Category: Politics

Categories
Politics

Democrats, Rising Extra Skeptical of Israel, Strain Biden

Democrats, Growing More Skeptical of Israel, Pressure Biden

WASHINGTON – President Biden’s carefully worded statement Monday in support of a ceasefire between Israelis and Palestinians came under mounting pressure from his own party to make the United States more skeptical of one of its closest allies.

Mr Biden’s urging to end the fighting – hidden at the end of a round-up of an appeal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – followed a drumbeat of calls from democratic lawmakers from across the ideological spectrum for his government to speak out strongly against the escalation of violence . It reflected a tone different from that expressed by members of Congress in previous clashes in the region, when most Democrats repeated their strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself and called for peace without its actions openly to critisize.

The strongest pressure is from the energetic progressive wing of the party, whose representatives in the House of Representatives, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York, have drawn attention in recent days for accusing Israel of gross human rights violations against Palestinians and for practicing “apartheid” State. “But its intensity has masked a calmer, more concerted shift between more mainstream Democrats that could ultimately be more consistent.

While not intending to end the United States’ close alliance with Israel, a growing number of Washington Democrats are saying they are no longer willing to pass the country for its harsh treatment of the Palestinians and the spasms of violence they define to give up the conflict for years.

Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory W. Meeks of New York underscored how skepticism about the Gaza campaign had spread to some of Israel’s strongest defenders in Congress and told Democrats on Monday in the panel that he would Biden asked government to move to Israel a $ 735 million tranche of precision-guided weapons that had been approved before tensions in the Middle East broke out.

Mr. Meeks, a fixture at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, the most powerful pro-Israel lobby group, convened an emergency meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats Monday evening to discuss the delay of the arms package to someone familiar with the meeting Person who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal discussions. It came after a number of Democrats raised concerns about sending American-made weapons to Israel at a time when civilians were being bombed, as well as a building that housed press offices, including The Associated Press, an American news agency.

A day earlier, 28 Democratic senators – more than half of the party congress – published a letter publicly calling for a ceasefire. The effort was led by Senator Jon Ossoff, Democrat of Georgia and, at 34, the face of a younger generation of American Jews in Congress. When Republicans pumped out statements accusing Hamas militants, the Democratic plea was a duty on both sides to lay down their arms – and Mr Biden to complain in order to demand it.

Another sign of development came over the weekend from Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. Mr. Menendez is known as one of Israel’s most staunch allies in the Democratic Party. He has refused to reject President Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal with Iran on the basis of the Israeli opposition.

However, on Saturday, as the death toll rose in Gaza and southern Israel, Mr. Menendez made a stern statement saying he was “deeply concerned” about Israeli strikes that killed Palestinian civilians and about the tower, housing news media. He urged both sides to “comply with the rules and laws of war” and find a peaceful end to the fighting, in which more than 200 Palestinians and 10 Israelis were killed.

“In response to thousands of Hamas rocket attacks against civilians, Israel has every right to self-defense against terrorists who want to cross them off the face of the map,” Menendez said. “But no matter how dangerous and real this threat may be, I have always believed that the strength of US-Israel relations flourishes when they are based on shared values ​​of democracy, freedom, pluralism and respect for human rights and US rule is right. “

The Democrats, who had been the loudest critic of the Israeli government, said they wanted to send the president a message while he pondered how to deal with escalating tensions: Finding the old playbook Mr Biden used as a senator and vice president no longer the same support in his party.

“That didn’t work,” Representative Mark Pocan, a progressive Democrat from Wisconsin, told a top advisor to Mr Biden late last week, he said in an interview on Monday. “We’re going to work for peace in ways that you may not traditionally have heard.”

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Updated

May 19, 2021, 4:02 p.m. ET

Republicans and AIPAC have been quick to warn of a perceived weakening of United States commitment to Israel. When New York representative Jerrold Nadler, who represents the country’s most Jewish district, led a group of 12 Jewish House Democrats in a letter to Israel on Friday, he also said that the Palestinians “should know that the American people value their lives as We live in Israel, ”AIPAC worked quietly behind the scenes to keep lawmakers from signing it.

Republicans have also seen a political advantage in using the most extreme statements of progressive Democrats to try to pull Jewish voters away from the party.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader and a supporter of Israel, condemned Ms. Ocasio-Cortez on Monday for describing Israel as an “apartheid state” and urged the president to “leave no doubt about where America stands”.

“The United States must stand square behind our ally,” said McConnell, “and President Biden must stand strong against the growing voices within his own party that create a false equivalence between terrorists and a responsible state that defends itself.”

Few Democrats in Congress have gone that far. But in recent years many in the party have changed their approach.

Much of the postponement can be traced back to the Iranian nuclear deal debate when Mr. Netanyahu, Israel’s right-wing leader, made concerted efforts to get involved in American domestic politics and kill the pact that Mr. Obama worked out. He portrayed support for the deal as a betrayal of Israel and sought to drive a wedge between Republicans and Democrats on the matter. Mr. Netanyahu’s close alliance with Mr. Obama’s successor Donald J. Trump only widened this party-political divide.

