During Tuesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) accused Special Counsel Robert Hur of using “pejorative” language in his report to the Department of Justice as part of an attempt to “ignite a political firestorm.”
On Sunday, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) appeared on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos. During the interview, Stephanopoulos questioned Mace’s endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump—saying Mace is endorsing a candidate accused of sexual assault. Mace responded by correctly noting that Trump has never been criminally convicted of assault. She continued, “you're asking me a question about my political choices—trying to shame me as a rape victim. And I find it disgusting.”
Byron Tau—Investigative Journalist for The Wall Street Journal and Politico—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss his new book, “Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government is Creating a New American Surveillance State.” Tau explains that, disturbingly, elements of the American government—including police agencies—have been purchasing user data from little known data brokers. This methodology of data acquisition allows these government agents and agencies to bypass the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which prohibits “unreasonable searches and seizures.”
Should TikTok be banned? Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 50-0 to advance a bill that would ban TikTok or force ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company) to sell the social media platform to an entity removed from Chinese influence. The full House of Representatives is expected to vote on the bill this Wednesday and, according to The Wall Street Journal, it is likely to pass with majority approval. According to reports, President Joe Biden has vowed to sign the bill into law if the bill ultimately passes the House and Senate and arrives at his desk. Shouldn’t individuals be allowed to choose which products they use? Or is the risk of Chinese leadership gaining access to American user data too great to respect individual autonomy and free markets? Senator Elizabeth Warren has suggested that the proposed bill doesn’t go far enough to prevent social media’s influence, explaining that she wants “curbs in place on social media across the board,” according to Politico.