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Endorses successor Kathy Hochul in farewell speech

Endorses successor Kathy Hochul in farewell speech

This image made from video provided by the New York Governor’s Office shows New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo giving a farewell speech, Monday, Aug. 23, 2021 in New York.

The New York Governor’s Office | AP

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said he believes his successor, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, will “step up to the challenge” just hours before he was set to step down from his job of 10 years amid a sexual harassment scandal.

“We all wish her success,” Cuomo said of Hochul at the end of a farewell speech, in which he also decried the politicization of the numerous harassment claims against him and touted his administration’s accomplishments and handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The truth will [come] out in time, of that I am confident,” Cuomo said, speaking directly to camera in the roughly 15-minute video address.

Hochul, also a Democrat, who will become the state’s first female governor after a private swearing-in ceremony after midnight Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.

The speech came after a Cuomo aide told media outlets that the embattled governor “has no interest in running for office again.”

“You know me. I am a fighter, and my instinct is to fight this because it is unfair and unjust in my mind,” Cuomo said. “But you also know that I love New York, and I serve you … and in this moment, I believe the right thing is that my service come first.”

“Prolonging the situation could only cause governmental paralysis,” he said.

Cuomo, 63, made the shocking announcement of his resignation two weeks earlier, after vigorously defending himself against numerous allegations of sexual harassment compiled in a damning report from the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Cuomo had initially appeared poised to try to cling to his title after the damning report came out, even as many of his political allies, including President Joe Biden, called on him to step down. But in mid-August, Cuomo said that, “given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to government.”

His departure will not stop an impeachment investigation launched by New York state lawmakers, who restarted their probe days after being heavily criticized for deciding to suspend it following Cuomo’s resignation announcement.

New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul speaks during a news conference the day after Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation at the New York State Capitol, in Albany, New York, August 11, 2021.

Cindy Schultz | Reuters

At least five district attorney’s offices around the state have also begun probes of possible crimes by Cuomo against some of his accusers. A staffer for Cuomo has filed a criminal complaint against him, the Albany County Sheriff’s Office said earlier this month.

“Between [his time as Housing and Urban Development secretary], [New York attorney general and] Governor, Andrew Cuomo has spent nearly 25 years in public service. And the way he does it, it’s 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Cuomo’s close aide, Melissa DeRosa, said in a statement to NBC News.

“He looks forward to spending time with his family and has a lot of fishing to catch up on. He is exploring a number of options, but has no interest in running for office again,” DeRosa’s statement said.

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Lucille Occasions, Who Impressed the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dies at 100

Lucille Times, Who Inspired the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dies at 100

Mrs. Times drove away angrily. “My blood was almost boiling,” she said. “I didn’t even take my clothes to the dry cleaner.”

At home, her husband Charlie had heard of the incident. Together they called ED Nixon, head of the local NAACP chapter, and asked what they could do. He came over that night.

As a child, she had participated in a boycott of a butcher shop in Detroit where she was visiting relatives and suggested to Mr. Nixon that the city’s black community could do the same. He agreed, but said the time was not right – they would need money, cars, and other supplies to make this happen. He asked her to be patient.

She called the city bus company to complain, but no one answered. She sent letters to The Montgomery Advertiser and The Atlanta Journal, but they refused to print them. She decided not to wait.

Over the next six months, she conducted her own boycott, driving to bus stops and offering free rides to black passengers waiting to board. Charlie, who runs a cafe across from her house, raised money for gasoline, and they used the cafe as a planning hub – people could call Charlie to arrange a ride and he would put together a timetable for his wife.

“Lucille was called in for bears and she wouldn’t stop at nothing,” said Mr. Nichols. “She was full steam ahead.”

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a seamstress and activist with the Montgomery NAACP, boarded Mr Blake’s bus and sat in the front area reserved for white drivers. When he ordered her to go back, she refused and was arrested. Four days later, the Montgomery Improvement Association, formed in coordination with the NAACP and led by a 26-year-old preacher, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., headed a city-wide boycott.

