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--:-- Georgia Howe: A Georgia grand jury has indicted President Trump and 18 others for their alleged efforts to overturn the state's 2020 election results. I am giving the defendants the opportunity to voluntarily surrender no later than noon on Friday, the 25th day of August 2023. What are the specific charges and what's next for the former president in his latest legal battle?
--:-- John Bickley: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, August 15th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Rampant crime in California is causing problems up and down the state, from employees being told to work from home for their safety to retail stores being ransacked. It's just really, really shameful that we're allowing this as a society and as a country. And our state. We need to do something.
--:-- John Bickley: And they're calling it the working class anthem. Lord knows they all just want to have total control.
--:-- Georgia Howe: How did this unknown artist end up with the most listened to song in the world? Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: The fourth indictment of former President Trump was brought on Monday by a district attorney in Georgia. Fulton County DA Fannie Willis says Trump and his allies are guilty of racketeering in connection with his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to walk us through the latest indictment against Trump.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Hi, Georgia. So dozens of charges brought here. First, what exactly is Trump accused of?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump is accused of a host of felonies, including crimes related to false statements, solicitation of a public official to commit a crime, and conspiracy to impersonate a public official. But the biggest charge is what's known as RICO or a racketeering charge.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The RICO law was designed to be used in court cases against mob bosses and other criminal organizations. It's a vehicle for prosecutors to tie together a bunch of separate schemes into one narrative in one trial.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's the district attorney announcing the charges late Monday night.
--:-- [Audio clip of Fannie Willis plays]
--:-- Tim Pierce: The indictment alleges that rather than abide by Georgia's legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia's presidential election result. Willis also said in that press conference that RICO convictions mean the defendant will serve time. The penalty under the statute can be as high as 20 years in prison.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right, so steep penalty there. Now, Trump isn't the only person named in this indictment. There are, in fact, nearly 20 others. What can you tell us about who else was charged?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Willis has charged 18 others alongside Trump with being part of an alleged criminal enterprise. The indictments target Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis and others. Each are charged with various counts from a list of dozens of charges.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Morning Wire spoke to former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy about the indictment. Here's how he explained the RICO aspect of the case.
--:-- [Audio clip of Andrew McCarthy plays]
--:-- Tim Pierce: I imagine what she's thinking is that she proves that the enterprise has an overarching plan to undo the result of the election, and it goes about that plan through various different schemes. Georgia's RICO law is much broader than the federal version. Willis is considered an expert on it since she used it in 2015 to successfully prosecute a group of public school administrators. Her office has charged it multiple times since she became DA in 2021
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right Now taking a step back this is the final of the expected indictments against Trump after District Attorney Bragg indictment in New York and then Special Counsel Smith indictments in Florida and D How does this latest indictment stack up as far as Trump's legal exposure?
--:-- Tim Pierce: It's a good question. We asked McCarthy that, too, and he broke it up into two categories. The strongest legal case against Trump, according to McCarthy, is the classified documents case Smith charged in Florida because it's more straightforward in terms of charges and evidence. But he said the Willis case in Georgia has the most potential to stick with Trump in the future.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Even though that may be a more difficult case than, say, the Mar-a-Lago case, the important difference here is a president is not able to pardon state criminal activity. So if Fannie Willis can get him convicted in Georgia, there's nothing a president of the United States can do about that. That's a state law crime. it would be a state law conviction and it would stand.
--:-- Tim Pierce: I should also note that in Georgia, the governor does not have the power to pardon or commute sentences either.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Before the indictment was actually announced, the charges against Trump appeared to leak online from the Fulton County Court's website. Will that leak impact the case at all?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Not likely, but it also doesn't instill a lot of confidence in Willis's office. Fulton County includes a major metro area with Atlanta, but Willis's office lacks a lot of experience with big cases. It's the kind of experience that gives prosecutions like Smith being run through the Department of Justice an advantage over relatively small county offices like Willis's.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump's attorneys went right after Willis's office over the flub, though. Trump's legal team said in a statement, quote, this is emblematic of the pervasive and glaring constitutional violations which have plagued this case from its very inception.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Willis was asked about it in a press conference and denied any responsibility for it. I am not an expert on clerks' duties or even administrative duties. I wouldn't know how to work that system, and so I'm not going to speculate.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump's team has been quick to respond here. How has he reacted to this indictment so far?
--:-- Tim Pierce: He's calling it election interference and an attack on his First Amendment rights. His campaign put out a statement Monday evening saying Willis, quote, could have brought this two and a half years ago, yet chose to indict him during the campaign.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He went on to say, quote, the legal double standard set against President Trump must end, calling Willis part of the crooked Biden cartel that attacks Republicans while going soft on its allies.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Lots of charges to weed through here. We'll be presenting more on this case and the others in the days to come.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Great to be on.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Coming up, San Francisco's safety concerns affect government employees. Safety concerns in the city of San Francisco have prompted some U.S. agencies there to instruct employees to stay home and work remotely. Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraid Elordi is here with the details.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Hi, Georgia. Yes, the Department of Health and Human Services told hundreds of employees at the office building in downtown San Francisco to work from home if they can because of crime around the building.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In an August 4th memo, an HHS official said that in light of the conditions at the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in San Francisco, employees should maximize the use of telework for the foreseeable future.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So this is in response to the conditions outside of this one specific building?
