Come for Morning Wire’s Afternoon Update’s straight news, but stay for the Rapid Reactions. The following four stories, and more, can be heard on today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update podcast. Click here to listen. 

What’s Going On In Georgia?

Confusion sprang up on Monday after the Fulton County Court in Georgia published a document on its website appearing to show that former President Donald Trump was being charged over a slew of crimes — including RICO violations — only for that document to be taken down almost immediately afterward.

The grand jury in Fulton County, where district attorney Fani Willis is expected to bring charges this week, is reportedly still meeting today and tomorrow to discuss any potential indictments against Trump for his actions relating to the 2020 election. The Trump team and his supporters used the incident to castigate Willis and claim it was further proof that the justice system was rigged against the potential 2024 GOP nominee.

Rapid Reaction: At this point, why would anybody give Fulton County the benefit of the doubt? The district attorney’s office has yet to explain what that document posted online was. The grand jury is still hearing evidence. Meanwhile, somebody on Willis’ team is apparently leaking evidence to CNN. You can disagree with Trump’s election theories while still admitting that the wielding of state and federal power against him is troubling — even anti-American.

Biden Has ‘No Comment’ On Hawaii

President Joe Biden is catching heat for his remarks, or lack thereof in the wake of the tragedy unfolding in Maui. While in Rehoboth Beach on Sunday afternoon, the president was asked by the press for his reaction to the blaze that has killed more than 90 people and caused billions of dollars in property damage. He responded by saying he had “no comment.”  Here’s the clip:

"Any comment on the rising death toll in Maui?"

BIDEN: "No. No comment." pic.twitter.com/oORpRuLUpz

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 14, 2023

The president did authorize federal emergency aid for the Aloha State as it recovers from the devastating wildfire.

Rapid Reaction: Paging, Mr. Empathy. Biden has been propped up by the Democratic Party and its media allies as a decent and kind politician who cares for the plight of the common man. Anybody who has paid attention to his career has known that is a bogus characterization.

Yet, now as president, his low emotional quotient has been on full display. Hawaii is just his latest example of tone deafness. See also his treatment of the Afghanistan withdrawal survivors as well as the Nashville shooting victims.

What did he do on Monday? Well, his communications team tweeted out some statements on Hawaii, but Biden got lunch with his veep:

The only thing on President Biden's schedule today is lunch… pic.twitter.com/pm0RJvl9nE

— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) August 14, 2023

Oversight Transcript Alleges That Biden Team Tipped Off About Hunter Interview

The House Oversight Committee released a transcript of a former FBI agent claiming that Joe Biden’s 2020 transition team and members of the Secret Service were notified of the bureau’s plans to interview Hunter Biden in December 2020 — and that that led to the interview of Hunter getting shut down, per The Daily Caller. The anonymous agent’s testimony corroborated other FBI and IRS whistleblower complaints.

Rapid Reaction: Will the Bidens ever be held accountable? Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro broke down on his podcast, “The Ben Shapiro Show” the latest in this never-ending saga. Watch and listen here: Joe Biden’s Big Hunter Coverup

Things Are Super Expensive

A new report from Moody’s Analytics shows that the typical American household is paying $709 more per month for the same goods and services as it was two years ago, CNN reported. That cost increase reflects the high rate of inflation that has plagued much of the Biden presidency

Rapid Reaction: That’s Bidenomics, baby!

Political Upset In Argentina

Argentine voters rejected the country’s two main political forces in a primary election on Sunday, and put their support behind libertarian candidate Javier Milei.  Milei got just over 30% of the vote and now heads for the general election set for October 22nd. This shakeup comes after power was traded between two mainstream political coalitions for the last decade.

Rapid Reaction: In reaction to this upset, author and political strategist Ryan Girdusky  tweeted,  “Political earthquake in Argentina … arguably as big as Bolsonaro being elected in Brazil.”

Nearly 90% in and an anarchic-capitalist is leading the presidential primary in Argentina https://t.co/ekqgoD9jVa

— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) August 14, 2023

Milei’s candidacy has largely been a protest campaign against the Argentine elite, as described by The Wall Street Journal. He was never supposed to win.

“If we don’t change today, the only destiny will be to turn into the biggest slum in the world,”  Milei told his supporters earlier this year. “I don’t want your vote so you give me the power, but to give you back your freedom so you can be the architects of your own destiny and we can end this state that makes us poor, with inflation and crime, and put the country on the path to growth.”

Perhaps, in other words, he wants to put “Argentina First.” Sound familiar?

To listen to the audio version of Afternoon Update, click here. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The Biden administration released new guidance on Monday for higher education institutions to legally consider a student’s race during admission in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ban on affirmative action.

“This is a moment of great urgency in higher education,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona told reporters Monday morning.

Just before the nation’s highest court broke for recesses at the end of June, SCOTUS issued a landmark ruling that said race-based admissions programs at Harvard University violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the University of North Carolina programs violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Students for Fair Admissions sued the elite schools, accusing them of unfairly factoring race into their admissions processes, pointing to the high test scores of rejected Asian-American and white applicants. The group argued that Harvard violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination by schools that receive federal funding. In the other case, the group accused the UNC of violating the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause by considering race in its admissions process.

“We know what has happened at colleges when individual states have banned affirmative action in the past,” Cardona reportedly said during a press call on Monday. “Fewer students of color applied, and fewer students of color were admitted. We cannot afford that kind of backpedaling on a national scale.”

The decision now profoundly affects the admissions processes at universities across the country. But despite the nation’s highest court eliminating universities’ ability to accept applicants based on race, some have indicated that they would search for a loophole in the ruling.

“Although this decision changes the landscape for admissions in higher education, it should not be used as an excuse to turn away from long-standing efforts to make those institutions more inclusive,” associate attorney general Vanita Gupta reportedly said at a news conference. “Race can be relevant to a person’s life or a lived experience, and may impact one’s development motivations, academic interests or personal or professional aspirations. That impact can still be considered.”

The Department of Education and the Department of Justice published guidance outlining available legal resources for colleges and universities to take other steps to achieve a diverse student body based on a range of factors, including race and ethnicity.

According to the question and answer portion of the document, federal officials said the Supreme Court’s decision “does not require institutions to ignore race when identifying prospective students for outreach and recruitment, provided that their outreach and recruitment programs do not provide targeted groups of prospective students preference in the admissions process.”

Some examples federal officials detailed include offering affinity clubs with race-related themes, considering how an applicant’s race has shaped personal experiences, and re-evaluating admissions preferences for students with legacy status or donor affiliation.

“With respect to admissions practices themselves, especially for the upcoming cycle, the Departments encourage colleges and universities to review their policies to ensure they identify and reward those attributes that they most value, such as hard work, achievement, intellectual curiosity, potential and determination,” the administration wrote in the “Dear Colleague” letter.

Attorney General Merrick Garland told the Associated Press in a statement, “Ensuring access to higher education for students from different backgrounds is one of the most powerful tools we have to prepare graduates to lead an increasingly diverse nation and make real our country’s promise of opportunity for all.”

Students for Fair Admissions has not responded to requests for comment.