September 9, 2024: Hunter Biden's Guilty Plea, Trump's Sentencing Postponed, RFK Jr. Comes Off More Ballot, Congressional Afghanistan Withdrawal Report, Bryan Kohberger's Murder Case Moved, and More.
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Welcome back to Unbiased. Today is Monday, September 9th, and this is your daily news rundown. If you are watching this on YouTube, you'll notice today's episode is audio only. So let's start with some important administrative things. You'll also probably notice the audio sounds a little bit different today. You may hear some background noise. I'm going to start with some important administrative things.

I am traveling for work. I'm speaking at a really exciting conference tomorrow in Utah. But just because of the travels, because of where I have to record, because of my equipment, things are just a little off today. Tomorrow is the actual conference where I will be speaking. So there will be no episode tomorrow. Don't panic when you don't see an episode released tomorrow. I'll be back with you on Wednesday.

Also, due to my travel, today's news cycle ended a little earlier than usual, so any noteworthy stories that broke after 1.30pm ET today will be covered on Wednesday. As far as the format of today's episode, we'll start with a weekend recap, we'll then do a whole bunch of

quick hitters, and we will finish with our daily critical thinking segment. So without further ado, let's get into today's stories. And I just want to say thank you again for bearing with me with this audio. It's only one day, thankfully. So let's start by recapping some stories that broke since we last spoke. First, Hunter Biden's plea. Things took a turn after I recorded Thursday's episode, so let's run through it.

Hunter Biden's trial related to his federal tax charges was supposed to start Thursday with jury selection. But just as jury selection was set to begin, Hunter and his attorneys proposed what's called an Alford plea. Now, an Alford plea is a special type of plea which basically allows a defendant to maintain his innocence while also acknowledging that the prosecution has enough evidence to obtain a guilty conviction. Because the plea is

came at such an unexpected time though the judge was essentially like okay look let's take a break we'll come back at 2 p.m i need to figure out what to do here and that is where i left off on thursday's podcast so the court recesses they all come back at 2 p.m and the judge says i need more time to review this proposal because an alfred plea isn't a common plea usually a defendant will either enter a straightforward guilty plea a straightforward plea of not guilty or a

plea of neither innocent nor guilty. A no contest plea is different than an Alford plea and that an Alford plea is a way to maintain your innocence, but also admit that the prosecution can prove your charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

So anyway, the offered plea is proposed. The court recesses. They all come back together. The judge says, I still need more time. Let's come back tomorrow. At this point, Hunter and his attorneys decide to change the plea to a straightforward guilty plea. And from here, the judge goes ahead and asks Hunter all of the usual questions, those being that he understands what he's pleading guilty to, that he wasn't coerced in any way to do so, et cetera, et cetera. And that was it. The

His attorneys said that the unexpected plea was because he did not want to go through another public trial and expose more of his vulnerabilities and have it negatively impact his family. Because remember, these charges stemmed from his failure to pay $1.4 million in federal taxes, but a large part of the trial was going to surround how he made his money and what he spent his money on, most notably money.

spending money on drugs, escorts, girlfriends, you know, luxury hotels, exotic cars, etc., etc., making money from his foreign business dealings. All of this is alleged in the indictment, by the way. That's how we know that it was going to come out at trial.

Now, the question I've received most is can President Biden pardon him? Yes, legally speaking, he can. President Biden has said he wouldn't do so if the situation arose, but he can if he chooses to. So that's the deal with Hunter's plea. The trial will not go forward now that he's officially pled guilty and he'll receive his sentence on December 16th. He

He faces up to 17 years in prison and a fine up to $1.4 million, but I will say that legally and judicially speaking, a 17-year sentence is highly, highly, highly, highly unlikely.

Moving on to another sentencing update from Friday, Donald Trump's sentencing date in his hush money case has been postponed to November 26th. The ruling from Judge Marchand came after Trump asked him to postpone the sentencing date until after the election.

Judge Marchand wrote in Friday's order, quote, Notably, had defendant be sentenced on July 11th, 2024, as originally scheduled, there would, of course, have been no cause for delay. However, on July 1st, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States rendered a historic and intervening decision in Trump versus United States.

