Biden Family Influence Peddling & Newsom Fights Trump | 12.3.24

Summary

Morning Wire Episode Summary: "Biden Family Influence Peddling & Newsom Fights Trump" | December 3, 2024

Hosted by John Bickley and Georgia Howe, Morning Wire delves into two major political developments: President Biden's controversial pardon of his son Hunter Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom's initiative to "Trump proof" the state. This summary captures the key discussions, insights, and conclusions from the episode, complete with notable quotes and timestamps.

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1. Biden Family Influence Peddling

Overview: The episode opens with a focus on the political repercussions following President Joe Biden's unprecedented pardon of his son, Hunter Biden. This move has ignited debates about presidential overreach and the integrity of the Biden family.

Key Points:

• Unprecedented Pardon:

  • Georgia Howe [00:03] introduces the topic: "The political fallout continues from President Biden's sweeping pardon for his son Hunter."
  • John Bickley [00:08] criticizes the portrayal of Biden: "Democrats portrayed the president as this great arbiter of morality and truth... And yet that wasn't true."

• House Oversight Committee Findings:

  • The House Oversight Committee released a timeline alleging that the Biden family engaged in foreign influence peddling.
  • Cabot Phillips [00:41] labels Joe Biden as potentially "the worst president in US History, but also the most corrupt."

• Detailed Analysis of the Pardon:

  • Tim Rice [02:02] explains the scope of the pardon: "The document itself protects the younger Biden from being charged with any crimes... not just looming federal charges, but future ones that have not yet been brought."
  • Margaret Love, former US Pardon attorney, is quoted: "I have never seen language like this in a pardon document... except for the Nixon pardon."

• Allegations of Corruption:

  • Eric Eggers [04:08] highlights that the pardon shields Hunter Biden from "alleged" federal law violations during his tenure at Burisma and other overseas companies.
  • Cabot Phillips [07:30] discusses the House Oversight Committee's claims that the Bidens and their associates received over $20 million from foreign entities, including Ukrainian and Chinese companies.

• Political Fallout:

  • Tim Rice [05:09] contrasts Hunter Biden with Donald Trump, stating, "We have a 34 count convicted felon that is about to walk into the White House."
  • Republicans argue the DOJ’s handling was biased: "If that initial sweetheart plea deal that was offered to Hunter by Biden's DOJ had not been blown up by a judge, the president's son would never have faced these more serious charges to begin with."
  • Missouri Rep. Jasmine Crockett [05:09] emphasizes the severity of the situation.
  • Senator Michael Bennett [06:06], a Democrat, denounces the pardon: "It put personal interest ahead of duty and further erodes Americans' faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all."

• Long-term Implications:

  • John Bickley [10:19] suggests ongoing investigations: "Hunter may have caught a break here, but I think we can expect to hear more about the Biden family business once his father leaves office."

Notable Quotes:

• John Bickley [00:08]: "Democrats portrayed the president as this great arbiter of morality and truth... And yet that wasn't true."
• Tim Rice [02:02]: "He cannot be held legally accountable for anything he did over the last decade."
• Cabot Phillips [07:52]: "The Bidens and their associates have received over $20 million in payments from foreign entities."
• Senator Michael Bennett [06:06]: "It further erodes Americans' faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all."

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2. Newsom Fights Trump: California's $25 Million Initiative

Overview: The second major topic covers Governor Gavin Newsom's proposal to allocate $25 million toward "Trump proofing" California. This initiative aims to counteract policies from the Trump administration related to transgender rights, climate measures, immigration, and abortion.

Key Points:

• Proposal Details:

  • John Bickley [10:33] introduces the topic: "California's Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed spending $25 million to Trump proof his state."
  • Kevin Kiley [10:51] outlines the initiative: "Newsom is asking for $25 million to be allocated to the state's Justice Department... to sue the Trump administration in an effort to stop Trump's agenda."

• Areas of Focus:

  • Potential lawsuits cover:
    • Transgender rights
    • Climate change policies
    • Immigration enforcement
    • Abortion laws
  • Kevin Kiley [10:51] mentions specific contentious areas: "California is extremely far left... sanctuary state for illegal immigrants and minors who want to medically transition."

• Historical Context:

  • Reference to past legal battles:
    • Kevin Kiley [11:24]: "When Trump served in 2016, California sued the administration more than 120 times."
    • Rob Bonta, California's Attorney General, prepared briefs on numerous issues beforehand.

