This article is adapted from today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click here.
GOP Reveals Damning Case Against Biden Family
In a press conference today, Republican lawmakers laid out detailed evidence showing that at least nine members of President Joe Biden’s family took in millions of dollars from foreign sources. This allegedly began during the Obama administration while Biden was vice president. The lawmakers — who are all members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee — revealed bank records showing payments as high as $10 million from foreign companies to Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace says the money was moved through a series of shell companies she believes were designed to cover the Biden family’s tracks.
“This could be the most corrupt scheme in American politics, where a sitting vice president … where we saw members of his family, nine of them so far, there may be more that were enriched from countries all over the world,” Mace said.
"This could be the most corrupt scheme in American politics." pic.twitter.com/fj5FNmRAWz
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) May 10, 2023
Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) released a memo prior to the news conference revealing that the Biden family allegedly set up more than 20 companies to take in foreign money, possibly in exchange for influencing policy.
“The Bidens have received millions of dollars from China,” Comer said. “It is inconceivable that the president did not know about it. The White House refuses to correct the president’s statements. Showing the president is now using the federal government to run interference for his families and his own role in these schemes.”
Border Chaos
The first 550 of an expected 1,500 active-duty U.S. troops arrived at the southern border on Tuesday. The Biden administration is beefing up border security ahead of an expected surge when Title 42 is repealed late Thursday. Today, the president gave a warning.
“It’s gonna be chaotic for a little while,” the president said.
Biden officials have put in place what they describe as a “comprehensive, multi-agency, multi-country plan” to “humanely manage the border.”
That plan includes over 24,000 law enforcement personnel and 1,100 processing coordinators alongside the military reinforcements. And in a major reversal for Biden, it also includes putting in place Trump-era border policies that Biden once criticized, such as rejecting asylum applications from migrants who didn’t first request asylum in countries they traveled through, such as Mexico.
For migrants who are processed, an administration memo reportedly directs Border Patrol agents to quickly release them into the U.S. without a court date or way to track them.
U.S. Army Sergeant Sentenced Over BLM Killing
A U.S. Army sergeant who was convicted in the shooting death of a Black Lives Matter protester was sentenced to 25 years in prison today. His lawyers argue it was self-defense. Thirty-five-year-old Daniel Perry shot and killed 28-year-old Garrett Foster at an Austin, Texas, BLM rally in 2020, in what he claims was self-defense. Prosecutors said Perry initiated the incident when he drove into a crowd gathered at the protest. Foster — who was carrying an AK-47 — then approached Perry’s car while motioning for him to roll his window down. Perry then shot Foster with a handgun. Perry told police that he believed Foster was going to aim the firearm at him. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has submitted a request to pardon Perry to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Inflation Rises
The consumer price index rose 4.9% between April 2022 and April 2023, marking a slight decline from elevated inflation — even as higher price levels continue to constrain household budgets. Food prices were flat, but energy prices rose 0.6%, and housing prices, which are one of the largest contributors to the overall month-to-month increase, rose 0.4%.
Santos Arrested
Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has been federally indicted and was arrested today on 13 counts relating to campaign finance fraud and other charges, including false statements to Congress, theft of public funds, and wire fraud.
“It’s a witch hunt! It makes no sense. … You have Joe Biden’s entire family receiving deposits from … foreign destinations into their bank accounts … and yet no investigation is launched into them!” Santos said.
SANTOS: "It's a witch hunt! It makes no sense…You have Joe Biden's entire family receiving deposits from…foreign destinations into their banks accounts…and yet no investigation is launched into them!" pic.twitter.com/0oRixUtYlH
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 10, 2023
Over-The-Counter Birth Control Pill?
Today, an FDA advisory panel unanimously approved making birth control pills available over the counter. The FDA still has to accept the recommendation, but the U.S. could be one step closer to birth control being available without a prescription.
Newsom Throws Cold Water On Reparations Bill
And, California Governor Gavin Newsom declined to endorse recent recommendations from a state reparations panel task force which would have sent as much as $1.2 million each to descendants of slaves in California. The Taskforce was created in 2020 in the wake of the George Floyd riots, and on Monday released a preliminary report advocating billions of dollars in wealth redistribution to make up for the sins of slavery.
Newsom told Fox News that the group’s independent findings and recommendations are a “milestone” in the bipartisan effort to advance justice and promote healing. He also said that dealing with the legacy of slavery is about “much more than cash payments,” and noted that many of the recommendations put forward by the Task Force are critical action items already being addressed. Newsom pledged to advance what he called “systemic changes that ensure an inclusive and equitable future for all Californians.”
To listen to the audio version of this podcast, click here. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.