How should President Trump handle the Mexican cartels? Glenn is “in love with” an idea that Sen. Mike Lee proposed: Hidden deep within the Constitution is a clause that allows the government to let private citizens basically act like pirates against hostile forces … MAGA pirates?! Sen. Lee joins Glenn to explain what “letters of marque and reprisal” are, why the government hasn’t used them in centuries, and whether Trump can issue them to stop the cartels.
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: Boy, there are no crazy ideas, right now. It is an interesting time to be alive, in America.
Senator Mike Lee is joining me now.
Yesterday, he proposed using letters of marque and reprisal to weaken the drug cartels.
And I -- I mean, I'm in love with this old timey constitutional idea. But it basically would make private citizens or companies. It would give them permission to kind of be like pirates.
Where they could just go and bust them up.
And take all their booty.
As long as they share it with the United States.
It would be great. It would be cheaper.
And we wouldn't have to put our military in harm's way. Mike Lee joins me now.
Mike, explain the letters of marque and reprisal.
MIKE: A letter of marque and reprisal amounts to a government-issued commission of sorts, authorizing private citizens, known as privateers, to perform acts that would otherwise be considered piracy, like attacking enemy ships during wartime.
And privateers are typically rewarded with a cut of whatever loot they will bring home.
But they're able to make it back to the United States, and bring home assets that can be sold, liquidated, reduced to an economic value, then the government sets up what's called a prize court, which decides who gets what.
And typically, the government keeps half of it. And then has -- has a system for giving the privateers involved in it. Each -- each -- their fair share, of the 50 percent.
GLENN: So -- so these guys.
Let's say Eric Prince -- Eric Prince loves this idea. He was like, I'm all in.
He would go down to the border, and he would, what?
Break up the cartels, by -- as they're shipping stuff across the border. Grab their cash. Their guns. Their cash. They're using boats, whatever.
And the drugs. And then give those to the government. And the government would say, okay. Eric, this part is yours.
MIKE: Yeah. Now to be clear, when you say the border, we're talking outside the United States.
I don't think this works for things found in the United States. But if outside the United States, they recover assets, typically, what we would be looking at are assets that could be liquidated by the government.
Gold, silver, cash, equipment.
GLENN: Oh, my gosh.
MIKE: If they can bring those things back into the United States, then they can be sold.
It also raises the question of the drugs. You notice, they won't allow those to be sold.
So you either will have exclude those, or the government would just have to go out of pocket to reward them for bringing that back in.
And that's one of the things that have to be discussed.
This is a tool that hasn't been used by the United States for a long time.
But it's a tool that harnesses, you know, self-interest. It harnesses what people could gain by this, in a way that could be really advantageous for the United States.
GLENN: Boy, I have to tell you, I love this idea.
Donald Trump Jr loves this idea.
But it does seem like something that Mexico would hate.
(laughter)
MIKE: Sure. Sure. It depends on who you are talking about with Mexico. Hard-working, independent, Mexican citizens who have lived under the tyranny of these cartels who have been affected by the violence, that is rampant throughout the country.
And sponsored by the cartels.
A lot of them would perhaps not have much an objection. If any objection at all.
Because they want to be free of this stuff.
But, yeah. I can imagine that the Mexican government might have feelings about it.
GLENN: Yeah.
MIKE: But this is different. This is different in the sense, that it's not the United States, undertaking any kind of effort to have a military presence in Mexico. Which would, of course, be unacceptable to Mexico.
This is about private citizens, going out and trying to seize assets, of these chair organizations.
Of this international criminal enterprise, bring it back to the United States. With the understanding, that they will be entitled to a cut of about half of it, once they get back.
GLENN: So one thing that I was thinking before this idea was, we're going to send in SEAL teams.
And they'll just be gone before the sun comes up, and you will never know who did it. And there will just be a lot of dead cartel members laying there in the sun, as it starts to rise.
And, you know, Mexico will hate that. But as long as we're gone in the morning, I mean, we've -- we've deemed them a terrorist organization. Don't we have the right to do that?
Well, once that happens, you can imagine, there might be circumstances in which that would occur.
But again, a letter of marque and reprisal allows to avoid doing that, that creates an additional set of difficulties for us, that we wouldn't face if we were sending -- if we were authoring privateers to do that. It matters to the degree, of course.
But it would be foolish for us to assume, that our only option involves sending in the Marines, so to speak.
US boots on the ground has a very different feel than privateers going in and doing something on their own.
And it's one of the reasons why I felt important enough, I put out a thread for my at base Mike Lee account, in which I explained a brief history of letters of marque and reprisal. How they function, and that they ought to be considered here.
GLENN: So, I mean, I really like it.
And I like the fact. I mean, I'm for anything constitutional.
Anything extra constitutional, I'm against. But this is literally in the Constitution, that you can do this.
But it seems old timey. You know, it does -- does anybody do this anymore?
MIKE: No. And the United States hasn't done it arguably.
