The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Biden Admin Tried To Censor Itself Using Big Tech, Fauci Reportedly Played Role In Downplaying Lab Leak, Sotomayor Staff Pushed Book Sales | July 11

Starting point is 00:00:01 I'm Samantha Sherris. I'm Virginia Allen. And this is the Daily Signal top news for Tuesday, July 11th. Here are today's headlines. Our colleague Tyler O'Neill is reporting that the House Select Subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government

Starting point is 00:00:27 released a report on Monday, revealing that the FBI under President Joe Biden urged Mehta, Instagram's parent company, to remove the U.S. State Department's official Russian-language Instagram account. After Russia invaded Ukraine, in February 2022, the FBI routinely forwarded lists from the Secret Service of Ukraine, or SBU, to

Starting point is 00:00:51 big tech companies, warning that the social media accounts allegedly spread Russian disinformation, according to the report. The SBU flagged the accounts for big tech and the FBI, and the FBI often would follow up to ensure that big tech took action against the social media accounts. The lists from Ukraine's secret police often included U.S.-based accounts, and the House subcommittee faults the FBI for failing to respect fundamental American civil liberties. A catch affected the scheme to combat Russian disinformation, however. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, had infiltrated Ukraine's SBU. In July 2022, Zelensky fired the head of SBU on account of Russian infiltration of the security service.

Starting point is 00:01:47 Earlier this year, Major General Victor Yehoun, the Ukrainian Secret Services deputy chairman between 2014 and 2015, said that SPU long has had an overly close relationship with Russian security and that Ukrainian patriots in the agency have been in the minority. The subcommittee's report notes that the SBU was compromised by a network of Russian collaborators, sympathizers, and double agents at the time of its interactions with the FBI. Yet the FBI engaged in uncritical cooperation with the Ukrainian agency. An FBI agent based in Ukraine forwarded a list of Instagram accounts that the Ukrainian Secret Service suspected to be involved in the spread of disinformation. He forwarded the SBU's list specifically noting that the agency requests that the accounts be suspended. That list from Ukraine's Secret Service included the Instagram account USA Pruski, the verified Russian language account of the U.S. State Department.

Starting point is 00:02:51 We'll include a link to Tyler's full article in today's show notes. The former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the former head of the National Institute of Health, Francis Collins, reportedly helped to downplay the lab leak theory in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Select Subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic released a lengthy report today detailing these claims. The report was released ahead of the hearing this morning titled Investigating the Proximal Origin of a Cover-Up. The report says in part on January 31st of 2020, Dr. Fauci suggested directly to Dr. Anderson draft a paper regarding a possible lab leak of COVID-19. Dr. Fauci warned that if Dr. Anderson determined COVID-19 was the result of a lab leak, then he would need to contact law enforcement.

Starting point is 00:03:56 The report continued that the next day on February 1st, this time on a conference call with 11 international scientists and included Dr. Collins and Dr. Tabak, Dr. Fauci again suggested drafting a paper regarding a possible lab leak. It was these two suggestions that prompted Dr. Anderson to begin drafting. A draft of what would become proximal origin was completed. within hours. After publication, proximal origin was used to downplay the lab leak hypothesis and call those who believe it may be true conspiracy theorists. Ohio Republican and chairman of the subcommittee, Representative Brad Wendstrup, said in a statement that America's leading health officials vilified and suppressed the lab leak theory in pursuit of a preferred coordinated narrative that was not based in truth or science. The Select Subcommittee's report proves that the

Starting point is 00:05:03 conclusions provided by the co-authored proximal origin are not only inaccurate, but were crafted to appease a stated political motive. Wendstrup also said stifling scientific discourse and labeling those who believe in the possibility of a lab leak as conspiracy theorists, caused irrefutable harm to public trust in our health officials. Americans deserve to know why honesty, transparency, and facts were abandoned. Wendstrup says the subcommittee's report is devoted to achieving that goal. The Associated Press reports that staff of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor would ask libraries and colleges to buy her books ahead of speaking engagements. According to emails obtained by the Associated Press, Anna Lee, a Sotomayor aide, wrote to the Multnomah County Library staff for an event with 1,000 people and they have to have a copy of her book just asked to get into the line.

Starting point is 00:06:10 250 books is definitely not enough. Families purchase multiples and people will be upset if they are unable to get in line because the book required is sold out. The Associated Press also notes that the Multnomah County Library examines. isn't the only one, and that as the liberal justice, who has been on the nation's court since 2009, prepared for commencement weekend at the University of California Davis Law School, her staff pitched officials there on buying copies of signed books in connection with the event. And before a visit to the University of Wisconsin, the staff suggested a book signing. But it doesn't stop there.

Starting point is 00:06:50 A similar incident occurred at Clemson University, where the school offered to buy 60 copies. and Sotomayor's staff pointed out that most schools ordered around 400 copies. The Associated Press also reported. We'll include a link to the full story in today's show notes. Finally today, our colleague Gigi De La Tori reports that an American cycling competition created a third division for transgender cyclists on Friday after a male cyclist won a cycling event in the women's division. In June, Austin Killips, a man who identifies as a transgender woman, competed in the nearly 140-mile monuments of cycling's Belgium Waffle Ride.

Starting point is 00:07:37 It's a grueling one-day cycling event that mirrors five pre-World War I European cycling events called the monuments. He participated in the event in North Carolina in the women's category and took first place winning a prize of five thousand dollars. Various women appeared to complain about the impossibility of competing against a biological male, according to the Belgium Waffle Ride Facebook page. The organization posted on Facebook in June in response to feedback that we recently received from some cyclists after our most recent North Carolina race, we are reviewing our registration and competition rules. On July 7th, Monuments of Cycling announced that only biological women will be allowed to compete in the female category after August 1st. Monuments of cycling posted under the female category in the interest of protecting the parity of sports between women and men,

Starting point is 00:08:37 racers who were born female may compete in the classification. So-called transgender athletes will have a chance to compete by registering in the new Open category. Participants in this category will be given the same opportunities to earn cash prizes for first through third place finishes as participants in the male and female categories. And that's going to do it for today's episode. Thank you for listening to The Daily Signal's top news. If you've never had the chance to check out our morning show, tomorrow morning is going to be a great opportunity to do so. I am sitting down with Angel Studios CEO Neil Harmon. talk about both the praise and the criticism that the film Sound of Freedom has received. Also, make sure you subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you get your podcast and help us reach

Starting point is 00:09:30 even more listeners by leaving a five-star rating and review. We read and appreciate all of your feedback. Thanks again for joining us today. Have a wonderful evening. We will see you right back here tomorrow morning for my conversation with Angel Studios' CEO, Neil Harmon, as we discuss the movie Sound of Freedom. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Luey and Kate Trinco.

Starting point is 00:10:02 Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheras. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Biden Admin Tried To Censor Itself Using Big Tech, Fauci Reportedly Played Role In Downplaying Lab Leak, Sotomayor Staff Pushed Book Sales | July 11

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