With only a few days left in the year, we've got a new Supreme Court case to take on CNN's defamation shield. 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 Secula. Welcome to Secula. We have a packed show today. We are all just getting back from Christmas, obviously, so hopefully a late Merry Christmas to all of you as we start to wrap up. The end of the year with just a couple days left.
We're going to keep talking to you about some new initiatives we have here at the ACLJ, including a very special way you can get involved right now. It is our year-end freedom drive. And for the rest of the year, which is only again a couple of days, it's December 29th. All donations, we were able to talk and make it happen. All donations will be tripled.
That's right. It's a triple match right now. Your donations are tripled through the end of the year.
So, whatever donation you make, We will be able to get a double match on that.
So, triple the donations, which is wild.
So, be a part of it right now at aclj.org. Of course, we want to talk about some of the breaking news that happened. The ACLJ has been hard at work over the Christmas holiday. And now we're finally taking on an issue, and it gets to go to the Supreme Court, which is going to be very interesting. An issue that a lot of you bring up.
You call in about it all the time. And that is that it seems like organizations like, I'll say like CNN, but let's just say the news in general, mainstream news. Can get away with saying a lot of things. And look, we have a very broad freedom of speech. Speech is not about that.
It's when they knowingly. Repeat a lie over and over and over again when they make a strategic edit that is made to defame somebody over and over and over again. And you've seen that happen in the news so much, and the shield is so strong against being able to do anything about it that nothing ever gets done.
Well, the ACLJ is representing a new client. This is Alan Dershowitz, who, again, is going to be an interesting one. We've got Alan Dershowitz suing CNN with the ACLJ involved because we believe in a bigger scale of this that the issue needs to finally be addressed. You had one court say, yes. You are right.
And then you had one court that flipped it and said, no, this shouldn't happen. And now it's taking it to the Supreme Court of the United States. And I'd love to hear what you think about this. Phone lines are open at 1-800-684-3110. And Will can give you a bit more of a breakdown of what we're talking about here.
That's right. So what this case will go to, and it's captioned Dershowitz versus the Cable News Network Incorporated.
So CNN right there in the caption. It goes to the heart of what is called the Sullivan decision. And that is a case that was decided back on March 9th of 1964 in the case New York Times v. Sullivan, which gave this higher protection to the media. When it comes to defamation claims, the court found that you had to find actual malice by the individual, and it created almost an impossible standard for someone to address if they have been defamed.
Now, what the ACLJ is doing here is kind of going to the court because there are split decisions from appeals courts when it comes to where this could lie, and then also looking at the Sullivan decision to see if it needs to be re-examined altogether since that was decided in 1964. And the landscape of media has changed quite a bit.
So much since the 60s. Obviously, when this was set in place, they had no idea what was coming, which would not only be 24-hour cable news, but then just around the corner from that would be the way they run social media and the way mainstream news has a certainly a big footprint in terms of getting messages out there in digital media.
So I think it's time. Whether you're actually for this or against this, and whether you like our stance in this or not, I think. I think it is actually time for the court to weigh in and make some new adjustments to how this is being taken. Because I think this is a very important issue. That we need to get involved in.
My dad, Jay Sekulow, chief counsel here at the ACLJ, he's gonna be joining us live in the next segment.
So stay tuned for that. Later on in the show, we got Mike Pompeii. We're going to talk about President Trump taking on ISIS as he said he would in Nigeria. What's that look like, and what are the ramifications? And we'll keep going, also, keep telling you about our ACLJ.
Year-end drive, of course, as I said. These are the most important days of the year. When we get done. with this show on New Year's Eve. You're not gonna hear from me as much, I promise you.
You're not gonna get as many emails, as many text messages. But from here until then, it's the most important three days of the year. Be a part of it. Have your donations tripled right now at aclj.org. Leave that QR code up.
I want people to be able to scan it. Have your donations tripled today. And we're going to discuss a lot more when we get back with my dad, Jay Sekulow, in just a moment. Welcome back to Sekulow. Phone lines are open for you.
I'd like to hear from you on this issue because it's something that I think the ACLJ and really the American people should be weighing into right now as the media landscape has changed quite a bit since the 60s. And the shield, if you will, that organizations like mainstream news organizations like CNN have had against defamation has been almost impenetrable. I cannot tell you the constant calls I've had over the years where Someone gets very upset. that lies are being spread about them. Through mainstream news, they call us and Dad, half the time, it feels like the conversation's got to be, sadly, there's not a whole lot we can do.
Well, that may change as the ACLJ is now back in court with a what could be a landmark case against the cable news network, against CNN. Uh for perpetuating Something that their organization knew to be untrue against Alan Dershowitz, famed lawyer, celebrity lawyer, if you will. Again, this is not usually how everything lines up, but when you have Alan Dershowitz suing CNN, where's the ACLJ get involved? Do we get involved because of not necessarily even the merits of this specific case, but because the standard that has been in place and has been established since the 60s just does not reflect the media landscape of 2025? No, you're exactly right.
