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--:-- Host (John Bickley): We'll let the chips fall where they may. I think they all know John Durham's reputation. The FBI never should have investigated the Trump campaign and let itself be politicized. That's the result of special counsel John Durham's 300-page multi-year report. Just how damaging is the report and how is the embattled bureau responding? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, May 16th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): The people of Turkey will take part in the nation's first ever presidential runoff election after neither candidate got 50% of the vote. What are the main issues driving the race? And how could the results impact the U.S.? And Elon Musk has announced his choice to replace him as Twitter's CEO, sparking controversy on both the left and right. They need to feel that there is an opportunity for them to influence what you're building. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): The Department of Justice released special counsel John Durham's long-awaited report on Monday on the origins of the FBI's investigation into the now disproven Trump-Russia collusion narrative. and the report leveled some damning allegations against the Bureau. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to break down the report.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Hey, John. So it took more than two years, but it's finally complete and it really shreds Operation Crossfire Hurricane. What's the main takeaway here?
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Hey, Tim. The report is lengthy, over 300 pages. But the point that Durham drives home and the details of the report make clear is that the FBI's actions regarding its investigation into Trump's 2016 campaign, Crossfire Hurricane, were utterly unsupported by the evidence. FBI officials went against their own rules to push that investigation forward. At the same time, Durham said the FBI exhibited a double standard in the way it handled intelligence that the Clinton campaign had schemed to tie Trump to Russia to distract from Hillary's email scandal.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Durham directly attacked the integrity of FBI officials involved in the Trump-Russia investigation. He wrote that new rules implemented by the FBI after the Crossfire Hurricane debacle are useless if the Bureau has abandoned the FBI's guiding principles of fidelity, bravery, and integrity.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Despite all that, Durham's report does not recommend any more prosecutions over Crossfire Hurricane. All right, so condemnation but no charges. Let's get into some of the details of the report. Did we learn anything new?
--:-- Tim Pierce: There are some new tidbits of information. For instance, the report expands on the skepticism British intelligence had about the Trump-Russia investigation from the start. Durham also said that the FBI's investigators did not and could not corroborate any of the substantive allegations contained in the Steele dossier. But there doesn't appear to be anything too revelatory. The report really is just a final vindication of Trump. There was no collusion no evidence of collusion from the start and his campaign was illegitimately targeted by seemingly partisan actors in the FBI Trump commented on the report on social media summing it up this way In other words the American public was scammed just as it is being scammed right now by those who don want to see greatness for America
--:-- Host (John Bickley): All right, so Durham has really leveled some strong allegations against the FBI here of partisanship. What was the Bureau's response?
--:-- Tim Pierce: It essentially said, we hear you, but those problems have been addressed. The FBI said in a statement Monday afternoon that It's already addressed the issues in Durham's report by taking dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time. The bureau said that had its fixes been in place in 2016, these missteps could have been prevented. So these were just missteps. That's the language from the FBI. That's how they framed it. Republicans have slammed the FBI for trying to downplay the severity of what took place. In fact, this is how Utah Senator Mike Lee put it. It was an effort to use a powerful, long-respected federal law enforcement agency to render a presidential candidate unelectable entirely in the absence of any valid good faith basis for doing so.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Well, a pretty explosive report and a lot of pretty damning claims. Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): That was Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce. Coming up, Turkey holds its first ever presidential runoff election. For the first time in its history, Turkey will hold a presidential runoff election after incumbent strongman Recep Erdogan failed to gain 50% of the vote in a crucial election with global implications. Here with more on the election and what it means for the global balance of power is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Sure. So for the last 20 years, Turkey has been ruled by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a controversial leader who's helped Turkey become the largest economy in the Middle East, but drawn criticism for increasingly authoritarian policies. Erdogan rose to power in 2003, promising to unite the nation's Muslim majority and restore Turkey to its historical status as a global power. Shortly after taking over, he modernized the country's economy, opening up relations with the West and completing massive infrastructure projects that helped bring millions of Turks out of poverty. In the process, he drew praise from the international community as the supposed new face of democratic leadership in the Middle East. But over the last decade, he's grown increasingly authoritarian, restricting internet access in the country, jailing political opponents and journalists, and cracking down on women's rights.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Yeah, so tell us about this election.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, coming into the race, there was optimism among opposition leaders that Erdogan could be unseated in the first round of voting. A number of opposing parties coalesced around Erdogan's main challenger, Kamal Kalikdarulu. And just before the race, a leading third-party candidate dropped out and threw his support behind Kalikdarulu. But despite trailing in most polls throughout the last month, on Sunday, Erdogan came out on top, winning 49-44, dominating in more rural areas while his opponent pulled in millions of votes from larger cities. But because neither candidate reached 50%, for the first time in Turkey's history, the country's president will be decided in a runoff election in two weeks. But more broadly, Erdogan's party did still see success. They took the majority in parliament, which gives them momentum heading into the runoff.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Now, it's worth noting, Erdogan's administration has been accused of corruption and rigging elections in the past. And to that point, his opponents have accused him of using the state's news agency to falsely exaggerate his lead among early returns in an attempt to dissuade Collectorulu voters from staying in line to vote For his part Erdogan has scoffed at the notion he break the race and said this month that he respect the will of the people no matter who they chose
