The Daily Signal - Jack Smith Drops Charges Against Trump, Israel’s Cease-fire With Lebanon, Pentagon Lost $2.5 Trillion | Nov. 25

Starting point is 00:00:00 Jack Smith has dropped his case against President-elect Donald Trump. I'm Virginia Allen, and this is The Daily Signal's top news in 10 for Monday, November 25th. Special counsel, Jack Smith, has taken action to drop all charges against Donald Trump. Jack Smith case against Trump is often referred to as the January 6th case. Smith alleged that Trump sought to interfere with results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump faced four felony charges in that case, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights. But now Smith is dropping a case altogether. Why? Well, Politico reports

Starting point is 00:00:57 that Smith said he consulted with Justice Department officials about whether or not to continue pursuing the case against Trump now that he is President-elect Trump. According to Smith, officials concluded that a long-standing prohibition on prosecuting a sitting president would apply to a president-elect as well. Attorney and George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News that he was not surprised by Smith's decision to drop the case. Well, this is what we expected. I wrote over a year ago that there was a good chance Jack Smith would never see the inside. of a courtroom for a trial in this case. It made this election the largest effective jury verdict in history.

Starting point is 00:01:42 By re-electing Donald Trump, the special counsel found himself at odds with his own department's longstanding policy against the prosecution of a sitting president. But Smith did not go quietly into that night. I expect that he did get a lot of different opinions, hoping for the right one. But the OLC, this office that handles such questions, has long taken this position. So it would be doubtful that they would change it here. After the announcement, Trump responded to the news on True Social, writing these cases, like all the other cases I have been forced to go through,

Starting point is 00:02:21 are exempt and lawless and should never have been brought. Over $100 million of taxpayer dollars have been wasted in the Democrat Party's fight against their political opponent, me. Trump added that the cases against him were a political hijacking and a low point in the history of our country that such a thing could have happened, and yet I persevered against all odds and won. Make America great again. It appears that Israel and Lebanon have reached a ceasefire agreement. The agreement would end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. A senior U.S. official told Axios today, we think we have a deal. We are on the goal line, but we haven't passed it yet. The Israel cabinet needs to approve the deal on

Starting point is 00:03:11 Tuesday, and something can always go wrong until then. Here with us to explain more is Heritage Foundation vice president of the Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy and former deputy national Security Advisor to President Donald Trump, Victoria Coates, Victoria. Thank you for being back with us today. Let's jump right in here. What exactly do we know about this possible deal between Israel and Lebanon? Well, thanks for having me on, Virginia. And the deal itself appears to be a little bit of a kick the can down the road kind of arrangement where the Lebanese army would move into the south. the Israelis with withdrawal over a 60-day period. And then the United States has provided a letter to the Israelis with assurances that the United States will support Israel if they feel they

Starting point is 00:04:00 need to take additional action against Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Lebanese armed forces aren't taking the necessary actions against them. Now, the problem is, you know, even if the government of Lebanon is negotiating this in good faith, or the LAF are negotiating in good faith, or the LAAF are negotiating in good faith. Nobody thinks Hasbalah is negotiating in good faith. And so, you know, there are no guarantees of what they're going to do. And apparently, roiling the whole thing was the International Criminal Court indictments against the Israeli Prime Minister and former defense minister, which were released as all of this was being negotiated, at which point the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs weighed in that they would honor these. And if Prime Minister Netanyahu

Starting point is 00:04:46 dared to set foot in France, he would be arrested. And of course, the French were also supposed to be involved in this deal. And so that threw a huge wrench into the works. And so as you said, something can always go wrong between today and tomorrow. And unfortunately, you know, with the Biden team transiting out and Amos Huxstein, who's the special energy envoy, who's been brokering this for whatever reason, they really don't have any credibility on the international stage anymore because they'll be gone in 56 days. So as I said, I think there's a little bit of kick the can, and then they'll wait for the Trump team to come in and see what's actually possible. So then it sounds like it wouldn't necessarily be fair to call this a good deal.

