--:-- [Upbeat music fades out, and the hosts, John Bickley and Georgia Howe, introduce the episode]
--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire. I'm John Bickley, Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Wire, and I'm here with my co-host Georgia Howe.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us, everyone. Today, we've got a lot to cover. More documents are released from Twitter, bringing more explosive revelations. Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema leaves the Democratic Party, and a new report sheds some light on the sentencing patterns for child sex predators in California.
--:-- John Bickley: That's right. And we'll get into all of that in just a minute. But first, let's talk about the NFL. The NFL is back, and FanDuel's got everything you need to play your game. From same-game parlays to live betting. Right now, new customers bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. 21-plus in president select states. 18-plus in Kentucky and Wyoming. Must be first online real money waging. $5 deposit required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at FanDuel.com slash sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
--:-- [Music transitions to a more serious tone]
--:-- John Bickley: Now, let's dive into the news. More internal documents from Twitter have come to light, and they include some explosive claims about the banning of former President Trump and the government's role in the censoring of speech on the platform. Joining us now to give us more detail on the latest Twitter files is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Megan Basham: Thanks for having me on the show.
--:-- John Bickley: So, Megan, there's a lot of ground to cover here, but can you just hit some of the key points from this latest reporting?
--:-- Megan Basham: Yes, a massive amount of ground to cover. So just to take the last three installments one by one. On Thursday, former New York Times columnist Barry Weiss revealed that Twitter had added secret flags to the accounts of conservative pundits like Charlie Kirk and Dan Bongino, as well as to some medical experts who criticized COVID policies, people like Stanford doctor Jay Bhattacharya, who authored the Great Barrington Declaration.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's really interesting. So, what does this mean for these individuals?
--:-- Megan Basham: So, this kept people from seeing their posts and even in some cases kept them from showing up in Twitter search results. Now, these internal communications also showed that they would suspend accounts like Libs of TikTok, a very popular account that criticized transgender ideology, even though they were very aware that the account had not actually violated any of their rules.
--:-- John Bickley: And then on Friday, author and former Rolling Stone editor Matt Taibbi focused on documents pertaining to Twitter's coordination with the federal government. What did he find?
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, this installment is arguably the most explosive because what it showed was that Twitter's former head of safety, Yoel Roth was talking about frequent meetings he was having with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. And those communications also revealed that the reason Twitter was suppressing and putting warning labels on President Trump posts was due in large part to guidance Twitter was getting from those federal departments.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's really disturbing. And what about the press coverage of this story?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, we are going to continue tracking this story. But what I've seen so far is that there seems to be something of a blackout going on. So there's been almost no coverage at NBC, ABC, CBS. And the Washington Post and New York Times, as far as I can tell, have published only one story each on the very first installment of reporting on these files that dropped on December 3rd.
--:-- John Bickley: That's really surprising. Thanks for reporting, Megan.
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah, anytime.
--:-- [Music transitions to a more upbeat tone]
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, let's talk about politics. Just days after the final balance of power in the Senate was set, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema renounced her Democratic Party membership and registered as an independent, shaking up the chamber and threatening the Democrats' already slim majority.
--:-- John Bickley: Joining us now to give us more on this story is Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Thanks for having me on the show.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So, Cabot, just when you thought we had a final idea of what the Senate would look like, and then this happens. So, catch us up to speed here.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: It is always something. So on Thursday, Sinema announced her decision to leave the Democratic Party in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper. You know, a growing number of Arizonans and people like me just don't feel like we fit neatly into one party's box or the other.
--:-- John Bickley: And what led up to this decision?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, remember, she was really not in line with the Democratic base on a number of crucial votes over the last two years. She really held things up on the Democrats' infrastructure bill and Biden's corporate tax hike. And that's left her as sort of a scapegoat within the party whenever things are stalled or go poorly.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what about the reaction from Democrats?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Democrats have basically said they're not worried about the move. They say Sinema wasn't voting like a traditional Democrat anyway. And interestingly, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that Sinema would retain her committee assignments, which did upset far-left members in D.C.
--:-- John Bickley: That's really interesting. Thanks for reporting, Cabot.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- [Music transitions to a more serious tone]
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, let's talk about a disturbing new trend in California. A new report reveals that thousands of individuals convicted of sex crimes against children in California will serve just a few months behind bars.
--:-- John Bickley: Joining us now to give us more on this story is Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraida Lordi.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Thanks for having me on the show.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So, Maraida, what did this report find?
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Hi, Georgia. So this new report came from the Daily Mail and looked at data from California's Megan's Law database. It found that an alarming number of child predators serve very little time for sex crimes against children.
--:-- John Bickley: And what does this mean for the victims?
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Well, every state is different. The national average for a sex crime against a child is 5 to 15 years in prison, according to government data. Florida requires a minimum 25-year prison sentence for sex crimes involving children younger than 12. California doesn't enforce a minimum sentence for these crimes, and that has resulted in some pretty shocking incidents.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's really disturbing. And what about the reaction from former prosecutors?
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Yes, they are, but it's not clear anything will change at this point. Former Los Angeles sex crimes prosecutor Samuel Dordulian said he was shocked by how many child sex predators have been released so quickly and called it, quote, frightening for society.
--:-- John Bickley: That's really concerning. Thanks for reporting, Maraida.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Thanks, Georgia.
--:-- [Music transitions to a more upbeat tone]
--:-- 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.
--:-- John Bickley: And before we go, don't forget to check out the Pearl Source for beautiful, classic pearl jewelry. For a limited time, Morning Wire listeners can take 20% off your order with promo code MORNINGWIRE. If you want fine pearl jewelry at the best prices online, then go straight to the source, the Pearl Source. Go to thepearlsource.com and use promo code MORNINGWIRE.
