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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy opens a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Through our investigations, we have found that President Biden did lie to the American people about his own knowledge of his family's foreign business dealings. What are the next steps and how are Democrats reacting? I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, September 13th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): President Biden agrees to unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian assets in exchange for five Americans imprisoned abroad. It is a good thing that they are getting out of there. But, you know, at the same time, you have to ask at what cost. What does the deal mean for U.S. and Iran relations? And police have apprehended Danilo Cavalcante, the convicted murderer who escaped from prison two weeks ago. We'll have a full update this afternoon after the police press conference this morning. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption. And they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has announced that he plans to open an official impeachment inquiry into President Biden. The highly anticipated move comes months after startling revelations about Biden and his dealings with his son, Hunter.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Here to talk about the impeachment inquiry is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus. Hey Dave, what allegations did McCarthy cite when announcing this on Tuesday and what happens next?
--:-- David Marcus: Morning. McCarthy laid out three specific allegations. First, that Biden lied to the American people both about having no knowledge of Hunter's business dealings, a claim he levied many times. And also his claim on a debate stage that Hunter took no money from China. Secondly, there is $20 million from foreign firms that went into shell companies and eventually was paid out to 10 members of the Biden clan. And finally, and this is the big one, that as Vice President Biden was coordinating with Hunter and his associates in regard to Burisma, the energy company that paid Hunter Biden millions of dollars allegedly for access to and influence over Joe Biden.
--:-- David Marcus: McCarthy called this trifecta of malfeasance a, quote, culture of corruption, unquote, and argued that the impeachment inquiry would help in obtaining records and documents that congressional Republicans have been trying to squeeze out of Biden. Depending on the results, the House could move to impeach the president. I do not make this decision likely. Regardless of your party or who you voted for, these facts should concern all Americans. The American people deserve to know that the public offices are not for sale and that the federal government is not being used to cover up the actions of a politically associated family.
--:-- David Marcus: Now Speaker McCarthy also made a point in his remarks of alleging that the Department of Justice has given the Bidens special treatment that others would not have received. He's clearly stressing that point for a reason, correct?
--:-- David Marcus: It bolsters the case for an impeachment inquiry, because if the DOJ has treated Hunter Biden with kid gloves, then another investigative body is needed. And really, that can only be the House of Representatives. Republicans were frustrated when Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed David Weiss as special counsel to look into the Biden scandal because he was the very U.S. attorney who crafted the botched sweetheart deal that the judge in the case shut down.
--:-- David Marcus: This could also help bring moderate Republicans, both in the House and the Senate, who are skeptical of the impeachment inquiry along. And because Biden is ultimately in charge of the DOJ, these allegations of special treatment took place when he was president, not vice president.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Now, the speaker had said last month that he would only move forward with this inquiry if the House voted on it. He's reversed himself in announcing that it's moving forward without a vote. Do we know what changed his mind?
--:-- David Marcus: There's a few possible reasons. He might not have the votes. There had been reports of five GOP holdouts in the House. And with a four-seat majority, you can do the math. He also may want to protect vulnerable members in districts that voted for Biden from having to come out and vote on this. It also sends a message to the firebrand members of the GOP caucus, like Representative Matt Gaetz, who's threatening to challenge McCarthy's speakership. By doing this alone, McCarthy's trying to send a signal that he's on their side, which is going to be vital not just so that he can hold on to the gavel, but also because he needs their votes to keep the government funded at the end of September.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): How has the White House responded to this announcement from McCarthy? Is this something that they had already been preparing for?
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, not surprisingly, the White House attacked the inquiry as politically motivated, also dinging McCarthy for not holding that vote. Though it should be noted that Democrats held no such votes the two times that they impeached Trump. And there has been reporting that the administration is adding lawyers and creating basically an impeachment war room. They're going to continue to try to block Congress from receiving documents and other information. So there will be many legal battles ahead.
--:-- David Marcus: McCarthy's hope is that courts will be impressed with the gravitas of an official and constitutional impeachment process. And that could shake loose some of those documents for House investigators.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): We've got a lot of political drama ahead. Dave, thanks for joining us.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Coming up, the Biden administration releases $6 billion in frozen assets to Iran. In a highly controversial swap, the Biden administration has freed $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets and agreed to release five Iranian nationals in exchange for five Americans imprisoned in Tehran. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to tell us about the deal and what it means for Washington and Tehran.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Tim, first off, tell us about this deal.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The deal, as outlined on Monday, gives Iran access to $6 billion currently in South Korean bank accounts frozen since 2018. The money is to be transferred to a bank in Qatar where the government will oversee release of the funds for humanitarian purposes only. In addition to the money, the U.S. has also agreed to release five Iranian nationals from prison in exchange for five Americans currently held in Iran.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Morning Wire asked the Heritage Foundation expert on foreign policy Victoria Coates for her assessment of the deal. It just over the top. It's not a proportionate trade. And so what you're essentially doing there is putting a price on Americans' heads abroad. And certainly it's ill-advised to visit Iran at this point, not a very safe place, but they've been known to attack Americans all over Europe, for example, even here in the United States.
--:-- Victoria Coates: Proponents of the deal say that the $6 billion is really a lot less than it seems. It was Iranian funds to begin with, and they say U.S. sanctions already made exemptions for humanitarian aid. On the other hand, I said that that's just not correct, and the sanctions waiver is really just an accounting trick that the Iranians can easily exploit. It's a fig leaf to say that it's being held by the National Bank of Qatar for humanitarian purposes.
