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Trump Aides Prepped Rebel Act Order Amid Protests

Trump Aides Prepped Insurrection Act Order Amid Protests

But invoking the Insurrection Act, an underutilized authority that allows presidents to use active military personnel for law enforcement purposes, would have escalated dramatically. The act has only been alleged twice in the past 40 years – once to quell the unrest following Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and once during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

“We look weak,” said Trump, according to one of the officials. He complained about being taken to the bunker below the White House on the night of May 29 when the barricade outside the Treasury Department was broken. The New York Times had reported the bunker visit the day before, which made Trump angry.

But all three officers resisted the idea of ​​invoking the Insurrection Act. Mr Barr, who was Mr Trump’s attorney general for a year and a half and increasingly clashing with the president, told Mr Trump that civil law enforcement had enough manpower to handle the situation and that a drastic move like invoking the insurrection Act could lead to more protests and violence. Mr. Esper agreed with the two former officers.

Mr Trump’s meeting with Mr Barr, Mr Esper and Mr Milley was marked by his anger over the embarrassment on the world stage, according to two officials.

Reluctantly, Trump agreed to her advice not to use troops on active duty, officials said. Immediately after the meeting, Mr. Trump joined a call with governors across the country, some of whom saw protests surge in their states. Mr Trump urged them to “dominate” the protesters as he said the Minnesota National Guard did.

Mr Esper told his staff that he was so concerned about Mr Trump sending troops on active duty that he repeated the need to take control of their states in the hopes that he could encourage governors to deploy the National Guard to fend off federal measures. Using the Pentagon terminology he later shared with his staff that he regretted, Mr. Esper told governors “to dominate the battlefield,” a sentiment stemming from concerns about Mr. Trump’s intentions.

One background to the drafting of the Insurrection Act proclamation, however, was that discussions between the White House and city officials about how to contain the protests remained contentious throughout the day. At some point, White House officials suggested taking over the city’s police force to help contain the riot and restore order. The idea baffled Washington city officials.

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Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22.5 years in jail George Floyd homicide

Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22.5 years in prison George Floyd murder

George Floyd’s 7-year-old daughter Gianna testifies via a cell phone video before the sentencing of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of her father George Floyd during a sentencing hearing in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. June 25, 2021 in a still image from video.

Pool via Reuters

A judge sentenced former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin on Friday to 22-and-a-half years in prison for the murder of George Floyd.

The sentencing began Friday afternoon with emotional victim impact statements from the victim’s relatives, and Chauvin himself offering “my condolences to the Floyd family.”

Hours before, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill denied a request for a new trial for Chauvin, whose brutal killing of Floyd, a Black man, whose videotaped death on May 25, 2020, sparked demands for reform of U.S. police departments.

“I ask about him all the time,” Floyd’s 7-year-old daughter Gianna said in a video shown at the beginning of the sentencing.

Asked what she would tell her father if she could see him, Gianna said on the video, “I miss you and I love you.”

Chauvin held his knee on or near Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, as the 46-year-old was prone on the ground while detaining him on suspicion of using a counterfeit bill for a purchase, as three other Minneapolis cops stood by.

“He’s telling Mr. Chauvin, ‘I can’t breathe, I’m dying,’ ” Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank said at the sentencing. “This is 9-and-a-half minutes of cruelty to a man who was begging for his life.”

Floyd’s brother Terrence Floyd addressed Chauvin, after asking the judge to impose a maximum sentence of 40 years, saying he wanted to ask him “why?”

“What were you thinking? What was in your thoughts that day, when you had your knee on my brother’s neck?” asked Terrence Floyd, who at times paused to regain his composure.

“When you knew that he posted no threat anymore. When he was handcuffed? Why didn’t you at least get up? Why did you stay there?”

Chauvin, in a very brief statement during the sentencing, said, “I am not able to give a full statement at this time, but very briefly, I want to give my condolences to the Floyd family.”

“There is going to be some other information in the future that will be of interest and I hope things will give you some peace of mind,” Chauvin said.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin addresses his sentencing hearing and the judge as he awaits his sentence after being convicted of murder in the death of Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. June 25, 2021 in a still image from video.

Pool via Reuters

Prosecutors have asked the judge to sentence Chauvin to 30 years in prison.

That is a decade less than the maximum possible sentence he faces on the charge of second-degree murder, the most serious of the three counts on which he was convicted by a jury on April 20 after trial.

Jurors also convicted Chauvin of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Chauvin’s lawyer is asking the judge to sentence the 45-year-old white ex-police officer to probation, with time served in jail since last year.

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The presumptive sentence for Chauvin under Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines is 12½ years.

Chauvin’s mother, Carolyn Pawlenty, said “It’s been difficult for me to hear and read what the media, public and prosecution team believe Derek to be an aggressive, heartless and uncaring person. I can tell you that is far from the truth.”

“My son’s identity has also been reduced to that as a racist. I want this court to know that none of these things are true, and that my son is a good man,” Pawlenty said.

