Morning Wire XX
[0] More information comes to light about the FBI's search of Trump's Mar -a -Lago home, including the contents of the search warrant and what agents seized.
[1] We sift through the details surrounding what specifically agents were searching for and the latest statements from the former president.
[2] I'm Daily Wire editor -in -chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
[3] It's Monday, August 15th, and this is Morning Wire.
[4] The Mar -a -Lago rate has Americans divided, but new polling suggests a significant percentage of Republicans, and independents are increasingly worried about federal agencies being politicized.
[5] We break down the data.
[6] And a month after recalling its progressive district attorney, San Francisco's new DA is cracking down on drug crime.
[7] The previous administration did not obtain a single fentanyl sales conviction, despite what was happening on our streets.
[8] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
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[18] A week after the unprecedented raid of former President Trump's residents, new details are beginning to shed light on how the FBI obtained a warrant to search the property and what they took.
[19] Here are the latest as Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips.
[20] Cabot last week, there were still a lot of unknowns about this search, which is, of course, one of the biggest political developments in recent history.
[21] We're now starting to get a clearer picture of how this all went down.
[22] What have we learned over the last few days?
[23] Well, the stated intention of the raid was to find specific classified information that President Trump was allegedly keeping it as property.
[24] And according to sources in the FBI, they found what they were looking for.
[25] Wall Street Journal report says agents seized 11 sets of classified documents, including some that were marked top secret.
[26] Now, according to his lawyers, Trump declassified all of those materials before leaving office.
[27] Remember, the president has the power to declassify information at will.
[28] And anything he says out loud, instantly becomes declassified.
[29] But the DOJ says regardless, what they seized was federal property.
[30] Now, the other big news centered on the warrant itself.
[31] What can you tell us about that?
[32] Yeah, on Friday, the warrant was released, and it showed what we've been expecting, that the FBI had reason to believe Trump was storing classified information.
[33] They cited three potential crimes that they were looking into, though, including violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice, and criminal handling of government records.
[34] However, the warrant also raised some legal questions, because it was fairly vague on what exactly they were looking for.
[35] It simply said, quote, all physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed.
[36] So pretty vague.
[37] To that point, here's Andrew McCarthy, former U .S. attorney in New York.
[38] This warrant is so open -ended and it so defies the Fourth Amendment's requirement that a warrant specifically describe the things that the agents are allowed to seize.
[39] This is a general warrant.
[40] This is basically what we have the Fourth Amendment to prevent.
[41] For those not as familiar with the Fourth Amendment, it states that a warrant shall not be issued without probable cause, quote, particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
[42] So Trump's team could argue here that this warrant didn't meet those requirements and was thus unconstitutional.
[43] There was a lot of talk over the weekend about a signed letter from back in June.
[44] What do we know about that letter?
[45] Yeah, so quick recap for context on that letter.
[46] Back in February, the National Archives raised concerns that Trump was holding on to classified material at his residence.
[47] In response, he turned over 15 boxes of material from his time at the White House, which he says included mementos and gifts.
[48] But the archives said that there were classified documents included in those boxes, and that's what set off this initial DOJ investigation.
[49] But according to a new report from the New York Times, as part of that investigation back in June, lawyers for President Trump signed a written statement.
[50] claiming that he'd returned all classified documents back to the government.
[51] So if the FBI had salad intel that there were still more documents that he hadn't handed over, it could explain how they were able to obtain a warrant.
[52] Now, Trump issued an initial statement on the day of the raid.
[53] How has he since responded?
[54] Well, according to the former president, the FBI, quote, didn't need to see anything they could have had it at any time.
[55] So essentially saying that he was cooperating with the DOJ inquiry into the documents at his home, and he said that he'd already let them search his residence in the past.
[56] and had gone along with all of their requests that he secure certain storage rooms that contained material from his presidency.
[57] According to reports, since the raid, Trump has responded by hiring new attorneys with experience in long, drawn -out DOJ investigations, which seems to imply that they think this is going to be a lengthy legal battle.
