September 16, 2024: What You Need to Know About the Second Assassination Attempt on Trump, Plus TikTok Heads to Court, IRS Whistleblowers Sue Hunter Biden's Attorney for $20M, and More.
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Welcome back to Unbiased, your favorite source of unbiased news and legal analysis. Welcome back to Unbiased. Today is Monday, September 16th, and this is your daily news rundown. A couple of pretty important things before we get into today's episode. First, this week, here's what this week will look like as far as episodes go. Normal audio and video episodes today and tomorrow. Wednesday will be audio only and

and there will be no episode on Thursday. That means that the Rumor Has It segment that we all know and love that's usually on Thursdays will be Wednesday this week instead. Moving on to next week, so the week of September 23rd, the podcast will be going down to two days a week for a few weeks, back to its roots.

I know a lot of you just started listening recently within the last few months, but there was a time not too long ago that this podcast was only twice a week. So we're going to go back to that, but only temporarily. Trust me when I tell you, I don't, you know, I don't want to do this just as much as you don't want me to do this, but it was either go down to two days a week or just take the next few weeks off completely.

And I would much rather just go down to two days a week, which I'm sure you would rather I do as well. So again, this week, today and tomorrow are normal episodes, audio and video. Wednesday will be audio only, and there will be no episode on Thursday of this week. Then starting next week, episodes will come out on Tuesdays and Thursdays, same time as usual, around 5 p.m. Eastern time. And it'll be that way for the next few weeks. And then we'll get back

to four days a week towards the end of October and resume regularly scheduled programming. I'll continue to repeat this as the weeks go on just so we're all on the same page, but I did want to start giving you that heads up today so that you were aware. As far as the

format of today's episode. Our main story today will be the second assassination attempt on former President Trump. We'll then go over a bunch of quick hitters and we will finish with that daily critical thinking segment that we all love. So now without further ado, let's get into today's stories.

Starting with the biggest news from this weekend, which was that former President Trump's Secret Service prevented what seems like another assassination attempt. Here's what happened. Sunday afternoon, around 1.30 p.m. Eastern Time, Trump was golfing on his golf course in West Palm Beach. While he's golfing, he has Secret Service agents that are typically dressed in golf clothes that recognize

ride ahead of him and behind him. So while he was moving between holes five and six, Secret Service agents were about 300 to 500 yards ahead of him when one agent spotted a rifle barrel sticking out of the tree line. The agent then proceeded to shoot four to six rounds at the man in the bushes. The man ran and fled to his car. A witness who happened to be in the vicinity saw the man run from the bushes and was able to actually take a

picture of the suspect's car and license plate, which is ultimately what led to the suspect's apprehension about 50 miles north of the golf course on the highway.

Investigators are still trying to figure out whether the suspect actually fired the gun because there were three shell casings found on the scene. When the man ran, he left all of his belongings behind. So law enforcement found the loaded SKS-style semi-automatic rifle with a scope,

a GoPro, which was seemingly going to be used to film, two backpacks, one of which had ceramic tiles in it to mimic a bulletproof vest, and a black plastic bag of food. The man has since been identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley-Ruth.

who recently within the last few years moved to Hawaii, but spent most of his life in North Carolina. He does have quite a criminal record dating back to the 90s when he was first charged with writing bad checks, though that charge was later dismissed. However, his charges did get a bit more serious.

Right.

Ruth is registered as an unaffiliated voter. He voted for Trump in 2016 and voted Democrat in the most recent 2024 North Carolina primary. His ex-account, which has now been suspended, had many posts about Trump, including one in 2020 that read, quote,

Not sure if that's supposed to say disappointed, but it says disappointment. And,

End quote. Then, more recently, following the assassination attempt on Trump in July, Ruth wrote in a post directed at Harris on X, quote, You and Biden should visit the injured people in the hospital from the Trump rally and attend the funeral of the murdered fireman. Trump will never do anything for them. End quote.

As far as motive goes, we don't really have a clear answer from law enforcement right now, but we do know that Ruth was very passionate about supporting Ukraine. And we also know that some Republicans, including Trump, have been vocal about the amount of aid that the United States has provided Ukraine. At one point, Ruth actually went to Ukraine to join the war, but he was turned down. In a 2022 Newsweek Romania article, Ruth was quoted saying, quote,

End quote. End quote.

