The Daily Signal - Spotlight on FBI: Understanding the Trump Raid, Jan. 6, and Gov. Whitmer Kidnapping Plot

Episode Date: August 22, 2022

You’ve seen the headlines: President Joe Biden and his Justice Department are weaponizing law enforcement to target the left’s political opponents. It’s happening with the prosecutions of Jan. 6 protesters, the relentless attacks on Trump administration officials, and former President Donald Trump himself. The raid on Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, was among the most blatant efforts yet by Biden’s Justice Department to punish and intimidate his political opponents—and the man who could challenge him for re-election in 2024. There are few people more knowledgeable about the government’s recent actions than Julie Kelly, whose fearless reporting helps shine the light on what’s really happening. Her book, “January 6: How Democrats Used the Capitol Protest to Launch a War on Terror Against the Political Right,” tells the story you didn’t hear from the Jan. 6 committee. Kelly joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to provide an update on the FBI raid, the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot, Rep. Liz Cheney’s resounding defeat, and Jan. 6 defendants. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Monday, August 22nd. I'm Virginia Allen. And I'm Rob Bluie. On today's show, I speak with Julie Kelly, a senior contributor at American Greatness, and author of January 6th, how Democrats used the Capitol protest to launch a war on terror against the political right. We talk about the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, the governor Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot, and what's happening to the January 6th defendants. We also read your letters to the editor and share a good news story about a nonprofit and capital. California that is going out of their way to make sure inner city kids have everything they need for back to school. But before we get to today's show, Rob and I want to tell you all about one of our other favorite podcasts from the Heritage Foundation Podcast Network, the Kevin Roberts Show. Dr. Kevin Roberts is the president of the Heritage Foundation, and now you can hear his political analysis on the most important issues facing America. Each weekly episode of the Kevin Roberts Show is a rallying cry for lovers of freedom everywhere.

The show is packed with analysis on the issues of the day and deep conversations with the movers and shakers of American politics and culture. New shows are available every Wednesday. You can find the Kevin Roberts Show on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen. We even put the full episodes on YouTube. Now stay tuned for today's show. Coming up next. You've seen the headlines. President Joe Biden and his Justice Department are weaponizing law enforcement to target the left's political opponents.

It's happening with the prosecutions of January 6th protesters, the relentless attacks on Trump administration officials, and former President Donald Trump himself. The raid on Trump's Florida home, Marilago, was among the most recent and blatant efforts yet by the Biden Justice Department to punish and intimidate his political opponents and the man who could challenge him for re-election in 2024. There are few people more knowledgeable about the government's recent actions than Julie Kelly, who's our guest today. Her fearless reporting helped shine the light on what's really happening. And her book, January 6th, how Democrats use the Capitol protest to launch a war on terror against the political right, tells the story that you did not hear from the January 6th Committee. Julie, welcome back to the Daily Signal podcast. Hey, Rob, thanks so much for having me on. You recently wrote a piece for American greatness titled, It's Inevitable, Trump will be indicted.

Obviously, this is a huge story. It's on the minds of a lot of people. Tell us why you came to that opinion. Well, Rob, as you just noted, I've been covering this January 6th prosecution. I call it persecution. For the past 19 months, I've read thousands of court documents from this DOJ. I've listened to probably hundreds of hours of court hearings. And I can tell you, as an observer, how shocked and horrified I have been listening to what's happening in these D.C. courtrooms related to this prosecution. You have judges of both political parties who consider

even low-level trespassers from January 6th, domestic terrorists. They berate these protesters, many of whom committed no violent offense, aren't even charged with a violent offense, nonetheless sentencing them to 30, 60, 90 days in jail for the low-level petty offense of parading at the Capitol. You have judges, including the chief judge, which I speak about in my piece, Beryl Howell, an Obama appointee, who just recently once again excoriated a defendant and accused him of listening to a political figure to commit a criminal act. Of course, that political figure is Donald Trump. So this DOJ has made it very clear that they are building a criminal case against Donald Trump. And if he is indicted, which I believe that he will be, he will be going into