But the difference in tone also reflects a wider shift within the Democratic Party over the past decade. As democratic voters and liberals have become more self-consciously organized around concepts such as justice and systemic discrimination, their pursuit of more liberal policies on immigration, policing and domestic armed violence has changed many people’s view of the conflict in the Middle East and Middle East violence it produced.

Reflexive support for Israel’s right to defend itself, or the call by Israel and the Palestinian authorities to return to the negotiating table, is now seen by many on the left as the “linguistic equivalent” of our thoughts and prayers to the victims of the recent mass shootings “Said Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, a liberal pro-Israel advocacy group that has worked for years to shift the debate to counterbalance AIPAC.

“That is no longer good enough,” he said in an interview. “What the United States is doing is essentially international immunity to Israel.”

The momentum was seen last week after Ms. Ocasio-Cortez pounced on Andrew Yang, the leading candidate in the New York Mayor’s Race, for making a statement last week to “stand with the people of Israel”.

“It is extremely embarrassing for Yang to try to report to an oath event after making a breast-beating statement of support for a 9-child strike,” wrote Ms. Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter. (Mr. Yang later released a new statement saying his first was “too simplistic” and “did not acknowledge the pain and suffering on either side”.)

This has left some of Israel’s most vocal traditional allies in the party in an uncomfortable position.

Senator Chuck Schumer from New York, the majority leader, has remained largely silent since the fighting broke out in view of the countercurrents in his party and his home state, where he will have to be re-elected next year. Like Mr. Menendez, Mr. Schumer voted against the Iranian nuclear deal and represents the largest Jewish population in the country, from secular progressives to politically conservative Orthodox communities.

In response to a question asked by a reporter in the Capitol on Monday, Mr. Schumer said, “I want a ceasefire to be reached quickly and mourn the loss of life.”

Categories
Politics

Pelosi requires ‘diplomatic boycott’ of 2022 China Olympics on human rights grounds

Pelosi calls for 'diplomatic boycott' of 2022 China Olympics on human rights grounds

A Chinese man wears a protective mask as he stands in front of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics logos at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China on April 9, 2021.

Lintao Zhang | Getty Images

House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., On Tuesday called for a “diplomatic boycott” of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in response to China’s human rights record.

“We cannot pretend there is nothing wrong with the Olympics in China,” Pelosi told the Congress Human Rights Commission and the Congressional Executive Commission for China during a hearing on the Games.

Pelosi suggested in her remarks that athletes should still be able to take part in the Games, but that the leaders and kings of the world should not travel to attend them in person.

“When heads of state go to China in the face of a genocide that is going on while you are in your seats, the real question is, what moral authority do you need to speak about human rights anywhere in the world when you are ready, the Chinese government? To show her respect when she commits genocide? “

Pelosi has beaten corporate sponsors of the Games, who “look the other way at China’s abuses out of concern for their bottom line.” She specifically called on companies that are allegedly committed to weakening parts of a bipartisan law aimed at the use of forced labor in the Xinjiang region.

“If we do not speak out against human rights violations in China for commercial reasons, we will lose all moral authority to stand up for human rights anywhere,” said Pelosi.

China has labeled “lies and disinformation” allegations that it violates the human rights of Muslims in Xinjiang.

The games are scheduled to open on February 4, 2022.

Pelosi acknowledged that their proposed diplomatic boycott may not work. “I don’t know if it’s possible because we haven’t done it in the past,” she said.

In 2008, Pelosi called on then-President George W. Bush to boycott the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Beijing to protest against China’s human rights record, which at the time was largely marred by the government’s actions in Tibet.

Bush attended the opening of these games along with more than 80 other heads of state.

Activists and lawmakers from both parties have called on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2022 Olympics in protest. They cite China’s reported treatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang – which has been labeled genocide by both the Trump and Biden administrations – and Beijing’s response to protests in Hong Kong.

The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee has said it opposes boycotts, including because they affect athletes who have trained for years to compete.

The White House previously left the door open for a boycott, but press secretary Jen Psaki said last month that such a move would not be discussed.

“While China has changed in some ways over 30 years, it is appalling that its human rights record has deteriorated,” Pelosi said in the virtual hearing on Tuesday afternoon.

Pelosi stressed that she is a dedicated Olympic fan and that the athletes’ performance in the Games is a source of pride.

“Let’s honor them at home,” said Pelosi. “Let’s not honor the Chinese government by letting heads of state go to China to show their support for their athletes.”

“Silence on this issue is unacceptable. It enables China’s abuse,” Pelosi said.