He was also in contact with a CBS News senior foreign correspondent as one of her sources for what was happening in Ukraine. So she said that the last time that they had spoke was in November of 2023. So, you know, these are just a couple of examples of his support Ukraine.

for Ukraine, but definitely very, very passionate about the matter. So that certainly could have at least in part, you know, played a role for in his actions on Sunday. But again, we don't have clear cut answers from law enforcement at this time.

The criminal complaint was released today following Ruth's first court appearance. So we do know that he's been charged with two federal crimes, one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

The first charge has a maximum penalty of 15 years, a $250,000 fine, and three years supervised release. The second charge has a maximum penalty of five years, a $250,000 fine, and three years supervised release. So in total, he faces a max sentence of

20 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, and six years supervised release. Now, he very well could face more charges, but those are the only two charges he is facing as of now. We know from the criminal complaint that law enforcement has probable cause to believe that the rifle used was transported through interstate or foreign commerce,

and that the license plate on his car was registered to a 2012 white Ford truck that's been reported stolen. So we'll see if either of those circumstances lead to more charges. But as I said, only those two charges have been brought as of now.

We also know from that criminal complaint that Ruth may have been hiding out in the bushes along the golf course for about 12 hours. Basically, law enforcement tracked a WhatsApp number that Ruth claimed as his own in a July Facebook post and

Back to T-Mobile, agents then requested T-Mobile provide information pertaining to Ruth's phone usage, and those records showed that his phone was located in the vicinity of the area along the tree line from 1.59 a.m. until 1.31 p.m. on September 15th.

So those are the facts that we know at this point. If you're interested in reading that criminal complaint, I do of course have it linked for you in the sources section of this episode, which you can find in the podcast episode description or by going to jordanismylawyer.com.

As you guys know, I have been abroad for a few weeks now, but I'm getting ready to head home and let me tell you, I cannot wait to get back on my routine. I told you guys a couple of weeks ago that I already have my HelloFresh meals scheduled to be delivered because I'm not messing around once I get back. I just want my meals to show up on my doorstep without having to even think about it.

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Now on to some quick hitters. Disney and DirecTV announced a preliminary agreement on a new deal that will restore channels like ESPN, ABC, FX, Disney Channel, and other Disney networks to the DirecTV lineup after a two-week blackout.

DirecTV had previously complained that Disney was asking for an exorbitant price increase for its networks, eventually leading DirecTV to file a formal complaint against Disney with the FCC, letting Disney fail to engage in good faith negotiations. However, the announcement of a preliminary agreement means the dispute is nearing its end.

Three U.S. citizens, two Spaniard citizens, and a Czech national were detained in Venezuela this weekend on suspicion of plotting to destabilize Venezuela and kill Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro. The interior minister of Venezuela said the U.S. citizens arrested were CIA agents. However, the State Department here in the United States said, quote, any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false.

The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela. End quote.

SpaceX can finally say it completed the first ever commercial spacewalk after the capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. The first private spacewalk took place while orbiting nearly 460 miles above Earth, which is higher than both the ISS and Hubble Space Telescope. Until now, all spacewalks were done by professional astronauts.

TikTok and its parent company ByteDance headed to court this morning to fight the recent law that seeks to force its sale. TikTok and ByteDance argue that the law violates users' First Amendment rights and that the government failed to provide sufficient proof of the app posing a security threat.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is the court that heard oral arguments today, and once the court renders its decision, that is when the losing party can and likely will appeal this case to the Supreme Court.

Oregon's DMV acknowledged that it mistakenly registered at least 306 non-citizens as voters since 2021. A spokesperson for the state's Department of Transportation says the mistake occurred in part because Oregon has allowed non-citizens to obtain driver's licenses since 2019, and when, quote, a DMV employee enters information about a person seeking a driver's license or state ID, they can incorrectly code the driver's license.

End quote. The same spokesperson said that of the 306 non-citizens registered to vote, only two have cast a vote in any election since 2021.

