Morning Brief: Biden’s GOP Spy Games, A Child Killer Set Free, & Christianity Today’s Abortion-Tied Donor

Explosive documents reveal that President Biden’s FBI snooped on GOP senators, The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh uncovers shocking new details about the early prison release of a Kentucky killer, and America’s leading evangelical magazine takes seven-figure donations from one of the nation’s biggest abortion funders.

It’s Wednesday, October 8, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.

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Revealed: Biden FBI Snooped On GOP Lawmakers

Topline: As the government shutdown continues, Washington has been rocked by new revelations that the Biden DOJ snooped on several Republican Congress members as part of its January 6 probe.

This week, Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released a document showing that President Joe Biden’s FBI obtained and analyzed phone metadata of eight sitting Republican senators and one Republican House member.

The move came as part of the DOJ’s previously undisclosed Arctic Frost investigation, which went after Republicans for alleged election meddling following the 2020 election. Grassley released a statement along with that document, where he said, “Based on the evidence to date, Arctic Frost and related weaponization by federal law enforcement under Biden was arguably worse than Watergate.”

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The Republican lawmakers targeted by the FBI were Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.

Democrats’ response: Democrats have sought to downplay the story, saying the FBI was simply doing its job to investigate election meddling — and reminding folks that agents were not listening in on phone calls, and were only looking at who they called, and when. 

That has done little to alleviate Republican outrage. Blackburn excoriated the FBI in an interview with Morning Wire: “It is a violation of our civil rights. It’s a violation of our privacy rights. No one can find a time when … the FBI has done this.”

What Republicans want: Republicans have demanded an investigation to determine the extent of the scheme and who was responsible for it.

Former FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland would have had to approve the operation. Republicans want to know if President Biden was also involved. 

The Most Violent ‘Nonviolent’ Convict Secures Parole

Topline: More details are coming out about the early prison release of a Kentucky man convicted in the brutal slaying of a young boy. He has shockingly been deemed a nonviolent offender.

What happened: Ronald Exantus broke into a family’s home and stabbed multiple people with a kitchen knife, including a 6-year-old boy who later died from those injuries. These crimes occurred in Woodford County, Kentucky, located just west of Lexington.

Exantus was tried in 2018 and found not guilty of that murder by reason of insanity. He was convicted for the lesser charge of assault and sentenced to 20 years in prison, but he was released in early October – 13 years early – and placed on just eight months of supervised probation.

Hmmm: According to the parole board, Exantus qualifies as nonviolent under Kentucky state law. The board has faced major criticism over the release, but it says that its members repeatedly voted for Exantus to remain in prison. 

In a statement to The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh, the board said, “Every time it had the opportunity, the Parole Board recommended Ronald Exantus stay in prison.”

After a review for parole on September 30, the board announced that it had issued a decision to keep the criminal in prison for the remainder of his sentence. The board added, “Despite this decision, Kentucky law required the Department of Corrections to release the inmate on Mandatory Reentry Supervision.”

In short, state law required Exantus to be released because he wasn’t convicted of a capital offense related to the killing of Logan Tipton. He was only convicted on lesser charges of second-degree assault for attacking Logan’s sibling and father.

What happens now: Exantus is not quite a free man. He enters a state of parole, which means that he must abide by conditions. Those exact terms are still unknown, but in most cases, if the conditions are broken, the parolee could be sent back to prison.

The case could also come under federal scrutiny, as the White House has weighed in on the issue. On Saturday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt highlighted one of Walsh’s social media posts and said that the administration is looking into the situation. The White House said it is “wholly unacceptable for a child killer to walk free after just several years in prison.” 

Christianity Today Funded By Abortion Backer

Topline: America’s most prominent evangelical magazine, Christianity Today, is under fire for accepting financial support from a major abortion funder. Readers also accuse the publication of softening its pro-life stance in recent years.

Since 2022, Christianity Today has received more than one million dollars from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. That includes $600,000 for election coverage.

What makes this controversial is Hewlett’s history. The foundation is the second-largest private funder of Planned Parenthood in the United States. It gave the abortion provider more than $100 million between 2000 and 2023. 

After Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, Hewlett announced it was increasing its “reproductive equity” budget by 30% – essentially doubling down on supporting abortion access and securing Hewlett’s spot as one of the country’s largest abortion funders.

Influence on CT? Christianity Today has always maintained that it upholds a pro-life ethic. However, since Hewlett’s donations began, the magazine has started publishing articles that advocate for a broader definition of “pro-life.”

Instead of focusing solely on protecting unborn babies, these pieces have argued that the term should also include fighting racial injustice, supporting new federal entitlements like paid family leave, and supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Many pro-life leaders say that redefining the term in this way waters down its meaning. Seth Gruber, founder of the pro-life organization White Rose Resistance, told The Daily Wire that he believes leftists are deliberately working to redefine the term “pro-life” in an effort to advance progressive political priorities under its banner.

Also, in the run-up to the 2024 election, Christianity Today published articles arguing that the issue of abortion was not necessarily a good enough reason to vote and that Christians should consider sitting out. And their board chair took on the role of spokesperson for Evangelicals for Biden.

Step back: Christianity Today has become more reliant on grants and donations over the past five years. In 2020, only about 20 percent of its revenue came from grants. Today, it’s more than half. Over the past few years, it has also received $8 million from the Lilly Endowment, the foundation established by the Eli Lilly family, known for its pharmaceuticals.

Experts warn that when an outlet grows dependent on foundations with their own ideological agendas, it risks aligning with those priorities — even if that means softening its historic Christian commitments.

Part of why the controversy stings is that evangelist Billy Graham founded Christianity Today in 1956 to be a theologically conservative alternative to The Christian Century, which was considered liberal.

Critics have long contended that the outlet has drifted to the left in both tone and substance. The Hewlett Foundation’s funding, particularly the grants marked for “covering elections,” has struck many observers as confirmation of that gradual ideological shift.