Morning Wire - Ray Epps Sentenced & Lloyd Austin’s Hospitalization | Afternoon Update | 1.9.24

Episode Date: January 9, 2024

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This episode is brought to you by Balance of Nature. Go to Balanceofnature.com and use promo code wire for 35% off, plus a free fiber and spice in your first order as a preferred customer. That's Balanceofnature.com promo code wire. I'm DailyWire, editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Tuesday, January 9th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update. Ray Epps, the controversial figure in the January 6th saga, was sentenced to one year of probation today.

Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestige Giacomo has more. The former Arizona resident pleaded guilty back in September to a misdemeanor charge, but he received no jail time and had no restrictions placed on his travel during his probation period. Epps was the center of several conspiracies suggesting he was a government agent who helped incite the riots, leading him to file defamation lawsuits against some outlets last year. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors have backed up Epps's denial of being an FBI operative. They say EPS has never worked. for the government beyond serving in the U.S. Marines from 1979 to 1983. Lawyers for Epps say he has faced backlash and threats leading him and his wife to sell their home and flee. Some, though, see Epps's sentence as light compared to others who were at the

Capitol that day and even some who weren't. Former proud boys leader Enrique A Tario, for example, was sentenced to 22 years and he was not even in D.C. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. According to Walter Reed Medical Center, Austin underwent a procedure called a prostatectomy last month to treat it. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has the details. The Defense Secretary was then admitted to Walter Reed on January 1st due to complications from the procedure, including nausea with severe abdominal, hip, and leg pain. The hospital did, however, say his prostate cancer was detected early and his prognosis is excellent. The announcement of the Secretary's diagnosis comes on the heels of a White House review of cabinet protocols

after Austin's secret hospitalization. The memo says that cabinet agencies must ensure they follow procedures in the event that a delegation of authority is required. The Democrat-controlled Maine legislature voted down a Republican effort to impeach Secretary of State Shina Bellows over her decision to remove former President Donald Trump from the state's ballot. Bellows made the assessment that Trump was disqualified from being on the ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

60 have been voted in the affirmative. 80 have been voted in the negative, the motion fails. In an 80-60 vote, the Maine House voted against the Bellows impeachment resolution. Republicans in the state say the decision made by Bellows disenfranchises more than 300,000 voters in Maine who chose Trump in the last election. Here's State Representative Ed Polwarzik. If allowed to stand, we are no longer free. This decision is indicative of the direction our state is moving.

For decades, we have watched our freedoms nibbled away. This is a big bite out of our rights. As the Iowa caucus approaches, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and former President Donald Trump are all hosting town halls this week with Fox News. Nikki Haley took the stage last night and went after her GOP opponents while remaining sharply critical of President Biden. Biden, in the meantime, has been critical lately of a comment Haley made when she was asked about what caused the civil war.

Haley did not mention slavery in her answer. Haley's town hall, Biden seemed to take aim at Haley while in her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. Well, let me be clear, for those who don't seem to know, slavery was the cause of the civil. During last night's town hall, Haley gave Biden the following response. I mean, first of all, Mother Emmanuel Church is a sacred place. I mean, we had, we lost nine amazing souls that night for just going to a... a Bible study. For Biden to show up there and give a political speech is offensive in itself. But the second thing I'll say is, I don't need someone who paled around with segregationists in

the 70s and has said racist comments all the way through his career lecturing me or anyone in South Carolina about what it means to have racism, slavery, or anything related to the Civil War. Millions of Americans woke up to severe weather across many parts of the country today with heavy rain and flooding risks in some areas and heavy snow in others. Hundreds of thousands of people are still without power, many of whom reside in Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida. The National Weather Service said heavy rain could cause flooding in areas spanning all the way from the Florida Panhandle to southern Maine.

The National Weather Service, Seattle, issued a rare blizzard warning for Western Washington on Monday night. That's the first for the area since 2012. For many Americans, the extreme weather is set to continue, and meanwhile, another major storm system heads for the eastern U.S. Following a mid-air emergency on an Alaska airline flight Friday, the National Transportation Safety Board began an investigation into the event, but the agency's chief says it may be expanded as they learn more.

After the door plug fell off of a 171 passenger Boeing 737 Max 9 plane on Friday, the NTSB found that the fittings at the top of the door plug fractured. Here's National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homandy. Well, in this situation, the fittings at the top of the door plug fractured. We don't know if the bolts were loose. We don't know if bolts were in there fractured or possibly the bolts weren't there at all. Following Friday's incident, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded certain Boeing 737 Max 9-9. aircraft for inspection. The pause affected about 171 planes worldwide. And a man caught on cam jumping

over a judicial bench and attacking a Nevada judge last week has been sentenced to four years in state prison. Last week, Diabra Delon Redden stated that he was in a, quote, better place mentally and didn't think he should be sent to prison. But when the judge made clear she was going to lock him up, he ran and leapt over the bench, landing on top of the judge and causing a bloody brawl. Here's what the moment sounded like. I believe I should be giving him a shot. I appreciate that, but I think it's time that you get a taste of something else because I just can't with that history.

In accordance with the laws of state of that as far as. When he went before the same judge for sentencing again yesterday, Redden was shackled and under heavy guard. Today, he faces another judge for a variety of charges he could face decades in prison. Those of your drive home updates this. afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.