this highly partisan, rabid D.C. court system who will really let the government do whatever they want related to any indictment. And Donald Trump will have a very tough time dealing with any of these judges and certainly a jury. And you mentioned some of the reasons for that in your piece. many of these judges obviously appointed by Democrat presidents, but also what, four or five percent of voters in D.C. supported Trump's candidacy. So the overwhelming number of people who would be called for a grand jury are most likely Trump critics or outright Trump opponents. That's exactly right, Rob. I mean, you have D.C., grand juries who have issued hundreds of criminal indictments and ridiculous charges, such as obstruction of an official procedure.

more than 250 people charged with obstruction of an official proceeding, which is a post-Enron law. It is supposed to deal with tampering with evidence, not disrupting any sort of meeting by legislature. So they're criminalizing political activity. Also, Rob, you have DC grand jury that have handed down 16 counts of seditious conspiracy. This is a charge so rare, no American has ever been convicted of it.

And here we have a grand jury that's handed down that charge against 16 protesters that day, including mostly protesters who, again, committed no violent crime. These are men associated with the proud boys and the oathkeepers. So this is how unhinged even the D.C. grand juries are, which is, of course, the body that will hand down any criminal indictment, felony indictment against Donald Trump. The regular juries are no better. We've had seven jury trials so far.

D.C. juries have returned unanimous guilty verdicts on every single count in record time. You haven't had a single acquittal on one count, again, including defendants charged with obstruction of an official proceeding. So after observing this, seeing what's happening, you're right. You're talking about a city made up of residents, 5% who voted for Donald Trump. in 20, 24% in 2016, and almost everyone somehow tied to the federal government. And Julie, what do you make of their motives here? Why are they so rabidly pursuing these prosecutions or, as you say, persecutions? And why do you believe that Trump is next and will be on their crosshairs?

Well, Rob, you know this. This is simply an extension of crossfire hurricane. The counterintelligence probe that Barack Obama's DOJ and FBI opened up against the Donald Trump presidential campaign. in July of 2016. For more than six years, these rabid partisans, and let's keep in mind, the DOJ, much of the Biden regime,

includes longtime Obama loyalists. For example, Lisa Monaco is the Deputy Attorney General. She really runs the show, and she is handling the day-to-day details of the January 6th prosecution. She was a longtime Obama loyalist. She was chief of staff to Robert Mueller, when he was the FBI director.

But more importantly, she was Obama's last Homeland Security Advisor. She was in the Obama White House until the very final hours. She was a Russia collusion architect. She was the one who directed, on behalf of the president, the intelligence community, to come up with John Brennan's bogus report, claiming that the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump.

She is the one running the show. So, Rob, for six years, you have people like Lisa Monaco and other Obama loyalists who have been trying to get Donald Trump in handcuffs, and this is their final chance to do it, to deliver on their promise to their base that they're going to charge Donald Trump and he's going to end up in jail. The problem, Rob, for the Democrats, as I write in my piece, they have backed themselves into a corner. House Democrats at January 6th Committee, Merrick Garland and the media working on behalf of the Democrats, have ratcheted this up so far that if they don't indict Donald Trump, the Democrats will pay a political price. These Democratic voters want Democrats to finally deliver on putting Donald Trump

in handcuffs. It's really twisted, but that's the political climate that we're in right now. Well, now it seems, though, politically, that may be the direction that the Democratic and far-left base wants to go, but it seems that other Americans are soundly rejecting what they're trying to do. There's, I think, deep dissatisfaction with DOJ and the FBI for their recent actions, get into it in a minute. But I have to ask you about Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who was resoundingly defeated in her Republican primary election. I mean, she more than any other Republican in Washington has devoted her time in Congress

to attacking President Trump and being a prominent face of this January 6th committee. So what are your takeaways from her defeat? I mean, I think she was defeated and resoundingly so. I think I just saw 40 points that she lost by for a number of reasons. I mean, she really, apparently she lives in Washington, D.C. She's not really in Wyoming. I'm sure the voters there feel that she's not there to represent them, but to represent herself and her family.

