This article is adapted from today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click here.

Comer Announces Contempt Of Congress Hearings

House Oversight Chairman James Comer announced today that the FBI has refused to “hand over the unclassified record” that allegedly links then-Vice President Joe Biden to a pay-for-play bribery scheme with a foreign national. Comer said his panel will now proceed with hearings on holding FBI Director Christoper Wray in contempt of Congress this Thursday.

🚨🚨BREAKING: House Oversight Chair James Comer says the FBI has once again refused "hand over the unclassified record" that links then-VP Joe Biden to a pay-for-play bribery scheme with a foreign national. Oversight "will now initiate contempt of Congress hearings this… pic.twitter.com/2qoas43Igm

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) June 5, 2023

Mike Pence Files For 2024

Former Vice President Mike Pence made his White House run official after filing Federal Election Commission paperwork to run in the GOP presidential primary. Pence is expected to formally announce in Iowa on Wednesday. Here he is on Sunday at Iowa’s Roast and Ride:

Former Vice President @Mike_Pence on 2024: "I don't have anything to announce today, but I can tell you when I got time to announce come this Wednesday, I'm announcing in Iowa." https://t.co/R4aVbM55wv pic.twitter.com/sdgud5KIiE

— The Hill (@thehill) June 4, 2023

Meanwhile, New Hampshire GOP Governor Chris Sununu announced in a Washington Post op-ed that he would not be running in 2024 because “beating Trump is more important.” Here he is on CNN:

#BREAKING: Chris Sununu announces he will NOT be running for president, telling @DanaBashCNN there's "a very large field" and candidates need to be "call[ed]…out" when they're in the single digits and splitting the non-Trump vote.

He adds many will need to quit by Christmas. pic.twitter.com/ZgwrSWHDK6

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 5, 2023

Just One MLB Team Won’t Have Pride Day

So far, one MLB team, the Texas Rangers, announced they will not hold a Pride event. When asked about their decision, the Rangers released the following statement: “Our commitment is to make everyone feel welcome and included in Rangers baseball. That means in our ballpark, at every game, and in all we do – for both our fans and our employees. We deliver on that promise across our many programs to have a positive impact across our entire community.”

Iowa Apartment Collapse Update

The bodies of the final three missing persons in the apartment collapse in Davenport, Iowa, were found Sunday night and Monday morning after days of searching. According to officials, the six-story apartment building partially collapsed late last week, and a rescue operation has been underway around the clock since. Here’s Davenport police chief Jeffrey Bladel:

Trump’s Attorneys Meet With DOJ

Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys met with the Department of Justice (DOJ) today to discuss complaints about the special counsel investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents.

Trump’s legal team arrived at the DOJ this morning weeks after accusing special counsel Jack Smith of misconduct. According to reports, Trump’s attorneys were to meet with DOJ officials about those accusations, as well as to get a feel for the state of Smith’s investigative efforts. Signs suggest that Smith is nearing a decision on whether to charge Trump over classified documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago last year.

No details have yet been released from that Monday meeting. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in November to take over DOJ investigations into the Mar-a-Lago documents and Trump’s role related to January 6. Over the weekend, Trump attacked the DOJ’s treatment of Biden and the myriad of alleged crimes connected to the current president’s family. 

Austin Serial Killer

Austin, Texas has its first serial killer in more than a century, Fox News reported. 

Last week, police in Texas announced the arrest of 62-year-old Raul Meza Jr. in connection with two murders. Meza turned himself in after a statewide manhunt was launched after the May 20th killing of 80-year-old former probation officer Jesse Fraga. After turning himself in, police say he admitted to an additional murder — that of 66-year-old Gloria Lofton in 2019. Meza has been in and out of prison for decades, most notably serving time for the rape and murder of an 8-year-old child in the 1980s. Police say they do not believe Meza is responsible for the recent series of deaths at Lady Bird Lake. 

Washington Authorities Arrest Tuberculosis Patient For Treatment

Local authorities jailed a tuberculosis patient in Washington state who refused medical treatment for more than a year.

A Washington judge issued an order in May for the unnamed woman to be involuntarily detained for treatment, which is legal under state law. Pierce County sheriff deputies located and detained the woman Thursday, and she is now being housed in Pierce County jail. This is the third time in 20 years that Pierce County officials have had to pursue a court order to force tuberculosis treatment. 

Indian Train Wreck Kills Hundreds

Indian authorities are trying to determine what went wrong in a deadly train crash that killed nearly 300 individuals and 1,000 injured others in India’s eastern state of Odisha on Friday. Authorities say initial data show that an electronic signaling system error is the likely cause of the crash. The incident is one of the worst train crashes in the country’s history. 

Haiti Flooding Brings Death And Destruction

And, torrential rain in Haiti over the weekend caused catastrophic flooding, leaving at least 42 people dead, 85 others injured, nearly 14,000 houses damaged, and many crops ruined. More than 13,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes on the Caribbean island.

To listen to the audio version of this podcast, 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.

Less than half of Democratic Party voters disapprove of schools counseling children about their gender identity behind parents’ backs, a new poll shows.

Only about 44% of Democrats said they are opposed to schools counseling children on their sexual orientation and gender identity without parental knowledge, according to a new poll by Rasmussen Reports.

The poll surveyed 1,116 people on May 24 and 25. The margin of error was plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.

Respondents were asked, “Should schools and teachers be allowed to counsel students on their sexual and gender identities without parental knowledge or consent?”

The majority of Americans, about 60%, stand against schools counseling children on their sexual orientation and gender identity without parental knowledge.

A quarter of Americans said school staff should be able to counsel students on these issues without parental knowledge, and about 14% of people said they do not have an opinion on the issue.

Most Republicans, about 75%, said they opposed schools counseling students on these issues without parental knowledge.

Most independents also said they were opposed, about 64%.

More women expressed opposition, about 65%, to the idea of schools circumventing parents on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Only 55% of men said they would be opposed.

The poll also asked Americans if they agree that “there are only two genders, male and female.”

About 23% of people responded that they disagree with there being only two genders. Less than half of Democrats, 47%, said they agree that there are only two genders. About 64% of black respondents said they agree there are only two genders, while 55% of white respondents said they agree.

The poll also found that 62% of Americans approve of state laws banning gender surgeries for minors such as double mastectomies to remove breasts and genital surgeries in an attempt to achieve the appearance of the opposite gender.

More than 17,000 public K-12 schools across the country have policies allowing minor students to use preferred pronouns in school, in many cases requiring school staff to hide a student’s gender identity change from parents.

Parents in several states have filed lawsuits against their children’s schools for allegedly keeping them in the dark about their child’s new gender identity.

Some of the larger districts being challenged are Chicago Public Schools, Los Angeles Unified School District, D.C. Public Schools, Baltimore City Public Schools, San Francisco Unified School District, Portland Public Schools, and Seattle Public Schools.

In Florida, a mother and father sued the Leon County school board in Tallahassee after they allegedly discovered that their 13-year-old daughter’s middle school had secretly met with the child and developed a plan to recognize her new gender identity.

In Massachusetts, parents sued their two children’s middle school for allegedly hiding both the siblings’ gender transitions from their parents. A federal judge, an Obama appointee, threw out the lawsuit, saying the school officials’ actions do not “shock the conscience.”

Some states including Florida, Iowa, and North Dakota have passed laws requiring schools to inform parents if their child asks to identify as a new gender other than their biological one.

An estimated 300,000 minors aged 13 to 17 identified as transgender as of last year.