Lawmakers Probe Signal-Gate & Conservatives Swatted | 3.27.25

Summary

Morning Wire Podcast Summary Episode: Lawmakers Probe Signal-Gate & Conservatives Swatted | March 27, 2025

Hosted by:
John Bickley, Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Wire
Georgia Howe, Co-host

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1. Capitol Hill's Probe into Signal-Gate and Media Bias

The episode opens with Georgia Howe and John Bickley discussing ongoing investigations on Capitol Hill, focusing on the "Signal-Gate" scandal and scrutiny of media bias within taxpayer-funded outlets NPR and PBS.

Key Highlights:

• NPR and PBS Under Scrutiny:
  Tim Rice, Managing Editor of The Daily Wire, provides an in-depth update on the NPR hearing held the day before. The hearing, organized by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, questioned the impartiality of NPR and PBS, alleging biased coverage and promoting left-wing agendas.

  Tim Rice [01:55]: "We are hoping to get all Senate members, Democrats and Republicans, to stand in support of this resolution."

• Allegations of Bias:
  NPR CEO Katherine Maher faced tough questioning, admitting a lack of Republican voices on NPR's editorial team and acknowledging delayed coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop story.

  Katherine Maher [02:56]: "You don't believe that America believes in black plunder? And white democracy."

• Use of Partisan Terms:
  During the hearing, Congressman Pat Fallon highlighted a Media Research Center study showing NPR and PBS disproportionately using the term "far right" (162 times) compared to "far left" (6 times).

  Pat Fallon [04:02]: "They found that 'far right' was used 162 times and 'far left' was only used six times. Do you find that troubling?"

  Katherine Maher responded by questioning the study's validity, prompting further debate on media impartiality.

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2. Senate Resolution Condemning Attacks on Tesla as Domestic Terrorism

The discussion shifts to Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee introducing a resolution to condemn recent attacks on Tesla properties, framing them as acts of domestic terrorism fueled by leftist groups.

Key Points:

• Nature of the Attacks:
  Senator Blackburn outlines the increasing violence against Tesla cars, showrooms, and infrastructure, attributing it to orchestrated efforts by opponents of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.

  Senator Marsha Blackburn [07:08]: "The Senate stands against these horrific attacks of violence, destruction, domestic terrorism against electric car owners, charging stations, dealerships, maintenance facilities."

• Political Motivation:
  Tim Rice explains that the resolution aims to hold Democratic leadership accountable, citing perceived double standards in labeling conservative actions as terrorism while dismissing similar leftist violence.

  Tim Rice [07:40]: "Democratic leadership is not standing up and calling out these acts of domestic terrorism... They were calling parents... domestic terrorists."

• Organized Protest Claims:
  Blackburn mentions reports, including statements from Elon Musk, suggesting that the attacks are part of a well-funded and organized protest against Musk's initiatives like the Department of Government Efficiency.

  Tim Rice [09:03]: "Leftists have to have a big government structure to survive... All that money needs to be clawed back."

The segment emphasizes the Senate's determination to address what they perceive as a significant threat to conservative figures and businesses.

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3. Surge in Swatting Incidents Targeting Conservative Influencers

A substantial portion of the episode is dedicated to the alarming increase in swatting incidents targeting conservative social media influencers. Swatting involves making false reports to emergency services to provoke a police response to someone's address.

Detailed Coverage:

• Recent Victims:
  Ash Short, Senior Editor at The Daily Wire, details recent swatting cases involving high-profile conservatives such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Senator Tommy Tuberville, and influencer Matt Van Swole.

  Ash Short [11:00]: "More than a dozen Trump-supporting influencers have been swatted in the past two weeks."

• Personal Accounts:
  Paula Kerger shares her harrowing experience of being swatted, where police were falsely alerted to a shooting at her home, causing significant distress.

  Paula Kerger [11:29]: "The police officer who arrived first did so without backup. He was very brave... Had I seen what Aaron saw, I probably would have attacked."

• Dangerous Consequences:
  The discussion highlights the lethal potential of swatting, referencing past incidents where officers and civilians were injured or killed. Ash Short recounts specific cases, including a 2017 incident where a police officer was fatally shot during a swatting hoax.

  Ash Short [13:17]: "In 2017, a police officer shot and killed a man after two of his gamer buddies called in the hoax."

• Law Enforcement Response:
  Despite the severity, there have been no recent arrests related to the latest swatting events. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel are actively investigating.

