The Daily Signal - Justice Clarence Thomas Financial Disclosure, Trump Pleads Not Guilty, 2024 Candidates Weigh in on COVID Lockdowns | Aug. 31

Starting point is 00:00:01 I'm Virginia Allen. I'm Samantha Sherris. And this is the Daily Signal Top News for Thursday, August 31st. Here are today's headlines. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was back in the news today. Thomas released his annual financial disclosure earlier today after receiving an extension. The disclosure shows that billionaire Harlan Crow paid for private jet trips for Thomas in May 2022. So Thomas could attend a speech in Texas. Thomas also disclosed that he had vacationed at Crow's New York State. Crow is a donor to conservative causes. Thomas included a letter with his financial disclaimer

Starting point is 00:00:51 explaining some of the actions he chose to take, such as accepting the private jet trip. Thomas said, because of the increased security risk following the Dobbs' opinion leak, the May flights were by private plane for official travel as filler security detail recommended non-commercial travel whenever possible. The New York Times reports that in Thomas's letter, the Justice also acknowledged errors in his previous financial reports, which he said were inadvertently omitted from prior reports.

Starting point is 00:01:22 Justice Samuel Alito also released his financial disclosure on Thursday. He noted a trip to Rome to give a speech at the Religious Liberty Summit and payments to teach at Regent University School of Law and Duke Law School. The disclosure of the gifts comes as Thomas Alito and other justices have faced scrutiny, for accepting luxury vacations and other gifts. But Thomas says he has previously adhered to the then-existing judicial regulations, as his colleagues had done both in practice and in consultation with the judicial conference. Former President Donald Trump pled not guilty to charges that he faces in Georgia related to his alleged attempt to interfere in the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Starting point is 00:02:07 Trump did not appear for a formal arrangement. but instead submitted his plea through a court filing. Trump and 18 others are facing charges from Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis. But Heritage Foundation Senior Legal Fellow Hans von Spakovsky says Georgia officials didn't follow ethical and legal rules in this Trump indictment. Hans joins us now to explain. Hans, thanks for being with us. Sure. Thanks for having me. So what are these rules, both the legal and ethical ones, that you say that officials in Georgia have not followed in this instance with the Trump indictment?

Starting point is 00:02:46 Well, first let me say that I think there are basic constitutional problems with the indictment. You know, the DA is trying to criminalize activity like speaking out about an election that you think may have been stolen, which is protected by the First Amendment. But then there's an ethical issue with the entire indictment. And it's basically this. Remember, Fannie Willis is the DA. She convened a grand jury to investigate the 2020 election and the efforts by Trump and others to get it overturned. It's what's called a sole purpose indictment.

Starting point is 00:03:25 It can't look at any other cases. This is the only case it can look at. Well, in the middle of the grand jury's investigation last year, she publicly announced that one of the targets of the grand jury investigation and therefore possible prosecution was state senator Bert Jones. Now, at the time, Bert Jones was actually running for a lieutenant governor of the state. She then promptly went out and involved herself in, put her name out to help who the Democratic candidate running against Bert Jones in the lieutenant governor's race. In fact, was a crucial part of a big fundraiser for him, had her name basically put her office, her district attorney's office, online on behalf of this Democratic candidate. A Fulton County Superior Court judge disqualified her from targeting Bert Jones in any way because he said this was an inherent conflict of interest.

Starting point is 00:04:32 That she couldn't do that. She couldn't make him a target publicly in absent. it and then use it for partisan political purposes. That's exactly what she was doing. The problem is, I mean, the judge acted properly in saying that neither she nor any else in her office could use the grand jury to target Burke Jones. By the way, was then elected Lieutenant Governor. But here's the problem.

Starting point is 00:04:58 Under Georgia law, and this is part of a case that the state Supreme Court issued a number of years ago, her... Fannie Willis and her entire office should have been disqualified from the entire grand jury investigation. They should not have allowed her to continue her investigation of everyone else. Why? Because it's all intricately intertwined. In fact, Bert Jones is one of the unnamed supposed co-conspirators in her indictment. And so under the ethics rules, the way I read them, and according to that Supreme Court case, She should have been entirely disqualified.

Starting point is 00:05:39 She and her entire office. Now, if that had happened, given how partisan she is, is there anybody here who really thinks that any other prosecutors from other counties would have picked this up and run with it? I don't think so. So what happens next? You've written about this for the Daily Signal. You're waving this flag of, wait a second, there's clear, hypocrisy. you say that has taken place here.