Categories
Politics

Leaders Place Home G.O.P. In opposition to Impartial Accounting for Jan. 6 Riot

Leaders Position House G.O.P. Against Independent Accounting for Jan. 6 Riot

WASHINGTON – Top House Republicans on Tuesday called on their colleagues to oppose bipartisan legislation setting up an independent commission to investigate the January 6th Capitol attack and holding their conference against a full account of the deadly uprising by a pro Trump mob positioned.

California Republican and minority leader Kevin McCarthy announced his opposition in a long statement Tuesday morning, and his leadership team later followed suit to recommend lawmakers vote “no” on Wednesday. Taken together, the actions indicated that the House of Representatives vote would be a largely partisan affair, further highlighting Republicans’ reluctance to grapple with former President Donald J. Trump’s election lies and their determination to draw attention from the attack on the Capitol distract.

Mr McCarthy had urged any outside investigation to look at what he termed “political violence” on the left, including by anti-fascists and Black Lives Matter, rather than looking closely at the actions of Mr Trump and his own Focus on supporters who led the uprising.

“Given the political misdirections that have undermined this process, given the now dual and potentially counterproductive nature of these efforts, and the short-sighted scope of the speaker who did not examine the interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation,” said Mr. McCarthy said in a statement.

His opposition raised questions about the fate of the commission in the Senate, where Democrats would need at least 10 Republicans to agree to support their education. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, said he and other Republican senators were undecided and would “listen to the arguments as to whether such a commission is necessary”.

After the House Republican leaders originally proposed allowing lawmakers to vote as they see fit, they abruptly reversed course on Tuesday and issued a “leadership recommendation” calling for a no to the number Embrace the members to decrease the bill.

With the commission’s rejection, Mr. McCarthy essentially tossed one of his key deputies, New York City Representative John Katko, under the bus to protect Mr. Trump and the party from further scrutiny. Mr Katko negotiated the composition and scope of the commission with his democratic counterpart in the Committee on Homeland Security and approved it with enthusiasm on Friday.

It was all the more conspicuous when only days after Mr McCarthy got out of the way of being overthrown from the leadership of his No. 3, Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, for refusing to criticize Mr Trump and Republicans who his electoral gaps favored to be dropped. Ms. Cheney has said that the commission should be tight and that Mr. McCarthy should testify about a phone call made to Mr. Trump during the riot.

California Democratic Chairwoman Nancy Pelosi immediately criticized the Republican opposition as “cowardice” and published a letter Mr. McCarthy sent her in February showing that the Democrats had taken up all three of his main demands for a commission that the The commission investigated was modeled on the terrorist attacks of September 11th.

In it, McCarthy said he wanted to ensure that each commission had an equal ratio of Republican and Democratic nominees, shared subpoena powers between those nominated by the two parties, and did not include “results or other predetermined conclusions” in their organizational documents.

The Democrats ultimately agreed to all three, but in his statement on Tuesday, McCarthy said Ms. Pelosi “refused to negotiate in good faith”.

“I suppose Trump doesn’t want this to happen,” said Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland and majority leader. “Enough said.”

Mr Katko predicted that a “healthy” number of Republicans would still vote in favor.

“I can’t say it clearly enough: this is about facts,” Katko told the House Rules Committee at a hearing on the bill. “It’s not about partisan politics.”

By encouraging Republicans to vote no, Mr McCarthy posed the commission as yet another test of loyalty to Mr Trump, highlighting a divide within the party between a small minority willing to question him and the vast majority that this is not.

New York Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer and majority leader promised to bring the matter up with Senate Republicans by quickly getting the legislation to vote in that chamber.

“Republicans can let their constituents know: are they on the side of the truth?” Mr. Schumer said. “Or do you want to cover up the insurgents and Donald Trump?”

Mr. McCarthy’s biggest complaint was the panel’s narrow focus on the insurrection itself – carried out by right-wing activists inspired by Mr. Trump – when he said it should take a broader look at political violence on the left, including a shootout by one Leftist – Activist who targeted Republicans in Congress at baseball practice four years ago.

Some Republicans have gone much further in the past few weeks, trying to whitewash the January 6 violence that killed five people, injured 140 police officers, and put the lives of lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence at risk.

In a speech on the floor of the House on Tuesday, Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said a commission was needed to “investigate all the riots that occurred in the summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd,” not the attack on the Capitol. She also accused the Justice Department of ill-treating those accused in connection with the attack.

“While it is being captured and released for domestic terrorists, Antifa, BLM, the people who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 are being ill-treated,” she said.

Catie Edmondson contributed to the coverage.

Categories
Politics

U.S. army continues Afghanistan withdrawal as Israel-Gaza violence ensues

U.S. military continues Afghanistan withdrawal as Israel-Gaza violence ensues

Lance Cpl. Patrick Reeder, with Combined Anti-Armor Team 2, patrols Nawa district, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Oct. 28, 2009.

Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. James Purschwitz

WASHINGTON – Since President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, the US has completed up to 20% of the withdrawal process from the country, the US Central Command said on Tuesday.

