Morning Wire XX
[0] Now that the Hunter Biden laptop has been validated, President Biden is facing mounting pressure to respond to claims of influence peddling by his son, and conflicts of interest in Ukraine and Russia.
[1] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire, Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[2] It's Tuesday, March 22nd, and this is Morning Wire.
[3] Disney is facing a walkout by its LGBT employees, while its conservative staff are complaining about a hostile work environment.
[4] How is Disney's embattled CEO handling the internal conflict?
[5] And U .S. senators begin their questioning today of President Biden's Supreme Court nominee Katanji Brown Jackson.
[6] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[7] Stay tuned.
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[14] Following a New York Times report confirming the infamous Hunter Biden laptop story, President Biden is under growing pressure to answer questions about his son.
[15] Hunter Biden has been accused of using his political influence to secure millions of dollars in business deals in Ukraine, Russia, and China.
[16] Here with the latest is DailyWire's Cabot Phillips.
[17] So Cabot first, give us a quick refresher on the Hunter Biden laptop story and then we'll get into the White House response.
[18] Yeah, sure.
[19] So back in September of 2020, just a few weeks before the election, the New York Post published the contents of a laptop that they said belong to Joe Biden's son Hunter.
[20] It included salacious texts and photos as well as emails, which appeared to show that when Joe Biden was vice president, his family, namely Hunter Biden, leveraged that position to secure.
[21] multi -million dollar business deals with companies in Ukraine and China.
[22] On that note, one email, for example, showed Hunter receiving 20 % equity in a Shanghai -based company, along with a line in an email that says, quote, 10 held by H for the big guy.
[23] Hunter's business partner, Tony Bobby Linsky has since publicly stated that the big guy referenced in that email is Joe Biden, and the 10 % cut was being saved for him.
[24] Right.
[25] And that story was immediately censored online after publication.
[26] Exactly.
[27] Twitter wouldn't allow the story to be shared by anyone on the platform and even went so far as suspending the New York Post's account for two weeks.
[28] Facebook also used its algorithm to intentionally prevent the story from spreading, while other social media outlets slapped fact checks on anyone who shared the story, calling them, quote, false.
[29] Most media outlets either ignored the story altogether or labeled it an attempt at Russian disinformation.
[30] One MSNBC host, for example, implied the story was a form of international espionage, while Politico ran a headline in October of 2020 that said, quote, Hunter Biden's story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say.
[31] The article included a letter signed by over 50 former senior intelligence officials, assuring Americans that the contents of the original New York Post article was likely Russian disinformation.
[32] Miranda Devine, the reporter who initially helped break the laptop story for the New York Post, spoke with Morning Wire last week.
[33] Here's what she had to say.
[34] Just after we published our first story about the laptop, claiming, without looking at the laptop, they claimed that in their expert opinion, the laptop and the material we were publishing was Russian disinformation, had all the hallmarks of Russian disinformation.
[35] Now, they should hang their heads in shame, but they don't.
[36] There's no remorse.
[37] There's no apology.
[38] Their reputations have not suffered one iota.
[39] Now, in addition to further confirmation that the laptop was indeed authentic, Hunter Biden is also under criminal investigation for tax fraud, money laundering, and foreign lobbying violations, has the White House responded to those allegations?
[40] They're definitely under growing pressure to do so, because for the last year and a half, they've mostly refused to talk about it altogether.
[41] And when they have talked about it, they've basically brushed it off as fake news or rushing disinformation.
[42] Biden campaign advisor Simone Sanders, for example, said anyone who shared the story was promoting, quote, Russian misinformation, while White House press secretary, Jen Saki, imply the same on her Twitter account using that same term.
[43] President Biden himself even called the story, quote, a bunch of garbage.
[44] But again, now that we have confirmation that the story is accurate, the president and others in his administration are not answering questions on the topic.
[45] And that's where the pressure is really starting to mount here.
[46] People, even in the media, are demanding answers.
[47] So the heart of this story centers around potential conflicts of interest with President Biden and his son.
[48] What do we know there?
[49] Yeah, President Biden said back in 2020 that no one in his family would hold any business role that would, quote, appear to be in conflict with his job as president.
