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--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to an extra edition of 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 joining us, John. Today, we're discussing the arrest of investigative journalist Steve Baker, who was taken into custody by the FBI for his reporting on the Capitol riots on January 6th.
--:-- John Bickley: Steve, thanks for joining us today.
--:-- Steve Baker: Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: So, let's start with the charges against you. The Justice Department is bringing four misdemeanor charges: knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. First, as you admit and document in your own reporting, you did enter the Capitol during the riot. Do you think these charges are fair?
--:-- Steve Baker: No. In fact, the only one that is fair, if it's equally applied to everyone who went through doors or broken windows, whatever the case may be, is the first charge. The other three are pure nonsense.
--:-- John Bickley: You're saying that the other three charges are unfair because you didn't actually engage in those behaviors?
--:-- Steve Baker: I mean, I did no picketing. I did no parading. I wasn't wearing any political paraphernalia or carrying a Trump flag. In fact, I had no Trump gear at all. I still don't own any Trump gear all these years later. And I certainly was using no abusive language.
--:-- John Bickley: You're suggesting that the charges are being used to intimidate you into a plea deal?
--:-- Steve Baker: We have hundreds of people who did not do number two, three, and four. They only did number one, but they hit them with all four of them. So that they can scare them into a plea deal on just one of those charges, get their quick two years probation or $2,000 fine, 100 hours community service.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Steve, you've said that the footage you've had access to shows that you don't actually do some of the things that you're accused of in terms of parading or demonstrating in the Capitol. Can you expand on that?
--:-- Steve Baker: That's correct. Absolutely correct. The footage inside the building is only 37 minutes, but we all, obviously, have footage of me outside the building as well. And we have my footage, which of course is a couple of hours worth of video. That shows me doing my job of recording the events that were taking place.
--:-- John Bickley: You've also said that the quotes from you in the charging documents are taken out of context. Can you explain that?
--:-- Steve Baker: Well, no, of course not. And again, I've read hundreds of these charging documents and followed many of these trials myself. And this is the one thing that the Department of Justice is consistent about, is that they take all of these quotes out of context of the moment.
--:-- Georgia Howe: One of the quotes in particular that's been brought up is when you said you 100% approved of what happened on January 6th. Can you respond to that?
--:-- Steve Baker: Well, no, of course not. And again, I've read hundreds of these charging documents and followed many of these trials myself. And this is the one thing that the Department of Justice is consistent about, is that they take all of these quotes out of context of the moment.
--:-- John Bickley: You've said that the quote was taken from a joke you made with a colleague. Can you explain that?
--:-- Steve Baker: The first comment obviously is a joke. When we recorded that, I was there with another writer that day, and we had driven up to D.C. for the event. Of course, not knowing what the event would ultimately become. But when the day was over and we're finally both back in our hotel room and we had gotten separated during the day and we, you know, poured a couple of adult beverages, turned on the camera and started a YouTube recording on that.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what about the comment about Nancy Pelosi's laptop? Was that also a joke?
--:-- Steve Baker: Now, we fully reviewed the charging documents, and they include a few quotes from you about the riot that I'd also like to give you a chance to respond to. One in which you said you 100% approved of what happened today, referring to January 6th. You also called Nancy Pelosi the B word and also said your one regret is you didn't grab a computer from her office.
--:-- Steve Baker: Well, no, of course not. And again, I've read hundreds of these charging documents and followed many of these trials myself. And this is the one thing that the Department of Justice is consistent about, is that they take all of these quotes out of context of the moment.
--:-- John Bickley: You've said that the Department of Justice is trying to send a message to journalists. Can you explain that?
--:-- Steve Baker: I think they're trying to send a message to anybody who is not comporting with the preferred narrative. And I, you know, look, I've written extensively about this very issue. I'll go back to something I said earlier. It's the scary words. You look at what happened to Stuart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keeper, sentenced to 18 years. He is not sentenced for his behavior. He never went into the Capitol. He did no violence. He carried no weapons. He did no chanting. He did no parading. He wasn't waving any flags.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Steve, you've also said that the FBI's involvement in these misdemeanor cases is unprecedented. Can you explain that?
--:-- Steve Baker: Well, they're not only doing that in January 6th related cases, which is something they have never done in the entire history of that agency and don't do it outside of January 6th cases even today. But what they do is the first thing is they will swat you at your home. I got by with that, probably because we have been so cooperative for so long, and probably because of the profile that I have working for the Blaze, they probably thought that wouldn't be prudent for them at this time.
--:-- John Bickley: You've also said that the laws are being applied in a way that they haven't been before. Can you explain that?
--:-- Steve Baker: One of the things that most people do not understand, unless you're in the business, is that a press badge or a press pass are working for a company of any size. It doesn't matter if it's The Washington Post or The New York Times. It doesn't matter whether you have a congressional gallery pass or not. You are not allowed any time to cross a restricted boundary, a police set up restricted line without the express permission of law enforcement.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Steve, you've also said that you believe the Department of Justice is selectively prosecuting journalists who work on the right side of the political spectrum. Can you explain that?
--:-- Steve Baker: And that is without them parading, demonstrating, picketing, using louder, abusive language of any kind. Yet they're being charged because of their associations. For instance, one journalist, a videographer from Pensacola, he was the first January 6th defendant arrested. He was arrested in Florida rather than arrested for the same four misdemeanors that they charging me with.
--:-- John Bickley: Steve, do you see any reasons for optimism about your case and other J6 cases going forward?
--:-- Steve Baker: So there's not a lot of room for optimism because you can't win in front of a D.C. jury or a D.C. judge. That's why, and the Department of Justice knows this, and that's why in over 1,300 cases and growing and accelerating right now at a rapid pace, they have not granted a single change of venue request.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Steve, thanks for joining us today and sharing your perspective on this important issue.
--:-- Steve Baker: Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Steve Baker, investigative journalist for The Blaze. This has been an extra edition of Morning Wire.
