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--:-- John Bickley: The latest set of Twitter files reveal how the platform suppressed opinions concerning COVID-19. One of the things that is most disturbing, quite frankly, is that when these files came out, the FBI attacked many of us and called all of us collectively conspiracy theorists. What methods did the social media company use and how heavily was the federal government involved? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, December 29th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The celebrity-funded bail project is being sued by a waiter who said he was shot seven times by a repeat offender freed by the group just days earlier. Two shots in the back, one also punctured the lung and then one punctured the stomach. And demand for employees in a tight labor market is leading some companies to drop their college degree requirements. We'll tell you which companies are saying no degree necessary. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: The latest revelations from internal Twitter records show that the White House pressured the platform to suppress COVID opinions that conflicted with government messaging. Meanwhile, a new poll shows that a majority of voters want an investigation into the FBI's efforts to censor speech on social media. Here to catch us up on the latest news from the Twitter files is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Megan Basham: So, Megan, previously you've reported that the FBI and DOJ pressured Twitter execs to censor news concerning Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings and other election-related content. But these latest drops are now centered on COVID. What do they show?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, what they show is a similar pattern, but this time it appeared to be the White House itself that was asking for Twitter to censor posts that were related to the pandemic. So these documents show this was happening under both President Trump and President Biden. According to one Twitter employee, the Trump administration wanted help combating misinformation about runs on grocery stores. Now, the Biden administration pushed for anti-vaxxer, that was their term, accounts to be suppressed. They specifically asked, for example, why independent journalist Alex Berenson hadn't been banned from the platform immediately after he said this about the COVID vaccine. And I'm just gonna quote, it does not stop infection or transmission. Don't think of it as a vaccine.
--:-- Megan Basham: So what's interesting to note there is that in both the Trump and Biden cases, the information that they were hoping to see suppressed was actually true. Now, as that pressure was ramping up from the Biden White House, Twitter began censoring medical opinions from some very qualified voices like Ivy League doctors and epidemiologists who were challenging things like the necessity for kids to get the jab And one more key point on this, the email suggests that Twitter executives did feel coerced. To give you one example, one Twitter employee told another, quote, mercifully we had answers when they were discussing the White House's questions about why they weren't suppressing some posts or users.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, what do we know at this point about other social media companies? Was the FBI doing the same thing across platforms?
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah, it appears so. So some internal communications reveal that Twitter's regular meetings with an FBI task force also included, and I'm quoting from independent journalist Matt Taibbi's reporting, virtually every major tech firm, including Facebook, Microsoft, Verizon, Reddit, even Pinterest, and many others. So they also showed that representatives of another unnamed government agency were also almost always present at these meetings. Taibbi says context suggests that these were likely CIA personnel.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, I know last time we talked, the FBI had issued a statement saying that they provide information about risks to a lot of companies. Have they said anything else since then?
--:-- Megan Basham: So they said in a statement, quote, it is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency. But George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News that this response should be unsettling to Americans. It was highly inappropriate because the FBI has said that combating disinformation is one of its priorities. So it's a very menacing thing when you have the largest law enforcement agency attacking free speech advocates.
--:-- Megan Basham: So Turley went on to point out that when the FBI and CIA were implicated in Watergate in the early 1970s, there was an outpouring of calls across the political spectrum to see those agencies investigated and reformed. And he says he's alarmed that not only are so many public officials downplaying or staying silent on the Twitter files, so are most of the major media outlets.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, according to some new polling, though, it sounds like a lot of Americans actually agree with Turley. Yeah, exactly right. So a Rasmussen survey released the day after Christmas found 63% of likely voters want Congress to investigate the FBI's effort to control content on social media. And it looks like they're going to get their wish. Incoming House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has already sent FBI Director Christopher Wray what's called a preservation notice, citing evidence that suggests the Bureau has been demonstrating, and I'll quote here, hostility to the First Amendment.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham. Coming up, the victim of a violent attack sues the bail project. Make the new year all about the new you with Janicell Skin Care. Janicell works for both men and women of all skin types and all ages. Right now, you can save over 70% off their most popular package, which includes a free bottle of their top-selling hyaluronic acid serum, absolutely free. Visit JennyCell slash wire and use code wire at checkout for an extra 10 off your order That jennycell slash WIRE jennycell slash WIRE
