Fauci Flops in Front of the Senate & The SAVE Act Drama Continues | 7.30.26

Summary

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Morning Wire Episode Summary

Episode: Fauci Flops in Front of the Senate & The SAVE Act Drama Continues
Date: July 30, 2026
Hosts: Georgia Howe, John Bickley (The Daily Wire)
Main Guests: Senator Josh Hawley (Missouri), Representative Andy Ogles (Tennessee), Ed Batowski (Chapwood Investments)

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Overview

This Morning Wire episode delivers sharp analysis on three headline topics:

• Former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci's combative Fifth Amendment-fueled Senate testimony.
• Internal GOP tensions and policy gridlock over the Trump-endorsed Save America Voting and Elections (SAVE) Act.
• Investor jitters over the AI-driven tech market, with concerns of an imminent bubble burst.

The episode features direct interviews with leading lawmakers and a market expert, offering inside perspectives on political and economic drama defining the week.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Dr. Fauci’s Senate Testimony and the Push for Contempt ([01:45]–[05:15])

Summary:
Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared before a Senate committee chaired by Rand Paul, where he invoked the Fifth Amendment over 100 times. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), who questioned Fauci during the hearing, expresses outrage at Fauci’s refusal to answer and asserts that his Fifth Amendment claim is legally groundless due to pre-emptive immunity granted by President Biden. Hawley accuses Fauci of self-enrichment and promises legislative reform.

Major Insights & Quotes:

• Fauci Pleads the Fifth

  • "He claimed the Fifth Amendment. Let me just tell you as a lawyer, innocent people, honest people, they don't take the Fifth.”
    – Sen. Josh Hawley ([02:21])
  • "He made a million dollars and more in cash prizes during COVID using federal resources, federal staff, federal instrumentalities, all against the law. He got rich while people were dying. He didn't want to talk about that."
    – Sen. Josh Hawley ([02:28])

• On Legal Grounds and Contempt Vote

  • “If you have been granted immunity, you don't have a Fifth Amendment privilege. He knows that. His lawyers know it.”
    – Sen. Josh Hawley ([03:11])
  • “Hopefully, we'll take a vote to hold him in contempt. I look forward to voting yes.”
    – Sen. Josh Hawley ([03:40])

• Legislative Response:

  • “I'm going to introduce legislation immediately that will make it a crime for federal employees to take cash awards while they are in office.”
    – Sen. Josh Hawley ([03:47])

• Takeaways from Fauci's Diary:

  • “He mentions the word press over 1,000 times, Covid only 3 or 400 times. That tells you where his focus was. It was all about him to promote himself, to make himself a star.”
    – Sen. Josh Hawley ([04:11])

• On Congressional Oversight:

  • “Yesterday, Dr. Fauci gave the finger to the American people by refusing to answer any questions under oath. It's outrageous.”
    – Sen. Josh Hawley ([04:58])

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2. The Stalemate Over the SAVE Act ([06:20]–[10:59])

Summary:
The Trump-backed SAVE Act, considered a pivotal measure for “election integrity,” has passed the House but remains stalled in the Senate. Representative Andy Ogles expresses frustration at Senate Republican leadership, especially at John Thune, for not advancing the bill, despite broad popular support. Ogles and Trump urge using a talking filibuster or ending the filibuster to push it through.

Major Insights & Quotes:

• On Senate Inaction:

  • “It's stalled in the Senate...the Senate has a multiple choice kind of options of how they want to address this.”
    – Rep. Andy Ogles ([06:56])

• Public Support:

  • “Roughly 83% of Americans, when you look at the broad spectrum, support the Save America Act. Everybody understands and agrees that they want the elections to be secure.”
    – Rep. Andy Ogles ([07:23])

• GOP Internal Frustration:

  • “I would say we're a lot frustrated, quite frankly...There’s a precedent here when you have monumental, transformative pieces of legislation for the Senate to use this procedural maneuver to get it done. So, Jonathan, do your job. Get it done or get out of the way.”
    – Rep. Andy Ogles ([08:00])

• On Trump’s Pressure:

  • “He’s frustrated, just like I am, just like the American people are that they see the Senate not doing their job.”
    – Rep. Andy Ogles ([08:47])

