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--:-- Steve Inskeep: President Biden says he'll accept the outcome after a jury convicted his son, Hunter, on three felonies.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: How are Republicans reacting to the verdict after calling the Justice Department biased?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: I'm Steve Inskeep with Rob Schmitz, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: House Republicans are demanding that the head of the Justice Department turn over audio recordings of the president's deposition for mishandling classified documents.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: If the attorney general chooses to fire Congress and not produce the audio recordings, he must face the consequences of his actions.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: What would those consequences be?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And are you waiting for interest rates to drop before buying a house or car?
--:-- Rob Schmitz: You may have to wait a little longer.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: It's just going to be a slow grind in terms of how much inflation pools.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
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--:-- President Fernando Madeira: For me, sometimes I just need to go and talk to somebody that is not going to judge me, right? Is going to be there and going to listen to me.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And I can start just saying, look, I'm not feeling right today.
--:-- President Fernando Madeira: And it feels natural. I love it.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: To get matched with a therapist, visit BetterHelp.com slash NPR for 10% off your first month.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: This message comes from NPR sponsor AARP.
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--:-- Rob Schmitz: President Biden made a quick, unexpected trip to Delaware yesterday to support his son.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Yeah, the president traveled to an Air National Guard base in Delaware, and on the tarmac, he hugged Hunter Biden, who a federal jury had just convicted on felony gun charges.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: Hunter denied his drug addiction when filling out a form to buy a firearm.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: The trial revealed many details of his addiction and persuaded a jury.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas attended every single day of this trial.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Good morning.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: You've reported elsewhere on the evidence against Biden and the verdict.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Now we have the president's reaction.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: He says he's a dad too.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: What is the toll this has had on the Biden family?
--:-- Ryan Lucas: So look, this case against Hunter Biden was brought by special counsel David Weiss.
--:-- David Weiss: Ultimately, this case was not just about addiction, a disease that haunts families across the United States, including Hunter Biden's family.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: This case was about the illegal choices defendant made while in the throes of addiction.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Still, Hunter's addiction struggles were really the central feature of the trial.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: And members of the Biden family were in the front row of the courtroom every day of the trial.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Hunter's wife was there.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: First Lady Jill Biden and other family members showed up for several days as well.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And at times they were in tears listening to the ugly sordid testimony about Hunter's addiction to crack cocaine.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Now, the government introduced the evidence to make their case to the jury, and ultimately the jury found that evidence convincing and convicted Hunter on all charges.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: The president in his statement yesterday noted that a lot of families in this country have loved ones who have battled addiction.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: And interestingly enough the degree to which addiction hits American families was apparent during jury selection for Hunter's trial when some of the members of the jury said that they had either friends or family who had struggled with addiction.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: You know, Republicans had been demanding investigations of the Bidens for years.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: How have they responded?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Well, it's interesting.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: The response from congressional Republicans has varied.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Representative Thomas Massey from Kentucky, for example, he said on X that Hunter might deserve to be in jail for something, but purchasing a gun is not it.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Speaker Mike Johnson said on X that Hunter was only prosecuted because House Republicans had sounded the alarm, and he called on the Justice Department to investigate the Biden family.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Now, some of that sentiment is rooted, of course, in anger over the criminal cases against former President Trump, including his recent conviction on state charges in New York.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Trump's legal troubles have fed into Republican claims that the Justice Department targets Republicans, but it goes easy on Democrats.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But here with this case against Hunter, you have the son of the sitting Democratic president charged and now convicted of federal gun crimes.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: There's also the ongoing federal trial in New York against Democratic Senator Bob Menendez on corruption charges.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And another congressional Democrat, Henry Cuellar of Texas, he was indicted last month on corruption charges as well.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: I want to know one thing you said there.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Some Democrats have insisted that Hunter Biden would not have been prosecuted for the statement on a form except for the political pressure by Republicans.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: You just said Speaker Mike Johnson agrees with this.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: He was prosecuted because Republicans demanded it.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Does Hunter Biden appeal this conviction?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: We don't have a definitive answer to that right now.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: He certainly challenged many aspects of the indictment and pretrial motions, including on Second Amendment grounds.