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--:-- Georgia Howe: A crackdown on violent gangs in El Salvador has drastically curtailed the murder rate in the country. El Salvador was the worst and the most dangerous place to live. And now we're on our way to be the safest country in the whole American continent. How did El Salvador's president clean up the Central American country? And why are critics saying he went too far? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's April 22nd, and this is your Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Two Chinese men were arrested in New York for allegedly operating a secret CCP police station that targeted outspoken Chinese dissidents. Today, we are announcing three impactful cases from my office in our nation's fight against the People's Republic of China's transnational repression activities. And the state of Iowa is tightening eligibility for its food stamps and Medicaid programs, saying the Hawkeye State needs to save money. We have the numbers. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Hey, guys. Producer Brandon here. Everyone knows we love Black Rifle Coffee, but you don't always have time to brew coffee the traditional way. That's why you need Black Rifle Coffee's ready-to-drink cans. Ready to drink coffee is perfect for when you're on the go, and each can contains at least 200 milligrams of caffeine and come in a variety of different flavors. Go to BlackRifleCoffee.com and use promo code WIRE for 10% off your purchase and your first coffee club order. That's BlackRifleCoffee.com, promo code WIRE. Black Rifle Coffee, America's coffee.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: After spending years as one of the world's most violent countries, the Central American nation of El Salvador has experienced a dramatic turnaround. After 41-year-old Naib Bukele rose to power on the promise to wage war against the brutal gangs that had terrorized the nation for decades. Here with more on the rise of Bukele and the controversial methods he's used in his fight against the gangs is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: All right, Cabot, what can you tell us about this situation?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, to fully understand just how much El Salvador has changed over the last few years, it's important to look back at how bad things were. For decades, nearly every aspect of life in El Salvador was controlled by vicious gangs, including MS-13 and Barrio 18. These gangs demanded exorbitant extortion fees from the country's business owners. Everyone from large retailers to tiny bodega operators had to pay the gangs every month or they faced imminent violence. Public parks were marked as gang turf and anyone who went there without their blessing faced the threat of just being gunned down in broad daylight. Many markets and malls could only be entered once you paid a fee to gang members at the entrance.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The gangs also paid off politicians and police officers in mass in exchange for immunity. So it's not an exaggeration to say these gangs served as a sort of quasi-government and controlled large swaths of the country's largest cities. And the results were devastating. For years, the country had one of the highest murder rates of any place on Earth that was not an active war zone.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And that's where President Bukele comes in. Exactly. So Bukele was propelled to office in 2019 on the promise that he'd wage a war against the gangs. So one of the things we did was we threatened gun members outside that we will take retaliation with their people inside if they continue the killings of innocent people in El Salvador. That actually if some people don't know this but El Salvador was actually the murder capital of the world. I mean we were a lot more dangerous than Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, you name it.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He first tried negotiating with them, offering better prison conditions and other concessions in exchange for a ceasefire on civilians. But that did not happen. So in 2022, after a surge of violence, Bukele went further, a lot further. He ordered a nationwide roundup of anyone presumed to be working with the gangs. And soon more than 65,000 people, mostly young men, had been arrested. There were so many prisoners, he had to build one of the world's largest prisons, which now houses around 40,000 inmates.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And almost overnight, the violence that had been a part of daily life plummeted. In 2022, there were 496 total homicides in the country. The year before, there were 1,147. At the peak of the violence in 2015, there were 18 murders a day. Now there's around one a day. According to government data, of the murder rate in El Salvador is now comparable with rates that we see in New Hampshire and Maine. A stunning turnaround.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, and President Bukele has become wildly popular as a result. While there are certainly legitimate concerns about some of the actions he's taken, one thing that cannot be disputed is how Salvadorans feel about him. Since taking office, his approval rating has not dipped below 75 percent, and last month it surged to 91 percent, making him the most popular leader in the country's history and arguably the most popular head of state on earth.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: It sounds like it. You mentioned some concerns about his governing strategy. Let's get to those. Yeah, look, it's worth noting that his law and order crackdown came at a serious cost to personal freedom in the country. As part of the war effort, El Salvador's Congress voted overwhelmingly to grant Bukele a so-called state of exception that allowed him to suspend a number of constitutional rights.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The country essentially did away with due process, allowing police to raid homes and arrest suspected gang members at will, sometimes with little or no evidence. Among other things, the state of exception also rescinds the right to be informed of the reason for an arrest. It curtails guaranteed access to a lawyer. And it extends the time a prisoner can be held without charges from three to 15 days.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, for obvious reasons, that's created some major issues. According to the country's police union, nearly one in six people who've been arrested were innocent. And there have been credible reports of police violence and overcrowding in the prisons where all those people are being detained.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, for his part, Bukele has insisted that any individuals who are innocent have been or are being released and said that reports of police violence are being investigated.
--:-- Georgia Howe: [interrupting] Cabot, thanks for reporting. Anytime. That's Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Two men were arrested on Monday on charges of helping establish a secret police station in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government. Now it been revealed one of the men has ties to New York Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul. Authorities say more than three dozen Chinese security officers were also charged for allegedly harassing dissidents inside the United States via social media. Joining us to discuss is Daily Wire researcher Michael Whitaker.
--:-- Michael Whitaker: So Michael, what do we know about this secret police station?
