April 12, 2026 - Judging Freedom - Judge Andrew Napolitano
28:49
Larry Johnson : Israeli Agents Wreck Islamabad Talks
Larry Johnson joins Judge Andrew Napolitano to allege that Israeli agents sabotaged Islamabad talks, restricting JD Vance's ability to secure a deal with Iran. Johnson claims Donald Trump's contradictory threats regarding the Strait of Hormuz have driven oil prices past $140 per barrel and diesel over $2 per gallon, while U.S. ships retreat 700 miles from Iranian coasts. The discussion highlights missed opportunities for a permanent nuclear agreement before February 27th, warns of Houthi closures at Bab el Mandeb, and predicts domestic chaos following Melania Trump's denial of Jeffrey Epstein knowledge. Ultimately, the episode suggests current administration instability stems from alleged foreign interference and erratic leadership. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
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Abolishing Illegitimate Government Force00:01:17
Undeclared wars are commonplace.
Tragically, our government engages in preemptive war, otherwise known as aggression, with no complaints from the American people.
Sadly, we have become accustomed to living with the illegitimate use of force by government.
To develop a truly free society, the issue of initiating force must be understood and rejected.
What if sometimes, to love your country, you had to alter or abolish the government?
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What if that government is best which governs least?
What if it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong?
What if it is better to perish fighting for freedom than to live as a slave?
What if freedom's greatest hour of danger is now?
Hi, everyone.
Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom.
Today is Monday, April 13th, 2026.
My dear friend Larry Johnson will be with us in just a moment on how Israeli agents sabotaged the Islamabad talks.
Freedom's Greatest Hour of Danger00:04:44
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Larry Johnson, welcome here, my dear friend.
Before we get to your understanding from your sources of what happened.
In the 21 hour marathon, so called negotiations in Islamabad, to the news this morning.
Can the United States close the Strait of Hormuz?
And what does it take to achieve that?
Well, it's already closed.
So, you know, and the oddity of it of closing it at the time when they're claiming they wanted to increase oil supply around the world is, you know, it's just a complete contradiction.
No, look, the United States, they're not going to be, the U.S. ships are not going to sell up close to within 600 miles of the Iranian coast.
So they're going to, they'll be backed off.
We saw in mid March, the U.S. Abraham Lincoln.
It was roughly about 220 miles off the coast of Iran, and it got peppered with drones and missile attacks and got some damage.
And so it was okay, we're getting out of here.
So they're about 700 miles offshore.
So that's sort of the safe range.
So that means right now you've got the Abraham Lincoln, it's got a flat deck that can use helicopters.
Because the most likely method that would be used to board and stop ships would be with helicopters.
Uh, then you've got the two marine mews.
Uh, they have a combination of um, there are uh, there are two they look like aircraft carriers, two flat tops, and then they have two support ships.
The one's called an LPD, the other's called an LSD, not the drug, but um, the still as the farther you get away from shore, the greater the area you have to cover.
So Yeah, the U.S. ships could, the U.S. Marines and Navy, they could possibly stop and start boarding ships.
Then you get into the issue of what flag is the tanker carrying.
So, but because of that threat that Donald Trump made, it is shut.
You know, the Iranians were still allowing some ships to go through.
It remains to be seen if that will continue.
So, if they allow a Pakistani or a Chinese ship or one from India, Those three right there have been at the top of the list.
Japan was sending ships.
It puts the United States in this position of then boarding the ships of other countries, which would be an act of war.
So, you know, Trump's all over the map on this.
I mean, this is genuinely frightening.
This is a man who is not in possession of his faculties, that there is no critical thinking skills have gone because it's one contradiction after another.
Let's put it this way he's not likely to get the Nobel Peace Prize, but by God, he's well down the road for earning that gold medal in gymnastics for all the backflips he's doing.
You know, when you look at it, first he says, well, we don't care.
We don't get anything out of there.
Hey, Europe, we need your help.
Let's get it open.
To, hey, you MFers.
Trump's Contradictory Reality Check00:15:04
You know, you're crazy.
You know, I mean, well, the Easter Sunday message filled with obscenities said, open the street.
Yesterday he told Maria Bartiromo, we don't need the street.
We're going to close it.
Nobody's going to use it.
Do you think he has the, what level of understanding does he have of international economics, of the consequences of his words and his actions?
Well, he doesn't, but it's evident this morning.
So when he announced the ceasefire and the pieces at hand on Tuesday night, the price of Brent and West Texas intermediate crude, the futures market on those, they dropped below 100.
You know, significant drop.
And I was just looking at it before we came on air.
The West Texas intermediate is up to now $112.
So that's a significant increase.
And let's see, the Brent crude is up $7 to almost $109.
