The Daily Signal - Hunter Biden Found Guilty, FBI Oversight, Menendez Trial | June 11

Starting point is 00:00:00 I'm Virginia Allen. And I'm Elizabeth Troutman. And this is the Daily Signal Top News for Tuesday, June 11th. Here are today's headlines. Before we jump into the news today, I want to take a minute to welcome Elizabeth Troutman to the show. Elizabeth is a Daily Signal Reporting Fellow. You've heard her on the show a couple times already once this week and once last week. And she was on the show to report on her pieces.

Starting point is 00:00:37 But today she is on the other side of the mic. She's joining us as a voice here on the podcast. You're going to be hearing her a lot more on this podcast as she jumps into a host of the Daily Signal's top news. So Elizabeth, it is great to have you here. Thank you, Virginia. It's great to be here. Elizabeth, share it with you, with our listeners. Where are you coming from? I just graduated from Hillsdale College in Michigan in May, and I studied politics and journalism there. And I'm originally from Winter Park, Florida. And I'm super excited to be here at the Daily Signal full time now. Well, we are super excited to have you. You have hit the ground running literally. Your first day is like news breaking and we're just throwing things at you and you're absolutely crushing it.

Starting point is 00:01:17 So it's a joy to have you on the team and it is a joy to have you co-hosting the podcast today. Welcome. But without further ado, we have lots of news to cover. Elizabeth, we have some big breaking news today. Go ahead and break down what is the news that everyone is talking about. At about 1130 this morning, a jury found Hunter Biden guilty in the criminal trial concerning his purchase of a gun in 2018. And this is very significant because it's the first

Starting point is 00:01:46 time a member of the sitting president's immediate family has been convicted in a federal criminal trial. Today was the 12-member jury's second day of deliberation in Wilmington, Delaware. On Monday, the defense rested its case without Hunter testifying in his own defense. Hunter was found guilty on all three felony charges, including charges related. to purchasing a gun while he was actively using cocaine. The sentence is now up to the judge, but Hunter could face 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000 at sentencing.

Starting point is 00:02:22 However, he'll likely receive a far smaller sentence than this maximum because he is a first-time offender. The prosecution argued during the trial that Hunter knowingly lied on the paperwork to purchase the revolver because he claimed he was not using drugs at that time. The prosecution pointed to Hunter's own book in which he discusses using drugs during that period of his life. They also relied on text messages Hunter sent that indicated he was using

Starting point is 00:02:50 drugs within days of purchasing the gun. For a deeper dive, check out the Daily Signals interview edition on Wednesday morning. The Heritage Foundation's Mike Howell joins the show to explain what the verdict may mean for Hunter and President Joe Biden. The FBI suspended an employee's clearance after the FBI sent a questionnaire about the employee's political views on Donald Trump and on the COVID-19 vaccine to the employee's colleagues. The colleagues had to fill out the questionnaire or face penalties, according to a complaint filled out with the Inspector General. Now the situation has developed further. While our colleagues Fred Lucas and Tyler O'Neill have been covering this story and, Fred Lucas joins us now to explain more. Fred, thanks for being here.

Starting point is 00:03:38 Yeah, thanks for having me on. If you would, just kind of break down what is going on here. What happened between these FBI employees? Yeah, this particular FBI employee, and he's unnamed right now, his lawyers empower oversight at the Whistleblower Advocity Group, filed the complaint with the Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, the DOJ Inspector General. This is the latest FBI controversy in which they have allegedly retaliated against whistleblowers. and retaliated against employees based on political views and so forth. It comes really a week after the FBI was forced to admit they were wrong in reinstating the security clearance of another employee.

Starting point is 00:04:22 And now we're seeing a repeat of this. To keep in context, this particular FBI employee, he did go to the rally on January 6th. but he immediately it was a rally before it was a riot he immediately when the violence broke out he self-reported immediately and then he volunteered to take a polygraph test to demonstrate that he was not in any restricted area certainly not in the capital so from that point on it it seemed everything had been cleared up and then this follow-up investigation, his colleagues were asked about, do you know of him supporting President Trump?

Starting point is 00:05:09 What did he think about the COVID-19 regulations and the vaccine and so forth? Has he been to Second Amendment events? And various questions like that about this employee. And from there, after that, his security clearance was revoked. Now, security clenances are important. Even if you don't work for the FBI, a security. clearance can, if you're in a non-government job, it can enhance your ability to get another job and so forth. So it, you know, it buffers your employment potential in that sense. So security

Starting point is 00:05:47 clearance is an important thing. He's no longer worked for the FBI. He was put on unpaid suspension. He ended up retiring after that. But yeah, this is just another, in the larger context of what's been happening with the FBI. And now this advocacy group, whistle or advocacy group, Empower Oversight, they've raised this, made it public, said, hey, we need to find out what's happening here and have some sense of accountability to the FBI, correct? Yeah, that's right. And this group, Empower Oversight, they have been a real powerhouse lately in terms of holding government accountable. This is the same group that represented the IRS whistleblowers and the Hunter Biden case, which is, of course, big news today.

Starting point is 00:06:32 Indeed it is. They also represented another FBI agent whose security clearance was reinstated. So there have been a number of people that this organization has represented and keeping government accountable, advocating for whistleblowers that are out there that have worked inside the government. Well, Fred, we certainly appreciate your reporting on this and we'll be following the story as it continues to unfold. Thanks for joining us.