And you mentioned earlier, Logan, that it's almost impenetrable. It really is impenetrable. If you're a public figure, And the media attacks you. President Trump has seen this. Uh it's basically We tell clients, sorry, there's nothing really we can do.
Now, what's interesting here is in Professor Dershowitz's case, which it's quite an honor for us to represent the leading constitutional law professor in American history. He was representing President Trump with me and Jordan. uh at the Senate floor during the impeachment. And he made a statement of how the impeachment laws are supposed to work under the Constitution, what constitutes them. An impeachable offense and CNN.
After knowing exactly what he said, all their commentators went on. made up a thing called the Dersowitz Doctrine, which there is none, and said completely the opposite of what he said. And Logan, they had the tape, the whole world saw it. And they continued this. For a couple of days, they never retracted it.
So Professor Dershowitz filed a lawsuit. The judge said that if there was ever a case of defamation, this was it. But the only thing standing in the way between Professor Dershowitz and Justice. is a Supreme Court opinion. Called New York Times versus Sullivan, which was in 1964, which gave media heightened protection.
But the media landscape was totally different then.
Now you have everybody's media.
So what you've got is, as you mentioned, this impenetrable wall. We're challenging New York Times versus Sullivan. We also believe that the burdens that they place on plaintiffs is outrageous in these kind of cases. And let me take it a step further. It's not just, you know, how does this impact CNN?
This impacts everybody. Because, as Logan, as you said, these are calls we get, including from the President all the way to Professor Dirchwich, to other people. that the attacks that come and nobody can take legal action. We're hoping to change that. Justice Thomas, Justice Alito and Justice Gorsuch have all questioned the law, saying it was created as a political decision, not a legal one.
It's not rooted in the Constitution. And we have filed this morning, which you're right, folks, we worked right through the holidays to get this brief done, the petition for surgery. It has been filed as of about forty five minutes ago.
So we are now officially at the Supreme Court of the United States And what I think is probably one of our not probably, it is one of our biggest cases we've ever had. The implications are huge. And our ACLJ members and donors have made this possible. And it was A lot of legal work. We had five lawyers.
Plus me. working on this case. pretty much for the last two months. It's been our project.
So I'm excited and very pleased with the product. The other side gets to respond, then we'll respond again, and we'll probably know the end of the Spring, if they're going to take it or not. If they do, we will argue it next year. I'm optimistic that there are justices calling for this decision to be overturned. It's time.
And we're optimistic, and I think we've got the perfect case for it. Yeah, it's a long process. I want to make sure people know that you're hearing about it today, and it's not going to be answered tomorrow. But we have to have a team on board, pretty much working these Supreme Court cases almost on a full-time level on these kinds of scale when it comes to these kinds of cases. This is not something that is, you know, we send off a demand letter and then we wait for it to come back.
You know, this is something that we have to be on, really on point about. That's why you got to have the best of the best. That's why we have something like a triple match for the next couple of days.
So if you want to support the ACLJ, because look, at a bare minimum, You may be watching this going. I don't know if the media should, their scrutiny shouldn't be that hard. Maybe you believe it should be a bit more open. Open to how things are right now, where, like you said, if you're a public figure, it is just sort of fair game.
However, I think what we all can agree on is that it's at least time the way media has changed. It is at least time for the court to weigh in for the first time since the sixties on this. That's right, Logan. And this is another angle as well I find so fascinating about the history of this case and the case as well: is that Professor Dershowitz was a law clerk for Justice Goldberg. When this was decided, and Justice Goldberg wrote a concurring opinion.
In the New York Times v. Sullivan.
So his history with this goes back to when it was decided and is now with ACLJ fighting against what is happening in the current landscape because even he realizes that things have changed. But I also wanted to bring this up and ask you about this: is that when you look at the First Amendment, Is that it makes protection for no law respecting the establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of speech, the freedom of speech or the press. And then also, we get down to one that many people don't talk about as much, but we at the ACLJ fight for: the petition the government for a redress of grievances. These are all clauses within the First Amendment.
However, What New York Times v. Sullivan seems to have done is tip the scales in favor of the press to some degree, giving them an enhanced protection, while those that may be subject to not being able to address their get a redress of their grievances by petitioning the government because the scales have been tipped for the press. Is that something that we're addressing here as well?
Well, of course, but it's more than tipping the scale. It's pretty much eliminated the right to petition the government. By the way, the petition to government is not just a petition to Congress, that includes going to court, because you can't win. I mean, the court here, the lower court, ruled against Professor Dershowitz and said we're ruling against Professor Dershowitz because. New York Times versus Sullivan, even though They say, of course he didn't say what they said he said.
Now, I mean, think about that for a moment.
So the First Amendment is not a license for libel and slander. That was never the founder's intent.
