Morning Wire - Government Shutdown Averted & Trump on Trial | 10.2.23

Episode Date: October 2, 2023

The GOP house keeps the government funded, Trump’s business fraud trial begins, and a federal appeals court upholds Tennessee and Kentucky’s ban on gender-related procedures for kids. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. Birch Gold: Text "WIRE" to 989898 for your no-cost, no-obligation information kit. Babbel: For a limited time, get 55% off your Babbel subscription at http://www.babbel.com/wire Black Rifle Coffee: Get 10% off your first order or Coffee Club subscription with code WIRE: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The GOP-led House manages to keep the government funded at least for a few more weeks. Now hardliners in the House say they're going to take down Speaker McCarthy. If somebody wants to make a motion against me, bring it. Kevin McCarthy's going to get his wish. How did the House handle funding for Ukraine? And what's going to happen to the Democrat who pulled the fire alarm before the vote? I'm Daily Wire, editor-in-chief John Bickley, with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, October 2nd, and this is Morning Wire.

The business fraud trial against former President Donald Trump begins in New York today, and he's facing off against not only a hostile attorney general, but a judge who's already decided he's a fraud. This is a very dangerous precedent in this country. And a federal appeals court upholds Tennessee and Kentucky's bans on gender-related procedures for children, including cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown on Saturday night, passing a 45-day continuing resolution that now sets the stage for a battle over the future of Speaker Kevin McCarthy's leadership. The bill will keep the wheels of the government moving until mid-November, and though it did not contain the spending cuts and increased border funding that conservatives in the GOP wanted, it did freeze any new spending on Ukraine. Here to discuss the compromise measure and its consequences is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus. Hey, Dave, so a rather surprising passage last second. How did this come about exactly?

Good morning. It was a bit of a shock, but late Saturday McCarthy met with several members from New York swing districts who urged him not to shut down the government or he'd risk those seats next year. And let's not forget, the four flipped seats in the Empire State really were responsible for giving the GOP the House. In the end, it was a bipartisan passage, but 90 Republican Congress members voted against it. did nine GOP senators. McCarthy says he needed the 45 days to continue negotiations on the spending cuts and on the border, but hardliners were ready to shut it all down. For now, that won't happen. Yeah, for now. So 45 days, it's not a very long time. Are we looking to find ourselves

right back in the same situation six weeks from now? Yes, we are. McCarthy, assuming he's still speaker, but we'll get to that, is going to try to rest as much from the Democrat-controlled Senate, not to mention Joe Biden as he can, but he may wind up once again needing Democrat votes to get anything passed. The reality is that Republicans only hold the House and barely. For big policy changes to happen, they need to win the Senate and presidency. The threat or reality of shutting down the government is some leverage, but Democrats aren't going to give away the farm here. And if a shutdown happens, Democrats will blame Republicans for kids who aren't getting food stamps and military members who aren't getting paid. This could all get very ugly.

Speaking of McCarthy, Representative Matt Gates said on Sunday that he's planning a motion to vacate this week, which requires the House to either re-elect McCarthy or choose a new speaker. Is this something that McCarthy can survive? We just don't know. A few things could happen. McCarthy could hold the speakership with some Democrat votes. Gates could convince Republicans to vote for another choice. Democrats could also pick off a few Republicans and wind up with minority leader Hakeem Jeffries's speaker. I would keep an eye on New York representative Mark Lawler.

He's been the Republican member front and center in opposing Gates. He was also among those urging McCarthy to pass the CR. So he and his allies owe McCarthy a favor here. And it's possible they will refuse to support any alternative acceptable to Gates. There's not a lot of precedent for any of this. And I guess maybe we just won't have a speaker or a functioning house for a while. Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. It sounds like there will be some fiery debates going on.

And speaking of fiery in a really bizarre moment on Saturday, New York Congressman Jamal Bowman pulled a fire alarm in a building on the congressional campus. Do we know why he caused this disturbance? It's utterly and completely bizarre, John. There was initially thought that it was to delay the vote, but he was voting for the measure. If it was some kind of protest, it didn't make much sense. Bowman claims that he was confused by a sign and somehow thought pulling a fire alarm would unlock the door he was trying to open. I mean, hard to believe.

But whatever made him do it, it's a felony. And whether he's charged or not, Republican Representative Nicole Maliatogus has already filed a motion to expel him from Congress. Though I do think it's possible he could get away with just a censure here. It's certainly one of the strangest stories of the year, and that's a very competitive category. Yeah, it's getting more competitive every week. Dave, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. The civil fraud trial against Donald Trump begins in New York today,

and the former president may end up attending in person. The case was originally filed against Trump by New York Attorney General Letitia James last year, and maybe Trump's most immediately threatening legal battle, with control of his extensive New York properties at stake. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about the case and what we can expect from this trial. Hi, Tim. First, what's at stake for Trump in this trial? Well, a lot. This trial is mostly to decide what kind of penalties Trump deserves for widespread and years-long fraud at the Trump organization.

