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--:-- John Bickley: The NFL is back, and FanDuel's got everything you need to play your game. From same-game parlays to live betting. Right now, new customers bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. 21-plus in president select states. 18-plus in Kentucky and Wyoming. Must be first online real money waging. $5 deposit required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at FanDuel.com slash sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
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--:-- John Bickley: Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is coming under fire over the work being conducted by a law firm that's employed him. In a Daily Wire exclusive, new documents show that this law firm is aggressively fighting against victims of sexual assault on behalf of school administrators. We'll talk to Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak about the firm's handling of the cases.
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--:-- John Bickley: I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, October 27th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: President Biden's vaccine orders for private companies are set to go into effect any day now, but businesses and unions are begging the administration to delay enforcement, warning that employee shortages will inflict more economic damage. Employees are saying, if you force this, even if it's coming from the White House, we're going to leave. We're just going to quit.
--:-- John Bickley: And the Baseball World Series kicked off last night with one of the teams hailing from Atlanta, Georgia. Earlier this year, Major League Baseball pulled the All-Star Game from Atlanta to protest the state's election integrity bill. We'll discuss the politically charged development and the response from Georgia's governor.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up at Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. This show is sponsored by WyoTech. Wyo Tech, one of the nation's leading auto and diesel training schools, sees the trades as America's front lines. Wyo Tech is shaping young men, women, and veterans to build careers and businesses. America is built on the trades, and Wyo Tech is leading the way in training. Visit wyo tech.edu to subscribe and donate to the future technicians of America.
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--:-- John Bickley: In a Daily Wire exclusive investigative report, concerning ties have been revealed between Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe and a law firm that has been aggressively fighting against alleged sexual assault victims on behalf of schools and school administrators. Joining us to discuss is Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: So, Luke, you broke a story this week about Terry McAuliffe. He's the Democratic candidate running for governor right now in Virginia. What did you find?
--:-- Luke Rosiak: So Terry McAuliffe was employed by a high-dollar law firm called Hunting Andrews Kurth. What I discovered is this law firm is paid by a school system to represent its interests, which include trying to have cases thrown out where girls alleged sexual assault and that school administrators failed to take action.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: In light of the recent scandal in Loudoun County, that's a pretty bad look for the campaign, and it highlights the competing interests between school systems and parents.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: Now, these sexual assault cases are not the ones that you reported on a couple weeks ago in Loudoun County, though, correct?
--:-- Luke Rosiak: Right. This law firm actually works for Fairfax County Public Schools right next door. And it's actually handling multiple sexual assault cases just for that district, which really underscores how serious and pervasive this issue is.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: So one case I'd like to highlight is about a now 22-year-old woman who's suing the school system and several administrators over incidents that she says occurred when she was 12 years old, back in middle school.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: She alleges that she was raped on school grounds and medical records did find anal tearing at the time. She allegedly went to administrators about sexual harassment and claims the assistant principal said the suspect, quote, had been in enough trouble and asked her mother to, quote, not ruin a kid's life.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: But she says the school district did nothing and the behavior got worse, in part because she was viewed as a snitch and because the perpetrators felt like they weren't going to get in trouble.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: So it just kind of snowballed from there until some really horrible allegations. Now, she's been making these claims since the time, back in 2012. She'd also filed a complaint with a federal civil rights body, which ordered FCPS to make changes in the school district as a result, some of which Fairfax County schools failed to do.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: When she became an adult, just before the statute of limitations ran out, she sued her alleged rapist, the school system, and several school officials for those alleged failures.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: Okay, so on to Terry McAuliffe. How is he involved in all this?
--:-- Luke Rosiak: So first, he's actually not even a lawyer. The law firm Hunt and Andrews Kurth hired McAuliffe as an advisor in 2019. Based on campaign ethics disclosure, he was compensated at least $250,000 recently for services related to cybersecurity slash law.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: Now, from 2014 to 2018, the Fairfax school system paid Hunt in about half a million bucks a year. From 2019 to 2021, the law firm received about $4.4 million, $2.5 million, and then $3 million in each of those years.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: So the law firm has received about $9 million from Fairfax schools since 2019. Right. They're really big legal bills.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: And, you know, people think about special interests as it relates to teachers unions, which actually did give Terry McAuliffe's campaign $1 million, one of his biggest funders.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: Those teachers may be expecting to get policies back that are going to benefit them in terms of taxpayer money. But there's potentially a similar dynamic going on here with this law firm in the school system on behalf of administrators.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: FCPS pays Hunt in a lot of money, but it's fighting in court for an aggressive interpretation of Title IX that could actually save administrators money in terms of being sued in cases where allegedly they had some sort of negligence or failed to take action to protect kids.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: Now, I remember when Loudoun County apologized for its handling of the rape there. They mentioned Title IX. What was that about?
