Evening Wire: Mangione Pleads Guilty & Jason Arday Found Dead | 8.14.26

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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**Georgia Howe** (0:33)
Former Cambridge professor Jason Arday has died. The US military blows up claims about American warships pushed by Iranian outlets, and Luigi Mangione pleads guilty. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley. It's Friday, August 14th, and this is Evening Wire.
Professor Jason Arday, who recently stepped down from his post at Cambridge University amid a growing plagiarism scandal, was found unresponsive at a home in Battersea this morning. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have not released a cause of death, but they do not suspect foul play.
The scandal involving Arday had ballooned in scale over the past two weeks after numerous lies were identified in his personal story. He was 41 years old.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:20)
The American military is shooting down claims about supposed alarming behavior on a US warship amid its lengthy deployment to the Middle East. Contributor Tim Pierce reports.
US Central Command said Thursday that claims about a rise in suicidal ideation on the USS Abraham Lincoln and a supposed fight among American sailors that killed seven were false. The statement came after reports that two sailors had attempted to jump overboard during the deployment and reports of poor conditions on the aircraft carrier.
Central Command statement said, Over the past 48 hours, multiple media outlets have reported several claims related to USS Abraham Lincoln's deployment to the Middle East. It continued, One reporter led seven sailors died in a brawl aboard the aircraft carrier, and others have recently suggested a spike in suicidal ideations. These reports are false. The claim about American soldiers killing each other originated with Iranian news outlets and was repeated across Asian media outlets. Central Command also pushed back on reports of low morale, saying that the Lincoln's crew reenlistment rate is over 84%, the highest in the Navy.

**Georgia Howe** (2:23)
Today, Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Here's Mangione's attorney Karen Friedman-Agnifilo on the courthouse steps after the hearing.

**Karen Friedman-Agnifilo** (2:37)
With today's guilty plea, Mr. Mangione has accepted full responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson.
Arising from the events of December 4th, 2024, outside of the UnitedHealthcare Investor Conference here in midtown Manhattan. It was a single tragic event, yet he's being prosecuted twice for the same conduct.

**Georgia Howe** (2:58)
The guilty plea may reshape the state case against Mangione. His attorney has already filed a motion to dismiss state charges under a New York law that prohibits double jeopardy in separate state and federal cases. For his part, US attorney James MacDonald said this about the guilty plea after the hearing.

**James MacDonald** (3:14)
Mangione attempted to send a public message through violence, but the message that emerges today is very different.
Violence is not a legitimate instrument to promote any political or social message. And those who resort to violence in an effort to advance their beliefs will be prosecuted, convicted and put in jail.

**SPEAKER_3** (3:37)
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court today to intervene in the Ball Room construction case, slamming lower court judges for holding it up. Solicitor General John Sauer said in an emergency appeal to the court today, quote, This project, like its predecessors, should be a matter for the president and the political process, not construction by injunction. Trump wants to build a 90,000 square foot ballroom that can hold more attendees and provide better security for key White House events. He's pointed to recent threats of violence, including at the White House Correspondents Dinner and Iranian assassination plots as a reason to bring events in house. But the project has sparked a months-long legal battle, which the president is now hoping the high court will finally put to rest.

**Georgia Howe** (4:22)
Today US. Attorney for DC. Jeanine Pirro announced the arrest of the suspected vandal of D.C.'s World War II memorial. Daily Wire reporter Zach Jewell has the latest.

**Zach Jewell** (4:32)
Melissa Farris has been charged with two felonies, depredation against property of the United States and destruction of veterans' memorials. Each charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
According to the DOJ, Farris is behind graffiti applied to the monument yesterday. The granite was streaked with bright pink and green spray paint and a message that said, clean hands, dirty money. Authorities also said that bubble soap was dumped into the memorial's central fountain. President Trump said of the vandalism that, there can be no greater insult to World War II heroes.