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, what are the issues driving this race? The number one issue undoubtedly is the economy. Turkey has experienced rampant inflation over the last few years. It hit a peak of over 80% and remains now around 40% this year. Now, that led to a collapse of the country's currency, which has now lost more than half of its value, and it's driven millions of Turks into poverty. Erdogan responded by pushing the central bank to cut interest rates with the hope of stimulating growth and exports, but critics say that it backfired and that it made the crisis worse. There's also the recent earthquakes in Turkey, which killed 56,000 people in February. Critics say Erdogan did not do enough to prepare the country's infrastructure, and they say his response was lackluster.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): So between those issues and the growing anger over his crackdown on personal freedoms, there's a unique chance for someone to incite him. Now, what does this election mean for American foreign policy?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, remember, Turkey is uniquely situated directly between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. So they've got a ton of leverage because they know that strategically, the U.S. wants a friendly partner in the region. But the two countries have had an up and down relationship in recent years. Much of that can be attributed to Erdogan's increasingly friendly relationship with Vladimir Putin. Despite Russia and Turkey historically being enemies, the two leaders have grown increasingly friendly, and they now speak multiple times a month. That relationship has angered U.S. officials. In 2020, for example, Turkey purchased an air defense system from Russia, which prompted the U.S. to sanction the Turkish defense industry. Erdogan has also drawn fire from the U.S. for expanding trade with Russia in the last year, which has helped them bypass U.S. sanctions during the war in Ukraine.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): But at the same time, on the other side of the token, Turkey is still an important NATO member and has been selling drones to Ukraine and is also in the process of securing a deal with the U.S. that will send American F-16 fighter jets to the Turks. So Erdogan is really playing both sides here to his advantage. If he wins, that will likely continue, while his opponent has vowed to side more strongly with the West.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Well, a complex balancing act by Erdogan that's really coming to a head here. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): That was Daily Wire's senior editor, Cabot Phillips. After many months of speculation, Twitter has a new CEO. Elon Musk has officially handed the reins of the social media platform over to Linda Yaccarino, who comes to the company from NBCUniversal. Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham is here to tell us more.
--:-- Megan Basham: So Megan, Yaccarino comes from an advertising background that seems like an interesting pick for Twitter. What does that tell us about Musk's priorities?
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Well, I think it primarily tells us that Musk is focused on making Twitter profitable. And to do that, he needs big advertisers. So right now, Twitter is valued at about $20 billion. Well, Musk bought it for $44 billion. So that's a pretty big gap to make up. And Yaccarino had a lot of success in her 12 years at NBCUniversal, overseeing $13 billion in annual ad sales as the global chair of advertising. What that means practically is she's extremely skilled in making pitches to big companies that, you know, hey, you want to come spend your advertising dollars with us. So her nickname is the Velvet Hammer, and that's reportedly because she's a very tough but very smooth negotiator who managed to lock down some of the biggest deals in TV history.
--:-- Megan Basham: And she will have her work cut out for her because a lot of companies have been skittish about promoting their products on Twitter since Musk took over And his promise to make it the free speech platform has of course received a lot of pushback from those who are arguing that that going to make it a haven for misinformation and hate speech. Now, no doubt he's looking to Yaccarino to thread a needle that allows him to make good on his promise while also hopefully making a lot of money. But it sounds like she's controversial even with Musk fans. If he's confident about her, why are so many Twitter users worried about her?
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Well, you know, first, she comes from a very elite corporate background in mainstream media. She's associated with the World Economic Forum. And she has said some positive, if, you know, admittedly general things about ESG and some other social justice initiatives. So things like that have tended to raise alarm bells for Twitter users who are concerned that Yaccarino doesn't share Musk's commitment to free speech. And a lot of people were sharing video clips of some of her past statements, including this interview she did with Musk last month, where she suggested that Twitter advertisers should have influence over content moderation.
--:-- Megan Basham: If I were to say, yes, you can influence me, that would be wrong. That would be very wrong. Because that would be a diminishment of freedom of speech. But I want to be specific about influencing. It's more of an open feedback loop for the advertising experts in this room to help develop Twitter into a place where they will be excited about investing more money. Product development, ad safety, content moderation. That's what the influence is.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Now, Musk immediately batted that down and said he is willing to lose ad dollars in order to protect free speech. But users have also pointed out that Yaccarino seemed to support suppressing so-called fake news. I think the more complicated issue when it comes to fake news is that the younger generation really doesn't experience or consume news with the same filters. Not to mention in the spectrum is, you know, all the social and technology platforms experiencing a coming of age and their responsibility about disseminating or being a platform for disseminating news.
--:-- Megan Basham: And how is Musk responding to all this concern? He's been out reassuring users that Twitter is going to maintain that commitment to free speech. When activist Billboard Chris, who is known for protesting transgender treatments for kids, pointed out that Yaccarino seemed enthusiastic about the idea of limiting the reach of posts, Musk asked him to reserve judgment. He said, quoting here, I hear your concerns, but don't judge too early. I am adamant about defending free speech, even if it means losing money.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Well, and you have to assume that Musk did some pretty thorough vetting behind the scenes.
--:-- Megan Basham: All right, Megan, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Megan Basham: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): That was Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham. Another story we're tracking this week. Vice Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday. Vice was founded in 1994, originally known for its edgy and well-crafted content. It was once valued at more than $5 billion, but will now reportedly be purchased by a lender consortium, which includes Soros Fund Management, for $225 million. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.
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