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--:-- Georgia Howe: New surprising economic numbers sent the stock market plunging ahead of the weekend as the Fed appears poised to continue raising rates to combat inflation. We break down the financial and political impact of the new numbers.
--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, February 27th, and this is Morning Wire. A new report from the U.S. Energy Department concludes that the lab leak theory is the most likely way COVID began, despite past messaging from officials. Humans did not make this one. Nature did. And Republicans are calling for criminal investigations over the illegal release of personal military records of several political candidates to Democrat opposition research firms. Then they use this information, whatever way they could find effective to hurt the Republican candidate.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: New data from the Commerce Department paints a grim economic picture, showing a key inflation gauge rising unexpectedly last month. Now, the Fed is preparing to raise rates once again in their ongoing quest for a soft landing on inflation. Here with more on what we learned over the weekend is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, a few weeks ago, we learned that inflation overall had fallen in the month of January, which obviously sounded like good news. But remember, economists were still warning that those numbers were often deceiving, and it was more important to follow other inflation gauges to get a better feel for the health of the economy. Well, on Friday, the Commerce Department released figures for last month's personal consumption expenditures price index, and it showed a 5.4% increase compared to the same month last year. That is considerably higher than what economists had predicted, and more importantly, an increase from the month before, which gives you an idea that inflation is not on any sort of steady decline.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, this measure, the PCE, is the Fed's go-to indicator of inflation and plays a huge role in their monetary policy. So given this data, we can really expect to see them implement even more interest rate hikes in the coming months. And one more thing, stocks plunged on Friday after these numbers came out. So there's a market hit here as well.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah. Now, it's not all bad news right now, correct?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, there is some silver lining here.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The numbers did show a 1.8% increase last month in consumer spending, and unemployment also continued to fall, reaching 3.4%. That is a 53-year low, while jobless claims were also approaching record lows. President Biden made sure to tout that mark in a statement issued Friday, saying there was still, quote, more work to do, but that, as I've long said, there may be setbacks along the way, but we face global economic challenges from a position of strength.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But remember as we discussed plenty on the show that low unemployment rate is actually another catalyst for the Fed to raise rates. They want unemployment to go up because it theoretically helps slow the economy down and ease inflation.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, as to the housing market, that's been something we've been closely monitoring. What's the latest on that front?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, the big story in the housing market right now is mortgage rates, which rose for the third straight week to hit 6.5%. Remember, this time last year, rates were down at 3.8%. But the Fed has been taking aggressive action to cool the market down, raising rates at their fastest pace since the 80s. And if their goal is to slow the market down, they're succeeding. After a year that saw a record housing boom and all-time highs in home equity, things have ground to a halt. Last month, home sales fell for the 11th straight month and hit a 12-year low. And home purchase applications have now fallen to a 28-year low this month.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The reality is that people just don't want to sell their homes right now because they're probably locked into a mortgage rate that they'd never be able to get if they had to purchase a new house. That means inventory is incredibly low, and there also just aren't a ton of buyers right now as millions of households have been priced out of the market until rates come down.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, seems like it.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, we got some interesting data this week on how these economic issues could impact the 2024 election, most notably the primaries. Tell us about that.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So according to a new poll of a thousand Republican primary voters from WPA, the economy is far and away the most important issue at this point of the primary. 38% of voters said, quote, inflation and rising prices were the number one issue they wanted candidates for president to focus on. The only other topic that even cracked double digits was immigration at 27%. And that's another topic that's not going away. In fact, we just learned this week that there have already been a million migrant encounters at the border in fiscal year 2023. That's on pace to surpass the all-time record that was set last year.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right. So the crisis continues. Exactly. But it is still clear that the economy is going to dominate the Republican primary, not surprisingly. And that tracks across party lines as well. The latest numbers from Gallup show that 34% of Americans in both parties say the economy is the biggest problem facing the country. That's nearly double any other topic. So it seems clear that President Biden's re-election will hinge on whether he can get inflation under control and bring the economy back to where it was when he took office. Hence why he continues to say that inflation is his biggest priority.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire's senior editor, Cabot Phillips. Coming up, another government agency concludes that COVID most likely leaked from a lab. Is joint discomfort keeping you from being as active as you once were? For fast, powerful joint relief, try Instaflex Advanced. Instaflex Advanced targets the root cause of joint discomfort with one little pill per day. Get a complimentary two-week sample of Instaflex Advance when you text WIRE to 42424. Plus, get a free gift of Instaflex Advanced Pain Cream for fast-acting relief from arthritis pain, backaches, and sore muscles. Text WIRE to 42424. That's WIRE to 42424. Message and data rates may apply. Terms apply. Available at instaflex.com slash terms.
