beginning of the month. It feels like we already forgot. So hop on, give me a call, 1-800-684-3110. We're going to continue this conversation as well. Also, updates in Israel with Hamas, also updates with Iran. We're going to get to all of that coming up.
Narrator: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those are the words of our forefathers written in the Declaration of Independence. They are the cornerstone on which our constitutional republic was built. And over the past 250 years, we have formed a great nation. A nation the world has looked to for guidance, for support, and for protection. This month we celebrate our liberty, but that liberty is fragile and requires every American to defend it. That's why this month we've launched the ACLJ Liberty Drive. In honor of America's birthday, we're redoubling our commitment to continue fighting against any attacks that would strip us of that freedom. We owe it to our forefathers. You can join the fight right now through our ACLJ Liberty Drive. Go to aclj.org/liberty today and have your tax deductible gift doubled, dollar for dollar, to enable the ACLJ to fight to defend our God-given liberties.
Narrator: We've witnessed monumental legal victories from defending the 14th Amendment and protecting our sacred American right to vote, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and standing up for the religious liberty of our kids and seniors. But even with the many historic wins we've achieved, the battle is far from over. The attacks on our constitutionally protected rights persist. Countless unborn babies remain in jeopardy, and across the globe, innocent Christians are being targeted and killed. Across this country and around the world. This fight isn't just the ACLJ's, it's all of ours. It belongs to every American who wants to preserve the values and beliefs on which this nation was founded. None of the victories we've won would have been possible without the unwavering support of ACLJ members and ACLJ Champions. It's been an honor to fight for you all these years. Join us in fighting for freedom. Have your donation doubled at aclj.org/freedom.
Logan Sekulow: Welcome back to Sekulow. Final day of the month. Final day of our Liberty Drive. Be a part of it today at aclj.org. Before we got off that segment, we were discussing something we've uncovered in the state of California, another election issue. We know a lot of you also are curious about what's going on in Israel. Maybe late last night, you saw an announcement from President Trump that was a little hard to understand fully what we're talking about here, including a disarmament, full disarmament of Hamas. We're all very hopeful. We're all very you know, kind of on pins and needles to see what that actually will look like as a deal was allegedly signed. We don't know all the details yet. We just know that it was at least strong enough for the president to make a pretty strong statement about maybe a coming to an end with Hamas and a new Palestinian government. Now, I don't know if that's necessarily what a lot of people were hoping for, but I mean goodness, it would be better than what we have right now. So maybe we will be seeing an end to that conflict. We'll talk about that a little bit later, Will, but I know you wanted to kind of reset what's going on in California.
Will: That's right. So, as you remember, even when you think about that story last week about New Jersey, having a bunch of people on their rolls that that accidentally, they blamed it on a software glitch that got onto the voter rolls and many that even voted that were not citizens and therefore should not be voting. And they said, "Oh, this is outrageous but we're going to fix it." Whatever. We have been taking action going to states that have questionable practices when it comes to their voter rolls and keeping them clean. And in sending records requests. This we sent to California, to the Secretary of State and the Attorney General on July 16th. And we asked for a few things, four things specifically. But one of them was for records showing the number of voter registration records canceled because the registrant didn't satisfy the citizenship requirements for voter registration. So, what's that asking for in plain English? "Hey, did you find people that were on your voter rolls that were registered to vote that aren't citizens and shouldn't have been there and therefore you took them off the voter rolls?" We got a response from the Secretary of State's office just uh yeah, July 30th is the date. So we get this response or is when we received it, rather. And and what does it say? It it says, and this is what's so striking, that, hey, that thing you're asking for. And this is graphic two, that we don't have it. We have no records not because
Logan Sekulow: And what is it that we're asking for?
Will: This is asking for how many non-citizens did you take off your voter rolls?
Logan Sekulow: Yeah, yeah. Did you clean up the rolls and what did it end up being?