Starting point is 00:06:57 Yeah, thank you. The trial of New Jersey Democrat Senator Bob Menendez continued this week. This is week four of the case. Menendez faces accusations related to bribery and corruption. The prosecution is accusing the senator of trading his power and influence for cash, gold, and luxury gifts. And a star witness for the prosecution has been on the stand for the past several days. The star witness is New Jersey businessman Jose Uribe. The businessman testified.

Starting point is 00:07:28 that he gave the senator's wife a car in exchange for Menendez helping to stop an investigation against the businessman's friends. Uribe specifically wanted Menendez to use his influence to stop the New Jersey Attorney General from pursuing criminal investigations against Uribe's business associates. Uribe has pled guilty in the case. And according to CBS News, he testified this week that he asked the senator directly for his help with questioning the investigations during two meetings in August and September of 2019. Uribe gave the senator the names of the men he was worried about,

Starting point is 00:08:09 and the next day, the senator met with New Jersey Attorney General. The following day, Uribe says that he spoke with a senator who told him that there was no indication of an investigation. Uribe and the senator allegedly never discussed the payment of the car. We will keep you posted as this case continues to unfold. Democrats are gearing up to attack the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, which aims to provide the next Republican presidential administration with qualified personnel and policy solutions. A group of House Democrats led by Representative Jared Huffman of California launched the

Starting point is 00:08:46 Stop Project 2025 Task Force on Tuesday to prevent the project from succeeding if former President Donald Trump returns to power. The task force will work with outside groups, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU, and the Center for American Progress. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts and Heritage Action for America released a statement in response, saying Project 2025 will not be stopped by a task force lacking a basic understanding of federal governance. Robert's statement says, It's amusing how those on the left seem surprised that conservative policy organizations advocate for, conservative policies. Yet instead of addressing the issues caused by this administration and Congress, House Democrats are dedicating taxpayer dollars to launch a smear campaign against the united effort

Starting point is 00:09:37 to restore self-governance to everyday Americans. Robert said Project 2025 puts the left in a frenzy, he said. Under the Biden administration, the federal government has been weaponized against American citizens, our border invaded, and our institutions captured by woke ideology. The task force launched by House Democrats only underscores the left sphere of losing its grip on their authoritarian bureaucracy. The Heritage Foundation, according to Roberts, will not give up. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was in Tel Aviv today and called on Hamas to accept the ceasefire deal that's currently on the table. Blinken said that he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night, and Netanyahu reaffirmed his commitment to the plan.

Starting point is 00:10:23 The UN Security Council has endorsed the plan, but Hamas has not given a direct answer. Blinken told reporters today, per Al Jazeera, that if the conflict continues, it's on Hamas. Let's listen to a moment of what Blinken had to say. Everyone has said yes, except for Hamas. and if Hamas doesn't say yes, then this is clearly on them. On them in terms of a vote to continue the war, not end it. On them in terms of the safety, the well-being of hundreds of thousands, millions of Palestinian women, children, and men in Gaza.

Starting point is 00:11:12 on them in terms of the safety, stability, security of Israel as well, the region as a whole, because the longer this goes on, the more chance there is, again, for the conflict to spread, for us to see problems evolve in other places. The proposed deal would stop all fighting at least temporarily and involve the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Hamas leaders confirmed today that they are ready to negotiate on the deal but said Blinken is an obstacle. Fox News reports that senior Hamas leader Osama Hadan said Hamas is ready for a fair prison exchange deal, but he said the UN resolution has flaws and that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is one of the obstacles to reaching an agreement because he acts solely according to Israel's wishes.

Starting point is 00:12:08 Stay tuned. There are still believed to be about 120 hostages in Gaza, eight months after the October 7th attack. The vice president of Malawi died today in a plane crash, along with nine others. Vice President Salos Chalima was aboard a small military plane when it crashed in a mountainous area in the southern African country. Malawi's president, Lazarus Chalkwira, announced the news this morning and a live address on state television. He said the plane was found after more than a day. of searching the dense forests and hilly terrain where the plane crashed. Chalkwira said, I'm deeply saddened. I'm sorry to inform you all that it has turned out to be a terrible tragedy. The search and rescue team has found the aircraft near a hill. They have found it completely destroyed

Starting point is 00:12:55 with no survivors. The Malawi president announced that the 51-year-old vice president was on the plane with the former first lady and five other passengers, as well as three military crew members. The group was traveling for the funeral of a former government minister. Vice President Chilima had just returned from an official visit to South Korea two days prior. The plane went off the radar during what was supposed to be a 45-minute flight due to bad weather and poor visibility. Around 300 police officers and 200 soldiers and local forest rangers were among those who searched for the plane. With that, we're going to leave it there for today's episode of the Daily Signal's top news. If you haven't gotten a chance, be sure to check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed,

Starting point is 00:13:39 where we interview lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to be sitting down with Mike Howell. He serves as the executive director of the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project. And as Elizabeth mentioned earlier, we are taking a deep dive into the verdict in the Hunter Biden case. Be sure to catch his insight on the verdict and what's next. Also, make sure you subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you get. your podcasts and help us reach more listeners by leaving a five-star rating and review. We read all of your feedback. Thanks again for being with us today. Have a great rest of your Tuesday. We'll see you

Starting point is 00:14:14 right back here tomorrow morning for my conversation with Mike Hal. The Daily Signal podcast is made possible because of listeners like you. Executive producers are Rob Bluey and Kate Trinko. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Mary Margaret O'Lehan, and Tyler O'Neill. Sound design by Lauren Evans, Mark Geiney, and John Pop. To learn more or support our work, please visit DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - Hunter Biden Found Guilty, FBI Oversight, Menendez Trial | June 11

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