  Ash Short [13:46]: "Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel have both said they were looking into the attacks."

• Targets and Motives:
  Analysis suggests that the targeted conservatives are often those who interact with or are promoted by figures like Elon Musk, have ties to conservative media platforms, or oppose policies such as the war in Ukraine.

  Ash Short [14:16]: "The conservatives that have been swatted had some things in common... promoted by Elon."

• Call for Justice:
  Victims like Matt Van Swole urge for the perpetrators to be brought to justice and emphasize the need for societal calm to prevent further tragedies.

  Matt Van Swole [12:31]: "I hope the country can just calm down."

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Conclusion

The episode of Morning Wire provides a comprehensive overview of significant political and social issues affecting conservatives in early 2025. From probing government-funded media bias to addressing domestic terrorism against businesses like Tesla and the rising threat of swatting against conservative voices, the hosts and contributors deliver a detailed analysis enriched with firsthand accounts and expert commentary. Notable quotes and timestamps enhance the narrative, offering listeners clear insights into the unfolding events and their broader implications.

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Notable Quotes:

• Tim Rice [01:55]: "We are hoping to get all Senate members, Democrats and Republicans, to stand in support of this resolution."

• Senator Marsha Blackburn [07:08]: "The Senate stands against these horrific attacks of violence, destruction, domestic terrorism against electric car owners, charging stations, dealerships, maintenance facilities."

• Paula Kerger [11:29]: "The police officer who arrived first did so without backup. He was very brave."

• Matt Van Swole [12:31]: "I hope the country can just calm down."

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Transcript

[Georgia Howe]

The fallout over a sensitive signal chat continues on Capitol Hill while the leaders.

[John Bickley]

Of NPR and PBS try to prove to taxpayers they aren't funding biased coverage.

[Georgia Howe]

I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor in Chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, March 27th, and this is Morning Wire. Should the attacks on Tesla cars and showrooms be condemned as domestic terrorism? A senator introduces a resolution on the violence.

[Tim Rice]

We are hopeful that we will get all of our Senate members, Democrats and Republicans, standing in support of this.

[John Bickley]

And conservatives are being targeted in swatting hoaxes. We speak to an influencer who fell prey to the dangerous trend.

[Paula Kerger]

This could have ended horribly.

[Georgia Howe]

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

[Katherine Maher]

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[John Bickley]

It was a busy day on Capitol Hill with lawmakers continuing their probe into Signal gate and grilling NPR's leaders on bias at the taxpayer funded outlet.

[Georgia Howe]

Here with an update is Daily Wire Managing editor Tim Rice. Now, Tim, before we get back into Signalgate, tell us about yesterday's NPR hearing. Yeah.

[Katherine Maher]

Good morning, Georgia. The purpose of the anti American Airwaves hearing was to determine if NPR and PBS should continue to receive federal funding. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a government funded company that received $535 million from taxpayers this year. And a lot of that goes directly to NPR and pbs. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who organized the hearing, slammed PBS at npr, calling them radical left wing echo chambers that publish biased news reports with government subsidies and push LGBTQ programming intent on grooming children. NPR CEO Katherine Maher admitted under questioning that it was concerning. There were no Republicans on NPR's editorial, all 87 are Democrats. And she said that NPR was mistaken in failing to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story more aggressively and sooner. But perhaps the most revealing moment came when Texas Congressman Brandon Gill grilled her about her past tweets. Here's part of that exchange. Do you believe that America believes in black plunder? And white democracy.

[Georgia Howe]

I don't believe that, sir.

[Katherine Maher]

You tweeted that in reference to a book you were reading at the time, apparently the Case for Reparations.

[Georgia Howe]

I don't think I've ever read that book, sir.

[Katherine Maher]

You tweeted about it. You said you took a day off to fully read the Case for Reparations. You put that on Twitter in January of 2020. Do you believe that white people inherently feel superior to other races?

[Georgia Howe]

I do not.

[Katherine Maher]

You don't. You tweeted something to that effect. You said I grew up feeling superior.

[Paula Kerger]

Ha.

[Katherine Maher]

How wide of me. Why did you tweet that? PBS CEO Paula Kerger defended her network, arguing that there's nothing more American than PBS and describing the network as a crucial source of ac accurate information and educational programming for millions of Americans. She also insisted her outlet is a fair, nonpartisan and objective outlet. But here she is being grilled by Congressman Pat Fallon on the number of times PBS used the term far right versus far left.

