Morning Wire - DOJ Sues AZ & Dutch Farmer Protest | 7.7.22

Episode Date: July 7, 2022

The Biden DOJ sues Arizona over its new voter integrity law, Dutch police fire on protesting farmers, and the Highland Park shooter confesses. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The state of Arizona passed a law requiring voters to prove citizenship when registering to vote. But the Biden administration says that's illegal. There's nothing in the Constitution that gives the Congress the power to regulate how citizens in Arizona's vote for president. We speak to Arizona's Attorney General and outline the arguments on both sides of the voter integrity law. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, July 7th, and this is Morningmore. Wire. Police shot at protesters in the Netherlands Wednesday. We explain why emissions policy is pitting farmers against their government and why it could have implications for the world's food supply.

And we're learning more about the Highland Park shooter. We have his confession and details about a thwarted second attack. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Hey, everyone. Producer Colton here. The American tradition of gathering around the dinner table holds an immense amount of power. President Ronald Reagan believed that all great change in America begins around the dinner table. Well, all great meals in America begin with Good Ranchers. Good Ranchers product and business model were created with the intention of bringing families together through shared meals. They deliver 100% American meat, born, raised, and harvested in the U.S. right to your door. Go to good ranchers.com slash wire to get $30 off your order plus free shipping.

That's good ranchers.com slash wire. In a case that highlights the power struggle over election laws, that Biden administration is suing the state of Arizona after it passed a law mandating that voters show proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. The law, signed by Governor Doug Ducey in March, wasn't said to go into effect until January of next year. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to tell us more. So, Tim, first, what is in this new law?

Hey, Georgia. Yeah, in the past, citizens could vote in federal elections simply by checking a box that said they were a citizen, whereas to vote in local elections, they had to provide proof of citizenship. With this new law, voters will be required to show proof of citizenship in order to vote in both the local and federal portions of the ballot,

and we'll have to show proof of citizenship in order to register for a mail-in ballot. Now, why is the Biden administration suing Arizona? So the Department of Justice says that Arizona's new law violates federal law in a couple of ways, found in the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Civil Rights Act of 1994. According to the DOJ's lawsuit, Congress, in passing the National Voter Registration Act,

set the qualifications each voter must meet to participate in a federal election, and that any state requirement on top of those is invalid. And what are those qualifications? According to those acts, to cast a ballot in a federal election, voters have to fill out the official federal form, which has a citizenship question on it. Applicants don't necessarily have to provide documented proof that they're a citizen to complete the form, but they do have to attest that they are a citizen under penalty of perjury. So the DOJ says that Arizona's new requirement to provide documented proof of citizenship is barred under the 1993 Act because the federal form addresses citizenship.

Essentially, they say that proof of citizenship is redundant and therefore an undue burden. According to the Justice Department, the Arizona law also violates the Civil Rights Act. The act prohibits denying voting applications based on errors or omissions that are not material to establishing an individual's qualifications to vote. Now, has Arizona responded to that suit? Yes, I talked to Attorney General of Arizona, Mark Burr. And here's what he said. The Biden administration has a long history of lawlessness and a lack of appreciation for the Constitution. And so my immediate question is, why is the Department of Justice using its times and resources

to challenge a common sense election integrity measure in Arizona to guard against non-citizens voting, while at the same time the Biden administration is opening up our borders wide open. and we've had millions of people, you know, illegally enter our country. So is the federal government literally attempting to undermine our sovereignty and destabilize our election infrastructure? I mean, you know, I think people can draw their own conclusion. Now, Arizona has tried to establish a very similar law in the past. Why did it fail last time? Yeah, so Arizona is actually voted in favor of a similar provision in 2004.

