--:-- Georgia Howe: A California man was apprehended near the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during an admitted assassination plot. Attempted murder charges have been filed against the suspect, who cited political motivations for his plans to kill the conservative justice.
--:-- John Bickley: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, June 9th, and this is Morning Wire. The January 6th committee makes its primetime debut this evening. What do the Democrat-led hearings hope to accomplish? And what should Americans expect from the made-for-television event?
--:-- Georgia Howe: And 90 young women, including several former Olympic gymnasts, are filing a billion-dollar lawsuit against the FBI over its handling of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case. We discuss the claims against the Bureau.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It took over 14 months for the FBI to contact me, despite my many requests to be interviewed by them. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This show is sponsored by Birch Gold. Have you considered what could happen in the stock market if our economy stalls out? Don't wait until it's too late to solidify some of your investment with gold from Birch Gold. Throughout history, gold has maintained its value better than any other investment in the world. Text WIRE to 989898 today for a free zero-obligation info kit on holding gold in a tax-sheltered retirement account. Again, text WIRE to 989898 and secure the gains you've made while you can.
--:-- Georgia Howe: New details have emerged about the assassination plot targeting Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh. Here with the latest on the thwarted attack and how lawmakers are responding is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So Cabot, a very scary situation. Walk us through the timeline here. What do we know so far?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We're still waiting on all the details, but according to an affidavit from the FBI, at around 1 a.m. Wednesday, two U.S. Marshals saw a man dressed in all black, carrying a suitcase and backpack, get out of a taxi cab in front of Justice Kavanaugh's home. Now, the man allegedly saw the two Marshals and then turned to walk back down the street. At that point, he placed a 911 call and told dispatchers that he'd come from California to kill Justice Kavanaugh.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Police arrived shortly afterwards and detained him and found that he was carrying a Glock handgun with two magazines and ammunition, a knife, pepper spray, zip ties, and other burglary tools, including a crowbar, hammer, and screwdrivers.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, what do we know about the suspect? Well, he's a 26-year-old California man who told authorities that he was upset about the court's intention to overturn Roe v. Wade, but chose Justice Kavanaugh to kill because he was angry about the Uvalde shooting and thought that Kavanaugh, quote, would side with Second Amendment decisions that would loosen gun control laws. That's according to the affidavit.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He told authorities that he'd been thinking of how to give his life purpose and after finding Kavanaugh's address online, bought a handgun with a plan of killing him and then killing himself.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Wow. The FBI is now handling the case and has since charged him with an attempt to murder a United States Supreme Court justice. Keep in mind, we haven't seen a truly violent incident like this at a justice's house since 1985 when someone fired a gun into the apartment of Justice Harry Blackmun. So obviously, this is a huge deal.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, this follows a growing number of demonstrations and protests at the home of some of these conservative justices. Does that play into this at all?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, definitely. After the Roe opinion leaked earlier this year, we did start seeing demonstrations at the home of justices, and there was a pretty stark partisan divide on whether or not that was appropriate.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Most on the right said that it was a dangerous precedent to allow protests at private residences of justices and also that it was just an inappropriate form of intimidation that they viewed as being aimed at swaying future court decisions. But many on the left viewed it differently. They said that it was appropriate as long as the demonstrations were peaceful.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The White House did tell the Daily Wire yesterday that, quote, President Biden condemns the actions of this individual in the strongest terms and is grateful to law enforcement for quickly taking him into custody. But while the president obviously denounced the incident there, there were still those who pushed back on him and other Democrats, saying that their rhetoric, at least in part, has contributed to the growing threats aimed at conservative court justices.
--:-- Georgia Howe: On that note, I talked to Daily Wire reporter Mary Margaret Olehan. She's been at the Supreme Court covering protests there and also documenting protests at justices' homes.
--:-- Mary Margaret Olehan: I've been covering abortion protests for a couple years now, but the protests since the Roe leak are unlike any I've ever seen. These ones are large and angry, and their rhetoric is increasingly threatening, vulgar, and violent.
--:-- Mary Margaret Olehan: And I've covered them demonstrating at the Supreme Court where they kind of aggressively knocked over, pushed and shoved pro-life activists out of the crowd. And I followed them to the justices' private homes where they yell expletive-filled chants. The environment is escalating. People are scared.
