A newly published report on the FBI’s investigations into the 2016 presidential election suggests a politically motivated bias, with the agency having treated the election candidates, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, quite differently. The report, by US Department of Justice Special Counsel John H. Durham, says that the FBI was too quick to launch its Crossfire Hurricane investigation into allegations that Trump’s campaign team colluded with Russia, although it also found that there had been no proven collusion between the parties. Durham also concluded that the FBI had “never opened any type of inquiry” into the allegation that Clinton’s campaign sought to deflect controversy over her use of emails by linking Trump with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The FBI “never launched an investigation into rumours that foreign agents wished to target Team Clinton but, instead, provided Hillary's people with a defence briefing,” says journalist Matthew Sweet. The investigations and accusations about collusion had repercussions that undermined both candidates' electoral prospects and contributed to a widespread perception that it shaped US foreign policy.
Christiane Amanpour criticized CNN for airing a town hall with Donald Trump. Amanpour was critical of the network's choice to invite a Republican and independent audience that she argued was too eager to be told the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. She also criticized moderator Kaitlan Collins for allowing Trump to dominate the event.
The US government's decision to push campaigner Amy Pope into the International Organization for Immigration (IOM) contest for Director General is causing tension with its European allies, says Jamestown Foundation contributor Daniel Runde. The IOM is a significant organisation in the humanitarian community, tasked with aiding the resettlement of refugees. The US is one of the largest contributors to the organisation, providing approximately 27% of its total revenue in 2021. Historically, a US national has held the position but Portuguese incumbent Antonio Vitorino took the position from the former Trump administration pick Ken Isaacs in 2018.
The post-Brexit trade deal agreed between the UK and EU, known as the Windsor Framework, is heavily flawed and leaves the EU and its courts wielding power over a part of the UK, according to an op-ed in The Washington Examiner. The piece also says that the US played a key role in pressuring the UK into signing the deal, with President Joe Biden unwilling to contemplate a US/UK trade deal unless the British government negotiated an agreement with the EU that was sanctioned by the White House.
Russ Vought, President of the Center for Renewing America and former Director of the Office of Management and Budget, has spoken to The Daily Signal about what he sees as the increasing power of the state and the need to arm ordinary Americans with the truth. In his opinion, the growing government is in danger of becoming a "woke and weaponized government" led by the likes of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, dividing America by creating oppressors and the oppressed and making all its policy based on "climate-change extremism". Vought sees the culprit of today's big government as being very different from when it first became a concern: no longer Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter but a much more dangerous and divisive force.
The conversation begins with Vought telling the audience at the Heritage Foundation that the roots of his political dedication stretch back to his mentor, Phil Graham, a senator from Texas who advised him that if he wanted to know everything, he should make budget his focus. From there, Vought spent 12 years in Congressional budget oversight committees. However, Vought didn’t feel that he was making as big a change as he wanted from the inside, so he joined Heritage and became a vice president at Heritage Action for America, where he was instrumental in starting the Sentinel Program. That gave him the opportunity to equip grassroots network operatives with information as if they were members of Congress.
Roberts and Vought mutually agree that an appeal to American ordinary people can defeat huge, rolling top-down governance, which has led to the debt-ceiling debate raging again across Capitol Hill, with Republicans looking to redefine the state from the ground upwards. The discussion moves then to the debt ceiling, where the surge in Washington spending combined with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is causing Congress to consider increasing the debt limit, due to run out in mid-March. Vought says “we have a debt crisis” that can only be resolved “by dealing with the spending problem” resulting from the “essential theft” of taxpayer money by the political establishment.
Victoria Coates, senior advisor to the US Secretary of Energy under President Trump, is interviewed on The Kevin Roberts Show about effective national security policies. Coates suggests that the US has been the greatest force for good in human history and discusses that the country doesn't need to overthrow dictatorial regimes and impose democracy rather encourage, instruct, and be a good example. Coates also discusses the importance of seizing opportunities, flexibility, and not being wedded to rigid ideologies that cut you off from unorthodox solutions. She also notes the importance of historical perspective when dealing with human beings and the hallmark of being resilient.
