Morning Wire - Kremlin Attack & Biden's Alleged ‘Bribery Scheme’ | 5.4.23

Episode Date: May 4, 2023

Russian officials have accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, two of America’s largest cities are now claiming to be overrun by migrants, and Republican leaders demand FBI records after a whistleblower says there is evidence Joe Biden engaged in a “bribery scheme with a foreign national.” Get the facts first with Morning Wire.  American Home Shield: Save $50 when you join American Home Shield. Visit http://www.ahs.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

Russian officials have accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin after drones exploded over the Kremlin on Wednesday. It was more of a strategic strike on the kind of the heart of Russia's power, the Kremlin itself, with a demonstration that even that location is not safe. What do we know about the attack and will it escalate the war? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, May 4th, and this is Morning Wire. Two of America's largest cities are now claiming to be overrun by migrants.

We are completely tapped out. We have no more space, no more resources, and frankly, we're already in a surge. Why are they blaming the governor of Texas for the surge? And Republican leaders are demanding FBI records after a whistleblower came forward, alleging that then Vice President Joe Biden was engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national. I think it really hurts the FBI's credibility. It hurts the DOJ's credibility if they don't cooperate. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.

Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Two drones exploded over the Kremlin on Wednesday in what Russian officials called an assassination attempt on President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine quickly denied any involvement in the incident and warned it could be used to justify escalating attacks on Ukrainian cities. Here are the details of the attack and what it means for the ongoing war in Ukraine as Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips.

Cabot rather dramatic video here. What can you tell us? Yeah, the footage is really incredible. Around 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, two drones exploded 16 minutes apart just above the Kremlin. Russian officials say they were downed over the Senate Palace by an electronic warfare system before reaching their target and that no one was injured. They also said President Putin was not in the complex at the time. In a statement Wednesday, criminal officials called the incident a, quote, planned terrorist attack

and an attempt on the life of the president. For their part, Ukrainian officials quickly denied any role in the attack, with some saying anti-Putin Russians or even Putin himself were to blame. Here's Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at a press conference from Finland on Wednesday. We don't attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory. We don't have enough weapon for this. Now, the timing of this incident is also important. Ukraine has been amassing tens of thousands of troops over the last.

month in preparation for a spring counteroffensive, and Russia is preparing to celebrate Victory Day next week. That's their most patriotic national holiday. The big fear now is how Moscow will respond. Ukrainian officials say they're confident Putin will use the attack to justify further aggression in Ukraine. To that point, Dimitri Medvedev, former Russian president and current deputy chairman of the Security Council, called Wednesday for the, quote, elimination of Zelensky and his so-called click in response to the incident. That's so strong words. We've now seen a string of other drone attacks and sabotage inside Russia. Tell us about those. Yeah, this is hardly the first attempted strike within Russia. Just this week, an important Russian Fuel Depot caught fire after

an apparent drone attack, which Russian officials blamed on Ukraine. There have also been similar drone attacks on rail yards and airports this week, and that comes after months of similar incidents throughout Russia. Most notably in August, a car bombing killed the daughter of a prominent pro-Pooten commentator in Moscow. While Ukraine denied having any role in that bombing, U.S. intelligence say they're confident Ukrainian officials authorized the strike. So it is worth noting that what Ukraine has denied any role in this week's incident, there is precedent for their involvement in similar strikes. But obviously, there's also clear incentive for Putin to stage an attack or blame non-Ukrainian actors for the incident. We just don't yet know who was behind it.

So sort of fog of war uncertainty here. What sort of response have these attacks drawn from the West and other Ukrainian allies? Well, Ukraine has refused to comment on their role in the attacks over the last few months, and most Western leaders have remained largely silent on the matter. Though Biden Press Secretary Kringympir did offer brief comments Wednesday from the White House, saying such attacks would not be condoned if they did come from Ukraine. Since the beginning of this conflict, the United States is certainly not encouraging or enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its borders. We've been very clear from here about that. But again, I don't want to get into speculation from here about the authenticity of this report.

And more broadly, the attacks on Russian soil have drawn mixed reactions from the international community. Critics of the strategy fear it will lead to escalation from Putin. They say that to this point, Russian shelling of large cities like Kiev has been relatively sparse. The fear is that this week's incident could remove any restraint the Russians have shown when it comes to bombing heavily populated areas within Ukraine. So their main fear is escalation. Now, supporters of the attack say that many Ukrainian towns and cities have already been decimated by Russian forces, so it's perfectly reasonable for Ukraine to take aim at Russian officials and key infrastructure.

They argue attacks on Russian soil are an important show of strength and fair game, for lack of a better term. The bottom line, though, is that this attack, whoever's behind it, is almost certain to draw a military response from Putin. The question now becomes when and how. Well, a precarious situation. Cabot, thanks for reporting. Anytime. That's Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips. Coming up, the mayors of Chicago and New York demand that Texas stop busing in, migrants. The mayors of two of America's largest cities are desperate for a solution to the migrant

crisis, but instead of pointing the finger at Washington, they are taking aim at Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to discuss. So Tim, we've reported before about the growing migrant crisis in New York City, but now Chicago says they're experiencing the same. What can you tell us? Well, according to the mayors, these cities are overrun. Abbott started busing migrants to New York in Chicago in August. He blamed their sanctuary city policies for encouraging illegal immigration to begin with, so Texas is paying for direct transport for migrants who want to leave the state for those cities. In total, about 50,000 migrants have been bused to New York and 8,000 to Chicago, barely a fraction of the number that have crossed the border. For perspective, over the weekend, Border Patrol agents arrested

7,000 illegal migrants per day. Migrants arrested at the border often end up on the streets of border communities or in the care of humanitarian groups if they aren't trafficked. So these cities up north are beginning to feel overwhelmed by the newcomers. Border communities are largely blaming the Biden administration. Why are these mayors blaming Abbott specifically? Well, it's politics primarily. Chicago's outgoing mayor, Lori Lightfoot, and New York Mayor Eric Adams are on the same side of the political aisle as President Joe Biden.

