Wednesday | November 24, 2021

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John Bickley: Opening statements and the highly anticipated sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, begin Monday. Maxwell was among Epstein's closest associates and helped him exploit girls who were as young as 14 years old. Maxwell is accused of recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse. How is the Oxford-educated socialite responding to the criminal accusations? And what are victims saying about Maxwell's role in the abuse? I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, November 24th, and this is Morning Wire.

Georgia Howe: A grim statistic from the CDC, and this time it's not about COVID. The U.S. has suffered 100,000 overdose deaths in the past 12 months, the highest number ever. What's causing the record number of overdoses? And is anything being done to stop the crisis?

John Bickley: And large and at times violent protests have broken out across Europe in the past week in reaction to newly imposed restrictions due to spiking COVID infections. What other factors are driving the protests and are they having any impact?

Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. This show is sponsored by Dwell. The wisdom of the Bible has stood the test of centuries, and reading it is well worth everyone's time. But having the time to read anything these days is increasingly difficult. Dwell is a five-star app that makes it so easy to get into the Bible by providing a world-class listening experience. And today, you can try Dwell for free by going to dwellapp.io slash morningwire.

John Bickley: Opening statements in the sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell begins Monday in New York City. The former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein is charged with grooming underage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse. Maxwell faces eight counts related to sex trafficking minors. Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraid Elordi is here to give us the details of the case.

Maraid Elordi: So, Maraid, there's a lot of interest in this trial and in Maxwell, especially since Epstein was found dead in his jail cell. Tell us about the role she's accused of playing.

Maraid Elordi: Sure. So as you said, Maxwell's trial in Manhattan federal court begins Monday. Maxwell, who's 59, is the daughter of the late media mogul Robert Maxwell. She's charged with a total of eight counts, including sex trafficking of minors, enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, grooming and recruiting underage girls, and lying to federal prosecutors about her role in the recruiting.

Maraid Elordi: The federal indictment against her said that between 1994 and 1997, Maxwell, quote, assisted, facilitated, and contributed to Epstein's abuse of minor girls, including one who was just 14 years old. If convicted, Maxwell faces up to 80 years in prison. She was arrested in July of 2020 when federal investigators discovered her hiding out at a New Hampshire mansion, and she's been in a New York jail ever since. She pled not guilty to all charges and has vehemently maintained her innocence, even blurting out at a recent pretrial conference, quote, I have not committed any crime.

Maraid Elordi: There are many sordid allegations here. How did Maxwell allegedly recruit victims? So her accusers say Maxwell recruited them as teenagers sometimes by approaching them at their jobs or at malls in Florida. Sometimes she would introduce herself as a modeling scout, even handing out business cards to the underage girls. One of her accusers, Molly Skye Brown, said of Maxwell that she was just a predator prowling the streets, I have no doubt. Another victim, Sarah Ransom, says that Ghislaine was Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice through it all. Ghislaine was Jeffrey's right hand, you know, like the lieutenant of the whole pyramid. You know, she made sure that we were all standing in line, that when we were called to his bedroom, that we went.

Maraid Elordi: Maxwell's case is obviously tied directly to Epstein's. So tell us about the accusations against him. Sure. So Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019, while he was awaiting trial. He was 66 and his death was ruled a suicide. Epstein was accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls. The graphic details of his alleged sex ring included accusations that he procured underage girls for prominent people on his private island in the Caribbean. One particular point of outrage was a sweetheart plea deal Epstein managed to snag back in 2008 when he was convicted in Florida of procuring a child for prostitution. The deal was made by then-Miami District Attorney Alex Acosta. Costa went on to be labor secretary under President Trump and eventually resigned due to the Epstein scandal. And that investigation found 36 girls Epstein had allegedly abused. More than 10 years later, Epstein was finally arrested again for sex trafficking minors in Florida and New York. But he died before he could be fully tried, obviously.

Maraid Elordi: Exactly. And when he did, some of his accusers felt cheated out of their rightful opportunity to see justice served to their abuser. And that's according to a lawyer who represented five of the women. Now, these women have a chance to see justice done by proxy. But Ghislaine's brother Ian Maxwell says that his sister is just a patsy and that she's being prosecuted only because accusers can no longer get justice from Epstein. She's now spent more time in jail than Jeffrey Epstein spent himself in jail.