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U.S. evacuates 7,000 individuals from Kabul in previous week

U.S. evacuates 7,000 people from Kabul in past week

A US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III.

US Air Force | Flickr CC

WASHINGTON – The US has flown about 7,000 people on cargo planes from Kabul, Afghanistan, in the past five days, the Pentagon said Thursday, while US forces are evacuating as many people as possible in less than two weeks before a self-imposed deadline for withdrawing from the country.

Since late July, the US has evacuated approximately 12,000 people from Afghanistan, including US citizens, US embassy staff, NATO nationals, vulnerable Afghan nationals, and Afghan nationals who have qualified for special immigrant visas.

US Army Major General William “Hank” Taylor said that while the US military can fly about 5,000 to 9,000 people out of Kabul every day, that number depends “on who is at the airfield, ready to leave a waiting area and.” on the plane.”

More than 2,000 people have been evacuated on C-17 aircraft in the past 24 hours, Taylor said. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby estimated that around 300 of the passengers were Americans. Kirby told reporters on Thursday that he did not know how many US citizens were left in Afghanistan.

There are currently 6,000 people at the airport who have been fully evacuated by the US and are waiting to board planes, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Thursday.

An Afghan child sleeps on the loading floor of a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, which is kept warm by the uniform of the C-17 loadmaster, during an evacuation flight from Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2021.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force

The latest revelation follows Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s admission that the Pentagon is currently unable to safely escort Americans to the airport for evacuation.

“I currently do not have the opportunity to expand operations into Kabul,” said Austin when asked about those who cannot reach the gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul because they are behind Taliban checkpoints.

The US embassy in Kabul warned US citizens there on Wednesday that they could not guarantee “a safe passage” to the airport.

The US is relying on an agreement with the Taliban to ensure safe passage for Americans.

U.S. forces have opened another secure gate at the airport to provide easy access to the perimeter for evacuation, Kirby told reporters on Thursday. Around 5,200 soldiers secure the facility and help evacuate flights.

In an interview with ABC News, President Joe Biden defended his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, saying there was no way “to get out without chaos”.

“We will do everything in our power to get all Americans and our allies out,” Biden said, adding that he might consider extending the deadline for a full withdrawal to August 31.

Read more about developments in Afghanistan:

Although the Afghan military, backed by US and NATO coalition forces for the past 20 years, is vastly outnumbered, the Taliban captured Kabul on Sunday.

Members of the House Intelligence Committee are due to receive a secret briefing on the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan next week, a committee official told NBC News.

The briefing, which will be attended by several US intelligence agencies, aims to explain how the country fell under full control of the Taliban. The secret meeting will also give lawmakers an opportunity to learn about the evolving security situation in Afghanistan, shed light on US talks with the Taliban, and keep abreast of evacuation efforts.

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ISIS Poses ‘Acute’ Menace to U.S. Evacuation Efforts in Kabul, Sullivan Says

ISIS Poses ‘Acute’ Threat to U.S. Evacuation Efforts in Kabul, Sullivan Says

A deadly attack on American and Afghan civilians would be a disaster not only for the US but also for the Taliban, who want to consolidate control over Kabul. The Taliban and the Islamic State were enemies and fought for control of parts of the country on the battlefield.

Understanding the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan

Map 1 of 5

Who are the Taliban? The Taliban emerged in 1994 amid the unrest following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1989. They used brutal public punishments, including flogging, amputation and mass executions, to enforce their rules. Here is more about their genesis and track record as rulers.

Who are the Taliban leaders? These are the top leaders of the Taliban, men who for years have been on the run, in hiding, in prison and dodged American drones. Little is known about them or how they plan to rule, including whether they will be as tolerant as they say they are.