So they will still be First Amendment protections. You're going to have to show, BOOF will always be a defense. That the media can use, and that's fine. But this enhanced protection, and by the way, Alan Dershowitz, not only clerk for Justice Goldberg, who wrote a concurrence, he worked on that concurrence. But the concurrence was limited to not public figures.
but public officials. And that was basically government of figures. By the way, I don't think it was right as that either. But there's a big difference between elected officials who's got the apparatus of government to defend them versus a private citizen who happens to be a public figure.
So it's got huge ramifications. It will be very helpful as we move forward with real freedom of speech and freedom of the press But there needs to be some accountability. People call this program all the time and say, we want some accountability.
Well, this is a way to get it. But again, we need everybody supporting our work. This is just the first. Round. We filed our opening petition brief, which is about thirty pages.
Plus attachments, it's probably 200 pages. They will respond and then we will respond again.
So I want to encourage everybody that's listening to this broadcast right now, support the work of the American Center for Law and Justice. Logan and Jordan Will are doing a great job on the broadcast and a great job in court, but your support keeps all this momentum going forward. And we encourage you to do that at ACLJ.org. I did it yesterday. I encourage everyone to do it.
That's right, Dad. Of course, we only got two minutes left in this segment. It is important as the match right now is tripled. That's right. If you donate, your donation is tripled.
That means there's great ACLJ supporters, ACLJ champions, people that give on a monthly basis who are ready to unlock their pledge. And they've now pledged to triple those donations. And again, that could be $5. That could be $500. It could be $5,000.
It could be whatever donation level you have. The max is very high right now.
So if we hit that ceiling, I'll let you know. But right now, we really could use your support. It's the last three days of the year. And, Dad, as you know, it's something that we've all known our entire lives. We talk about this.
I had to tell my kids about this. They're like, why are you going back? Who's listening? And who's, what are you doing? You know, the three days before, you know, after Christmas, three days before New Year's, is this when the mass majority of people, including myself, I can say I'm one of them.
I've already made a lot of my year in giving. This is when people decide where they have extra income and where that can go. That's exactly right. And I mean, I did the same thing. I was making gifts.
Pam and I were making gifts yesterday.
So I do encourage you, if you're able to, by the way, a huge thank you to our ACLJ champions. That's how we can have a triple match. Because our ACLJ champions are donating every month into matching funds.
So we want to encourage you, if you can make a one-time gift grade, if you can make a monthly gift and become a champion, that's great as well. Stand with us as we stand for freedom. That's right. Hey, next coming up. Thanks, Dad, for joining us.
And if you want to support the work, of course, that's ataclj.org. We have some phone lines open for you if you want to be on air. The next segment, we're going to have Mike Pompeo on. And then following that, we'll take some calls at 1-800-684-3110.
So go ahead and get in line to be on the air. That's at 1-800-684-3110. And as dad says, support the work of the ACLJ at aclj.org, where your match, your donation is tripled right now. Of course, tax deductible. And we are in this final days with the deadline of this Wednesday at midnight as we head into 2026.
Can you believe that we're here? We've got a lot on the horizon we want you to be a part of. Also, If you are new here and maybe you haven't done this yet, it's free. Hit that subscribe button. We are only, the guys' goals here, the goals on their team was 400 or 550,000, and we are only 700 away from that.
So hit that subscribe. Welcome back to Secula. We are now joined by Mike Pompeo. This is an important thing to bring up, Secretary Pompeo, because over the weekend. And obviously, it's the long weekend.
On Christmas, we got the news that maybe a lot of us had been finally hoping for. As the ACLJ has been continually bringing up what had been going on in Nigeria for years at this point. President Trump had warned? It said, if nothing gets done, I'm going to take action. And that seems to be precisely what happened, as on Christmas Day, a message came out from President Trump that he had ordered strikes against ISIS targets for attacking the mass killing of Christians in Nigeria.
This has to be a pretty good moment for a lot of people. A lot of people were hoping that we would take action in this because it's something that had become news, even between you'd say, obviously, the conservative world, but even on the other side, saying, you know what? If we're going to get involved militarily on something, this is a just cause.
Well, you're exactly right. It was a well-timed and important strike that was taken against ISIS. You know, going after Boko Haram there, who's been killing Christians, is a worthy cause. It's something we worked on the first Trump administration, but we had ISIS in lots of places at the time. President Trump made this decision after working with the Nigerian government to say, you do it yourself, or we're going to make this happen.
And they became convinced this was in their best interest as well, and so signed on for this project. They had already identified the Country as a nation of particular concern because of the absence of religious freedom, mostly for Christians there. And so a Full-on campaign to give Christians the capacity to do what we all know who are watching this show: the ability to practice their faith in the way they want to, to worship their Lord Jesus Christ, in the way they want to in Nigeria is an important thing. It certainly weighs on the Trump administration's mind, and the action that President Trump took will increase the probability that they can do that in the future. I hope the campaign is sustained, that this effort broadly, not just militarily, but broadly, will continue to be something at the center of the Trump administration's national security and religious freedom policies.