--:-- Maraid Elordi: One of San Francisco's most prolific open-air drug markets operates directly outside the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building. According to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle, addicts often hang out and get high on the federal building's concrete benches.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In June the U Attorney Office charged two men with attempting to deal drugs in full view of the federal building surveillance cameras One of the men was in possession of a gun when he was arrested and may have fired a gun at someone near the building months earlier Congressman Kevin Kiley who represents California in the House, reacted to the HHS memo on Sunday, saying San Francisco is where failed policies, radical politics, and public corruption are in their most advanced stage.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So what are the latest numbers on crime in San Francisco?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Murders in San Francisco are up 20 percent, with 35 murders so far this year. Robberies are up 14 percent to 1,600 robberies so far. Car thefts are up 13 percent to a little over 4,000 thefts.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Meanwhile, San Francisco's homelessness and drug crises are still raging, although overdose deaths appear to have peaked in 2020.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Like other West Coast cities, San Francisco has also seen a rise in smash-and-grab robberies. These types of crimes are traumatizing for the community and can result in massive losses for business owners.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: On Tuesday, at least 30 thieves robbed a Yves Saint Laurent store at a Glendale mall just north of Los Angeles in broad daylight. They were able to steal about $300,000 worth of merchandise in just minutes, according to police.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And just this weekend, a mob of nearly 50 people in hoodies and masks stole up to $100,000 in luxury merchandise from a Nordstrom in Los Angeles. They even attacked security guards with bear mace.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Here's how one shopper reacted to the robbery.
--:-- [Audio clip of a shopper plays]
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm disgusted. I can't believe we're allowing this day in, day out. I like to come here and seeing this, it makes me not want to come here.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Organized retail theft like these incidents increased by about 27 percent in 2021, according to the National Retail Federation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But theft is just a symptom of the larger crime problem in California cities. So are locals fed up with this by now? How are they responding?
--:-- Maraid Elordi: There's a huge amount of frustration over this, not just in San Francisco, but throughout California. In Los Angeles, support for progressive district attorney George Gascon has significantly diminished. Even former supporters of the LADA now say his policies are ruining California.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Gascon's support of Proposition 47, which reduces several felony crimes to misdemeanors, is also contributing to the lawlessness, according to Deputy District Attorney John Lewin.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Well, Gascon narrowly escaped a recall just last year, so it seems like Californians are not quite ready to quit these policies, but may be close.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Maureen, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Thanks, Georgia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A country ballad from a previously unknown Virginia man has hiked its way all the way to the top of the music charts. The song Richmond, North of Richmond, has racked up tens of millions of views across multiple social media platforms in just a few days. Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham is here now to tell us a little more about Oliver Anthony and his blue collar anthem.
--:-- Megan Basham: So, Megan, the artist at the top of the iTunes charts today is just a regular guy. Who is he and how did that happen?
--:-- Georgia Howe: So, Oliver Anthony was a total unknown before this. He's a farmer and a factory worker from the small town of Farmville, Virginia. And he lives there with his three dogs on 90 acres. So, kind of fits with the music he sings.
--:-- Megan Basham: He started writing songs two years ago during a difficult period where he said he, and I'm quoting here, wasted a lot of nights getting high and getting drunk.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, a small YouTube channel, Radio WV, that is run by two college students and focuses on Appalachian music, asked him to record the song so they could post it.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, then a guy named Chase Steely, a Twitter user whose account highlights Southern culture and history, well, he posted it to Twitter, or I guess as we're calling it now, X, with a single word, banger.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And apparently the rest of the world agreed It went insanely viral with country star John Rich and Joe Rogan a number of others sharing it on their social media accounts And the next thing you know Rich Men North of Richmond is number one on iTunes and seven other songs from Anthony are also in the top 15.
--:-- Megan Basham: Wow, so eight of the top 15. That's stunning.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, obviously, part of his success is the political message of that song. Tell us a little bit about that.
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah, so in another video before the song went viral, Anthony said that he considers himself dead center politically. But he elaborated that it's because he believes both parties, quote, serve the same master.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I think there's no question that there's an anger at the ruling class that is very palpable in Anthony's voice and lyrics. And that that is what people are really responding to.
--:-- Megan Basham: So the rich men north of Richmond are obviously D.C. lawmakers and bureaucrats. And the song references their desire to control ordinary Americans that they don't help or care about, particularly struggling working class men.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The song, for instance, mentions the epidemic of suicide among young men. And a lot of comments on YouTube are from people who say that that message resonated with them in a personal way.
--:-- Megan Basham: For instance, a 37-year-old contractor and a 39-year-old Iraq war vet both said that the song made them tear up because they feel like they work hard and the country doesn't care about them.
--:-- Georgia Howe: His first concert in North Carolina this weekend that saw massive crowds, by the way, Anthony spoke to that pain and anger with a reading from Psalm 137.
--:-- Megan Basham: The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them. But the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming. Though the Lord's enemies are like the flowers in the field, they will be consumed and they will go up and smoke.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, I've also seen, though, a couple of pop culture outlets have speculated that Anthony's success might actually be sort of astroturf. They're saying it's just a little bit too on the nose. Do we know if he has any kind of allies in the media world that got this thing out?
--:-- Megan Basham: You know, I saw some of that as well. and I reached out to Chase Steely, who again was the guy who sent the video viral on Twitter. And he says he listens to Radio WV all the time and thought that what he was posting was just going to be a throwaway tweet.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I do happen to follow Chase and I can attest that he posts music videos like that all the time.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, he was shocked the next morning when he got up and saw that the video was racking up millions of views. He told me he doesn't know anyone in the music business. No one paid him to boost Anthony. He says he's just a normal guy with impeccable taste.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, a pretty life-changing turn of events for Oliver.
--:-- Megan Basham: Anytime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Another story we're tracking this week, the search and rescue operation in Maui continues. As crews continue to search the devastated island, the state's governor says the death toll from the once-in-a-century wildfire, now at 96, could climb well into the hundreds with 1,300 Hawaiians still missing.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.