What is happening to the women of Afghanistan? When the Taliban was last in power, they banned women and girls from most jobs or from going to school. Afghan women have gained a lot since the Taliban was overthrown, but now they fear that they are losing ground. Taliban officials are trying to reassure women that things will be different, but there are indications that they have begun to reintroduce the old order in at least some areas.

Western counter-terrorism analysts say a high-profile attack by ISIS during the evacuation would most likely add to the group’s dwindling wealth, recruitment and prestige.

A June United Nations report found that “Islamic State’s territorial losses have affected the group’s ability to recruit and generate new funds.”

Although the ISIS affiliate was believed to still have 1,500 to 2,200 fighters in small areas of Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, the report said, “It has been forced to decentralize and consists mainly of cells and small groups across the country that act autonomously ”. while they share the same ideology. “

While the group suffered military setbacks from the summer of 2018, the report concluded that since June 2020, under its ambitious new leader Shahab al-Muhajir, the subsidiary has “remained active and dangerous” and is trying to increase its ranks with disaffected Taliban fighters and other militants.

“Given that ISIS-K and the Taliban are enemies, it will be a challenge for ISIS-K,” said Clarke. “Nevertheless, the Taliban now have their hands full governing, which will consume a considerable amount of bandwidth within the organization.”

Nathan Sales, the State Department’s Counter-Terrorism Coordinator in the Trump administration, said on Sunday that if the ISIS affiliate were able to attack the Kabul airport, “it suggests that Afghanistan may be after the departure of the USA will be a permissive environment for all types of terrorist groups. even those who are hostile to the Taliban. “

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Home Democrats to carry votes on Biden financial plans

House Democrats to hold votes on Biden economic plans

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will hold a press conference at the US Capitol Visitor Center on March 19, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

The House of Representatives will return to Washington next week preparing the latest test of President Joe Biden’s sprawling economic agenda.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California, plans to hold a procedural vote as early as Monday to move forward with a handful of Democratic priorities: the $ 1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by the Senate, the $ 1 trillion Democratic Plan $ 3.5 trillion to expand the social safety net and a voting law.

She will then work with the Senate to pass a budget resolution, which is the first step in getting the Democrats to approve their massive spending plan without a Republican vote.

The spending plan is not expected to get through the Senate for weeks or even months, which would delay the final passage of the infrastructure bill if everything goes according to plan.

In an effort to keep the progressives on board with the smaller infrastructure plan and keep the centrists in tune with trillions more new spending, Pelosi has announced not to adopt either of the economic plans until the Senate passes both of them. Opposition from their faction has threatened to derail the speaker’s plans so that the Democrats will look for a way forward if they return to the Capitol.

A group of nine centrist Democrats in the House of Representatives on Monday reiterated their call for the chamber to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill before considering spending on social programs and climate policy. With Democrats holding a slim majority in the House of Representatives, the nine lawmakers could sink the budget decision themselves – which would delay progress on an economic agenda that Democrats hope will boost budgets and improve their fortunes in next year’s midterm elections .

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It’s unclear whether Pelosi will change their plans before next week. The White House this week approved their strategy of holding the procedural vote to move forward with plans for infrastructure, welfare spending and voting rights and then passing the budgetary decision.

In a letter to her group this week, she said delays in passing the measure would jeopardize the party’s political goals.

“When the House of Representatives returns on August 23, it is important that we pass the budgetary decision so that we can move forward united and determined to realize President Biden’s transformative vision and make historic strides,” she wrote.

If Pelosi pulls off their plan, the infrastructure bill would wait for a final House vote – and then Biden’s signature – while both houses of Congress write the $ 3.5 trillion spending plan. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., gave committees a goal on September 15 to complete their pieces of legislation.

The bill is expected to include a Medicare expansion, a universal Pre-K, wider access to paid vacation and childcare, an expansion of strengthened household tax credits, and measures to encourage clean energy adoption. The proposal could be scaled back as Senate Democratic centrists including Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona criticize the $ 3.5 trillion price tag.

A Democratic vote against the proposal would sink him in the Senate, which is split 50:50 by party.