GLENN: In over 100 years.
MIKE: In a couple hundred years.
GLENN: Yeah.
MIKE: But the focus of this, would be something that I think may well be perfectly suited for our time. And for this situation.
Focus on disrupting supply lines. Capturing high value targets.
Or seizing assets like boats, vehicles, cash, gold. Equipment used in criminal activities.
Because we all know, you know, private entities and individuals can operate with a degree of agility, that you can't replicate in government.
Allowing them to adapt quite quickly.
To the tactics of the cartels. And to max those.
GLENN: But what would other countries say?
Is anybody using this country anymore? It used to happen, when there were pirates. With the black flag. With the bones on it.
Does anybody use anything like this anymore? What would they say, if we started?
I don't really say, but what would they say?
GLENN: Not aware of any countries using them right now. And I'm sure there are countries where they say, this violates this or that principle of international law, either of some treaty, that we haven't ratified or of what they refer to as customary international law, which is a fancy way of saying, people don't do this anymore.
And so, therefore, it violates international law.
But all of that is beside the point. If it is within our authority to do this, and if we haven't forsworn the authority through some treaty that we have ratified, which I'm quite certain we have not.
So that's why this is a tool that we shouldn't take off the table. And it's -- they may have well come. We haven't used it in a long time.
But where has -- we have a different type of adversary, than we sometimes face in the past.
This is not the government of Mexico.
But these are criminal organizations, within Mexico, that have an international footprint. That affect the United States.
And that have taken actions that are hostile to the interests of the United States, and her citizens.
So with this circumstance, would it be irresponsible of us, not to consider it.
And I think we ought to explore this. And perhaps issue some letters of marque and reprisal.
The fact that it hasn't happened in a long time, likely since the 1800s, doesn't mean that the power does not exist. And certainly does not mean that we couldn't benefit from it.
GLENN: Right. Right. Mike, I love this idea.
I hope it gains some traction. Just because, it will make Mexico. You know, I was talking to my wife the other night about this.
She would say, what would Mexico say?
And I said, you know, just like you said, the people of Mexico will love this.
Because they're tired of this. You would know pretty quickly, who is under the thumb of the cartels. And who is not.
Just like we would with our government. If someone is coming in and saying, hey, you've got terrorist organizations. And we will take them out.
If we knew them to be terrorist organizations. I think, you know, we might say. Well, come on now. We can take care of that.
But if they could do it, for us. I'm all for that. I would be all for that.
The people who would be against are the ones really under the thumb of the cartels.
And the people of Mexico, should know who those people are. As if they don't already know.
Mike, one last went. How do you think RFK will fare in the Senate?
RON: Look, he faces a tough fight. Democrats are institutionally inclined to oppose anyone, who was at once part of their party. And has moved in the other direction.
Particularly with someone with as prominent a name as RFK Jr has. And particularly someone who has shown a degree of contempt for the Deep State. For the administrative state.
For things that have gone wrong.
And so we're going to have to -- rely on. My hope is that we can pick up some democratic votes.
GLENN: You're for him?
MIKE: We have to assume that we won't be able to do to. And we will need to produce enough Republicans to make sure he gets through. Just we did with Pete Hegseth.
It will be a tight vote there. I do think he can get through. But it's by no means certain, and that's why we have to line up behind him to support him.
GLENN: Wow. And you're for him?
MIKE: Oh, 100 percent. I had a great meeting with him the other day. And I think he brings to the table, an innovative approach with a fresh set of eyes that can see, that we've created a lot of problems through our own government.
The very department that he's been asked to head, as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Has been a big part of the problem.
He recognizes that. That's exactly why we need him in there.
GLENN: Oh, yeah.
And our other nominees is -- is Kash Patel going to get through?
MIKE: Yeah. So similarly, to what we face with RFK, with Kash Patel and also with --
GLENN: Tulsi.
MIKE: Tulsi Gabbard.
We're going to have to confront both of those with the expectation, that we may not get a single democratic vote.
And so that's why Republicans are so important. Remember, it's unusual for an incoming president to not have his top level picks supported by pretty much every member of the president's own party in confirmation votes.
And we've -- we've got to remember that. So a lot of the same people, who are on the list of those who might oppose them. Are people who time and time again, voted to confirm democratic nominees.
Named by President Biden.
I hope they will give Republican nominees, nominated by President Trump, at least the same degree of deference, that they give to those nominated by President Biden.
Often, by the way, with the justification, that he is the elected president.
We -- we can't run the world as if our guy were president.
Well, if that's the case. It should be the case here.
GLENN: Well, that's a nice way of saying, what I believe, which is vote these weasels out, if they -- if they fail to support the president.
We have one shot at this.
And so far, Donald Trump and those who are supporting him, are doing amazing things in the first week.
Things that I never thought that I would see.
And I for one, am excited about it. Mike, appreciate it very much.
Senator Mike Lee.