The shocking video of Floyd’s death, which was widely disseminated by news media and on social media, led to a wave of large protests across the nation against police brutality and systemic racism.

The three other now-ex cops involved in Floyd’s arrest, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Keung and Thomas Lane, were originally due to stand trial in August on charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death. That trial is now scheduled for next March.

In this image taken from video, Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, becomes emotional during victim impact statements as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over sentencing, Friday, June 25, 2021, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted in the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd.

Court TV via AP | Pool

Cahill postponed that trial in light of a federal criminal indictment issued in May against the three officers and Chauvin for violating Floyd’s civil rights. The judge said he wanted the federal case to be handled first and also wanted to put some time between Chauvin’s state trial and that of the three other cops.

On Friday, in his order denying a request for a new trial for Chauvin, Cahill wrote that Chauvin’s lawyer Eric Nelson had failed to show that the judge committed errors that deprived Chauvin of a fair trial or that prosecutors engaged in misconduct.

Cahill also rejected a request by the defense for a hearing on possible misconduct by jurors, saying Chauvin’s lawyer failed to establish that a juror gave false testimony during jury selection.

This is breaking news. Check back for updates.

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Justice Dept. to Sue Georgia Over Voting Legislation

Justice Dept. to Sue Georgia Over Voting Law

The Justice Department is suing Georgia over a comprehensive electoral law passed by the state’s Republican-led legislature, a Congressional official said Friday, a key move by the Biden administration to counter state-level electoral restrictions in place since the 2020 election.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland was expected to announce the lawsuit late Friday morning.

The lawsuit is among the highest-profile enforcement actions launched under the Voting Act since the Supreme Court gutted a key provision in 2013 that allowed the Justice Department to prevent states from passing laws that facilitate discrimination against voters.

The lawsuit shows that the Justice Department, under the von Biden administration, intends to use the remaining tools at its disposal to aggressively oppose government actions it regards as potentially disenfranchised minority voters.

Mr Garland said earlier this month that the ministry would use all available tools to tackle voter discrimination.

The lawsuit comes days after Republicans in Congress blocked the most ambitious federal voting law in a generation, which dealt a blow to Democrats’ efforts to get the vote. President Biden and the Democratic leaders pledged to continue working to enforce state voting laws.

The Justice Department’s lawsuit is expected to accuse Georgia law of effectively discriminating against non-white voters and is intended to show that Georgia lawmakers intended to do so.

Georgian law introduced a number of new restrictions on electoral access and dramatically changed the balance of power in the electoral administration. The bill followed an election in which Georgia, a once reliably red state, turned blue in the presidential race for the first time in nearly 40 years, followed by two quick consecutive Senate seats, moving from Republicans to Democrats.

Georgia was the epicenter of former President Donald J. Trump’s months of efforts to overturn the election results. Picking up on numerous false conspiracy theories about the Georgia elections, he went on to claim that despite three separate recounts and audits – including one entirely manual – it reconfirmed the results, was fraudulent.

Critics were quick to cry that the law was rooted in the former president’s falsehoods and intended to reverse the democratic wave in Georgia, targeting the state’s absentee voting scheme, which was approved by Republicans in 2005, but the preferred method was voting for Democrats in the 2020 election amid the pandemic.

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Rudy Giuliani is suspended from training regulation attributable to Trump statements

Rudy Giuliani is suspended from practicing law due to Trump statements

A New York court suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law in the state on Thursday, citing his “false and misleading statements” about the electoral defeat of former President Donald Trump.

The suspension, which will take effect immediately, is a blow to 77-year-old Giuliani, a former New York mayor who was once a senior Justice Department official and US attorney in Manhattan.

It also happens that criminal investigations against Giuliani in connection with his work in Ukraine are being carried out by the same federal prosecutor’s office.

Since Trump’s defeat in November, the former president and his lawyer have made false claims about the legitimacy of President Joe Biden’s election victory. They claim, without evidence, that Trump was cheated of a victory by widespread electoral fraud in key states.

Giuliani’s false statements about the Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania elections – all states Biden won – were cited in the crushing, 33-page suspension order issued by a five-person appeal panel of the New York State First Judicial Department . This division includes the Bronx and Manhattan, where Giuliani’s law firm is located.

The suspension, ordered the day before his 52nd anniversary as a licensed attorney in New York, was requested by the Attorney Grievance Committee for the First Judicial Department.

Giuliani’s suspension is temporary pending the outcome of a full formal disciplinary hearing.

Giuliani criticized in an interview with NBC News outside his apartment in the Upper East Side that it was “ridiculous” that he would be disciplined without such a hearing.

“Everything I said [the election] comes from one witness, sometimes from two or three witnesses, ”said Giuliani. “I have affidavits from you. I have video, I have audio. And instead of looking at it, listen to the Democrats’ false allegations. “

However, the court’s order states that “the preliminary suspension is a serious remedy, available only in situations where there is an immediate need to protect the public from” violations of the professional code by a lawyer.