John Bickley: Now, how can that be correct? Right, it's certainly a case they've been waiting for for a long time. Meanwhile, some of the people implicated are very high-profile names, so there's international focus here as well. Right. We'll be watching to see how this plays out. Thanks, Maraid.

Maraid Elordi: Of course. Thanks, John.

John Bickley: Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraid Alordi. Coming up, the U.S. suffers a record number of overdose deaths. You can get this show and all of the content you love wherever you are, all on the Daily Wire app. Even if you're not a Daily Wire member, you'll be first to know what's trending with mobile notifications for the latest news. And you'll get content from all your favorite Daily Wire shows. Download the Daily Wire app and keep up with the facts no matter where your day takes you.

Georgia Howe: America's drug overdose epidemic has reached a new level. According to new data from the CDC, for the first time ever, more than 100,000 Americans have died by drug overdose in a single 12-month period. Here with more on this grim milestone is Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips.

Cabot Phillips: So Cabot, obviously not the kind of record we're looking to break here. What can you tell us?

Cabot Phillips: Yeah, on Wednesday, we got our first look at the CDC's provisional data on deaths associated with drug use. And like you said, they showed for the first time ever, 100,000 Americans had died by drug overdose in the 12-month period that ended in April of 2021. That's a 28.5% increase over the year before and a 100% increase compared to five years ago. So this really is growing exponentially. And for more context, those 100 deaths are actually equal to 20 of all COVID deaths over that same time frame. So when we think of epidemics, it really is time to start considering drug overdoses as an epidemic.

Cabot Phillips: I mean, it's devastating. And what do we know about why this spike is taking place? Experts have pointed to a few leading causes, mainly fentanyl, which is a highly potent synthetic opiate produced at this point largely by Mexican drug cartels. The cartels prefer using fentanyl to cut their drugs because it's relatively cheap to produce and can be smuggled across the border more easily because it doesn't take all that much to use. Keep in mind, just one pound is enough to kill 225,000 people. And border agents have seized 10,000 pounds this year alone. Wow. So you can do the math there.

Cabot Phillips: Two years ago, fewer than half of all overdose deaths were from fentanyl. This year, it's at 64%. And a lot of experts and policymakers, mainly Republicans, have said that lax borders have made it easier than ever for fentanyl to be smuggled into the country. And they say that we're seeing a direct result of that open border policy. But it wasn't just fentanyl. The data showed a 48% increase in overdose deaths from methamphetamines and other similar drugs as well. Those accounted for about a quarter of all overdose deaths last year.

Cabot Phillips: Yeah, I mean, we've covered that on this show quite a bit. What are some of the other causes? Well, most experts are also pointing out the role of COVID. During the lockdowns, more Americans than ever reported mental health struggles, largely due to isolation. And studies show a clear indication between isolation and increased drug use. And when you throw in the fact that a lot of drug rehab facilities were forced to close their doors during the lockdowns, people were left with fewer treatment options than ever at a time when they really needed it most.

Cabot Phillips: So what are some of the policies that are being proposed to help with this crisis? Yeah, there's generally a split along party lines as to what should be done here. Democrats tend to say there needs to be more government funding for addiction treatment facilities and that users themselves should not be punished as that makes them potentially less likely to seek help. The Biden administration on that note has requested $10 billion in funding for drug treatment and interdiction programs. Another approach we've seen from some Democrat cities has been to open, quote, supervised drug use spots. These are areas where people can legally use drugs under the supervision of medical professionals who are then on hand to offer help if they overdose. But as you can imagine, that's gotten a lot of pushback, including some from Democrats also.

Cabot Phillips: Republicans, they're generally on the other side of this. They call for stricter penalties for drug traffickers and distributors, as well as more border enforcement to try and prevent drugs from getting here in the first place. They're kind of taking the, you know, cut it off at the base approach. They say more funding for treatment centers might help those who are already addicted, but won't do enough to address the problem of future people becoming addicted. It's just a tough situation all around. There aren't really any clear solutions. And unfortunately, most experts do predict that this trend is going to continue unless something drastic changes.