• Objections to Senate’s Justifications:

  • “John Thune has said he doesn’t have the votes. Well, guess what? You’re the leader. Bring it up, put it on the Senate floor, call a vote and let everybody go on record.”
    – Rep. Andy Ogles ([09:23])

• Midterm Election Outlook and Larger Context:

  • “I think the midterms will hinge on affordability of gas and, you know, things like ground beef.”
    – Rep. Andy Ogles ([10:48])

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3. The AI Stock Market Bubble ([11:33]–[16:24])

Summary:
Ed Batowski, managing partner at Chapwood Investments, discusses recent volatility in AI and tech stocks, including a significant drop in the tech-heavy Korean stock index. He outlines the hype and unsustainable valuations surrounding AI stocks and predicts a major correction, with possible reallocation of capital to biotech and other sectors.

Major Insights & Quotes:

• Market Driven by AI Hype:

  • "The market is being driven by technology. And right now, the only thing that is really driving technology is the AI bubble. And I call it a bubble, because if you look at valuations on any AI stock, it's really out of whack."
    – Ed Batowski ([12:01])

• On Market Metrics:

  • “When you look at market capitalization in the S&P that's really being driven by tech stocks like Amazon, Google, Meta, and then Nvidia, Broadcom...they're already being priced for perfection. So if their numbers don't come in at extraordinarily high number, that the stock is going to get trounced.”
    – Ed Batowski ([13:09])

• "Whisper Numbers" Phenomenon:

  • “The whisper number is what everyone's looking for...if you're not meeting the whisper number, you're going to get trounced.”
    – Ed Batowski ([13:47])

• Quarterly Pressure and Risks:

  • "That's why I have such gray hair, because I have to live with this every single quarter where earnings come out...when they meet that number, that's not good enough anymore. The whisper number is what they look for."
    – Ed Batowski ([14:35])

• On AI Investment Downside:

  • “I'm not exactly sure how big that bubble is, but you are going to see spreading out and money going into other sectors…maybe put it into biotech stocks where they haven't risen as much as the AI stocks.”
    – Ed Batowski ([15:52])

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Sen. Josh Hawley: “He [Fauci] made a million dollars in cash prizes using federal instrumentalities, federal resources, federal employees. He didn't want to talk about any of that.” ([02:28])
• Sen. Josh Hawley: “Yesterday, Dr. Fauci gave the finger to the American people by refusing to answer any questions under oath. It’s outrageous.” ([04:58])
• Rep. Andy Ogles: “Get it done or get out of the way.” ([08:27])
• Ed Batowski: “The market is being driven by technology—and right now the only thing that is really driving technology is the AI bubble.” ([12:01])
• Ed Batowski: “That’s why I have such gray hair, because I have to live with this every single quarter...” ([14:35])

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Fauci Senate Testimony Recap and Senator Hawley Interview: [01:45]–[05:15]
• SAVE Act Stalemate and Rep. Ogles Interview: [06:20]–[10:59]
• AI Stock Market Volatility and Ed Batowski Interview: [11:33]–[16:24]

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Tone and Style

The tone throughout is urgent, skeptical, and direct, aligning with Morning Wire’s commitment to straight reporting on political and financial developments, with strong editorial input in the guests’ remarks.

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Conclusion

This Morning Wire episode offers a pointed critique of Dr. Fauci’s Senate performance, digs into Republican frustration with congressional divides over election integrity legislation, and warns of potential peril in overinflated AI tech stocks. With expert commentary and inside perspectives, the episode provides clarity and context on controversies shaping national discourse.

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Transcript

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[Georgia Howe]

of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for a 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees Extra initial plan term only greater than 50gb. Me slow when network is busy. See terms. Doctor Tony Fauci pleads the fifth more than 100 times during his Senate testimony.

[Senator Josh Hawley]

You were supposed to be the nation's doctor and you're playing one on tv, but this is what you were doing with your time, isn't that true?

[Ed Batowski]

On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights

[Host/Interviewer]

under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

[Senator Josh Hawley]

Yeah, yeah, I can see why.

[Host/Interviewer]

We talked to Senator Josh Hawley about what comes next for Fauci.

[Georgia Howe]

I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley. It's Thursday, July 30th, and this is Morning Wire.

