The Daily Signal - House Passes Bipartisan TikTok Bill, Hunter Biden Won’t Appear Before Congress, GOP Rep. Announces Early Departure from Congress | March 13

Starting point is 00:00:01 I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Wednesday, March 13th. Here are today's headlines. The House of Representatives voted earlier today to pass bipartisan legislation on the Chinese-owned app TikTok. The legislation passed in a vote of 352 to 65. A total of 197 Republicans and 155 Democrats voted for it. 15 Republicans and 50 Democrats voted again. against the legislation with one lawmaker voting present. As we reported on Monday's show, Wisconsin Republican Representative Mike Gallagher

Starting point is 00:00:51 and Illinois Democrat Representative Rajna Krishnamorthy introduce the protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act on March 5th. Gallagher and Krishnamorthy are the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the House Select Committee on the strategic competition between the United States. and the Chinese Communist Party. House Speaker Mike Johnson said on X that Communist China is America's largest geopolitical foe and is using technology to actively undermine America's economy and security. Apps like TikTok allow the Chinese Communist Party to push harmful content on our youth

Starting point is 00:01:32 and engage in malign activities, such as harvesting the location, purchasing habits, contacts, and sensitive data of Americans. Johnson went on to say that today's bipartisan vote to pass the protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act demonstrates Congress's opposition to Communist China's attempt to spy on and manipulate Americans. And signals are resolved to deter our enemies. I urge the Senate to pass this bill and set it to the president so he can sign the bill into law. TikTok policy said in an ex post following the vote, This process was secret and the bill was jammed through for one reason.

Starting point is 00:02:16 It's a ban. We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7 million small businesses and 170 million Americans who use our service. The bill's fate now does indeed lie with the Senate. President Joe Biden said last Friday that he will sign it if it reaches his desk. So stay tuned. Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, will not appear before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee next week for a hearing that is titled Influence Peddling, examining Joe Biden's abuse of public office.

Starting point is 00:02:58 That's according to a letter from his attorney. On Wednesday, Hunter Biden's attorney, Abe Loll, wrote in a letter to committee chairman James Comer that your blatant plan for media event is not a problem. proper proceeding, but an obvious attempt to throw a Hail Mary pass after the game has ended. Let me remind you of a statement you made about how witnesses, and specifically Mr. Biden, could satisfy your prior requests. Lull added at your press conference after the January 10th, 2024 committee hearing to hold Mr. Biden in contempt, you stated, all we need are people to come in for the depositions and then we'll be finished. We just need people to show up to the depositions and we'll wrap this up.

Starting point is 00:03:48 Nobody wants to wrap this up more than I do. Mr. Biden did just as you ask, according to his attorney who was speaking to Comer, who went on to say, as you did when you announced that witnesses could choose depositions, you want to ignore what you said. Well, that hearing is set to take place next Wednesday at 10 a.m. Lowell's letter comes a week after Comer invited the younger Biden and his business associates, Devin Archer, Tony Bobbolinsky, and Jason Gallinist to testify before the committee. A House Oversight and Accountability Committee press release from March 6th says that following interviews with key witnesses,

Starting point is 00:04:29 this hearing will afford Americans the opportunity to hear from Hunter Biden and his last. business associates about Joe Biden's involvement in the Biden's domestic and international business dealings. The press release also said that the hearing will also examine inconsistencies among the witnesses' testimonies in order to get the truth for the American people. Comer released a statement on Wednesday in response to Lowell's letter, which said in part the House Oversight Committee has called Hunter Biden's bluff. Hunter Biden for months stated he wanted a public hearing, But now that one who's been offered alongside his business associates that he worked with for years, he is refusing to come. The Daily Signals, Fred Lucas, previously reported that the House voted in December to formally authorize an impeachment inquiry to be conducted jointly by three House committees, oversight, judiciary, and ways and means.

Starting point is 00:05:26 Fred also reported that Hunter Biden derided the House impeachment inquiry as maga-motivated conspiracies about my father, during an opening statement that he made in his deposition before congressional investigators on February 28th. Hunter Biden, who has been indicted on tax and gun charges, is a central figure alongside the president's brother, James Biden, in bringing in what the House Oversight and Accountability Committee determined to be about 30 million through 20 separate shell companies. The money, lawmakers say, came to the Biden family from China, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Romania. We will keep you all up to date on next week's hearing, so stay tuned. Earlier today, Georgia judge Scott McAfee tossed some charges against former President Donald Trump. The Hill reported that the charges dropped against Trump notably

Starting point is 00:06:23 involved his pressure campaign on Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffinsberger, a Republican, including the infamous call in which Trump asked Raffinsberger to find enough votes, exactly 11,779 to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the state. The Hill also reported that the charges dropped all relate to alleged efforts to solicit Georgia officials to violate their oath of office. Some of the counts that were dropped also implicated Trump's co-defendants, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. McAfee wrote, the court's concern is less that the state has failed to allege sufficient conduct of the defendants. In fact, it is alleged an abundance.

Starting point is 00:07:15 However, the lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned's opinion, fatal. In a statement, Trump's Georgia attorney, Steve Sadow, said the ruling is a correct application of the law, as the prosecution failed to make specific allegations of any alleged wrongdoing on those counts. The entire prosecution of President Trump is political, constitutes election interference, and should be dismissed. Colorado Republican Representative Ken Buck will be retiring from Congress next week. Buck said last night that it has been an honor to serve the people of Colorado's fourth district in Congress for the past nine years. I want to thank them for their support and encouragement throughout the years. The 65-year-old added, today I am announcing that I will depart Congress at the end of next week.

Starting point is 00:08:12 I look forward to staying involved in our political process, as well as spending more time in Colorado and with my family. The New York Post reported that Buck is the third Republican lawmaker to leave office before the end of the 118th Congress. The other two are Ohio Republican Representative Bill Johnson and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, of course, Republican from California. House Republicans now have an even slimmer majority over Democrats with 218 members compared to Democrats' 213 members. NBC News shared a clip of Buck speaking with reporters on Tuesday. Let's take a listen via NBC's X page. This place just keeps going downhill. And I don't need to spend my time here.

Starting point is 00:09:00 We've taken impeachment and we've made it a social media issue as opposed to a constitutional concept. Mike Johnson's ability to talk me into staying here is going to be about as successful as his ability into talking me into unconstitutional impeachments. Buck does come from a very Republican area of Colorado. So it is likely that another Republican will be elected to take his place. But stay tuned. With that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for joining us here on the Daily.

Starting point is 00:09:27 Signal's top news. If you haven't had the chance, make sure to check out our morning show right here in this same podcast feed where we sit down with policy experts, leading conservative voices, authors, and tomorrow morning, Rob Lewy is sitting down with Andy Roth. He's the president of State Freedom Caucus Network. Also, if you have a minute, make sure that you hit that subscribe button where the Daily Signal podcast is across all podcast platforms. And when you hit subscribe, you make sure that you never miss out on new shows. And take a minute to leave us a five-star rating and review if you like what you hear on the show. Thanks again for being with us today. Have a great night. We will see you right back here tomorrow morning. The Daily Signal podcast

Starting point is 00:10:10 is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Louis 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. Thank you.

The Daily Signal - House Passes Bipartisan TikTok Bill, Hunter Biden Won’t Appear Before Congress, GOP Rep. Announces Early Departure from Congress | March 13

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