Coates mentions the difficulty of figuring out the triangle of policy, communications, and politics and navigating it in a world where communications and information is flowing at such a rapid rate. She mentions that moral clarity, the clarity of vision, and purpose are also infectious, not just for the men and women who have the privilege of working for people like that, but also for the country and a group of free people around the planet who are going to respond to any American president who’s bold and has a clear vision and also has the ability to speak.
Chevron's $5bn acquisition of Noble Energy in 2020 inaugurated a new era for the Middle East, in which security and economic issues took precedence over historical grievances, opening an opportunity for the US to exert beneficial influence. However, the Trump administration had only a few months left in office to take advantage of this opportunity. The equivocal attitude of the succeeding Biden administration towards both energy issues and America’s role in the region may jeopardize this opportunity. Nonetheless, the collision of energy and geopolitics that supported the Abraham Accords in 2020 signals a new era in the Middle East with opportunities and challenges for the United States. Chevron’s new Israel page on its website represents this progress as there is no effort to mask the connection through a Noble subsidiary. Therefore, there could be appetite for expanding the Accords in the future under more forward-looking U.S. leadership.
The US Constitution provides for the impeachment of public officials who abuse their power or violate the law, setting a rare precedent to hold politicians to account. Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security Secretary, is accused of defying site statutes, abusing his power and lying about policies and their consequences. The Heritage Foundation has called for his impeachment citing his mass-paroling of illegal immigrants, abuse of the asylum system and subsequent rise in asylum fraud, and his restriction of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport illegal immigrants. It is deemed a necessary step, as Mayorkas's actions have directly contributed to the crisis at the southwest border.
Chinese social media app TikTok poses a significant threat to privacy and national security for Americans, says Matt M. Matthews, writing for The Heritage Foundation. The app's parent company, ByteDance, is subject to Chinese laws which could allow the Chinese Communist Party access to the data TikTok collects on its users worldwide. Reporting also found Chinese propaganda is laundered to US audiences via the platform and that China-based employees could switch between Chinese and US user data with "nothing more than the click of a button". Matthews' report argues for immediate policy intervention to protect American user data.
Legislation seeking to address the national security threats of Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok has flaws that risk leaving the app's dangers unresolved, according to Will Hurd, a cybersecurity consultant and former US congressman. The Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act provides the commerce secretary with extensive powers to tackle cyber risks posed by transactions with China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela. While supporting the act, Hurd said that it could create problems working alongside the authority of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
The indictment of DC police officer Shane Lamond for his support of the right-wing Proud Boys group doubtless reflects a major challenge for American law enforcement, according to an op-ed in the Washington Post which reports on the close ties Lamond allegedly had with its leader, Enrique Tarrio. The indictment stated that Lamond supplied Tarrio with intelligence and helped him evade police surrounding demonstrations and rallies in which the far-right group engaged. The case underscores the issue of the political behaviour of some members of US police forces. Since the Black Lives Matter movement emerged around a decade ago, the movement’s focus on highlighting the systemic issues with US law enforcement has engendered a strong reaction from the American political right, increasing tensions and diverging political views of police. This has led to confidence in police plummeting among Democrats, with Gallup reporting an 11-point gap between Democrats and Republicans compared to 2012, which had risen to 38 points by 2021.
Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) is leading the debt ceiling negotiations for House Republicans and is considered by Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to be the obvious pick. Graves is respected by many who have worked with him due to his calm demeanor and attentiveness, and his knowledge and experience of the legislative process. However, some more conservative colleagues are concerned his openness to striking a deal with Democrats could misrepresent or ignore their attempts to cut spending. Some commenters suspect McCarthy may be positioning Graves as a “fall guy” to blame if negotiations fail to appease the far-right flank of the conference.