--:-- Georgia Howe: A popular chapter of The Bail Project which has been backed by A celebrities closed its doors after being sued by a waiter who blames the group for being shot several times. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta-Giacomo.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Hey, John. Yeah, a man named Rashawn Gaston Anderson was arrested in November 2021 for burglary and theft, just one day after he had been arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. Then he was released without having to pay any bail when the bail project stepped in and paid $3,000 to free him. Six days after he was sprung, Gaston Anderson shot at Cheng Yan Wang 11 times while Wang, who came to America from China, was working as a waiter at the Shanghai Taste restaurant. Wong was hit by seven bullets and somehow survived, though he suffered lifelong permanent injuries, and he's now suing the bail project.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Here's Wong speaking through a translator to News 3. Thank to God's grace for saving me and all the hard work the medical team put in, and now I have a second chance at life. By the way, Gaston Anderson has pleaded guilty and was sentenced earlier this month to 7 to 18 years behind bars over the shooting.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: And what exactly is Wong claiming in this lawsuit? Wong is seeking $15,000 in damages from the bail project and claims in the suit that the group used, quoting here, no due diligence in determining whether Gaston Anderson would be a danger to the community and likely re-offend. Wong is also seeking another $15,000 each from Gaston Anderson and the owner of Shanghai Plaza. A spokesperson for the bail project confirmed the shuttering of the Vegas chapter while claiming it was not connected to the litigation.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Now, this is a popular fund with celebrities. Who are some of the names backing the bail project?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Yeah, it's definitely a celebrity favorite. We have musician John Legend and his model wife Chrissy Teigen. They pledged money to the group during the 2020 George Floyd riots. Tegan notably seemed to taunt conservatives who objected to her donation by doubling her total contribution to a total of $200,000 for the Bail Project and two other progressive bail funds. Legend and other celebrities like actors Danny Glover and Richard Branson also sit on the Bail Project's advisory board.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: It's also worth noting that Kamala Harris famously urged people in June 2020 to support a different but similar bail fund, the Minnesota Freedom Fund that paid bail for jailed rioters. Now, the major criticisms of this movement, the so-called decarceration movement, is that it breeds repeat offenders and often hurts the very communities these groups say they're trying to help. This seems like the claim being made in this lawsuit, correct?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Yeah, exactly. Reports have highlighted issues with the Bail Project's Chicago chapter in particular. Some of the felony defendants, after being bailed out by the group, were quickly charged with new crimes, which critics view as otherwise avoidable. The Chicago Tribune highlighted a case where a 34-year-old man named Christopher Stewart, a four-time felon who was facing charges for illegal handgun possession, he was sprung by the bail project only to be charged with attempted murder some four weeks later.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: And what are the supporters' arguments for the group? What do they say about the purpose or need for these bail fund groups?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Yeah, most of these advocates are pretty clear that these charities or bail reform policies, they're meant to promote racial equity above all else. The bail project explicitly states that its mission is to, quote, prevent incarceration and combat racial and economic disparities in the bail system. One well proponent of bail reform and other criminal justice reform measures is New York rep Alexandria Ocasio Back in 2018 AOC citing the population of incarcerated Black Americans actually called for efforts to reduce our prison population by 50 percent Last year, when she was asked about bail reform and rising crime, she denied that the problems in New York were tied to bail reform at all, and advocated for fewer jails and more spending toward mental health programs and other resources.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: If we want to reduce the number of people in our jails, the answer is to stop building more of them. The answer is to make sure that we actually build more hospitals. We pay organizers. We get people mental health care and overall health care, employment, etc. Interesting. And we'll have to see where this lawsuit from Wong goes from here.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Amanda, thanks for reporting. Anytime. That was Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta-Giacomo.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In a tight labor market, some employers are dropping the requirement for college degrees. The movement away from requiring a degree is happening in both the public and private sectors. Here to give us the details is Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Hi, Georgia. So according to the Burning Glass Institute think tank, 41% of job listings in the U.S. listed bachelor's degrees as a requirement last month. But that's down from 46% in 2019. Now, is this just a reaction to the tight labor market or are employers actually finding that degrees are just less relevant than they were in the past?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: The biggest factor is the tight labor market. In September, there were 10.7 million job openings, but only about 5.8 million unemployed Americans. So just looking at those numbers, employers had to get creative and make compromises. But another big factor is the recognition that college degrees just aren't necessarily relevant in a lot of modern workplaces. Instead of focusing on degrees, these companies are specifically seeking out relevant experience and expertise. For example, Google, Delta Airlines and IBM have all cut down on the education demands for specific roles.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: We spoke to Nicholas Giordano, professor of political science at Suffolk Community College in New York, about why companies are moving away from requiring degrees for new hires. They're not coming in with the critical skills necessary to perform in the workforce. And I think what we're going to see going forward is that there may be more emphasis placed on attending two-year schools. You get some of the academics, you get some of the technical, and that's all you need in order to go into the workforce.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Now, sometimes we see trends first in the private sector, but you've reported that we're now beginning to see the same trend in government jobs as well. Yes. This fall, Democrat Josh Shapiro successfully won the governorship in Pennsylvania. Shapiro said during his campaign that he would propose changing the educational requirements for a variety of state positions and advocate for more skills-based hiring. At the federal level, Republican Representative Elise Stefanik introduced the Advancing Skills-Based Hiring Act, which would help employers who want to move towards a skills-based hiring approach but might be worried about doing so for legal and regulatory reasons.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Charlotte, thanks for reporting. Thanks for having me on.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, that's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know. Make your life easier in 2023 with Cinch, a propane grill tank home delivery service. Cinch delivers propane grill tanks right to your door on your schedule. No long-term commitment or subscription required. Go online to cinch.com, that's C-Y-N-C-H.com, or download the Cinch app to order. Use promo code WIRE to get your first tank exchange for just $10. Visit cinch.com slash offer for details.