This matter is one that stands alone in a unique place in this nation's history, and this court has presided over it since its inception, from arraignment to jury verdict and a plentitude of motions and other matters in between. Unfortunately, we are now at a place in time that is fraught with complexities,

rendering the requirements of a sentencing hearing, should one be necessary, difficult to execute. Thus, the decision on the motion and the imposition of sentence will be adjourned to avoid any appearance, however unwarranted, that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching presidential election in which the defendant is a candidate. End quote. So again, that sentencing will now be on November 26th.

Moving on to another story that broke Friday, which is that two appeals courts, one in Michigan and another in North Carolina, ruled that RFK Jr. can be taken off the state ballots. We spoke last Wednesday about a ruling out of Michigan, which said Kennedy could not be removed from the state ballot due to state election law. And about a week before that, North Carolina election authorities said he had to stay on the ballot there as well. But just two days after the ruling out of Michigan, the respective appeals courts in both of those states

overturned those decisions. So let's talk about Michigan first. And look, I don't want to be the one to say, you know, I said so. But if you listened to Wednesday's episode, you heard me talk about how the election law that the Michigan judge relied on in denying Kennedy's withdrawal was, it was section 686A4. But it was questionable when it comes to, or it is questionable when it comes to who it applies to and whether it applies to Kennedy. I mentioned that that specific provision

provision of the state election law doesn't seem to apply to federal candidates, only state candidates. And that's essentially what the appellate panel said in overturning the judge's ruling. Friday's appellate ruling reads in part, quote,

In light of the plain and unambiguous language of the statute, we agree. The text of the statute does not mention any federal offices at all. And this is significant because the prohibition against withdrawing applies to candidates so nominated. When read in context, it is apparent that the candidates so nominated are those nominated by the minor political party for all state office.

End quote. The ruling then continues and says, quote,

So that was Michigan, and consistent with that ruling, Kennedy will now be taken off Michigan's ballot, unless, of course, the Michigan Elections Board appeals to the state Supreme Court. Now on to North Carolina. The appellate court in North Carolina did not go into detail very much at all. They basically just directed the state elections board to distribute ballots without Kennedy's name on it. However, North Carolina's election board has appealed the case to the state Supreme Court, so we'll see what the state Supreme Court decides to do with it.

Of the states that Kennedy has sought withdrawal from, Wisconsin is currently the only state prohibiting his withdrawal. And there is a hearing on Wednesday in Wisconsin on that issue, so we'll see what happens there.

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Moving on to quick hitters and due to the nature of today's episode and me having to cram a bunch of stories into quick hitters, each quick hitter will be just like a little bit longer than we're typically used to, but let's get into it.

Congress is back in session today for the first time in more than a month. On the docket is avoiding a government shutdown since government funding is set to expire at the end of this month on September 30th. House Republicans are expected to make an opening offer at the Rules Committee meeting this afternoon, which consists of an extension of funds until March 28th, also known as a continuing resolution, and a provision requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.

Some House Democrats say they are opposed to a six-month continuing resolution, saying it would hurt veterans, the military, disaster assistance, and domestic investments. However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday that Senate Democrats support a continuing resolution, but don't support, quote, poison pills or Republican extremism, end quote, presumably hinting at the proof of citizenship requirement. So we'll see what happens there.

Speaking of Congress, House Republicans released the results of a three-year investigation into the handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The report, which I have linked for you in the sources section of this episode, blames the White House, its National Security Council, and the State Department for being slow to listen to military generals who warned that the security situation would deteriorate quickly once

once U.S. troops began to leave. The report reads in part, quote, "Our investigation reveals the Biden-Harris administration had the information and opportunity to take necessary steps to plan for the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government so we could safely evacuate U.S. personnel, American citizens, green card holders, and our brave Afghan allies."

End quote.

Moving on, on Saturday, a man opened fire on I-75 in Kentucky, injuring five people and leading to a manhunt. 32-year-old Joseph Couch has been on the run since Saturday, where he fired into 12 cars on the north and southbound lanes of I-75 in Laurel County, Kentucky. Authorities said Sunday they believe Couch is still in the wooded area near where his AR-15, ammunition, car, and possibly phone were found.

Safety concerns prompted multiple school districts and local private schools to cancel classes today. Now moving on to some trials, starting with Google. Google has yet another trial beginning today, this time over anti-competitive practices when it comes to online advertising.

We've talked about the search engine antitrust cases, but this one's a little bit different in that the DOJ is accusing Google of engaging in a complex scheme to dominate website advertising tools through acquisitions, restrictions on how customers can use its tools, and alleged manipulation of ad auctions.