[John Bickley]

They found that far right was. That term was used 162 times and far left was only used six times. Do you find that troubling?

[Tim Rice]

I don't know the study that you're.

[Georgia Howe]

Referring to and I'd love. I'd be very interested in seeing it and understanding how they came up with those numbers.

[John Bickley]

Media Research center did a six month analysis and it's not.

[Katherine Maher]

How do you find it?

[John Bickley]

You say far right or it's terms.

[Georgia Howe]

And a lot of these clips are going viral. You can see why. So now turning to the signal story. On Tuesday, the Senate had the floor. Yesterday, the House had their turn. What did they focus on?

[Katherine Maher]

Yeah, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard returned to the hot seat and they were joined by FBI Director Cash Patel. Despite the change of venue, though, yesterday's hearings went about the same as Tuesday's. The Trump officials defended their actions and Democrats weren't letting the issue die. Here's Congresswoman Chrissy Houlihan having a heated exchange with Patel.

[Georgia Howe]

Now that another day has passed, do.

[Tim Rice]

You believe that it's now time potentially.

[Georgia Howe]

For the FBI to open an investigation into this? I'm not going to comment on that. Because you're the director of the FBI. You don't believe it's appropriate to comment on that because there's a process in place, there's an ongoing litigation and the National Security Council is reviewing this matter. And I'm not going to discuss any open or closed investigation. Ongoing investigation, literally. The lawsuit happened today or yesterday afternoon.

[Tim Rice]

And the idea that you don't have an opinion on this at this point is frustrating to me.

[Georgia Howe]

No, it's not. I'm not going to prejudge any matters. The men and women of the FBI will all the balls and strikes claiming.

[Tim Rice]

My time, not you.

[Georgia Howe]

Now, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has taken responsibility for this and initially the Trump administration was standing by him. Is that still the case?

[Katherine Maher]

Yes, it is. And in fact, the White House is actually going on the offensive, noting that in a follow up article, the Atlantic characterized the contents of the signal chat as attack plans, which the Trump administration says is less serious than the original war plans.

[Georgia Howe]

So clearly the White House isn't going to back down on this. Tim, thanks for reporting.

[Katherine Maher]

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[Georgia Howe]

Amid a wave of vandalism targeting Tesla and Dogecoin, Republicans in the Senate are bringing a resolution to condemn what they say is an orchestrated domestic terrorism campaign empowered by leftist groups.

[John Bickley]

Joining us now to discuss the targeting of Tesla is Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, who is bringing that resolution. Senator, first of all, thank you so much for joining us. Sure. So I wanted to start with Tesla. We've seen some left wing violence against Tesla properties and shockingly, we've seen legacy media seem to almost promote this. Some major figures in fact directly promote this. What action is Congress and specifically the Senate taking here?

[Tim Rice]

Yes, we will take up my resolution which condemns these attacks against Tesla. It should be on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday or Thursday. And what this resolution does is to say that the Senate stands against these horrific attacks of violence, destruction, domestic terrorism against electric car owners, charging stations, dealerships, maintenance facilities.

[John Bickley]

Now, the term domestic terrorism carries a lot of weight here. Is this an attempt to basically force the Democrats to go on the record on this issue? Is there a reason you feel that that is in fact necessary?

[Tim Rice]

I think it is stunning that we are seeing this take place and that Democratic leadership is not standing up and calling out these acts of domestic terrorism. We have lived four years where every time you turned around, they were talking about domestic terrorism. They were calling parents that went to school board meetings domestic terrorists. They were calling individuals that would stand across the street from a Planned Parenthood and pray for the women and the unborn children and they would call that domestic terrorism. And now we are going through this where they're actually firebombing and shooting up Tesla dealerships and nothing is being said. So we think it's appropriate that we have the resolution and we give them the opportunity to stand up and say we condemn these attacks.

[John Bickley]

Now, we've seen some reports and Elon Musk has highlighted some of these, that this is a very organized protest effort and also has some big money behind it. Do you have any specific information on that?