The court flatly denied Giuliani’s claims that the investigation into his conduct in representing Trump after the 2020 election violated his right to freedom of expression in the First Amendment.

“We conclude that there is undisputed evidence that the defendant, in his capacity as attorney for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump’s failed re-election attempt, has made demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the made public in 2020 ”, it says in the order.

The court also said that Giuliani’s “false statements were made to inappropriately support respondent’s account that widespread electoral fraud stole his client’s victory in the 2020 presidential election in the United States”.

“We conclude that the defendant’s conduct immediately jeopardizes the public interest and warrants a temporary suspension of the legal practice pending further proceedings before the attorney’s complaints committee.”

Examples of conduct cited in the warrant included Giuliani’s repeated false claims to a Pennsylvania federal judge after Election Day that Trump’s campaign “pursued an allegation of fraud” in an election-related lawsuit “when it was undeniably not the case. “

Instead, according to the order, the campaign raised an equivalent claim to protection that was “not based on fraud at all”.

Another example cited by the order was the repeated assertion by Giuliani, in an effort to discredit election results, that “the dead in Philadelphia ‘voted'”.

Giuliani claimed at various times that the ballot papers of 8,021 dead were cast, “while he also gave the figure as 30,000”.

“As an anecdotal figurehead to prove this point, he repeatedly stated that the famous heavyweight boxer Joe Frazier continued to vote years after his death.

Indeed, the ruling added, “The public records filed on this motion clearly show that the defendant’s testimony is false. Public records show that Pennsylvania formally suspended Mr. Frazier’s voting rights on February 8, 2012, three months after his death. “

Giuliani had also falsely claimed on several occasions that Pennsylvania had received more postal ballot papers than the state sent out prior to the election.

In response to the court’s inquiry, the ruling stated that Giuliani had “not denied that his factual statement that only 1.8 million postal ballots had been requested was untrue”.

“His defense is that he did not knowingly make this false statement,” the order reads. “Respondent claims he relied on an unidentified member of his’ team ‘who’ accidentally picked up information from the Pennsylvania website that incorrectly listed the information.”

But the court found, “There is simply no evidence to support this statement. For example, there is no affidavit from this alleged team member who is not by name or otherwise identified, nor is there a copy of the website that allegedly provided false information. “

In a statement, Giuliani’s lawyers said: “We are disappointed with Appeals Department’s decision to suspend Mayor Giuliani before granting a hearing on the alleged issues.”

“This is unprecedented as we believe our client is not currently a threat to the public interest,” said a statement by John Leventhal and Barry Kamins, both retired judges.

“We believe that once the issues are fully investigated at a hearing, Mr. Giuliani will be reinstated as a valued member of the legal profession which he has served so well in his many roles for so many years.”

Giuliani said in the interview outside his home: “I did not have the opportunity to be heard … how can you say I would have lied without a hearing, you did not question me.”

“If you are to say that I said something irresponsible, you have to give me a chance to defend myself … Courts cannot rule on the basis of newspapers,” said Giuliani. “I’m personally concerned about the country … only Trump attorneys are investigated.”

“Somebody has to fix this double standard justice system. I might as well be in East Germany or in Iran,” he said. I wish I were in a state that is not controlled by a party or in a city that is controlled by a party. “

Trump said in a statement that Giuliani was targeted “because he fought a fraudulent election”.

“It’s nothing like a witch hunt, and they should be ashamed,” said Trump, referring to Giuliani a “great American patriot,” “the greatest mayor in New York history,” and “the Elliot Ness of his generation.” on the prohibition agent portrayed in the television series and film “The Untouchables”.

Giuliani’s son Andrew, a former White House adviser to Trump currently seeking the Republican nomination for New York governor, said the suspension was “unacceptable” and the product of judges appointed by Democratic governors, including Governor Andrew Cuomo, whom Andrew tries to relieve.

“This goes after one of President Trump’s closest allies, and that’s exactly what it is,” said Andrew Giuliani in a video posted on his Twitter account. “I stand by my father. In the end, he did everything according to the book.”

The complaint to the Attorney Grievance Committee was filed by Manhattan Democratic Senator Brad Hoylman. “I’m happy” about the suspension, he said.

“The lawyer profession is sacred and noble,” Hoylman said in a statement. “And there can be no place in the profession for those who try to undermine and destroy the rule of law, as Rudy Giuliani has so blatantly done.”

The suspension order was issued hours before a lawyer from Giuliani appeared in Washington federal court for a hearing on his offer to dismiss a $ 1.3 billion libel suit against him by Dominion Voting Systems.

Giuliani’s claims about Dominion were cited in the suspension order.

This voting machine company accuses Giuliani of “irreparable damage” to the business while “cashing in” the “big lie” that the Trump race was stolen by widespread fraud.

