On today’s episode of the 5 Things podcast: IRS whistleblowers lash out at federal officials in Hunter Biden hearing

IRS whistleblowers lashed out at federal officials in a Hunter Biden hearing. Plus, the president of Stanford is resigning amid allegations of unethical research conduct, USA TODAY Pentagon Correspondent Tom Vanden Brook explains how climate change in the Arctic is affecting national security, leaked emails allege Texas patrol agents were ordered to push migrants into the Rio Grande, and USA TODAY Sports Columnist Nancy Armour previews the World Cup.

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Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I’m Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Thursday, the 20th of July 2023. Today, IRS whistleblowers speak out about Hunter Biden. Plus, the president of Stanford steps down after problems were found in his research, and we look at how extreme heat in Alaska is impacting national security.

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Two IRS whistleblowers gave Congress their side of the story yesterday from a year’s long investigation into Hunter Biden. Speaking at a joint hearing, Internal Revenue Service employees Greg Shapely and Joseph Ziegler alleged that Justice Department officials slow walked their investigation into the President’s youngest son. Ziegler said, “It appeared to me, based on what I experienced, that the US attorney in Delaware in our investigation was constantly hamstrung, limited, and marginalized by officials, as well as other US attorneys.” It was the first public testimony from the two IRS agents assigned to the case, which focused on gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden. He ultimately pled guilty to two misdemeanor accounts of tax evasion and agreed to participate in a pretrial program in June.

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The president of Stanford University announced his resignation yesterday set for the end of August. Marc Tessier-Lavigne stepping down comes after the school’s board of trustees launched a review in December following allegations that he engaged in fraud and other unethical conduct related to research and papers that were up to two decades old. Panelists found multiple cases of manipulated data in the papers they investigated. They found that Tessier-Lavigne, who’s a neuroscientist, was not responsible for the misconduct, but that he was the principal author in several papers where there was apparent manipulation. He said he’s “never submitted a scientific paper without firmly believing that the data were correct and accurately presented.” But he said that he should have been more diligent in seeking corrections for his work and should have had tighter controls in his laboratory.

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Extreme heat from climate change is baking Alaska, and that’s creating a host of national security problems. I spoke with USA TODAY Pentagon Correspondent Tom Vanden Brook to learn more. Thanks for hopping on Tom.

Tom Vanden Brook:

Good to be here Taylor.

Taylor Wilson:

So Tom, starting here, how exactly is climate change impacting the Alaskan Arctic?

Tom Vanden Brook:

In a number of ways, Taylor. One of the principle ways most immediately is rising sea levels have damaged coastal radar sites in Alaska. The kinds that people would be aware of are the types that picked up the Chinese spy balloon that entered over the Aleutian Islands in January. So they’ve spent tens of millions of dollars to repair sea walls and sort of arm these sites to keep them from getting washed away.

Then the inland in some of these sensitive military sites where we have radars that detect ballistic missiles, and at air bases with some of the most sophisticated fighter jets the Air Force has, there’s permafrost that’s melting and sinking underneath buildings. It’s causing a lot of trouble up there and they’re spending tens of millions of dollars to deal with that.

Taylor Wilson:

How are these changes affecting the ways the Pentagon operates in this region?

Tom Vanden Brook:

They’re having to come up with different engineering fixes for some of these bases, particularly Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, where they have to scoop out ground that had been permafrost that’s defrosting in order to build that. So they’re digging down deeper to find solid dead rock or solid frozen ground, and then filling in with gravel, putting in piers, all sorts of different things that they’re doing. As well, they’re doing in more extreme cases, freezing the ground year round in order to maintain the hangers that they have and that sort of thing.

Taylor Wilson:

What’s the cost, Tom, to some of these projects?

Tom Vanden Brook:

Well, it’s been tens of millions of dollars in some of them. Overall, there’s an increased interest in building in the Arctic, and that’s part of the reason that we were up there to do the story. There’s concern about that Alaska would be an avenue of attack, according to the Pentagon’s Arctic Strategy, for adversaries like China and Russia. There are direct homeland security implications. They’re sending up more troops, more aircraft, and that sort of thing.

Taylor Wilson:

Why is safeguarding the Arctic so important, Tom, to national security?

Tom Vanden Brook:

In Pentagon’s own Arctic Strategy, it’s an avenue of attack for potential adversaries. It also sits in a strategic spot that allows the Pentagon to move troops and material from the Pacific to Europe. It’s a strategic area and it would be the first place that attacks probably would be launched toward the United States. It has sophisticated radars and missile interceptors, so there’s a lot going on up there.

Taylor Wilson:

Tom Vanden Brook covers the Pentagon for USA TODAY. Thanks, Tom.

Tom Vanden Brook:

Thanks, Taylor.

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Taylor Wilson:

Texas border control policies are being heavily criticized after a state trooper said that employees were told to push migrants “back into the water” of the Rio Grande when they reached the American side of the river. The criticisms come after reports were published on Monday by Hearst Newspapers, quoting an email sent by one trooper and backed by another that migrants lives were being put in danger by Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security initiative called Operation Lone Star.