[50] But critics say he hasn't always kept that promise.
[51] For example, in 2013, his son Hunter went on a trip with then Vice President Biden to Beijing.
[52] Just 12 days later, Hunter was listed as co -owner of a newly.
[53] registered investment firm there.
[54] Now, keep in mind, it's incredibly difficult to register a business in China as an American, so that raised eyebrows.
[55] The timing of it didn't look good.
[56] Then, despite having no experience in the energy sector, Hunter scored a million dollar a year salary to sit on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.
[57] And this happened at the exact same time, Vice President was heading up the Obama administration's Ukraine policy.
[58] So again, a lot of people saw that as a conflict of interest or just blatant corruption.
[59] So the other important part of this story involves alleged payments from Russian oligarchs to the Biden family.
[60] What do we know about those allegations?
[61] This part actually comes largely from a Senate investigation and not that New York Post story.
[62] The investigation found a $3 .5 million payment from the richest woman in Russia to a company that has close ties to Hunter Biden.
[63] And it's worth noting that even though now many Russian billionaires and oligarchs have been sanctioned by the United States because of the war in Ukraine, the woman who made that payment to Hunter's company, despite being the richest woman in Russia, has not been sanctioned.
[64] Now, that raised a whole new set of questions with many people asking why she hadn't been sanctioned and whether there was a potential conflict of interest given those past business ties to Hunter Biden's company.
[65] So the New York Post actually asked Jen Saki about that specific instance on Friday.
[66] Here was her response.
[67] How was President Biden navigating conflicts of interest when it comes to sanctioning people who have done business with his family?
[68] And can you explain to us what this $3 .5 million was for?
[69] I don't have any confirmation of the accuracy of that report.
[70] So I have no more for their details.
[71] So the pressure is without a doubt mounting on the president to explain this to the American people.
[72] But right now, it's been mostly silence.
[73] Yeah, well, it looks like with, you know, renewed interest in this topic, there's going to be more pressure.
[74] Cabot, thanks for the reporting.
[75] Anytime.
[76] That's DailyWire's Cabot Phillips.
[77] Coming up, conservative employees at Disney break their silence.
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[81] LGBT employees at Disney scheduled to walk out today over the company's attempt to remain neutral on Florida's parental rights and education bill, while conservative staffers have issued an open letter of their own.
[82] They're claiming Disney has become a high, hostile work environment for conservatives, and they're asking the company to stay out of politics.
[83] Here to tell us more about the letter and what one high -level Disney executive told the Daily Wire is culture reporter Megan Basham.
[84] So, Megan, this seems to have become a case of dueling letters.
[85] First, we had some Disney staffers who released that letter asking the company to issue a public statement condemning Florida's bill.
[86] That's the bill that would prevent teachers from talking about sex and gender identity with young kids.
[87] Now we have a second letter from the conservative employees.
[88] What are they saying?
[89] Well, what I can tell you is that I have spent a lot of time in text threads and on the phone with Disney employees at all levels over the last couple of days.
[90] And the conservatives in the company are really not happy about recent events.
[91] So a group of them published this open letter Monday claiming that Disney has become a hostile work environment for anyone whose political and religious views are not explicitly progressive.
[92] They say they watch silently as Disney villainizes and condemns people who share opinions like theirs.
[93] And I'll just quote a bit from their letter here.
[94] Left -leaning cast members are free to promote their agenda and organize on company time using company resources.
[95] They call their fellow employees bigots and pressure Disney to use corporate influence to further their left -wing legislative goals.
[96] So what specifically are the conservatives was asking for.
[97] Well, really, as you read the full breadth of the letter, what they really want is for the company to just stay out of politics.
[98] So one engineer I spoke to described this open letter as kind of a last -ditch effort to appeal to senior leadership that may not agree with us, but lack the courage to say anything because they feel all alone themselves.
[99] And do we have any reason to believe that the senior leadership is listening?
[100] Well, I know at least one is because I spoke with him.
[101] Now, this was a high -level Disney executive who would only talk to me on background.
[102] So that means the condition of anonymity, which really does kind of tell you something that despite being very high up in the company, this person, too, is worried about his job if he should speak out.
