← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Lawsuit Reveals Alleged Crime Stat Manipulation in DC plus GOP Fundraising Emails Flagged as Spam
00:15:15
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- [00:00]
Charli Webster
This is an iHeart podcast. Candice Rivera has it all. In just three years, she went from stay at home mom to traveling the world, saving lives and making millions. Anyone would think Candice's charmed life is about as real as unicorns. But sometimes the truth is even harder to believe than the lies.
- [00:22]
Ben Ferguson
Not true. There are so many things not true.
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Kurt Elliott Precious Metals Advertiser
You've got a great lead.
- [00:26]
Charli Webster
I'm Charli Webster and this is Unicorn Girl, an Apple original podcast produced by Seven Hills. Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts. Wasn't that delicious? So good.
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Ben Ferguson (News Anchor)
Your bill, ladies.
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Ben Ferguson
I got it.
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Charli Webster
No, I got it. Seriously, I insist. I insisted first. Don't be silly. You don't be silly.
- [00:48]
Ben Ferguson (News Anchor)
People with the Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card prefer to pay because they earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases.
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Charli Webster
Okay.
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Sonos Advertiser
Rock, paper, scissors for it.
- [00:56]
Ben Ferguson
Rock, paper, scissors.
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Charli Webster
Shoot. No.
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Ben Ferguson (News Anchor)
The Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card. Visit Wells Fargo.com ActiveCash terms apply.
- [01:06]
Navy Federal Credit Union Advertiser
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- [01:45]
Sonos Advertiser
Support for today's show comes from Sonos. Watching games with a Sonos home theater setup makes everything feel more immersive. The Arc Ultra soundbar delivers incredible surround sound that puts you right in the middle of the action, bringing that stadium experience right into my home. And now I've been trying out the Sonos Ace headphones and like all Sonos products, they perform as good as they look. Sleek design, crystal clear sound, and a super comfortable fit. Check out the full lineup@sonos.com we all have that piece.
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eBay Advertiser
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Joe Scarborough
91% of Washington residents say crime is a problem. 91%. 51%. It is an extremely serious problem.
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Ben Ferguson (News Anchor)
You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
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Ben Ferguson
Good Friday morning. So nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update. And here are the two big stories we're covering today. Donald Trump accusing the District of Columbia of fudging the crime stat to make it look like the city is much safer than it actually is. And there's even a lawsuit involved in this that was settled by a former member of the police department. I've got all the details for you in just a second. Also, Google yet again busted. This time making sure that emails that may be important to you from conservative candidates and causes are going to your spam account. And Democratic emails, they show right up at the top of your list. How are they getting away with it and how long has this been happening? I've got all that for you. All right, I want to take a.
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Kurt Elliott Precious Metals Advertiser
Moment, talk about the economy. You've been seeing what's happening on Wall Street. You've seen what's been happening with interest rates and you've probably seen gold prices hitting all time record highs.
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Ben Ferguson
Why?
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Kurt Elliott Precious Metals Advertiser
Because there is uncertainty all over the world right now. And when there is uncertain times, you want real answers about your financial stability. Well, at Kurt Elliott Precious Metals you get more than gold and silver. You get trusted guidance from a team that puts people first, always. You also get transparency. This is why I recommend them. Their mission is clear. They want to help you protect what matters most with real metals, real service and real clarity. Now here's why I love what they do at Kirk Elliott Precious Metals number one bullion only approach. They focus on investment grade metals, not overpriced quote collectibles or gimmick products that cost you an insane amount of money for what you're actually getting. What they do is they sell you more metal for your money and and fair value when it's time for you to actually sell. They also have upfront transparent pricing, just 8% when you buy and zero commissions when you go to sell. There are no hidden fees on top of that ever. That is the reason why I recommend them. They also make sure they give you personalized guidance for you. You're never just a number, no pressure, always real answers and they make sure that you are in control. So if you're ready for real honest clarity and all of the BS taken out, visit K-E-P M.comBen that's K-E-P M.COMBen to schedule your personal portfolio review. Ask about today's unique market window and how the current silver to gold ratio might work in your favor. Protect what matters plan with clarity. Kepm.com ben or 7206-0539-0072-0605-3900 Kurt Elliott precious Metals Smarter Metal Investing starts with them.