Will: And their reason that they don't have anything isn't because it didn't happen. It's that they don't keep records on that. It says specifically, the Statewide Voter Registration System does not contain voter status reason for cancellation due to non-citizenship. Therefore, there are no records responsive to this request. But don't worry. They go on to tell us that this isn't something you should be concerned about because, please note that in addition to our federal obligations, California has robust state law. And they go on to say this. California law unambiguously provides that a person shall not be registered unless they are a United States citizen. Cites the California Elections Code and then says, "Voters register to vote through affidavits of registration when they must attest under penalty of perjury and by signature that they satisfy all eligibility requirements including citizenship." It goes on to cite other things like their motor voter program, which is what had an issue in New Jersey, that it's a safeguard. All of these safeguards, but yet, don't worry, it won't happen, but we don't keep records if it does happen. So therefore, we can't provide you with anything. Here's the concern, Logan. It at one point they're saying, "Hey, if someone did this, they'd be under penalty of perjury."
Logan Sekulow: But at the same time, they're saying, "We don't really track it."
Will: They're saying
Logan Sekulow: Yeah, they're saying, "Don't worry, it's illegal and no one breaks the law when it comes to doing something that is not enforced."
Will: So at best case scenario from the Secretary of State's office, they're saying it's illegal, but we don't really pay attention, so there's no real problem. At at worst case scenario, they're covering up crimes because they're admitting it's under penalty of perjury, but they if they find that violation of the law, aren't keeping a record of it. So, two key things here for the ACLJ.
Logan Sekulow: Yeah, because I want to tie in because the ACLJ team jumped into action on this and now we get to move forward.
Will: One that we are looking out for will be that response from Attorney General Bonta's office. That is,
Logan Sekulow: They're pretty short window too to respond.
Will: They've asked for a little bit of extra time until August 10th.
Logan Sekulow: I mean, 10 10 days, I mean, that's really not much.
Will: So if they have some sort of records, that would be one thing because they are the law enforcement arm. But two, we're also once we find out what their answer is, looking at what our options are going forward because the fact that the Secretary of State isn't keeping this as a record appears to be in conflict with two laws. One, their own California Public Records Act law because this is something that is happening. They are canceling it. They are required to send notice to people and also record if there is a response back. But if they aren't for one specific category, then they are violating even the maintaining of public records. That could be a violation here. But two, the National Voter Registration Act, which requires states. This is US Code, Title 52 US Code 20507. It requires each state to retain for two years and make available for public inspection records concerning the implementation of programs and activities conducted to ensure the accuracy and currency of voter registration rolls. I.e. if you are doing something to clean up your rolls, you have to document it and keep those records for public inspection for up to two years. So they could be in violation of their own state law as well as federal law by not having these records if they exist. That's the concern here. That's why sometimes getting no response leads to more action than getting a record that shows, "Oh, we had, you know, a bunch of people that weren't citizens and then we cleaned them up." This is all happening at the same time that they are they have this proposition, Proposition 39, that voters will vote on, which would give more security to their elections, where we have Attorney General Bonta, whose office has a records request from us right now pending, that changed the language from establishing additional voter identification and citizenship verification requirements to prohibiting citizens from voting unless they present government issued ID. Remember we talked about that, playing with the language.
Logan Sekulow: Yeah, I think this is an interesting time because look, in California, we know how the elected officials are going to run for the most part in in the the bigger broader cases like the governor and that kind of thing. Even the mayor of LA. We know back and forth of what that would look like. You know it's probably going to be no friend to a lot of conservatives. However, there's still a decent amount of representation and when you take things through the legal course, you take things to court, things actually can happen. We can have some movement, some changes, some representation if, you know, they're honest and fair judges. A lot of times they are or they're honest and fair courts that will provide us with what we need here. So don't lose hope that this is coming from California, and think nothing can get done. It's clear stuff can get done.
Will: Well, and once again, this is a way that taking a simple records request to a state and saying, "Hey, give us the records as your law requires." When you get a response, or no response because they don't have any in this case, a response that says, "Sorry, what you're looking for doesn't exist."
Logan Sekulow: They pled the Fifth.