Governor Abbott is a Republican, and he's been the most active with the busing program, although some border mayors, including Democrat mayors, have also sent buses up north. New York's Mayor Adams has taken some shots at Biden over this before, but usually in a context that blames Washington for the immigration crisis, not just the White House. He went directly at Abbott on Monday, though, calling the busing program, quote, morally bankrupt and devoid of any concern for the well-being of migrants. Adams also suggested that Abbott harbors racist feelings against black people, saying it's, quote, impossible to ignore the fact that Abbott is now targeting at five cities,

run by black mayors. Lightfoot sent a letter to Abbott on Sunday, begging the Texas governor to quit busing migrants to her city because Chicago is at a breaking point. She went on CNN the next day to explain. We've been seeing over the last week, 200 to 300 plus people coming to Chicago every single day. We call them walk-ins because they're not coming on buses,

but they are coming on planes from San Antonio. And we're very concerned because they don't seem like they're getting screen at the border. We've seen people coming. with serious medical issues. Ironically, both of these Democratic mayors actually ran their own migrant busing programs. Lightfoot took heat from locals last year

after she bused migrants out of the city to the suburbs. And New York City is actually paying the bus fare for migrants to travel to Canada, which has had its own problems with illegal immigration recently. Now, how did Abbott respond to this? He said they're blaming the wrong guy. In a response to Lightfoot, Abbott placed the blame on President Biden.

Abbott said the busing program is providing, quote, much-needed relief to our overrun border communities and promise to keep it going until Biden secures the border. Well, with Title 42, lifting on the 11th, it's going to be a lot harder. Tim, thanks for reporting. Anytime. That was Daily Wire reporter, Tim Pierce. A whistleblower is alleging that the FBI has documentation

of a bribery scheme with a foreign national involving President Biden during his time in the Obama administration. Two Republican lawmakers are now, demanding the document be released. Here with more is Daily Wire Managing Editor Greg Wilson. Hey, Greg. So a subpoena from Republicans and a whistleblower allegation. What's happening here?

The subpoena is coming from Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and Kentucky Congressman James Comer. They say a whistleblower is pointing fingers at Joe Biden himself. The whistleblower has come forward credibly alleging that the FBI has a form that precisely details a scheme by which then Vice President Joe Biden pocketing. money from a foreign national in exchange for influencing U.S. policy. Comer, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, said they were told that the internal FBI-generated FD-1023 form, quote, includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose. The lawmakers did not say what foreign country was involved or provide other key details about the

alleged scheme. Here's Comer. This is an investigation of Joe Biden. The president of the United States why he lied to the American people about his knowledge and participation in his family's international business schemes. Do we know anything yet about this whistleblower? Not yet. The whistleblower has not been identified and is being given full legal protection. He apparently came forward to Grassley's office. The lawmakers, both of whom have pressed hard for scrutiny of Joe Biden's and Hunter Biden's alleged dealings with foreign governments and companies, described the whistleblower as, quote, extremely credible. Grassley says he doesn't know if the FBI verified or even investigated the claims made in the document

and cited, quote, growing concern about the DOJ and FBI's track record of allowing political bias to infect their decision-making process. Here's the senator speaking with Fox News. I've had plenty of evidence of political decision-making and who should be investigated or not be investigated. But if the Justice Department and the FBI have any hopes of redeveloping, They're once trusted position with the American people. Garland and Ray must answer this subpoena and tell us what they're doing with this information that we think is very credible based upon what whistleblowers are telling us. All right. So whistleblower allegations of an FBI form that details of bribery scheme. What are the lawmakers doing about this? Well, for starters on Wednesday,

they fired off a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Ray, letting them know about the revelation. They wrote that given the specificity the whistleblower alleged is in the document, they should be able to determine whether or not it is true. Comer then subpoenaed all FD-1023 forms that contained the word Biden.

Now, as you mentioned, this comes amid other allegations by Republicans of the weaponization of the government, and it's not the first time officials have been called in to testify, correct? Right, there's certainly a pattern here. Garland and Ray have both been called before the House and Senate on numerous occasions,

to explain what many conservatives believe is a deeply partisan approach to investigating the Bidens. Since the Republicans takeover of the House this year, Comer's committee has been busy investigating Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings and whether the president and other members of the Biden family have been involved. Grassley has been doing the same in the Senate, although with a Democrat majority, his efforts have been limited. As for Hunter, there's also that ongoing federal investigation. Right. He's currently under investigation by the U.S. attorney for the district of Delaware. That prosecutor is believed to be considering tax evasion and gun charges based in part on revelations from the infamous laptop he abandoned in a repair shop back in 2019. We'll see how Garland

and Ray respond to this letter. Greg, thanks for reporting. You're welcome. That was Daily Wire managing editor, Greg Wilson. 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, please consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend. And if you love Morning Wire, we have some really exciting news. We just massively expanded our Morning Wire merch as well as restocked some of our most popular items. Now we have tons more, including apparel. Plus, purchasing an item is a great way to support our show and rep the news that you need to know. Find all of our merch at Dailywire.com slash shop.

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