The trooper who’s a medic, and also said he supports the initiative overall, listed several incidents in the Del Rio area earlier this summer when migrants were distressed. He said five migrants drowned in the river and others were injured by razor wire installed along the Rio Grande. Others included injured children, a pregnant woman who miscarried, and some not given water or proper medical care despite intense heat. The trooper added, “I believe we have stepped over a line into the inhumane.” In a news release earlier this week, Abbott said no policies have been implemented that would lead to the mistreatment of people attempting to cross without legal authorization.

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The World Cup is here. The biggest women’s soccer tournament in the world kicks off in Australia and New Zealand today, and the US team will begin their tournament tomorrow night versus Vietnam. Ahead of the cup, I spoke with USA TODAY Sports Columnist Nancy Armour just minutes before she boarded a flight for Auckland. Thanks for hopping on the show, Nancy.

Nancy Armour:

Thanks for having me. Always happy to talk about women’s soccer.

Taylor Wilson:

Yes. Well, there are a number of firsts at this World Cup. Nancy, what are they and how has this tournament evolved since its inception in 1991?

Nancy Armour:

Where do we begin? Just even looking at the number of teams, this is going to be the first tournament with 32 teams. They’re eight teams that are making their World Cup debut this year. It’s the first time it’s being held in the southern hemisphere. It’s the first time the Women’s World Cup has been co-hosted by two countries. Japan and South Korea co-hosted the men’s tournament in 2002. It’s just grown exponentially. When the first World Cup was played in 1991, it wasn’t even called the World Cup. I think it was like the Women’s International Championship or some weird name, because FIFA didn’t want to call this the World Cup. So clearly the game is advanced that this is, I would argue, the premiere event in women’s sports.

Taylor Wilson:

The US is going for a three-peat, something that hasn’t been done before. You wrote a great piece about how the team passes its winning culture from one generation to the next. How do we see that at play with this team?

Nancy Armour:

Well, there are 14 players who have never played at a World Cup before, 12 who are going to be making their debut in a major international tournament, which is astounding given that there are only 23 players on the team. So you have this influx of new talent, and don’t get me wrong, some of these players are really, really, really, really good. But they have to kind of be shown the lay of the land. That is something that going all the way back to the early 90s. I jokingly asked a couple of players, I’m like, “Is there a handbook that you’re given when you get to camp the first time, and are you shown a video?” It’s not a case like that. It’s just the atmosphere, the attitude, the intention is made clear that this is a team that wins and anything less than that is not acceptable.

Taylor Wilson:

On the US team, who are some of the major players that you’re keeping an eye on at this tournament?

Nancy Armour:

Among the veterans, it’s going to be Alex Morgan, goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, Julie Ertz in midfield, Kelley O’Hara and Megan Rapinoe. O’Hara and Rapinoe will probably have more limited roles than we’ve seen them in the past. The young stars I would keep an eye on are Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman. Sophia Smith’s last year was the youngest player to lead the US women in scoring since that woman named Mia Hamm way back when, so that’s a pretty good credential to have. She was also the NWSL’s MVP last year. Then you’ve got Naomi Girma who was already, in only her second year as a professional, is already one of the best defenders in the world. Just you’ve got a lot of young new talent. It’s going to be fun to watch them. It’s also going to be fun to get to know them.

Taylor Wilson:

Outside of this US team, who are some of the teams and players that folks should keep their eyes out for?

Nancy Armour:

A lot of the usual suspects. Obviously England, which won the European championship last year; Germany, which is a two-time World Cup champion and was runner up at Europeans last year; Canada, the reigning Olympic champions; France, Brazil. The big question mark is going to be who’s got the depth to survive. England, like I said, they were probably my co-favorite with the US, but they lost three of their best players to injury, including their captain. Does any other team have the depth to be able to hang with the US? Because, yeah, US has had some serious injuries, too, but they have the depth to adapt to those.

Taylor Wilson:

And VAR, everyone’s favorite word, or video assistant referee, is back at the World Cup. But there are some changes here, Nancy. What can we expect?

Nancy Armour:

It seems like a no-brainer. If you have watched college football or the NFL, you know you’re going to hear this and think, why did it take until now? They’re actually going to announce both in the stadium and on the broadcast what the VAR decisions are. So they will tell you that, yes, that was a handball or, no, the goal doesn’t count because it was offside, or da, da, da, da. They’ll say who the player was, who committed the offense, and explain it, which is stunning to an American audience, because that’s what we’ve come to expect from watching American football, but this is the first time ever that it’s going to be done that way at a World Cup.

Taylor Wilson:

Nancy Armour, thanks so much.

Nancy Armour:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

You can tune in tomorrow night at 9:00 PM Eastern time on Fox.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. If you like the show, please subscribe and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. If you have any comments, you can reach us at [email protected]. Mark Sovel will be in for me the next couple weeks with more of 5 Things.