The Excerpt podcast: U.S. military launches strikes on Houthis in Yemen

On today's episode of The Excerpt podcast: The U.S. military has launched strikes in Yemen. USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Bart Jansen recaps closing arguments from Donald Trump's civil real estate fraud trial. Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to federal tax charges. USA TODAY National Correspondent Will Carless looks at how white supremacist groups are using cryptocurrency exchanges. Inflation picked up again last month.

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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below.This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Friday, January 12th, 2024. This is The Excerpt. Today, the U.S. has launched strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Plus, Trump gives closing remarks in his civil real estate fraud trial, and we look at how white supremacists are using cryptocurrency exchanges.

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U.S. warplanes, ships, and submarines, along with British fighters, attacked sites in Yemen yesterday associated with Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have been firing drones and missiles into Red Sea shipping lanes. Houthi said the strikes killed at least five people. The strikes mark a major escalation to U.S. involvement in Middle East fighting amid Israel's war in Gaza. In recent weeks, the U.S. has also attacked Iranian-backed militants in Iraq and Syria who have targeted U.S. troops with rocket attacks. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who has been hospitalized since January 1st, approved the strikes from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, according to an official. Prompting President Joe Biden's decision to take military action was a Houthi attack in the Red Sea on Tuesday involving multiple missiles against U.S. Navy ships. If the attack had not been defeated by us and British naval forces, U.S. ships would've been hit and might've sunk, according to a U.S. official. Former President Donald Trump gave closing remarks in his civil fraud trial yesterday. I caught up with USA TODAY Justice Department correspondent Bart Jansen for the latest. Bart, as always, thanks for making the time.

Bart Jansen:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So, Bart, just at the top, can you remind our listeners what's at stake here in Donald Trump's civil real estate fraud trial?

Bart Jansen:

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Donald Trump, his namesake company, two of his sons, Don Jr. and Eric, and a couple of the corporate executives for alleged fraud in how they were valuing the real estate empire that his business ran. And she basically argued that they had been overstating the value of properties. They overstated the square footage of specific properties, including his tripling the size of his penthouse apartment in Trump Tower, and that those exaggerations created benefits from lenders and insurance companies and so that he should be punished for it. And they were seeking $250 million. They've since raised the number to $370 million. And now the judge in the case has already ruled in September that Trump is liable for repeated fraud from 2011 to 2021. And this trial was to determine how much in penalties he and the company should have to pay.

Taylor Wilson:

So, Bart, what did closing arguments center on, and did we learn anything new?

Bart Jansen:

I don't think we learned much new, it was a summary. One of the most provocative things was that Trump himself delivered some summary remarks he had wanted to. The judge initially ruled that he couldn't, was reluctant to let him do it because he didn't want the former president to just make a political speech, but he ultimately let him speak for about five or six minutes. Trump again said that the judge and the Attorney General were politically persecuting him, that it was an unconstitutional case, that it should have never been brought. He and his lawyers have argued that lenders such as Deutsche Bank knew to be careful to review his financial statements themselves and that the lenders are happy because he repaid the loans with interest. So he and his lawyers call it a victimless crime, so he was able to make his points.

On the other hand, the judge has already found that he committed fraud. The trial was also going to examine additional issues of potential insurance fraud and conspiracy. And so part of the ruling that the judge eventually issues will deal with those additional issues. But the judge has already found the fraud. So he's weighing how much should Trump be penalized. And the government lawyers said that the trial proved that Trump and his sons knew what they were doing, that it was intentional that it happened for years. And so the punishment should be severe. His sons had argued that they relied on accountants and other experts to determine or report about the values of the properties so that they shouldn't be blamed. They relied on the experts.

Taylor Wilson:

What's next for this civil case? When can we expect a decision on damages?

Bart Jansen:

Engoron said that he hopes to make his ruling by the end of the month, so this could be a fairly swift decision. Of course, that won't be the end of the line. Trump has already vowed to appeal. He appealed the gag orders, and his lawyers are eager to appeal the entire case. They say it should have never been brought. It was a victimless crime. The immediate decision from the judge is expected within the next few weeks, but the case will no doubt go on for much longer because Trump will appeal and try to overturn Engoron's rulings.

Taylor Wilson:

Bart Jansen covers the Justice Department for USA TODAY. Thanks as always, Bart.

Bart Jansen:

Thanks for having me.

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Taylor Wilson:

Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty yesterday to federal charges that he failed to pay income taxes. His plea comes after a failed effort in July to reach a deal with prosecutors on tax and gun charges. He's been charged in Delaware with lying about his drug addiction when he bought a gun, and he pleaded not guilty to three federal weapons charges in October. The cases are significant because they could influence this year's presidential campaign. As Hunter's father, President Joe Biden, seeks re-election. Congressional Republicans have criticized the Justice Department's investigation and the plea agreement as a sweetheart deal, which a judge ultimately rejected. Hunter Biden faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted on all tax charges, though maximum sentences are rarely ordered.

