Morning Wire - Hunter Biden Jury Deliberates & Europe Turns Right | 6.11.24

Episode Date: June 11, 2024

The federal case against Hunter Biden is in the hands of the jury, a new poll shows Americans support former President Trump’s immigration policies, and several European nations get rocked by a political earthquake. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. Roman: For treatment that works fast and lasts long, grab the moment. Connect with a provider at http://www.Ro.co/WIRE to find out if Ro Sparks are right for you. Black Rifle Coffee: Drink America's coffee at https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hunter Biden does not take the stand in his federal gun charges case as closing arguments wrap up and the jury begins deliberations. Whether or not he was using on the exact day that he signed the form is what this is really coming down to. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, June 11th, and this is Morning Wire. A new poll shows Americans support Trump's immigration policies, including mass deportation. There's only one correct number about the number of people who should. be crossing the border illegally a day. And that number is zero. And several European nations are rocked by a political earthquake as voters there turn out against the ruling class. I think these elections have been a real game changer and have sent a very clear message to Europe's ruling elites

that their time is coming to an end. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. New roast barks are a game-changing two-and-one prescription treatment that combines the active ingredients in Viagra and Cialis, two powerhouse treatments. For treatment that works fast and less long, grab the moment. Connect with a provider at row.co slash wire to find out if Roe sparks are right for you. That's RO.co.co. Compounded drugs are permitted to be prescribed under federal law but are not FDA approved and do not undergo FDA safety effectiveness or manufacturing review.

This treatment is only available if prescribed after an online consultation with a provider. Closing arguments were made on Monday and Hunter Biden's federal criminal case in Delaware after the defense arrested its case without calling the first son as a witness. The case is now in the hands of the jury. Here to discuss the final day of testimony and those closing arguments, this Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus. Hey, Dave. So the defense in this case opted not to put Hunter Biden on the stand. Do we know why that choice was made? Morning, John. There's always pros and cons to consider and having a defendant testify, as we recently saw in Donald Trump's trial where he also didn't take the stand. The fear is rooted in

cross-examination by the prosecution, which could always trip a defendant up, sometimes in ways that can't be fixed. It's also certainly possible that Hunter Biden's attorney, Abby Lowell, just thinks it wasn't needed. The jurors did hear Hunter speak at one point in the trial, but that was an audio version of his memoir that he narrated, which prosecutors played last week. It had been thought that Hunter might testify, but the decision for him not to, it wasn't any kind of huge surprise. So the prosecution went first in closing arguments. What did they try to hammer home? Did they view this as a pretty open and shut case? Yeah, absolutely. Federal prosecutor Leo Wise described the evidence against the Biden's sion as personal, ugly, and overwhelming.

The basic allegation here is that Hunter Biden lied about being a drug addict when filling out a form to buy a gun. And as we have reported on extensively here, Hunter's own family members testified as to his rather rapacious crack cocaine habit at the time, and the gun store owner swore that he saw Hunter fill out paperwork. This is in addition to the treasure trove of evidence found in the infamous laptop, which, lo and behold, turned out to be very real. Yeah. But one last thing that prosecutors stressed was that the nice things Hunter's family may have said about him on the stand are not actually germane evidence in the case. As to the defense's closing argument, what did they have to say to the jury, given all that evidence presented by prosecutors?

Much of Lowell's defense closing centered on the language of the form, which asks, are you an illegal drug user, not have you been? To suggest that since Hunter was buying the gun, he claims, to help him have a hobby and stay sober, that in his own mind, Hunter did not see himself as an illegal drug user as he was signing the document. And of course, as defense attorneys always do, Lowell reminded the jury that the bar they have to reach is beyond a reasonable doubt. And that is the highest standard that the law allows for. Yeah. Now, Democrats have attacked Republicans throughout the trial over the fact that there's no direct connection to Joe Biden in this case

and claim that the impeachment inquiry into the president has sputtered. Did the GOP have any response to that? Yeah. Representative James Comer, who's heading up the impeachment inquiry, appeared on Fox business and told Maria Bartaromo that this is still just the beginning. Here's some of what he had to say. He perjured himself two different times, at least, about Joe Biden's involvement and participation in schemes. We also have Jim Biden lying about the fact that Joe Biden met with Tony Babelinski. Why would Jim Biden lie about that? It's all to protect Joe.

Criminal referrals have now been sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland's Department of Justice against both Hunter Biden and his uncle James Biden, both for allegedly lying to Congress. There has been a bit of a lull in the impeachment inquiry. At this point, and with just five months to go before the election, the waters in front of this investigation appear to be wide open. Well, Republicans making clear that they are far from done. Dave, thanks for reporting. Thanks for having me.

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Daily Wire, Senior Editor Cabot Phillips. Hey, Kappa, so what are we seeing now with this order? Yeah, quick refresher. Last week, President Biden signed an executive order that he said would discourage migrants from crossing into the country illegally. Specifically, it prevented migrants from making asylum claims once the number of daily encounters at the border hit 2,500. Now, because that number was already met when the order was signed, it technically went into effect immediately. But in spite of that supposed crackdown, according to numerous reports from the border and internal DHS memos, thousands of migrants continue to enter the country

illegally every day. In response to that news, President Trump had some harsh words about Biden's order. Last week, Crooked Joe signed an executive order that is pro-invasion, pro-child trafficking, pro-woman trafficking.

It's a pro-drug dealer bill. It's weak. It's ineffective. It's bullshit what he signed. All right, so colorful language from Trump. Walk us through why this order has, to this point, been so ineffective. Well, Border Patrol officials do insist that they're abiding by the order and denying entry to the majority of migrants apprehended. But the policy has a number of loopholes that are clearly being exploited.

