The felony gun trial of Hunter Biden ramps up as members of the Biden inner circle testify, and a witness confirms that his laptop was not tampered with. They may be hoping that it will take little to get a hung jury, maybe even to get a jury to nullify the evidence and the crimes in this case.

Plus, the Trump case in Georgia is put on hold indefinitely.

I'm Daily Wire Editor and Chief John Bickley with guest host Emily Jashinsky, DC Correspondent at Unheard. It's Thursday, June sixth, the 80th anniversary of D-Day, and this is Morning Wire. Political insiders on both sides of the aisle are privately raising concerns about President Biden's mental fitness.

And New York Governor Cathy Hochul makes a complete U-turn on congestion pricing for vehicles in Manhattan.

Hardworking Yorkers are getting hammered on costs, and they, and the economic vitality of our city must be protected.

Thanks for waking up with Morning Wires. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

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The federal trial of Hunter Biden continues this week as former members of the Biden Inner Circle testified Wednesday.

Here are the latest from the courtroom is Daily Wire senior editor, Kabbit Phillips. Hey, Kabbit. So before we get to the Hunter trial, we have a a major update in another politically charged case that's Trump's Georgia election interference case. What did the Georgia Appeals Court rule yesterday?

Yeah, a major development here. So the appeals court has officially suspended the trial pending a panel of Judges deciding whether the district Attorney bringing the case, Fannie Willis, should be disqualified. Arguments for that are set right now for October fourth, and then that panel has until March of next year to rule, though it's possible they may do so sooner. We just don't know right now.

But it's now very It's unlikely that the Georgia Trump case will take place before the November election. Right.

Highly unlikely.

Now, as to the Hunter case in Delaware, what have we seen so far?

Yeah. So first, to recap, the trial centers on whether Hunter Biden illegally purchased a handgun back in 2018 and lied on a federal background check when he claimed that he was not actively using drugs. Biden's defense team began their opening statements by casting doubt on the legitimacy of the forms he filled out and disputing the notion that he was actively addicted to crack cocaine at the time. But the first witness called to the stand was FBI agent Erica Jensen, who introduced text messages, photos, and videos showing Hunter arranging the purchase of drugs and then seemingly using them in the days leading up to that purchase. Jensen also testified that Biden had with drawn more than $150,000 in cash during just the three-month span he purchased that gun. Much of that money we know was used for drugs and prostitutes. Importantly, she confirmed once and for all the legitimacy of the infamous Hunter Biden laptop.

Right now, That laptop itself has been the center of quite a bit of controversy over the years.

Yes, it has. Most folks will remember the eve of the 2020 election when the New York Post first published the contents of that laptop, which Hunter had left at a computer repair shop in Delaware. Almost immediately Immediately, the story was labeled Misinformation by the Biden campaign, and social media platforms in turn, including Twitter, went so far as blocking the story from appearing on their sites altogether. Within days of it breaking, more than 50 former senior intelligence officials signed a letter saying The Laptop story had, All the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation, and that the Kremlin was, Trying to influence how Americans voted. It's worth noting, President Biden himself repeated that claim when asked about the laptop during a debate just before election day.

There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what this he's accusing me of is a Russian plant. You mean the laptop is now another Russia, Russia, Russia hoax?

You got it.

That's exactly what- Is this the way you This is where he's going.

Here he is again making that same claim just four days before the election.

We have four days left, and all of a sudden, there's a laptop. There's overwhelming evidence from the intelligence community that the Russians are engaged.

But as the contents of the laptop spread and no evidence of Russian involvement could be found, Democrats tried a different approach, saying that it had been tampered with. But speaking from the stand of this week, FBI agent Jensen confirmed once more there was no evidence of manipulation legislation and that it was totally authentic. Again, the contents of that laptop include pictures and videos of Hunter using drugs, and even texts sent the month of the gun purchase where Hunter tells his then-girlfriend that he was in a car smoking crack. That will all play a central role in the prosecution's case.

I'm sure it will. So yet more confirmation of a story the White House denied. Now, what have we learned about the jury in this case?

Well, for obvious reasons, Biden's defense team were looking for jurors more likely to be sympathetic to someone struggling with addiction. They did find a number who appeared to fit the bill. Four of the 12 jurors had family members who dealt with drug or alcohol addiction, while a number of others had close friends who died from drug or alcohol abuse. The goal of Hunter's Defense team will be convincing those jurors that Biden was fighting to overcome his drug addiction, going in and out of rehab, and that he legitimately believed he was no longer an addict when he purchased the gun, and also that he never intended to use the gun illegally. To that point, they've argued so far that he bought the gun out of a desire to find a productive hobby and planned to spend time at the shooting range to help him stay away from drugs. But again, prosecutors have already disputed that line of defense.

Tell us what they're arguing.

On Wednesday, they called Biden's ex-girlfriend Zoe Kesten to the stand. Kesten testified that throughout their relationship, from December of 2017 to October of 2018, that's when Hunter bought the gun, she witnessed him smoking crack, quote, every 20 minutes, except when he slept. She also said he never denied being a drug addict during their relationship, which, again, rebutts his lawyer's claims that he viewed himself as sober when he filled out that background check.

All right, well, day three in the books of a case I'm sure the White House wishes were not taking place right now. Kepit, thanks for reporting.

Anytime.

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Fresh concerns are arising about Joe Biden's age and mental fitness in the wake of a print interview with Time magazine and a damning report in the Wall Street Journal, in which even Democrats expressed grave concern with Biden's abilities.

President Biden attempted to deflect concerns about his age in the exchange with time, but the journal, citing over 40 officials who have witnessed the President in the political trenches, offered an image of a diminished Commander-in-Chief. Here to discuss these revelations is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus. Hey, Dave. So let's start with this Wall Street Journal report, 40 officials cited there. Just how bad is it for the President?

