SEKULOW

Will Haines: Welcome to Sekulow, Will Haines here with you today, and we've got a jam-packed show. You're going to want to get in this conversation early. Call me at 1-800-684-3110. We have CC Heil of the ACLJ joining us in a few segments to talk about a major victory in Pakistan from the ACLJ, as well as Rick Grenell joining us later on some of this news regarding the conflict in Iran.

Here is what is fascinating to me today. The Democrats are showing their hands that they have really only one thing in their toolbox that they feel like they can use to get their way, and that is threaten a shutdown or create a shutdown. We know that the Department of Homeland Security is currently shut down because of the inability for Democrats to negotiate and come together for the betterment of the country.

Now we have Senator Cory Booker, as well as a handful of other Senate Democrats, that are going to shut down the United States Senate over the Iran conflict. They are going to use procedural measures and other things at the disposal of individual senators to stop all the business of the United States Senate until their demands are met.

What are these demands? They want testimony from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, as well as other senior officials, to testify before key committees over this military conflict with Iran. I'm actually certain that will happen at some point. I'm certain that these members of the administration will testify before the Senate, before the Armed Services Committee, or the Homeland Security committees, probably in both the Senate and the House.

That is how this works. That is how the oversight of Congress works. But at this point, with their War Powers Resolution vote failing, they feel like they have to turn to other things to make a name for themselves while US men and women in uniform are conducting this operation in Iran. They want to shut down their branch of government over this.

This is what we're hearing from Senator Booker. He says each individual senator has a tremendous amount of power to disrupt the normal functioning of the Senate, as well as certain privileges that they can exercise. What they have agreed to now is that they are not going to let the Senate continue business as usual.

The Senate already has not been a very speedy process, and to some degree, that's by design. It is the deliberative body, some call it at least formally the world's greatest deliberative body. In recent years, we have seen it not necessarily live up to some of those standards.

What we see now is that the opposition within the US Senate, the Democrat minority, is going to hijack the Senate and make it go at a standstill until they get their way. What do you think about this? Give me a call at 1-800-684-3110. This group of senators, which includes Senator Booker, Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Senator Tim Kaine, failed vice presidential candidate from Virginia, Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, and you guessed it, Senator Adam Schiff is on this as well. Let me know how you feel about these senators deciding to shut down their branch of government because they're not getting what they want right away.

Guest (Male): Right now your most sacred rights are under attack. Your right to free speech, your right to worship, your right to educate your children the way you choose. If successful, these attacks will have a destructive impact on the future of our republic. We're fighting in courtrooms across the country to have a lasting impact, defending and upholding our values that this nation was founded on. From protecting the rights of kids to pray and share their faith, the best thing you can do is take a stand. There's nothing too small. A kid who wants to start a Bible club is how the ACLJ got its first case to the US Supreme Court. Today we will take that case as long as we need it. Every victory makes a major impact and it's only possible because of the support of ACLJ members and champions. This is your opportunity to double your impact to defend freedom for you, your children, and generations to come. Go to ACLJ.org/impact and have your tax-deductible donation doubled today.

Guest (Male): 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.

Will Haines: Welcome back to Sekulow. I'm Will Haines and we are talking about this move by US senators, that happen to be Democrats, that are vowing to shut down, yet again, their favorite thing to do, this time the US Senate over the Iran conflict. We are hearing from Senator Booker, who is leading this charge. They're going to use procedural motions and privileges that individual senators do have that are in the rules of the Senate to try and stall all business of the Senate until they get what they want.

What do they want? They want hearings in both the Armed Services Committee as well as the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee to be able to bring forward Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and other senior officials to testify on this conflict in Iran. Also, I feel like many of these members, if they wanted to have these conversations with the Secretary of War, with Secretary Rubio, they could do that. They're very powerful senators, many of them. They could have these conversations and even probably get them to agree to hearings, set this up.

Instead, they're choosing the publicity stunt route, threatening a shutdown. I assume they'll say this is the Republican shutdown of the Senate because they're not getting their way. That's how they play these out with their PR teams and their spin on it. But this is what Senator Booker also said. He said it is unacceptable we have not had hearings and we have not had sufficient debate on the issues in public. In hearings, witnesses under oath, this is what they are demanding.

