Morning Wire XX
[0] Donald Trump gets a major victory in the Supreme Court on presidential immunity.
[1] What are the broader implications of the ruling and does it spell doom for Jack Smith's case?
[2] I'm Daily Wire, editor -in -chief John Bickley.
[3] It's Tuesday, July 2nd, and this is Morning Wire.
[4] President Biden scrambles to shore up support within his own party amid reports of a Democrat coup behind the scenes.
[5] There are very honest and serious and rigorous conversations taking place at every of our party.
[6] And Republicans warn that voter registration practices open the door to millions of non -citizens voting in the national election.
[7] This is about the rule of law, ensuring the integrity of elections, and the simple proposition that only citizens should vote.
[8] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[9] Stay tuned.
[10] We have the news you need to know.
[11] Hey guys, producer Brandon here.
[12] Balance of Nature is my go -to source for whole -food ingredients.
[13] They use an advanced cold vacuum process that encapsulates fruits and vegetables into whole -food supplements without sacrificing their natural antioxidants.
[14] The capsules are completely void of additives, fillers, extracts, synthetics, pesticides, or added sugar.
[15] The only thing of Balance of Nature fruit and veggie capsules are fruits and veggies.
[16] So go to Balance of Nature .com and use promo code wire for 35 % off your first order as a preferred customer, plus get a free bottle of fiber and spice.
[17] That's balance of nature .com promo code wire.
[18] On the final day of the term, the Supreme Court released its much anticipated decision on presidential immunity, a ruling considered largely a victory for Donald Trump.
[19] A few hours later, lawyers for the former president asked the New York judge presiding over his hush money trial to set aside his conviction and delay his July 11th sentencing.
[20] Meanwhile, President Biden chose to address the nation last night to voice his opposition to the 6 -3 ruling.
[21] No one is above the law, not even the President of the United States.
[22] With today's Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, that fundamentally changed.
[23] Today's decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits on what the president can do.
[24] This is a fundamentally new principle, and it's a dangerous precedent.
[25] He went on to lament that Americans will vote without knowing the outcome of special counsel Jack Smith's election interference case against Trump.
[26] And the American people deserve to have an answer in the courts before they asked to vote again this year.
[27] Now, because of today's decision, that is highly, highly unlikely.
[28] joining us to discuss the immunity decision is Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School and host of the passing judgment podcast.
[29] Jessica, good to have you back on.
[30] So first, can you explain the decision and what it means for presidents in general and for former President Trump specifically?
[31] Yes, and I love that question because it's not just a decision about Donald Trump.
[32] It's a decision about everybody else who is going to be president or a future former president and what type of protection.
[33] we are going to give them from criminal liability.
[34] So in brief, what the court really did here is create three different buckets.
[35] Bucket number one is you're a president, you're engaging in actions that only a president can engage in, like, for instance, appointing an ambassador.
[36] You have absolute criminal immunity, immunity from criminal prosecution.
[37] Nobody can come after you.
[38] Then there's bucket number two.
[39] And bucket number two really deals with the next concentric circle out, those actions where you are not acting like a private citizen, but these are things that other high -ranking officials arguably can do.
[40] So maybe talking to another member of the executive branch, for instance.
[41] And in those cases, your actions are entitled to a presumption of immunity from criminal prosecution.
[42] So when it comes to the conversations that Trump had with former vice president Mike Pence and whether or not Mike Pence could fail to certify the electoral college vote, that falls within the presumptively immune from criminal prosecution.
[43] And then there's everything else, unofficial slash private acts, and then there is no immunity from criminal prosecution.
[44] But obviously, in describing that, this is about more than former President Trump.
[45] Yes, it affects the D .C. election interference case pending against him.
[46] Yes, it affects the Georgia case as well.
[47] But it's also about defining the protection that we are going to give to any chief executive.
[48] Now, as you correctly predicted that it would on this show yesterday, the high court sent Trump's case back down to the lower court to determine which of his actions were part of his official presidential duties.
[49] Which acts do you believe were official and which ones were personal?
[50] Well, this is where Judge Chetkin has a lot of work cut out for her.
[51] Judge Chetkin is the trial court judge who is overseeing the D .C. election interference case.