[Tim Rice]

What we have read and what we hear is that they are doing this because of their hatred for Donald Trump and their disdain for Elon Musk and his role in setting up the Department of Government Efficiency. We are trying to root out all waste, fraud and abuse that is happening to the taxpayer dollars that are going in to fund and support a federal government structure. Now the leftists have to have a big government structure to survive. That is their mother's milk, if you will. And you can look at the last four years of the Biden administration and the amount of money that went into some of these absurd NGOs, non governmental entities or nonprofits such as Stacey Abrams, Climate justice nonprofit. All that money needs to be clawed back. It needs to be used to pay down our $36 trillion debt. And then we need to remove all of this, actually codify all of this out of control spending, get it out of the budget and have it gone forever.

[John Bickley]

Well, let's hope we see an end to this string of vandalism. Senator, thank you so much for joining us.

[Tim Rice]

Of course.

[John Bickley]

Conservative influencers are being swatted. A dangerous hoax where someone falsely reports a serious crime to enforcement and causes them to show up at a person's house fully armed.

[Georgia Howe]

The hoax has been around for decades and has led to death and injury. Here to discuss the current round of swatting is Daily Wire senior editor Ash Short. So Ash, even CNN is reporting on this. On the 20th they reported that more than a dozen Trump supporting influencers have been swatted just in the past two weeks. So who is on that list?

[Ash Short]

Well, it was an eclectic group of social media influencers including Gunther Eagleman, radio show host Joe Pagliarulo and Wars Chase Geyser, just to name a few. But it also included some high profile names like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Senator Tommy Tuberville. Social media influencer Matt Van Swole was also victimized. He's the former liberal who gained a following in the past six months advocating for Hurricane Helene relief in North Carolina. We spoke to Matt about his experience.

[Paula Kerger]

We thought, you know, maybe someone was doing a wellness check. The power was going in and out all night. And it turns out that the police had gotten a phone call from someone pretending me saying that there had been a shooting at the house, that Aaron had been shot and killed, that I had been shot in the leg, and that there were three masked men hiding in the basement and for them to come in, break down the door, come in guns a blazing to get the bad guys in the house. And of course we, we had no idea what was going on. Our three kids were home, they were asleep upstairs. They had no idea what was going on. The police officers were obviously very confused when they got to the house. So it was just a crazy thing that occurred.

[Ash Short]

Now, thankfully no one was injured during this attempt. Matt said that he thinks the fact that his wife answered the door is part of the reason. The 911 call that brought police to his house indicated that Matt's wife had been shot. So her answering the door immediately told the officer that something wasn't right with the call.

[Paula Kerger]

The police officer who arrived first on the scene did so without backup. He was very brave. He was trying to come save me and kill these bad guys. But you know, had I answered the door and seen what Aaron saw, which was there was no police lights on in the car, there was a man with his gun drawn at the door, I probably would have attacked this person. You know, it was again two in the morning and Aaron just had this sense of mind to remember that people were getting swatted and was able to diffuse the situation very carefully. And the police, police officer immediately, once he saw Aaron knew there's a woman at this house, she's not been shot and killed, you know, I should diffuse the situation. So shout out to the police officer, he did an incredible job.

[Georgia Howe]

Now as we mentioned at the top, sometimes this can be deadly, right?

[Ash Short]

In 2015, a police officer was shot during a swatting hoax. He survived and the homeowner who shot him was cleared of any wrongdoing. But in 2017, a police officer shot and killed a man after two of his gamer buddies called in the hoax over an online bet. One was sentenced to 20 years in prison and the other received 15 months for his role. And in 2020, a 60 year old man had a heart attack when someone attempted to swat him. The person responsible was sentenced to five years in prison for the crime.

[Georgia Howe]

Now, have there been any arrests for these most recent events?

[Ash Short]

Not yet, but Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel have both said they were looking into the attacks. And Senator Mike Lee of Utah also suggested that those responsible should be charged with attempted murder. Matt Van Swole just wants those responsible to be brought to justice, but he also hopes the country can just calm down.

[Paula Kerger]

So I'm very thankful, but I do want to see some action. I want to see people arrested. That would be great.

[Georgia Howe]

Now, is there any reason why Matt and some of these other conservative influencers were targeted or are they just popular on X?

[Ash Short]

Well, the woman behind the data Republican account found that the conservatives that have been swatted had some things in common. The most important of which is that they are regularly interacted with or promoted by Elon. Some not that have ties to Infowars or War Room or have spoken out against the war in Ukraine.

[Georgia Howe]

Well, a very dangerous prank. Ash, thanks for reporting.

[Ash Short]

You're welcome.

[John Bickley]

Thanks for waking up with us. And if you enjoyed what you heard this morning, share this episode with a friend.