And when you look at even the way that the President carries out strikes like this, this is almost novel in our political world, where conducting an air campaign where American lives aren't in danger but is still able to accomplish this mission. It's refreshing when you see such strategic action taken by the administration. And that has been what was going on in the first administration, as well as now carries that forward. I have seen. Media outlets try and discredit whether or not this would do anything, does this help anything?
Which just rings so hollow when it only seems like if it's trying to protect Christians, they're able to criticize taking out terrorists. And I wanted to kind of get your thoughts on that. You know, I saw some of that commentary too. Look, this has multiple perspectives to it. One is specific deterrence.
We took out some really bad guys and some of their infrastructure. I haven't seen the full scale of what was struck, but make no mistake about it, there's fewer terrorists and less terrorist infrastructure than there was before the strike.
So that's point one. Point two is, we've now made it more difficult for them to operate, and we have given the Nigerian government courage to go after this problem themselves.
So, not trying to solve it just with America, doing it alone, and not counting on the Nigerian government to take care of its own business, but encouraging them to do that. And, second, I promise you, if you're an ISIS terrorist, if you're a radical Islamist sitting in the northwestern part of Nigeria, you now are operating in a different way. You're more clandestine, you're not communicating as much, you're digging bunkers deeper, you're hiding. That makes the risks to Christians in the area much less severe.
So, good on them. And for anybody to critique this as not doing enough, I would look back just four years to the Biden administration, who did literally nothing for the persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Yeah, I was very pleased to see the statement come out. Obviously, hopefully, see some changes that go on there. Of course, the narrative is shifting.
Speaking of narratives as well, we also saw.
Some very interesting moves in Russia and Ukraine. You obviously saw Russia potentially having some attacks on Kyiv. And then you had a moment here now where President Trump has now spoken with Putin and met with Zelensky over the weekend again to start hopefully reopening another peace deal discussion. One of the things offered was to Ukraine a fifteen year security guarantee. Can you break that down a little bit for us, what that means?
Is that good enough? Is that something that brings us actually closer to this peace deal? It's a pretty remarkable commitment from the United States, and I applaud President Trump and his team for providing that security guarantee. I'm confident the Europeans are going to be at the center of that, but with enormous American support. That should give President Zelensky enough space to do what he needs to do.
Unfortunately, and I hope President Trump is right, I haven't seen any evidence that Vladimir Putin has any intention of letting this thing go. To the best I can tell, every concession that the Ukrainian government has agreed to as part of this conversation, these negotiations, Putin has rejected, or he's had one of his henchmen come out and reject it immediately. That was the case yesterday as well. He talked to the President beforehand, but has given no sign that he's prepared to let go of his attacks on Ukrainians. And we shouldn't forget, too, many, many Christians in Ukraine have been slaughtered by Vladimir Putin as well.
And so, you know, we were just talking about Christians in Nigeria. There are Christians and The atheist Vladimir Putin has gone wholeheartedly after them in an attempt to defeat their courage and their valor. We need to stay at this. The guarantee we provided is important. I hope Vladimir Putin is prepared to respond in kind.
Today, he has just simply said a European and American guarantee is a poison pill. If so, we need to continue to put pressure on Putin in every way that we can. It does seem like an ongoing struggle here that never seems to move forward, unfortunately. It feels like every time there is a big step forward where President Trump or the administration puts in or Ukraine puts in their best effort, and even Russia sometimes seems to have moments where they have come to the table. It just doesn't seem like there's movement.
I mean, we saw what happened with Israel and Gaza. Obviously, there's been back and forth, up and down with that, but it did seem like it was heading towards at least something. I know they're very different wars. And now you turn over still to Russia and Ukraine. And it just, like you said, it feels like in this current Russian administration, which is a shame.
You know, I think a lot of people don't know. I mean, we used to spend a lot of time in Russia. We had offices there. We did a lot of work in Russia for religious freedom. And of course, all of that has had to go away.
All business with Russia has gone away. And they're a country of some amazing people who do need faith, who do need some religious freedom protections and all this. And unfortunately, we can't do that right now because of this situation. But it just feels like the progress stalls every time. Yeah, it's so disappointing.
It's disheartening. It always stalls when it gets to the Kremlin, it seems to me. But we should not lose hope. The effort to negotiate a resolution of this is important. You've had over a million Russian casualties.
Think about that. 150 million, 145 million people in Russia. That's half the size of the United States.
So that'd be the equivalent of 2 million American casualties. That is a staggering loss for the Russian male population that generates so much of their wealth and creativity. This has to stop. I hope Vladimir Putin will see that the costs exceed the benefits. We never know when this is going to break.
It always looks hopeless until the sunlight shines through. And so I hope one day we'll wake up, Putin will have concluded that he can't continue this campaign and that he will come to the table and actually lay down his weapons. That peace for Europe, that peace for Ukraine would be a great outcome if we can get it achieved here in 2026. We're almost four years into this thing. Absolutely.
Thank you, Secretary Pompeo, for joining us. As you said, Head of Torch 2026 in just a couple days here. And of course, as we head to the second half hour of this broadcast, some of you don't get it, or some of you have to go. Consider making a donation right now to the ACLJ. It is our year-end freedom drive, and what's really special for the next three days.
is your donations are tripled. His great people are ready to unlock. Their pledge.