--:-- Michael Whitaker: Well, having agents of a foreign government operating on U.S. soil without our knowledge and permission is a pretty clear violation of U.S. sovereignty, but it isn't unique. In September of last year, Safeguard Defenders, a human rights organization based out of Spain, accused China of operating more than 100 such overseas police stations in 53 different countries. The Manhattan office was being overseen by two men arrested on Monday, Luzhan Wang and Chen Jinping. It was one of four in the United States and one of two that were active in New York City.
--:-- Michael Whitaker: So what was the exact function of these police stations? Obviously, they don't have any legal authority to arrest people. They may not have had the authority, but they certainly tried their best. Essentially, they targeted Chinese expats who expressed critical views of the CCP and attempted to silence them with harassment and threats. Investigations by reporters and law enforcement corroborated claims that these overseas police stations coordinated with China's Ministry of Public Security, its internal police force, to spy on and repress critics.
--:-- Michael Whitaker: In some cases, the agents allegedly threatened members of the target's family still living in China, and in one extreme case involving Mr. Liu, even relatives in the United States. If the target refused to obey the Chinese government's demands. The two men arrested have also been charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly destroying evidence of communications with the NPS when they became aware of the federal investigation into their office.
--:-- Michael Whitaker: Both men were arrested on Monday and, if convicted, face up to 25 years in prison. And what has Beijing said about these offices? Well, the Chinese government claims that these so-called police stations are actually benign service centers where Chinese citizens abroad can go to get their driver's licenses updated and keep up to date with all their other government paperwork.
--:-- Michael Whitaker: Now, another complaint about Chinese espionage was filed on the same day. And in that case, it involved dozens of Chinese security officers who were charged with harassing dissidents online. Is there any connection between those arrests and these so-called service stations? Well, yes and no. While their mission objectives would have aligned, the 44 agents charged in the other criminal complaint did not physically enter the United States. Their online activities were conducted from China.
--:-- Michael Whitaker: Their work focused on threatening and harassing Chinese dissidents and foreign critics of the Chinese Communist Party living in the United States. Currently, all of those agents remain at large. They also disrupted online meetings of government opponents and lodged false complaints about terms of service violations in order to get dissident accounts suspended. In addition to monitoring the social media accounts of overseas regime opponents and harassing them online, these Chinese agents also created sock puppet accounts on social media, amplifying the CCP's approved narratives and undermining the credibility of China's adversaries.
--:-- Michael Whitaker: So their function was to promote Chinese interests. Is there any evidence that they were attempting to influence American policy? Well, following the arrest, reporters uncovered several photographs of Mr. Liu at fundraising events with prominent New York Democrats, including New York Mayor Eric Adams and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Liu Zhang Wang and his brother, who has not been charged, donated over $30,000 to various New York Democrats, including Mayor Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul.
--:-- Michael Whitaker: It's not yet clear what kind of policies he was advocating for.
--:-- Georgia Howe: [interrupting] Michael, thanks for coming on. Thanks for having me.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Lawmakers in Iowa passed a bill last week that would pare down food stamps and Medicaid booting less needy people off the programs in an effort to save the state money. Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraid Elordi is here with the details for us.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Hi, Georgia. So as you mentioned, the bill would tighten restrictions on Medicaid and food stamps, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. What that looks like is changing the eligibility requirements and requiring more checks on people who want to qualify for benefits. These changes would ultimately result in about 1% of recipients being removed from both programs, about 8,000 people removed from Medicaid, and 2,800 people removed from food stamps.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: In the year that ended in September, about 280,000 Iowans were on food stamps in a given month. The bill would save Iowa about $8 million starting in 2027. On Thursday, the legislature sent the bill to Governor Kim Reynolds, who is a Republican. She's expected to sign it into law.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So what do the new restrictions actually look like? Well, according to the bill, anyone with more than $15,000 in liquid assets or cash on hand will not be allowed on food stamps. But that doesn't include the person's home and car, and it doesn't include a second car with a less than $10,000 value. Currently, Iowa's food stamp program doesn't have restrictions on assets.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: As far as more checks on applicants, state agencies would have to use federal tools like the IRS and Social Security data to make sure people are eligible. People will also have to go through regular checks to make sure they are still eligible, and if they don't respond to questions from the state within 10 days, they'll be kicked off the programs.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Now, what has the criticism looked like? Presumably, there are people who don't want to be kicked off these programs. Right. Well, local Democrats have been the most upset about the food stamps cuts. They argue that the cuts will only make things more difficult for Iowans struggling with high food and housing costs. They pointed out that many SNAP recipients are children and disabled people.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Meanwhile, Republicans have argued that the bill takes nothing away from actually needy people. Republican State Rep. Joel Fry said the bill, quote, protects the program for those who need it most and creates a long-term sustainable safety net. Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley said the bill will also make food stamps more efficient, since right now it's difficult to keep track of who's getting benefits.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Iowa's bill is also part of a larger national push to cut back government spending on food stamps. Iowa's cuts may be the most robust, but pushes for similar SNAP restrictions are underway in Kentucky, Kansas, and Wisconsin, among other states.
--:-- Georgia Howe: [interrupting] Maraid, thanks for reporting. Thanks, Georgia.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and stand with our mission, consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with an extra edition of Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Do you love Morning Wire? Well, you can shop the collection at dailywire.com slash shop. Start today with your favorite podcast and coffee from your very own Morning Wire mug or rep the news you need to know with Morning Wire t-shirts, hoodies, and tote bags. That's dailywire.com slash shop.