The judge in the case, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engeran, found Trump guilty last week. He says Trump illegally inflated his net worth by billions of dollars from 2014 to 2021, and he will decide the penalties at the end of the trial. The Attorney General's office has asked for Trump to be fined $250 million and barred from doing business in the state. But it's the threat to Trump's businesses that could be devastating. And Garand surprised even prosecutors by ordering that all entities controlled by Trump and his children or his business enter a receivership, which means that while the Trump's maintain ownership, the businesses and properties are controlled separately by a court-appointed receiver. Experts have likened it to the corporate death penalty because the receiver and the court, not the owners, can make any decision about the companies, including selling them off. And do we know who's going to be this

receiver who's being tasked with overseeing this process? Not yet. The judge has ordered Trump to nominate three potential candidates that he'll then choose from. In the worst case scenario, Trump could lose assets such as his flagship Manhattan properties at 40 Wall Street and Trump Tower, the Trump's Seven Springs Estates and golf clubs in Hudson Valley and Westchester. Trump would keep the profits he's entitled to his owner, but his business empire in New York could be destroyed. And really a stunning move by this judge. How long do we expect this trial to go and for there to be true resolution? The trial that starts today could last months.

It's expected to be a slog with dozens of witnesses called by both the defense and prosecutors, along with all the cross-examining that the sides are entitled to. And Garan has previously estimated that the trial would last from now until just before Christmas, though that timeline may have shifted after his ruling last week. But as far as the fate of Trump's New York businesses, that's unclear. Trump could keep the case tied up in the legal system with appeals for years, and there's no solid way to predict which way this case could fall. All right, so a lot of unknowns and really hard to predict timeline here.

Is there really a precedent for this case? There really isn't. The scale of Nguerran's decision is unlike almost anything we've seen. The only other time something similar has been attempted was James' office against the NRA, and that failed. For his part, Trump says he's being targeted by Democrats in New York for political reasons. James and the judge in the case are both Democrats, and Trump hasn't been shy about attacking either. He's called James a racist and Ingeron deranged. Here's Trump being asked about

fraud and attacking the Attorney General and Judge last week. My financial statements are much lower than the actual network. This judge had here a fake Attorney General of New York who's driving business out who's letting murderers run all over the city. They don't do anything to murderers that are running all over the city. The Attorney General is a racist. Laticia James. Final question. Will Trump actually attend this trial in person?

Trump indicated he may. Here's him being asked about the case last week in California. Are you going to go to your trial? I may. You're going to. It's a disgrace. It's a rig. Everything about this city is rigged.

You said it's a thing you'd like to. It's all rigged. It's all country is rigged down. Trump, not mincing. words as usual. Tim, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Tennessee and Kentucky's laws banning doctors from offering sex change medications and surgeries to children. This follows a similar ruling from the 11th Circuit Court in late August. Daily Wire Culture reporter Megan Basham is here now with more.

So, Megan, this has been a closely watched case across the country. What did this federal court decide? So this case was really looking at the question of whether the portion of Tennessee's law that applied to hormones and puberty blockers was constitutional. A federal district court judge said that they weren't because they supposedly discriminated on the basis of sex. And in June, he blocked that part. Well, the Tennessee Attorney General appealed that ruling, arguing that these treatments are unproven and irreversibly harmed children. In a two-to-one ruling that also encompassed a similar Kentucky law, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with him and said that both of those laws are, in fact, constitutional.

So Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton's opinion included what you have to describe as some pretty sobering statements. And I'll give you just one fairly extended quote. He said, this is a relatively new diagnosis with ever-shifting approaches to care over the last decade or two. Under these circumstances, it is difficult for anyone to be sure about predicting the long-term consequences of abandoning age limits of any sort for these treatments. Now, this has prompted some pretty strong responses from both sides, correct? Yeah, it definitely has. To give you just one example, Daily Wire Personality, Matt Walsh,

is, of course, a prominent backer of this law. And he celebrated the ruling on his show on Friday, and he noted its strong refutation of the pro-trans argument. Less than 24 hours ago, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee, issued a point-by-point refutation of every substantive argument that proponents of transgenderism have made over the past decade. And this was not a ruling on technicalities. This was a well-articulated taked down of their claims in every dimension, medical, legal, logical. Now, meanwhile, the ACLU, which brought the challenge to the law, said this ruling will cause serious harm to transgender kids.

And it's promising to pursue further action. Now, this was just a three-judge panel, so the plaintiffs can ask for the full panel of the appeals court to review this decision. Now, there are similar laws on the books, though, in other states. How have they fared? Yeah, so far, 20 states now have legislation blocking these kinds of surgeries and medications when it comes to minors, specifically. And they haven't fared particularly well with federal district courts. They blocked bans like these in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, and Indiana from taking care. effect, and a state court did the same in Montana. But when you look at the federal appeals courts, that's another matter. The Sixth Circuit obviously has upheld these two bands in Kentucky and Tennessee,

and so has the 11th Circuit in a case involving Alabama. Now, a similar Arkansas case is headed for the Eighth Circuit. Robin Lundstrom is an Arkansas State Representative, and she holds a PhD in health science. She told the Family Research Council that she does think this Sixth Circuit ruling has implications for her state. What's exciting about this Tennessee and the Kentucky case is they're saying, wait a second, these kids are minors. They're not old enough to actually make a decision. So the judges are also looking at this from the science.

They're looking at this. These are minors and they can't possibly make these decisions. And they're also looking at the actual science. Now, that said, unlike the Sixth Circuit, which allowed the Tennessee and Kentucky laws to take effect as their decision was pending, the Eighth Circuit actually upheld a temporary injunction, so that may not vote well for the Arkansas law. So all of these conflicting rulings are why legal experts say that the Supreme Court is just going to have to step in here at some point. Megan, thanks for reporting.

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