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Ben Ferguson
It's a 47 Morning Update and it starts right now.
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Ben Ferguson (News Anchor)
Story number one President Donald Trump on.
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Ben Ferguson
Thursday accused the District of Columbia and its leaders of changing crime statistics on purpose to make it look like the city was actually getting safer, when in reality it was not. Trump talking to reporters, the White House said sadly what I guess the mayor did, or whoever it was, they asked that the numbers would be fudged so that it would show less crime than the actual fact of what was happening. Trump has been criticized, by the way, by the D.C. mayor, Bowser and national Democratic Party leaders for deploying the national guard troops to D.C. to help turn crime around and bring greater security to the capital area. Trump told reporters Thursday that, quote, we will have crime under control very shortly in D.C. the president said he would fix the D.C. crime problem just like he's done with the southern border, saying the fact is it's worse than it's ever been and we will have it just like we did at the border where the borders are totally in great shape now. The best ever record setting shape will have the crime situation solved in D.C. very, very soon. Now. Why did the president make these accusations? Well, a D.C. police sergeant exposed her superiors for misclassifying crimes on purpose to make the stats look like crime was getting better. The city, by the way, just quietly settled her lawsuit, records revealed in the suit from the police sergeant, and it showed the department's leadership directed subordinates to file theft and violent crimes as lower level offenses, quote, unquote. And that's exactly why the District of Columbia quietly settled a lawsuit from that sergeant who accused the Metropolitan Police Department leaders of deliberately misclassifying offenses to deflate the District's crime statistics. Court records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon now show police brass repeatedly told officers to downgrade theft cases, knife attacks and violent assaults to lesser offenses, according to internal MPD emails, depositions and phone call transcripts the Free Bacon reviewed. Now, the former MPD sergeant sued the department in 2020, alleging that police leadership punished her for speaking out against the scheme. The woman who joined the force after serving honorably in Iraq, accused the MPD brass of attempting to, quote, distort crime statistics by downgrading a number of felonies to misdemeanors so that there would be, quote, fewer felonies in the statistics. She also provided records showing that police leaders explicitly instructed their subordinates to underclassify certain instances of theft to keep them out of the crime stats that the city reports to the public. The lawsuit, as well as the city's decision to settle, calls into question the prevailing narrative presented in mainstream media outlets. And as President Donald Trump carries out the D.C. crime crackdown. For example, the New York Times, Washington Post, and Politico have all cited data from the Metropolitan Police Department to contend that D.C. crime is low and Trump's crackdown is unnecessary and just a political maneuver. The coverage did not mention, by the way, the whistleblower, nor did it disclose that a D.C. police commander is actually currently on leave after the city's police union accused him of manipulating crime stats to artificially lower them. Now, this also goes back to the second narrative. Democrats are claiming that D.C. is safe and people are not scared. That is also a huge lie. In fact, even on msnbc, they admitted on Morning Joe that it's very clear that 91 of people that live in Washington, the residents there say that crime is a problem. Take a listen to Joe Scarborough being forced to tell you the truth on this one.
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Joe Scarborough
The answer to this, this, this problem for Democrats is not, oh, everything's okay, there's nothing to see here. Move along, move along. Oh, Washington has dropped 24% or whatever in crime data. Well, let me give you some other numbers. The Washington Post took a poll in late April, early maybe 91% of Washington residents say crime is a problem. 91%, 51%. It is an extremely serious problem. And John Heilman, we've had people before put this in racial terms. And this is what I must say. This is one thing that I think Democrats have gotten so wrong about crime, so wrong about crime. Let me just read, let me just read the Washington Post here. There are stark divides among lines of race and income in the poll, with black residents and lower income residents significantly more worried about crime than white residents and those with higher incomes as they were last year. Black women are among the most concerned, with 65% saying crime is a very or extremely serious issue, compared with 82% who said the same thing.
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Ben Ferguson
There it is, folks. Morning Joe Scarborough scorching Democrats on the D.C. crime denial. 91% of Washington residents say crime is a problem with black residents and lower income residents significantly more worried about crime than white residents and those with higher incomes. So you have to ask yourself this question. Why are Democrats so hell bent on stopping Donald Trump from making Washington D.C. safer. It's because they don't want to lose control of their cities and they're afraid if he's successful in this, then other cities around the country will demand the same outcome. And Democrats don't actually want to fight crime at all.