Command monitored the removal of approximately 115 loads of equipment in C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft. More than 5,000 pieces of equipment that will not be handed over to the Afghan military have also been handed over to the Defense Logistics Agency for destruction.

The US has also officially handed over five facilities to the Afghan military. Central Command estimates the US has completed between 13% and 20% of the withdrawal process so far.

In April, Biden announced a full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan by September 11, ending America’s longest war.

The removal of approximately 3,000 US soldiers coincides with the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks that spurred America’s entry into protracted wars in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Biden’s withdrawal schedule breaks with a proposed deadline agreed by the Trump administration and the Taliban last year. All foreign armed forces should have left Afghanistan by May 1 under this agreement.

Last month, the White House confirmed that US troops had begun withdrawing from Afghanistan. The Pentagon was proactively deploying additional troops and military equipment to protect the armed forces in the area, the government said.

The central command has not disclosed the number of troops currently stationed there due to operational security measures.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday that the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas will not curb the Biden government’s ambitions to complete a full withdrawal from Afghanistan.

In a phone call Monday afternoon with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden raised concerns about the rising civilian death toll and called for a ceasefire.

Violence between militants from Israel and Hamas has increased for more than a week. Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip have resulted in at least 212 Palestinian deaths, according to the authorities there.

Meanwhile, Israel has said that more than 3,400 rockets have bombed its cities. At least 12 people have died in Israel.

The violence marked the largest escalation of the conflict in years. On Tuesday, the European Union became the youngest organization to call for a ceasefire.

Categories
Politics

U.S. Vitality Independence Threatened by Hackers and Local weather Change

U.S. Energy Independence Threatened by Hackers and Climate Change

HOUSTON – When OPEC banned oil exports to the United States in 1973 and created long gasoline lines, President Richard Nixon promised an effort that would combine the spirit of the Apollo program and the determination of the Manhattan Project.

“By the end of this decade we will have developed the potential to meet our own energy needs without being dependent on foreign energy sources,” he said in a televised address.

Its timing was wrong – it took more than 40 years – but the country has come pretty close to energy independence in recent years thanks to an increase in domestic shale oil and natural gas production and the use of solar and wind power.

However, this independence is fragile. Cars lined up at gas stations in much of the Southeast last week after the colonial pipeline was paralyzed by a cyber attack by a criminal group seeking a ransom. The power grid is also under greater strain from climate change. Last year, a heat wave in California and a freezing state in Texas forced rolling blackouts as demand for electricity exceeded supply.

“Eight presidents wanted energy independence, and now that we have achieved that, we are more resilient to the global oil market,” said Daniel Yergin, energy historian and author of The New Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations. ”” However, resilience is still a question of how the system works under stress, whether it’s pipelines or electricity. “

The colonial pipeline disruption had nothing to do with turbulence in the Middle East or insufficient American power generation. Nonetheless, panic buying, which had seldom been seen for decades, led to bottlenecks, and pump prices rose by up to 20 cents per gallon for regular gas in a few days, according to the AAA.

Mr. Yergin said drivers who lined up at pumps to fill gas cans and even plastic bags made the situation worse. The impulse to hoard stems from the oil shocks of the 1970s and seemed to touch a chord in the national psyche.

“People remembered gas pipes even though they weren’t born yet,” said Yergin.

Colonial Pipeline, a privately held company, resumed full operations over the weekend, but it will be a few more days before many gas stations are refilled.

Energy companies are under increasing pressure from governments and investors to strengthen their defenses against cyberattacks, but these and other vulnerabilities will not be easy to overcome, especially after years of underinvestment.

In the case of networks in California and Texas, there are few simple solutions to the weaknesses exposed by heat waves and freezing temperatures that are costing these states billions of dollars and leaving many dead and thousands homeless. That the country’s two most populous states have been located low suggests that power plants and electrical lines are unprepared for the extreme weather events that climatologists say will happen in the coming years due to the build-up of gases that warm the planet, will be more common in the atmosphere.

Nationwide, weather-related power outages have risen by two thirds since 2000, according to the Ministry of Energy.

“Our traditional strategies for generating and delivering energy are threatened by the climate and cyber terrorists,” said Mark Brownstein, senior vice president, Environmental Defense Fund. “On the way to a cleaner and more sustainable energy future, we must also move towards a future that is fundamentally more resilient.”

Upgrading the energy system will not be easy. Dozens of competing companies operating a vast network of oil and gas wells, pumping stations, transmission lines, and power plants need to be persuaded to make their operations more resilient to weather and criminal attack. Significant resources must be made available by companies, government agencies and research to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals. President Biden’s $ 2 trillion infrastructure plan provides $ 100 billion for the transmission network.

The pursuit of energy independence has never been in a straight line, and there have been many unfortunate twists and turns. Reliance on Middle Eastern oil has been a major consideration in military action and diplomatic strategy, including alliances with countries like Saudi Arabia with disruptive human rights records. Half a century ago, the country switched from burning fuel oil to becoming more dependent on coal, which contributed to climate change.