Starting point is 00:06:09 Are we hearing anyone else raise these concerns? I hope other lawyers will raise these concerns. And the thing is, what makes this case even stronger is that it is now serviced that Fannie Willis herself sent out tweets questioning the outcome of prior elections, including the 2020 election, the 2018 election. she sent out tweets questioning the conduct of election officials when they were counting votes in, in fact, Fulton County, which is her county. That's exactly the same activity that she claims was an illegal act by Donald Trump and the other co-defendants in the case. So in essence, what she's charging them with being a criminal violation of law, she did herself.

Starting point is 00:07:03 And that just is more evidence of her unbelievable political bias in bringing this indictment. Well, Hans, we will leave a link to your full report on this in today's show notes, but thank you so much for your time and your analysis. Sure, thanks for having me. Hurricane Adalia made landfall along Florida's Gulf Coast yesterday as a Category 3 hurricane. Adalia moved through Florida's Big Bend area, which fortunately is a less popular. part of the state. CBS News reports that the hurricane reached sustained winds of 125 miles per hour. Rain and flooding were of great concern with this storm. Some areas saw eight to nine feet worth of storm search. Adalia moved into Georgia before a lesson to a tropical storm. The storm moved

Starting point is 00:07:59 through parts of South Carolina and now North Carolina before it is expected to move back out to sea. Three people were killed as a result of the storm, two, when they lost control of their vehicle while driving in the storm, and one who was struck by a falling tree. Power Outage.U.S. reports that about 200,000 homes and businesses in Florida and Georgia are still without power. COVID-19 cases are on the rise, which has resurfaced conversations about lockdowns. Former President Donald Trump released a video yesterday bashing the idea. ever returned to lockdowns. Take a listen. But to every COVID tyrant who wants to take away our freedom, hear these words, we will not comply. So don't even think about it. We will not shut down our schools. We will not accept your lockdowns.

Starting point is 00:08:52 We will not abide by your mask mandates. And we will not tolerate your vaccine mandates. The Daily Signal reached out to top GOP 2024 presidential candidates to learn how they would respond should a push for COVID-19 mandates return. Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said no mass mandates, no vaccine mandates, no lockdown ever again. Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson reminded the daily signal of how he handled the pandemic within his own state, saying during the last pandemic as governor, we had no shelter in place orders or business lockdowns policies in Arkansas. Senator Tim Scott said, I have always been against mandates, period. I'm unapologetically a First Amendment kind of guy, so I believe that individual freedom is central to who we are as Americans.

Starting point is 00:09:48 Ask if former Vice President Mike Pence supports COVID-19 lockdowns or mandates, spokesman Devin O'Malley replied, not a chance. And a spokesman for former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said lockdowns wrecked havoc on our economy and the mental health and physical health of every American, especially children. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis did not respond to the Daily Signals request for comment. Now before we go today, one quick announcement, we will not have a top news show tomorrow as we head in to the long weekend. And we will also not have a top news edition of the Daily Signal podcast or a regular edition on Monday. So we hope that you all enjoy your long weekend. Take a break from the news. You won't often hear news folks say

Starting point is 00:10:38 that, but maybe put the headphones down, put the podcast down, put the phone down, enjoy some time with friends and family. But we will be back with Top News on Tuesday. And with that announcement, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for listening to the Daily Signals, top news. And we will have a Friday edition tomorrow morning. Of course, as you all have listened to the Daily Signal, you hear us talk about our two shows. We have our top news in the afternoon, this show, and then we have our interview edition that comes out every weekday morning. So tomorrow morning, we are concluding our how Congress really works three-part series. I'm sitting down with Kyle Brosnan of the Heritage Foundation to talk a little bit about hearings and committees and the

Starting point is 00:11:24 roles that they play within Congress. Also, make sure you subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you get your podcast and help us reach even more listeners by leaving a five-star rating and review. We read and appreciate all of your feedback. Thanks again for being with us today. Have a great night. We'll see you right back here tomorrow morning before we enter the long weekend. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Lewy and Kate Shrinco. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheris. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop.

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The Daily Signal - Justice Clarence Thomas Financial Disclosure, Trump Pleads Not Guilty, 2024 Candidates Weigh in on COVID Lockdowns | Aug. 31

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