Graves was the top Republican in finding consensus among Republicans to elect McCarthy as speaker and bring together the disparate ideals of the conference. He has never served as committee chair or been elected to House leadership so some think he lacks the experience for such a high-stakes mission. In terms of his policy work, Graves has remained a conservative who toes the party line and has a 96 percent conservative score. When serving on the House Climate Crisis Committee, McCarthy appointed Graves as the top Republican to establish an energy, climate, and conservation task force that crafted policy prescription agreements.
Graves is negotiating with two trusted Biden aides: counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti and Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, who coincidentally is from the southern Louisiana district that Graves represents. Regardless of his background, and beyond party politics, what is clear is Graves’ calibre as a ‘workhorse.’ As Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) observes, while Graves may not be very visible, “if they want to debate Graves on policy, it’s best to come overprepared.”
‘Reap the whirlwind’: Biden and North Carolina Democrats see 2024 edge in GOP abortion ban
CNN
23-05-20 11:43
A controversial new abortion ban passed in North Carolina has sharpened the stakes for next year's elections as Democrats race to saw off the limb Republicans jumped out on. Democrats have new impetus to invest up and down the North Carolina ballot, including the races for governor, state attorney general and both legislative chambers, since the state GOP legislative supermajority's decision to override the veto of the measure passed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. North Carolina is critical to any Republican's path to the White House, and President Joe Biden's campaign is already drawing up plans to focus on the ban in its bid to win the state that was last captured by a Democratic presidential candidate in 2008. The surprise fight over abortion could heighten the possibility of ending the GOP's razor-thin state House supermajority.
The new abortion ban outlaws most abortions after 12 weeks and will come into effect in July. Electing a Republican to governorship would lead to an even more restrictive ban than six weeks or entirely. While Republicans hope the electorate will forget about abortion by July or November of next year, Democrats are already naming their GOP legislative targets ahead of North Carolina’s election. Biden is prepared to increase his investment in the state, and the new abortion law will go beyond Cooper’s veto pen. However, with state Republicans expected to draw themselves more favorable legislative maps, the GOP supermajorities in the state legislature could grow; this will limit the power of any governor to make changes to the law, whatever the rhetoric on the campaign trail.
Several Republican presidential candidates support a more restrictive approach to abortion than that in North Carolina, with former Vice President Mike Pence backing a total ban, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis enacting a state law to prohibit most abortions after six weeks, and all positions taken by former President Donald Trump including support for extensive restrictions. Democrats will have to be strategic to make sure that they are winning elections statewide so that they can put forward the policies their communities want to see.
Former President Donald Trump is facing further legal troubles as the US National Archives has found records proving that he and his advisers knew they were breaking the rules by taking classified documents to Mar-a-Lago. Sixteen records have been sent to Special Counsel Jack Smith as part of the investigation into whether Trump illegally retained classified documents. Trump is also facing accusations of illegal retention and divulgence of classified information in Ukraine and China, as well as campaign finance violations. He currently faces an investigations by the New York attorney general over false valuations and the misallocation of charitable donations, and a tax fraud investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
The ex-president’s legal defence effort is now without one of its top attorneys, who has left and blamed Trump’s top aide Boris Epshteyn for being dishonest and unforthcoming in his work to assist Trump’s lawyers with the investigation into illegal retention of classified documents. A subpoena response from former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino and Trump’s former close adviser Steve Bannon that was scheduled for May is expected to provide more details about the Mar-a-Lago situation. Trump described the events of 6 January, when a group of his supporters breached the Capitol building, as a “beautiful day” in a recent CNN town hall, and has suggested that he might run for president again in 2024.
The recent discovery of Trump’s knowledge of broken rules regarding classified documents and past accusations of fraud and campaign finance violations are putting the ex-president under increasing legal pressure. Trump has a range of investigations open against him and his associates, and the loss of one of his top attorneys to his legal defence effort undoubtedly presents a setback.
