Why Was Scott Ritters Passport Seized? | Judge Napolitano – Judging Freedom

Hi, I’m Larry Johnson. My blog is sonar21.com. I am broadcasting to you tonight. It’s actually early in the morning, Tuesday, in St. Petersburg, Russia. I am here to attend as a participant, as a presenter, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. This event this year is attracting over 25,000 people, a significant number from the global south, people who are very interested in where the world’s economy is headed and some of the political economic issues that are going to shape the future of that economy. I received a word a little bit ago, Scott Ritter, who was also an invited speaker at this event, arrived at the airport today at JFK.

Normally, you have to fly from the United States to Istanbul, Turkey, or to Qatar. I suspect Scott was going to Istanbul, but I don’t for certain. In Istanbul, you switch flights and then fly into St. Petersburg, so it can be a rather long day. It’s an arduous journey, to say the least, at least 19, 20 hours if you get the right connections. When Scott arrived at the airport, checked in, boarded the plane, and then all of a sudden, three customs border patrol police showed up. They forced him off the plane, and they took his passport.

Now, this is illegal. What was done to Scott is illegal. The State Department can seize your passport under three conditions. One, that’s criminal evidence, evidence of this part of the crime. Well, sorry, Scott is not a criminal engaged with criminal activity. Unpaid taxes, to my knowledge, Scott is aware that that could be an issue, and I think Scott is vestiguous in making sure that his taxes are paid. Then, at the request of law enforcement, but that request from law enforcement implies that there is some criminal case working against Scott. Scott’s only offense in this that I can determine is his outspoken opposition to U.S.

policy in Ukraine and in Palestine, Israel, with respect to what Israel is doing to the Palestinian people. That’s it. His views are not in stink, but those are the Biden administration. But it’s noteworthy that Scott’s not the only one that has been speaking out about this. There are others like Doug McGregor, retired Army colonel. There’s Lieutenant Colonel Danny Davis. There’s Ray McGovern, former CIA officer. Phil Giraldi, another former CIA officer. Myself, Scott Bennett, who served in the U.S. Army, is another American that’s been speaking out. So there are several of us that have voiced our concerns and legitimate concerns.

And then apart from us, let’s not forget Jeffrey Sachs and John Mearsheimer. This kind of action by the Biden administration is illegal. It is without cause. And at a minimum, when you’re taking an American citizen’s passport, you’ve got to tell them what are the charges under what conditions, not just because we’re the government and we say so. Sorry. That’s the kind of attitude that used to exist in the old Soviet Union during the communist days. I’ve lived now long enough to see my own government behaving as if it’s being led by Leonid Brezhnev or Yuri Andropov.

Instead, we have Joe Biden. And what Biden shares in common with those two ancient characters is that he is old and feeble. I don’t know if this order came down from the White House or if it originated with State Department or if it was some lower level functionary in the Department of Homeland Security. It was a foolish move, whoever did it, because I think at a minimum, this is going to gain Scott some attention and some coverage from the mainstream media, which up to this point have gone out of their way to avoid any of us who are speaking out about the foolishness of U.S.

policy, about the danger of U.S. policy in Ukraine, in particular, with the prospect that the United States is on the verge of provoking a nuclear war with Russia, a war that has no foundation. The United States is supplying missiles that are being used to attack Russian citizens. Can you imagine what would happen in the United States? We’ve already had a proposal from Donald Trump where he suggested sending U.S. military special operations forces cross-border into Mexico to attack drug cartels because those cartels are killing Americans. Regardless of what you think about that proposal by Donald Trump, whether you support it or oppose it, I think all Americans would agree that if the Russians decided to start openly supplying medium-range missiles, missiles that could strike 300 miles inside U.S.

territory that could hit cities like Austin, San Antonio, Phoenix, Albuquerque, do you think we would see that as a threat to the United States, one that would have to be responded to? Then why in the name of God do we think we can do the same thing to Russia and not suffer any consequences? I know that myself along with others, distinguished people like Ted Postle, are literally terrified that we’re moving towards a confrontation with Russia, that the United States is not prepared to handle, and we foolishly keep looking in the mirror and ourselves that we’re the biggest, we’re the strongest, but it’s a lie, and I can show you one very glaring piece of evidence.

We can’t even stop the Houthis from ships from sailing to Israel. We’ve been at that for six months. We failed to stop the Houthis. Be assured of this. The military in Russia is in no way comparable to what the military is in Yemen. It is a night and day difference. The Russian military is a powerful force that needs to be taken seriously, and the political leaders in Russia have made it very clear that the U.S. support, open support for using these weapons in Russia poses a clear and present danger to them, and they will retaliate.

I take them at the word. Coming back to Scott for a minute, I’m sure he’s got a good lawyer, and I’m sure that the Biden administration is in for a battle that I think they will ultimately lose, but we shouldn’t be surprised because this kind of persecution of political opponents of Joe Biden has become rampant. Just ask Donald Trump. Just ask all the people that work for Donald Trump that have been sent to prison, that have been charged with specious crimes. Ask the January 6th protesters. Many, the vast majority, committed no acts of violence.

They simply walked into the Capitol and were charged as insurrectionists. So what we’re facing in the United States is the United States is in the process of turning itself in to the old Soviet Union, and by contrast, we’re finding that Russia has become a new safe haven for Christians and for whistleblowers. I wish Scott got speed. I now have to change dinner reservations for tomorrow night because Scott and I were going to be sharing a meal together with Judge Napolitano. But it is important that Americans stand up and protest this egregious action by the Biden administration.

I’m Larry Johnson. Please like and subscribe to this video if you’ve watched it. Thank you for your attention. Good night. [tr:trw].

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