So it is the got triple digits now on oil.
And that means the actual ships, when they show up and they're offloading, People are paying $140, $150 a barrel now for that.
And then the stock market, the futures for that, it's down 500 points already.
And that hasn't even opened.
So everything that Donald Trump did, his words drove the market to say, oh, good, there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
They realized that light wasn't sunlight.
That's an oncoming train that's going to run over.
Nicely put.
Gas in Northwest New Jersey yesterday.
This is regular now, $4.10 a gallon.
Before this started, regular was about $2.75 or $2.80.
So that's a significant increase for people who need to drive their vehicles to work, to school, to supermarket, and to earn a living.
Well, and Judge, on that point, diesel has gone up even more.
Diesel's at least $2 a gallon.
And, you know, I was listening.
To someone yesterday who was describing, he's out on the West Coast, but in a rural area where the farmers, you know, they use diesel.
And his one friend buys 10,000 gallons of diesel at a time to run the various tractors and trucks, et cetera, on his farm.
Well, right now, with that $2 increase, he's paying an additional $20,000 a year that he wasn't paying last year.
Wow.
And so that cost has to be factored into whatever particular agricultural product he's producing.
And so when those costs haven't fully hit the stores yet, but they're going to.
Look, I think we're going to see the beginnings of a revolt among Republican legislators within the next two to three weeks because their constituents are going to start letting them know basically, we're mad as hell and we're not going to take this anymore.
Because they will realize that Trump now has endangered them for November.
Because angry people, they're not going to worry about party affiliation necessarily.
They're just going to blame the folks that are in charge.
We're going to see anger amongst Roman Catholics as well.
Oh, my God.
Yes.
The comments about the Pope were so inappropriate.
So inappropriate.
And then, Chris, can you post this monstrosity that Trump.
Posted on his Truth Social, which depicts him as a deity.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's something that he himself posted.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
No, I mean, like I said, he, the, you know, the cheese has slid off the cracker.
You know, he is no longer in touch with reality.
You know, I was listening to Robert Barnes and he was describing that, I mean, there's growing recognition among senior Trump officials.
In fact, we saw it reflected in that article from the New York Times a week ago today where they described how.
You know, Trump had made the decision to go to war.
And in it, it was quite clear that JD Vance and Marco Rubio, and even, you know, Raging Dan Kane, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all were counseling against it.
And so it was that message being put out that, no, we disagreed with Trump and that Trump was really the only two people in that article responsible for the Trump's made the decision.
Pete Hegseth cheered it on.
Right.
But everybody else has gone, we don't think this is a good choice.
And then you're seeing it now reflected in these tweets, the ones that are these truthers, whatever he calls the truth social posts.
When he attacked Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly, Alex Jones, it didn't take anyone too long for them to go out and start revisiting all the things that Trump was saying about these people during the campaign.
I mean, he had them up on stage.
Praising him to high heaven, and in particular, in the case of Alex Jones, no matter what one thinks of Alex, he was one of the very first ones to support Trump against the deep state.
Right, and now they're seeing Trump turn, and it's not just turning on him, it's the viciousness with which he does it.
There's no filter, I mean, he's lost his front lobal filter.
The humiliation of Vice President Vance continues, monitored by two Zionists, the president's former business partner and the president's son in law, told what to say in 11 conversations with Trump in 21 hours, and told what to say in an unknown number, could have been as few as one, maybe it's more conversations with someone, we don't know who, in Tel Aviv.
Alistair Crook was.
Profoundly critical of this negotiating style.
But you have some thoughts from the inside as to what happened.
Yeah.
Yeah.
One person I was in communication with just said that the basic problem was that Witkoff and Kushner were the ones putting the checks on JD Vance.
If Vance had been allowed to just do the negotiations, we actually probably would have had an agreement.
Vance was not the one pushing the whole nuclear nonsense because, again, we go back to the logic and consistency of what Trump is saying or not saying.
And so we went from obliterating, and my understanding of the word obliterating means completely destroyed Iran's nuclear capability with Midnight Hammer last June.
And by God, anybody who suggested that there was any remnant left over and it wasn't successful.
They got ousted.
It happened to the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
So we start with that to now, oh my God, they're still refusing to give up their quest for a nuclear weapon.
Well, they don't have one.
It's actually obliterated.
So how could they have one?
But that came directly from Israel.
I mean, Israel is calling the shots on this.
Trump is not vacillating one iota from that party line.
And it was the, I forget the name of the British diplomat, but he was a senior fellow.
Well respected.
And he was just up front saying, look, Kushner and Witkoff, those are Mossad assets.
They're working for Israeli intelligence.
They're not working for America.
They're working for Israel, even though they have American citizenship.
And this is where the other problem is now developing among the electorate.
