The Daily Signal - Kevin McCarthy Ousted as Speaker, Congressman Carjacked, and Hunter Biden Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ | Oct. 3

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Starting point is 00:00:22 Commissions fees and expenses may apply. Read the funds or ETF's prospectus before investing. Funds and ETFs are not guaranteed. Their values change and past performance may not be repeated. I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Still Top News for Tuesday, October 3rd. Here are today's headlines. A member of Congress was carjacked at gunpoint in Washington, D.C. on Monday night. Texas Democrat Congressman Henry Quayar was parking his car in the Navy Yard area of D.C. on Monday night when three armed gunmen approached him and stole his vehicle.

Starting point is 00:01:08 He explained the incident to reporters earlier today via C-SPAN. Three guys came out of nowhere and they pointed guns at me. I do have a black belt, but I recognize when you got three guns. I looked at one with a gun, another one with a gun, and one behind me. So they said they wanted my car. I said, sure, you've got to keep calm on those situations. And then they took off. They recovered the car.

Starting point is 00:01:36 They recovered everything. What really got me upset was they took by sushi. But anyway, that's something else. They did recover the sushi after all. But anyway, I do want to thank the Capitol Police, and I certainly want to thank the Metro Police. I'm a big law enforcement person. I got three brothers of law enforcement, so I certainly appreciate the good work that the police did last night. Everything was recovered.

Starting point is 00:01:59 My phone, my car and everything. The Congressman was not harmed in the carjacking, and as you heard, he seemed to be in good spirits, even joking about his sushi being recovered. The congressman's office says he's working with local authorities on the case. He was asked if he believes that he was specifically targeted, and he said no, the carjackers looked to be young, and he wasn't sure that they even knew who he was. But this is the second time that a member of Congress fell victim to crime in D.C. this year.

Starting point is 00:02:32 In February, Democrat Representative Angie Craig of Minnesota was assaulted in her Washington, D.C. apartment bill. She was bruised from the assault but didn't sustain any serious injuries. Ask whether more security should be given to members of Congress. Quayar said he will leave that decision to House administration. The president's son Hunter Biden pled not guilty today to three federal gun charges. Hunter Biden has been charged with lying on his drug use, a form related to his drug use, to purchase a gun back in 2018.

Starting point is 00:03:07 and if convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison. Well, earlier this year, Hunter Biden's lawyers reached a plea agreement with the Department of Justice lawyers, but ultimately, that fell apart in court. Kyle Brosnan is Chief Counsel for the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project. He's been following this closely. He's been with us on the show before to talk about this. He is back today. Thanks for being with us.

Starting point is 00:03:31 Thanks for having me back on. So explain what exactly this not guilty plea means. related to Hunter Biden. Sure. So whenever anyone gets charged with a crime, sort of the first step in the process of prosecuting those crimes is an arraignment. And at an arraignment, the defendant, in this case, Hunter Biden, is read the charges that the government's bringing against him, and he has an opportunity to plead guilty or not guilty to those charges. And so, as you said, he's been charged with three crimes in connection with this gun. He entered his initial appearance today and pled not guilty to those charges. Okay. So what happens now?

Starting point is 00:04:05 So interestingly enough, Hunter Biden's lawyers indicated in court today that they intend to make a series of motions to dismiss the case. And they make a number of arguments. The first is that they believe and they argue that the diversion agreement that the judge did not accept back over the summer is still in effect, which would mean that basically Hunter would be charged with a different crime and receive no jail time for this. So sort of removing the risk of 25 years in prison, as you said, that would come with being found guilty to these charges. They're also going to argue that this isn't pretty ironic here, that the statutes of which he is charged are unconstitutional, a violation of the Second Amendment. So in other words, saying it's unconstitutional to say that someone can't purchase a gun just because they were using drugs in that same period? And that's correct. So a federal appellate court has found that.

Starting point is 00:05:04 some of the statutes that, I think one of the statutes that Hunter is charged with unconstitutional under a recent Supreme Court precedent. And typically the way cases make their way up to the Supreme Court is that if you have multiple levels of appellate courts, if they disagree about a constitutional interpretation, then they will be appealed up to the Supreme Court and they will resolve those disputes. We don't have that right now, but Hunter Boddian's legal team has indicated that they intend to challenge the constitutionality of this statute. Okay.

Starting point is 00:05:32 How likely is it that Hunter Biden could face jail time? Well, that remains to be seen. The arraignment, again, is the initial sort of process of a criminal proceedings. David Weiss is now special counsel over this entire matter. And if you remember sort of over the summer, you know, and the whistleblowers that came forth that said Weiss was limited into the jurisdiction of what he can charge. And now that he has special counsel, that jurisdictional limit is no longer the case. They're continuing to investigate Hunter for his tax treatment or basically the money side of this, influenced peddling scheme that he ran while his father was vice president.

Starting point is 00:06:12 So that remains to be seen as to what charges can and will be brought in that instance. This is just on the gun charge today in Delaware, but the investigation is still ongoing now that Mr. Weiss's special counsel. And following back up with what we might see next, how likely is it that ultimately this could be something that does make its way, not necessarily Hunter Biden's case, but relatedly to the Supreme Court, where we see higher courts really weighing in. Right. So I think it's an interesting legal question on the gun statute, you know, whether or not it violates the Second Amendment, that issue, I'm sure, will be appealed throughout the process.