And really what has Liz Cheney done the past few years, except doggedly go after Donald Trump. Look, this is a personal family grudge between these two political, quote-unquote, dynasties. When Donald Trump took a debate stage in 2015, called the Iraq War, right directly to Jeb Bush's face, Iraq War, one of the biggest mistakes in U.S. history, condemned Dick Cheney for repeatedly lying about weapons of mass destruction.

He launched a war with both families, Cheney and Bush. So we see her now amazingly restoring the Cheney name in the news media. As you know, Rob, these are the same people who wanted her father strung up at the Hague on war crimes, you know, 10 years ago. Now she's a martyr and a hero. And so this is her, because this was just a personal grudge for her. She's not appealing. She's not working on behalf of her constituents. She really, I don't even know what other accomplishments she has.

in Congress. So it was a resounding defeat. It looks like now she's threatening to run for president. That will be entertaining. But it is, it's also a defeat for the old guard of the Republican Party, the neocons, of which I used to consider myself one, neocons who seem more occupied with what's happening around the world than protecting Americans here and building our country instead of building, quote, unquote, democracies across the world, which, as we also know, didn't work. Well, well said, Julie. And I think the thing to note there is the fact that she has Democrats in Washington cheerleading for her. And as you indicated, the legacy news media, which is just remarkable considering how they did view her father when he was in office. I want to turn now to the FBI because there's so much to cover and unpack.

You have done some phenomenal reporting. I encourage people to follow you on Twitter and your work at American greatness and other places where you're contributing because there is just so much happening. It's hard to even know where to begin, but I want to start with the coverage of the FBI's involvement in the Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot. She, of course, is the governor of Michigan, who in October of 2020 revealed that several men were planning to kidnap and kill her. We've learned a lot since that time. Bring us up to speed on what's happening with this trial. It is crazy, Rob. As you know, January 6th is my beat, right? But I call the Whitmer fatnapping case my general hospital. I mean, you could have the best, you could have the best soap opera writer,

drama, TV fiction writer in the world could not come up with this script. You have what it turns out, not white supremacist militiamen taking orders from Donald Trump to attempt to kidnap and kill one of his biggest political rivals in Gretchen Whitmer. You have an FBI entrapment scheme from start to finish, at least a dozen FBI underwent. cover agents and informants working out of multiple field offices with approval from the highest level at DOJ and FBI. You had the use of drones, of airplanes. You had these informants dragging these targets from state to state organizing field training

exercises so they could record those as evidence. You have informants taking their targets up to Gretchen Whitmer's Cottage to do, quote-unquote, surveillance, which was also used as evidence. The whole time they're getting their targets stoned, they're getting them drunk, and they're recording all of it so the government can use it as evidence. But it turns out these informants are real low-lights. One of them is a long-time informant who's a convicted felon several times over, including convictions with sex with the minor. He's working out of numerous FBI field offices and committed at least two other crimes while working the Whitmer Fednapping hoax.

The key informant, Dan Chappell, who I wrote about, and I know Tucker Carlson talked about in his show this week, he was paid in cash and prizes roughly $60,000 by the FBI for seven months' work, which is more than he made in a year

as a truck driver for the Postal Service. They gave the FBI, we, I should say Rob, the FBI paid for $4,000 laptop. They bought new tires for his car. They bought him a smart watch. When he sold his house, they paid for the loss on his home. Ended December of 2020. Two months after the arrest were made, the operation was basically over. And of course, all the damage to Trump was already done. The FBI handed Dan Chappell an envelope of cash with $23,540 in it for job well done. This is just scratching the surface.

So I'm tweeting the second trial is going on right now. Two men were acquitted amid defense of FBI entrapment. They were acquitted in April. A hung jury on two more men. The government unwisely decided to try the remaining two defendants coinciding at a time when DOJ and FBI's credibility is totally imploding. I feel very strongly these men will be acquitted, if not another hung jury. But it is exposing the moral rut of the FBI's.