The search for energy independence also led to innovations. Fracking – the hydraulic fracturing of shale oil and natural gas – not only reduced energy imports, but also made the United States a major exporter. Suddenly, oil and gas were no longer a national security hole, but a tool for advancing American interests.

For the past 15 years, US oil and gas production has kept energy prices down at home and abroad and strengthened the global economy. By exporting energy, Washington has been able to compete with Russian gas supplies to Europe, help allies like Japan, who import a lot of energy, and block Iranian and Venezuelan oil supplies.

In a twist, the shale boom also made some parts of the United States more vulnerable. In recent years, half a dozen refineries along the east coast have closed because they could not compete with more advanced refineries on the Gulf Coast that benefited from cheap and abundant oil and gas in Texas. The rivers on the Colonial Pipeline, which connects the Gulf Refineries to New Jersey, grew steadily, supplying nearly half of the region’s fuel needs.

When hurricanes hit and Gulf refineries shut down, gasoline and diesel prices tend to rise on the east coast. Usually this is not a huge problem as companies store a lot of fuel near where it is used and trucks and barges can usually make the difference. This time, however, uncertainty about how long it would take to restore supplies made the colonial pipeline shutdown much more disruptive.

The ransomware attack was the work of DarkSide, an extortionate ring that was responsible for numerous attacks on companies in several countries. But it is hardly the only group that infiltrates computer systems in order to extort money. Others have names like REvil, Maze, and LockBit.

“Technology is moving so fast that you fix a potential vulnerability or two or twenty in your computer systems and the hackers find another way to get in.” said Drue Pearce, a former assistant administrator for the Federal Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

The criminal groups pose a threat to industries beyond energy. However, experts say that energy is of particular concern as it is essential for a functioning economy. The threat is no less complex than reducing the United States’ dependence on foreign oil, said Bill Richardson, a former energy secretary.

“This is a new threat that we are not prepared for,” he said.

Categories
Politics

Supreme Court docket to listen to Mississippi abortion case difficult Roe v. Wade

Supreme Court to hear Mississippi abortion case challenging Roe v. Wade

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear arguments in a major Mississippi abortion case that pushes the limits of abortion laws set by the landmark reproductive rights case, Roe v. Calf, which were cemented, could reset.

The case will be the first major abortion dispute in which all three people appointed by former President Donald Trump will be considered in the Supreme Court, including the newest member, Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

The Supreme Court announced in an order that it would hear the dispute, Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 19-1392. The court will hear the case during its term in office from October. A decision is expected to be made in June 2022.

The case concerns a 2018 Mississippi abortion law that bans abortions after 15 weeks with limited exceptions. The law was blocked by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Under the existing Supreme Court precedent, states cannot prohibit abortions that occur before the fetus is viable, typically about 22 weeks or later.

In this case, Mississippi is asking the judges to re-examine that viability standard. The state argued that the viability rule prevents states from adequately defending maternal health and potential life.

“It is long time the court reassessed the wisdom of the profitability rule,” Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch wrote in a brief report filed with the judges.

The Mississippi abortion clinic that challenged the law, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, called on the Supreme Court not to take the case.

“In an uninterrupted series of decisions over the past fifty years, this court has ruled that the constitution guarantees everyone the right to choose whether to continue a pregnancy before viability,” wrote Hillary Schneller, an attorney who runs the clinic represents, in a file.

Schneller said Mississippi’s argument was based “on a misunderstanding of the core principle” of previous Supreme Court rulings.

She wrote, “While the state has interests throughout pregnancy.”[b]Prior to viability, state interests are not strong enough to support an abortion ban. “

Conservatives passed a number of bills that challenged Roe and were passed in 1973 in hopes of getting the court to reconsider its previous precedents. With the people appointed by Trump, the nation’s Supreme Court now has a Conservative majority of 6-3.

The struggle for abortion revitalized the confirmation hearings for Barrett, a devout Catholic who, after the death of the liberal judiciary, was the favorite among anti-abortion groups to seek the success of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

While Barrett has not made her exact legal views on abortion clear from the bank, the Democrats have taken up her earlier comments identifying aborted fetuses as “unborn victims” among other potential harbingers of their views.

The other two Trump nominees on the bench, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, voted last June to allow a restrictive abortion law to come into effect for Louisiana in the first major reproductive rights case before them. Chief Justice John Roberts, a Conservative, sided with the Liberals in the 5-4 decision that blocked the law.

In a statement, Center for Reproductive Rights President Nancy Northup said: “Alarm bells are ringing loudly about the threat to reproductive rights.”

The Center for Reproductive Rights represented the abortion clinic alongside the Paul Weiss law firm and the Mississippi Center for Justice.

“The consequences of a Roe reversal would be devastating. Over 20 states would directly ban abortion. Eleven states – including Mississippi – currently have trigger bans on the books that would immediately ban abortion if Roe is overturned,” Northup said.