So, do it right now at aclj.org. If you don't get us on your local station or wherever you watch, go find us right now at aclj.org, YouTube, or however you get your podcast. Rumble, we'll be right back with more on Secula. Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow.
And now, your host, Logan Sekulow. Welcome back to Sekulow, kicking off the second half hour. We're going to re-establish what our main topic is of the day. We're also going to take calls and comments at 1-800-684-30110. We're also going to talk to you about the ACLJ year-in drive, and we are just three days away from the end of the year.
And with that, three days. Your donations right now are tripled.
So I encourage you to make a donation at aclj.org. Of course, we've been involved in a lot of these topics that you're hearing on the news all the time. Of course, our main one we talked about today was the ACLJ is going to the Supreme Court. We filed the Supreme Court a huge new lawsuit that is going after. Really, let's just say reopening the idea that you don't get blanket essential immunity to say whatever you want, any lies you want to come up with, just because you're the news.
You can have commentary, you could discuss different things, but if you're blatantly going out there, repeating a quote, misquoting, doing stuff like that, if you are defaming, That there can be some repercussions. Of course it's very broad right now. As my dad said, as we've had this discussion, you have no idea how many people call me, specifically over the last few years. A lot of those that are in Hollywood. who have had uh their careers ruined.
Because of something that they've you know, were misquoted of saying And It's destroyed a lot.
Okay, get on the phone with them. Uh it kind of breaks their heart. Because I have to tell them, the Supreme Court pretty much says, you're fair game. You're a fair game to be lied to. lied about.
Because you're a public figure. And the standard is so broad.
Now the ACLJ finally has an opportunity to go to court and say, you know what? Maybe honesty. Is the best policy? Will maybe we can actually get something done.
So, Alan Dershowitz, kind of famed celebrity lawyer, one of the top legal scholars in the world. He was representing part of the Trump impeachment trial. And representing President Trump. And They kept repeating. CNN kept repeating the same fact that was incorrect over and over and over again, knowingly for days and days and days.
And what I do like about this case is it really has, I'm sure it has to do with Um Mr. Dershowitz, it has to do. With CNN, but really it has to do with reopening this idea that we live in a very different media landscape. And there does need to be some accountability. In terms of the way the media can present and really the way the media can defame and destroy people.
And I think that's a good thing overall. If anything, it opens up the conversation once again. And the ACLJ is right in the middle of it. Right in the middle of it, because people like you, we know this is an important topic for you. We have had you call us and had these conversations before so many times.
So I encourage you to support the work of the ACLJ right now. Phone lines are open, we'll take calls and all of that. over the next few segments. But I do want to hear from you at one eight hundred six eight four thirty one ten. And if you supported the work of the ACLJ over this last year, You can also give us a call.
And tell us What you've liked. What have you liked that we've done? Any of the victories we've been involved in? Have you liked some of the cases specifically? What has motivated and moved you to become an ACLJ champion or a one-time supporter or maybe just a YouTube subscriber?
I would love to hear from you. That again is at 1-800-684-3110. And a great free way to get involved. Our team here. Our media team, they told me a few months ago, or really about maybe a month ago, they said, you know what?
Our goal the whole year has been to hit 550,000 YouTube subscribers by the end of the year. They are right now. I'm going to get the total. I'm going to get the. The current tally on my phone because I have the real-time updates.
We are at. five hundred forty nine thousand two hundred and twenty That means we are just a few hundred away, 800, less than 800 away. I wanted you to do that quick math. Less than 800. Yeah.
Less than 800. Seven 80-ish. Away. From hitting and that's nothing compared to the amount of people that watch each and every day that don't subscribe Let's do that for this team. They put in a lot of hard work Let's get them over that that hump here.
Get them to 550,000 subscribers for the end of the year. Tell your friends about it. If you've got multiple channels that you have multiple accounts, Go sign them up, okay? Your kids' accounts? I don't care.
They need to be getting this information anyway. Uh. You know, they may wake up in college and go, Why am I subscribed to this? You're like, You know what? You needed some.
Yeah, you can be the parent of the household. Say, you know what? You need this. I'm paying for your college. You're going to watch the Sekulow show each and every day, Monday through Friday from noon to 1 p.m.
Eastern Time Live. You're going to get involved in the chat. With all the gate, great. ACLJ champions. That's how we're going to get to the next generation wheel.
We'll be back with your calls and comments coming up. And just above it. Welcome back to Secular. We are going to take your phone calls. I do want to address a comment that I see in the chat right now where people are going, wait a second, if I'm an ACLJ, because we're talking about the triple donations right now.
If I'm an ACLJ champion, am I tripled or what happens here? Let's just clear this up. There are select members who have been discussed and been talked to to be part of a pledged fund. If you have not been part of that, your donations are not tripled in the sense of if you just become an ACLJ champion at $10, you're not going to be charged. Uh you know, triple that.