Morning, John. Right Off the bat, the journal article cites Democrats, not Republicans, but Democrats, who met with Biden back in January as saying he, quote, read from notes to make obvious points, paused for extended periods, and sometimes closed his eyes for so long that some in the room wondered whether he had tuned out, end quote. This is, of course, at odds with statements from myriad Biden officials who claim they can't keep up with him mentally, and all would suggest that he sits around the oval office playing multiple games of speed chest while deciphering linear A. According to the article, the White House took great interest in the interviews, going so far as to have some Democrats call the journal back to express Biden's strengths as well. That's a very aggressive move from the comms shop and shows just how seriously the administration and the campaign take this issue. Yeah, indeed.

Now, there was also this interview that appeared in Time magazine that's raised a lot of eyebrows. The President made a number of inaccurate statements some of which time fact-checked him on afterward. Then there were a lot of garbled answers.

Yeah, even though time noted that it had lightly edited the transcript to make it more clear. We should also note there was another moment that was perhaps a little more playful than alarming. But when Biden was specifically asked about the age issue, which he is at every turn now, he started with his tried, true, and well-worn line, Just watch me, but then said to one of the reporters, I can take you, too, apparently referring to fistfight or something. Now, in fairness, those in the room described it as a joke, but it came off, at least on the printed page, as somewhat bizarre. On CNN, Jake Tapper did ask the reporter in question if, in fact, Biden could take him, to which he replied, No comment.

Probably a good choice. The President's allies have come to his defense claiming that the journal's article relied too heavily on Republicans and was biased. Did they have evidence to back up those claims?

I mean, once again, it down to mostly anecdotal evidence about their own experiences with the President. Look, voters don't seem to be buying into these protestations of the fecundity of Biden's intellect. Fox News has a power ranking that aggregates polling to see who's winning on specific issues. On the issue of age, Trump is a staggering plus 21 against Biden. It's the biggest lead either candidate has on any issue, including even Trump's massive lead over Biden on immigration.

Is there anything that Biden and his campaign can actually do to reverse the trend on public opinion about his ability to do the job, or is it just baked in at this point?

There's been an elasticity to this issue over the past year, where concerns will mount and swell over Biden looking confused or trying to shake hands when there's nobody there. But then he does something like the State of the Union address, gets through it, looks okay, and the issue dies down a bit. This was almost certainly a factor in the Biden camp's unprecedented decision to call for a debate three weeks from now before either Trump or Biden are officially the nominee. They want to get him through the debate to buy a month or so until the convention, get through that, buy another month or so, and the next thing you know, it's November. One thing is certain, Joe Biden says he wants the voters to watch him, and they absolutely will be.

Yeah, and one gets the sense that Trump can't wait to get on stage with him. One does. Dave, thanks for joining us.

Thanks for having me.

New York Governor Cathy Hochul makes a surprising announcement, refusing to implement her own plan to charge Manhattan drivers a congestion fee.

Daily Wire investigative reporter Mairead Alorty, is here with the details. Mairead, tell us about the sudden reversal from Hokal.

Hi, Emily. Sure. On Wednesday, Hulkle said she's directed the MTA to push back the start date of a new toll which was said to go into effect on June 30th. The plan is now delayed indefinitely. Here's Hulkle in her video announcement.

After a careful consideration, I have come to the difficult decision that implementing the planned congestion pricing system risks too many unintended consequences for New Yorkers at this time. For that reason, I have directed the MTA to indefinitely pause the program.

The governor cited the high cost of living, saying hardworking New Yorkers are getting hammered on costs. She added that while New York's pandemic recovery has been faster than expected, it's by no means complete.

What would this congestion congestion pricing plan do? Obviously, Manhattan is one of the most traffic-heavy areas in the entire country.

Correct. The idea of this new toll would be to lessen some of that heavy traffic during peak times. The congestion pricing plan would charge drivers a minimum of $15 to enter Midtown Manhattan, south of 60th Street. Drivers would be charged the rush hour price nearly all day, every day, between 5:00 AM and 9:00 PM on weekdays and between 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM on weekends. Cars would be charged $375 during the remaining hours. The $1 billion expected to be raised from the toll is supposed to go towards upgrading subways, commuter railroads, and bus systems.

So is Hochul mainly backing off the toll plan for economic concerns, or are there other issues at stake here as well?

Well, there's also reportedly a political angle here, too. Hochul is reportedly concerned about how the expense of toll might affect local Democrats facing uphill battles in house races in the New York City suburbs. Republicans have already started attacking Democrats over the toll. Also, several lawsuits have already been filed over the congestion pricing plan, so that doesn't help Democrats' case for it either.

What have critics said about the plan? Was there pressure to scrap it?

A lot of pressure, yes. Critics have been slamming the idea of slapping drivers with new expensive charges for months. Representative Nicole Malia Takis, a Republican, celebrated the expected change on Wednesday. She called the toll a war on cars cash grab and said the delay was welcome news. She attributed the governor's decision to, Our pressure, the public's outcry, and concerns it impact Democrats in November's election. Another critic of the toll, international transport workers President John Samuelson, who serves on the MTA board, also sounded off on the reversal. He said he had told Hochul two years ago that the congestion toll would be a, quote, political disaster and is like taxation without representation. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, also a Democrat, emphasized that the congestion toll should not be a burden on everyday New Yorkers. There's no date for this new expensive toll to go into effect, but for now, Democrats don't seem to want to deal with the economic or political fallout.

And likely not during an election year. Mairead, thanks for reporting.

Thanks, Emily.

Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later today with a special D-Day anniversary edition of Morning Wire.