• Political Reactions:

  • Democrats:
    • Generally supportive but with internal criticism.
    • Steve Maviglio, a Democratic strategist, accuses Newsom of using the initiative for personal gain: "It's the governor trying to get attention to his agenda to fight Trump, which he sees as laying the path for his presidential future."
  • Republicans:
    • Critical and consider it a political stunt.
    • Kevin Kiley [12:47]: "Newsom is asking for $25 million to Trump proof California... He doesn't want to relinquish our national lead in gas prices, housing costs, taxes..."
    • State Senator Brian Jones [12:47]: Labels the proposal a "political stunt" aimed at diverting attention from Democratic losses in the 2024 elections.

• Public Sentiment and Future Outlook:

  • California has experienced demographic shifts:
    • Loss of over 700,000 residents since 2020.
    • Political shift "10 points to the right since 2020."
  • Georgia Howe [13:57]: Notes the uncertainty of public reaction: "It feels different than 2016, but we're just gonna have to wait to see when Trump takes office what the mood is."

Notable Quotes:

• Kevin Kiley [10:51]: "We want to protect our state and protect our values."
• John Bickley [10:51]: "Gavin Newsom seeks to direct tens of millions to Trump proofing California."
• Kevin Kiley [12:47]: "Newsom is asking for $25 million to Trump proof California... He doesn't want to relinquish our national lead in gas prices, housing costs, taxes..."
• Steve Maviglio [12:47]: "It's the governor trying to get attention to his agenda to fight Trump..."

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Conclusion

The December 3, 2024 episode of Morning Wire presents a critical examination of two pivotal political maneuvers. President Biden's extensive pardon of his son Hunter has sparked allegations of corruption and questions about presidential authority and integrity. Simultaneously, Governor Gavin Newsom's substantial investment in legal battles against Trump's policies underscores the ongoing partisan conflicts shaping America's political landscape. Both topics reflect broader themes of power, accountability, and the enduring tensions within US governance.

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Note: This summary intentionally omits advertisements, intros, outros, and non-content sections to focus solely on the substantive discussions of the episode.

Transcript

[Georgia Howe]

The political fallout continues from President Biden's sweeping pardon for his son Hunter.

[John Bickley]

Democrats portrayed the president as this great arbiter of morality and truth. They said that he somehow was a better standard bearer for protecting norms and the institutions of our country. And yet that wasn't true.

[Georgia Howe]

I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor in chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, December 3rd, and this is MORNING Wire. In response to the pardon, the House Oversight Committee releases a comprehensive timeline of what they're calling the Biden family's foreign influence peddling.

[Cabot Phillips]

Joe Biden's legacy will be not only the worst president in US History, but also the most corrupt.

[John Bickley]

And Gavin Newsom seeks to direct tens of millions to Trump proofing California. What's the governor's plan to undermine Trump's agenda?

[Tim Rice]

We want to protect our state and protect our values.

[Georgia Howe]

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

[Brandon]

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[Georgia Howe]

On Monday, new details began to emerge regarding President Biden's unprecedented pardon of his son Hunter.

[John Bickley]

Here to break down the implications and political fallout of the extraordinary move is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips, a Cabot. So Washington, still reeling from this sweeping pardon. We gave our initial report on this yesterday, but more details coming out here. What's the latest?

[Tim Rice]

Yeah, President Biden and his staff said countless times over the last year that they would respect the legal process and not intervene. But on Sunday, he did just that, offering his son Hunter a pardon that was really just historic in its scope. The document itself protects the younger Biden from being charged with any crimes, quote, which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through December 1, 2024, including, but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted. Translation? He cannot be held legally accountable for anything he did over the last decade. Now, if the language of that pardon sounds vague, that is intentional. President Biden clearly wants to ensure that his son is totally protected, not just from looming federal charges, but future ones that have not yet been brought.

[John Bickley]

So just extraordinary and sweeping, as you said, and quite different from other pardons we've seen presidents offer in the past, Correct?

[Tim Rice]

Exactly. While past presidents have offered pardons for specific crimes and specific convictions, it's almost unh heard of for a pardon to be this broad in scope. For example, according to Margaret Love, the former US Pardon attorney, quote, I have never seen language like this in a pardon document that purports to pardon offenses that have not apparently even been charged with the exception of the Nixon pardon. But again, that was 50 years ago.

[John Bickley]

So like nothing we've seen before, save for maybe that famous Nixon pardon. And the time frame that pardon, 2014-2024, is very important as well. Tell us about that.