FBI. And this is something, Rob, that Republicans are going to have to deal with if they take over the House in November. Well, and let's talk about that for a moment because I think for many of our listeners and probably for Americans more broadly, and I think Tucker Carlson said this well, I mean, you would not expect this to be happening in our country. These are the types of things that you would expect to happen in foreign lands where, you know, we often think, wow, that would just not be something that would take place in the United States. And here, it seems to be from the top down of this Biden administration, a willingness to engage in this type of behavior. What are the things that Republicans need to do should they reclaim control of the House after November's election?

Well, the number one thing is they need to hold a series of public hearings so the American people can hear exactly what this FBI has been doing, not just related to the raid on Maralago, which, of course, was unprecedented and outrageous. But Rob, I have heard so many horror stories from Americans who have had their homes raided pre-dawn raids, dozens of FBI agents using battering Rams, military-style vehicles to invade their homes in front of their young children, even confiscate the cell phones of children, pointing rifles at elderly women standing there in their nightgowns as they are under arrest for January 6th offenses. This has been going on since January of 2021. These people have horrific

stories of how this agency is traumatizing Trump supporters, hauling them off to jail. In some cases, I mean, we still have political prisoners, as I call them, who've been in jail now for a year and a half awaiting trials at the same DOJ continues to delay. So the American people need to hear what this FBI is doing. This is not just a problem on the seventh floor of the J. Edgar Hoover building in Washington, D.C. This infects every FBI field office, every one of the 56 field offices, as we see in the Whitmer kidnapping hoax that came out of the Michigan field office. And Rob, here's a mindblower. The FBI director, a special agent in charge of the Michigan FBI field office, In October of 2020, after the arrest were announced, was promoted by Christopher Ray to take over the

plum assignment of head of the D.C. FBI field office. This was a few months before January 6th. There were a lot of similarities between the Whitmer Fedamping hoax and January 6th, including plans to storm the Lansing Capitol. And he would be the guy who would be in charge of undercover agents and informants run out of that office on January 6th. He's also the lead on the criminal investigation. Stephen Dantuano needs to answer a lot of questions. If I was in charge of the Republican House, he would be my first witness to subpoena,

explain himself in the Whitmer case, and explain any informants and undercover agents involved in January 6th, which we know that there were, and his abusive use of the FBI, not just in the Mara Law, raid, but in these raids across the country. Up to this point, has he said anything?

Do we know any reason why he was doing the things that he was doing there in Michigan and his motives now in the D.C. field office? No, he has not been questioned by Congress. I'm sure this Democratic Congress wants to, you know, ignore him completely for good reason. He also, and I also direct people to Darren Beatty's reporting at Revolver. News, who's done extensive detailed investigative reporting on the alleged pipe bombers. Stephen Dantuano is the one who talked about the pipe bombers, you know, offered this $100,000 reward to find the alleged pipe bomber.

But there's all sorts of missing pieces about this alleged pipe bomber. And Stephen D'Antwano needs to answer questions. about that too. Why there's missing video of the alleged bomber the night before, how the secret service missed the alleged explosive device sitting right outside D&C headquarters when they took Kamala Harris there the morning of January 6th. There are a lot of unanswered questions about the alleged pipe bomber, which, as you know, Rob, set off the initial panic on January 6th and just happened to be found by a woman who works for a government agency that had just received a $92 million grant by guess who, the FBI. So this just seems to be another one of those

hoaxes tied to a government inside job, which I call January 6th. And Stephen Day Antoine who needs to answer questions about the pipe bomber, why they haven't identified or caught this alleged perpetrator, why there's so many sketchy aspects about it, and certainly most importantly, what he did to deploy his FBI agents using informants to entrap innocent men to damage Donald Trump before the 2020 election. Julie, certainly a pattern here, as you talked about with the pipe bomb, with the Trump raid at Moralago. It seems that despite the fact that we, the American people, are the ones paying for these government resources and the salaries of these FBI agents, they are withholding critical information from us. the American people that we deserve to know. Do you ever believe that we'll be able to learn the truth?