Starting point is 00:06:50 A lot of it on the other issues with the money trail and whatnot will depend on sort of what charges are brought and where and when in sort of the legal procedural and other issues. issues that need to be fettered out through the now special counsel investigation. So it's tough to predict. But the constitutionality argument with the Second Amendment on the gun charge is probably one that I would anticipate being appealed up up through the appellate levels. And what's the timeline? We would be looking out there. So the first set of motions are due within 30 days. So they'll be back in court on November 3rd. Biden's defense team has previewed a number of motions. Again, the constitutionality on the gun, the motion to dismiss for

Starting point is 00:07:31 the claim of the diversion agreement is still in effect and then evidentiary hearings. And so the first sort of round of motions practice, the deadline is a month from now, so on November 3rd. So that's when we can expect the next update there. All right. Well, we're going to be following this closely at Kyle Brosman of the Heritage Foundation. Thanks so much your time. We appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Turning back to Congress, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been ousted per C-SPAN. Take a listen. The resolution is adopted. Without objection, the motion to reconsider. is laid on the table. The office of Speaker of the House of the United States House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant. This began Monday night when Florida Republican Representative Matt Gates

Starting point is 00:08:16 introduced a motion to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his position as Speaker. Gates said that he would consider doing this after McCarthy brought the continuing resolution of government funding to the floor of the House for a vote at the end of last week. Gates and some other Republicans have been very clear that the government should not receive any funding until an agreement is reached to reduce federal spending and secure the border. So now Gates says McCarthy has betrayed the promises he made to his party and should be removed, which he has been. Here is Gates on the House floor last night bringing his motion to dismiss McCarthy percy span. The gentleman will state the form of his resolution.

Starting point is 00:09:05 Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant. Resolved that the Office of Speaker of the House of Representatives is hereby declared to be vacant. In the final official vote on the floor of the House this afternoon, all Democrats that were present and eight Republicans voted to oust McCarthy. So now it looks like McCarthy will be moving out of the House Speaker. office and we'll wait to see who the new House Speaker will be. It's unclear how quickly those votes could take place. We know that there could be a vote on who the next speaker will be as soon as tonight, but that remains TBD at this point. Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona,

Starting point is 00:09:49 Representative Ken Buck of Colorado, Representative Ken Burchett of Tennessee, Representative Eli Krain of Arizona, of course, Representative Matt Gates, Representative Bob Good of Virginia, and Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Representative Matt Rosendale of Montana, all voted to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Make sure that you are following the Daily Signal, both on our website and across social media platforms, for continued updates on the House Speaker Now Race. Well, let's take a moment today to talk about some states. state news, and this specifically relates to Illinois and the city of Chicago. Chicago Democrat leaders are the latest Democrats to call on the Biden administration to intervene

Starting point is 00:10:39 and take action on the current illegal alien crisis. Both Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson had a call with the White House over the weekend, White House officials, that is, and they voiced their concerns about the more than 17,000 illegal aliens that are called. currently in their city. A White House aide told CNN on Sunday that White House officials had talked with the governor and mayor and called it a productive conversation. The Biden administration has reportedly pledged $46 million in grants to Chicago and to Illinois to support migrants who have arrived there. On Monday, CNN obtained a letter that Governor Pritzker sent to President Joe Biden

Starting point is 00:11:22 demanding that the federal government take over a coordinated response at the border. In the letter Pritzker wrote that we believe in the fundamental right of every human, especially those facing persecution, defined refuge and live with dignity in this great country of ours. And he went on to add, though, unfortunately, the welcome and aid Illinois has been providing to these asylum seekers has not been matched with support by the federal government. Most critically, the federal government's lack of intervention and coordination at the border has created an untenable situation for Illinois.

Starting point is 00:12:01 Chicago's plea for help comes as illegal border crossings are looming around record highs. Customs and border protection saw a record number of illegal alien encounters at the border and ports of entry in August, and the finalized September numbers of encounters is expected to even exceed August record. We know that by conservative estimates, at which, least 3.5 million illegal aliens have either been released into the United States or successfully evaded border patrol agents under the Biden administration. And just last month, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that the number of migrants arriving in New York City was not sustainable.

Starting point is 00:12:40 He warned that the crisis will destroy the Big Apple. And finally today, the Daily Signal's Tyler O'Neill is reporting that Americans who disagree with transgeny. gender orthodoxy might face serious challenges running a business under the Biden administration. Federal law prohibits harassment on the basis of sex in the workplace. Under Biden, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is aiming to weaponize that law against employers who believe that biological sex can't be altered by merely saying that you identify as the opposite sex. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has just published a proposed rule that would constitute as workplace harassment.

Starting point is 00:13:26 It claims that sex-based harassment includes harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, including how that identity is expressed. This definition of harassment includes intentional and repeated use of a name or pronoun inconsistent with the individual's gender identity. But federal courts have repeatedly ruled that employers cannot compel employees, to endorse speech with which they disagree, including gender pronouns. This proposed rule likely faces a legal battle. Americans can make their voices heard by commenting on the EEOC's proposed rule.

Starting point is 00:14:07 Federal law requires the agency to read every comment that you send before the deadline on November 1st. So we'll leave a link in today's show notes and a link as well to Tyler's full report. But if you want to comment and make your voice heard on what you think about this rule, make sure to check out today's show notes with the link. But with that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for joining us here on the Daily Signal's top news. If you have not had the chance to check out our morning show, make sure to do so tomorrow morning. My colleague and co-host of this show, Samantha Escheris, is going to be having a conversation on Project 2025, which is a Heritage Foundation initiative that is focused on staffing the next conservative administration of the White House.

Starting point is 00:14:53 Make sure to check out that conversation. Also, if you haven't already, take just a moment to subscribe to The Daily Signal, wherever you like to listen to podcast. It really helps us reach more listeners than you take just a moment to subscribe and leave us a five-star rating and review. Thanks again for being with us today. Have a wonderful evening. We'll see you right back here tomorrow morning.

Starting point is 00:15:13 The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Luey and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheras. Sound design by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - Kevin McCarthy Ousted as Speaker, Congressman Carjacked, and Hunter Biden Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ | Oct. 3

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