The law was later challenged in court and eventually struck down in 2013 and a 7-2 decision by the Supreme Court. The late Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion. Scalia wrote that the law violated the National Voter Registration Act. Now, if it's been struck down before, why does Arizona think it's going to succeed this time? Well, Arizona could be banking on a new makeup of the court granting them the win this time, should the lawsuit work its way up to the high court. Scotus may have come down against Arizona in 2013, but the court is now very different from the one that decided that case. For one, the two dissenters in that case, Thomas and Alito, are still on the court. Now, it's very possible that Scalia's line of reasoning or something similar still carries

the day, but it's also possible that Thomas wins this argument with support from the new justices, Barrett Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. Well, it'll be interesting to watch. Tim, thanks for coming on. Anytime. That was DailyWire's Tim Pierce. Coming up, things turn violent when Dutch farmers protest industry crippling environmental policies. You can get this show and all of the content you love wherever you are, all on the Daily Wire app. Even if you're not a Daily Wire member, you'll be the first to know what's trending with mobile notifications for the latest news, and you'll get content from all of your favorite Daily Wire shows. Download the Daily Wire app and keep up with the facts no matter where your day takes you. As the world continues to struggle with

strained food supply chains, tens of thousands of farmers in the Netherlands banded together this week in mass protests against new laws that they say will decimate their industry. Now tensions are rising after police opened fire on a group of tractor riding protesters late Tuesday evening. Here with the details is Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips. Cabot first, what's driving these mass demonstrations? So over the last few years, a series of public infrastructure and construction projects were blocked by Dutch courts over concerns that they would result in emissions that would violate environmental rules in the country. In response, the Dutch government is giving provincial authorities one year to find ways to reduce emissions

in other areas of society to basically make way for the infrastructure projects. And there's targeting farmers, the government is proposing new measures that aim to slash nitrogen oxide and ammonia emissions, both of which are produced by livestock and use in most fertilizers. The law would force farmers to cut livestock by up to 30 percent and reduce nitrate emissions by up to 70 percent. So dramatic reductions. Yeah, it's going to have just an immense impact. Many farmers say that they'll go out of business if the law passes. Now, it's worth pointing out, this will especially impact smaller family-run farms because their profit margins are often smaller than large operations and they've got less money to adapt. And the government has actually been pretty open about the fact that the law will

put many farms out of business. They issued a pretty shocking statement saying, quote, the honest message is that not all farmers can continue their business. They say that farms being shut down as part of a, quote, unavoidable transition to improve the environment. And even according to the country's prime minister, quote, this sector will change, but unfortunately there's no choice. We have to bring down nitrogen emissions. So that's the government telling some farmers they're going to lose their livelihoods. Yeah, a stark message there. They're not really trying to hide it. The farmers say that their industry is being unfairly targeted by the government and that forcing farms to close will only further weaken the already fragile global food supply chain.

Keep in mind, the Netherlands, though small, is actually the second largest agricultural exporter on earth. They trail only the United States. And with the war in Ukraine, already making things tenuous in Europe, Dutch farmers say the last thing needed is a massive reduction in farming output. Indeed. Now, with the mass protests, what are we seeing this week? Well, over the weekend, tens of thousands of people protested in cities across the country, setting up blockades outside of distribution centers, launching tractor convoys on highways and demonstrating outside of parliament. One protest in Stro, a town in the center of Dutch farm country, drew 40,000 demonstrators. And by Sunday, hundreds of fishermen had also joined in, with many using their

boats to block ports around the country as part of the demonstration. According to a protester yesterday, the farmers were inspired in large part by the trucker convoy in Canada earlier this year. Well, I think lots of people got inspired by the Freedom Convoy in Canada, way before when the COVID protests started in Holland. So lots of people followed the truckers. in Canada. As the demonstrations continued this week, we started to see more and more pictures flooding social media showing empty shelves and grocery stores around the country. The farmers say their goal is to show people just how important they are and force the

government to rescind the law that would force many of them out of business. And things have also gotten violent, correct? Yeah, there were instances of farmers setting bales of hay on fire near highways and dumping piles of manure on government buildings. But for the most part, the protests had remained large. largely peaceful throughout the weekend, but that started to change a bit on Monday as the government began cracking down. Late Monday night, video emerged of police firing tear gas into a crowd, while other footage showed police punching and kicking protesters who'd laid down in the street

or gathered outside government buildings. And then on Wednesday night, police opened fire on a group of protesters taking part in a tractor convoy. Now, police say no one was killed, and then they were simply targeting one tractor that had broken free from the line. But demonstrators say it's just yet another example of government oppression against farmers. Well, as you mentioned, the food supply issue is already bad enough, so the world will definitely be watching how this unfold. Yeah. Cabot, thanks for reporting.