I mean, even if Republicans are able to hold hearings, I mean, I personally somewhat skeptical that this deep state in Washington will be resistant, even if there's a change of hands in Congress. Yes, I join you in that skepticism. Because here's the thing, Rob, what happens when the Republicans, if they do, and I think there's growing interest or growing acceptance of the idea, that the federal agencies who targeted Donald Trump, his entire presidency, also orchestrated most of the events of January 6th.

What will Republicans do when they find out how deeply involved the FBI was, deploying informants into these same sort of militia groups months before January 6th, helping them to direct their targets, just like they did in the Whitmer Fednapping hoax, surveilling them. And, of course, we know, Rob, that they, there were hundreds of elite FBI agents, including the hostage rescue team, which was also the group that arrested the Whitmer alleged kidnappers in October,

hostage rescue team elite commando squads at Quantico the weekend before the Capitol protests. Now, what exactly were those FBI agents doing? Furthermore, Rob, doesn't that sort of contradict the narrative the American people have been told that the FBI law enforcement, everyone was caught off guard that day? that Donald Trump riled all these people up at his speech, and he ordered his, quote, unquote, armed mob to storm the Capitol, and nobody knew what was coming. Well, if that's the case, then why were there hundreds of elite FBI agents at Quantico the weekend before? What did they do on January 6th? Why weren't they there to protect the Capitol and work with local law enforcement partners to

secure not just the Capitol building, but the entire city? So what happens when we're Republicans finally confront the realities of January 6th, they'll have to do something. They'll have to do something drastic, like completely dismantle the FBI, cut off major sources of funding to the Justice Department. Do they have the guts to do that? I don't think this leadership crowd does whatsoever. Well, the American people are certainly going to demand that something happens. I think the growing frustration with what's taking place and the, and the,

the fact that they're unafraid to go after somebody as prominent and important as former President Trump signifies that they could come for anybody. And so we are, you know, with recent news that the IRS is adding 87,000 new agents. I mean, there's many of reasons to be concerned in things that I think Republicans will be expected to do to push back on this administration's agenda. Julie, I want to end the conversation by going back to where we started. In your book, January 6th, how Democrats use the Capitol protest to launch a war on terror against the political right. An outstanding read, you have done more perhaps than anybody else in terms of telling the stories of the individuals who are being prosecuted. You've shared with us the ways that the system is stacked against them in D.C. I want you to begin by telling us the story of Paul Hodge.

and how he's personally suffered, a little bit about who he is, and some of the things that you're doing to try to share his story with the broader public. So Paul Hodgkins is, lives in a lower class area of Tampa, a Trump supporter. He was working as a mechanic on like having industrial vehicles. He took a bus alone on January 5th to go to the Capitol to see the president on January 5th. He went to the President's speech. He walked to the Capitol, again, traveling alone. There, of course, were Trump supporters, a lot of them there. He entered the Capitol building. He went to the Senate chambers. He was there at the same time as Jacob Chansley, you know, the Q&on Shaman. Paul Hodgkins had a Trump flag. He waved his flag in the Senate chambers after it had been evacuated, and he left. He didn't bring a weapon. He didn't assault. anyone didn't vandalize any property as far as he knew. He was being allowed into the building.

You know, again, people have never been in the Capitol, and you know this, Rob. It's a huge building. How these people found the Senate chambers would love to see that on the surveillance video. We'll never see. But anyway, nonetheless, he was arrested, charged with the obstruction of an official proceeding felony and other low-level misdemeanor offenses. His attorney, who did not do a good job, encouraged him to plead guilty to the obstruction charge.

