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--:-- Georgia Howe: This episode is brought to you by Birch Gold Group. Diversify your savings with Birch Gold. Their experts can help turn your 401k into a 401k in gold. Just text WIRE to 989898 today.
--:-- John Bickley: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Wednesday, February 21st, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Biden administration announced this morning that it is unilaterally canceling $1.2 billion in student loan debt. The move is expected to affect at least 150,000 borrowers.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The White House says these borrowers specifically meet the qualifications of having taken out loans of $12,000 or less and making regular payments on them for the last decade or more.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A White House fact sheet also says that, for every $1,000 borrowed above $12,000, a borrower can receive forgiveness after an additional year of payments.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Recipients of the relief are expected to be emailed a message from President Biden saying, quote, "I hope this relief gives you a little more breathing room."
--:-- Georgia Howe: According to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, the plan brings the total amount of student debt canceled by the Biden administration to nearly $138 billion for nearly 3.9 million borrowers.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Hunter Biden's attorneys have filed nine motions to dismiss tax charges against their client. The charges were filed by special counsel David Weiss in a California federal court last year.
--:-- Abby Lowell: Lawyers representing Hunter also claimed that prosecutors mistook a picture of sawdust for cocaine which was used as evidence.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Court filings from Biden's legal team argue that he was selectively targeted for prosecution and that the statute of limitations has expired regarding several of the tax-related charges.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The defense attorneys took aim at Special Counsel Weiss and said his appointment violates the Appropriations Clause because his investigation was not approved by Congress.
--:-- John Bickley: Last month, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to nine tax-related charges that claimed he spent millions living extravagantly instead of paying taxes.
--:-- Georgia Howe: President Biden's brother testified behind closed doors today as part of the Biden impeachment inquiry.
--:-- James Biden: [in a statement] The president was not involved in any of my business ventures.
--:-- Georgia Howe: James and his business dealings have been a key area of focus for House Republicans who are investigating whether President Biden was involved with his brother's business transactions or used his influence to their benefit.
--:-- Jim Jordan: [in a statement] We will likely focus on things that happened before Joe Biden was president. Specifically relative to James Biden's involvement with CEFC, AmeriCorps, there was a big story about that.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's like that deal doesn't get finalized until Joe Biden shows up at the Four Seasons and gives a short presentation to all the people there, the eight Chinese executives at CEFC and Hunter Biden and his business partners.
--:-- John Bickley: President Biden's son Hunter will testify before the same committees next week.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This episode is brought to you by GDefy Shoes. Experience the miracle that is GDefy. Use code wire for $30 off orders of $150 or more at GDefy.com. That's G-D-E-F-Y.com with promo code wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A Los Angeles woman and dual Russian citizen has been detained by Russian authorities after raising funds for Ukraine.
--:-- John Kirby: Russian authorities accused 33-year-old Ksenia Karolina of treason due to her fundraising.
--:-- Georgia Howe: U.S. officials confirmed the identity of the Russian-American ballerina after the Russian Federal Security Service claimed they had detained an unnamed dual Russian-American citizen.
--:-- John Kirby: The White House says it's working to secure consular access.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's United States National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby warning other Americans in Russia. If you're a U.S. citizen, including a dual national, residing in or traveling in Russia, you ought to leave right now if you can. Just depart immediately.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Russian authorities allege that the money collected was spent on medicine, equipment, weapons and ammunition in the Ukrainian war effort, though no other details nor a description of any evidence were released.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The U.S. said today that the United Nations top court should hold off on issuing an opinion saying Israel should immediately and unconditionally withdraw from territories sought for a Palestinian state.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This comes a day after the U.S. vetoed a U.N. resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Washington instead put forth a rival draft resolution that called for a temporary pause in fighting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Inflation may be easing, but high food prices are here to stay. Americans are spending more than 11% of their disposable income on food. These are the highest prices in three decades.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Eating out at a restaurant will cost you about 5% more and a grocery trip will also be more expensive than just a year ago.
--:-- Georgia Howe: According to the Wall Street Journal, several restaurant chains, including Denny's and Wendy's, say they're serving fewer customers, and large food producing companies like Hershey's and Kraft say their sales are also down.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Same with soda and snack giant PepsiCo, which raised their prices every quarter over the past two years. They now say customers are cutting back and sales have decreased.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And who is on Donald Trump's vice presidential shortlist? In a town hall event in South Carolina last night, the former president confirmed a few high-profile names.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Those included South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump called them all solid choices. He also threw out a few surprising names, including Florida Congressman Byron Donalds and former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump did not provide a timeline for his announcement.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Those are your drive home updates this afternoon. 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.
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