Morning Wire - Student Loan Forgiveness & James Biden Testifies | Afternoon Update | 2.21.24

Episode Date: February 21, 2024

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This episode is brought to you by Birchgold Group. Diversify your savings with Birchgold. Their experts can help turn your 401k into a 401k in gold. Just text Wire to 989898 today. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Wednesday, February 21st, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update. The Biden administration announced this morning that it is unilaterally canceling $1.2 billion in student loan debt. The move is expected to affect at least 150,000 borrowers.

Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips has more. The White House says these borrowers specifically meet the qualifications of having taken out loans of $12,000 or less than making regular payments on them for the last decade or more. A White House fact sheet also says that, quote, for every $1,000 borrowed above $12,000, a borrower can receive forgiveness after an additional year of payments. Recipients of the relief are expected to be emailed a message from President Biden, saying, quote, I hope this relief gives you a little more breathing room. According to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona,

the plan brings the total amount of student debt canceled by the Biden administration to nearly $138 billion for nearly 3.9 million borrowers. Hunter Biden's attorneys have filed nine motions to dismiss tax charges against their client. The charges were filed by special counsel David Weiss in a California federal court last year. Lawyers representing Hunter also claim that prosecutors, mistook a picture of sawdust for cocaine, which was used as evidence. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has more. Hunter's lawyer, Abby Lowell, accused prosecutors of reneging on binding agreements over political

pressure to charge the president's son. Court filings from Biden's legal team argue that he was selectively targeted for prosecution and that the statute of limitations has expired regarding several of the tax-related charges. The defense attorneys took aim at special counsel Weiss and said his appointment violates the appropriations clause because his investigation was not approved by Congress. Last month, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to nine tax-related charges that claimed he spent millions living extravagantly instead of paying taxes. President Biden's brother testified behind closed doors today as part of the Biden impeachment inquiry. The House Oversight and Judiciary Committee's interviewed James Biden,

who claimed in his opening statement that the president was not involved in any of his business ventures. James and his business dealings have been a key area of focus for House Republicans who are investigating whether President Biden was involved with his brother's business transactions or used his influence to their benefit. Upon arriving for his interview this morning, James was asked what he planned to tell the committees, to which he replied, the truth. Republican Congressman Jim Jordan told reporters before the interview that it will likely focus on things that happened before Joe Biden was president.

Specifically relative to James Biden's involvement. with CEFC, AmeriCorps, there was a big story about that. It's like that deal doesn't get finalized until Joe Biden shows up at the four-season and gives a little short presentation to all the people there, the eight Chinese executives at CEFC and Hunter Biden and his business partners. President Biden's son Hunter will testify before the same committees next week. This episode is brought to you by G-Dify Shoes. Experience the miracle that is G-Dify.

Use code wire for $30 off orders of $150 or more at G-D-D-Fy. com. That's G-D-E-F-Y.com with promo code wire. A Los Angeles woman and dual Russian citizen has been detained by Russian authorities after raising funds for Ukraine. Russian authorities accuse 33-year-old Cassinia Carolina of treason due to her fundraising. U.S. officials confirmed the identity of the Russian-American ballerina after the Russian Federal Security Service claimed they had detained an unnamed dual Russian-American citizen. The White House says it's working secure consular access. Here's United States National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby warning

other Americans in Russia. If you're a U.S. citizen, including a dual national, residing in, or traveling in Russia, you ought to leave right now if you can, just depart immediately. Russian authorities allege that the money collected was spent on medicine, equipment, weapons, and ammunition in the Ukrainian war effort, though no other details nor a description of any evidence were released. The U.S. said today that the United Nations top court should hold off on issuing an opinion saying Israel should immediately and unconditionally withdraw from territories sought for a Palestinian state. This comes a day after the U.S. vetoed a U.N. resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Washington instead put forth a rival draft resolution that called

for a temporary pause in fighting. Inflation may be easing, but high food prices are here to stay. Americans are spending more than 11% of their disposable income on food. These are the highest prices in three decades. Eating out at a restaurant will cost you about 5% more, and a grocery trip will also be more expensive than just a year ago. According to the Wall Street Journal, several restaurant chains, including Denny's and Wendy's, say they're serving fewer customers and large food-producing companies like Hershey's and Kraft say their sales are also down. Same with soda and snack giant PepsiCo, which raised their prices every quarter of over the past two years. They now say customers are cutting back and sales have decreased.

And who is on Donald Trump's vice presidential shortlist? In a town hall event in South Carolina last night, the former president confirmed a few high-profile names. Those included South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, Vivek Ramoswamy, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and South Dakota Governor Christy Noam. Trump called them all solid choices. He also threw out a few surprising names, including Florida Congressman Byron Donald's and former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. Trump did not provide a timeline for his announcement. Those are 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.