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--:-- Host John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire. I'm John Bickley, editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire, and I'm joined by Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, August 2nd.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- Host John Bickley: A federal grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump for his alleged efforts to overturn the election. What are the new charges, and why are some calling this Trump's most perilous case yet?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Allegations of Biden family corruption have ratcheted up after explosive testimony by Devin Archer. There's a lot of smoke, and when there's smoke, there's fire. We just heard testimony today that Joe Biden had lied to the American people. We discussed the two parties' dueling takes on the testimony and its bombshell claims.
--:-- Host John Bickley: And as millions of students gear up for the fall semester, over 100 colleges and universities still require COVID-19 vaccination. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned.
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--:-- Host John Bickley: Former President Donald Trump is under his third indictment in just four months, this time from a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. The grand jury voted on Tuesday to charge the former president with crimes related to the 2020 election and January 6th.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Hi, I'm Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce. So as George has said, this is related to January 6th and Trump's handling of the 2020 election. I should note off the top that Trump is not charged with seditious conspiracy or insurrection, which could have theoretically prevented Trump from running for president.
--:-- Host John Bickley: The indictment accuses Trump of three conspiracy charges and one obstruction charge, all connected to what the indictment says is Trump's attempt to illegally overturn the results of the election.
--:-- Tim Pierce: On the conspiracy counts, he's charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. through corrupt means, conspiracy to interfere with Congress on January 6th, and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one's vote counted.
--:-- Host John Bickley: The obstruction charge covers actions Trump took between November 3rd and January 6th to allegedly interfere in the election, and that culminated in the riot at the Capitol.
--:-- Tim Pierce: At least six co-conspirators are referenced in the indictment, and it covers specific actions Trump and his team took across five battleground states, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
--:-- [Audio clip of special counsel Jack Smith]
--:-- Jack Smith: The attack on our nation's capital on January 6th, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies. Lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government, the nation's process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Jonathan Turley, a George Washington law professor, has been following this case closely. Professor Turley, what's your take on the indictment?
--:-- Jonathan Turley: I am really quite astonished by much of this indictment so far. It states the president spent months spreading false rumors and allegations of election irregularities. Really is that a criminal issue? I mean, is that the basis of this conspiracy? It seems to me rather loose at the joints.
--:-- Host John Bickley: So the central claim here is that Trump and his allies took action to overturn the results based on what they supposedly knew were lies about the election being stolen. How does Smith back up that claim?
--:-- Tim Pierce: The indictment repeatedly claims that Trump and his co-conspirators either were told directly by sources that their election fraud claims were false or that they simply didn't have the hard evidence of it before taking action.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Trump has responded to the indictment, accusing the administration of weaponizing the Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 presidential election.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The statement reads, "The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian dictatorial regimes."
--:-- Host John Bickley: The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkin, an Obama appointee who has served on the D.C. District Court since 2014.
--:-- Tim Pierce: She's been involved in J6 cases before. She's previously denied Trump's plea to withhold records from the House January 6th committee. She also has a reputation as the harshest judge on J6 defendants, often sentencing them to longer or more severe sentences than the prosecution was seeking.
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--:-- Host John Bickley: Allegations of Biden family corruption have ratcheted up after explosive testimony by Devin Archer. There's a lot of smoke, and when there's smoke, there's fire.
--:-- David Marcus: Morning. On Tuesday, Republicans were doing something of a victory lap after the explosive testimony and really highlighting how far the goalposts have moved in regard to Joe Biden's claims about his son's business dealings from he never discussed his business at all to, yes, he talked directly to Hunter's business partners, but it was just pleasantries.
--:-- Host John Bickley: But what got almost as much attention and was something of a surprise on Monday was the degree of detail Archer gave about Burisma, basically confirming, according to reports, that the Ukrainian gas company told Hunter to exert pressure on, quote, D.C. to get a prosecutor fired, then lo and behold, not only did Joe Biden get him fired, he bragged about it on video.
--:-- David Marcus: Now, look, I said, leave it in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you're not getting the money. Oh, son of a. You're fired.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Daily Wire contributor David Marcus, thanks for joining us.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
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--:-- Host John Bickley: As students approach a new academic year, more than 100 colleges and universities will still enforce COVID vaccine mandates.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Hey, Georgia. A report from a group called No College Mandates listed 104 different colleges and universities that are still requiring students and sometimes staff and faculty to show proof of their COVID vaccination before attending or working at the school.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Some of the schools on the list also require follow-up COVID booster shots.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: And where specifically are we seeing these mandates? Well, it might not be surprising to people that of all the schools evaluated, the state with the most mandates was California. New York and Pennsylvania had a lot of schools on the list as well, but it's not just schools from the coast.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.
