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--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Wednesday, December 13th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: The House of Representatives is expected to take up a vote this evening on whether to authorize a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Though the Republican House majority has narrowed in the last few weeks, party leadership says they're confident that they'll have the votes.
--:-- John Bickley: Here's what House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan told Morning Wire.
--:-- Jim Jordan: The evidence we have is so much more compelling than what the Democrats had back in 2019 when they did their crazy impeachment of President Trump, which ironically was also about President Trump supposedly leveraging tax dollars to get a certain thing done in Ukraine.
--:-- Georgia Howe: House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the need for the inquiry earlier this week, saying that the White House is not cooperating, which has led to an impasse.
--:-- Mike Johnson: The White House is impeding that investigation now. They're not allowing witnesses to come forward and thousands of pages of documents. So we have no choice to fulfill our constitutional responsibility We have to take the next step We're not making a political decision It's not a legal decision
--:-- Georgia Howe: The vote is expected to take place around 5 p Eastern Hunter Biden refused to testify in front of congressional investigators today in a closed door deposition, a move that could leave to a contempt of Congress charge.
--:-- Hunter Biden: I'm here today to make sure that the House committee's illegitimate investigations of my family do not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence and lies. And I'm here today to acknowledge that I've made mistakes in my life and wasted opportunities and privileges I was afforded. For that, I'm responsible. For that, I'm accountable. And for that, I'm making amends.
--:-- Georgia Howe: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer responded to Hunter's statement, emphasizing that the president's son will get no special treatment.
--:-- James Comer: We issued a lawful subpoena to the president's son. This has been a 10-month investigation, a credible, transparent investigation that has produced a lot of troubling evidence. We have specific questions for the president's son. He does not get to dictate the terms of this subpoena.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case brought by a man charged with January 6th related crimes that could have major impacts for individuals facing similar charges, including President Trump.
--:-- Brent Schur: The justices agreed today to take up the case brought by defendant Joseph Fisher who is seeking to dismiss charges that accuse him of obstructing an official proceeding a charge used frequently in January 6th cases. Now, two others charged with crimes on January 6th brought forward similar appeals, which will be dictated by the high court's ruling on Fisher's case. Trump is charged with the same offense in his case, accusing him of election interference.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The timing of the court's ruling on this could significantly impact the former president's case, which is set for March.
--:-- Brent Schur: Our nation's highest court also promised today to take up the high stakes legal battle on whether a drug most commonly used for medical abortions will continue to be easily available, including by mail. The court will weigh appeals from the Biden administration and drugmaker Danco, which makes a branded version of the mifeprestone pill known as Mifeprex. They wish to keep the drug highly accessible, arguing it's needed for safe abortion options.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The legal challenge was brought by doctors and other medical professionals and is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom. The group of medical professionals argue that allowing abortion medication to be so easily accessible poses dangerous risks.
--:-- Brent Schur: The justices will hear oral arguments early next year with a ruling due by the end of June.
--:-- Georgia Howe: While we believe that our policy rate is likely at or near its peak for this tightening cycle, the economy has surprised forecasters in many ways since the pandemic, and ongoing progress toward our 2% inflation objective is not assured. We are prepared to tighten policy further if appropriate
--:-- Federal Reserve: The Federal Reserve decided to hold the key benchmark rate steady today It's the third consecutive meeting without a rate hike or cut. The Fed 19 policymakers indicated that they plan to make three rate cuts in 2024.
--:-- Georgia Howe: FedEx is warning its drivers to stay vigilant. The warning comes after several videos showing package delivery trucks being broken into or stolen.
--:-- David Cohn: The company sent a security alert to its nearly 7,000 independent contractors. Many of whom are small businesses, warning them to secure their trucks and prioritize driver safety.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And Florida's top prosecutor has announced an investigation into why the undefeated Florida State Seminoles were excluded from the college football playoffs.
--:-- David Cohn: Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced Tuesday that she is launching an investigation into the college football playoff selection committee over the decision to leave Florida State out of this year's top four in favor of two one-loss teams, Texas and Alabama.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, Moody, who admits to being a lifelong Gator, also says, I'm the Florida Attorney General and I know injustice when I see it.
--:-- David Cohn: Florida's antitrust division is sending a civil investigative demand to the committee for more information about the nature of possible contracts and conspiracies as it relates to anti-competitive effects of the college football playoff.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Those are your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
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