--:-- Luke Rosiak: Yeah, that's interesting because the superintendent in Loudoun blamed federal policy for the apparent cover-up in his district, saying that he would lobby Washington to make Title IX more favorable to victims.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: The thing is that the law firm connected to the state's prospective governor with support of the Virginia School Board Association and the National School Board Association, they're all actually pushing for the opposite in a case they want to take to the Supreme Court.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: So the law firm where McAuliffe served as an advisor is involved in a Title IX case, and they're arguing on the side of administrators rather than the kids.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: Right. And, you know, they're trying to take this to the Supreme Court where, depending on how they rule, that could set a precedent that would affect schools all over the country.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: So this could be a really important case.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: Luke, before you go, there's been an update on the Loudoun County rape case that you reported on a few weeks ago. Can you share that with us?
--:-- Luke Rosiak: Yeah. So on Monday, the boy accused of raping Scott Smith's daughter appeared in juvenile court where a judge determined that there were, quote, facts sufficient to believe the teen boy committed sexual assault.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: That's the equivalent of a guilty verdict in juvenile court. So it sounds like some justice for that victim and her family.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: That's right.
--:-- John Bickley: Luke, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Luke Rosiak: Absolutely.
--:-- John Bickley: That Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And just a reminder this was a Daily Wire exclusive made possible by our members.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So if you want to see more investigative journalism like this please consider becoming a member over at dailywire.
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--:-- John Bickley: Coming up, businesses pushed to delay President Biden's vaccine mandate. Inflation is destroying the dollar. Birch Gold Group can help protect your IRA or 401k with a precious metals IRA.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Text WIRE to 989898 to claim a free info kit on physical gold and silver. There's zero obligation. Text the word WIRE to 989898 to protect your savings today.
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--:-- John Bickley: The Biden administration is facing pushback over its vaccine order that could affect tens of millions of workers. Businesses across the country are begging the Biden administration to delay the mandate until next year over concerns about workers leaving industries during the holiday surge.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here to tell us more is Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Charlotte, welcome.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Hey, Georgia. So tell us about these reports. Where is this push coming from?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Right. So while vaccine mandates are moderately popular with Americans overall, the mandates are getting some pushback from business associations and union groups, some of which are calling on the Biden administration to hold off on putting forth a plan to enforce massive vaccine mandates until next year.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Holidays are typically extremely busy times for travel, retail and food industries. So the looming possibility that businesses could lose workers when they need them most is causing a lot of concern.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: And what was the language in the mandate? And then also, when would it go into effect?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: President Joe Biden said in September that he was going to introduce a COVID vaccine mandate for employers with 100 or more employees or require weekly testing.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: He planned to do this through the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Legal expert Isla Shapiro explained the administration's legal reasoning behind it when he spoke to Morning Wire recently.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: And so just like OSHA regulates what kind of masks you wear for dusty jobs and things like that, or to have railings on open pits, all sorts of safety and health regulations.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: It is now saying that to maintain the health and safety of the workplace, they need all the employees to be vaccinated or Biden announced to have weekly testing.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: And the devil is going to be in the details.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: On October 12th, OSHA gave its final rule to the Office of Management and Budget, or the OMB.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Once the agency finishes its review, the mandate is anticipated to go into effect soon after.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: This rule could impact around two-thirds of the private sector labor force.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So no official date at this point?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: No, not yet.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: And what are businesses asking for specifically?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Well, the OMB reportedly had dozens of meetings with lobbyists, individuals, and labor unions last week.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: They were also scheduled to meet this week with groups that represent trucking and staffing businesses, realtors, dentists, and more.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: The National Retail Federation requested 90 days for workers to comply with the mandate.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: A lobbyist group, the Business Roundtable, also publicly said the White House should give workers time.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So a 90-day delay, that would basically take us until after the holidays.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Right. And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has even asked them to hold off until the holiday season has passed, too.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: And last week, the American Trucking Associations told the administration that a lot of drivers will likely leave their jobs rather than comply with vaccine orders, which could further damage the economy already suffering from disruptions in the supply chain.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: And how do workers feel about the mandate?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Well, it's mixed. A recent study from Qualtrics showed that around 44 of workers would think about leaving their jobs if they were forced to get vaccinated.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: But about 38 of employees would think about departing their current workplace if the organization enforced a vaccine mandate.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So people feel pretty strongly about this issue on both sides.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: But remember, that was discussing employer mandates, not federal mandates.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Right. So it seems like a lot of uncertainty.