Anytime. That's Daily Wire Senior Editor, Cabot Phillips. Prosecutor said on Wednesday that the shooter, who will not be named per Daily Wire policy, confessed to firing more than 80 shots from a rooftop along the parade route. Here to discuss the latest developments is Daily Wire Senior Editor Ash Short. So, Ash, first off, what did the alleged shooter confess to? So during a hearing on Wednesday, Assistant State's attorney Ben Dylan told a judge that the shooter confessed to taking a position on a rooftop, overlooking the parade, and, quote, look down his sights and open fire. The alleged shooter reportedly told police he fired more than 80 times, which coincides with the 83 shell casings they found on that roof.

We also learned from that hearing that the suspect will face seven counts of first-degree murder, but Lake County State's attorney Eric Reinhart said that the suspect will face dozens of more charges relating to the shooting. As of now, the suspect is being held without bail. Now, yesterday we learned that the suspect had actually planned an additional attack. Tell us about that. Sure, in addition to his confession, we learned that the shooter planned to attack more people in Madison, Wisconsin. So the suspect reportedly fled the Highland Park parade wearing women's clothing and makeup as a disguise, and he then traveled to his mother's house nearby, where he took her car.

He then drove to Madison where he reportedly considered shooting people at another celebration, but was arrested before doing so. It's important to note that the suspect appears to have shown many of the same tendencies of other mass shooters we've seen in the past, namely a desire for fame or infamy. Morning Wire talked to Dr. Adam Langford about this trend. You know, there's been a lot of research that I've been part of, which shows that, you know, mass shooters and school shooters have referred to previous shooters as their role models, their heroes, as gods or kindred spirits,

as people they want to emulate or sometimes surpass in terms of the number of victims they kill. So in many cases, we know about these effects because the perpetrators admit, it. Now, we also learned yesterday a little more about how he was able to obtain the firearms that he used. What did we learn there? So the alleged shooter obtained a firearm owner's identification card, which all gun owners in Illinois need to have when he was 19. Now, in Illinois, a person can't purchase a firearm until they're 21, but the suspect's father co-assigned the ID card. And the suspect was allowed to purchase firearms, even though he had a history of mental health issues that were known to police. In 2019, police were called because the suspect had attempted

to kill himself. Later that same year, a family member called police because the suspect was threatening to, quote, kill everybody and had a large collection of knives. At that time, police removed 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword from the suspect's home before filing a clear and present danger report with the Illinois State Police. Despite this, his father did agree to co-sign on a firearms permit, and it's likely that decision will face further scrutiny. Right. Well, just a tragic story all around. Ash, thanks for reporting. You're welcome. That was Daily Wire Senior Editor, Ash Short. Other stories we're tracking this week. The two-year-old boy whose parents were killed at the Highland Park Parade has been reunited

with his grandparents. A GoFundMe in his name has already raised over $2.5 million. Yellowstone National Park has begun reopening after severe flooding closed the park to the public in June. But some tourists are getting too close to the wildlife. Three have been gored by bison in a matter of days. The Biden administration communications director Kate Bettingfield will step down this summer before the midterm elections. She has worked with Biden since he was the vice president. A three-judge panel of federal judges is hearing appeals to last year's U.S. Circuit Court decision that struck down DACA. The court ruled that children already enrolled in the program could stay in the U.S., but no new applications would be.

approved. One of the organizers of Canada's trucker Freedom Convoy was arrested last week for allegedly breaking conditions of her bail. The conditions blocked her from using social media or promoting the convoy. Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know. You know,