Morning Wire XX
[0] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[1] It's Wednesday, December 20th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
[2] The Colorado GOP has announced plans to move away from the state's primary election and over to a caucus system at the ruling which bans former President Trump from the state's ballot stands.
[3] Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce reports.
[4] The news comes after a Colorado Republican representative made the remarks in a reply to a video posted by GOP candidate Vivek Ramoswamy.
[5] Here's some of what the candidate said.
[6] I will withdraw.
[7] I pledge to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary ballot, unless and until Trump's name is restored.
[8] And I demand that Ron DeSantis and Chris Christie and Nikki Haley do the same thing.
[9] The Colorado GOP replied to the video and assured Ramoswamy he wouldn't need to withdraw because they plan to convert to a pure caucus system if this is allowed to stand.
[10] The divided court whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors ruled the former president ineligible for the Oval Office due to the Constitution's insurrection clause.
[11] The court stayed its decision until January 4th.
[12] This marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.
[13] The Department of Justice and Consumer Protection Financial Bureau are suing the controversial housing development in Texas known as Colony Ridge for alleged bait -and -switch sales, as well as, as predatory financing practices.
[14] Daily Wire reporter Spencer Lindquist has the details.
[15] The suit accuses the housing development of selling plots of flood -prone land without water, sewage, or electoral infrastructure, all while exploiting a language barrier at the expense of customers.
[16] The suit sites had the development marketed in Spanish, but only offered important documentation in English.
[17] The complaint also alleges that Colmy Ridge targeted Hispanic consumers with predatory loans.
[18] This follows a September investigation by the Daily Wire.
[19] which highlighted how the development's marketing practices appear to be aimed at people who are in the United States illegally.
[20] During the recent San Francisco summit between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, three U .S. officials tell NBC that President Xi bluntly stated that Beijing will reunify Taiwan with mainland China.
[21] Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presto Giacomo has more.
[22] According to officials, China's president told Biden in a meeting attended by dozens of American and Chinese officials, officials that China prefers to take Taiwan peacefully, not by force.
[23] China's leader also referenced predictions made by the U .S. about when the communist country plans to take Taiwan, saying that they were incorrect and that he had not set a time frame.
[24] Ahead of the summit, Chinese officials asked that President Biden make a public statement in support of China's peaceful unification with Taiwan and against the Democratic Islands independence.
[25] The White House rejected that request.
[26] The comment from China's president comes at a time when China's behavior toward Taiwan is seen as increasingly aggressive and as the self -governing Democratic island heads into a major election.
[27] A close ally of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro has been released by the Biden administration in a prisoner swap for Americans being held in Venezuela.
[28] Alex Saab, who was arrested on money laundering charges in 2020, was released from custody today.
[29] In exchange, Maduro freed 10 of roughly a dozen U .S. citizens.
[30] who were imprisoned in Venezuela.
[31] Along with the American prisoners came the extradition of wanted fugitive Leonard Glenn Francis, or Fat Leonard, who's at the center of a Pentagon bribery scandal.
[32] Here's Secretary of State Anthony Blinken talking broadly about the swap earlier today.
[33] We want to make sure that our fellow Americans are released.
[34] We also focused on political prisoners in Venezuela and trying to ensure their release.
[35] So what I can say in this moment is this.
[36] We have a lot of work going on on both of those fronts.
[37] right now, and we hope to have some good news to share probably later today.
[38] The U .S. has long accused Saab of being a bad man for Maduro.
[39] Saab's release would be seen as a major concession to Maduro.
[40] The South American country's authoritarian leader is himself the target of a $15 million U .S. reward related to drug trafficking charges.
[41] The National Park Service is working to clean up an area near Lincoln Memorial today after the words Free Gaza were found spray -painted on some steps.
[42] According to a statement from the U .S. Parks Police, the process of removing the paint may take multiple treatments, and the steps on the west side of the reflecting pool will be closed to visitors until the paint is removed.
[43] And just in time for Christmas, NASA announced it's found a spot in space that resembles a glowing cosmic Christmas tree.
[44] The object, which has become known as the Christmas tree cluster, is a formation of young stars, some of which are larger, than the sun.
[45] NASA says the cluster lies in the Milky Way, roughly 2 ,500 light years from Earth.
[46] Those are your drive home updates this afternoon.
[47] To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire .com.
[48] And for more in -depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.