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--:-- John Bickley: New York City hosted four presidents on Thursday. The Democrats attended a star-studded fundraiser for Biden's presidential campaign, while former President Trump attended the wake of a slain police officer.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This should never be allowed. Things like this shouldn't take place, and to take place so often, it's an honor for me to be here. This is a great family, such a sad occasion.
--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, March 29th, and this is Morning Wire. Election lawfare escalates as a prominent Trump lawyer will be disbarred in California. Why are some now calling on red states to retaliate against Democrat attorneys? And the president of Mexico issues an ultimatum to the U.S. amid the ongoing border crisis. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We have the news you need to know. We'll see you next time. naturalcosmetics.com and use code WIRE for 25% off your first order. That's A-D-E-L naturalcosmetics.com with code WIRE.
--:-- John Bickley: On Thursday, four presidents, both current and former, descended on New York City for a pair of contrasting events. Here with the details of the big day in the Big Apple and President Obama's emerging presence in the Biden orbit is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Hey, Cabot. So a lot to get to here. Let's start with these dueling cross-town events yesterday.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah. So on Thursday, New York City played host to President Biden, as well as former presidents Trump, Clinton, and Obama. While the latter two joined Biden for a high-end fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall, Trump was there for a very different event, the wake of an NYPD officer killed during a routine traffic stop this week.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We'll start with the Democrat event, which the White House is calling, quote, the most successful political fundraiser in American history. That event reportedly brought in more than $25 million from the 5,000 or so folks who attended, including tech moguls, Wall Street executives, and even celebrities like Stephen Colbert, Queen Latifah, Lizzo, and more.
--:-- Georgia Howe: $250 got you in the door. $100,000 got you a photo op with all three presidents, while those shelling out a quarter or half a million dollars got to attend a VIP afterparty hosted by First Lady Jill Biden.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But the night was not without controversy. Ahead of the event, hundreds of rowdy anti-Israel protesters gathered outside the venue, where some clashed with police and blocked traffic, with chants of F Joe Biden and down with America.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You can hear some of the chaos here. Some of those protesters also made their way into the venue itself, disrupting the event multiple times.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: There was an insurrection. Shame on you, Joe Biden! Shame on you! Shame on you! You are fucking genocide of Palestine and you get blood on your hands
--:-- Georgia Howe: While the Trump campaign was quick to denounce the event as a quote gathering of three people responsible for death destruction and misery in the world there is no debating the magnitude of that haul. For context, last night's fundraiser brought in more money than the Trump campaign raised in the last month combined.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: A Biden campaign co-chair was quick to brag that, quote, unlike our opponent, every dollar we're raising is going to reach the voters who will decide this election. So a clear reference to Trump being forced to spend campaign funds on legal fees.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And it is quite the contrast. You've got Biden visiting NYC to rake in $25 million. And then Trump, whose numerous trips to the same city have involved court appearances that forced him to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and legal fees.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Trump and his team say that juxtaposition serves as yet another reminder of the unfair treatment he's received and also the two-tier justice system that's been rigged against him. They say the whole point of those trials is to drain him of campaign funds.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right, the lawfare argument there. Now, getting back to that fundraiser, the presence of Obama garnered a lot of attention for a number of reasons. Tell us about that.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, Biden's team was reportedly frustrated with Obama for his relative lack of involvement in the 2020 and 2022 elections, but that appears to be changing now. According to the New York times, Obama has been calling Biden on a regular basis to offer campaign advice.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He's also begun reaching out to Biden's campaign manager to strategize ahead of November. Last week, for example, the former president met with Biden at the White House to discuss the election and importantly, relay fears that Trump could well return to the White House as things currently stand.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So let's get to President Trump, who was also in the city yesterday for, as you said, a very different type of event.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, Trump made his way to the Big Apple to attend the wake of Jonathan Diller, the NYPD officer killed Monday by a career criminal with 21 prior arrests.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Trump has for years been critical of Democrat policies that he says allow violent criminals to avoid jail time and cited Diller's death as another tragic example. Here he is speaking outside of the wake.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What happened is such a sad, sad event, such a horrible thing. And it's happening all too often. And we're just not going to let it happen. We just can't 21 times arrested this thug. We have to do a lot of things differently because this is not working. This is happening too often.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, it tends in a tragic situation there. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
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--:-- John Bickley: This week, John Eastman, a former attorney for Donald Trump, was found liable by a California state bar court judge for actions he took after the 2020 elections and is set to be disbarred and lose his license to practice law. The decision has ignited a firestorm in legal circles, as many argue that the move to disbar Eastman is politically driven and potentially damaging to the overall rule of law in our country.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here to discuss the case is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
--:-- David Marcus: Hey, Dave. So first what did the judge find Eastman liable for here that rose to such a level that he should lose his license?
--:-- John Bickley: Morning John A judge Yvette Rowland found that Eastman knew or at least should have known that he was presenting arguments and evidence to overturn the results of the 2020 election that were unfactual or untruthful.
--:-- David Marcus: Eastman was found liable for 10 of 11 charges against him, including misleading courts, making false statements, plotting with Trump to stop the transfer of power and the somewhat vague accusation of moral turpitude. He can appeal the decision, but as of now, the former law school dean is set to lose his legal license, which, while short of a criminal prosecution which Eastman also faces in Georgia, is the most severe penalty this court could impose.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Critics have attacked the decision saying that Eastman was simply doing his job as a lawyer and that this is really about Trump in the end. What is the crux of their argument here?