The nine Democrats in the House of Representatives have pushed for the final passage of the Infrastructure Bill, arguing that a later vote would delay projects to renew American traffic, broadband and infrastructure.

“We now have the votes to pass this bill, so I think we should first vote immediately on the bipartisan infrastructure package, send it to the president’s desk, and then quickly think about the budget resolution that I want to support.” New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer, one of the nine Democrats, said in a statement Friday.

“We have to get people to work and shovel in the ground,” he said.

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Home Democrats Return to D.C. Deeply Divided

House Democrats Return to D.C. Deeply Divided

Moderates have also allied with Shield PAC, founded by Democrats ousted in November from Republican-leaning districts, to push back on efforts to tar all Democrats with the slogans of the left. Some have backed a new pro-Israel group, Democratic Majority for Israel, determined to thwart the party’s emerging Palestinian rights movement — and defeat left-wing candidates who they say have crossed an unacceptable political line on the Jewish state.

Understand the Infrastructure Bill

    • One trillion dollar package passed. The Senate passed a sweeping bipartisan infrastructure package on Aug. 10, capping weeks of intense negotiations and debate over the largest federal investment in the nation’s aging public works system in more than a decade.
    • The final vote. The final tally in the Senate was 69 in favor to 30 against. The legislation, which still must pass the House, would touch nearly every facet of the American economy and fortify the nation’s response to the warming of the planet.
    • Main areas of spending. Overall, the bipartisan plan focuses spending on transportation, utilities and pollution cleanup.
    • Transportation. About $110 billion would go to roads, bridges and other transportation projects; $25 billion for airports; and $66 billion for railways, giving Amtrak the most funding it has received since it was founded in 1971.
    • Utilities. Senators have also included $65 billion meant to connect hard-to-reach rural communities to high-speed internet and help sign up low-income city dwellers who cannot afford it, and $8 billion for Western water infrastructure.
    • Pollution cleanup: Roughly $21 billion would go to cleaning up abandoned wells and mines, and Superfund sites.

On Friday, yet another centrist group, No Labels, began airing an advertisement backing Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas, one of the nine holdouts on the budget who is being challenged by a young liberal, Jessica Cisneros, in the upcoming primary season. The ad extols him for “fighting for the Biden agenda,” though arguably he is now trying to hold much of it up.

The idea, moderates say, is to inoculate the party from slogans like Defund the Police that were effectively used against swing-district Democrats in November, and stop progressive gains before divisions in the Democratic Party grow as deep as they have been in the Republican Party. The issue is more about tone and cooperation than ideology, said Mark S. Mellman, a longtime Democratic strategist and pollster, who helped found the Democratic Majority for Israel and its political action committee.

“There’s nothing revolutionary about ‘Medicare for all,’ moving to a clean energy economy, a $15 minimum wage,” he said. “There’s a lot of consistency around the general direction of policy. But the rhetoric is different.”

The efforts have left liberals feeling aggrieved and worried that the Democratic establishment is actually hurting the party — by sapping the vital energy of younger voters. Young liberals like Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman not only defeated Democratic stalwarts to win their seats in New York, but they have captured the imagination of the next generation, said Waleed Shahid, a spokesman and strategist for Justice Democrats, which promotes insurgent progressive candidates.

Updated 

Aug. 17, 2021, 6:05 p.m. ET

“The future of the party looks a lot more like A.O.C. than Joe Biden,” he said.

The establishment’s efforts are showing results. One of the left’s political heroes, Nina Turner, lost a House special election primary in Cleveland this month, after Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the most senior African American in Congress, and Mr. Mellman’s group swooped in to prop up a little-known but more conciliatory candidate, Shontel Brown. In New Orleans, the favored progressive candidate in the race to replace Representative Cedric Richmond, who joined the Biden White House, also lost.

Liberals say the moderates, not the progressives, are now the ones standing in the way of Mr. Biden’s agenda, by provoking the House’s stalemate and threatening the social policy bill in the Senate.