You also hear from Senator Chris Murphy, where he said what they're saying is that they're not going to let the Senate be silent. They want there to be a hearing so that the American public can hear from their leaders why they think this war is in the national interest. He said he thinks they'll fail in that exercise.

One, there has been no lack of communication from the executive branch. The President is giving press conferences directly to and taking questions, talking directly to the American people. The Secretary of War is giving multiple updates, almost daily giving updates on what is going on and taking questions from the press.

The difference is that when it happens to be a committee, typically what you see is the circus. You see the senators try to hammer down a talking point, many times not even allowing the witness to explain. We know how this plays out. They will be trying to get their talking point across. They will let them start to answer but cut them off and not allow them to fully testify.

So I don't think that they can say that this administration isn't talking to the American people. We have seen them talking non-stop to the American people. Yes, I know that this is an important part of their role of oversight and I do believe it will and should happen. But the way that they're doing this of saying we're going to shut down the Senate, they already have one shutdown. The Department of Homeland Security is not funded as we speak.

At a time when, and we're going to talk about this more, the US is saying that they're receiving encrypted communication out of Iran that they believe could be activating terrorist cells, sleeper assets around the world. What have we seen? We have seen panic at airports where the TSA is short-staffed because of the Department of Homeland Security shutdown. We are seeing there be flights diverted. There is already a level of high alert and panic that is taking place.

Instead of maybe debating whether or not they should refund Department of Homeland Security, they are more concerned about their 15 minutes of fame during these hearings to be able and do the serious job of questioning cabinet members, of which is a part of their job. I will give that to them. But there is a lot of other business that should be going on at the same time.

Maybe if you want people to take you seriously, you should say we think it's of utmost importance to refund the Department of Homeland Security, but we also want guarantees that we are going to get hearings from these cabinet members. Maybe people would take you more seriously. But I feel like this is going to backfire on these senators.

I'll read you their names again. This is Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey, Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, he is the one who introduced that War Powers Resolution that failed last week, Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, and of course, Senator Adam Schiff of California.

Once again, even the language from Cory Booker saying that we are demanding these hearings, be hearings debates and questions answered. It is unacceptable we have not had hearings. We're 10 days into this. Have you tried to actually work with the committee chairs and work out a path to have these hearings? I understand you can call a hearing pretty quickly, but also understanding that the Secretary of War and the Secretary of State are both in the thick of this right now. You can probably figure this out if you don't want the soundbites on TV and elevate your name status for maybe a potential attempt at being President again, Senator Booker? Is that the plan here?

All of this just seems so disingenuous to me that they are going to shut down the business of the Senate for hearings at the same time that they currently are holding the Department of Homeland Security in a shutdown perpetually. Now they've even seen that the Secretary of Homeland Security has been reassigned and there will be another one. Are they going to wait and hold up a nomination to lead that very important part of the executive branch while we are in a heightened security risk scenario?

These are the questions I want to know from the senators. I know they have their questions they want answered from the members of the executive branch, but the people who elect these senators that are supposed to be representatives of their states, of the people that elect them and send them to Congress, where are those questions? Why aren't you working on refunding Homeland Security even if you want reforms? Why are you not working towards that instead of just keeping it shut down? Your War Powers Resolution already failed, you weren't able to stop this conflict. During that, maybe work for the betterment of the country instead of what you're doing right now, and that is trying to do another political stunt of shutting down now the Senate.

People already complain that Congress isn't effective enough. Do you think this is adding to your credibility, senators, when you are saying we're going to exercise our authority and our privileges and we are going to shut this down? What do you think? Give me a call at 1-800-684-3110.

I also think it's so rich when someone like Adam Schiff is a part of this group, obviously trying to make a name for himself. He was on Real Time with Bill Maher just a couple days ago. I want you to hear this bite because of how unserious many of these Democrat senators are. This is Bill Maher asking him a question about conflict from the executive branch. This is Bite 20, just listen to the response from Adam Schiff.

Bill Maher: This statement from the administration: the president had the constitutional authority to direct the use of military force because he could reasonably determine that such use of force was in the national interest. That’s too vague for you?