He was the second person to plead guilty to obstruction, but the first one to be sentenced publicly. And in his sentencing hearing before, Judge Randolph Moss, another Obama appointee, Paul Hatchkins begged for mercy. He lives alone. If he would go to prison for an extended amount of time, he would lose his job. He had an apprenticeship, apparently, to better his employment.

He was renting part of a house. He was going to lose that. He was going to lose his pets. Begged for mercy. Of course, got none. Was sentenced to eight months in prison for obstruction of an official proceeding. A nonviolent crime never intended to be used this way. This is an Andrew Weissman, Robert Mueller's specialty.

And this poor guy spent eight months in jail, then a halfway house, and now he's on probation for two years. This is what these people are enduring. Paul is just one of many. stories. But Rob, when I listened to his sentencing hearing in July of 2021, it really, I broke down. I mean, I felt so horrible for this man. I was so enraged at the prosecutors and the judges and this judge. But it really made me realize what this government was going to do to Trump supporters, absolutely no mercy. And they are sickeningly gratified by inflicting pain on Trump supporters. There's no reason for someone like Paul Hodgkins to go to jail for eight months.

The same DOJ letting off 20-20 rioters. That entire whole summer of violence, rioting, death and destruction has been memory-hold by this DOJ. Yet they're throwing people like Paul Hodgkins in prison for eight months. Jacob Chansley, the QAnon Shaman, after 317 days in solitary confinement, this DOJ tortured a plea deal out of him. he will spend 41 months in prison on the same obstruction charge. This is what not just Trump supporting Americans are dealing with in this D.C. court, but this is what Donald Trump will be up against once they indict him.

Julie, you've made the decision to donate a portion of your book proceeds to the Patriot Freedom Project. Tell us about that organization and other ways that Americans who are frustrated can take action and do something. Thank you so much for bringing that up. So this is a fund. There was no funding available. There were no lawyers available for these January 6th defendants. There's a huge vacuum on the right, as I'm sure you know, legal organizations who will step up and help Americans who are being persecuted by this government

for their political activities and views. So Cynthia Hughes, who is sort of the adoptive aunt of one of the political prisoners, Tim Hale, she really started this fund. And not only is she helping to pay for criminal defense lawyers for some of the of the defendants. More importantly, Rob, she's helping families who are being completely bankrupted and destroyed. You know, even people who were arrested on misdemeanor charges, they were immediately fired. Think about that, Rob. People who were accused of committing misdemeanors lost their job simply because it was related to January 6th. So she is helping these families who desperately need

it to pay for school supplies to help pay for rent once in a while. Utility bills, just the basic These people are barely getting by. So that's at Patriot Freedom Project.com. I have contributed proceeds of my book. I've directed other donors there. Dinesh DeSouza and his wife donated $100,000. So when people are looking for some way to help, I would direct them to patriot freedomproject.com.

And, Julie, as we wrap up here, tell our listeners how they can follow your work, get the book, and keep tabs on all of the great reporting that you're doing. All my work can be found at amgrateness.com. I'm covering the Whitmer trial as much as I can in real time on Twitter, Julie underscore Kelly, too. And my book can be found on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Julie Kelly, thank you so much again for the work you're doing. We look forward to having you back on the Daily Signal podcast again soon. And thank you for telling the story that so many legacy media outlets refuse to share and the stories of the people who are facing the prosecution for their protest on January 6th. It's truly sad to hear about them, but we are hopeful and thankful to people like you for helping us shine the light on what's happening.

Well, I'm so grateful for you, Rob, for covering my work. I really appreciate it because I know you're getting this out to a totally different audience, and so I'm very grateful. Thank you. Thank you. The Heritage Foundation takes the field on offense with their young leaders program. I'm Evelyn Homily from Hillsdale. I'm Harrison Stewart from the University of Virginia.