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Supreme Court docket refuses to dam development of Obama library in Chicago

Supreme Court refuses to block construction of Obama library in Chicago

US President Barack Obama waves after his speech at the SelectUSA Investment Summit March 23, 2015 in National Harbor, Maryland.

Alex Wong | Getty Images

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an advocacy initiative to temporarily halt construction of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in a Chicago park.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett, an agent of former President Donald Trump in charge of Midwestern affairs, denied the application for a restraining order without referring the case to the nine-member court.

The Chicago-based nonprofit Protect Our Parks and some local residents argued that the $ 700 million library would have “serious environmental impacts” for Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago.

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They said in the petition that the “deliberate act” will destroy at least 800 trees and that it will have “significant effects on migratory birds and their nesting practices,” adding more “dust, noise and a deterioration in air quality, which is public health endangered in the surrounding community. “

“Once these trees are felled, there is no going back,” said the group.

They also complained that the government bypassed the necessary regulatory reviews and illegally split the project in two to avoid considering alternative locations for the park.

“During all public hearings, government agencies cordoned off anyone who tried to address them about avoidance and mitigation issues,” the petition reads.

They directly called on Barrett to freeze “further groundbreaking construction and excavation activities” and “tree felling” in the park pending an appeal against a rejection by a lower court last week.

Her emergency request required a response by Monday, when construction of the presidential center was due to begin.

Barrett’s rejection was not accompanied by any text or explanation.

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Gary B. Nash, 88, Dies; Drew Ire for Attempting to Replace Historical past Schooling

Gary B. Nash, 88, Dies; Drew Ire for Trying to Update History Education

Before he became famous as Mr. Limbaughs bête noire, Dr. Nash widely recognized as a leading figure in so-called New Left History who rejected the discipline’s traditional focus on elites as movers of history in favor of everyday life.

His book “Red, White and Black: The Peoples of Early America” ​​(1974), for example, looked at the colonial era through the eyes of Indians, working class whites, and free and enslaved blacks.

Although he spent the rest of his life in Los Angeles, Dr. Nash was fond of Philadelphia and often used his hometown to illustrate his man-on-the-street approach. In “The Urban Crucible: The Northern Seaports and the Origins of the American Revolution” (1979), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, he examined how political ideas among sailors, dockworkers and other workers in Philadelphia – including Boston and New York – played a crucial role in the independence movement.

“It changed the focus of what people were doing from the standard study of ideology and ideas to the actions of ordinary people on the ground,” said Mary Beth Norton, a historian at Cornell University, in an interview.

Dr. Nash saw a continuation between his approach to history and his commitment to contemporary education and grassroots politics. After the Watts Riots in 1965, he joined an organization that supported black entrepreneurs. He was working to liquidate Pacific Palisades, the affluent area of ​​Los Angeles where he lived. And after the university’s Board of Regents fired black activist Angela Davis from her post as professor of sociology, Dr. Nash set up a faculty committee to reinstate her.

Although his critics often labeled him anti-American – or worse – Dr. Nash insisted he was optimistic about the country.

“If you were a radical left historian in the United States, you would not have written what he did. He’s always been optimistic about the United States, ”said Carla Pestana, a PhD student with Dr. Nash studied and is now the chairman of UCLA’s history department. “He thought the real story was about common people trying to make the country better.”

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Giuliani, Bannon, Flynn, Lindell pushed pro-Trump election lies at Guo Wengui social gathering

Giuliani, Bannon, Flynn, Lindell pushed pro-Trump election lies at Guo Wengui party

Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon (R) greets fugitive Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui before introducing him at a news conference on November 20, 2018 in New York, on the death of of tycoon Wang Jian in France on July 3, 2018.

Don Emmert | AFP | Getty Images

It was supposed to be a celebration for a movement that opposes the Chinese Communist Party.