--:-- John Bickley: Charlotte, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: That's Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence-Bahn.
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--:-- John Bickley: The 2021 World Series matchup is set, and in an interesting twist, the Atlanta Braves will be representing the National League.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The development has shined a new light on a politically loaded decision by Major League Baseball earlier this year.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to tell us more is Daily Wire sports reporter Joe Morgan.
--:-- Joe Morgan: So, Joe, we've got a World Series being hosted in Texas and Georgia, and this is causing a stir, so give us some context here.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Hey, John. So yeah, the World Series, which began yesterday in Houston, Texas, has a bit of a political twist to it.
--:-- Joe Morgan: The matchup is between the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros.
--:-- Joe Morgan: The reason is that the state of Georgia was the target of a political backlash in April to have the All-Star Game removed from Truist Stadium, the home of the Braves.
--:-- Joe Morgan: In April, Major League Baseball announced that they would move the 2021 All-Star Game and 2021 MLB draft out of Atlanta in response to Georgia's election integrity bill.
--:-- Joe Morgan: The move came in response to massive Democratic backlash to the bill intended to fix the voting process in a state that was mired in controversy during the 2020 presidential race.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Democrats insisted the bill was racially discriminatory, stating that the bill specifically targeted the Black community.
--:-- Joe Morgan: President Biden went so far as to call the bill, quote, Jim Crow on steroids.
--:-- Joe Morgan: That's right.
--:-- Joe Morgan: The moving of the All-Star Game was actually a huge topic of conversation at the time.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Yeah, it was, and another example of politics being inserted into sports.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Also, MLB moved the All-Star game to Denver, Colorado, which actually has voting laws that are more restrictive in some ways than Georgia, and it includes voter ID.
--:-- Joe Morgan: That's right. But anyway, the Braves beat the 106-win Dodgers in Game 6 of the NLCS on Saturday after winning 88 games during the regular season.
--:-- Joe Morgan: So Major League Baseball took the All-Star game out of Georgia in order to punish the state for enacting a bill and make other states think twice about making similar laws.
--:-- Joe Morgan: And now every eye in baseball will be trained on the various state critics of the voting integrity bill sought to punish.
--:-- Joe Morgan: The Braves will get at least two games and potentially three at home in Atlanta, given the small businesses there, and about a third of which are owned by minorities, an opportunity to recoup the reported $100 million loss from the moving of the All-Star game.
--:-- Joe Morgan: So we've got a politically charged and rather ironic turn of events here.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Exactly.
--:-- Joe Morgan: And this time, there's not much that the critics can do to punish Georgia.
--:-- Joe Morgan: And it's not like the voting laws have changed. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp made sure to highlight the situation, calling it, quote, poetic justice.
--:-- Joe Morgan: I mean, it just really was awful what they did. I mean, it wasn't fair, and it's also ridiculous.
--:-- Joe Morgan: There's another political layer here. The Braves will be playing a team from Texas, a state that recently enacted the heartbeat bill, which prohibits most abortions past six weeks.
--:-- Joe Morgan: So, as you can imagine, there's been a lot of commentary over that fact online.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Yeah, I bet.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, Joe, thanks for coming on, and enjoy the World Series.
--:-- Joe Morgan: I will do that.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire sports reporter Joe Morgan.
--:-- John Bickley: Those are our big stories for the day.
--:-- 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.
--:-- John Bickley: That's all the time we've got this morning.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- John Bickley: We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If you like this podcast, get the Morning Wire newsletter delivered straight to your inbox when you join at dailywire.com slash subscribe.
--:-- John Bickley: Thank you.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for listening.