Or ACLJ champion at any level, whatever you sign up for is what you are charged.
So I want to clarify that, make sure everyone knows that they are just people that we are able to reach out to throughout the year to create these funds. You don't have to do it. Not everyone even gets the opportunity to do it. Obviously, it depends on how much you give and all of that. There's a whole system in place.
I just wanted to clarify 100% so you know, if you give today, if you become a champion today, it is tripled in the sense of there are, we are going to triple your donation. You're going to be matched twice by other people. Who have already pledged to do that, pledged to do a fund. I know it gets confusing, it gets in the weeds, and we try to come up with the easiest to understand words, but I always thought it's appropriate to come on here and try to help explain that. If you have any other questions about it, I'll do my best to answer it.
Feel free to throw those in the chat as well, because I know it can get a little heady and a little weird, but just think about it, just like the double. You have it matched. These are just people that said, I'll actually double my double in their match. That being said, I don't know if that was easier or harder, but hopefully that answers your question. I encourage you to support the work of the ACLJ, but the number that you put in as a donation today, that is the number you will be charged.
Period. I just want to make sure that is clear. All right. With that, I want to go ahead and take some phone calls. Let's go to Melissa in South Carolina, who is listening on the radio.
Melissa, go ahead. Hey, Logan, I'm actually in beautiful sunny Southern California today. But I just I wanted to clarify with the case of the Dershowitz case. That you're in the attempt to pursue this, it's not only going to just affect. The mainstream or the legacy media as people now call it, it will also have some components of defamation that would maybe address social media.
I think that there is a chance. I have to go get into details with our legal team. What I do think the opportunity is that a lot of these major mainstream media organizations are also on social media.
So of course, they're providing a lot of the content for social media shares. I don't think it would be directly like, hey, you decide you post something. As an individual, we're not talking about that. We are talking about organizations, companies who are in the news. That could be a company, that could be a news company that does have a larger footprint for sure.
And social media is a compartment of that.
Well, and when you also think about social media, here's what this goes to the heart of: this is the New York Times versus Sullivan. That's the precedent that we're talking about here. What the court found in New York Times v. Sullivan back in 1964 is that when a statement concerns a public figure, the court held it is not enough to show that it is false for the press to be liable for it. Instead of The target of the statement must show that it was made with knowledge of or reckless disregard for its falsity.
And that term actual malice is where that came from. Is that if the press is reporting on a public figure, Then the actual malice has to be there for them to be held liable for libel.
Now, when you start to think about what is even a public figure now, Because of social media, because a celebrity may not be an actor or anything. Anyone could, in theory, become some sort of public figure if they are on social media. The world is completely shrunk in that way because of the way we communicate and are all connected now.
So. That's what it gets to the heart at, is that and Sullivan. For a public figure, and when it is not, when it's the media reporting on it, that actual malice, that heightened bar has to be met. And I want to also read something. This is from a concurring opinion with the 11th Circuit, which was the appeals court that ruled against Mr.
Dershowitz in this case. And this is from the concurring opinion because it's fascinating when you read it. This is from Judge Lagoa at the 11th Circuit. It says, as a preliminary matter, there can be little dispute. That CNN defamed Alan Dershowitz under any common understanding of that term.
So, this judge is saying, no dispute, he was defamed by CNN. CNN, through its various writers and anchors, repeatedly misrepresented statements that Dershowitz made on the floor of the Senate. That is, statements whose accuracy could easily be verified against the Senate transcript and video footage, and which CNN employees all could have watched live. In some instances, they blurred the line between fact and commentary, and in others, they simply lied about what Dershwitz had said. This is coming from the judge.
skips down, goes through more facts than that, and then says, all of this to say. I agree with the district court that the only thing standing between Dershowitz and justice. Is Sullivan. And that is exactly why we are going to the Supreme Court because, as this lower court, judge, the appeals court, said, you know, our hands are kind of tied here. Because of Supreme Court precedent going back to 1964, which raises it and as your dad said earlier, Logan, as you said, makes it impossible.
This barrier, this wall is impenetrable because of the standard that Sullivan set. And so therefore, when you start thinking about who could be a public figure, who could be lied about by the media, it could at some point get to be everyone. And then there is no avenue. under the Constitution to petition the government for the redress of your grievances, which is also guaranteed in the First Amendment. We have seen people's lives ruined and simply had to tell them.
And I hated that. Look, I hate having this conversation and saying, really, our hands are tied. There's not much we can do. And that's very rare for the ACLJ to have to say that. This is finally given us the opportunity.
To go, no, no, no. It is time. And here's the perfect case to bring that up.
So we're gonna do that. And we are deeply involved in it.
So I want you to support the work of the ACLJ and know that we're finally going to be protecting American citizens against this kind of malicious attack. Look, the ACLJ has been involved in so many of these topics throughout the years, 35 plus years now of work. Including what was going on in Nigeria. I mean, we had that happen: the ISIS attacks that happened on Christmas Day from President Trump. This has been nothing new.
for our ACLJ team. I do want to play a video. I do have time for the video. Yeah, let's play a video. This is for my brother at CPAC just a few weeks ago.