[Tim Rice]

Yeah, it's no accident that Biden offered clemency starting January 1st of 2014. That is right around the time Hunter secured a multimillion dollar post with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. It was there that he allegedly began using his father's political influence to secure lucrative deals and meetings. Now, Republican investigators in the House have long said Hunter Biden broke federal law during his time at Burisma and other overseas companies. But he's yet to be charged by the DOJ or anyone else, and now he's essentially home free. For more on that, we spoke with Eric Eggers, vice president of the Government Accountability Institute.

[Eric Eggers]

It's very specific. It starts in January of 2014. That's three months before Hunter Biden's business relationships with the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma began. And that's when a lot of the legal issues may have emerged. So what Joe Biden has done is not just said, Hunter Biden will not face any charges from what he's actually been accused of, but what many people suspect he's actually guilty of.

[John Bickley]

So Hunter potentially now shielded from those serious Burisma allegations. What sort of political fallout have we seen to this so far?

[Tim Rice]

Well, Biden allies on the Hill have mostly defended the move, essentially arguing that any father would have done the same thing had they been in this situation. They tried to spin it as proof of Biden's compassion for a son struggling with addiction. Democrats also tried to place the blame for the pardon at Donald Trump's feet, arguing it was only necessary because he supposedly would have gone after Hunter upon taking office. They called Republican outrage hip hop hypocritical, given Trump's own legal troubles. For example, here's Missouri Rep. Jasmine Crockett on msnbc.

[Georgia Howe]

At the end of the day, we know that we have a 34 count convicted felon that is about to walk into the White House.

[Tim Rice]

And for their part, Republicans say the charges against Donald Trump, essentially bookkeeping errors, are far different than these gun, drug and tax evasion charges. For Hunter, they were quick to point out that the federal case against the younger Biden was handled by President Biden's own doj. And the claims of political partisanship are simply ludicrous. In fact, if that initial sweetheart plea deal that was offered to Hunter by Biden's DOJ had not been blown up by a judge, the president's son would never have faced these more serious charges to begin with.

[John Bickley]

Right?

[Tim Rice]

Republicans also noted that Biden quite literally campaigned on a motto that, quote, no one is above the law, a phrase that was plastered across his social media accounts and shared from the podium.

[Brandon]

This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America. Each each of us is equal before the law. No one, no one is above the law.

[Tim Rice]

And it's worth noting there were also a number of Democratic leaders who did denounce the move, including Colorado Senator Michael Bennett, who said the pardon, quote, put personal interest ahead of duty and further erodes Americans faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all.

[John Bickley]

Trust in the justice system already really in crisis. Another major blow to it here. Cabot.

[Tim Rice]

Thanks for reporting, Anita.

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[Georgia Howe]

Hunter Biden's pardon may bring an end to one saga, but it's not the last we'll hear about the Biden family's alleged corruption here.

[John Bickley]

With a rundown of the Biden family's various scandals and entanglements as Daily Wire deputy managing editor Tim Rice. Hey, Tim. So with the big pardon of Hunter, there's been a lot more scrutiny again on the Biden family corruption allegations. Can you walk us through these claims?

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah. When it comes to Biden family scandals, you could say that Hunter is just the tip of the iceberg. Republicans on the House Oversight Committee just released a comprehensive timeline on what they're calling the Biden family's foreign influence peddling. Their main takeaway, quote, the Bidens and their associates have received over $20 million in payments from foreign entities, including companies based in Ukraine and China.

[John Bickley]

20 million, a staggering number there. What exactly is going on here?

[Cabot Phillips]

Essentially, ever since Joe Biden became Vice president, Hunter Biden has allegedly used his father's clout and connections to make very lucrative and slightly shady business deals. Some of these may be familiar to our listeners, like Burisma holdings, the Ukrainian energy company that named Hunter Biden to its board in 2014. Hunter and his business partner, Devin Archer, each made $1 million a year just for sitting on the board. And hunter reportedly called D.C. to help take some pressure off Burisma's president, who was later charged with bribing Ukrainian officials.

[John Bickley]

Right.

[Cabot Phillips]

All told, the Bidens and their associates made $6.5 million from Ukrainian business interests. They also made around $8 million from Chinese entities, in particular, a government backed company called CFC China Energy. This is the case where Hunter's business partner asked to set aside a 10% equity stake for the big guy, who many believe to be Joe Biden. These are also the people Hunter seemed to threaten via text by saying, quote, I'm sitting here with my father. Hunter's uncle, Jim Biden was also involved in these deals. And many of the communications obtained by the committee mentioned that Jim's brother would be attending certain meetings with Chinese executives. And just for a final touch, the chairman of CFC once gave Hunter Biden an $80,000 diamond over dinner in Miami.