--:-- John Bickley: A new intelligence report from the U.S. Energy Department concludes that COVID most likely leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. The report is classified but was recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress. Here to tell us more about the report is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Megan Basham: So this new information comes from some reporting in the Wall Street Journal. The journal spoke to several senior intelligence officials who reviewed these documents And they said that the Energy Department Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence has concluded that the virus originated in a Chinese lab Now it's important to note that the Energy Department oversees a network of U national laboratories and some of them are engaged in high biological research So this is coming from an agency with extensive scientific expertise at its disposal.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, that said, while the department believes that the virus came from a lab, it also made that assessment with what is called low confidence versus medium or high confidence. An earlier FBI investigation agreed with the Energy department, and it had medium confidence that COVID came from a lab. So what we're really seeing here is a lot of difference of opinion within the 18 intelligence agencies in the federal government about the origins of the virus.
--:-- Megan Basham: Four other agencies have said they believe that the virus likely came from animal to human spread, so natural causes, but their assessments were also made with low confidence. And three others have not been able to come to definitive conclusions. And we really don't know if any of the others have made assessments. What we do know is that there is a general consensus that they don't believe it was intended to be a bioweapon. But I think what this should tell us is that whether the virus could have spread from a lab is clearly an open question that really never should have been dismissed.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, what was the federal government's official stance on the lab leak prior to this?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, some leaked emails last year revealed that Dr. Fauci and his boss, former NIH head Francis Collins, took steps to discredit the lab leak theory early on in the pandemic. And in one of those emails, Collins wondered how his department might help, quote, put down this very destructive conspiracy.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Megan, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- John Bickley: The Air Force is under fire after two Republican lawmakers discovered that their military records were illegally released to Democrat opposition research firms. The Air Force admits that at least nine individuals were impacted by the unauthorized disclosures, including a female congressional candidate whose sexual assault records were released. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, a private investigator appears to have lied about his identity to seek the personnel records for 11 people. According to the Air Force, the PI claimed the request was part of a background check for employment purposes And included personal information like the social security numbers of those targeted But even then it was still illegal for the Air Force to hand over those files without explicit permission from a service member Protocol apparently broke down and the Air Force Personnel Center released the records to this investigator who may have actually been after some dirt to use politically
--:-- Georgia Howe: Has the private investigator been identified?
--:-- Tim Pierce: The Air Force identified him as Abraham Payton of the due diligence group. He previously worked for a Democrat-aligned super PAC and specialized in opposition research. On top of that, we also know from FEC filings that the two main PACs for congressional Democrats, paid Peyton's firm nearly $230,000 in 2021 and 2022.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, we don't know what that money was spent on exactly, but out of the 11 people whose information was leaked, the three we know of so far all ran for Congress in 2022 as Republicans. Listeners may recall the first time this came to light was in October, about a month before the election. Jennifer Ruth Green was then running for U.S. House in Indiana when details from her personnel files were leaked to the media. The records show she reported being sexually assaulted during a combat tour in Iraq around 2010.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Right, that case sparked a lot of outrage. So that was one of the three. Yeah, about a month later, the Air Force told Nebraska Congressman Don Bacon that his personnel files were released on November 12, 2021. That was just three days after the Air Force received a request from Peyton. Other than Bacon and Green, the only other person we know affected by the leak is Congressman Zach Nunn of Iowa, also a Republican. But we do know an additional eight individuals were affected. It's unclear whether they were all Republican candidates.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What do we know about the timeline of the requests, and does it suggest it was election-related?
--:-- Tim Pierce: According to House Republicans, the Air Force released the personnel files over a 14-month period from October of 2021 to December of 2022. But that's only the three individuals we know about. There are also the other eight that we currently don't have any details about.
--:-- John Bickley: What is the Air Force saying about these disclosures?
--:-- Tim Pierce: The Air Force did its own internal audit of what happened and found no criminal action or malicious intent by anyone in the military. Major General Troy Dunn told Bacon that some action has been taken against the parties responsible, though, and that the Air Force has since overhauled its process for personnel file requests to keep things like this from happening again.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But congressional Republicans believe that this episode warrants a criminal investigation and a deeper look at the politics involved. Here's Congressman Bacon on Fox News over the weekend.
--:-- [Audio clip of Congressman Bacon on Fox News]
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, we'll see if the DOJ picks this one up.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Tim, thanks for coming on.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
--:-- John Bickley: Another story we're tracking this week. Lawyers representing former President Donald Trump say the 2020 election inquiry in Georgia has become compromised. Attorneys Drew Feindling and Jennifer Little had the following to say in an interview with CBS News after the foreman of the Atlanta-based special grand jury stirred controversy with a media tour.
--:-- [Audio clip of attorneys Drew Feindling and Jennifer Little]
--:-- John Bickley: What are your options?
--:-- [Audio clip of attorneys Drew Feindling and Jennifer Little]
--:-- Georgia Howe: Our options are, can this district attorney's office continue to be part of this case? We have to legally research all of those issues. Have you lost confidence in the district attorney?
--:-- [Audio clip of attorneys Drew Feindling and Jennifer Little]
--:-- John Bickley: We've lost 100% confidence in this process.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, that's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.