Giuliani’s attorney in the case filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in April, arguing in part that Dominion’s lawsuit had not been brought in accordance with due process standards.

Dominion has filed separate, multi-billion dollar defamation suits against MyPillow and the company’s pro-Trump CEO Mike Lindell and pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell.

Additional coverage from CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger

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Pence, Diverging From Trump, Says He Was ‘Proud’ to Certify Election

Pence, Diverging From Trump, Says He Was ‘Proud’ to Certify Election

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday night made his most forceful attempt yet to separate himself from his former boss, Donald J. Trump, on the issue of certifying the 2020 election results.

Speaking at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Mr. Pence defended the constitutionally mandated role he played in certifying the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, when a violent mob of Trump loyalists — some chanting “Hang Mike Pence” — stormed the Capitol while the president did nothing for hours to stop them.

“I will always be proud that we did our part on that tragic day to reconvene the Congress and fulfilled our duty under the Constitution and the laws of the United States,” Mr. Pence said, noting that as vice president, he had no constitutional authority to reject or return electoral votes submitted to Congress by the states. “The truth is, there is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.”

It was the furthest that Mr. Pence, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2024, has gone yet in defending his role that day or distancing himself from Mr. Trump, to whom he ingratiated himself during their four years together in office.

In the speeches Mr. Pence has delivered since leaving the White House, he has gone out of his way to praise Mr. Trump and his agenda, even reiterating some of the former president’s grievance-fueled messaging that latches onto the country’s culture wars.

On Thursday night, Mr. Pence argued that “critical race theory,” a graduate school framework that has found its way into K-12 public education, was effectively “state-sanctioned racism.”

And he spent much of his speech reciting what he said were Mr. Trump’s accomplishments on many issues, including free trade, border security and relations with China. “President Trump changed the national consensus on China,” he said.

Mr. Pence also compared Mr. Trump to former President Ronald Reagan.

“He too disrupted the status quo,” Mr. Pence said. “He challenged the establishment. He invigorated our movement and set a bold new course for America.”

But so far, Mr. Pence has only tiptoed around the issue of how to remain the loyal soldier while distancing himself from the events of Jan. 6.

Speaking at the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner in Manchester, N.H., this month, Mr. Pence admitted that he and Mr. Trump might never see “see eye to eye” about the Capitol riot, stopping short of criticizing one view over another.

On Thursday night, he declined to state firmly that he and Mr. Trump had lost the 2020 election, a reality that the former president has continued to deny.

“I understand the disappointment many feel about the last election,” Mr. Pence said. “I can relate. I was on the ballot. But there’s more at stake than our party or our political fortunes in this moment. If we lose faith in the Constitution, we won’t just lose elections — we’ll lose our country.”

Whether Mr. Pence will succeed in having it both ways — being viewed as an ally and a critic of Mr. Trump — remains to be seen. Polls show that a majority of Republican voters believe that Mr. Trump won the 2020 election and buy into his baseless claims about voter fraud.

Mr. Pence is also testing the patience of a man who still looms over the political landscape and the Republican Party. While Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence have spoken several times since leaving office, Mr. Trump has showed flashes of frustration with his former loyal No. 2.

In private and at a Republican National Committee donors event at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s resort in Florida, shortly after a book deal for Mr. Pence was announced, the former president has mocked Mr. Pence for certifying President Biden’s Electoral College victory, according to people familiar with the discussions as well as a detailed description of the remarks that evening.

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Rudy Giuliani skips Dominion, Powell, MyPillow-Lindell listening to

Rudy Giuliani skips Dominion, Powell, MyPillow-Lindell hearing

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani arrives at his mansion in Manhattan in New York City, New York, on June 24, 2021 after his bar license is suspended.

Andrew Kelly | Reuters

Mike Lindell, Chief Executive Officer of My Pillow Inc., speaks to media representatives upon his arrival in federal court in Washington, DC, United States on Thursday, June 24, 2021.

Samuel Corum | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The temporary suspension came the day before Giuliani’s 52nd anniversary as a licensed attorney in New York. It will remain in force pending the outcome of a formal disciplinary hearing.

Giuliani spoke quickly. He appeared before reporters outside his home on Manhattan’s Tony Upper East Side to criticize the appellate judges’ “ridiculous” decision.

“They just listen to false allegations made by the Democrats,” Giuliani said, NBC News reported.

“If you want to say that I said something irresponsible, you have to give me a chance to defend myself,” Giuliani allegedly said, lamenting that “only Trump lawyers are being investigated.”

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But Giuliani was nowhere to be seen later Thursday when U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols heard arguments over whether three separate libel cases should be dismissed by Dominion Voting Systems.

Sibley and Arthur Aidala, another of Giuliani’s attorneys, did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on the Dominion hearing.

Dominion argues separately in the lawsuits that Giuliani, Lindell and Powell each damaged their reputations by making dozen of false and misleading claims about the company and its role in the competition between Trump and President Joe Biden.