Adam Schiff: Totally vague.

Bill Maher: Okay, because that's from Obama about Libya.

Will Haines: The gotcha question there from Bill Maher is not lost on anyone because it is so partisan. It's because it's President Trump. It's because it's Secretary Rubio and Secretary Hegseth that are conducting this. When it was Libya, no one had a problem in their party with the operation that was taking place under the War Powers Act. It was sold to the Congress at the time and the American people that he had constitutional authority to use the military force because he could reasonably determine that such use of force was in the national interest. That is the prerogative of the President. Now that it's not a president that they voted for or that they support, they're going to shut down branches of government. They're going to shut down their own job because they don't like who it is. This is why they don't get the conversations that they're looking for because they are presenting themselves in such an unserious way.

But they may be unserious in their methods, but it is gravely serious to the United States. I think they should be called out for these tactics and these antics. Folks, when we get back, we are going to be joined by CC Heil to talk about a big victory out of Pakistan because the work of the ACLJ doesn't stop in places you may not even think that we operate in. We have a global impact and that is why we are showcasing that during this seven days of global impact. You can double your impact by going to ACLJ.org/global. You are in this fight with us. We cannot do it without you. Go to ACLJ.org/global today and double your global impact. We'll be right back.

Guest (Male): 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.

Guest (Male): Right now your most sacred rights are under attack. Your right to free speech, your right to worship, your right to educate your children the way you choose. If successful, these attacks will have a destructive impact on the future of our republic. We're fighting in courtrooms across the country to have a lasting impact, defending and upholding our values that this nation was founded on. From protecting the rights of kids to pray and share their faith, the best thing you can do is take a stand. There's nothing too small. A kid who wants to start a Bible club is how the ACLJ got its first case to the US Supreme Court. Today we will take that case as long as we need it. Every victory makes a major impact and it's only possible because of the support of ACLJ members and champions. This is your opportunity to double your impact to defend freedom for you, your children, and generations to come. Go to ACLJ.org/impact and have your tax-deductible donation doubled today.

Will Haines: Welcome back to Sekulow. We are talking today about the Democrats that are vowing to shut down the Senate until they get their hearings on this Iran conflict. If you want to join that conversation, call me at 1-800-684-3110. I'll be taking calls very soon. But I have CC Heil joining me, Senior Counsel here at the ACLJ, to talk about some of the other work as we go through this seven days of global impact of the work of the ACLJ. CC, we had a victory in Pakistan yesterday. These are hard-fought victories. This is a place where, especially at the lower court levels, it is very difficult to get good victories. Then we see how long it takes the appeals process, but we don't stop fighting. Tell us about this victory that we were able to get for a client in Pakistan yesterday.

CC Heil: Yeah, this is a really great victory. Mr. Javed is an elderly Christian homeless man who lives in a small town in Pakistan. Basically, he took refuge in a dilapidated building in a Christian cemetery. Living his life quietly, literally, he's an elderly homeless man. His neighbors, who are Muslim people that live next to the cemetery, decided in May of 2024 that they were going to go to the police and file a complaint with the police that they had heard Mr. Javed insulting the Prophet Muhammad's family members.

In May, they filed the report with the police and Mr. Javed was arrested and charged with insulting words spoken against the Prophet Muhammad's family members, which carries a three-year sentence. Mr. Javed was, of course, put in jail. I'm going to just brag on our law office there in Pakistan because of their stellar reputation. This small community was about eight hours from our offices.

The Christian community, of course it's small, and the Christian community in the small community is even smaller. They hear about this case and they immediately contact our offices, again eight hours away. As soon as we got involved in the case, Mr. Javed had spent about a month and a half in jail before we got notice of the case. We went there immediately, we filed for bail, and we got him out. This was in July of 2024.

We start fighting this case, and as what usually happens in Pakistan, we literally had 13 postponements. Every time Mr. Javed's case came up for hearing, it was postponed, and it was postponed because these people that tried to file a report did not show up. The witnesses never showed up to court. They never provided any evidence that Mr. Javed had said anything against the Prophet Muhammad's family members.