Instead, the swanky private party, held in June at the top of One World Trade Center, served as a platform for several of former President Donald Trump’s allies, including former advisor Steve Bannon and personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, to spew anti-government rhetoric and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

The invitation-only event was hosted by a couple of shadowy nonprofits, the Rule of Law Foundation and the Rule of Law Society. They are linked to Guo Wengui, a wealthy exiled businessman from China who is an ardent opponent of that nation’s ruling Communist Party.

CNBC obtained a copy of the invitation, which lists Guo, Bannon and the two new chairs of the nonprofit organizations as speakers for the event. You can view the invitation here.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and former Trump national security advisor Mike Flynn, both known for pushing the false theory that claims the election was stolen from Trump, also spoke at the June 3 gathering.

“It’s like on the battlefield because this is warfare,” Flynn said at the event, which included lunch, dinner and afternoon tea. “This is warfare that we are in.”

It was streamed on YouTube, which has 30,000 views so far. Neither the YouTube video nor the invitation to the event have been reported on.

Read some of the remarks made at the event:

A person familiar with the event said there could have been up to 200 people in attendance at Aspire, a catering hall located on the 102nd floor of One World Trade Center.

A sales manager at Aspire would not confirm details of the Guo-supported event, although the manager said a 12-hour, 200-guest event with lunch and dinner stations could cost nearly $185,000.

The Rule of Law Society and the Rule of Law Foundation describe themselves as a resource for whistleblowers who want to safely speak out against the Chinese government. Guo fled China in 2014 in anticipation of corruption charges. After he blasted China’s leadership, warrants were reportedly issued for his arrest on charges that included corruption and bribery.

Press representatives for the Guo-linked foundations, Bannon, Flynn and Giuliani did not respond to requests for comment.

A misinformation offensive

The conspiracy theories and speakers heard at the event fit a pattern for the Guo-backed organizations. The nonprofits are cited in a report by Graphika, which describes a “network [that] acts as a prolific producer and amplifier of mis- and disinformation, including claims of voter fraud in the U.S., false information about Covid-19, and QAnon narratives.”

Bannon left his role as chair of the Rule of Law Society last summer. His departure from the board came around the time he was arrested on Guo’s yacht for allegedly defrauding donors through his “We Build the Wall” fundraising campaign. Bannon pleaded not guilty at the time and was later pardoned by Trump.

The invitation to the June event lists Dinggang Wang, a Guo associate and anti-Chinese government YouTube star, as a new chair of the Rule of Law Society. Wang, according to a report by NBC News, appears to have previously helped spread Covid misinformation and conspiracy theories about President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, during the election.

The invitation lists among its topics the “Chinese Communist Party Virus” and “CCP’s existential threat to the US and the world.” But there is no clear indication that people would discuss the 2020 election. Biden defeated Trump, who has continued to lie about how it was stolen from him.

The event was described as a commemoration of a Guo-linked movement known as the New Federal State of China.

“It is with great pleasure and joy that we invite you to join us in New York City for the first anniversary of The New Federal State of China (NFSC),” the invitation read.

At the event, Bannon and Lindell contended that China interfered in the election.

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A government report, declassified in March by the director of national intelligence, said there were “no indications that any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 U.S. elections, including voter registration, casting ballots, vote tabulation or reporting results.”

The report also noted that intelligence agencies found that China “did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.” The report does note that intelligence analysts also assessed that “China did take some steps to try to undermine former President Trump’s reelection.”

Flynn at the Guo-backed party falsely claimed that Trump won the election over Biden. Giuliani took aim at Hunter Biden and the Biden family as a whole, among other conspiracies.

The election claims made by Trump, Bannon, Lindell, Flynn, Giuliani and other allies of the former president have been debunked across the board, including by Republicans and one-time members of the Trump administration.

Then-Attorney General Bill Barr told The Associated Press shortly after Biden was projected to be the winner of the 2020 election that the FBI found no signs of widespread voter fraud.