[58] For his part, Trump called the raid a, quote, hoax and implied that it was an attempt to keep him from running for office again and not a true criminal investigation.
[59] Well, clearly the legal and political battle over this unprecedented action by the FBI has just begun.
[60] Definitely.
[61] Cabot, thanks for reporting.
[62] Any time.
[63] That's Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
[64] Coming up, how the American public views the FBI's actions against Trump.
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[68] New polling suggests that an increasing number of Republicans and independents believe that politicization has infected the Department of Justice and FBI, especially as it relates to the investigative action taken against former President Donald Trump.
[69] Here to talk about public perception of the Justice Department is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
[70] So, Tim, break down some of the polling for us.
[71] How are people reacting to the FBI's search of Trump's home?
[72] Hey, Georgia.
[73] Polling seems to show that a growing number of Republicans and independents are concerned about the abuse of federal agencies for political purposes.
[74] Recent polling by Trafalgar and Convention of States found that an overwhelming majority of Republicans, 77%, as well as 54 % of independents, believe that the raid was conducted for political reasons.
[75] Democrats, on the other hand, largely viewed the action as apolitical.
[76] Trafalgar found that about 70 % of Democrats believe that the FBI's search was an impartial investment into potential crimes by Trump.
[77] Politico and Morning Consult asked similar questions and also found very polarized views.
[78] Their polling found that 72 % of Republicans disapproved of the raid versus 84 % of Democrats who supported it.
[79] As for independence, the poll found that 47 % approved of the raid while 32 % disapproved.
[80] So Americans are very divided over this.
[81] Why are so many Republicans in particular so skeptical about these agencies?
[82] Many Republicans argue that there's been a clear pattern of political weaponization of the Justice Department in recent years.
[83] Morningwire talked about the issue with Harmeet Dillon, founder of the Center for American Liberty and co -chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association.
[84] Dylan laid out some of the more high -profile examples from the DOJ that Republicans say fit that pattern.
[85] You've seen the United States Department of Justice lie to the FISA court to obtain surveillance warrants on Carter Page and others.
[86] You've seen United States Department of Justice, gullibly accept information from Michael Sussman on behalf of a presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, and pretend like they didn't know that this was political material.
[87] We had a Russia collusion hoax being pushed by this DOJ.
[88] We have the very same circumstances of so -called government records that are being abused with Hillary Clinton's server.
[89] Hillary Clinton's home was never raided by the FBI.
[90] even though there were clear violations of the law as to how you handle government records, the Biden family has never been raided by the FBI despite apparent video evidence that I think everybody with two eyes can agree is shocking of sex trafficking violations, drug violations, even gun violations by the first family.
[91] Now, there's also the timing of the raid.
[92] We're obviously just a few months away from elections.
[93] Do we have a sense yet of whether this is getting voters fired up?
[94] Yeah, actually we do.
[95] The Trafalgar poll found that the Trump raid was more motivating to Republicans and independence than Democrats.
[96] 83 % of Republicans say they are now more motivated to vote.
[97] 72 % of independents said the same.
[98] While 55 % of Democrats, so about 30 % fewer than Republicans, said they were more motivated to vote now.
[99] Now, in the background of all of this, there have also been the ongoing January 6th committee hearings.
[100] Have those hearings influenced public perception of Trump in one way or the other?
[101] Data showed that opinions of Trump seem pretty fixed at this point.
[102] There's some recent polling from Monmouth that shows that the hearings have had almost zero impact on people's view of Trump in January 6th.
[103] Monmouth's polling from before the hearings found that 42 % held Trump directly responsible for January 6th.
[104] 65 % of Americans described it as a riot, while 50 % called it an insurrection.
[105] After seven hearings, just 1 % fewer respondents now call it a riot, 2 % more call it an insurrection, and surprisingly, 4 % fewer say Trump was directly responsible.
[106] Well, a very chaotic start to election season.
[107] Tim, thanks for coming on.
[108] Thanks for having me. That was Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
[109] San Francisco has a new district attorney, and just one month into the job, she's already cracking down on crime, revoking dozens of lenient plea offers for accused fentanyl dealers.