--:-- Victoria Coates: I mean, I'm sure the Qataris will only release it for those purposes, but what it does is free up $6 billion dollars internally in Iran, which they don't have to spend feeding and caring for their people, but they can spend it on regional terrorism. They can spend it on their nuclear program. They can spend it on whatever they want to spend it on. There's no limit on that.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Now, what is this deal going to mean for relations between Washington and Tehran?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Yeah, that is definitely a major concern for the White House. President Biden has attempted to cajole the Iranians back into some version of Obama's nuclear deal for years. The Iranians, though, have drawn closer to U.S. opponents such as Russia and China instead. With a $6 billion sweetener, the hope for the administration would be some thaw on tensions, but that may not be the case.
--:-- Victoria Coates: Coates pointed out that to get this deal, American diplomats were never allowed to negotiate with Iranians face-to-face because the Iranians never allowed it. Instead, the U.S. was forced to meet with intermediaries. Here's Coates. The Iranians have refused for more than two and a half years to meet directly with the American counterparts. And that should always be your first demand is we're going to have direct negotiations. No, these are taking place through the EU and Russia.
--:-- Victoria Coates: Russia is a key player here. And so one can only imagine what the Iranians and Russians are cooking up in Vienna and the Biden administration is a willing participant in it. Coates also said that the $6 billion would be better spent paying the judgments of those or the families of those who have been victimized by the Iranian regime.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Now, the possibility of a nuclear Iran is obviously a huge concern for the U.S. and its allies in that region. Where do things stand on that front?
--:-- Tim Pierce: According to Coates, the situation has only gotten worse. They've made exponential progress over the last two and a half years. The notion that they were going to even remotely slow down their progress on enrichment under a Biden administration in the hopes of getting into a new deal proved to be absolutely the opposite. That they've accelerated it.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): And I should note that the timing of this deal didn't go unnoticed. Congress was made aware of it on Monday, the 22nd anniversary of the deadliest terror attack in U.S. history. Obviously, many weren't pleased that that day was chosen to inform the public of a $6 billion deal cut with the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. Definitely not a good look.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Tim, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Thanks for having me.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): 34-year-old Danilo Cavalcante was apprehended just after 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning in Pennsylvania. Hundreds of law enforcement officers joined the almost two-week-long manhunt after Cavalcante escaped from prison. He was serving a life sentence for murdering his girlfriend. The following segment was recorded before his capture. We'll have a full update this afternoon after this morning police press conference.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Here with the latest is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So Cabot first off what do we know about the escaped killer and how he got out in the first place?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, a terrifying story out of Pennsylvania where Danilo Cavalcante, a convicted murderer, is on the run and according to police, armed and dangerous. Cavalcante, a 34-year-old Brazilian, was convicted of stabbing his then-girlfriend to death in front of her two small children back in 2021. And according to the U.S. Marshals, He's also wanted for murder in a separate 2017 case down in Brazil.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: On August 31st, just days after being sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder, Capoconte made his escape from Chester County Prison. Shocking surveillance footage shows him using his feet on one wall and his hands on another adjacent wall to sort of crab walk up to the roof in a matter of seconds. It looked like something out of a movie.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Authorities say from there, he descended from the roof, scaled a separate fence lined with barbed wire, and evaded detection from the guard on duty in a nearby tower. That guard is now on leave and under investigation. And that's when this manhunt began and things turned pretty frantic.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right. So within hours, hundreds of law enforcement personnel from state and federal agencies began combing the area. The first sighting of Cavalcante came the next evening on September 1st, when he broke into a home near the prison. A terrified couple awoke to the sound of someone in their kitchen around midnight as their two daughters slept upstairs.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here's Ryan Drummond, the man whose home was broken into, speaking on CNN. I looked to my left and saw the light switch and decided to flick the light switch on and off three or four times. And there was a little bit of a pause. And then he flicked the light switch back at me from the kitchen. So that was kind of the acute moment of terror.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: I turned to my wife. I said, he's downstairs. Call 911 right now. And in that moment, I saw him walk out of the kitchen into the living room, not even running, just kind of walking methodically. That's completely terrifying.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, that was hardly the first time he'd been spotted though, right?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah. Throughout the last two weeks, Cavalcante has been seen roughly a half dozen times on trail cameras and home security systems, all within about a 15-mile radius. So he hasn't made it far yet.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: On Saturday, though, he was able to steal a van from a local business, which he then used to drive 20 miles north. It was there that he showed up at the home of a former acquaintance, apparently looking for help. Ring camera footage from the home shows that he shaved his beard and may have also cut his hair in an attempt to alter his appearance.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: That acquaintance was not home at the time, and the next day, authorities found the stolen van abandoned behind a barn a few miles west. Authorities are now saying Cavalcante may have stolen a firearm.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: What do we know on that front?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, around 10 p.m. Monday evening, a resident called police and said a man had broken into his garage while he was in the garage and made off with a .22 caliber rifle affixed with a scope and flashlight. That homeowner was armed himself and drew a handgun and fired off several shots at Cavalcante as he fled, but police say they do not believe he was hit.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here's Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police. I think he is just trying to survive and avoid being captured right now. Yes. We have considered him dangerous right from the very start. It changes nothing. We just now absolutely know that he has a weapon.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: As the manhunt continues, a number of Local schools and businesses were closed Tuesday as police advise residents to routinely check in on loved ones in the area and do their best to secure their homes.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Well, a scary time in Pennsylvania. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): 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.