--:-- Mary Margaret Olehan: These protesters are getting increasingly worried that Roe v. Wade is going to be overturned. And they've been misled by the media. They've been misled by a lot of people. So they think that when Roe v. Wade is overturned, That's it. No more abortion in the United States. And so they're panicking.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So moving forward, where do things stand on those bills aimed at protecting justices? Back in May, the Department of Homeland Security issued a memo warning of increased threats against Supreme Court justices that was following the leaked road draft.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The Senate responded by quickly passing legislation which would have offered increased security to justices and their families and also granted Supreme Court police the ability to arrest those who interfered with the court's duties.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, even though the bill passed the Senate unanimously, it's currently stalled in the House because Speaker Nancy Pelosi has just kept it from being voted on. She told Fox that she thought law enforcement should handle the threats themselves on a case-by-case basis and that it wasn't necessary for Congress to intervene.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But as you can imagine, given what just happened, there's likely going to be a lot of pressure to get that bill passed.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right, and you can see why. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Absolutely.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips. Coming up, the January 6th commission hearing makes its way to primetime television.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You can get this show and all of the content you love wherever you are, all on the Daily Wire app. Even if you're not a Daily Wire member, you'll be the first to know what's trending with mobile notifications for the latest news, and you'll get content from all of your favorite Daily Wire shows. Download the Daily Wire app and keep up with the facts no matter where your day takes you.
--:-- Georgia Howe: On Thursday, the House Committee investigating the Capitol riot on January 6th, 2020, will take to the primetime airwaves for a hearing to showcase what they've discovered in their nearly year-long investigation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The committee, chaired by Democrat Congressman Benny Thompson, is composed of seven Democrats and two Republicans, though the latter were not appointed by GOP leadership, but rather by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Joining us to discuss the hearing is columnist David Marcus.
--:-- David Marcus: Morning, David. First, remind listeners how this committee was formed and why it's controversial.
--:-- David Marcus: So the timeline matters here. On July 1st of last year, Pelosi appointed eight members to the committee, including Republican Representative Liz Cheney, but did so without consulting GOP leadership. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was furious at the move and told members in his caucus that if any accepted a slot from Pelosi they would lose other committee assignments McCarthy then appointed five Republicans but Pelosi refused to seat two of them Representatives Jim Banks and Jim Jordan And at that point GOP leadership withdrew all five and refused to participate in the committee at all.
--:-- David Marcus: Another never-Trump Republican, Representative Adam Kinzinger, eventually also joined the committee.
--:-- Georgia Howe: How are committees generally formed? Is this a departure from the norm?
--:-- David Marcus: No, it absolutely was. I mean, in 230 years, this hasn't happened. As a rule, each party fills out committees as it sees fit. And Banks and Jordan, they're pretty stalwart Republicans. McCarthy did not assign controversial firebrands such as Matt Gaetz or Marjorie Taylor Green, as some thought he might.
--:-- David Marcus: But Pelosi said Banks and Jordan had made comments about the 2020 election that disqualified them. Importantly, in the week or so after Pelosi refused to seat them, And polling showed a sharp dip in confidence in the committee. So it's going to have to overcome that with its evidence.
--:-- David Marcus: And what about that? What kind of evidence can we expect to see during the hearing? And what is the committee trying to prove?
--:-- David Marcus: Well, I mean, they've amassed thousands of text messages, including from people close to Donald Trump. There's videos, witness testimony. Representative Raskin has promised that the committee can at least prove that Trump and his associates incited the riot. though that remains to be seen, obviously.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right. What is the committee's goal in terms of an end result to this process? Could criminal or other charges be brought against people connected to the riot?
--:-- David Marcus: It's unlikely. And of course, there are hundreds of trials ongoing for defendants who breached the Capitol. But part of the broader goal for Democrats, as well as maybe Cheney and Kinzinger, is to show the need for federal election reform, such as the voting bill that Biden had hoped to into law.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If they can show that, as Chairman Benny Thompson claims, we were close to losing our democracy, then that will be used to really push for greater federalizing of our elections.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And now we have learned that the committee hired a former ABC News TV producer to help craft this primetime event. How unique is that, this being primetime and heavily produced? Is this something that's often done?