[Host/Interviewer]

The SAVE act continues to stall in the Senate, driving a wedge between House

[Representative Andy Ogles]

and Senate Republicans, 83% of Americans, Republican, Democrats, Independents, everybody understands and agrees that they want the elections to be secure. And passage of the Save America act

[Georgia Howe]

and AI jitters are rattling investors at

[Ed Batowski]

some that bubble is going to burst. And apparently it already started to burst over in South Korea.

[Host/Interviewer]

Thanks for waking up with MORNING wire. Stay tuned with the news. You need to know

[Georgia Howe]

a Senate committee chaired by Rand Paul is now planning a vote next week on whether to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress. It comes after the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease testified before the committee Wednesday and repeatedly pled the Fifth.

[Host/Interviewer]

Joining us now is one of the Republican senators who questioned Fauci yesterday, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri. Senator, thank you so much for joining us. So you were in the room for this very contentious hearing. You asked a lot of questions, did not get a lot of answers. First, what was your impression of how Dr. Fauci handled his testimony?

[Senator Josh Hawley]

Oh, I thought it was absolutely outrageous. He claimed the Fifth Amendment. Let me just tell you as a lawyer, innocent people, honest people, they don't take the Fifth. If you want to conceal something, that's when you take the Fifth Amendment. And this guy had no right to it because he's been pardoned already by Joe Biden. The real reason he wasn't answering questions is he doesn't want to be held to account for the fact that he made a million dollars and more in cash prizes during COVID using federal resources, federal staff, federal instrumentalities, all against the law. He got rich while people were dying. He didn't want to talk about that.

[Host/Interviewer]

Now, as you mentioned, he was preemptively pardoned by Biden, but that only covered through last year. Is that part of the fe from him that he could actually be charged for perjury here?

[Senator Josh Hawley]

No, there's no reasonable fear on his part of anything. He just wants to avoid having to answer questions and listen, the Supreme Court's been really clear on this for over 100 years. In our law, if you have been granted immunity, you don't have a Fifth amendment privilege. He knows that. His lawyers know it. He just didn't want to answer questions because the guy is a crook. He made a million dollars in cash prizes using federal instrumentalities, federal resources, federal employees. He didn't want to talk about any of that.

[Georgia Howe]

Now, when you say he can't plead the Fifth, does that mean that technically, he's in contempt for doing so? And if so, what happens now?

[Senator Josh Hawley]

Well, hopefully, we'll take a vote to hold him in contempt. I look forward to voting yes. And I tell you what else I'm going to do. I'm going to introduce legislation immediately that will make it a crime for federal employees to take cash awards while they are in office. It's already against the law to use your staff to go out and solicit them, which Fauci did, but we ought to make it a crime and illegal to receive them. Fauci got rich while people were dying. That's the bottom line here.

[Host/Interviewer]

Now, his diary was released just a few days before this hearing. What were your takeaways from what has been revealed in that?

[Senator Josh Hawley]

Well, here's a stat for you. He mentions the word press over 1,000 times, Covid only 3 or 400 times. That tells you where his focus was. It was all about him to promote himself, to make himself a star. You know, he had time to sit down with Vogue magazine or whatever it was for a photo shoot by a pool, but he didn't have enough time today to answer our questions. He didn't have enough time to come clean to the American people. This is a guy who's all about

[Georgia Howe]

himself now, politically speaking. Do you think you have the votes to hold him in contempt and bring him to account, or is it going to be politically tricky to do so?

[Senator Josh Hawley]

No, I certainly hope that we have the votes. Listen, if you can come into a hearing of Congress, be put under oath and just say, I'm not gonna answer your questions, no matter the fact that I've already got immunity, no matter the fact you can't prosecute me. If you can do that, it basically means that a congressional subpoena means nothing list. Yesterday, Dr. Fauci gave the gave the finger to the American people by refusing to answer any questions under oath. It's outrageous.

[Host/Interviewer]

Well, we'll certainly be watching this vote next week with interest. Senator, thank you so much for joining us.

[Senator Josh Hawley]

Thank you for having me.