[52] And what she's really going to have to do is pour through the actions, for instance, that former President Trump took leading up to January 6th in terms of the speech at the ellipse, in terms of talking to his supporters, certain tweets that he sent out, also conversations that he had, not with people in the federal government, but state officials, for instance, secretaries of state like Brad Raffensberger, and trying to figure out, was Donald Trump acting in his capacity as President Trump, or was he acting as candidate Trump?
[53] There's just a lot of homework for Judge Chutkin, and the Supreme Court gave her plenty of work to do.
[54] All that homework brings up the key issue of timing here.
[55] Is there any chance now Jack Smith's case gets to trial before November?
[56] Is this case even potentially dead?
[57] Well, I would say with respect to the timing, before this decision came out, there was no chance that this case was going to trial, that it's just too late.
[58] Now, I think given the court's decision, there's really, really no chance that this is going to trial before the election.
[59] In terms of the substance of Jack Smith's case, there are a lot of allegations here that, as a matter of first instance, the trial court judge said, these are private acts, that these are not the acts undertaken that we would view as official acts.
[60] And so Jack Smith's case is more difficult.
[61] I want to point out one reason it becomes significantly more difficult.
[62] And that's because a majority of the court said that when it comes to proving private acts, you cannot use evidence of official acts.
[63] And that makes special counsel Jack Smith job a lot harder.
[64] Indeed.
[65] Jessica Levinson, thank you so much for coming on.
[66] With vacation, weddings, birthdays, and reunions, there's so much going on.
[67] Get the most out of your spring plan.
[68] by stocking up on Zbiotics now.
[69] Zbiotics pre -alcohol probiotic is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic.
[70] When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut.
[71] Zbiotics produces an enzyme to break this byproduct down.
[72] Go to Zbiotics .com slash wire to get 15 % off your first order with code wire at checkout.
[73] That's Zbiotics .com slash wire.
[74] Use code wire at checkout for 15 % off.
[75] With just four months to go until Election Day, President Biden is battling not just Donald Trump, but Democrats within his own party who insist he must drop out of the race.
[76] Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips joins us now to discuss the president's efforts to reassure voters and party leaders.
[77] Hey, Gavin.
[78] So five days since the debate disaster, but this story continues to dominate the national landscape.
[79] What's the latest here?
[80] Well, coming out of the weekend, there was sort of this realization among Democrats that the only feasible way they're going to get a new nominee is if Biden himself voluntarily steps down.
[81] But by all accounts, that is not happening.
[82] The president huddled with his family at Camp David over the last few days.
[83] And the message from his wife, children and grandchildren was clear.
[84] Stick it out.
[85] According to numerous folks with knowledge of those talks, the president's family told Biden, 90 minutes cannot define his legacy.
[86] And that his performance actually had more to do with poor advice and preparation from his staff and not his own cognitive abilities.
[87] So they're blaming his staff there.
[88] Apparently, political reports that family members took aim at Biden's senior advisors, who they say over -prepared their father with numbers and data, instead of allowing him to simply be himself and lay out his vision for the future.
[89] They also accused staffers of overworking Biden and not leaving him enough time to rest before the debate.
[90] One thing they did not seem to blame his age.
[91] Hunter Biden, for example, reportedly told his father that he wants Americans to, quote, see the version of his father that he knows, scrappy, and in command of the facts.
[92] And look, it's important to remember here.
[93] This is a man who was repeatedly passed over and counted out by those within his own party.
[94] So there's a certain level of pride at play here.
[95] He and his family went to once again prove the doubters wrong.
[96] So how has the Biden campaign strategy shifted in response to the debate?
[97] So it's clear their number one priority right now is to discredit anyone in the party or media saying he should step down, including top Biden donors, some of whom have reportedly called asking for refunds.
[98] The campaign has dubbed those folks, quote, bedwetters and says anyone calling to remove him is essentially trying to subvert democracy and the will of voters, who already nominated him.
[99] One line we've heard from a number of Biden surrogates is that the nominee should be chosen by the people and not by, quote, party officials in smoke -filled rooms.