Now, again, this is a few weeks ago, but we have been at this topic. years.
So, take a couple minutes and just see some of the ACLJ team at work. We'll talk about it more when we get right back. Thirty-five on average Christians are killed a day. In Nigeria, by Islamic extremist groups. They are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria.
They've killed over 100,000 since 2009. They've burned 18,000 churches. They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country. The ACLJ recently joined a new coalition partner, CPAC, the American Conservative Union. I think a lot of people know about the big CPAC events.
And we talked about this issue of Christian persecution worldwide and putting together a coalition. The idea is to end Christian persecution worldwide. They need to know what is happening: the brutality, the tragic stories of so many martyrs. We are going to tell their story. I believe the Holy Spirit moved us in this direction for CPAC and also the great work that Jordan does at the ACLJ to make sure that this becomes a reality.
The first meeting at the White House was about, you know, kind of what's next on how the President and the existence of the Executive branch can do on the international front. And I remember in that meeting, a match flap looked over at me and said, Hey, Jordan, what's number one on the agenda? And we said, Nigeria back on the CPC, countries of particular concern list.
So by putting them on the list of countries of particular concern, that means they are now being watched very closely by very various departments of the U.S. government. After that meeting, that was on a Wednesday, the next day on that Friday, President Trump sent the message out that Nigeria would be added to the countries of particular concern list. And a few days later, wrote that if Nigeria doesn't get it together, we're going to get it together for them and protect these Christians. This is what we do.
This is who the ACLJ is. Join us in fighting for freedom at aclj.org forward slash freedom. All right. I want you to take a moment here. Look at the work the ACLJ has been doing.
That is not a new topic for us. None of these are really. I mean, that's the one thing that's crazy: a lot of the ACLJ work. It's not a brand new topic. It's just now coming to the forefront.
It is the work that we've been doing here at the ACLJ. Honestly, our work in Europe. It has been 25 years of, yes, victories. 25 years of victories. But now we are seeing the fruits of that labor.
We are seeing a real massive change happening in Europe. And the ACLJ doesn't just exist within the borders of America, though the majority of our work is right here in the States, of course. We have the ACLJ Jerusalem. We have the ECLJ. Like I said earlier previously.
We had Offices all over the world, including areas like Russia. Unfortunately, we're not there right now, as you can imagine, not allowed to be there. One day I hope we can return. I hope we can return to a lot of these countries. I hope we can expand that.
There are places the ACLJ is hard at work that you would never know, and you may never know. And that's okay. It's not about the glory of that. It's about getting the work done. Because people like you support at aclj.org, have your donation tripled.
We'll be right back with your calls. CaSekulow, and actually, I gotta correct Jordan in that last video. If you're watching online, if you're watching online, you got to see a great video presentation. Our team did. Your donations for the rest of the year, next three days, are tripled.
That's right, donations are tripled right now, is a triple match. three times match right now that's happening.
So be a part of the team today. You have three days left to really hit that, to be a part of it. If you're looking at your year-end giving, a lot of people do this. They wait till the last second. I'm guilty as charged as well.
I gave all of my main charitable giving. I haven't given all of it yet, but I gave a huge portion of it around 3 a.m. two days ago. I was up. Had a little bit of a cough, Will.
I'll get into details. And I thought, what am I going to do to kill this time? I can't sleep. I said, it's time to give me a charitable giving.
So thankfully, I went through. I'm sure there was a lot of my friends, organizations that I gave a lot of money to. They're like, Logan, what are you doing donating to us at three o'clock in the morning? But you know what? It doesn't matter when you do it, but it does matter that's in the next couple of days.
So if you can do it right now. Your donation is effectively tripled, tripled the impact, which is wild. We need you. It is the most important three days of the year. It really is.
I've been saying it's the most important month. It is the most important month. But this is really when we start setting in place what a real plan for twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven starts to look like. We have seven minutes left on the show today. We got three lines open.
If you want to call in right now, it'd be great to call in. It just even Talk about what you feel about the ACLJ and the work we're doing. Whether you've been with us for a long time or whether you just found us on YouTube. I want to hear from you. Send some good, good messages to our team here who are working hard.
As you know, we're filing Supreme Court today. That means what? A lot of our legal team were working during Christmas on this. And they're working for you. None of it happens without you.
So, I encourage you to go to aclj.org, make that donation, have it tripled. But right now, I would love to hear from you as well. I'd love to hear your voice at 1-800-684-3110. Also, do a check-in on those YouTube subscribers, see how close we can get to hitting that 550,000. Let's go ahead and take a phone call.
Cliff's calling from Illinois online, too. Cliff, go ahead. All right, great. You hear me? I can hear you.
All right, great. Let me get to it real quick here. Hey, I support the ACLJ. I'm a champ. And listen, you guys do the best.