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[Georgia Howe]

Major legislation on election integrity is in the hands of the Senate with growing frustration from Republicans in the House who have not only passed the Trump endorsed SAVE act, but have also given the Senate multiple avenues to protect elections. President Trump, meanwhile, is calling for Senate Majority Leader John Thune to nuke the filibuster and keep the Senate in session until it's passed.

[Host/Interviewer]

Joining us now is Representative Andy Ogles. Thank you so much, Congressman, for coming on.

[Representative Andy Ogles]

Absolutely. I appreciate you having me.

[Host/Interviewer]

So we've been following the saga of the SAVE act. And as of right now, though, where does this legislation actually stand?

[Representative Andy Ogles]

Well, you know, the short answer is that it's stalled in the Senate. But keep in mind, you know, in the House, we passed the SAVE act, we passed the Save America act, and then the recent pieces of legislation that we sent over via the ndaa, we had pieces of the Save America act in that. So literally, the Senate has a multiple choice kind of options of how they want to address this. Obviously, the Save America act is the best one of those options. But look, there was a CNN poll that came out, I don't know, six, maybe nine weeks ago, and it broke it down by demographics, parties, race, et cetera. And across the board, roughly 83% of Americans, when you look at the broad spectrum, support the Save America Act. Everybody understands and agrees that they want the elections to be secure and passage of the Save America act for sure.

[Host/Interviewer]

Now, there's been some internal turmoil within the Republican Party over this. I know you guys in the House have been a little frustrated with how the Senate is holding, is handling this whole situation. Have you guys found some common ground here or is there still a lot of tension there?

[Representative Andy Ogles]

Well, you know, I would say we're a lot frustrated, quite frankly. Senator Thune has the opportunity to put this on the House floor. They can do the talking filibuster. Look, in 1964, the Civil Rights act was passed because of the talking filibuster. 1965, the Voting Rights act was passed because of the talking filibuster. The Dodd Frank bill was passed because of the talking filibuster. So there's a precedent here when you have monumental, transformative pieces of legislation for the Senate to use this pursuit procedural maneuver to get it done. So, Jonathan, do your job. Get it done or get out of the way.

[Host/Interviewer]

President Trump has weighed in a lot on this. What is the latest we're hearing from him and what he wants the Senate to do?

[Representative Andy Ogles]

He's frustrated, just like I am, just like the American people are that they see the Senate not doing their job. And look, this isn't a controversial issue when it comes to Save America. Again, over 80% of Americans say let's get it done. So there's really no excuse for John Thune at all.

[Host/Interviewer]

Yeah. And what are the arguments being made from Republicans for not moving forward? I know our listeners are frustrated.

[Representative Andy Ogles]

What are they saying, to be honest with you, I have not heard a good answer from the Senate as to why they're not moving it, aside from the fact that John Thune has said he doesn't have the votes. Well, guess what? You're the leader. Bring it up, put it on the Senate floor, call a vote and let everybody go on record. And once that's been done, do the talking. Filibuster. Like I said, you have historical precedent to get it done. He has a path forward. He's simply choosing not to do it. And again, the American people rightfully should be frustrated by that.

[Host/Interviewer]

Now, midterms on everyone's minds. Of course, Republicans got a lot of wins in the redistricting battles that took place in the courts and via vote, et cetera. How are Republicans in the House feeling going into November?

[Representative Andy Ogles]

Well, you know, cautiously optimistic like you mentioned with redistricting. But that being said, I think this will be a kind of a gasoline and ground beef type of election, meaning affordability. So, you know, my words to the White House and to the president is the conflict in Iran, let's end it quickly, meaning if we're going to hit them, hit them hard and finish it so that we can focus on our economy. So whether it's corn or fuel oil, the markets like stability. So even if oil flows aren't disrupted, the fact that there's uncertainty can affect gas prices here at home. So, you know, I don't want a protracted war, neither do the American people. So I think we hit them, hit them hard, finish this regime and let the Persian people take their country back. But that being said, I think the midterms will hinge on affordability of gas and, you know, things like ground beef.

[Host/Interviewer]

Well, Congressman, thank you so much for coming on. We appreciate you taking the time.

[Representative Andy Ogles]

Absolutely.

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[Host/Interviewer]

and a drop in a tech heavy Korean stock index has investors wondering if the AI bubble is about to burst.