After 13 times, our office is going to court last week and they're prepared to file a petition for acquittal, which is basically a motion to dismiss. Amazingly, the judge said you don't even have to file that petition, I am going to dismiss this case. Last week, after we've been fighting this since July of 2024, on March 6th of 2026, we obtained a victory for Mr. Javed. Again, a homeless elderly Christian man who did not do anything wrong and ended up spending a month and a half in jail because of false allegations, but our office was able to jump in, get him bail, and now we've actually got him acquitted. That is a huge victory in Pakistan.

Will Haines: Once again, when we talk about the global impact of the ACLJ, this is not a case you're going to hear anywhere else. This isn't going to get picked up by the media here in the United States and everyone's going to hear about it. But it is vitally important work. We have four other clients in Pakistan that are on death row for doing similar allegations. The problem in Pakistan is that one, the Christian community is already seen as a lower class. They are already looked down upon by the other members of their community. Then on top of that, you have laws like these blasphemy laws, which are a violation of Pakistan's membership at the UN even still having these on the book.

But they do. It is used as a tool by people in the Muslim community to harass, attack people they don't like in the Christian community. That's what we see time and time again. If someone's a nuisance to them, they go for a blasphemy law, they make an allegation, and those people end up many times on death row. If they don't like them for other reasons, straight to the blasphemy laws.

At the higher courts, many times we do have victories. It's long and hard-fought. But when we talk about the mission of the ACLJ and even the commandments of Christ to what you do to the least of these, we are going and fighting in places where the Christian community are seen as outcast, cast aside. They have no legal representation, they have no means to get that. But just like here in America where people don't have to hire an attorney and put their entire life savings on the line for us to stand up for their human rights and their constitutional rights, we do the same in Pakistan. While it may not be a flashy headline story that you're going to see here in the United States, it's vitally important, and many times these individuals' lives are on the line and we're still fighting those cases today.

CC Heil: Absolutely. When you talk about the least of these, Mr. Javed is an elderly homeless man and obviously he would never have the means to be able to hire an attorney to fight this case. Really, again I'm going to brag on our offices in Pakistan because even the attorneys going and fighting for these Christians who have been falsely charged, that's not a good position for them to be in. That's not a popular position. They put their lives at risk too.

I will say also another thing with our office in Pakistan, when we do have success in these blasphemy cases because it's usually mobs that have targeted Christians and like you said, they're going after them to destroy them, we literally have to help these people a lot of times move away and start their lives all over again somewhere else because we need to protect them. That's what our offices do there in Pakistan.

It's very successful. Unfortunately, we do have a lot of these postponements like we saw in this case, 13 on our cases that are at the Supreme Court for blasphemy and people are on death row. We see that same thing. Time and time we get to the hearing where we're hopeful that the Supreme Court will actually acquit our clients. We have postponement after postponement, but we hang in there to the very end and as we see, we achieved victory for Mr. Javed.

Will Haines: That's right. I want to encourage people also stick around. In the final segment of the broadcast, I'm going to play a video of another one of our clients' parents, and that's Shazad. It's a case we've talked about many times on this broadcast. An individual, a young man, was 16 when he was arrested and put on death row for another blasphemy case. When you hear the parents in Pakistan tell this story, I feel like it's important for you to see it because we can talk about this and it sounds almost theoretical, these cases.

But we had our team able to film the parents, which takes courage to do because being under a spotlight when they've already put your son on death row for allegations. But telling his story, I'm going to play that for you later because it's important for you to see this is real. This is tangible. These are real people whose lives are at stake only because they are Christians.

The ACLJ, not just here but all around the world, is fighting for them. You can make an impact as well. As we're in this seven days of global impact, double your impact. Go to ACLJ.org/global and stand with us as we continue these long fights for people's freedom and lives. ACLJ.org/global.

Guest (Male): Right now your most sacred rights are under attack. Your right to free speech, your right to worship, your right to educate your children the way you choose. We're fighting in courtrooms across the country to have a lasting impact. Defending and upholding our values that this nation was founded on. This is your opportunity to double your impact to defend freedom for you, your children, and generations to come. Go to ACLJ.org/impact and have your tax-deductible donation doubled today.