Diane Derzis, owner of the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, said in a statement, “As the only abortion clinic in Mississippi, we see patients who spent weeks saving the money to travel here and pay for childcare for shelter.” and everything else. “

“If this ban went into effect, we would be forced to turn many of these patients away and they would lose their right to abortion in that condition,” Derzis said.

Fitch, the Mississippi attorney general, said the state legislature “enacted this law in accordance with the will of its constituents to promote the health of women and preserve the dignity and sanctity of life.”

“I continue to advocate for women and defend Mississippi’s legal right to protect the unborn,” she said.

Anti-abortion groups welcomed the Supreme Court move. Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said the court’s decision to hear the case was a “landmark opportunity,” citing the enormous number of bills recently passed to improve access to abortion to restrict.

“Across the country, state lawmakers acting according to the will of the people have introduced 536 pro-life bills aimed at humanizing our laws and challenging the radical status quo imposed by Roe,” she said.

Categories
Politics

Biden Administration Clears three Guantánamo Detainees for Launch

Biden Administration Clears 3 Guantánamo Detainees for Release

The Biden government has approved three detainees in Guantánamo Bay for release to countries that have agreed to impose security conditions on them, including the oldest of the remaining prisoners of war, lawyers and government officials in the United States, said Monday.

The permits increased the number of 40 prisoners currently in war prison who were approved for transfer to other countries to nine. However, it is unclear where the three men will go or when, in part because the State Department will have to make diplomatic and security agreements with countries to accommodate them.

Some of the other detainees who have been released for release over the years have waited a decade for another country to agree to accept them. In some cases, countries are asked to continue detaining detainees or bring them to justice. In most cases, they will be asked to prevent them from traveling abroad for at least two years.

Among those granted permission is Saifullah Paracha, 73, from Pakistan, who was captured in Thailand in 2003. Not only is he the oldest of the inmates, but he has also been referred to as one of the sick with heart disease and diabetes, and high blood pressure.

The other two were Abdul Rabbani, 54, also a Pakistani citizen, and Uthman Abdul al-Rahim Uthman, 40, a Yemeni. None of them have been charged with any crime by the United States in the two decades they have been in custody.

Of the other detainees who remained, 12 were charged with war crimes, one was convicted and 19 are considered too dangerous to be placed in another country’s custody.

The news that the men had been allowed to be released originally came from their lawyers, who heard about it from prisoners in phone calls between lawyer and client. Two government officials upheld the three dismissal decisions, but on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss them.

The decision to approve the three releases was made early last week by the attorney general, the director of the national intelligence service, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the secretaries of defense, homeland security and state. All have representatives who sit on the Periodic Review Board, the organization that assesses the threat posed by the detainees.

Mr. Rabbani was captured during a 2002 security police raid in Karachi, Pakistan, with his brother, who is also held as a prisoner of war in Guantánamo Bay. Both Rabbani brothers were held by the CIA for more than 500 days before being placed in US military custody.

Mr. Uthman was held the longest of the three. He was brought to Guantánamo as a suspected member of Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard corps within days of the opening of Camp X-Ray in January 2002. Most recently, he was rejected for release in 2018, also because he “lacked credible plans to support himself during the transfer” and he had not said how his family could support him.

Despite a commitment to renew efforts by the Obama administration to end the detention operations at the naval base in Cuba, the Biden administration has yet to restart renditions. It currently has not appointed a senior US official to negotiate business with other countries.

The Trump administration shut down the office of the Special Envoy for the Closure of Guantánamo and transferred only one prisoner, a seasoned Saudi terrorist who was repatriated in 2018 to serve his war criminal sentence in a former jihadist rehabilitation center.

The last known US rendition of a prisoner from Guantánamo to Pakistan was in 2008. The US stopped repatriating Yemenis in 2010 because it feared that the Yemen government could not monitor the men and prevent them from coming back to join an Al Qaeda franchise there.

Mr. Paracha, a former businessman and long-time legal resident of New York, was captured in July 2003 during an FBI stab operation in Thailand. He was lured from his home in Karachi, Pakistan, to Bangkok to discuss what turned out to be a sham merchandising deal with representatives from Kmart. Instead, secret service agents seized, covered and shackled him and flew him to Afghanistan.

He was viewed by US intelligence as an intermediary who helped the man accused of plotting the September 11, 2001 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Mohammed’s nephew, Ammar al-Baluchi, with financial transactions in Pakistan after the attacks. Both men are charged with conspiring in the September 11th attacks, a capital incident.

Mr Paracha admitted having secured about $ 500,000 for her, but said he was unaware of her identity or her ties to al-Qaeda. He claimed he helped them as he would any other Muslim.

At the time of Mr. Paracha’s capture, his eldest son, Uzair Paracha, was arrested in the United States on suspicion of supporting terrorism. Uzair Paracha was then tried, his conviction overturned, and returned to Pakistan last year in an agreement with prosecutors to drop the case if he gives up his permanent residence status.