[100] More broadly, though, the campaign is sticking with the argument they had before that this election is bigger than one man against another and is a fight for truth versus lies, normalcy versus chaos, and democracy versus totalitarianism.
[101] Here's the latest Biden campaign add to that effect.
[102] You see Trump last night?
[103] I mean it sincerely, and the most lies told in the single debate.
[104] He lied about the great economy he created.
[105] He lied about the pandemic he botched.
[106] He lied about how he had nothing to do with the insurrection of January 6th.
[107] And one more strategic shift, the campaign says they plan to go on the offensive to reassure the public Biden is still up for the job.
[108] That means more lengthy one -on -one interviews, press briefings, and live town hall events.
[109] While that could help reassure some voters, there's also the chance he puts in a performance similar to the debate and just further cements the perception he's too old.
[110] It is a gamble for sure, but at this point, maybe their best bet.
[111] Yeah, it might be the only play.
[112] Kevin, thanks for reporting.
[113] Anytime.
[114] Potentially millions of non -citizens could register to vote by merely claiming to be a U .S. citizen.
[115] Republicans say they have the answer, but they need Democrat support to reform the loose process.
[116] Here to talk about the threat posed by fraudulent non -citizen votes as Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
[117] Hey Tim, so is this a valid concern here?
[118] Could many non -citizens register to vote in this next election?
[119] Well, while you do have to be a citizen to vote in federal elections, there isn't a federal requirement that you provide proof of citizenship on federal voting forms.
[120] Voting registration forms are handed out in almost every state at welfare offices, DMVs, and other agencies.
[121] And all one has to do to receive one is claim to be a U .S. citizen.
[122] Now, millions of non -citizens are eligible for benefits at these agencies and could potentially be handed voter registration forms, even though they have no right to actually use them.
[123] But with the form in hand, it's relatively simple for non -citizens to register as U .S. voters.
[124] Yeah.
[125] Now, has this been a problem in elections?
[126] Do we have evidence of non -citizens voting in the past?
[127] Yes, we do.
[128] Here's Heritage Foundation election expert Hans von Spakovsky at a congressional hearing last month presenting some evidence to House Administrative.
[129] Commission Committee Chair Brian Steele.
[130] We heard from one of our other witnesses that non -citizen voting is a myth, that there's no evidence of this, but was there a case where there was a close election in the House of Representatives in Congress went back and studied whether or not non -citizens actually pertook in that election or not?
[131] There was, and in fact, I brought the report.
[132] This is the House Oversight Committee report from 1998, and it was the investigation of the race between Bob Dorn and Loretta Sanchez.
[133] Margin of victory, 979 votes.
[134] Because the INS refused to give the committee records, they had a subpoena them.
[135] And when they compare the INS records to the Orange County Register, they found clear and convincing evidence that 624 aliens had registered and voted.
[136] They found circumstantial evidence of 196 aliens who'd registered votes.
[137] That's 820.
[138] What did they have to do to be?
[139] able to cross -check that?
[140] They had to take the INS records and check it against the voter registration records.
[141] Is this done in every election?
[142] No, it's not.
[143] We were told there was a paper trail.
[144] According to the New York Post, government agencies in 49 states provide voter registration forms to non -citizens.
[145] Arizona is the only exception since it passed a law banning the practice for state forms, though notably federal forms are not covered by the law.
[146] Now, we have had some congressional action on this.
[147] What are lawmakers doing?
[148] Republicans in Congress have introduced what they are calling the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility or Save Act.
[149] The bill would set requirements for states to verify U .S. citizenship before passing out voter registration forms.
[150] Here's Texas Republican Chip Roy, who co -authored the bill, explaining the goals of the legislation last month.
[151] We're here for the simple proposition supported by the vast majority of the American people that only citizens of the United States should vote, that we should have documentary proof, that we should have a system to guarantee that only citizens of the United States vote in federal elections, where we have the clear authority under the Constitution of the United States and our laws as Congress to set the terms of those elections.
[152] The bill doesn't have any support from Democrats, though, so it's not likely going anywhere, at least anytime soon.
[153] Election security is a big concern for voters.
[154] Tim, thanks for reporting.
[155] Good to be on.
[156] Thanks for waking up with us.
[157] We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.