John Bickley: Right. I mean, this is a tragic trend. Cabot, thanks for the update.

Cabot Phillips: Absolutely.

John Bickley: That's Daily Wires, Cabot Phillips. COVID-19 cases are spiking across Europe and governments are responding by reimposing lockdown measures. Protests have broken out in response, with people reacting angrily to both lockdown requirements and vaccine mandates. Here to tell us more is Daily Wire's Ian Howarth.

Ian Howarth: So Ian, what's happening in Europe right now?

Ian Howarth: Well, protests have turned violent in multiple European countries, all in reaction to the return or expansion of COVID-19 lockdowns. areas of France, Italy, Belgium, Croatia, and the Netherlands also protests with some of these protests descending into riots And do we have any sense of what driving this Well they all related to COVID in some way but it is different for each country Looking first at the Netherlands they've seen multiple consecutive nights of riots in several towns and cities, with people setting fires and riot police having to use horses, dogs, and buttons to disperse the crowds. According to various reports, some police officers were injured and arrests were made. And one night of riots in Rotterdam was described by the city's mayor as an orgy of violence, with police even firing warning shots and direct shots because they saw the situation as life-threatening.

Ian Howarth: And what sort of policies did the Netherlands have in place right now? Well, they imposed a three-week partial lockdown the weekend before last in reaction to a record spike in COVID cases. Crowds are now banned at sporting events and bars and restaurants must close at 8 p.m. But as I mentioned, this sort of policy reaction to a rise in COVID cases across Europe and protests in response aren't unique to the Netherlands. Tens of thousands of people gathered to protest in Vienna, Austria, when the government there announced a new national lockdown and plans to make vaccinations compulsory from February 2022 onward. A few weeks ago, the Austrian chancellor said that this sort of lockdown for unvaccinated people was probably unavoidable and that the unvaccinated are going to be facing an uncomfortable winter and Christmas. In Italy, protests grew in Rome to oppose Green Pass certificates, which are vaccine passports required to enter workplaces, venues, and public transportation. And in Belgium, people are being forced to work from home four days a week until mid-December at least. Mask mandates are being tightened and COVID passes are being implemented, with these policies also sparking protests with tens of thousands of people marching in Brussels alone.

Ian Howarth: Wow. So while some countries are loosening their restrictions, especially given the availability of vaccination and some new treatments, Does it look like Europe is going to follow suit or continue with these lockdowns? It doesn't look like they're going to be changing course anytime soon. COVID-19 has become the number one cause of death in some parts of Europe. And while there are multiple reasons for that, such as healthcare accessibility and quality, weather patterns, and the spread of more transmissible variants, many European countries have been lagging behind when it comes to vaccine rates. Austria, for example, has only vaccinated around 65% of its population. Their response has been to make vaccination legally mandatory, But this is likely only going to inflame tensions more, with critics pointing out that Austria and its neighbors are effectively pitting the vaccinated against the unvaccinated.

John Bickley: Right. I mean, we've seen some similar divisive results here, too. Yeah, we certainly have. Ian, thanks for the report.

Ian Howarth: Thanks for having me.

John Bickley: That's Daily Wire's Ian Howarth. Other stories we're tracking this week. The cause of death for Brian Laundrie has been determined to be suicide by gunshot wound to the head. Prior to his death, the FBI described Laundrie as, quote, a person of interest in the murder of popular social media influencer Gabby Petito. And Kyle Rittenhouse suggested in an interview with Tucker Carlson on Monday that he might take legal action against media outlets and public figures who made unfounded and damaging claims about him, including President Biden. Mr. President, if I could say one thing to you, I would urge you to go back and watch the trial and understand the facts before you make a statement. It's actual malice defaming my character for him to say something like that.

Georgia Howe: If you like this episode and are interested in hearing more, subscribe to Morning Wire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening, and give us a five-star review. That's all the time we've got this morning, and happy Thanksgiving, everyone. We'll be back Friday with the news you need to know. If you like this podcast, get the Morning Wire newsletter delivered straight to your inbox when you join at dailywire.com slash subscribe.