Saifullah Paracha’s younger son, Mustafa Paracha, said in an interview last year that his father would like to spend time with his family after his return to Pakistan and that his first concern is to attend to his health needs. At the beginning of his detention, US military doctors flew a cardiac catheterization laboratory and surgical team to Guantánamo, but he refused to consent to the procedure because of concerns about the quality of medical care available there.

Typically, the Periodic Review Secretariat, which manages the Board of Directors, publishes the justifications for the release decisions on its website. The decisions usually contain a recommendation on how to ensure safety and the committee’s recommendations on rehabilitation, repatriation or resettlement of the prisoner who has been admitted for transfer. But it hadn’t done that until Monday evening.

Categories
Politics

Professional-tax millionaires launching protests in entrance of Jeff Bezos’ dwelling

Pro-tax millionaires launching protests in front of Jeff Bezos' home

A mobile billboard demanding higher taxes for the ultra-rich displays a picture of billionaire Jeff Bezos near the U.S. Capitol on May 17, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Drew Angerer | Getty Images

Millionaires who urged the rich to pay more taxes started on Monday, Tax Day, protests in New York and Washington – including in front of the homes of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

The effort is organized by the Patriotic Millionaires, whose members have an annual income of over $ 1 million or net worth over $ 5 million. The details of the effort were first shared with CNBC.

The group plans to launch its Tax Day campaign on Monday. These include mobile billboards that stop in front of Bezos’ homes in New York and Washington. Patriotic Millionaires leaders told CNBC they are organizing a group of up to 30 protesters to walk to Bezos’ New York residence with a billboard reading “Cut the bull —-. Tax the rich”.

Members of the Patriotic Millionaires hold a protest outside the home of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on May 17, 2021 in New York City on tax return day to demand that he pay his fair share of taxes.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

The move to blow up Bezos in front of his home comes as President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers attempt to levy taxes on businesses and corporations making over $ 400,000 to support their $ 2 trillion infrastructure proposal -Dollars to pay.

Biden recently announced that he would like corporate tax to increase by 25% to 28% while proposing to raise the highest income tax rate from 37% to 39.6%. Republicans have said they don’t want to levy taxes to pay for the infrastructure. The two parties are trying to work out a bipartisan bill and have said they are making progress.

But progressives desperately want billionaires to pay more.

“Jeff Bezos is the figurehead for the utter idiocy of the country’s tax laws,” Group founder and president Erica Payne told CNBC on Friday. She said Bezos’ extreme wealth meant he should pay more taxes. She noted that the tech tycoon is reportedly in the process of building a nearly 400-meter-long yacht that is likely to cost over $ 500 million.

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon

Elif Ozturk | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Bezos, who has a net worth of over $ 185 billion, according to Forbes, has been a target by progressives for the need to levy taxes on the rich.

An Amazon spokesman hasn’t returned a request for comment, but Bezos has said he supports the corporate tax increase.

The New York Post reported in 2019 that Bezos spent $ 80 million on three apartments in the same New York building to create a mega home. A year later, the Post reported that Bezos had bought a $ 16 million home within the same apartment complex.

The Patriotic Millionaires are advocating Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Ultra Millionaire Tax Plan, the one 2% annual tax on assets over $ 50 million, 3% on assets over $ 1 billion.

Morris Pearl, the group’s chairman and former BlackRock executive, told CNBC that the organization will push for a wealth tax, among other things, throughout the tax day. Other members of the Patriotic Millionaires Advisory Board include Abigail and Tim Disney, two children of longtime Disney CEO Roy Disney.

The mobile billboards will also be displayed in front of the residence of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in Washington, the offices of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in New York City, as well as in DC locations including the Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, Heritage Foundation and the Democratic National, Committee, Americans for Tax Reform, IRS and the Old Post Office Hotel of former President Donald Trump appear.

Bezos’ $ 23 million DC mansion was once the old textile museum.

The other billboard featured in the one-day campaign features the smiling faces of Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. One of the billboards reads, “Control the rich. Save America. Yes, it really is that simple.” Another makes the three business leaders laugh and reads “Tax me if you can”.

Categories
Politics

Joel Greenberg, Former Confidant to Matt Gaetz, Pleads Responsible

Joel Greenberg, Former Confidant to Matt Gaetz, Pleads Guilty

Joel Greenberg, Rep. Matt Gaetz’s former confidante, pleaded guilty in federal court in Orlando Monday.

“Do you plead guilty because you are guilty?” said Judge Leslie Hoffman of the United States Magistrate Court.

“Yes,” said Mr. Greenberg, who was wearing dark blue overalls and a white surgical mask and was handcuffed.

Mr Greenberg admitted a number of crimes in a plea agreement filed on Friday. At Monday’s hearing, that agreement was formalized and Mr Greenberg answered questions from a judge before admitting his guilt.