Will: They they Vouchied it is what they did. They Vouchied it here. And it gives us more opportunities. The the entire FOIA practice of the ACLJ is robust, but sometimes it can be one of the most painstaking ones because they the governments, even the US government, even when it's a friendly administration doesn't want to give you the records, even though they're required to. So you have to first file the first request. Then you have to see what you can corroborate between the AG's office and the Secretary of State. Then you know the path forward. So we've got kind of a deadline that we're looking forward to, uh August 10th, where we should get a response from the AG to know what our next steps are. Do we have to sue the state of California over their records request because now we know what else to look for. They said there's nothing here, but could be there be something over here? Or is there another legal action altogether that we can raise or bring forward that they're not following when it comes to the federal law?
Logan Sekulow: Yes, I mean, we'll have an update for you in 10 days. That doesn't happen much here at the ACLJ. Often, you know, we're talking about the painstaking process of working through the courts, working through the federal government, working through state government. Usually takes a long time. But because there are some deadlines here, we'll at least have an update. It may not be what you want, but we'll see. The work of the ACLJ continues. Remember, these ACLJ attorneys, they are paid. We make sure that they get taken care of as best because we want the best of the best here. And none of that happens without your support. So I'm going to encourage you as we are wrapping up today our Liberty Drive. Number one, give me a call. I'd love to hear from you. Again, we've been celebrating America for the whole month of July, but really, you can lose sight of that pretty quickly after the first week here. Call in, let us know how you celebrated and how you look forward to celebrating with your family this 250th year. I know it sounds crazy, but it's only been three and a half, four weeks since the Fourth of July. Be a part of it today. Be a part of the Liberty Drive. A great way to do it though, to show your support for American values is to make a donation to the ACLJ and have your donation doubled today before our midnight deadline. That is at aclj.org/liberty. You can scan the QR code you see on the screen today. Look, none of this happens without you. And what happens today will set the stage for cases that we are taking and the people that we are helping around the world right now. Help us hit our goal today. We are close but we're a little bit behind. I need you to support us. aclj.org/liberty. Join these fights. Have your gift doubled again before our midnight deadline. Donate today at aclj.org/liberty. And again, we got about three lines open. 1-800-684-3110. I'm going to be taking calls just Will and I today. So we'll be taking your calls and comments throughout the rest of the show. That is at 1-800-684-3110.
Narrator: We've witnessed monumental legal victories from defending the 14th Amendment and protecting our sacred American right to vote, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and standing up for the religious liberty of our kids and seniors. But even with the many historic wins we've achieved, the battle is far from over. The attacks on our constitutionally protected rights persist. Countless unborn babies remain in jeopardy, and across the globe, innocent Christians are being targeted and killed. Across this country and around the world. This fight isn't just the ACLJ's, it's all of ours. It belongs to every American who wants to preserve the values and beliefs on which this nation was founded. None of the victories we've won would have been possible without the unwavering support of ACLJ members and ACLJ Champions. It's been an honor to fight for you all these years. Join us in fighting for freedom. Have your donation doubled at aclj.org/freedom.
Narrator: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those are the words of our forefathers written in the Declaration of Independence. They are the cornerstone on which our constitutional republic was built. And over the past 250 years, we have formed a great nation. A nation the world has looked to for guidance, for support, and for protection. This month we celebrate our liberty, but that liberty is fragile and requires every American to defend it. That's why this month we've launched the ACLJ Liberty Drive. In honor of America's birthday, we're redoubling our commitment to continue fighting against any attacks that would strip us of that freedom. We owe it to our forefathers. You can join the fight right now through our ACLJ Liberty Drive. Go to aclj.org/liberty today and have your tax deductible gift doubled, dollar for dollar, to enable the ACLJ to fight to defend our God-given liberties.
Logan Sekulow: Let's take some phone calls here, folks. Look, if you're watching, you may say, "Logan, what happened to your jacket?" Got hot in here. Be honest.
Will: It is the summer.
Logan Sekulow: I got sweaty.
Will: And you looked like you were in like Friday Night Lights.