Sibley filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in April, arguing that Dominion’s appeal claims were not brought in accordance with the court’s due process standards.

This argument differed from one of Powell’s attorneys, who in part argued that “no sane person” would believe that their false claims and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election were “true statements of fact.”

Dominion, which operated voting machines in numerous states during the 2020 election cycle, is demanding approximately $ 1.3 billion in damages in each of these cases. Dominion has also sued Fox News for $ 1.6 billion, accusing the network of falsely claiming it rigged the election. Fox dismissed the case.

At the beginning of the hearing, Dominion attorney Thomas Clare introduced CEO Poulos, who was sitting at the legal table.

Clare followed Andrew Parker, of the MyPillow legal team, who found that Dershowitz, described as “part of the MyPillow legal team,” was there by phone.

Dershowitz, the former Harvard law professor and former Trump impeachment attorney, had previously told CNBC that he was playing an “extremely limited” role in the trial.

Parker said Dershowitz could not appear in person “because he could not travel because of an operation”.

Lindell himself was present at the hearing, according to his attorney Douglas Daniels, who specifically introduced him to Nichols. “I would like to introduce Mr. Mike Lindell to the court,” said the chairman’s attorney.

Sibley followed and said to the judge, “It’s just me.”

After him, Powell attorney Howard Kleinhendler said at his introduction, “I would also like to warn the court that Ms. Powell is here.”

This is the evolution of news. Please check again for updates.

– CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.

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‘It’s Extra Enjoyable’: Germany Presents Blinken a Gushing Welcome

‘It’s More Fun’: Germany Offers Blinken a Gushing Welcome

BERLIN – Foreign leaders often feign indifference to changes in American governments. But during his two-day visit to the German capital, Foreign Secretary Antony J. Blinken’s impotent hosts did little to hide their relief over the end of the Trump era and the revival of American relations with Germany.

Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas raved about a joint appearance with his counterpart in a chic Berlin beer garden on Thursday and remembered his first conversation with Mr Blinken after he became Foreign Minister.

“At the end of the call,” he said, “I couldn’t help saying, ‘Tony, I still have to get used to the fact that I can talk to the US Secretary of State and always be the same.” View – because it used to be different was. ‘”

Germany, said Maas, was “very happy that the US is now on our side again”. Then, after explaining the global importance of this layer, Mr. Maas paused with a tall glass of beer in front of him.

“It’s more fun too,” he added.

The day before, the outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel sounded visibly relieved next to Mr Blinken.

“We are pleased that the American states, to quote the American President Joe Biden, are back on the international, multilateral stage,” said Merkel. She and President Biden, she said, “could have agreed on a common approach to global problems.

That was rarely the case in Germany when it came to President Donald J. Trump.

And so Blinken’s visit underscored the German joy at the departure of an American president who was hostile to Germany, a European economic power and important NATO ally, and described it as an economic competitor and free rider among the American defense. After the resignation of Mr. Trump’s ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, a member of Ms. Merkel’s party even said that Mr. Grenell acted like “the representative of a hostile power”.

Mr. Blinken made it clear that those days are over.

“I think it is fair to say that the United States has no better partner, no better friend in the world than Germany,” he told Maas on Wednesday at a joint appearance at the German Foreign Ministry, a mixture of joy and pride.

Mr. Blinken’s visit was followed by President Biden’s first trip to Europe as President of several days, during which he announced the return to America’s traditional transatlantic leadership role. Mr Biden’s itinerary did not include Germany, but he met Ms. Merkel twice at meetings of European leaders and plans to receive Ms. Merkel at the White House next month.

“The new American government has reached out and we should take it,” said Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier before leaving for a visit to Washington on Wednesday, according to Deutsche Welle.

Behind the scenes, however, it wasn’t just happy hours and happy conversation.

Mr Blinken and Mr Biden are strongly opposed to completing the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, saying it will give Moscow an impact on Europe’s energy security and threaten Ukraine, which makes around $ 1 billion annually on an existing one Pipeline that Russia might at some point no longer be able to use.

Mr Biden waived Congress sanctions last month against the Russian company that built the pipeline and its German chairman, effectively admitting that there was an attempt to halt the project – at the time Mr Biden left office started, was more than 90 percent complete – not worth the probable cost of German-American relations.

Now American and German officials are discussing ways to mitigate Russian benefits from the project, including trying to ensure the Kremlin “cannot use gas as a coercive weapon against Ukraine or anyone else,” Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee earlier this month .

Neither man wanted to give more details about these conversations. After hearing several questions on this subject during his performance with Mr. Blinken, Mr. Maas smiled weakly.

“We can probably save the world as a whole, but people would still ask us about Nord Stream 2,” said Mass. “Well, we have to accept it and live with it.”

German officials celebrated America’s engagement at a Wednesday conference on the future of Libya, attended by Mr Blinken and other State Department officials, including U.S. Envoy for Libya Richard Norland.