Mr. Gaetz is under investigation to see if he violated sex trafficking laws by paying the same 17-year-old for sex. On Monday, Mr. Gaetz’s name was neither mentioned in court nor mentioned in court documents filed on Friday.

Mr Greenberg faces over 12 years in prison but it was unclear when he will be sentenced. As part of his informed consent, he will have to give significant help to the Justice Department’s prosecution of others in order to convince a judge to give him a lighter sentence. Defense lawyers typically want to postpone the conviction for as long as possible in order to give their clients the maximum possible time to help the government.

Mr. Greenberg, a Republican, was a freshman in politics when he won a 2016 local election to become a tax collector in Seminole County, Florida, north of Orlando.

Shortly after taking office, he began a series of fraud and other crimes, according to court documents, including using taxpayers’ money to pay women for sex and buying sports memorabilia.

He was tried for the first time last June. Mr. Greenberg began working with the government late last year when he discovered that prosecutors had substantial evidence against him and that if tried and lost, he could spend decades in prison.

Mr. Greenberg’s lawyer, Fritz Scheller, had told reporters after a court hearing last month: “I’m sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very well today.” But he declined to elaborate on it.

When asked in front of the courtroom on Monday whether Mr. Greenberg will work together against Mr. Gaetz, Mr. Scheller gave a more moderate answer.

“He is bound by the objection agreement – he will keep it,” said Mr. Scheller.

Categories
Politics

Colonial Pipeline paid $5 million ransom to hackers

Colonial Pipeline paid $5 million ransom to hackers

WASHINGTON – Colonial Pipeline paid hackers a ransom after the company fell victim to a widespread cyber attack, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to CNBC.

A US official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed to NBC News that Colonial had paid nearly $ 5 million in ransom to the cybercriminals.

It wasn’t immediately clear when the transaction took place. Colonial Pipeline did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. The ransom payment was first reported by Bloomberg.

The previous Thursday, President Joe Biden declined to comment when asked if Colonial Pipeline had paid the ransom. White House press secretary Jen Pskai told reporters during a briefing that it remains the federal government’s position not to pay ransom as this could encourage cybercriminals to launch further attacks.

Last week’s attack, carried out by a cyber criminal group called DarkSide, forced the company to shut down about 5,500 miles of pipeline, causing half the fuel supply on the east coast and gasoline shortages in the southeast.

Ransomware attacks are malware that encrypts files on a device or network and causes the system to become inoperable. Criminals behind such cyber attacks usually demand a ransom in return for releasing data.

On Monday, White House National Security officials labeled the attack financially motivated but did not say whether the Colonial Pipeline agreed to pay the ransom.

“Usually this is a private sector decision,” Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor on cyber and emerging technologies, told White House reporters when asked about the ransom payment.

Anne Neuberg, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber ​​and Emerging Technologies, speaks about the colonial pipeline failure following a cyber attack during the daily press conference at the White House in Washington, USA, on May 10, 2021.

Kevin Lemarque | Reuters

“We recognize that cyber attack victims often face a very difficult situation and often only have to weigh the cost-benefit ratio when they have no other choice but to pay a ransom. Colonial is a private company, and we will postpone information about your decision. ” about paying a ransom to them, “said Neuberger.

She added that the FBI had previously warned victims of ransomware attacks that paying a ransom could encourage further malicious activity.

On Monday before, the DarkSide group described its actions as “apolitical” in a Cybereason statement to CNBC.

“We are apolitical, we do not participate in geopolitics, we do not have to be tied to a defined government and look for our motives,” wrote the group.

“Our goal is to make money and not create problems for society. Starting today, we are introducing moderation and reviewing every company that our partners want to encrypt in order to avoid social consequences in the future,” added the statement.

Biden told reporters on Monday that the US currently has no information linking the DarkSide group’s ransomware attack to the Russian government.

“So far there is no evidence from our intelligence officials that Russia is involved, although there is evidence that the actor’s ransomware is in Russia. You have a certain responsibility to deal with it,” Biden said from the White House on Monday.

He added that he would continue to discuss the situation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin has previously denied claims that it launched cyberattacks against the United States.

On Wednesday, the Colonial Pipeline said in an evening statement that it had resumed operations days after its entire system was shut down due to the cyber attack. The company described its decision to temporarily close its pipeline service as a precautionary measure.

“Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may or continue to experience intermittent business interruptions during the launch phase. Colonial will and will continue to move as much gasoline, diesel and jet fuel as possible until markets return.” normal, “added the company.

The Colonial Pipeline hack is just the latest example of criminal groups or state actors exploiting US cyber vulnerabilities. Last year, software from IT company SolarWinds was breached, allowing hackers to access communications and data in multiple government agencies.

In April, Washington officially made the Russian foreign intelligence service responsible for carrying out the SolarWinds cyberattack. Microsoft President Brad Smith described the incident as “the largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen”. Microsoft’s systems were also infected with malicious software.

The Russian government denies all allegations behind the SolarWinds hack.