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Yesterday, his attorney, Abby Lowell, said they respect the jury's decision, but they'll continue to vigorously pursue all the legal challenges that are available to Hunter.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Now, as for what's next, the judge in Delaware did not set a sentencing date yesterday for the gun conviction.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: She said she'd do so later.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: But there's another trial already on the horizon for Hunter Biden.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Remember, Special Counsel Weiss also charged Hunter Biden with tax crimes.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: That is a separate case.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: It's in California.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: He faces nine counts there related to his failure to pay taxes on millions of dollars in income.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And that case is currently scheduled to go to trial in September.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: That's NPR's Justice correspondent Ryan Lucas.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Thanks, Ryan.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: The House is set to vote today on a resolution to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Republican lawmakers demanded that the Justice Department turn over audio tapes of an interview that prosecutors conducted with President Biden.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: Republicans say they want these tapes because they're considering the possible impeachment of President Biden and because they're considering an update to laws that cover how sensitive and classified information is handled.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But really, there could be another explanation, too, that the tapes would make Biden look and sound bad.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: Remember, prosecutors decided to close this investigation of how classified information came to be found at the home of President Biden with no charges, in part because they said jurors could conclude Biden was a well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Here's House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer.
--:-- James Comer: If the attorney general chooses to defy Congress and not produce the audio recordings he must face the consequences of his actions.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: The attorney general has not turned over those tapes.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: So what are the consequences going to be?
--:-- Kerry Johnson: No one wants to be found in contempt of Congress, especially not Merrick Garland, who spent a couple of decades as a federal judge before his current job.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But that reprimand doesn't have quite the sting it used to.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: I've now covered two other attorneys general who were held in contempt.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Eric Holder and Bill Barr.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: And it's important to note Garland has some legal protection here.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Last month, President Biden asserted executive privilege over these tapes, so Garland won't be prosecuted for refusing to hand them over.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: Not that the U.S. attorney in D.C. would even want to pursue a prosecution against Garland, who happens to be his boss.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: So Carrie, what is the Justice Department saying about this controversy?
--:-- Kerry Johnson: You know, the attorney general tends to be a guy who does his talking on paper or in courtrooms.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But over the past few weeks, Merrick Garland has really pushed back.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: Here's what he had to say recently about this tapes dispute.
--:-- Merrick Garland: We have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that the committees get responses to their legitimate requests.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But this is not one.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: To the contrary, this is one that would harm our ability in the future to successfully pursue sensitive investigations.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Garland says DOJ has already turned over written transcripts of the same interviews the Republicans want with the special prosecutor, and that handing over audio could really make it harder for future prosecutors to interview people in the White House.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: He's also blasting attacks on the Justice Department, saying people are making false claims about DOJ being political, when it's really the critics who are trying to put prosecutors in the middle of politics here.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: The attorney general took the unusual step of writing an opinion piece in The Washington Post this week.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: There, he said disagreements about politics are totally normal, but lying and conspiracy theories are really not.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: So, Carrie, will we, the public, get to hear these audio tapes before the election?
--:-- Kerry Johnson: The odds are low the Biden administration does not want to give them up.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Media groups and conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation have sued to get access to the tapes.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: But the case is taking a long time to get through the court system.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Right now, it seems unlikely the tapes would be released in time for them to show up in campaign ads or Republican fundraising pitches before the presidential election in November.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: That's NPR's Kerry Johnson.
--:-- Kerry Johnson: Thanks, Rob.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: My pleasure.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: OK, it's time for a status check on inflation.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: Yeah, the Federal Reserve completes a meeting this afternoon, and the policymakers are expected to keep interest rates where they are, which is comparatively high.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Just in time for that Fed meeting, we also find out what happened with consumer prices in May.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: NPR's Scott Horsley has been tracking the Fed's campaign to curb inflation.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Hey, Scott.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: So how is that campaign going?
--:-- Scott Horsley: What's happening with prices?
--:-- Scott Horsley: Lately, it has been slow going.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Inflation did come down a lot last year after topping 9% back in 2022.