Trump’s campaign still went on to spend millions to fight a losing battle against the election results. As Congress was signing off on the election results Jan. 6, Trump encouraged his supporters to march on Capitol Hill. The ensuing riot and invasion of Congress led to several deaths and hundreds of federal prosecutions.

Here are some of the notable things said by the leading pro-Trump voices at the One World Trade Center event.

Steve Bannon

Steve Bannon speaks at one year anniversary celebration of the New Federal State of China.

Source: Rule of Law Society | YouTube

“The quality of people that you have brought here today. You are going to have Gen. Mike Flynn. You are going to have Mike Lindell,” Bannon said. “He’s [Lindell] suing Dominion because of the Chinese Communist Party. He’s going to show in court that the Chinese Communist Party actually did cyberattacks on our Nov. 3 election,” Bannon noted.

Moments before Lindell spoke at the event, Bannon said that Lindell’s lawsuits against voting machine companies Dominion and Smartmatic will prove that China interfered in the 2020 election to defeat Trump. Dominion is also suing Lindell.

“Here’s what’s important. He has a lawsuit that he’s going to take to the Supreme Court that’s going to show the Chinese Communist Party interfered in the 2020 election to defeat Donald J. Trump,” Bannon said of Lindell.

Lindell’s claims have been debunked.

Mike Flynn

Source: Rule of Law Society | YouTube

Before Lindell took the stage, Flynn, whom Trump forced out barely a month into his administration, gave his take on the election and suggested that people are planning further fights against the federal government.

“I’m fed up with our government. I’m fed up with the corruption that we’ve experienced and that has been exposed,” Flynn told the crowd. “We have hundreds of millions of people in this country that they see it for what it is. They see the authenticity of a Donald Trump. They know President Trump won this last election. There’s no doubt about it.”

He added: “Where are we as America today? Where are we? And I will tell you. There are hundreds of millions of people around this country that are not about to give this country up. There are patriots everywhere. And I mean 10’s, 20 million people.”

Trump pardoned Flynn in November, two years after the retired lieutenant general pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

Mike Lindell

Steve Bannon and Mike Lindell speak at one year anniversary celebration of the New Federal State of China.

Steve Bannon and Mike Lindell speak at an event celebrating the first anniversary of the Inauguration of New Federal State of China.

Lindell, the pillow kingpin who became a leading voice on the extreme right, showed a clip from his new film titled “Absolutely 9-0.” In the film clip, Lindell speaks to an anonymous cybersecurity expert who claims to have proof that China interfered in the election.

The conservative-leaning outlet The Dispatch spoke to experts who questioned the legitimacy of many of Lindell’s claims in the film. This month, Lindell hosted what he called a “Cyber Symposium,” where he said he would make public the evidence he had showing that China hacked the 2020 election. Reporters who attended the event said Lindell did not show any evidence proving his claims.

The private anti-China event in June proved to be another moment for Lindell to push his election claims. Lindell claimed in his speech that he found evidence showing China’s attempts to interfere in the election.

“When this does get to the Supreme Court the biggest win here is that they look at it. They have to look at it and they’re going to be heroes because we are going to show them that the CCP used the Democrat Party to attack our country through these machines,” Lindell said.

Lindell explained in a phone interview Wednesday with CNBC that he was invited to the event by Bannon himself and he did not know Guo.

Lindell stood by his belief that China interfered in the election. However, he would not commit to a specific date to release his purported evidence to the public. He also said he had not seen the report by the U.S. intelligence community that explains China did not interfere in the presidential election.

“This happened. It’s real,” Lindell told CNBC. “It’s one of the biggest cover-ups of the biggest crime in history.”

Rudy Giuliani

Source: Rule of Law Society | YouTube

Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor and mayor of New York, was among the last speakers at the event. Giuliani’s license to practice law was suspended both in New York and Washington, D.C., due to the false election claims he is spreading.

At the Guo-backed event, Giuliani took aim at Covid restrictions that were put in place by Democratic governors.

