Tuesday | November 30th, 2021

It’s Tuesday, November 30th, and this is your Morning Wire. Listen to the full podcast:

1) New Details Emerge On Waukesha Attack

The Topline: More details have emerged from the Christmas parade attack in Waukesha, Wisconsin, which resulted in at least six deaths and dozens of injuries. 

Quote Of The Day: “Is there going to be an individual I divert, or I put into a treatment program, who’s going to go out and kill somebody? You bet. Guaranteed. It’s guaranteed to happen. It does not invalidate the overall approach.” 

– Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, 2007 interview

Jim Vondruska/Stringer/Getty Images

The Suspect

Critics note the suspect had a long rap sheet of felonies, including assault, drug possession, and statutory rape, and was recently charged with running over a woman in a domestic dispute. They say he was only walking free because of Wisconsin’s soft-on-crime policies. 

The suspect reportedly promoted violent and racist, anti-white content, which has also prompted speculation about motive.

Policies 

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm has faced scrutiny for his decision to push for an abnormally low bail for the suspect following those crimes. In his most recent crime where he ran the woman over, he was let off on $1,000 bail only to wreak havoc on the Christmas parade three weeks later. 

Chisholm admitted the bail recommendation was “inappropriately low” considering the risk factors and charges the suspect was facing at the time. However, one of the pillars of his philosophy is recommending less than the usual bail amount for various criminal activity in the name of social justice.

In 2013, Chisholm’s office allowed a convicted drug dealer to walk free under a “deferred prosecution agreement.” After being released, the man went on to inject a fatal amount of heroin into a young woman. Chisholm’s office offered hundreds of such deals, including to people charged with offenses such as felony assault against police officers and felony child abuse.

The Media

Most major news outlets rightly referred to the Charlottesville attack as an “attack.” This time, however, many of those same media sources, like the Associated Press and The Washington Post, have repeatedly referred to this more deadly attack as a “crash” and suggested the culprit was an “SUV.” 

The discrepancy has sparked blowback from people on both sides of the aisle. On November 24th, liberal actress Debra Messing tweeted, “Dear Mainstream Media—a man intentionally drove his car through a parade killing 6 and injuring 50+. It was not an ACCIDENT…it was a domestic terror attack…Don’t minimize. Please.” 

Chris Ison – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images

2) Opening Arguments Begin In Ghislaine Maxwell Trial

The Topline: The sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and alleged co-conspirator, kicked off Monday with opening arguments.

The Prosecution

The prosecution and defense made their opening statements, each offering a different version of Maxwell and her role in Epstein’s world. The prosecution painted a picture of an adult man and a woman who were “partners in crime” and had a “playbook” to target minors and sexually abuse them. 

Prosecutor Lara Pomerantz highlighted that one of Maxwell’s accusers was just 14 years old when she met Epstein and Maxwell. Maxwell would allegedly lure young girls using the “ruse” of giving Epstein a massage, but she knew “exactly what was going to happen,” the prosecutors said. They also claim Maxwell herself even participated personally in some of the abuse.

The prosecution also accused Maxwell of serving up the girls to Epstein in order to sustain the lavish lifestyle Epstein provided for her. Epstein and Maxwell allegedly paid the minor girls hundreds of dollars in cash, and Maxwell even mailed lingerie to a 15-year-old victim at one point. Overall, prosecutors said Maxwell portrayed herself to the girls as someone they could trust. Meanwhile, she was allegedly grooming them for the “heinous crimes.”

The Defense

Defense Attorney Bobbi Sternheim opened by saying that women have been blamed for things more than men ever since Adam and Eve.

The defense’s main point was Epstein is not on trial, Maxwell is, and she did not commit Epstein’s crimes. 

The defense accused Maxwell’s alleged victims of making her the “scapegoat.” The defense also said this trial is about “memory, manipulation, and money” and said Maxwell’s accusers have contaminated and possibly false memories of their abuse. Finally, the defense accused all the women accusing Maxwell of going after her so that they could make money.

Ghislaine Maxwell

Daily Wire Investigative Reporter Mairead Elordi told Morning Wire that Maxwell seemed relaxed. She had on a cream-colored sweater and frequently chatted with her defense team. Maxwell even clasped her hands together cheerfully a few times as she spoke with one of her attorneys just before opening statements. She took

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