Google denies the allegations, saying the DOJ misconstrues lawful efforts to develop its technology and overlooks how the digital advertising market has shifted to apps and connected TV, where Google says it faces stiff competition.

Speaking of federal trials, the federal trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in connection with the 2023 death of Tyree Nichols starts today. If you're interested in hearing the facts behind that case, I have an episode from 2023 where I basically walk through all of the body cam footage from the initial traffic stop to when Nichols ran to when he was beat by officers all the way to when the ambulance shows up.

That is my January 30th, 2023 episode. It is linked in the sources section of this episode in the quick hitters section. And now onto a state trial.

An Idaho judge ruled today to move the upcoming murder trial of Brian Koberger to a different county due to concerns that the local community in Latah County is prejudiced against him. Koberger is accused of murdering four college students. So as a defendant, you can request a change in venue if you feel you won't receive a fair trial. Because remember, the federal constitution and state constitutions afford us the right to a fair trial.

In ruling in Koberger's favor today, the judge wrote, "...considering the undisputed evidence presented by the defense, the extreme nature of the news coverage in this case, and the smaller population in Latah County, the defense has met the rather low standard of demonstrating reasonable likelihood that prejudicial news coverage will compromise a fair trial in Latah County." It is unclear what county the case will be moved to at this point.

And moving on to a completely unrelated story when it comes to trials, Wynn Resorts has agreed to pay the SEC $130 million for accepting funds from unlicensed money-transmitting businesses over the years. In other words, unlicensed money agents would transfer money to the casino from foreign bank accounts for use by patrons in a Wynn casino who couldn't otherwise access cash in the United States.

The agreement between the SEC and Wynn ends a six-year investigation, which began in 2014.

In an update to the shooting investigation at Apalachee High School, we have found out that the shooter's mom called the school about 20 minutes before the shooting took place to warn of a, quote, extreme emergency, end quote. Marcy Gray received a text message from her son that read, I'm sorry, mom. And upon receiving that text, she quickly called the school and spoke to the school counselor for roughly 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, school administrators went to the classroom where Colt Gray was supposed to be, but by the time they got there, he had already left class, presumably to go retrieve his gun. After Gray's mother spoke to the school, she got in her car to start the 200-mile drive to Winder, but it was too late by the time she got there.

And finally, as the last quick hitter, don't forget that the first and potentially only debate between Trump and Harris will be tomorrow night at 9 p.m. Eastern time. That is Tuesday night, 9 p.m. Eastern time. The debate will take place in Philadelphia and it can be watched live on ABC, ABC News Live, Fox News, CNN, as well as other networks.

Now finishing off with the daily critical thinking segment for today's segment, let's go back to the story about Kennedy. More broadly though, the ability for presidential candidates to withdraw from state ballots. For purposes of forming your own opinion on this, I want you to forget any theories you've heard about why Kennedy is being denied the ability to withdraw. I want you to think about this completely on your own for this exercise.

There are multiple layers to this questioning, so we'll start in the most general sense. Should candidates have deadlines in which they have to withdraw by? Why or why not? If you answer yes, that deadlines should exist, should that deadline be set by the states or on a federal level? And why?

The next question I want to pose is, is your answer reason dependent? Meaning, if a candidate wants to withdraw in order to not take any votes away from another candidate, is your answer different than if a candidate wants to withdraw because of, say, health reasons? Why does your answer change or not change?

And finally, the third set of questions is this: Does it matter if the candidate is a major party candidate or minor party candidate? And then of course, why or why not? So to recap, should there be a deadline for a candidate to withdraw? And if so, should this deadline be set by the states or the federal government? Does the candidate's reason for withdrawing affect your answer? And does it matter if the candidate is a major or minor party candidate?

After you answer each of those questions, ask yourself why that's your answer. Because ultimately asking ourselves why allows us to dig a little bit deeper, right? We can actually form a deep-rooted opinion rather than just a surface-level opinion. So

So that is what I have for you today. Thank you so, so, so much for being here today. I know the audio may have been a little tough to deal with. We'll see what I can do after the fact in editing, try to remove any background noise. But thank you so much for bearing with me for this audio only episode. I will be back with you on Wednesday. Have a great Tuesday. I'm going to hope that I do fantastic at the speaking engagement. Wish me luck. I'll talk to you on Wednesday.

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