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Ben Ferguson (News Anchor)
Now, story number two.
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Ben Ferguson
In an election, the most important thing for any candidate is, is being able to connect with voters. And most of the time that is through paid advertisements or emailing or text messaging or social media posts that are boosted. It is extremely important because without reaching the electorate, it's impossible to actually win an election. So I want you to just imagine for just a moment how influential different tech companies are. Like Google, for example, if they decided that they didn't want conservative email to make it to your actual email account, instead they decided to flag conservative emails to your spam account. Now that would be an egregious abuse of power, right? You would think that's probably even maybe against the law, that you're not delivering the mail the right way, even though it's an email, knowing that you're trying to change or alter the outcome of an election. Well, guess what? Google caught flagging GOP fundraiser emails as, quote, unquote suspicious, and then sending them directly to spam. A new memo is revealing. Now this is even more troubling because if a candidate cannot raise money, they cannot compete in an election. And many candidates will buy email lists to solicit from conservative donors or liberal donors. If you're a Democratic candidate, money, because without it, you cannot get elected. Insert Google. Google was added again, and the GOP campaign donations could be a major casualty of it. The search giant has been caught this summer flagging Republican fundraising emails as dangerous spam. That means it kept them from hitting Gmail users inboxes. And yes, the majority of people in this country actually use Gmail while leaving similar solicitations from Democratic emails untouched. A consulting firm is now warning that despite repeatedly sparking headlines and even lawsuits in recent years over allegedly partizan practices, last year, for example, a federal judge tossed a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee that complained of biased email filtering. In 2023, the Federal Election Commission dismissed an RNC complaint alleging discrimination in Gmail spam filters as well. Nonetheless, Targeted Victory whose clients include the National Republican Central Committee, Representative Steve Scalise, Senator Marsha Blackburn said it observed that the serious and troubling trend was still going on. As recently as June and July of this year, Gmail had been flagging emails containing links to the fundraising platform Win Read. And in many cases sending them directly to spam, according to a copy of the memo to clients exclusively obtained by the New York Post. Targeted Victory, by the way, conducted tests in which emails containing links to the democratic fundraising platform ActBlue were delivered consistently without issue. The memo includes video demonstrations of the firm's tests. If Gmail is allowed to quietly suppress when read links while giving ActBlue a free pass, it will continue to tilt the playing field in ways that voters never see, but campaigns will fill every single day, the memo states. Now the memo could fuel new allegations of political bias yet again against Google, which was accused also by Elon Musk in March of interfering to help Democrats thousands of times every election season. Critics, including Donald Trump, have accused Google of manipulating search results specifically to hurt Republicans and even of suppressing information of the assassination attempt against Trump last year. The company, of course, denied any wrongdoing. When reached for comment on Wednesday, Google's spokesman said the company's email filter protections are in place to keep our users safe. They look at a variety of signals, like whether a user has previously marked an email as spam and applied, quote, equally to all senders, regardless of political ideology, the Gmail Google statement says. Well, guess what? In 2022, a study by the North Carolina State University found that Gmail flagged 59% more Republican fundraising emails as spam than Democratic ones during the lead up to the 2020 presidential observed that the spam filter algorithms of different email services indeed exhibited biases towards different political affiliations, the researchers said at the time. Targeted Victory said it's first informed Google about the issue on June 30. After receiving lots of complaints from its clients, the company initially deflected by blaming local settings for the email issues, according to the memo. So yet again, here we are and this is what's actually happening. We have big tech pushing the scales in favor of the radical left and doing everything they can to undermine even Donald Trump while he's president this time.
- [17:41]
Ben Ferguson (News Anchor)
Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. And for more in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson Podcast and we will see you back here tomorrow.
- [17:59]
Charli Webster
You want smart political talk without the meltdowns? We got you and I'm Carol Markowitz. And I'm Mary Kathryn Ham. We've been around the block in media and we're doing things differently. Normally is about real conversations, thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic. We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day. Join us every Tuesday and Thursday Normally on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I heart podcast.