“You could see what I call the dictatorial instincts of socialists in Gov. Newsom, in Gov. Whitmer, in Gov. Cuomo. Just give them a little opportunity to exercise authority and they are going to slam down on you,” Giuliani said, slamming his hand onto the podium.

“Arresting people in handcuffs for not wearing a mask?” Giuliani asked the crowd. “Looks a little like Berlin in the 1930s, huh?” he later added, referring to Nazi Germany.

Giuliani then revisited the Hunter Biden conspiracy. Giuliani’s New York City apartment was raided almost two months before the Guo event. It was reportedly part of a probe into the former New York mayor’s dealings in Ukraine. Giuliani had been trying to dig up dirt on Biden’s son’s business dealings in Ukraine during the election.

“You can’t go through three days without a crime being committed by one of the Bidens,” Giuliani said while describing the evidence he has reviewed against the Biden family, including a hard drive, a copy of which was purportedly provided to the New York Post.

“They are basically a crime family. They started 30 years ago selling his office, for little money. Then big money. Then when he became vice president, there’s a pattern to it.”

Video of the event:

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Miscue After Miscue, U.S. Exit Plan Unravels

Miscue After Miscue, U.S. Exit Plan Unravels

A week later, on July 2, Mr. Biden in an exuberant mood gathered a small group of reporters to celebrate new job numbers that he believed showed his plan for economic recovery was working. But all the questions he received concerned news from Afghanistan that the United States had left Bagram Air Force Base without the Afghans being aware of it.

“It’s a rational setback with our allies,” he insisted, “so there’s nothing unusual about it.”

But when the questions were about Afghanistan, not the economy, he became visibly upset. Recalling Mr. Ghani’s visit, he said, “I think you have the ability to support the government,” although he added that there must be negotiations with the Taliban.

Then, for the first time, he was urged about what the government would do to save Kabul if it were directly attacked. “I want to talk about happy things, man,” he said. He insisted there was a plan.

“We have worked out a capacity beyond the horizon,” he said, which means the government had contingency plans in case things go bad. “But the Afghans have to be able to do it themselves with the air force they have, and we’re helping them maintain it,” he said. But by then most of the US contractors who had helped keep the Afghan planes flying had withdrawn from Bagram along with the troops. Military and intelligence officials admit they were concerned the Afghans would not be able to stay in the air.

On July 8, almost all American forces had left Afghanistan when the Taliban continued their deployment across the country. In a White House speech that day defending his decision to exit, Mr Biden was in a fix when he tried to express his skepticism about the capabilities of the Afghan armed forces while being careful not to undermine their government . He then reacted angrily to a reporter’s comparison with Vietnam, insisting that “there will be no circumstance in which Afghan people are lifted off the roof of a US embassy. It is not at all comparable. “

Understanding the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan

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Who are the Taliban? The Taliban emerged in 1994 amid the unrest following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1989. They used brutal public punishments, including flogging, amputation and mass executions, to enforce their rules. Here is more about their genesis and track record as rulers.

Who are the Taliban leaders? These are the top leaders of the Taliban, men who for years have been on the run, in hiding, in prison and dodged American drones. Little is known about them or how they plan to rule, including whether they will be as tolerant as they say they are.

What is happening to the women of Afghanistan? When the Taliban was last in power, they banned women and girls from most jobs or from going to school. Afghan women have gained a lot since the Taliban was overthrown, but now they fear that they are losing ground. Taliban officials are trying to reassure women that things will be different, but there are indications that they have begun to reintroduce the old order in at least some areas.

But five days later, nearly two dozen American diplomats, all in the Kabul embassy, ​​sent a memo directly to Mr. Blinken via the State Department’s “Dissent” channel. First reported in the Wall Street Journal, the Telegram called for Afghan evacuation flights to start in two weeks and that administration speed up to register them for visas.

The next day, in an already ongoing move, the White House named an intensified effort “Operation Allies Refuge”.