--:-- David Marcus: Well, what makes the case so controversial is that lawyers are given very wide latitude in advancing the interests of their clients. Critics of this disbarment argue that even if Eastman's legal arguments, including the idea that then-Vice President Mike Pence could reject the certification of the election or that states could assign new pro-Trump slates of electors, were novel and untested, that doesn't make advancing such arguments illegal, unethical, or worthy of disbarment and losing one's livelihood.
--:-- Georgia Howe: As America First Legal's Stephen Miller put it, quote, the left has weaponized the legal profession into an instrument of unbridled political vengeance against its perceived enemies in pursuit of absolute power, end quote.
--:-- David Marcus: For his part, Eastman still maintains that his legal theories about 2020 are perfectly legitimate. And in fact, Judge Rowland cited his lack of remorse as part of the reason for the harsh punishment, which itself has raised some eyebrows.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So he's standing by his pursuit of these legal tactics, and that's part of the judge's rationale for punishing him.
--:-- David Marcus: Exactly. Is there a fear that these kinds of disbarments could have a chilling effect on lawyers who represent politically unpopular clients? That's something that really is core to the profession.
--:-- John Bickley: Yes. As Eastman's attorneys point out, this loss of his ability to practice law and make a living comes just as he's footing major legal bills as a co-defendant along with Trump and others in Fulton County DA Fannie Willis' election interference case in Georgia.
--:-- David Marcus: Many people think this sends a message that if you work for Trump or other controversial figures, you will be put under an extreme amount of legal and professional scrutiny. This could certainly lead attorneys to avoid such clients or to determine that if they do take them on, they will have less latitude in making arguments as fulsome as they could for other clients.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It is a real concern. Right. In fact, we've seen some on the right call for officials to engage in this kind of lawfare, as they describe it, against officials on the left. Could this be going both ways soon?
--:-- David Marcus: Yes, I mentioned Fannie Willis. There are certainly calls for her to face disbarment along with her boyfriend and lead prosecutor, Nathan Wade. And the Georgia legislature is investigating her Trump prosecution right now.
--:-- Georgia Howe: There's a feeling among some on the right that what is good for the goose is good for the gander, and that if Democrats or progressives don't also suffer the consequences of this kind of overreach, then it'll only continue.
--:-- David Marcus: This is a trend in the American legal system that could get very ugly and contentious very fast, and therefore, it's worth keeping a shark lie on.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, no doubt. The mutually assured destruction argument also plays well here.
--:-- David Marcus: Yes, it does.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Dave, thanks for joining us.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: Mexico's president offered President Biden a deal on immigration enforcement in a recent appearance on 60 Minutes. His offer agreed to the terms and Mexico will restrict illegal immigration. Don agree and Mexico won help Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about the terms of the deal and what else Mexico president had to say about the drugs cartels and immigration.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So, Tim, first off what are the terms of this controversial deal?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right. It sounded more like an ultimatum when President Andres Manuel López Obrador offered it. AMLO, as the president is known, offered to help with illegal immigration if the U.S. will agree to four proposals.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Commit $20 billion a year in aid to Latin America and the Caribbean. lift sanctions on Venezuela, lift the embargo on Cuba, and legalize millions of Mexican citizens living in the U.S.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's Amlo. If they don't do the things that you've said need to be done, then what? The flow of migrants will continue.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Your critics have said what you're doing and what you're asking for to help secure the border is diplomatic blackmail. What do you say?
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm speaking frankly. We have to say things as they are, and I always say what I feel. So if we can take AMLO at his word, Biden shouldn't expect too much help from our southern neighbor. Unless, of course, the White House and Congress give in to AMLO's demands.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Right, and those are pretty steep demands. Now, does AMLO intend to address the drug trafficking problem? His answers on that didn't seem encouraging.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He actually says the amount of blame heaped on Mexico for the fentanyl epidemic is unfair. Fentanyl is produced in the United States, in Canada, and in Mexico. And the chemical precursors come from Asia.
--:-- Tim Pierce: You know why we don't have the drug consumption that you have in the United States? Because we have customs, traditions, and we don't have the problem of the disintegration of the family.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, what AMLO didn't say here is that Mexican drug cartels are effectively partners with China's regime in a bid to flood the U.S. with synthetic drugs.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here's Brookings Institute expert Vanda Felbab-Brown testifying to Congress last week. Mexico and China are key actors in whose collaboration is necessary for controlling supply. Yet the United States has found it challenging and difficult to have meaningful cooperation with either country.
--:-- Georgia Howe: China is the principal source of precursor chemicals today, from which Mexican cartels are synthesizing fentanyl in Mexico and then smuggling it to the United States. In addition to precursor chemicals, China supplies presses that are used to form the fentanyl into pills that look like common drugs such as Adderall or Vicodin.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And the cartels use Chinese banks to launder the money made from the drug trade. Well, there's a very deep international network all dedicated to flooding the U.S. with lethal drugs, which, of course, is impacted by immigration.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Peter Schweitzer recently did an interview with us about that. So what is the Biden administration's plan to fix this? That's up in the air.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Last month, the White House considered proposals to limit immigration, such as more restrictions on asylum and other actions that he could take unilaterally. But nothing from the administration has materialized.
--:-- Georgia Howe: According to a recent report in Politico, the White House has relaxed on addressing the border crisis because numbers have ticked down since the start of the year.
--:-- Tim Pierce: As you noted at the top, the outlet reports that Biden is even considering expanding amnesty for immigrants going through deportation proceedings and granting them permanent residence in the U.S., again, unilaterally.
--:-- Georgia Howe: On top of that, the White House reportedly thinks it can win a messaging battle over border funding. Republicans in Congress have opposed budget items from the White House on that because they tend to focus more on processing capacity instead of strengthening border security.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, according to polling, this is a top issue for Americans and definitely not one that the president is winning on.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me.
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