--:-- Georgia Howe: This episode is brought to you by Black Rifle Coffee. Right now, you can get 20% off your order at BlackRifleCoffee.com with promo code WIRE. That's BlackRifleCoffee.com, promo code WIRE.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Wednesday, February 28th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- John Bickley: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he will step down from the top spot in the Republican Conference, a position he's held longer than any other person in Senate history.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Kentucky senator made the announcement from the Senate floor today.
--:-- John Bickley: To serve Kentucky in the Senate has been the honor of my life. To lead my Republican colleagues has been the highest privilege. But one of life's most underappreciated talents is to know when it's time to move on to life's next chapter.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The 82-year-old is regarded as one of the most influential lawmakers in Washington. An election to replace him as leader will occur in November. He'll stay on as a senator from Kentucky.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: In a closed-door deposition today, Hunter Biden faced questioning from members of two House committees after refusing to appear for months.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: During a prepared opening statement, Hunter Biden claimed he would end the inquiry into him and his father with the fact that he did not involve President Biden in his business.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The younger Biden said, not while I was a practicing lawyer, not in my investments or transactions, domestic or international, not as a board member and not as an artist. Never.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Hunter also criticized the investigation as a baseless and destructive political charade.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Republicans like Oversight Chairman James Comer however say they do have evidence disputing Hunter claims
--:-- Cabot Phillips: What was the Biden family business? That been a big question of this whole investigation
--:-- Georgia Howe: Biden family associates testified that Joe Biden was the brand President Biden has repeatedly lied to the American people that he never interacted with his son's associates.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But when Joe Biden was vice president, he spoke to his son's associates by speakerphone over 20 times. He dined with foreign oligarchs and a barisma executive and had coffee with his son's Chinese associate, all while he was vice president.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Attorneys for the president's son are also expected to submit a copy of his resume, something sources close to the legal team say will be used in an effort to argue that he was qualified for the work he was doing during the period of time being discussed.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Hunter's testimony comes one week after his uncle, James Biden, also testified.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Angry residents of Athens, Georgia, interrupted the mayor during a news briefing on public safety this morning.
--:-- Kelly Gertz: [Mayor's voice] You need to resign. Resign now. Resign. Resign now. Resign. You allowed this to happen, sir. You voted for this.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A reporter noted that even if Athens isn't officially considered a sanctuary, police found more than one illegal immigrant in Ibarra's Athens apartment.
--:-- Kelly Gertz: Ibarra had a previous run-in with the law after both he and his brother allegedly stole about $200 worth of goods from Walmart. Both remained free.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This also comes amid a push from Georgia House Republicans to require police and sheriff departments to identify arrest and detain undocumented immigrants for deportation.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: This episode is brought to you by NetSuite. Download NetSuite's popular KPI checklist designed to give you consistently excellent performance absolutely free at netsuite.com slash morningwire. That's netsuite.com slash morningwire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: An illegal alien with a previous record has been arrested in connection with the murder of a two-year-old in Maryland.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Police say 25-year-old Nielsen Noel Trejo Granados faces numerous charges, including first and second degree murder.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The toddler and his mother were shot as two groups of males opened fire at each other.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The two-year-old died a short time after, and the mother is expected to make a full recovery.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Four other individuals have been arrested in connection with the murder, including two minors.
--:-- Georgia Howe: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says Trejos Granados is an illegal alien from El Salvador and has had an order out for his deportation for well over a year.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But despite past arrests, he's remained in the U.S. due to sanctuary city policies.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trejo Granados had previously been arrested on charges related to theft.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Pope Francis visited a Rome hospital on Wednesday for diagnostic tests, but has now returned to the Vatican.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Pope was forced to cancel public events on Monday and this past weekend due to a bout of the flu.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The 87-year-old had several health problems over the past few years, including abdominal surgery in June and a respiratory infection in March, which was particularly worrisome since the pontiff had had part of his lung removed when he was a teenager.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Wildfires have engulfed much of the Texas panhandle, forcing evacuations from towns and in many cases cutting off power to various homes and businesses.
--:-- Georgia Howe: One fire north of Amarillo near Smokehouse Creek has burned through 500,000 acres and according to officials is 0% contained, though fire officials say their focus right now is saving lives.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We may end up having to help communities and families have closure with human remains detection canines that we take out in the field with us. And there may be a possibility that we may be putting those resources to work as well.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties and urged Texans to limit activities that could create sparks and take precautions.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Officials say strong winds, unseasonably high temperatures and dry grass are fueling the fires.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But they say rain could arrive tomorrow.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And the Supreme Court heard arguments today over whether or not the government can ban bump stocks, a semi-automatic rifle accessory that allows for more rapid gunfire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Both conservative and liberal-leaning justices seemed likely to interpret a century-old law banning machine guns to include bump stocks.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Justice Elena Kagan appeared doubtful that a weapon capable of firing a torrent of bullets could not be defined as a machine gun.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Meanwhile, Justice Neil Gorsuch said he understand why these items should be made illegal, but questioned whether the statute could be interpreted to include bump stocks.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We're dealing with a statute that was enacted in the 1930s. And through many administrations, the government took the position that these bump stocks are not machine guns. And then you adopted an interpretive rule, not even a legislative rule, saying otherwise, that would render between a quarter of a million and a half million people federal felons.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Those are your drive home updates this afternoon.
--:-- Georgia Howe: To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Sometimes Grays