[103] But what he told me is that unlike former Disney CEO Bob Eiger, the new chief Bob Chapic really did intend to shift gears away from being politically outspoken.
[104] he says Chapic truly is something of a conservative, but that he faced a Disney deep state of people left over from Iger's tenure who were intent on undermining that politically neutral goal.
[105] So those employees took to social media and they leaked comments to Hollywood trade publications, think variety, the Hollywood reporter, and that prompted Chapic to reverse course.
[106] So this executive told me that that capitulation is really only going to emboldened the activists.
[107] A bit of vivid language here, what he said was, quoting directly, they're not going to stop.
[108] Chapic really has two choices, just castrate himself or stand up to them.
[109] Frankly, it really doesn't look like he's going to stand up to them.
[110] According to an inside source just yesterday, Disney's chief human resource officer announced that Disney is planning to oppose an order from Texas Governor Greg Abbott that relates to medical transitions for kids.
[111] Now, this order would ban sex change surgeries and other medical transitions on children, and Disney is opposing that ban.
[112] Now, from a business perspective, is Disney concerned about how parents might feel about that?
[113] Well, it's interesting you mentioned that because this executive did tell me that Disney's C -suite is aware of polling done by the Daily Wire that shows that 64 % of Americans and 68 % of parents, Disney's key customer base, support Florida's anti -grooming bill.
[114] He also said that they know that a plurality of people say that Disney's stance against this bill is going to make them less likely to buy Disney products.
[115] But he said that the company is really just more afraid of their employees creating bad press right now than they are of their consumers.
[116] Right.
[117] Well, it'll be interesting to see if a drop in sales changes that.
[118] Megan, thanks for reporting.
[119] Absolutely.
[120] Anytime.
[121] That's Daily Wire Culture reporter, Megan Basham.
[122] Confirmation hearings for President Biden's Supreme Court nominee Katanji Brown Jackson began on Monday.
[123] Questioning from senators begins today and is expected to last four days.
[124] Jackson would replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.
[125] Her hearing comes just days after the announcement that Justice Clarence Thomas was hospitalized for an infection.
[126] Joining us to discuss is Mary Margaret O 'Lahan, who's reporting from D .C. So Mary Margaret, tell us about Biden's nominee.
[127] Hey Georgia.
[128] So Katangi Brown Jackson has a lot of experience in the judicial system.
[129] Jackson served as a law clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer, who she's replacing.
[130] And just last April, the Senate confirmed her to the United States Court of Appeals for the D .C. Circuit.
[131] Do we expect her to receive bipartisan support?
[132] It's looking like she won't be getting much Republican support, but she doesn't need it.
[133] Democrats can confirm her without any bipartisan support.
[134] In his opening statement, Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, brought up his concerns about Jackson's record on child pornography charges.
[135] According to Hawley, Jackson has a pattern of going easy on distributors of child pornography, repeatedly handing down reduced sentences for these criminals.
[136] United States v. Hawkins.
[137] This was a child pornography case where the defendant distributed multiple images of child porn possessed dozens more, including videos.
[138] The federal sentencing guidelines recommended a sentence of 97 to 121 months in prison.
[139] Prosecutors recommended 24 months in prison.
[140] Judge Jackson gave the defendant three months in prison.
[141] According to her defenders, Judge Jackson's record shows she generally gave child pornographers more lenient sentences than the sentencing guidelines.
[142] But those sentences were based on recommendations given by probation offices.
[143] Okay, so aside from some questions about child pornography sentencing, are there any other issues of concern with Judge Jackson?
[144] Well, Jackson is backed by a pretty interesting judicial activism group, Demand Justice, which was behind a very aggressive campaign to get Justice Breyer to retire to make room for a black female justice.
[145] That group has ties to the progressive consulting group Arabella advisors, and Demand Justice's top priority is to pack the Supreme Court by adding four more justices.
[146] One of their board members recently called the Constitution kind of trash, and this group has explicitly endorsed Jackson.
[147] All right, well, Mary Margaret, thanks for report.
[148] Thank you.
[149] That was Culture Reporter, Mary Margaret O 'Lahan.
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