I'm a journalism intern with the Daily Signal. I'm a digital productions intern in communications. For spring, summer, and fall semesters, the Heritage Foundation hosts undergraduate and postgraduate interns right here in the nation's capital to train our country's future conservative leaders. As a Daily Signal intern, I've had the opportunity to cover exciting events here in D.C. And work in a fast-paced environment with some of the conservative movement's best journalists. In YLP, interns are on the cutting edge of the conservative movement. attending exclusive briefings from Heritage experts, members of Congress, and movement leaders

fighting for the fate of our country. It's been exciting connecting with big names in the political world and better understanding our nation's greatest threats. If you want to go on offense with other passionate, dedicated conservatives, go to heritage.org slash intern to learn more about the Young Leaders Program. Thanks for sending us your letters to the editor. Each Monday, we feature our favorites on this show. Virginia, who's up first?

In response to Doug Blair's reporting on how D.C. plans to ban 40% of black teens from school because they are unvaccinated. Carolyn writes, this vaccine mandate for kids 12 and up to return in person to D.C. schools is wrong. The vaccine has been shown to have potential side effects. There is still a risk of myocardal issues. For the current circulating strains, the younger generation is less affected overall, as a far as severe illness and outcome. So this stance that is being taken makes absolutely no sense. Many kids will suffer a lifelong disability if they continue to lose and fall so far behind in learning. The USA is already at a severe disadvantage on the world stage right now with the achievements of our kids compared to other developing nations. And in response to that same article

about D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's vaccine mandate for school children, Liza Lowry writes, when did any official have the right to make any decision for our children, for them to be vaccinated to attend school? The government's job is to keep our schools safe from violent people. These officials are acting like these children don't have parents. Our tax money pays her salary and we the people tell her what to do. It will be the parents' decision, not the governments. Biden didn't have a problem opening the borders and letting millions of unvaccinated immigrants into our country. And now you want to put your foot down and demand that our children be vaccinated? I encourage those parents to send their children to school vaccinated or not.

They all have the right as citizens of the United States of America to attend school and the right to an education. Your letter could be featured on next week's show. So send us an email at Letters at DailySignal.com. At the Heritage Foundation, we believe that every single policy issue discussed in D.C. tells a story. So we want to tell it well. On the Heritage Explains podcast, co-host Tim Decher and Michelle Cordero, take one policy issue a week, mix in a creative blend of clips, narration, and hard-hitting interviews to equip you on crucial issues in under 20 minutes.

So get your story straight. Subscribe to Heritage Explains wherever you listen to podcasts. Virginia, we always start our Monday shows with a good news story. What do you have for us this week? That's right. Thanks, Rob. Well, it is that time of year once again. Time to pull out the backpacks and shop for folders, binders, and pencils, and head back to school. But shopping for school supplies can be expensive, especially this year with such high inflation. That's why the Los Angeles Dream Center's annual back-to-school bash was more important than ever this year. The Dream Center is a non-profit. serving needy families and homeless in L.A. And at the start of every school year for the past nine years, they have partnered with Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw to throw a back-to-school bash for underprivileged kids in their community. It's one big back-to-school party, as Fox L.A. reports, where thousands of school supplies are distributed to thankful families.

Someone as myself, like a single mom, that he really afforded, so this is just amazing. Baseball player Kirshah and his wife, Ellen, were right in the center of the excitement as they helped to hound out some 3,500 backpacks filled with school supplies to students. You know, I was giving a gift to throw baseball, and with that platform, we're able to do a lot of different things through Kirschaw's challenge, and that's been our heartbeat from the beginning. Seeing the kids' faces light up when they receive a brand new backpack filled with supplies, it's unmatched. And students not only receive school supplies. They also enjoyed fun games, at pettings, rides, and even had the opportunity to have a health checkup during the Back to School Bash at the Dream Center campus. Matthew Barnett helped to found the Dream Center 28 years ago. He told Fox, L.A., that the lesson he hopes those who attended the Back to School Bash take away

is this. You know, I think we can out serve the pain. We can out serve the burden of the world. If you are interested in partnering with the Dream Center and learning more about how they are serving underprivileged families in and around L.A. You can visit dreamcenter.org. Virginia, thanks so much for sharing that story. Absolutely. We're going to leave it there for today.

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