The United States was a half-hearted participant in the first conference of its kind, held in January 2020. Mr Blinken’s predecessor, Mike Pompeo, made a brief appearance at the event and left the country before it was completed.

On Wednesday, Mr Mass said the Biden administration was “very committed to this dossier,” adding in an implicit dig by the Trump team, “much more active than we expected in recent years”.

After years of civil war and military intervention by foreign powers – including Egypt, Russia, Turkey and Egypt and the United Arab Emirates – Libya is trying to find influence on a stable and independent political base after the 2011 coup of his long-time dictator Muammar el-Gaddafi.

Wednesday’s conference, at which a group of nations reiterated previous calls for Libya to hold elections scheduled for December 24th and the withdrawal of all foreign forces from the country, brought little new progress.

A senior administrative official said behind the scenes that one obstacle was Turkey’s insistence on its military trainers being legally in the country under an agreement with a previous Libyan government. However, US officials are hoping that as a first confidence-building measure, an agreement could be drawn up that would allow several hundred mercenaries, each representing different factions in the country’s recent battle, to be returned to their homes.

On Thursday morning, Mr. Blinken visited the haunting memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin to commemorate the beginning of a joint German-American “dialogue” on Holocaust issues, which is intended to combat increasing anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.

“We help present and future generations learn about the Holocaust and learn from it,” said Blinken of his late stepfather Samuel Pisar, a survivor of the Nazi camp who lost his family in the Holocaust.

The day ended happily, however, when Mr. Blinken and Mr. Mass – sitting on stools under an outer tent, shorn jackets and ties and sipping beer – answered questions from current and former participants in the German-American educational exchange programs. (Mr Blinken, who joked that he was given a smaller glass on request, just seemed to take a sip.)

Mr. Blinken, a lifelong musician, remembered taking a road trip to Hamburg as a teenager while living in Paris and doing an improvised series there with his rock band, whose other members he called “talented, unlike me” played from gigs in a bar. ”

Mr Maas and Mr Pompeo had civil relations, but it was clear that the German diplomat, born a year after Mr Blinken, had a special chemistry with the new Foreign Minister.

“I’m very excited to see that the two of you seem to be very, very good friends,” remarked one law student who asked a question. “And that gives me hope for the future of German-American cooperation.”

Melissa Eddy contributed to the coverage.

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Biden invitations bipartisan senators to White Home

Biden invites bipartisan senators to White House

(L-R) U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) hold a bipartisan meeting on infrastructure in the basement of the U.S. Capitol building after original talks fell through with the White House on June 8, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Samuel Corum | Getty Images

President Joe Biden will meet with Democratic and Republican infrastructure negotiators at the White House on Thursday, as senators say they have moved closer to a deal to revamp transportation, broadband and utilities.

“White House senior staff had two productive meetings today with the bipartisan group of Senators who have been negotiating about infrastructure,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Wednesday night. “The group made progress towards an outline of a potential agreement, and the President has invited the group to come to the White House tomorrow to discuss this in-person.”

The lawmakers have worked for weeks to craft a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure package that could get through Congress with support from both parties. Deciding how to pay for the plan has posed the biggest challenge, and the senators have not finalized how a proposal would raise revenue.

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Twenty-one senators — 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats — have backed the infrastructure framework. They will likely need to win support from Democratic leaders to garner the 60 votes needed to pass the bill in the Democratic-held Senate.

Biden plans to meet with senators who crafted the plan at 11:45 a.m. ET.

“We’ll see what the president says, but I will tell you we’ve worked very closely with White House negotiators through this process,” Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican and one of the lead infrastructure negotiators, told CNBC on Thursday morning. He said the group will pitch the plan to more senators from both parties.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., who has worked on infrastructure as co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, told CNBC that a deal is “inches away.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., met with White House officials on Wednesday night. If they back the bipartisan framework, they could try to sell their caucuses on passing it before moving to approve a larger bill that addresses more of their priorities without Republican votes. The second package could include programs related to child and elder care, education, health care and climate change.

The Senate has started to work on the budget resolution that would allow Democrats to use the reconciliation process to pass the plan.

“Both tracks — the bipartisan track, and the budget reconciliation track are proceeding in pace, and we hope to have voted on both of them in the Senate and House in July,” Schumer told reporters after the meeting at the White House.

Both of the congressional leaders agreed with Biden’s call not to raise taxes on anyone who makes under $400,000 per year, according to a White House readout of the meeting. The Biden administration has said it will not back an increase to the gas tax or an electric vehicle user fee as part of the bipartisan framework because it would break the president’s pledge.

Republicans have fought the president’s proposal to hike the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%. The GOP slashed the rate from 35% in 2017.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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U.S. to Transfer Afghans Who Aided Troops to Third International locations

U.S. to Move Afghans Who Aided Troops to Third Countries

WASHINGTON – Biden’s administration is preparing to move thousands of Afghan interpreters, drivers, and others who have worked with American forces to other countries to protect them while they apply for entry into the United States, high-ranking officials said Administrative officers.

