The Daily Signal - Supreme Court to Hear Ghost Gun Case, Opening Statements in Trump Case, Antisemitism Protests Erupt on College Campuses | April 22

Starting point is 00:00:02 I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Monday, April 22nd. Here are today's headlines. Today was a big day for former president Donald Trump's alleged hush money case out of Manhattan. Opening arguments were held today. A former Biden Justice Department lawyer delivered the opening arguments in the Manhattan court case. Attorney Matthew Colangelo is senior counsel to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and he told the jury this case is about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up. The case revolves around alleged hush money payments that Trump was involved in making to porn star Stormy Daniels,

Starting point is 00:00:54 but the case is now also being tied to election interference because those payments to Stormy Daniels were made before the 2016 election, allegedly to keep Daniels quiet about her relationship with Trump. The attorney arguing against Trump said that Trump orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election. And the attorney added that then he covered up that conspiracy in his business records by lying over and over and over again. Critics of the prosecution point to Colangelo's ties to the Biden administration. For his part, Trump has accused the Biden administration of pushing the case as he spoke to the press after his opening state. statements per Fox News. Everyone knows going to that trial, I did nothing wrong.

Starting point is 00:01:43 And over here, I did nothing wrong also. This is a Biden witch gun. This case is expected to last about six to eight weeks. The House passed a four bill $95 billion for an aid package. The bill includes $60 billion in additional aid for Ukraine, 26 billion for Israel, and over $8 billion for Taiwan. Taiwan. The aid package passed in a 311 to 112 vote with unanimous support of Democrats and 101 Republicans voting in favor of that aid package. One of the criticisms from conservatives over the bill is that it

Starting point is 00:02:27 sends money to Ukraine to help them secure their border, but Congress has not taken action to secure the U.S. border. There are also concerns over the effect that such a large foreign aid package will have on the U.S. economy. I ask executive vice president of Heritage Action for America, Ryan Walker, where are this money for the $95 billion aid package is coming from? And this is what he said. It's all emergency spending. So this is printing, printing dollars and financing it. We're paying for this with treasury bonds at a very, very high yield, which again, it sort of gets into this inflation question, and it exacerbates some of the things that the American people are already experiencing. You know, $100 billion in the grand scheme of the federal government's

Starting point is 00:03:20 spending seems small, but it does have an impact, sure, surely. Ryan Walker is sitting down with me on the Daily Signal podcast tomorrow morning, Tuesday morning for a deep dive discussion into this aid package and some of the fallout from it or potential fallout from it. Make sure to catch that conversation tomorrow. morning. But Biden had a call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky today following the House's passage of that $60 billion for Ukraine. And the Hill reports that during the call, Biden told Zelensky that the U.S. has a lasting commitment to support Ukraine as it defends its freedom against Russian aggression and that his administration will quickly provide

Starting point is 00:04:03 significant new security assistance packages to meet Ukraine's urgent battlefield and air defense needs as soon as the Senate passes the national security supplemental and he signs it into law. The aid package is, of course, now headed to the Senate and is expected to pass there. And as Biden said himself, he will sign it. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case involving ghost gun kits. These are kits that come with pieces to build and assemble a gun, almost like a do-it-yourself IKEA version of a gun. These guns don't have serial numbers and are therefore untraceable, which makes them very appealing to criminals. And there have been reports of an increase of these guns being involved in criminal activity.

Starting point is 00:04:53 The Biden administration placed additional regulations on these ghost guns in 2022. Specifically, they expanded the definition of what a firearm. is within the Gun Control Act of 1968. For example, under the new definition, certain parts of a gun could legally be classified as a firearm. The rule change does require manufacturers and sellers to obtain licenses, mark their products with serial numbers, and conduct background checks, according to the New York Times. A lawsuit was filed in opposition to this rule change that added additional regulations to ghost guns. Judge Reed O'Connor of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas

Starting point is 00:05:35 sided with the challengers, as the Times reports. He struck down the regulation in July saying that a weapon parts kit is not a firearm, and that which may become or may be converted to a functional receiver is not itself a receiver. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans affirmed that ruling from Judge O'Connor, but then the Supreme Court was asked to weigh in, which now they have agreed to do. The court will likely hear arguments for this case in the fall, and a ruling probably won't come until after the November election.

Starting point is 00:06:12 Acts of anti-Semitism have risen sharply on several prominent college campuses. At Columbia University, there were anti-Israel protests over the weekend and into today, and keep in mind that Passover begins tonight at sundown. But the protest became so serious and threatening at Columbia University that they canceled on-campus classes today and held classes online. Fox News reports that authorities have arrested a hundred of the agitators involved in the protest. Columbia University President Dr. Namont Schaffek issued a statement saying she was deeply saddened by the situation on campus.

Starting point is 00:06:51 Students have formed an encampment on campus and are protesting the Biden administration's support of Israel. With students demonstrating and shouting anti-Semitic statements, 10 House Republicans from New York are calling on Columbia University's president to resign. The effort is being led by Representative Elise Stefani, who says that the university president has failed to provide a safe learning environment for all students. The letter to the president reads, The situation unfolding on campus right now is a direct product of your policies and misguided decisions. Based on these recent events and your testimony in front of Congress, we have no confidence in your leadership of this once esteemed institution. The Hill reports that university leaders will hold discussions with student protesters and faculty

Starting point is 00:07:45 in the coming days as an attempt to de-escalate tensions on campus. With that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for being with us here on The Daily Signal's top news. If you haven't had a chance, make sure to check out our morning show. It's right here in this podcast feed. And once again, tomorrow morning, I'm going to be sitting down with Heritage Action for America's Ryan Walker as we dive deep into what is going on in Congress after they passed this foreign aid package. And what's at stake for House Speaker Mike Johnson? And if you have a minute, make sure to leave the Daily Settle podcast a five-star rating and review.

Starting point is 00:08:20 hearing your feedback. Thanks again for being with us today. Have a great rest of your Monday. We'll see you right back here tomorrow morning. The Daily Signal podcast is made possible because of listeners like you. Executive producers are Rob Blewey and Kate Trinko. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Mary Margaret O'Lehann, and Tyler O'Neill. Sound design by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more or support our work, please visitdailysignal.com.

The Daily Signal - Supreme Court to Hear Ghost Gun Case, Opening Statements in Trump Case, Antisemitism Protests Erupt on College Campuses | April 22

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