Logan Sekulow: I picked the wrong jacket for July 31st.
Will: Full hearts, can't lose.
Logan Sekulow: I don't know what that is.
Will: It's Friday Night Lights.
Logan Sekulow: Not not familiar.
Will: It's a thing. I didn't I didn't quote it perfectly.
Logan Sekulow: All right. I don't know where to go from here. Will Will ruined it. Phone lines are open. 1-800-684-3110. 1-800-684-3110. Look, we are still talking about election integrity. We are also going to give you an update of what's going on in Israel with that announced deal with Hamas. What does that look like? We're going to get to that a little bit later. But we do want to now take over your continue on with election coverage. And Rachel's got a question about the election in New Jersey. We're going to give you a little update on that as well. Rachel, go ahead, calling from New York.
Guest (Female): Yeah, hello. I'm calling just to find out the obvious question I think is shouldn't there be like a recall or or or something along those lines? Because upon their own admission, there was there was voter fraud.
Logan Sekulow: Yeah, let's back it up a little bit, Rachel, for those who don't know this story. This became clear that there was some voter fraud. Now, look, what we've said before is there's going to probably be unfortunately some kind of attempt or fraudulent voting in all elections at what scale. And what they uncovered was enough that I mean, there's in the hundreds, right? That was actually formally happened because it was thousands of people who were on accident registered who were not legal United States citizens. They were they had a driver's license or whatever it may be out of New Jersey, but they were not United States citizens. And we know out of those thousands, at least, was it 400?
Will: There was at least 400 that had voted.
Logan Sekulow: Voted.
Will: Now, a couple things here, Rachel. They didn't give us the like, was it 400 in one election or was it in two different elections or multiple elections because it was over a time period where these people got on the voter rolls and they found this. Now, remember it was like 6600 individuals became got added to the voter rolls and then 400 of them went on to cast a ballot. Now, should there be a redo of an election? Based off those numbers, I don't think so. And as you even brought up, the fact that there there is most likely people voting in every election that shouldn't be voting. That's what we're trying to fix. We're trying to get to a near perfect system, which is a difficult thing to do. But I think that the fact that none of the races, according to them, were within 400. So even if it was that if it wasn't outcome determinative amount of of fraudulently cast votes, then I don't think that they would have redone the election over that. So, I hope that answers your question there.
Logan Sekulow: Thank you. But look, we're going to look into all of these things and we're able to uncover it, and then we have to make the decision legally of what we need to do to proceed forward and what's the best possible. Sometimes, look, it's maybe again, like I've said before, it may not be what you want to hear, but we're going to tell you the truth of what the most most logical solution is and what's the most logical way that we can actually get involved or you can get involved or people can be held accountable. And you have to, you know, work within the limits that we have here in the United States government. But I appreciate you calling. Let's go over, let's take a call. Let's go to Robert in Maryland on Line 1. Kind of swerves a little bit to what's going on in the Middle East, but I think it's worth addressing here as we start to wrap up the first half hour. Robert, go ahead.
Guest (Male): Yes, I wanted to ask the both of you, do you believe that because of the breakdown of the ceasefire agreement and the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, because of Iran's ceasefire and memorandum of understanding violations that the United States is going to go back to full combat operations against Iran?
Logan Sekulow: Yeah, I mean, the threat is there, Robert, from the president that that would be what's happening. I think he also is keenly aware that the midterms are coming up and that it has not been the most popular war in the world. Let's just not be dishonest in terms of public opinion, whether you agree with it or disagree with it. It has not been incredibly popular. So he's talking a big game. Whether he actually lives up to that big game, so far, there have obviously been issues that have gone back and forth, but the there has been a bit of uh bloviating in the terms of the way they talk.