--:-- David Marcus: No, no, it isn't. And of course, it's led to allegations from Republicans that this is all about politics rather than arriving at any truth.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Even NBC News correspondent Yamiche Alcindor said this week that the committee has to make people care more about January 6th than they do about inflation and baby formula. That's a heavy lift and may explain why they've brought in a producer.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'll also say I've heard some rumblings on the Hill about the legality of this. How is the producer being paid and what exactly are they being paid to do?
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, important questions.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What should listeners be watching for in the hearing? Are we expecting bombshell revelations?
--:-- David Marcus: Look, the committee is going to try to connect the speech Trump gave on January 6th to the storming of the Capitol. Trump is notorious for not texting much, so it remains to be seen if they can come close to doing that.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But more broadly, this is going to be about the poll numbers. So far, Americans have grown less and less worried about the riot. And the Democrats, plus the two Republicans on the committee, want to turn those polls around.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, we'll be watching. We'll see if other people tune in, too.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thank you for joining us today, David.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Dozens of gymnasts are seeking more than $1 billion in settlements from the FBI for failing to intervene when the agency first received sexual abuse allegations against Dr. Larry Nassar.
--:-- Georgia Howe: According to the gymnasts, FBI agents were aware but failed to step in for nearly a year after being notified that Nassar was abusing young girls Daily Wire investigative reporter Mairead Elordi is here with more details for us
--:-- Mairead Elordi: So Mairead tell us about this claim against the FBI.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Yeah, so this is a massive claim. About 90 women who say they were sexually assaulted by Nassar, including Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, are seeking damages from the FBI to the tune of $1 billion. Two other gold medalists, Ali Raisman and Michaela Maroney, are included in the claim as well.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Each plaintiff has asked for $50 million, according to their lawyers. They say the FBI's delay of nearly a year directly contributed to the continued abuse.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Here's what Ali Raisman had to say during the hearing. I felt pressured by the FBI to consent to Nassar's plea deal. The agent diminished the significance of my abuse. It made me feel my criminal case wasn't worth pursuing.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: And has the FBI defended the delay in action at all?
--:-- Mairead Elordi: The FBI declined to comment. However, the DOJ investigation did find the Bureau did fail to properly investigate. The DOJ inspector general said the FBI failed to open an investigation into the abuse claims after being informed and didn't even inform federal or state authorities in Michigan where Nassar practiced.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: According to the same investigation, in 2016, Los Angeles FBI agents opened an investigation into Nassar and interviewed several accusers, but they still neglected to inform Michigan law enforcement.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, remind us of the details of the Nassar case. I know he was accused of assaulting dozens of gymnasts under the premise of medical care, but there were other charges as well. What was he ultimately convicted for?
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Of course. So Nassar was convicted on child pornography charges in 2017. And in 2018, he pled guilty to 10 charges of sexual assault of minors, although his accusers far exceed that number.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Overall, Nassar has been accused of repeatedly assaulting at least 265 young women and girls. He's been sentenced to a combined at least 140 years in federal and state prison, effectively life behind bars without parole.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The testimony at the trial was extraordinary, with many of his accusers, including lawyer and former gymnast Rachel Denhollander, looking him right in the eyes and reminding him what he did to them under the pretense of medical care.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So what happens next with this claim against the FBI? So the FBI has six months to respond to this claim, known as a tort claim. If the FBI does not settle or denies the claim a lawsuit can be filed in federal court.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, have any of the women spoken out about this claim yet?
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Yes. Maggie Nichols, a national champion gymnast, said, quote, it is time for the FBI to be held accountable. Samantha Roy, a former University of Michigan gymnast, said that, quote, if the FBI had simply done its job, Nassar would have been stopped before he ever had the chance to abuse hundreds of girls, including me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, if it does go to trial, this is going to be a landmark case.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Maraid, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: Thanks, Georgia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire investigative reporter Mairead Elordi.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Another story we're tracking this week. Consumers are increasingly experiencing shrinkflation at the supermarket, with companies offering less product for the same price.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A box of honey bunches of oats went down from 14.5 ounces to 12 ounces. Angel Soft toilet paper downsized each roll by more than 100 sheets. and bounty paper towels have dropped from 165 sheets per roll to 147. Gatorade also shrunk its bottle size by four ounces.
--:-- 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 you stand with our mission, please consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