--:-- Scott Horsley: But in recent months, that progress has kind of plateaued.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: The annual inflation rate in April was 3.4%.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Forecasters think it was in that same ballpark in May.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: We have gotten lucky with gas prices lately.
--:-- Scott Horsley: They're down about $0.14 a gallon from this time last year.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: So it is cheaper to gas up your car.
--:-- Scott Horsley: But the cost to insure your car is still going up.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And if you need a car alone, that's also expensive because of those high interest rates.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Joe Brusuelas who chief economist at the big accounting firm RSM thinks inflation will eventually moderate.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But he says we going to have to be patient.
--:-- Scott Horsley: It just going to be a slow grind in terms of how much inflation cools on a month basis back towards the long 2 target.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And that means the Federal Reserve is going to take it slow and keep interest rates higher for longer until policymakers are more confident that prices are under control.
--:-- Scott Horsley: So when are we going to catch a break on high interest rates?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Yeah, that's what anybody who's trying to buy a house or finance a business or just carrying a balance on their credit card wants to know.
--:-- Scott Horsley: And the answer is it's going to depend on what happens with inflation.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: If it does cool off during the summer, the Fed might be ready to start cutting interest rates in September.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Investors think there's about a 50-50 chance of that.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But if inflation remains elevated, it could take longer.
--:-- Scott Horsley: A survey of Fed policymakers back in March found that on average they thought they'd get three quarter-point interest rate cuts this year.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Now that looks like that might have been too optimistic.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Maybe we'll only get two cuts, or maybe not at all by year's end.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Fed policymakers will deliver some updated forecasts this afternoon of where they think interest rates are headed.
--:-- Scott Horsley: And, of course, that's going to be very closely watched.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: So as we all know, it's an election year.
--:-- Scott Horsley: How is this affecting voters' attitudes about the economy?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: One thing we've learned is people really, really don't like inflation.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported on some research that found people think a 1% jump in inflation is twice as bad as a 1% jump in unemployment.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Now, if you're out of work, you might disagree with that assessment.
--:-- Scott Horsley: But everybody's affected by rising prices, whether they're working or not.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Economist Persuadeless thinks we will enjoy a further slowdown in inflation over the summer and early fall.
--:-- Scott Horsley: But keep in mind, falling inflation just means prices level off.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: It doesn't mean they go back to where they used to be.
--:-- Scott Horsley: By the time we get to election day, people are going to feel a lot better about inflation, but they're still going to be angry about the price shock and elevated financing costs.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Those things are simply not going to go away.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Luckily, we do have very low unemployment, and thanks to that tight labor market, we're still getting pretty good wage gains.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Wages have been rising faster than prices for over a year now, so people's paychecks are stretching further.
--:-- Scott Horsley: The only thing is, if wages keep going up and people keep spending that money, it makes it harder for the Fed to get inflation under control.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: That's NPR's Scott Horsley.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Thanks, Rob.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: You're welcome.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And that's Up First for June 12th.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: I'm Rob Schmitz.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And I'm Steve Inskeep.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: Find more in-depth coverage of the stories we talked about today and more on NPR's radio show, Morning Edition, which you can find at a radio near you and find your local station at npr.org.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Christian F. Kalamer, Raphael Nam, Mohamed Al-Bardisi, and Alice Woevely.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: It was produced by Ziad Butch, Ben Abrams, Christopher Thomas, and Julie Deppenbrock.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: We get engineering support from Nisha Hainas.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: Our technical director is Carly Strange.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Join us again tomorrow.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: This message comes from Ritual.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: What makes Ritual vitamins different?
--:-- Rob Schmitz: Ritual vitamins are made with bioavailable clinically studied key ingredients and a patented nutrient delivery system that aims to help your body use the nutrients you're getting.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Ritual's essential multivitamins are made with you and your body in mind and backed by scientific research filled with key ingredients as well as the essence of mint so you can enjoy taking your vitamins.
--:-- Rob Schmitz: Get 25% off your first purchase when you visit ritual.com slash NPR.