Will: Yeah, I I think bloviating in some ways, but also downplaying in other ways. I think that's where it is an unknown, Robert. You look at the fact that he constantly is saying they're lying in private talks. I mean, he's at Camp David having a cabinet meeting right now as we're on air talking saying they lie in the in the private talks and then they say something different in public. They obviously violate it. But then he also says they're completely decimated still and that they that these attacks they're doing aren't really a big threat. So he downplays the threat of Iran and their capacities. But also is saying that we're going to keep hitting them. I I tend to think, as you're saying, Logan, he's looking at a way to almost keep it status quo through the 95 days we have left in the midterms until the midterms. I don't know. I do know there was the Wall Street Journal report that a general has has given a a suggestion, a battle plan that would be 10 to 14 days that would be more similar to the intensity of Operation Epic Fury. We will see if they move forward with that. That is something on the table. But I don't know if the president really wants to get to that. I think he likes that they're just striking, they're hitting them whenever they, if they do something out of line, like launch a rocket. We are able to intercept them. It's not at the level that is breaking through missile defense systems. That he's kind of fine with the status quo at this point.
Logan Sekulow: Yeah, thanks for calling, Robert. We're going to continue taking calls throughout the next half hour. By the way, if you don't get us for the full hour, you should. You should join us even on our online. If you don't get us on your local radio station or maybe you're finding us broadcasting on YouTube or Rumble. If you are, just stay here. We're not going anywhere. Or on Facebook. We do the full hour here each and every day, Monday through Friday, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Eastern time. And look, we do this without a paywall. We do this without anyone big advertisers coming in and telling us what we can or can't talk about. We're a completely independent media operation here at the ACLJ. But that is only because people like you support it financially. We don't have to be reliant on sponsors. We don't have to be reliant on paywalls. We only have to be reliant on people like you supporting this show, which also supports our legal side, which goes all over the world. You've heard about our work in Israel. You've heard about our work in Europe. You've heard about our work obviously the ACLJ here in the states that goes from Capitol Hill all the way to a girl that wants to, you know, talk about her faith in school and is getting harassed by an administration. That is the kind of work the ACLJ does. The scope is large and it only exists because people like you support. And these special months where donations are matched, where donations are doubled, are the most important time. So I always encourage you to support during these months as much as possible. And look, we have a deadline today. Today's it. We're going to wrap this thing up at midnight. The Liberty Drive ends our celebration of America. And what a good way to do it then send us off with some style here, folks. Have your donation doubled. Keep us in these fights. Be a part of this family because look, here at the ACLJ, we are defending not only Christians and Christian values here in this country. We're also in the Middle East. We're in Africa, Pakistan. You know, CC was in Morocco last week. We had team members all over the world that are working either consistently traveling or are based there. You know, our European Center for Law and Justice, ACLJ. It's it's a working office. ACLJ Jerusalem, you got Jeff Ballaban. You got teams there that are working constantly on these very important issues. And in this next half hour, I want to hear from you. So whether you are thankful for the work we do here, whether you love being a part of the team, or whether you got questions in relation to it, or in relation to celebrating this country, wrapping up this month of July, I want to hear from you at 1-800-684-3110. Because just me and Will, and we would love to hear from you as we continue on and wrap up this week strong. So, once again, I know I can get annoying. I know it could be annoying. Phone lines are lighting up, but I know a lot of you we lose here at the half hour mark. Some of you got to get back to work. Some of you got other things to do. Don't let this miss opportunity. Don't let yourself miss this opportunity.
Will: Don't miss it.
Logan Sekulow: Don't miss it. aclj.org. Have your gift doubled today. It's a midnight deadline. But why wait until midnight? Do it today. Do it now. That's aclj.org. Again, aclj.org/liberty or scan the QR code. Phone lines are lighting up at 1-800-684-3110. Second half hour starts in less than a minute. Don't go anywhere.
Narrator: Over the past 250 years, we have formed a great nation. A nation the world has looked to for guidance, for support, and for protection. That's why this month we've launched the ACLJ Liberty Drive. We're redoubling our commitment to continue fighting against any attacks that would strip us of that freedom. We owe it to our forefathers. You can join the fight right now through our ACLJ Liberty Drive. Go to aclj.org/liberty today and have your tax deductible gift doubled.