Federal authorities arrested and charged two New York Fire Department chiefs in a corruption scheme, alleging that the two chiefs took at least $190,000 in bribes to expedite FDNY building inspections. According to the indictment, the two men are accused of secretly partnering with a co-conspirator to start a fire safety company, and businesses would then pay the company to speed up their building inspections further.

with the fire department. The fire chiefs would allegedly refer customers to the company using their jobs to pull strings and then get a kickback from that company.

Walgreens has agreed to pay $106 million to settle lawsuits accusing it of fraudulently billing government health programs like Medicare and Medicaid for prescriptions that were never dispensed. So three whistleblowers alleged that from 2009 to 2020, Walgreens billed Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health programs for prescriptions that pharmacists

processed, but patients never picked up. Then instead of canceling those claims, Walgreens would allegedly restock and resell the drugs, effectively receiving a payment twice. Walgreens has said that the double billing was not intentional and blamed the billing on a software error.

Two IRS whistleblowers have filed a $20 million defamation lawsuit against Hunter Biden's attorney. The whistleblowers accused the attorney of acting with clear malice when suggesting that the agents illegally leaked Hunter Biden's private tax information.

These two whistleblowers, Shapley and Ziegler, first entered the spotlight when they testified to Congress about concerns over Hunter Biden receiving preferential treatment in the DOJ's investigation into Hunter Biden. Shapley and Ziegler maintained that their actions were driven by a commitment to expose what they believe to be conflicts of interest for

from the DOJ. That concludes Quick Hitters. Let's now move into critical thinking. For today's critical thinking segment, I actually want to play a clip of an interview of J.D. Vance on CNN. So Dana Bash spoke with J.D. Vance about the Haitian immigrant claims, specifically those claims about Haitian immigrants eating pet dogs and cats.

in Springfield, Ohio. In total, the interview was about 17 minutes long and it was pretty contentious at times, but I'm actually going to splice it up and play the relevant portions of the interview for this segment. So the clip I'm going to play is about five minutes long. Of course, if you do want to watch the whole interview, I do have it linked for you, but I want you to really listen to this five minute clip here and listen to both sides with an open mind because, you know,

We have to have an open mind for critical thinking. So here's the clip. Now is Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance, who represents Ohio in the U.S. Senate. Thank you for being here, sir.

So the mayor of Springfield, Ohio, Rob Rue, said, quote, all these federal politicians that have negatively spun our city, they need to know they're hurting our city. And it was their words that did it. Before Donald Trump talked about eating dogs and cats on a debate stage, it was you, Senator, who first elevated this baseless rumor. These are your constituents. So why are you putting them at risk?

by continuing to spread claims about Haitian immigrants, despite officials in your state saying that there's no evidence and pleading for you to stop.

Well, Dana, first of all, what's putting the residents of Springfield at risk, which was a town completely ignored by the American media until Donald Trump and I started surfacing some of these concerns, is that they can't afford housing. They can't afford health care. The schools have been overwhelmed. The hospitals have been overwhelmed. And they're overwhelmed because Kamala Harris allowed 20,000 Haitian migrants to get dropped into a small Ohio town of about 40,000 people. And it's completely overwhelmed the services. Now, you asked,

Why have I talked about some of the things that I've been talking about? Let me just say this. My constituents have brought approximately a dozen separate concerns to me. Ten of them are verifiable and confirmable, and a couple of them I talk about because my constituents absolutely

are telling me firsthand that they're seeing these things. So I have two options, Dana. I could ignore them, which is what the American media has done for years to this community, or I can actually talk about what people are telling me. And of course, many of the things that the media says are completely baseless have since been confirmed. For example, I was told, Dana, by the American media, that it was baseless that migrants were

capturing the geese from the local park pond and eating them. And yet there are 911 calls from well before this ever became a viral sensation of people complaining about that exact thing happening. So my attitude is listen to my constituents,

Sometimes they're going to say things that people don't like, but they're saying things that people don't like because their town has been overwhelmed. And it's my job to try to fight for them and to protect them. Kamala Harris opened the border and now these people are suffering. That's what I'm focused on, Dana. Senator, I have to go through several things that you just said. First of all, the Clark County Sheriff and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said

reviewed 11 months of 911 calls. They only identified two instances of people alleging Haitians were taking geese out of parks. They found zero evidence to substantiate those claims. Also, other evidence that you have talked about, even you've retweeted alleged evidence, are unsourced

social media videos from a different city, apparently no connection to Haitians. And this is from a conservative activist who offered a $5,000 reward for such things. And then going just back to the schools and the hospitals and so forth being overwhelmed. Nobody is disputing that the town of Springfield, Ohio needs help

But you're not just a bystander. You're the senator from Ohio. So instead of saying things that are wrong and actually causing the hospitals, the schools, the government buildings to be evacuated because of bomb threats, because of the cats and dogs thing, why not actually...

be constructive in helping to better integrate them into the community because there are a lot of employers there who say that the Haitian workers are helping fill jobs that they need desperately filled.