With the American military in the final phase of withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war, the White House has come under heavy pressure from lawmakers and the military to protect Afghan allies from Taliban revenge attacks and the lengthy and complex process that makes them special Provide immigrant visas.

On Wednesday, administrative officials began notifying lawmakers that they will soon begin a potentially massive move of tens of thousands of Afghans. Officials said Afghans would be deported from Afghanistan to third countries to await processing of their visa applications to enter the United States.

Officials did not want to say where the Afghans would be waiting and it is not clear if third countries have agreed to accept them. The opportunity to move is given to people who have already started the application process.

More than 18,000 Afghans who worked as interpreters, drivers, engineers, security, repairs, and embassy workers for the United States during the war are trapped in bureaucratic limbo after applying for special immigrant visas that are available to people because of their Labor are threatened for the US government.

These applicants have 53,000 family members, officials said.

A senior administrative official said the plan would also move family members of applicants from Afghanistan to a third country to await visa processing. Transportation from Afghanistan will not come with an assurance that a US visa will be issued. It was unclear whether people who somehow failed to qualify would be sent back to Afghanistan or left in a third country.

The officers spoke for anonymity as they were not allowed to speak publicly about the decision.

The decision is made as President Biden prepares to meet with President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan on Friday amid deteriorating security in the country.

Aides said Mr Biden would urge Mr Ghani on the need for unity among the country’s leaders and call on them to stop fighting among themselves if the country is in crisis and government forces are at risk of seizing control of the nation to lose the Taliban.

They said he would pledge Mr. Ghani continued financial assistance from the United States to the Afghan government and people, including a humanitarian aid package of $ 266 million and $ 3.3 billion in security and substantial assistance Combating the coronavirus pandemic with vaccines, test kits and personal protective equipment.

Updated

June 23, 2021, 7:57 p.m. ET

Officials said the government has been working to streamline the visa process for Afghans who have worked with U.S. forces and has added people to process the applications.

Both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, the pressure on the government has grown steadily in recent weeks to act quickly for the Afghans. Lawmakers urged Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and General Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a Pentagon budget hearing on Wednesday.

“These brave Afghan partners, these Afghan and American heroes, people we asked to risk their lives not just for Afghanistan but for America because we have their backs, their future is in your hands,” he said Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat and a former naval officer.

“That much is certain,” said Mr. Moulton during the House Armed Services Committee hearing. “The Taliban will kill them if they can. And they will rape and murder their wives and children first if they can. “

Mr. Austin seemed to be hinting at the plans. “I am confident that sometime soon we will start evacuating some of these people,” he said.

General Milley said the military is ready to relocate Afghans who have applied for special visas. “I feel it is a moral imperative to care for those who have served by our side,” he said. “We are ready to do whatever we are asked to do.”

Chronic delays and traffic jams plagued the special immigrant visa program for more than a decade. Democrats have accused former President Donald J. Trump of exacerbating the problem by starving the program of resources and personnel.

The coronavirus pandemic didn’t help; A surge in cases at the embassy in Kabul has suspended face-to-face interviews and reviews.

In a January report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “limited staffing” and “local security conditions directly related to the Covid-19 pandemic” were referred to as “severe” on the visa application process.

In recent weeks, Democrats and Republicans have tabled bills in Congress to expedite the process and waive certain requirements, such as requiring applicants to undergo costly medical exams. And in December, under a huge fallback bill, Congress raised the overall visa program cap by 4,000 to 26,500.

The Biden government has also come under pressure from several nonprofit groups and refugee advocates to do more.

About 70 organizations recently wrote a letter to Mr. Biden urging his government to “immediately implement plans to evacuate vulnerable US-affiliated Afghans” – a move the White House is now taking.

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Politics

Biden will fight violent crime surge by specializing in weapons, communities

Biden will combat violent crime surge by focusing on guns, communities

United States President Joe Biden, accompanied by Attorney General Merrick Garland, holds remarks following a round table discussion with advisors on steps to curb gun violence in the United States on June 23, 2021 at the White House in Washington.

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Wednesday outlined several measures his administration is taking to contain the recent surge in violent crime and gun violence, ahead of a summer that experts fear could be particularly deadly.

“Crime increases historically over the course of the summer. And if we emerge from this pandemic and reopen the country, the traditional summer surge may be even more pronounced than usual, ”Biden said at the White House on Wednesday afternoon.

In response to the surge in gun crime, Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland announced stricter enforcement guidelines for state gun control laws, as well as new guidelines designed to help cities and states make better use of federal Covid tools to combat gun violence. also by hiring police officers.

According to White House data, homicides were up 30% year over year in 2020, an increase that shows no sign of subsiding.

In the first quarter of this year, the nationwide kill rate was 24% higher than in the same period in 2020 and 49% higher than two years ago.