[John Bickley]

Yeah, nice touch indeed there. And what was this for? What exactly was Hunter doing for cfc?

[Cabot Phillips]

It's not entirely clear. Hunter was technically a consultant whose main job was to help the company find investments. We know he helped CEFC explore a massive African land purchase and represented the company's CEO, Patrick Ho, in a related bribery case. But even that's a bit murky because he didn't appear to do much actual legal work for Ho. But he still got paid a $1 million retainer, and that kind of payment.

[John Bickley]

Is bound to raise eyebrows. Are there any other revelations from the oversight report we should keep an eye on?

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah, the Chinese and Ukrainian deals are obviously the big factors here, but the timeline is a good reminder that the Biden's apparent influence peddling operation started way back in 2015. And it started in Romania around a month after then VP Biden hosted The Romanian president at the White House and embattled Romanian businessman Gabriel Papa Vichu began making regular payments to Biden family associates, paying out around $3 million in total. According to the oversight committee, just over a million dollars of those payments eventually made their way to the Biden family.

[John Bickley]

Well, Hunter may have caught a break here, but I think we can expect to hear more about the Biden family business once his father leaves office.

[Cabot Phillips]

It's a safe bet.

[John Bickley]

Tim, thanks for reporting.

[Cabot Phillips]

Thanks for having me.

[John Bickley]

California's Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed spending $25 million to trump proof his state.

[Georgia Howe]

Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo. So, Amanda, this is very reminiscent of 2016. Tell us about this resistance initiative from Newsom. Yeah.

[Kevin Kiley]

So Newsom called a special emergency session for the California state Legislature to be held on Monday. That was the same day new members were sworn into office. Newsom called for that session days after Trump won the White House. He's asking for $25 million to be allocated to the state's Justice Department, to the attorney general in the form of a legal defense fund. That money will be used to sue the Trump administration in an effort to stop Trump's agenda. Newsom said on Sunday that California will take action if lives are threatened or rights and freedoms are targeted.

[Georgia Howe]

Now, what does he mean by lives threatened and or freedoms targeted?

[Kevin Kiley]

You know, it's not entirely clear, but the governor has signaled that he'll sue Trump over transgender issues, climate measures, immigration, and abortion, among other things. Now, on all those issues, California is extremely far left. For example, it's a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants and minors who want to medically transition. And on abortion, that's legal through all nine months of pregnancy in some cases. Now, Trump has campaigned on ending policies that allow boys and men in female spaces and sports, so there could be contention there. And of course, on immigration, Trump has promised deportations, starting with illegal criminals. One thing is for sure, though, we can't expect a whole lot of lawsuits. When Trump served in 2016, California sued the administration more than 120 times. So on average, California sued Trump about every 12 days during Trump's first term. And by the way, the state spent $42 million on those lawsuits. Additionally, the state's AG Rob Bonta has said that he's preemptively written briefs on numerous issues to battle Trump. Trump also sued California four times during his first term, and that was over the state's sanctuary state policies on immigration and on climate related measures.

[Georgia Howe]

Now are Democrats rallying behind Newsom on this. We've already seen there are some blue state governors who say they're going to work with Trump, at least on immigration. Yeah.

[Kevin Kiley]

I mean, at first glance, it seems like most Democrats in California are behind this. This proposal is expected to pass, but there are a lot of critics. A Democratic strategist named Steve Maviglio, who's criticized Newsom for campaigning outside of California, he said this to cbs.

[John Bickley]

It's the governor trying to get attention to his agenda to fight Trump, which he sees as laying the path for his presidential future.

[Kevin Kiley]

A Republican rep in California named Kevin Kiley said he'll work his hardest to Newsom proof the state. He wrote, quote, newsom is asking for $25 million to trump proof California. He doesn't want to relinquish our national lead in gas prices, housing costs, taxes, homelessness, poverty or illegal border crossings. Additionally, GOP State Senator Brian Jones has called the proposal a political stunt, which he said was intended to distract from Democrats significant losses in the 2024 election. But it's not totally clear if the mood is the same in 2024 as it was in 2016. California has lost more than 700,000 people since 2020. California has also shifted 10 points to the right since 2020. It'll be interesting to see how voters feel about Resistance 2.0. Right.

[Georgia Howe]

It feels different than 2016, but we're just gonna have to wait to see when Trump takes office what the mood is. Amanda, thanks for reporting.

[Kevin Kiley]

You're welcome.

[John Bickley]

Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.

[Brandon]

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