Morning Wire XX
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[4] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[5] It's Wednesday, February 21st, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
[6] The Biden administration announced this morning that it is unilaterally canceling $1 .2 billion in student loan debt.
[7] The move is expected to affect at least 150 ,000 borrowers.
[8] Daily Wire, senior editor Cabot Phillips, has more.
[9] The White House says these borrowers specifically meet the qualifications of having taken out loans of $12 ,000 or less than making regular payments on them for the last decade or more.
[10] A White House fact sheet also says that, quote, for every $1 ,000 borrowed above $12 ,000, a borrower can receive forgiveness after an additional year of payments.
[11] Recipients of the relief are expected to be emailed a message from President Biden, saying, quote, I hope this relief gives you a little more breathing room.
[12] According to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, the plan brings the total amount of student debt canceled by the Biden administration to nearly $138 billion for nearly $3 .9 million borrowers.
[13] Hunter Biden's attorneys have filed nine motions to dismiss tax charges against their client.
[14] The charges were filed by Special Counsel David Weiss in a California federal court last year.
[15] Lawyers representing Hunter also claim that prosecutors, mistook a picture of sawdust for cocaine, which was used as evidence.
[16] Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has more.
[17] Hunter's lawyer, Abby Lowell, accused prosecutors of reneging on binding agreements over political pressure to charge the president's son.
[18] Court filings from Biden's legal team argue that he was selectively targeted for prosecution and that the statute of limitations has expired regarding several of the tax -related charges.
[19] The defense attorneys took aim at special counsel Weiss and said his appointment violates the appropriations clause because his investigation was not approved by Congress.
[20] Last month, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to nine tax -related charges that claimed he spent millions living extravagantly instead of paying taxes.
[21] President Biden's brother testified behind closed doors today as part of the Biden impeachment inquiry.
[22] The House Oversight and Judiciary Committee's interviewed James Biden, who claimed in his opening statement that the president was not involved in any of his business ventures.
[23] James and his business dealings have been a key area of focus for House Republicans who are investigating whether President Biden was involved with his brother's business transactions or used his influence to their benefit.
[24] Upon arriving for his interview this morning, James was asked what he planned to tell the committees, to which he replied, the truth.
[25] Republican Congressman Jim Jordan told reporters before the interview that it will likely focus on things that happened before Joe Biden was president.
[26] Specifically, relative to James Biden's involvement with CEFC, AmeriCorps, there was a big story about that.
[27] It's like that deal doesn't get finalized until Joe Biden shows up at the four season and gives a little short presentation to all the people there, the eight Chinese executives with CEFC and Hunter Biden and his business partners.
[28] President Biden's son Hunter will testify before the same committees next week.
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[33] A Los Angeles woman and dual Russian citizen has been detained by Russian authorities after raising funds for Ukraine.
[34] Russian authorities accuse 33 -year -old Cassinia Carolina of treason due to her fundraising.
[35] U .S. officials confirmed the identity of the Russian American ballerina after the Russian Federal Security Service claimed they had detained an unnamed dual Russian -American citizen.
[36] The White House says it's working to secure consular access.
[37] Here's United States National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby warning other Americans in Russia.
[38] If you're a U .S. citizen, including a dual national, residing in or traveling in Russia, you ought to leave right now, if you can, just depart immediately.
[39] Russian authorities allege that the money collected was spent on medicine, equipment, weapons, ammunition in the Ukrainian war effort, though no other details nor a description of any evidence were released.
[40] The U .S. said today that the United Nations top court should hold off on issuing an opinion saying Israel should immediately and unconditionally withdraw from territories sought for a Palestinian state.
[41] This comes a day after the U .S. vetoed a U .N. resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
[42] Washington instead put forth a rival draft resolution that called for a temporary pause in fighting.
[43] Inflation may be easing, but high food prices are here to stay.
[44] Americans are spending more than 11 % of their disposable income on food.
[45] These are the highest prices in three decades.
[46] Eating out at a restaurant will cost you about 5 % more, and a grocery trip will also be more expensive than just a year ago.
[47] According to the Wall Street Journal, several restaurant chains, including Denny's and Wendy's, say they're serving fewer customers and large food -producing companies like her, and Kraft say their sales are also down.
[48] Same with soda and snack giant PepsiCo, which raised their prices every quarter over the past two years.
[49] They now say customers are cutting back and sales have decreased.
[50] And who is on Donald Trump's vice presidential shortlist?
[51] In a town hall event in South Carolina last night, the former president confirmed a few high -profile names.
[52] Those included South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, Vivek Ramoswamy, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and South Dakota Governor Christy Noem.
[53] Trump called them all solid choices.
[54] He also threw out a few surprising names, including Florida Congressman Byron Donald's and former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
[55] Trump did not provide a timeline for his announcement.
[56] Those are your drive home updates this afternoon.
[57] To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire .com.
[58] And for more in -depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
[59] Thank you.