Starting point is 00:05:29 No, no. I think this is kind of a face-saving measure so they look like they're doing something. I think Israel is probably reasonably satisfied with the progress that they've made against Hezbollah, particularly in Beirut and confident in their ability. to go back in as necessary. But I don't think anybody has any illusions that Lebanon has a functioning government at this point, or as I said, that Hasbalaza is a good faith negotiating partner. Wow. Okay. Lots to watch in the days and weeks to come. Victoria Coates, as always, thank you for your time. Thank you very much. Last week, the Pentagon failed its annual audit. The Pentagon does not know where $2.5 trillion is. Yes,

Starting point is 00:06:14 the Pentagon has lost $2.5 trillion. This is the seventh audit in a row that the Pentagon has failed. And economist Peter Saint-Aung explains in a video on X that the Pentagon has actually not passed an audit in decades. In fact, the Pentagon has never passed an audit dating back to 1990 when they were mandated by the Chief Financial Officers Act. That act gave them until 2017, so 27 years to comply. since military industrial lobbyists have a lot of friends in Congress. Nonetheless, here we are 34 years later and seven years after it became legally binding, and the Pentagon still can't account for $2.5 trillion.

Starting point is 00:06:58 Now, the Pentagon says that they will figure out their finances by 2008. The big question is how on earth did the Pentagon lose $2.5 trillion? Peter Saint-Aung says we can't know for sure, but there is some humor to be found in how the Pentagon has. been spending its money. But what we can see is hilarious, for example, an estimated 220 billion in untracked spare parts, which are literally sold on eBay, presumably for export, to give a flavor one warehouse allegedly contained 127 million in spare parts, and it was not even listed on their property records. They didn't know it exists. Now, given nobody's watching the till,

Starting point is 00:07:37 this all means military contracts can be fantastically profitable. DLD famously paid $640 for toilet seat covers, inflation adjusted, that's $1,600. In 2018, they paid $10,000 for a toilet seat cover for C-17 cargo planes. After a public outcry, they just 3D printed it for $300. Beyond premium toilet seat covers, the Pentagon's Inspector General found they overpaid 4,450 percent for airplane parts, which they probably lost, including a washer, like a middle ring for a screw, that cost $4,000. When it comes to solutions to fix government's wasteful spending,

Starting point is 00:08:19 Saint-Aung recommends the solution is easy, slashing the spending, firing the leeches, and repealing income tax. To read all of Peter St. Aung's column in the Daily Signal, you can check out today's show notes. Now let's hit our news flashes for the day. First up, Vice President Kamala Harris is considering her political future after her loss in the presidential election. She has been on vacation in Hawaii following the election, but now the word is out that Harris is considering either a run for governor in her home state of California in two years or another run for the presidency in 2028.

Starting point is 00:08:59 Trump has endorsed Jimmy Petronis to fill Matt Gates' vacant house seat. When Trump tapped Gates to serve as Attorney General, Gates resigned from his seat in the U.S. Congress. And now Trump has endorsed Petronis, who is the chief financial office. for the state of Florida. We are still waiting to learn what might be next for Gates. It's an annual tradition, the presidential pardoning of the Turkey, or Turkeys, at the White House. Today, Biden pardoned turkeys, peaches, and blossom. Standing on the south lawn of the White House, Biden said, the event kicked off the holiday season, and he added that it's also my last time to speak here as your president during this season and give thanks and gratitude. So let me say to

Starting point is 00:09:44 you, it's been the honor of my life. I'm forever grateful. With that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks for joining us here for the Daily Signal's Top News in 10. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on brand new shows from the Daily Signal podcast. And if you would, take a minute to leave us a five-star rating and review. We are so thankful for you, our audience, this Thanksgiving season. And so if you like the show, let us know what you're thankful for about it. We'll see you right back here for Top News tomorrow. You know,

The Daily Signal - Jack Smith Drops Charges Against Trump, Israel’s Cease-fire With Lebanon, Pentagon Lost $2.5 Trillion | Nov. 25

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