[Georgia Howe]

Joining us now is Ed Batowski, Chapwood Investments Managing partner. Ed, thanks for coming on.

[Ed Batowski]

Well, thanks for having me.

[Georgia Howe]

So we saw some shakiness in the stock market this week, driven at least in part by AI fears. First, can you tell us a little bit about the general health of the US Stock market and also how much of that is being driven by AI speculation and or fears?

[Ed Batowski]

Yeah, so the market is being driven by technology. And right now the only thing that is really driving technology is the AI bubble. And I call it a bubble, because if you look at valuations on any AI stock, it's really out of whack. And when I say that they're projecting earnings that I don't believe are going to be achievable, and some people are starting to finally catch on to that, and earnings are what drive stock prices higher. So they're valuing a lot of these semiconductor and AI companies at very, very high valuations that at some point that bubble is going to burst. And apparently it already started to burst over in South Korea.

[Georgia Howe]

How much of the growth in the last year or two would you say is attributable to speculation alone about AI? I've seen some places say that it's prob. Dropping up much of our growth. Is that fair to say?

[Ed Batowski]

Well, if you look at the s and P500, it's up about 7% year to date, and that does not include dividends. And so a lot of people just think the stock market is on this torrid pace, and it really isn't. When you look at market capitalization in the S and P that's really being driven by tech stocks like Amazon, Google, Meta, and then Nvidia Broadcom, which is one that a lot of people don't know, and then also Micron Technology, but they're already being priced for perfection. So if their numbers don't come in at extraordinarily high number, that the stock is going to get trounced. So you saw one, it was a company that came in and beat earnings, but didn't beat it by more than 20% and it got trounced. So people are looking for there's something called the actual earnings. And then there's another thing called the whisper number. And the whisper number is what everyone's looking for. They're kind of whispering to each other saying, hey, we're projecting for something to earn a dollar for this quarter, but if it doesn't earn more than a dollar twenty, we're getting out. And they kind of whisper that to each other. And that's kind of Wall street jargon, but the whisper number, if you're not meeting the whisper number, you're going to get trounced. And that's apparently what's happened in South Korea right now and it's happening in the US as well.

[Georgia Howe]

So does that mean at the end of every quarter now we're due to have some panic over this just because of all that spending and maybe over investment in some of those technologies and now we're just having a lot of pressure for the results to show up?

[Ed Batowski]

Yes, it does. That's why I have such gray hair, because I have to live with this every single quarter where earnings come out and there's an earnings forecasted. So there's all these analysts that are really brilliant that work at big investment banking firms and they put estimates out as to what they think the company is going to earn for that quarter. When they meet that number, that's not good enough anymore. The whisper number is what they look for and they look for them to meet that whisper number. And if so, what happens is they have an analyst call, like Meta is going to have an analyst call and they're going to explain what they think is going to happen the next quarter. And then the analysts then put a report together saying that they believe that Meta is going to earn, let's just say a dollar exporter. And if they don't make, if they get to A$30, then they exceeded expectations. The analyst goes out and writes a paper raising what they believe the stock price is going to rise to.

[Georgia Howe]

Now, I understand we've had some pretty unprecedented investment into AI. Does that mean that our downside is going to be very significant if we don't start some serious returns? And if so, should we be bracing for a very serious bubble bursting in these quarters to come?

[Ed Batowski]

Yeah. I'll tell you, I've. I've been right more than I've been wrong when it comes to AI. I'm not exactly sure how big that bubble is, but you are going to see spreading out and money going into other sectors. You're probably going to see a lot of money going into biotech because there's a lot of risk people out there. There's a lot of risk money. And they might have said, hey, we've seen enough. We've made enough money on AI stocks. It's time now to kind of pivot, maybe put it into biotech stocks where they haven't risen as much as the AI stocks.

[Georgia Howe]

Right. Well, Ed, thank you so much for coming on today. We really appreciate it.

[Ed Batowski]

Thanks for having me.

[Georgia Howe]

Thanks for waking up with us. The reporting that fuels this show is only possible because you tune in every day and because of our Daily Wire subscribers.

[Host/Interviewer]

To enjoy the show ad free and join our mission, Become a [e-mail] we'll be back this evening with more news you need to know.

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