The public opinion and animus directed now at Israel is growing, it's not diminishing.
So, despite the fact that 95% of Congress is bought and paid for by AIPAC, that money's not going to turn things around for them.
My friend and former colleague at Fox, Trey Yinkst, who I must tell you is an intellectually honest person and has taken some heat for it at Fox.
You and I both know what happens to intellectual honesty at Fox, Larry.
I just reported Iran has threatened to close Bab el Mandeb, the gateway to the Red Sea, in response to the U.S. blockade of its ports.
This would be carried out through its proxy forces in Yemen, the Houthis, to whom the United States surrendered by going home.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, the Red Sea has been effectively closed for quite some time.
I mean, Normal, it has not been normal traffic, but there are still a few ships transiting it.
Now, I would suspect that even if the Houthis go forward with it, they will continue to allow Chinese and Russian vessels to transit the Red Sea.
But it'll be closed for everybody else.
Again, the blow that this is having on the global economy is really incalculable at this point, other than to say it is very, very.
Bad.
Right now, like one of the headlines on the oil front says, UK Airlines brace for jet fuel crunch, that they only have weeks of jet fuel reserves.
And what that means is within three to four weeks, all of a sudden they're having to cut back on flights.
You already have a disruption to air travel because of the war in the Persian Gulf and then the restrictions on.
Flying over Russia that is self inflicted by the West.
So, you know, these are not signs that are pointing to expansion.
And then on top of it, the prices that people are paying for tickets.
You know, if you bought your tickets three months ago, you're in good shape.
You go to buy it today, they're paying three to four times the amount that they were paying before.
It is incredible increases.
Now, Chris just posted this map, and forgive my.
I didn't realize where Bob El Mandeb is.
If they close that, that's the equivalent of closing the Suez Canal, which is at the other end of the Red Sea.
Correct.
Correct.
Yeah.
So right now, no Israeli ships are allowed to go through there because they used to go up and then Israel, its port, Iliad, is down there on the, you know, up there where it says Suez Canal, right under the Z, roughly, is where the Israeli port is.
And it's been closed, it's got no activity.
But again, this will further crush economic activity on a global scale.
And this is, you got to step back and say, what is the strategic goal?
What are we trying to accomplish?
This is, you know, the Israeli goal with respect to Iran, and Alistair referenced this, is complete destruction.
This isn't about, oh, we're worried that Iran might possibly get a nuke, so let's get assurances from them.
Trump could have had that deal.
They could have had that deal during this meeting in Islamabad on Saturday.
The deal would have been simply a resurrection of the JCPOA, but Trump could have come away claiming we now have a guarantee permanent.
It was because the complaint with JCPOA was that it was limited to 10 years.
Trump could come out and say, We have now reached agreement with Iran that they will permanently agree to inspections, that they will not build a nuke.
We now have peace for the future.
God, he could have done that.
The Iranians, I don't think at that point would insist that the United States would have to formally withdraw its forces from the Persian Gulf because they're already effectively had to pull out of 13 of those bases or most of them.
So, yeah, there was a deal to be had.
And Trump, just because Israel is obsessed with destroying Iran, walked away from it.
And he could have had that deal on February 27th before he dropped the first bomb.
Yeah, no, absolutely.
Right.
Absolutely.
Right.
Here's what he said to Maria Bartiromo yesterday.
You tell me this.
Tell me if this is the language of a mentally sound person, Chris.
Yeah, that statement got them to the bargaining table.
And they haven't left.
They haven't left the bargaining table.
I predict they come back and they give us everything we want.
And I told my people, I want everything.
I don't want 90%.
I don't want 95%.
I told them, I want everything.
Well, and what they want.
They have no cards, Maria.
Maria.
Yep.
They have no cards.
Their Navy is gone.
Their Air Force is gone.
Totally gone.
They have nothing.
They have no ships.
What chased the Abraham Lincoln away and what chased two destroyers away?
Well, I was going to say, those.
Two destroyers yesterday.
The video's already online of with the recording of the Iranians coming out and warning the ship, Hey, turn away.
And the U.S. ship turned away.
You know, they were small speedboats, they weren't boats, not ships.
Zelensky Curse and Naval Losses00:06:54
But you know, that's that's Iran's strength.
Those boats can swarm any kind of ship that dares to venture in.
And they've got the they got missiles, you know, sort of ship to ship missiles that they can fire.
Yeah, no, this is.
You know, Trump's going to get everything he wants.
Well, the Iranians, they made it clear what they want.
And the points that they laid out in that 10 point piece of paper that was delivered to Trump and signed off of by the U.S. government, part of that was the immediate end of all sanctions.
Now, I've heard, and I don't have any independent confirmation of it, that in fact, some of the frozen assets. Of Iran are now being released.
