UNBIASED - July 8, 2024: Biden's Letter to Lawmakers Attempting to Ease Concerns, White House Logs Show Visits By Parkinson's Specialist, RNC Panel Approves Change to Abortion Stance, and Boeing to Plead Guilty.
Episode Date: July 8, 20241. President Biden Sits for Interview with ABC; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Holds Meeting, Biden Sends Letter to Lawmakers, Public White House Logs Raise Questions About Possible Parkinson's... Disease (0:32)2. Republican National Committee Panel Approves Draft Proposal Changing Platform's Position on Federal Abortion Limits (7:45)3. Boeing Says It Will Plead Guilty to One Charge of Fraud After Violating Deferred Prosecution Agreement with DOJ (9:57)Support ‘UNBIASED’ on Patreon.Watch this episode on YouTube.Follow Jordan on Instagram and TikTok.All sources for this episode can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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with iGaming Ontario. Welcome back to Unbiased, your favorite source of unbiased news and legal analysis.
Welcome back to Unbiased. Today is Monday, July 8th, and this is your daily news rundown.
If you love the unbiased approach that this episode provides and you feel more informed
after listening, please go ahead and leave my show a review on whatever platform you listen,
share the show with your friends, and if you're watching on YouTube, please just go ahead and hit that thumbs up button and subscribe to the channel if you're
not subscribed already. All of those things really help me out. So thank you very much.
And without further ado, we can get into today's stories, starting with the first of three stories
today. And it's also an update to President Biden's campaign. President Biden sat with ABC
News for an exclusive interview, which aired on
Friday, and discussed not only his performance at CNN's presidential debate, but also the future of
his campaign. So what I'm going to do is I'll play a few clips, a few snippets from the ABC interview,
just in case you haven't heard it. And then from there, we'll talk about what's been taking place
since within the walls of Congress and how President Biden himself is responding. Mr. President, thank you for doing this.
Let's start with a debate. You and your team have said you had a bad night,
but your friend Nancy Pelosi actually framed the question that I think is on the minds of
millions of Americans. Was this a bad episode or the sign of a more serious condition?
It was a bad episode.
No indication of any serious condition.
I was exhausted.
I didn't listen to my instincts
in terms of preparing.
And a bad night.
I guess the question, the problem is
here for a lot of Americans watching
is you've said going back to 2020,
watch me. To people who are concerned about your age. As you've said, going back to 2020, watch me.
To people who are concerned about your age.
And, you know, 50 million Americans watched that debate.
It seemed to confirm fears they already had.
Well, look, after that debate, I did 10 major events in a row,
including until 2 o'clock in the morning after that debate.
I did events in North Carolina.
I did events in Georgia.
Did events like this today.
Large crowds, overwhelming response, no slipping.
And so I just had a bad night.
I don't know why.
Are you the same man today that you were
when you took office three and a half years ago?
In terms of successes, yes.
I also was
the guy who put together a peace plan for the Middle East that may be coming to fruition. I was
also the guy that expanded NATO. I was also the guy that grew the economy. All the individual
things that were done were ideas I had or I fulfilled. I moved on. I know you said you have
an ongoing assessment. Have you had a full neurological and cognitive evaluation?
I get a full neurological test every day with me.
And I've had a full physical. I had, you know, I mean, I've been able to read for my physicals.
I mean, yes.
I know your doctor said he consulted with a neurologist. I guess I'm asking a slightly different question.
Have you had the specific cognitive tests,
and have you had a neurologist, a specialist, do an examination?
No, no one said I had to.
No one said they said I'm good.
Would you be willing to undergo an independent medical evaluation
that included neurological and cognitive tests
and release the results to the American people?
Look, I have a cognitive test every single day.
Every day I have that test.
Everything I do.
You know, not only am I campaigning, but I'm running the world.
And that sounds like hyperbole.
But we are the central nation in the world.
I don't know if I was right.
Of course, if you want to
watch the full interview, I have a YouTube link for you in the sources section of this episode.