Biden and Garland also held a meeting Wednesday with Baltimore and Miami mayors, Baton Rouge, LA police chief, and several other stakeholders to discuss crime prevention.

Across the country, mayors and police chiefs are struggling to explain what is behind the rise in mass shootings, murders and other violent crimes.

Experts point to a perfect storm of factors that collided during the pandemic. These include a surge in private arms sales, widespread unemployment, and Covid jobs that stay at home, leaving people trapped and with little to do.

At the same time, protests against the police killing of blacks may have diverted police resources from traditional policing and undermined public confidence in the prosecution.

However, many of the factors believed to have contributed to the rise in violent crime are difficult to quantify.

And since policing is typically highly localized in America, Biden’s options at the federal level are limited.

Shift ATF priorities

Biden and Garland announced that the Justice Department will adopt a zero-tolerance policy from Wednesday for state-licensed arms dealers who violate arms sales laws.

Instead of issuing warnings, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will now try to revoke dealer licenses if the first violations occur.

“If you are deliberately selling a gun to someone who is prohibited from possession, if you deliberately not doing a background check, if you deliberately forge a record, if you deliberately fail to cooperate with the tracking requests or inspections, my message to you is, ‘We will Find them and get your license to sell guns, ‘”Biden said.

“We will make sure that you cannot sell death and chaos on our streets,” he added. “It’s an outrage. It has to end and we will end it.”

Biden also announced the dispatch of five new federal strike forces, led by the ATF, to monitor and intercept arms smuggling along several major corridors for arms trade between major cities.

Changes to the ATF could help restore teeth to the agency’s enforcement arm, which perished under a previous policy that prioritized compliance over punishment.

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American rescue plan funds

In addition to strengthening federal gun laws, Biden also drew a straight line from the pandemic to the rise in gun violence on Wednesday.

By that name, it means efforts to combat the rise in gun violence are a legitimate use of the $ 350 billion state and local pandemic aid approved by Congress this spring.

According to updated Treasury Department guidance on Wednesday, American Rescue Plan funds can be used to hire more police officers, pay overtime, purchase equipment, and fund additional “enforcement efforts” to combat the rise in gun violence.

However, there are some conditions. The first is that the funds must be used to advance “community policing strategies” as defined by the Justice Department. Likewise, the funds cannot be used to recruit police forces above their pre-pandemic level.

While the funding is tightly tailored to community policing, the idea that federal aid money will be used to hire more police officers could be a sensitive issue among Democrats.

Since the 2020 assassination of George Floyd and subsequent protests against racial justice, some members of the Democratic Party’s left flank have supported a movement to reduce the size and scope of the police force and replace law enforcement officers with social services and crisis advisors.

From protesters chanting the phrase, dubbed the “Defund the Police” movement, the urge to radically change policing in America has divided parts of the Democratic Party.

Biden turned against the Defund the Police movement during his 2020 presidential campaign, and Democratic lawmakers standing for election in 2022 have largely avoided the use of the term.

Instead, Biden suggests major public investments in social services, psychological counseling, and community violence interventions alongside law enforcement.

On Wednesday, Biden highlighted some of those investments along with the tougher enforcement pieces of his crime prevention plan.

For example, the Department of Labor recently announced a $ 85.5 million grant to help formerly incarcerated adults and young people find work, shelter and support with reintegration into society.

The president also encouraged cities and states to use ARP funds for summer job programs that serve young people and for educational enrichment programs.

Roadblocks in Congress

However, several key elements of the Biden administration’s strategy are beyond the control of the president as they are required by Congress.

Biden argued on Wednesday that gun safety was a bipartisan issue.

“We now have the opportunity to come together as Democrats and Republicans, as fellow Americans, to fulfill the government’s primary responsibility in our democracy and to protect one another,” said Biden.

“That means Congress will pass sensible initiatives on gun violence. Background checks. Prohibition of offensive weapons. Liability for gun manufacturers. The law against violence against women.”

Of course, Biden knows better than most people that gun safety is rarely a bipartisan issue. On the contrary, decades of lobbying by the National Rifle Association and other groups have made gun control one of the most controversial issues in American civil life.

But while legislation has stalled for now, there is one possible bright spot: the confirmation of Biden’s candidate to lead the ATF, David Chipman.

Chipman is a former ATF agent and arms trade expert. But its track record of supporting expanded firearms restrictions has turned its endorsement into a strong political struggle.

With the Senate divided evenly between Democrats and Republicans, Biden must vote each Democrat to endorse Chipman so Vice President Kamala Harris can cast the casting vote.

But by Wednesday afternoon, two moderate Democrats hadn’t signed up to support Chipman’s endorsement: West Virginia’s Senator Joe Manchin and Arizona Senator Krysten Sinema.

Biden’s success or failure in convincing Manchin and Sinema to validate Chipman is being closely watched by some gun control advocates, who see this as an important test of the president’s commitment to the broader gun safety agenda.