First, it still allows entry to those who claim asylum and schedule an appointment at a port of entry through the much maligned CBP1 app. Around 1,000 people daily get in through that route. And importantly, Biden's order has an exemption for what they, call, quote, operational considerations. In layman's terms, that means many migrants are not deported due to a lack of funding or simply available flights to certain countries in South and Central America. And perhaps most notably, according to an internal DHS memo sent to border agents in San Diego, migrants are still being released into the country by the thousands each week. Right. Tell us more about that controversial memo.

So for context, following efforts by Governor Greg Abbott to fortify the border in Texas, illegal immigration has really shifted in recent months towards Arizona and California. To that point, for the first time in 25 years, the San Diego sector is now the top spot for illegal entry. But a large portion of those crossing there are from Africa, Asia, and Middle East, which makes deportation efforts more complicated. In light of that, the DHS sent a memo to border officials in San Diego, which was obtained by the Washington Examiner, and it instructed agents to release into the U.S. all single adults from Eastern Hemisphere countries, with the exception. of migrants from six countries, Russia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Moldova, and Kyrgyzstan. Now, Border Patrol maintains their still intent on deporting migrants from countries in the

Western Hemisphere, but again, that still leaves thousands of folks every day from over 100 countries still being let in. Yeah. And that certainly won't help President Biden's standing with voters who've been increasingly frustrated over his handling of the border. Yeah, that is for sure. yesterday, Biden's approval rating fell to 37.4%. That is the lowest mark of his presidency and the lowest approval rating at this point in any president's first term in nearly a century. His approval rating on immigration is even lower at 32%. And that discontent with his border policies has resulted in millions of Americans now saying they would prefer a Trump-style approach on illegal immigration. According to a new poll from CBS, 62% of voters now support a new

national program to deport all illegal immigrants. And while Democrats have long argued those policies are bigoted against immigrants, particularly Hispanics. The poll found that 53% of Hispanics also support mass deportations. Those numbers are just unheard of. So the ongoing border crisis, clearly having an unprecedented impact on voters' views of illegal immigration. And poll after poll showing that this is now among the top priorities for voters. Kappa, thanks for reporting. Anytime. conservative and populist parties in several European countries made major gains in European parliamentary elections Sunday, shaking up several regimes and prompting calls for snap elections.

Here to discuss is Nile Gardner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation. Welcome, Nile. First, what has unfolded since Sunday? Well, I think the results released on Sunday night are nothing less than a political earthquake in Europe. We have seen an emphatic rejection of socialist ruling elites across much of Europe. We have seen a resounding set of victories for partners on the right in many European countries. And we've seen the utter humiliation of big European figures such as Emmanuel Macron, President of France, Olaf Schultz, the Chancellor of Germany, and huge gains for conservative political parties. So the biggest winner actually from these European elections has been, I think, Georgia Maloney in Italy, whose brothers of Italy party did extremely well, I think quadrupling their level of support. And Maloney has emerged, I think, as a very, very powerful leader in Europe.

In France, of course, with Marine Le Pen, her political party took over 30% of the vote. double the size of the vote for Emmanuel Macron's party. And so she would likely face off against Macron in the French presidential race 2027. And if that election were to be held today, she would probably emerge as the winner. Now we saw a snap election called by Macron. What prompted it and how risky is that for the French president and his party? So in France, Macron's political party received only around 15% of the vote in the European parliamentary elections. A massive humiliation, really, for Macron's ruling party. And Macron therefore decided to call a snap parliamentary election. It'll be held in two rounds late June, early July. And these elections actually could go very badly,

potentially for the French president. And he could end up as a lame duck president for the remainder of his term, which stretches until 2027. If his party doesn't do well, actually in these parliamentary elections. So a high-risk gambit, of course, by Emmanuel Macron. While the right-leaning parties aren't uniform, there are a lot of unifying characteristics of most of these parties. What would you say are some of those shared ideas and policies driving them? That's a very good question. I would say that the number one issue in the European parliamentary elections was really the issue of mass migration, cultural identity, a fear among many in Europe that Europe is taking in far too many migrants and has taken in too many migrants over the course of the last two decades,

this election was a fundamental rejection of mass migration and open borders. All of the parties on the right who gained heavily campaigned on a platform or secure borders, limiting the flow of migrants into their countries, cracking down on migrant crime, and also fighting against Islamification in Europe. Also are high on the agenda, environmental issues as well, and a rejection of net zero ideology. And nearly all of the political parties on the right that won big in the European parliamentary elections

fought against what they believed is far left ideological dogma dictating hugely expensive green policies. I think a third factor was rising Euroscepticism and a belief among many in Europe that the European Union has become too centralised. And so most of the political parties on the right that were successful in this election campaigned against the idea of Eurofederalism and against giving the EU and the European Commission in particular more power.

Final question. What aspect of these trends in Europe do you feel are important for an American audience to understand? You know, from a US perspective, I think the European election results are going to make the Biden White House very nervous because some of the big issues that successful all, partners on the right in Europe campaigned on, are the same issues that American voters are going to be voting on in November. And the European electorate, in fact, he rejected the kind of, you know, woke left-wing elitism that has dominated Europe in recent decades. And many American voters share European voters' concerns over mass migration, open borders,

rising crime, higher cost of living. and so what happens in Europe, I think is important, what happens in the U.S. as well. Well, now, thank you so much for joining us. That was Nile Gardner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.