But following the airing of that interview, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hosted a call for
the Democratic conference Sunday afternoon. And according to sources on that call, some Democrats,
not all, but some representatives,
Democrat representatives, said that Biden should step aside. Democratic Senator Mark Warner also
had a meeting planned specifically for Democratic senators on Monday, but that meeting was canceled
as of today. Senator Warner says he has not decided whether he thinks Biden should step aside.
All this to say, there has been a lot of discussion happening
within the confines of Congress when it comes to Democratic lawmakers. In light of the concern,
President Biden sent a letter to Democratic lawmakers this morning. The letter reads in part,
quote, now that you have returned from the July 4th recess, I want you to know that despite all
speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am
firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating
Donald Trump. I have heard the concerns that people have, their good faith fears and worries
about what is at stake in this election. I can respond to all this by saying clearly and
unequivocally, I would not be running again if I did not absolutely believe
that I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024. End quote. The letter continues, quote,
we had a Democratic nomination process and the voters have spoken clearly and decisively.
I received over 14 million votes, 87% of the votes cast across the entire nominating process.
This was a process open to anyone who wanted to run. Only three people chose to challenge me. The voters of the Democratic
Party have voted. They have chosen me to be the nominee of the party. Do we now just say this
process didn't matter, that the voters don't have a say? I decline to do that, end quote.
The president then concludes the letter by writing, quote, The question of how to move forward has been well aired for over a week now, and it's time for it to end.
We have one job, and that is to beat Donald Trump.
Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us.
It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.
End quote. That full letter is also included
in the sources section of this episode if you're interested in reading it. In addition to this
letter, we also know that this afternoon, President Biden got on a call with top donors. One donor on
the call expressed Biden's attitude as, quote, feisty and defiant about staying in the race and beating Trump. And then
finally, this afternoon, we got a update from White House logs, not necessarily about Biden's
health. Nothing has been confirmed. But what came out this afternoon is that according to White
House visitor logs, a neurologist and movement disorders specialist named Dr. Kevin Kennard
visited the White House eight times between last July and
March of this year. That's about once a month. Now, again, the White House did not confirm nor
deny whether the doctor was advising the president specifically when he made those visits. The White
House only said in a statement, quote, a wide variety of specialists from the Walter Reed system
visit the White House complex to treat thousands of military personnel who work on the grounds, end quote. Importantly, just in February, there was a summary of the president's annual
physical release, which said that the neurologist found no signs of Parkinson's disease. So again,
it's unconfirmed whether the doctor was on site for President Biden or some other White House
staff, but the White House will not confirm nor deny. Another piece of information we have is that prior to July of 2023, that
specific doctor had only visited the White House once in November of 2022. So that is your update
on everything currently going on with President Biden's campaign. Let's now shift gears and move across the aisle. A Republican
National Committee panel overwhelmingly approved a draft platform proposal today,
which shifts the party's current stance on abortion. The new text will receive a final vote
tomorrow behind closed doors. According to reports, here is how the new text differs from the platform's previous
position. Previously in 2016, the Republican Party passed text that included a 20-week federal limit
on abortions or called for states to pass what was called the Human Life Amendment, and that was a
proposal for an amendment to the Constitution that says life begins at conception. That same proposal was then adopted in 2020. However,
the text that passed the RNC panel today instead says that states are free to pass laws protecting
the rights granted in the 14th Amendment. In other words, states are free to pass laws protecting
life at conception or any time thereafter. This change signals that the party's platform is
shifting away from abortion limits
being a matter for the federal government, or at least shifting away from such a direct stance.
The text reads in part, quote, we proudly stand for families and life. We believe that the 14th
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied
life or liberty without due process, and that the states are therefore free to pass laws protecting End quote. Now, I do want
to be clear that at this time, the public does not have access to the draft text. The text that I
just read is based on sources of people familiar with the vote. I would imagine once the text goes
to a full vote tomorrow, we'll get access to the text, and then at that point, I can go over it
with a bit more certainty, but that is what we know as
of now. And then whatever the committee and full membership adopt tomorrow will be unveiled to the
full Republican National Committee on July 15th at their national convention. In some non-political
news, and as our final story of the day, Boeing says it will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge after violating
an earlier agreement that protected it from prosecution. So the deal requires Boeing to pay
an additional $243 million fine, be subject to an independent monitor who will oversee Boeing's
safety and quality procedures for the next three years, and requires Boeing to invest at least
$455 million into its compliance and safety programs.
