The Daily Signal - Biden Building Border Wall, Elon Musk and Anti-Defamation League Call Truce, Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Funeral | Oct. 5

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's Canadian Tire's Black Friday sale. With the lowest prices of the year. Hello, can we go? Limbo again. Shop the Black Friday sale at Canadian Tire and save up to 60%. November 27th to December 7th. Conditions apply, details online. I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Thursday, October 5th.

Starting point is 00:00:22 Here are today's headlines. The Biden administration is doing something that many on both sides of the political left and right thought would never happen. building a section of border wall. Biden's Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to begin construction of border wall in the South Texas community of Starr County. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the action in the U.S. Federal Registry. The notice reads, the Secretary of Homeland Security has determined, pursuant to law, that it is necessary to waive certain laws, regulations, and other legal requirements in order to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads in the vicinity of the international land border in Star County, Texas.

Starting point is 00:01:20 The Biden administration says the wall will be constructed along 17 miles in Star County, Texas, which is in the Rio Grande Valley. The Biden administration is receiving some criticism for moving ahead with border wall construction, and this is in part because during his 2020 campaign, Biden said he would not add another, foot of wall during his administration, and after he took office in 2021, Biden issued a proclamation to end construction of the border wall. But the Department of Homeland Security says the construction of a wall does not indicate a change in policy. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Daily Signal in an email that the construction project you're reading about today was appropriated during the prior administration in 2019, and the government is legally required to utilize these funds for their appropriated purpose.

Starting point is 00:02:16 Former President Donald Trump says that he's waiting for an apology from the Biden administration for taking so long to resume construction. Trump wrote on social media, will Joe Biden apologize to me and America for taking so long to get moving and allowing our country to be flooded with 15 million illegal immigrants from places unknown? I will await his apology. I spoke with Ira Melman with the Federation of American Immigration Reform about the news, and he said he is happy that the Biden administration is taking this action,

Starting point is 00:02:51 but it's a little late and more action is needed. At least they're acknowledging that a wall is effective, you know, it's after two and a half years of denying the fact, and that, you know, if it is of some, use in the high traffic areas that they need to put it up all across the border because if you put up a border wall in certain areas, it's just going to divert the traffic elsewhere. And other areas that are now lower traffic will become higher traffic. So they need to look at the entire border.

Starting point is 00:03:31 The news of the border wall construction comes at the same time. The border crisis has been making headlines for weeks as near record numbers. of illegal aliens are crossing America's southern border, and initial numbers indicate that fiscal year 2023 will break a new all-time record high for the number of illegal aliens encountered on our borders. Now, let's talk some tech news. Elon Musk threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League for defamation, but now it looks like the two parties have reached a truce. The Hill reports that the anti-defamation league reportedly criticized the changes that Elon Musk made to Twitter, which Musk has now renamed X. The Anti-Defamation League had previously said

Starting point is 00:04:17 Musk's decisions to reinstate previously banned accounts on X and repurpose the platform's blue check marks were being exploited by extremists. In May, the group accused Musk and X of inadequate content moderation policies that allowed for a spread of anti-Semitic. content. In September, Must said the Anti-Defamation League was falsely accusing the platform and himself of being anti-Semitic and that the social media company's U.S. advertising revenue was down 60% primarily due to pressure on advertisers by the Anti-Defamation League. Must threatened to file a lawsuit against the group over alleged revenue losses. Now, it looks like Musk and the group have backed away from those threats.

Starting point is 00:05:06 The Anti-Defamation League said this week that a better, healthier and safer X would be a win for the world. We've said that publicly and repeatedly, and we hope that company leadership shares that goal as well. As we do with all platforms, we will credit X as it moves in that direction, and we also will call it out when it has not. Must responded by thanking the group for clarifying that you support advertising on X. For now, lawsuit averted. We have an update on Hunter Biden today. The Daily Signal's Fred Lucas reports that President Joe Biden has nominated a former colleague of his son, Hunter Biden, to run an internal watchtog agency within the Biden administration.

Starting point is 00:05:56 The man is a lawyer named Hampton Dellinger, and he worked with Hunter. Hunter at a law firm representing the Ukrainian energy company, Burisma. Biden has appointed Delinger to lead the office of the special counsel. That's an agency that primarily investigates whistleblower complaints and misuse of federal office for partisan political ends. House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer told the Daily Signal's Fred Lucas that President Biden's decision to appoint Hunter's former colleague as head of the office of special counsel raises concerns that he's trying to protect his son instead of whistleblowers.

Starting point is 00:06:36 Of course, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee is currently investigating Hunter Biden. Comer added that naming a Biden family crony to this position does not instill confidence that the law will be enforced fairly. Senator Chuck Grassley told the Daily signal that Dellinger's partisan past cast doubts on his capacity, to serve in what should be a strictly nonpartisan independent role. And Grassley went on to say that he has called on the office of the special counsel to aggressively investigate retaliation against courageous IRS whistleblowers who exposed significant government misconduct in the Hunter Biden investigation.

Starting point is 00:07:22 But Grafley says that questions remain as to whether Dellinger would be up for the job of supporting all whistleblowers, or whether he, like so many other Biden nominees, would run to Hunter Biden's rescue instead. The Senate will have to vote to confirm Biden's nomination, so it is possible that Dallinger could be blocked from the position. Stay tuned. And finally today, the House and Senate were both out of session today, but a number of lawmakers were in San Francisco for Senator Dianne Feinstein's Memorial Service.

Starting point is 00:07:57 C-SPAN is streaming the funeral beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern today. President Biden will deliver audio remarks remotely, and Vice President Kamala Harris will speak in person. The senator's granddaughter is also slated to be speaking at the funeral. The longtime Democrat Senator passed away on September 29th at the age of 90. Her body lay in state at San Francisco's City Hall before the funeral today. Abortion activist LaFonza Butler has been sworn in to fill the seat left by Feinstein until a special election can be held. With that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for being with us here on the Daily Signal's top news.

Starting point is 00:08:39 If you've not had the chance, make sure that you check out our morning show. It's right here in this same podcast feed. Tomorrow, Tyler O'Neill is bringing us an interview regarding a critical case involving the Center for American Liberty. Also, make sure to subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you like to listen to podcast. and help us reach more listeners by taking a moment to leave a five-star rating and review. Thanks again for being with us today. Have a great night. We'll see you right back here tomorrow morning. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation.

Starting point is 00:09:15 Executive producers are Rob Lewy and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheras. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com. I'm.

The Daily Signal - Biden Building Border Wall, Elon Musk and Anti-Defamation League Call Truce, Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Funeral | Oct. 5

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