You keep us informed, and you make sure that we understand what you're actually talking about. It must be the lawyer in you.
So I support the ACLJ, and I think you do a wonderful job.
Now the the purpose of my call is What's going on all around the world is terrible. But when all around the world's worst of the worst are coming to our country and taking it away from the American citizen, it is time to get focused on here. And what the House and the Senate need to do, instead of having the executive orders that Donald Trump is doing, they need to make Laws. But we know that the Democrats don't follow the laws because look what had already had happened. When they get in power, if they ever do again, it's going to be lawlessness.
And we don't need that in this country.
So thank you very much. I think Dersowicz and the way you guys explain it was great. And I really appreciate you guys. And have a happy new year. And let's go 2026 and Donald Trump all the way.
Thank you. Cliff, thanks for calling. Yes. Let's go 2026. We're almost there.
I do want to say thank you for being an ACLJ champion. I did not know you were a champion and know that if you tell the phone screener, I get to bump you up to the front. But you were actually one of the first calls we took, even if you were on hold for 30 minutes. I appreciate that. I appreciate the way you explain how we explain.
We have a very different show. Uh Will and I have discussed this at nauseum to decide, you know, what makes us different? And neither of us are lawyers, but we've been growing up around it our whole lives. Our family is, and we have access to the best legal minds. in the world.
However, What we're always able to do. is break down the truth. and tell you how it is. And I always say this, and I know it ruffles feathers, whether you like it or not. And like I said, With this Dershowitz case, Going after CNN.
I have had to break some hearts over the years to tell them I am sorry. That does not reach any level of defamation. that could be taken to court. They just have too much protections.
Now There's something tangible? It's happening. and we're involved in it and we can actually get something done. And that is where the ACLJ difference is. I want to take another phone call.
Let's go to Jerry. Calling from the great state of Tennessee. Right here in our backyard. Jerry, go ahead. Yeah.
Hey, thanks so much for taking my call. I just want to say thank you to you guys. Been listening for years. You do a great work and in a time in history when this is very much needed, Yes, so many people has faced Hardships over being persecuted and all the things that you guys have been talking about today.
So I'm glad you're standing for the rights of the individuals out there. Gary, thank you so much. I appreciate you listening for so many years. This show has evolved over 30 years almost that we've been on the air, whether that was hosted by my dad and my mom. My dad and his co-host Gene Capp.
Or whether that was who sadly passed away in the last few years, whether that has been a version of this show that had panels on, whether that was a version with my brother, with me, now with Will, when we've all kind of moved around in different ways. And unlike any other show I can think of, other than maybe your like Sunday morning shows, we've been able to seamlessly move and change as the time goes on. And we really can adjust to what you guys want. And what I really love about our audience is you've been willing to accept those changes. That doesn't happen that much.
You know, this isn't a cover band playing the hits. We are constantly changing. And adjusting to not only what you want, but what we think is right. But the one thing that stayed the same for the last 35 years, whether you used to call into the original show because you needed legal advice. Or whether you're up to now where you're maybe getting your news coverage from us as well as finding out the work of the ACLJ and where those things converge.
What I love about it, the one thing we've always done. has told you the truth. We have always been there. as your trusted source. Because I do not come on here and say things that are outlandish or ridiculous.
I won't do it. I'm not here for the hype. I'm not here for it. I'm here to get the honest truth out to as many people as we can without a paywall. We had one call that came in and we lost it saying, you know, I just want to see conservatives kind of rallying back up together.
Well, you know how that happens? That happens when they stop playing for the clicks. They stop playing for the likes and the follows. And they just go out there and they tell you the truth. and sometimes the truth is not fun.
But we do it, and we try to do it with a smile, Will and I. We try to do it and bring a little joy still to your life. But that's the media side here. What's the difference between us and everyone else?
So we get the whole legal arm. The original ACLJ, before there was a radio show, there was the legal department. And that department is just as important. I always say, whether the legal department wants to hear this or not, we're on equal footing here. The media gets the message out there, and we're able to get as much as we can out there.
And of course, the legal footing, those lawyers take it to court and they get a lot done. And I love that so much that we're able to be that sort of two-pronged effort, and really, even so much more, whether that's from our media side, our movies, our documentaries, or radio show, podcasts, whatever it may be, YouTube channel, or our legal cases, our legal scholarships, everything that happens, books. All of it happens because people like you support the work of the ACLJ. and you're willing to be a part of the team. And there is not a better time to be part of the team.
And I mean that legitimately. There is rarely a triple match. I saw someone say they wait for a triple match. That does not happen very much. Maybe once a year?
Maybe. Not even every year. But we are blessed to have some amazing ACLJ supporters and champions that are going to make the next three days possible.
So With that. I need you to go to aclj.org. Or go to aclj.org slash freedom. or scan the QR code you see on that screen. And you make a donation, and any donation you make today is effectively tripled in the value that goes to the organization.
So, I don't care if it's $5 or $500,000. You make it happen right now. at aclj.org. And subscribe on YouTube.