But to really understand this, we need to back up a little bit. It'll all make a little bit more
sense. Boeing was first charged with fraud back in January 2021 in light of the 2018 and 2019
crashes, but it entered into what's called a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ.
If you're around for my reports on Hunter Biden, this term may sound familiar, but a deferred prosecution agreement, or DPA for short,
essentially puts prosecution on hold for a fixed amount of time in exchange for certain actions or
omissions from the defendant. If at any point within the time allotted in the DPA, the defendant breaches their obligations
under the agreement, they open themselves up to prosecution.
However, if the defendant fulfills their obligations within that time period of the DPA, they're
safe from prosecution and their charge or charges will be dropped once that DPA expires.
In this case, the DOJ charged Boeing with conspiring to defraud the government in 2021.
But per the DPA, Boeing essentially said, as long as you pay a fine of $2.5 billion,
which will go towards the government, the establishment of a fund to compensate the
families of the victims of the 2018 and 2019 crashes, airlines that were unable to use these
737 MAX planes while they were grounded, and airline customers, and you admit that your employees misled regulators about the safety
of the 737 MAX, you cooperate with any ongoing or future investigations and prosecutions,
you report any evidence or allegation of fraud being committed by any Boeing employee or agent,
and a few other things, you will be free
of any charges at the end of this three-year term. Fast forward to this year when the emergency exit
door blew off a 737 plane mid-flight. The DOJ opens a new investigation. Since then, multiple
whistleblowers have come forward raising concerns, and not only concerns, but also said that when they would raise these concerns to Boeing
management, Boeing wouldn't do anything about it and instead would retaliate against those
employees. These events led to the DOJ's determination that Boeing had breached the
terms of its original DPA and was now open to prosecution. But instead of prosecuting,
as many of the crash victims'
families wanted, the DOJ offered a plea deal. And that is the deal that Boeing said last night it
was going to accept. Under the terms of this new plea deal, Boeing will plead guilty to one count
of criminal conspiracy to defraud the government, which it didn't have to do under the DPA.
Boeing will have to pay an additional fine of $243 million, again be subject to that independent monitor to oversee the
company's safety and quality procedures for the next three years, and has to invest at least $455
million into its compliance and safety programs. Now, the one thing I want to make clear, this deal
does not protect Boeing from liability stemming from the exit door situation, despite that being the event that led to this investigation and plea deal.
Remember, the original DPA was conditional on Boeing complying with its terms. If it didn't,
it was open to prosecution of the charges at the center of that DPA, which the Alaska Airlines
incident was not a part of, hadn't taken place yet. The Alaska Airlines door incident is merely what led to the new investigation and the
determination of the breach of the DPA, but it doesn't change the charges at issue in the original
DPA. So this plea deal only covers wrongdoing by Boeing involving the 2018 and 2019 crashes.
It doesn't give Boeing immunity for any other incident, including the
Alaska Airlines door incident. From here, the Justice Department will file the written plea
agreement, which it says it expects to do by July 19th. At that point, the judge overseeing the case
will have to accept or reject the agreement. If the judge accepts the agreement, that's the end of it.
But if the judge rejects the agreement, then Boeing and the DOJ will have to go back to negotiations, try to reach a deal that is acceptable to the judge. And if they can't
reach an agreement that the judge accepts, then the DOJ could decide to move forward
with prosecution. That is where that situation stands. Again, Boeing has not pled guilty yet.
It just says that it intends to do so. And then from there, court still has to accept the plea
deal. So there's still quite a few things that need to happen before that's all said and done.
That is what I have for you today. Thank you so much for being here.
Have a great night and I will talk to you tomorrow.