The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Obama Admin Ethics Chief Weighs in on Biden’s Classified Documents, former Republican Candidate Arrested, China’s Shrinking Population | Jan. 17

Starting point is 00:00:01 I'm Samantha Sherris. I'm Virginia Allen. And this is the Daily Signal top news for Tuesday, January 17th. Here are today's headlines. An ethics chief from former President Barack Obama's administration is weighing in on the classified documents from President Joe Biden's vice presidency days that were found at the Penn Biden Center in Washington and Biden's garage in Delaware. According to Fox News Digital, Walter Schaub said it's nothing like Trump's deliberate refusal. to return classified records demanded by the National Archives. But Biden's own retention of classified records

Starting point is 00:00:49 reflects an inexcusable neglect of the most basic security protocols. He added, the fact that the White House didn't mention that records were found in more than one location when first asked about them was a breach of trust with the public and a self-inflicted wound. And based on what we know so far, it seems unlikely that he's at risk of any legal consequences, but I'm glad Garland appointed a special counsel to show even-handed treatment

Starting point is 00:01:18 of the current and former president. More documents labeled as classified were found at the president's Delaware home on top of the documents recovered on November 2nd, just six days before the midterm elections, at the Penn Biden Center, and in December at his home in Delaware, CBS News reports. The White House commented earlier today on the Justice Department's investigation into the president's handling of the classified documents. According to CNN, Ian Sams, a spokesman for the White House counsel's office, said, I understand that there's a tension between protecting and safeguarding the integrity of an ongoing investigation with providing information publicly appropriate with that.

Starting point is 00:02:01 In any investigation, as an investigation is ongoing, especially an investigation where people are cooperative and are working hand-in-hand with the department to review these matters. information is going to develop. That's a natural part of any investigation. The White House did not answer if Biden would sit for an interview with special counsel Robert Hur, if asked as part of the investigation into his improper retention of classified records. Fox News reports. A former Republican candidate in New Mexico has been arrested for allegedly conspiring with and paying four men to shoot at the homes of four elected officials. appearing to target Democrats. That's according to the Hill. Solomon Pena was arrested on Monday by Albuquerque Police. Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina believes that Pena was the mastermind who orchestrated the shootings. Let's take a listen to a couple minutes of Medina's comments from Monday via

Starting point is 00:03:02 NBC News. Earlier today, the Albuquerque Police Department SWAT team took Solomon Pena to custody in reference to these shootings and it is believed that he is the mastermind that was behind this and that was organizing this. This is a story about partnerships, working together

Starting point is 00:03:23 utilizes the technologies that got us the results that we needed in order to clear this case. We talked about it last week. One subject had been taken into custody. That subject was taken into custody approximately one hour after the shooting at Senator Lopez's home.

Starting point is 00:03:39 It was unknown that this individual was involved in any type of crime. Berna Leo County Sheriff's deputy pulled the individual over, took him into custody, and tagged a firearm into custody. And that's where the technology and the advancements and our partnership with alcohol, tobacco, and firearm, ATF come into play, was within days that we got a hit that that firearm recovered that day, matched the firearm that was used in the Lopez shooting. I also want to thank the field officer who quickly put those shell cases that they found in the street into an evidence bag, tagged it in and got to the evidence lab that enabled us to move forward.

Starting point is 00:04:19 Over the course of the last couple of weeks, the investigation went forward. Very grateful that we're able to get this individual into custody and that we were able to hopefully bring a little bit of relief to those that were affected and all of our lawmakers, especially with the state legislature starting to arms. Fortunately, no one was injured in the shootings that occurred between December 4th of last year and January 4th. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller weighed in on the shooting saying, this type of radicalism is a threat to our nation and has made its way to our doorstep right here in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mayor Tim Keller also said, but I know we are going to push back and we will not allow this to cross the threshold. China's population is shrinking.

Starting point is 00:05:09 The country with the world's largest population had more deaths in 2022 than babies born, the New York Times reports. 9.56 million people were born, whereas 10.41 million people died. Interestingly, as the New York Times also reports, this was the first time deaths had outnumbered births in China since the Great Leap Forward, Mao Zey Dung's failed, economic experiment that led to widespread famine and death in the 1960s. Michael Cunningham, a research fellow focusing on China and the Asian Study Center here at the Heritage Foundation, told us that this is a crisis that was decades in the making, driven by the Chinese government's

Starting point is 00:05:53 draconian population control policies. Demographers have long warned that this was coming, but their warnings fell on deaf ears until recent years. This is an entirely CCP, inflicted crisis, but it's mainly the Chinese people who have to suffer the consequences. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thank you for listening to The Daily Signal's top news. If you haven't had the chance already, be sure to check out our morning show right here in your podcast feed, where we bring you interviews with lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to be sitting down with Dr. Ingrid Skop to discuss the FDA's recent rule change on abortion pills and how that change,

Starting point is 00:06:36 will negatively impact women. Also, make sure you subscribe to The Daily Signal wherever you get your podcast and help us reach more listeners by leaving a five-star rating and review. We read and appreciate all of your feedback. Thanks again for joining us this evening. We hope you have a lovely Tuesday night

Starting point is 00:06:53 and we'll see you right back here tomorrow morning. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to 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.

The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Obama Admin Ethics Chief Weighs in on Biden’s Classified Documents, former Republican Candidate Arrested, China’s Shrinking Population | Jan. 17

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