[110] District Attorney Brooke Jenkins was instrumental in ousting her former boss, progressive Chesa Boudin.
[111] Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade, Alorty, is here to discuss.
[112] So, Marade, tell us about this new DA's first steps.
[113] Sure, so yes, the new DA Jenkins is making it very clear she does not want to continue the legacy of her predecessor, Budin, who, as you mentioned, was recalled last month.
[114] In her first month on the job, Jenkins announced she's revoking plea offers in about 30 cases in which alleged fentanyl dealers had been allowed to plead guilty to less serious crimes.
[115] Jenkins' office said that all of the original more lenient plea offers would have let dealers plead to misdemeanors rather than a felony drug dealing charge.
[116] Now the accused dealers can either plead guilty to a felony charge or take their case to trial.
[117] Jenkins said that, quote, on my watch, the DA's office is going to take these cases seriously.
[118] She said San Francisco has a public health crisis with regards to fentanyl, and that fentanyl dealers will no longer be given a question.
[119] quote, free pass in the city.
[120] So Jenkins is really making a dramatic pivot here from Boudin's policies on drug dealers and users.
[121] Definitely.
[122] One significant detail is that while Boudin was district attorney, many accused drug dealers were allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of accessory after the fact.
[123] This is what's called a deportation safe conviction because it allows the convicted person to avoid deportation, which they couldn't do if they got a felony.
[124] Deportation safe convictions are a cornerstone of the progressive criminal justice movement, This is significant because many of San Francisco's drug dealers are illegal immigrants, often from Honduras.
[125] So these dealers keep ending up back on the street over and over again after being caught selling drugs because their immigration status shielded them from harsher penalties.
[126] One particular defendant ended up with six cases against him that resulted in a single misdemeanor charge, even though he was in possession of about $15 ,000 worth of fentanyl.
[127] Just to put in perspective, according to Jenkins, the San Francisco DA's office did not convict a single fentanyl dealer under Chesu Boudin.
[128] That's despite a massive surge in fentanyl deaths across the city during the same period.
[129] Okay, so Jenkins is revoking plea deals.
[130] What other steps is she taking?
[131] Yes, so she's allowing her prosecutors to ask that fentanyl dealers who are repeat or extreme offenders be detained before their trials.
[132] She's also allowing a more serious charge for dealers who are arrested selling drugs near a school, potentially adding years to their prison sentence.
[133] And Jenkins is also limiting her own.
[134] own offices power to send drug dealers to a collaborative court where they can get drug treatment and housing services.
[135] She said Boudin, quote, abused the court by sending dealers there after they were caught with larger amounts of fentanyl.
[136] There was some speculation that Boudin would run for D .A. again, but how likely is that?
[137] Well, Boudin said last week that he's decided not to run for D .A. again.
[138] However, Boudin did say he is gravely concerned about Jenkins, and he's worried that the, quote, successful programs he implemented will not continue.
[139] Budin said, quote, we see worrying signs every day as progress is rolled back.
[140] We should note, San Francisco is well known now for having open -air drug markets that include large amounts of fentanyl.
[141] In April, police had already seized more than 22 pounds of fentanyl this year in just the city's tenderloin area.
[142] The city says it has seen nearly 300 drug overdose deaths so far this year, the vast majority of them from fentanyl.
[143] So San Franciscans kicked out at district attorney, they saw as dangerously soft on crime.
[144] And on the fentanyl issue, at least, Jenkins appears to be giving voters what they asked for.
[145] Yet appears Jenkins is really delivering here on her promises.
[146] Marade, thanks for reporting.
[147] That was Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Allorty.
[148] Other stories were tracking this week.
[149] Actress Anne Heish was taken off life support Sunday afternoon after being declared brain dead on Friday following a car crash.
[150] Author Salman Rushdie is on the men, but the road to recovery will be long, his agency.
[151] said Sunday.
[152] This comes two days after he was seriously injured in a stabbing during a lecture in New York.
[153] A second delegation of American lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Sunday to discuss the tension in the area and investments in semiconductors.
[154] The trip comes 12 days after a visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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