Dana, first of all, let me just respond to a couple of things that you said. But I want to start with something you said, which I think is frankly disgusting and is more appropriate for a Democratic propagandist than it is for an American journalist. There is nothing that I have said that has led to threats against these hospitals, these hospitals, the bomb threats and so forth. It's disgusting. The violence is disgusting. We condemn it. We condemn all violence. Senator, this happened after.

After you and President Trump were on the debate stage, said that cats and dogs were being eaten. You asked a question, Dana, and I'm going to go ahead and answer it. What we have said is that this town has suffered terribly under the policies of Kamala Harris. Now, you just accused me of inciting violence against the community when all that I've done is abuse.

surface the complaints of my constituents, people who are suffering because of Kamala Harris's policies? Are we not allowed to talk about these problems because some psychopaths are threatening violence? We can condemn the violence on the one hand, but also talk about the terrible consequences

of Kamala Harris's open border, on the other hand. Now, let me just fact check a couple of other things that you said, Dana, because it's important. You said that all of these migrants are in the country legally. They're in the country through what's called temporary protective status. That is when Kamala Harris waved the magic amnesties that are happening in Springfield. And we should be able to do both those things simultaneously, Dana. It's once and for all.

You, again, started this in part by saying that at which Donald Trump repeated on the debate stage that he didn't say anything about the policies that you're talking about. He just said Haitians are eating dogs and cats. Can you affirmatively say now that that is a rumor that has no base basis with evidence?

Dana, the evidence is the firsthand account of my constituents who are telling me that this happened. And by the way, I've been trying to talk about the problems in Springfield for months and the American media ignored it. There was a congressional hearing just last week of angel moms who lost children because Kamala Harris let criminal migrants into this country who then murdered their children. The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes.

If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do, Dana, because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast. You had one interview with her. You talk about pushing back against me, Dana. You didn't push back against the fact that she cast the deciding vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which is why a lot of Americans can't afford food and housing. You just said that you're creating a story. We ought to be talking about public policy.

Sorry, you just said that you're creating the story. What's that, Dana? You just said that this is a story that you created. Yes.

So the eating dogs thing is not- We are creating, we are, Dana, it comes from firsthand accounts from my constituents. I say that we're creating a story, meaning we're creating the American media focusing on it. I didn't create 20,000 illegal migrants coming into Springfield thanks to Kamala Harris's policies. Her policies did that. But yes, we created the actual focus that allowed the American media to talk about this story and the suffering caused by Kamala Harris's policies.

Now, having heard that, what are your thoughts? I want you to first put your thoughts and feelings about J.D. Vance, Dana Bash, and CNN generally aside. I want you to think about this on your own. Think about what was said. And because I like to sort of give you this launching pad when it comes to thinking about these things from both sides, here are some questions for you to consider. One, how are you interpreting that interview? Just from a general perspective, what are your general thoughts?

Then to get a little more specific, what do you think about the claims about the Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, after hearing the fact checking from Dana Bash and what Vance had to say about the accounts from his constituents? What are your thoughts there?

And then next, what is your interpretation of Vance's statement about quote unquote creating stories or as he clarified, creating the American media focusing on it? How do you interpret that? What does that mean to you? And feel free to rewind and listen, you know, listen to that clip as many times as you need to to get a full grasp.

Again, that's just a launching pad, just some ideas. But as always, I implore you to think about these things from all avenues. Think about these things with an open mind from both sides. And like I said, if you're interested in watching that full interview, I do have it linked for you in the sources section. That is what I have for you today. Thank you so much for being here. Have a fantastic night and I will talk to you tomorrow.

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