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--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Tuesday, April 4th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Former President Donald Trump arrived at Manhattan courthouse Tuesday afternoon, and he was immediately placed under arrest by New York City police ahead of his arraignment in court following last week's indictment.
--:-- John Bickley: The president was not placed in handcuffs and did not have his mugshot taken. He pleaded not guilty on his own behalf. The president's legal team has requested a change of venue to Staten Island for the trial.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The streets of Lower Manhattan buzzed with activity today ahead of former President Donald Trump's arraignment. Daily Wire reporter Brandon Dray reports.
--:-- Brandon Dray: A group of Trump supporters and counter-protesters gathered and in some cases clashed outside the Lower Manhattan courthouse this morning. Journalists had been lined up outside the building since Monday night There was heavy law enforcement presence and much of the area was closed off Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg who was bringing the case against Trump arrived at the courthouse prior to much of the activity.
--:-- Brandon Dray: Two high-profile Republican members of Congress, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and New York Representative George Santos, made public appearances to voice their support for Trump.
--:-- Marjorie Taylor Greene: To the Mayor Adams, as you can see, I'm sitting here peacefully protesting, But you called me out by name while you allow crime in your street.
--:-- George Santos: [unidentified speaker responds]
--:-- Marjorie Taylor Greene: [unidentified speaker responds]
--:-- Brandon Dray: New York Democratic Congressman Jamal Brown was also on the scene. Do your freaking job, Marjorie Taylor Greene. You don't need to be in New York City talking that nonsense. Go back to your district.
--:-- Jamal Brown: [unidentified speaker responds]
--:-- John Bickley: Television cameras will not be allowed inside the courtroom for the historic occasion.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Three Democrat lawmakers in Tennessee could lose their jobs as a result of behavior at a recent protest inside the Tennessee Statehouse. Resolutions of expulsion were filed Monday against Representatives Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson after they led chants from the House floor with protesters in the gallery last Thursday.
--:-- John Bickley: The announcement of the resolution sparked outrage among those watching in the gallery, leading the House Speaker to call for the gallery to be cleared. During the incident, lawmakers, including Jones and Republican Justin Lafferty, engaged in a confrontation on the House floor Yesterday House Speaker Cameron Sexton confirmed that the three lawmakers had been stripped of their committee assignments and said that more punishments could be on the way
--:-- Georgia Howe: Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan's ex-chief of staff, who has been on the run for three weeks after failing to appear at a trial for wire fraud and embezzlement charges, died after he was apprehended Monday by law enforcement in Knoxville, Tennessee.
--:-- John Bickley: Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce joins us now with details.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Roy McGrath, Hogan's former top aide, suffered a gunshot wound and later died of the injury Monday night, according to his lawyer Joseph Murtha. The FBI said an agent-involved shooting was under review but gave no further details. Murtha called it a tragic ending to three weeks of uncertainty. He added that Roy never wavered about his innocence.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Americans seeking to renew their passports ahead of their planned summer travel are experiencing shockingly long wait times. Here with more is Daily Wire reporter Tim Meads.
--:-- Tim Meads: It's currently taking the State Department between 10 and 13 weeks to process routine passport applications. Expedited applications are currently taking between seven and nine weeks. The Bureau of Consular Affairs warned that the State Department may also take as many as two weeks to receive mailed applications and another two weeks for the completed passport to be mailed back to the holder. The government is blaming pent demand following COVID lockdowns and restricted travel for the delays
--:-- John Bickley: Google workers will lose access to their company fitness classes micro and other famous perks as the company cuts costs amid efforts to increase profitability. Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips has more.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Google CEO Sundar Pichai had already informed the company earlier this year that some 12,000 positions would be eliminated. But a recent internal memo sent to Google employees noted that the, quote, challenging economic environment would now necessitate changes to the company's cost structure. Even as those changes will not, quote, be visible to most employees, the self-proclaimed industry-leading perks, benefits, and office amenities at Google will be scaled back to reduce expenses.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Google is just the latest tech company to make changes to its operating structure in an attempt to reduce costs.
--:-- John Bickley: A Virginia elementary school teacher who was recently shot and wounded by her six-year-old student is seeking $40 million in damages from school officials. The lawsuit filed on Monday names the school board, the former superintendent, the principal, and the assistant principal as defendants.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Abby Zwirner, the Newport News first grade teacher who was shot, is accusing school officials of gross negligence after they ignored her multiple warnings that day about the child's violent mood.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, those are your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day. Listen to our latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
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--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
