The Daily Signal - Lawyer Argues Trump Targeted in DC Trial, AOC Calls for Justice Thomas to Recuse Himself, Secretary Austin Treated for Cancer | Jan. 9

Episode Date: January 9, 2024

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: At a trial in Washington, D.C. Trump’s lawyer says his client is being targeted before an election Rep. Ocasio-Cortez says Justice Clarence Thomas must recuse himself in a Colorado Trump ballot case Conservatives are unhappy with recent congressional budget deal Biden administration announces new law that with put a damper on the gig economy Relevant Links Listen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/ Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription   Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcasts Sign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Tuesday, January 9th. Here are today's headlines. New York Democrat Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself in an upcoming case involving former President Donald Trump. The case involves Trump's eligibility to be on the 2024 presidential Colorado ballot. Trump's name has been removed from the bill. ballot in Colorado after a group of voters argued that he couldn't be on the ballot, claiming that he had played a role in an insurrection on January 6th, but Trump is fighting to get his name back on the ballot in the state. Ocasio-Cortez said in a CNN interview with Anderson Cooper

on Monday that Thomas's wife, Ginny, participated in the protests at the Capitol on January 6th, which should disqualify Thomas from participating in any case and involving Trump's reelection. Let's take a listen. I mean, I think it's very clear. Clarence Thomas and rather his wife, Ginny, participated in the events of January 6th. And now what is likely going before the Supreme Court is a judgment as to whether an event that his wife participated in, that his wife has been investigated by, in the January 6th committee, qualifies as an insurrection. and Clarence Thomas's decision on that one way or another,

and overall the court's decision on that would directly implicate his wife. And so this is just one of the most classic textbook conflicts of interest, and it would frankly be a scandal if he did not recuse. But according to the Washington examiner, Ocasio-Cortez argument comes from a letter she and seven other House Democrats sent to Thomas last week. The letter demands his recusal because his wife attended and was part of planning the January 6th rally before the events at the Capitol. The Democrats wrote in the letter that it is unthinkable, that you could be impartial in deciding whether an event your wife personally organized qualifies as an insurrection that would prevent someone from holding the office of president. Thomas has not indicated that he plans to accuse himself.

Former President Trump's attorney D. John Sawyer argued before a federal appeals court today that Trump has immunity from charges stemming from special counsel Jack Smith's investigation. Sawyer warned, according to Fox News, that President Joe Biden is prosecuting his number one political opponent and his greatest electoral threat. The panel consists of three judges, two of whom were appointed by Biden and one was appointed by President George H.W. Bush. Trump's attorney said that the former president had absolute immunity even after leaving office. Judge Karen Henderson, who was appointed by Bush, said in response, according to Fox, I think it's paradoxical to say that his constitutional duty to take care that the law be faithfully executed allows him to violate criminal law. Sawyer then said that current President Biden is trying to prosecute his likely rival in the 2024 election.

Henderson asked the prosecutor how going after Trump in this manner wouldn't open up other former ex-presidents to similar trials. The prosecutor responded that he didn't think there would be a sea change of vindictive tit-for-tat prosecutions in the future and said this case was unprecedented. unprecedented. Trump's attorney disagreed, saying we are in a situation where we have prosecution of the chief political opponent who is winning in every poll in the national election upcoming next year and is being prosecuted by the administration he's seeking to replace. And Sawyer added, that is the frightening future that is tailor made to launch cycles recrimination that will shake our republic for the future. We have a couple updates on news stories that we covered on Monday.

Ryan Walker, the Executive Vice President of Heritage Action for America, issued a statement today on the budget deal reached this past week between Republican and Democrat leaders in Congress. According to Walker, the deal fails to include real spending cuts or to secure the border. Walker says that the American people are begging Congress to say, secure the border and rein in the unprecedented government spending and woke policies that are making it impossible for them to afford basics like groceries and gas. Now, Walker did commend House Speaker Mike Johnson for small victories in the spending agreement

and scaling back money from the Internal Revenue Service and pulling back spending on COVID-19. But Walker said top-line spending numbers in the deal are still far too high for fiscal year 2020. He said while negotiating fiscal year 2024 spending any bill that addresses or funds the border or immigration policy like the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill should include HR2 in its entirety. You'll remember that HR2 or House Resolution 2 is the Border Security Act, which the GOP controlled Congress passed in May at a time when Republicans say the Department of Homeland Security is failing in its border protection. duties. Well, another quick update today, we have learned the Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is being treated for prostate cancer. As you remember, Austin was hospitalized last Monday, January 1st. We just recently learned following complications after an elective surgery. For days, the American people, nor the president, knew that Austin had been hospitalized. But the reason for the surgery

was also unknown initially. Well, Austin reportedly was diagnosed with prostate cancer. in December, and he has been working from the hospital following the complications with that surgery. The Biden administration announced a new rule that may significantly impact millions of workers in the so-called gig economy. The Labor Department rule will now require workers to be classified as employees if they are economically dependent on an employer for work. This is a reversal from the Trump administration which made it easier for workers to be defined as independent contractors. According to Newsweek, an estimated 73.3 million freelancers are employed in the United States. The rule is intended to give freelance workers the same benefits as full-time employees.

Opponents of the rule argue that forcing businesses to add these benefits may put millions of people out of work. The rule is in a similar vein to a law in California, AB5. That essentially outlaws freelance journalism and independent contractors. Well, with that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks for being with us here for the Daily Signal's top news. If you haven't had the chance, make sure that you check out our morning show. It's right here in this same podcast feed. Join us tomorrow morning.

The Daily Signal's Tyler O'Neill is going to be sitting down with Dr. Stanley Goldfarb. He's the chair of Do No Harm. and they discuss the governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, and his actions related to transgender policies in the state. Also, make sure to subscribe to The Daily Signal, wherever you like to listen to podcasts, and help us out by leaving a five-star rating and review. Thanks again for being with us today.

Have a wonderful evening. We will see you right back here tomorrow morning. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Bowie 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.