And so far, the U.S. and Iran are abiding by the two week ceasefire.
We've not seen the, they have not ramped up and begun the attacks.
The only thing that's changed is this so called blockade.
But it's not like some U.S. ships are now going to magically show up at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz.
That's not happening.
If they did that, they would be then immediately attacked by Iran.
So, It remains to be seen what countries whose tankers would face possible boarding by the United States because Trump has threatened that he wants to do a repeat of Venezuela.
Well, you know, Venezuela is in the Caribbean, which is an American lake for all practical purposes.
That was an easy operation.
We had Coast Guard assets that could be deployed there.
They don't have that there.
And the U.S. ships face a vulnerability that they didn't face from Venezuela, which is, Missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles that can be fired and they can sink U.S. ships.
Was this a serious negotiation or was it just the continued humiliation of JD Vance?
Boy, yeah.
JD, this unfortunately exposed JD Vance's inexperience with the optics of it who walked away from the negotiations?
Iran didn't.
Iran was not the first, they didn't throw their hands up and pitch a fit and go storming out the door.
They were still there.
It was the United States that walked out.
And, you know, that sends a message to the world.
Who's the problem in this negotiation?
Was it Iran or was it the United States?
You know, if nothing else, a shrewd negotiator in this process would have just said, let's, we'll agree to disagree that we have not yet reached an agreement, but let's hold a joint statement together.
So you come out and just say, look, we're still talking, but we haven't reached agreement yet.
That would have left at least the door open that there was a possible resolution at hand.
But, you know, Vance didn't do it.
And look, he's on a real roll.
Let's see.
He met with the Pope at one point, and then shortly after that, the Pope died.
He then went to see Viktor Orban and encouraged people to vote for him.
Orban got smoked yesterday in an election.
There have been jokes about the Zelensky curse that.
That if you shook hands with Vladimir Zelensky as a politician or as a leader, you would shortly be out of office and lose power.
Well, they're now developing what may be the JD Vance curse as well.
Wow.
What happens next, Larry?
We have a week to go in the so called ceasefire.
Do you think Trump will resume bombing?
Will the Iranians resume decimating Israel and Gulf?
I think the key player will now be the economic front of this.
If the stock market resumes its collapse, and if the price of the oil market, then the triple digits of futures, if the futures go up to 150, then Scott Besant will eventually, he'll finally wake up and realize, Houston, we have a problem, that emergency measures need to be taken place.
Also, we can't discount what's going to be coming out from the Republicans.
All this happy claptrap about, oh boy, we're winning it over Iran and victories at hand.
They've been back home taking the temperature.
The American public are not at all enthusiastic about this.
It's just the opposite.
Then, when you see just the various social media memes that are coming out, and people like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, they're fighting back very effectively.
Tucker's now selling hats that say low IQ.
Wow, you know, they're making fun of Trump, and and and you know, when you start making fun of somebody, that means you no longer take them serious.
But but I think there is, uh, then let's not forget the Melania factor.
When Melania came out last week and held that press conference, was it Thursday or Friday?
I think it was Thursday and said, Uh, you know, I never knew Jeffrey Epstein or just Lane Maxwell.
She did that without consulting with anybody and in the Trump with Susie Wiles, anybody running Trump's affairs, blindsided him.
And it appears, we'll find out today, that she was trying to get out in front of a story that one of her lifelong friends for the last 20 years plus, Amanda Ungaro, who was married to one of Trump's old business partners, and he's currently has an official position in the Trump administration.
The guy is a scumbag, Stromboli, I think his name is.
But that story is going to percolate.
So Trump's going to be facing a huge domestic fire surrounding the whole Epstein affair.
And Melania in that has been trying, she wants to protect her son, Baron.
Wow.
I mean, she called for all Epstein's female victims to testify.
One of those female victims has accused her husband.
Correct.
And Howard Lutnick, he's going to face the fire.
So, you know, and now the Republicans have got a green light from her to do it.
Melania Protects Son from Epstein00:00:44
It remains to be seen if they've got the intestinal fortitude to do it.
Wow.
Larry, thank you very much, my dear man.
Thank you so much for last week, for all your time with us.
We'll see you again at the end of the week with dear Ray McGovern.
Yeah, hopefully he hasn't been captured by aliens and he'll be back in full vigor.
I think he'll be on with us shortly.
Thank you, Larry.
All the best.
All right, Judge.
Thanks.
Right.
And the aforementioned Ray McGovern at 10 o'clock this morning, at 11 o'clock this morning, Scott Ritter.
At 1 this afternoon, Jim Webb.
At 3 30 this afternoon, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Joseph and Paul Tanner for Judging Freedom.