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Nazis and white supremacists are using crypto to solicit and move money with nearly no restrictions from cryptocurrency exchanges, according to a new study. I spoke with USA TODAY national correspondent Will Carless to learn more. Will, good to have you on The Excerpt today. Thanks for making the time.

Will Carless:

Thanks for having me on.

Taylor Wilson:

So, Will, what did this new report from the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism find about how white supremacists are using crypto exchanges to hide their financial dealings?

Will Carless:

So this report was very focused on the exchanges themselves. That's the places, that's the companies, where people can go to basically to transfer their Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency into sort of real money, dollars and cents. And these are companies that offer that service. And what it found was, it took a look at a sampling of 15 different domestic extremists. People like neo-Nazis and white supremacists that they track in the real world. And it took a look at their money and where it was going. And what they found was that all of these people were using mainstream sort of, well-known cryptocurrency exchanges to transfer and to send money to and from, presumably to turn their cryptocurrency into real money. They found about $150,000 in just the sampling that they looked at, which, it should be noted, is only a small proportion of the money that they think is out there being used in this way.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. So, Will, how did we get to this point? When did some of these groups start shifting to crypto in this way?

Will Carless:

I've been covering this stuff since about 2017, and really far-right extremists in the United States were some of the first early adopters of cryptocurrency. And indeed, a lot of them have gotten very wealthy as a result because they were some of the first investors in Bitcoin and these other currencies. And there's a couple of reasons why that is. Number one, it was seen very much as this libertarian outlaw thing to do was to be involved in this money that wasn't real money and wasn't part of the established system. And the other part of it, of course, is, a lot of these people are anti-Semites, and they believe in this ridiculous, disproven trope that the banking system is controlled by Jewish people. And so they always saw using cryptocurrency as a way to avoid what they think of as the Jewish-controlled banking system. So as a result, you had a lot of these neo-Nazis and white supremacists really taking this on from the early days.

Taylor Wilson:

Will, is there any oversight from crypto exchanges on this? Do they have anti-hate policies in place, for instance?

Will Carless:

Well, according to the ADL, only one of the 22 exchanges that they looked at had a policy that explicitly says you cannot fundraise for hate and extremism on our site. The other ones, I think all of them have policies when it comes to terrorism, when it comes to money laundering, when it comes to using money for illegal things. But as far as, I guess, legal hate speech, things that are protected by the First Amendment but that nevertheless a lot of people feel are wrong and very distasteful, the companies really don't have policies on this. And so it's going to be interesting to see whether this report and increased pressure from Congress and elsewhere results in these exchanges formulating these policies and what positions they're going to take.

Taylor Wilson:

And Will, cryptocurrency and these crypto exchanges specifically have gotten the attention of government officials and lawmakers in recent years, but have we seen any push to really in the leash on how these exchanges operate?

Will Carless:

Well, that's right. I think we want to be very careful here how we term this. So I've been on the phone with a lot of these companies this week, and what they've very much stressed to me is, they've said, "Look, when it comes, again, to illegal activity, so the funding of terrorism, et cetera, we are really on top of it and we're really well regulated, and the government's breathing down our necks, and we're paying very close attention to it." But what we're talking about here is different. It's kind of a moral judgment, right? It's companies deciding, do we want to offer services? Do we want to be in the business of providing services to neo-Nazis and to white supremacists? I think arguably what this report will do will, to some extent, make them play their hand in that respect. It's analogous to what happened to social media companies a few years ago when organizations like the ADL started pointing out, look Facebook, look Twitter. You guys are hosting all of these very nasty neo-Nazis. Do you think that's okay? And you saw a big wave of deplatforming.

So what we're waiting for now is to see if there will be a similar wave of debanking where these financial institutions, these exchanges, begin to say, "We won't offer services to these people and kicking them off."

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Will Carless covers extremism and emerging issues for USA TODAY. Will, thanks for the time and insight, as always.

Will Carless:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

After tumbling in the fall, inflation crept back up last month. A rise in basic living expenses, things like food, rent, and gasoline, were some of the main culprits, and used car prices also rose unexpectedly. Inflation is broadly on its way down, but a more gradual descent could lead the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer. Last month, overall prices rose 3.4% from a year earlier, up from 3.1% in November, according to the Labor Department's consumer price index. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.

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And today is National Kiss A Ginger Day. A time to show some love to the redheads in our lives. Just be sure to ask the person's permission first.

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Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green, and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you use a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.