Archive by Author

Pompeo accuses Schiff of leaking classified information 

Mike Pompeo, a former secretary of State and CIA director, on Wednesday accused Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) of leaking classified information from his former seat on the House Intelligence Committee, from which Schiff has been blocked by new Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).  

“Adam Schiff lied to the American people, and during my time as CIA director and secretary of State, I know that he leaked classified information that had been provided to him,” Pompeo said in a Fox News interview, adding that Schiff’s tenure as Intel chairman “almost ruined that committee.” 

Pressed during the interview on why Pompeo didn’t come forward to take action against Schiff if he believed classified documents had been leaked, Pompeo said “it’s a complicated process” and “it’s difficult to pin down precisely what happened.”  

Pompeo said he “held back” information from the Intelligence Committee because he “didn’t feel comfortable” working with the Schiff-led panel.  

Schiff’s office blasted Pompeo for the “false and defamatory” remarks.

“This is another patently false and defamatory statement from Mike Pompeo. While we understand that Adam Schiff is a favorite target for the failed lackeys of the Trump administration running for president, reputable news outlets shouldn’t repeat these falsehoods,” Schiff spokesperson Lauren French said of the former CIA director’s remarks to Fox News.  

McCarthy had long vowed to remove Schiff and fellow Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell (Calif.) from their Intel committee slots. 

He followed through on his pledge when he took the gavel and formally blocked the pair of Democrats after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) submitted them to the panel.  

Source: TEST FEED1

Trump's Facebook, Instagram accounts to be reinstated

Former President Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts will be reinstated in the coming weeks, according to the platforms’ parent company, Meta.

Meta handed down a two-year ban on Trump’s accounts in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, a suspension that the company called “unprecedented.”

Now it will unlock the accounts in the coming weeks, but will apply heightened penalties for future offenses of its user guidelines, according to a release from the company on Wednesday.

Meta’s President for Global Affairs Nick Clegg said on Twitter after the announcement that the company had needed to determine whether the public risk that had surfaced on Jan. 6, 2021, had receded enough to allow Trump back onto the platform. 

“Our determination is that the risk has sufficiently receded, and that we should therefore adhere to the two-year timeline we set out,” the company said.

The looming reinstatement from Facebook and Instagram comes after his Twitter account was reinstated in November after Elon Musk took over the platform. Trump has sent mixed messages about whether he will return to the platforms after communicating mainly through his own social media site, Truth Social.

He responded to Meta’s announcement Wednesday by criticizing the initial decision to suspend him.

“FACEBOOK, which has lost Billions of Dollars in value since ‘deplatforming’ your favorite President, me, has just announced that they are reinstating my account. Such a thing should never again happen to a sitting President, or anybody else who is not deserving of retribution!” he wrote.

Meta said that the lifting of Trump’s ban is also coming with new guardrails to deter repeat offenders, including heightened penalties for public figures who are returning from suspension related to civil unrest.

“The public should be able to hear what their politicians are saying — the good, the bad and the ugly — so that they can make informed choices at the ballot box,” Meta added in a statement announcing its decision.

However, Meta added that it does not mean there are “no limits” to what people can say on its platforms.

“When there is a clear risk of real world harm — a deliberately high bar for Meta to intervene in public discourse — we act,” it added.

Under the new protocols, Trump’s content could be removed and he could face another suspension of between one month and two years, according to the company.

Meta’s Oversight Board, which is the body that makes content moderation decisions on Facebook and Instagram, said in a statement after the announcement that it had no role in deciding whether to allow Trump back on the sites.

“Today’s decision to reinstate Mr. Trump on Meta’s platforms sat with Meta alone — the Board did not have a role in the decision,” the board said.

Updated at 5:34 p.m.

Source: TEST FEED1

How Western tanks could bolster Ukraine’s fight against Russia

Both Germany and the U.S. announced on Wednesday they will provide battle tanks to Ukraine after weeks of tension over donating the heavy combat vehicles. 

The 31 American-made M1 Abrams tanks are unlikely to arrive in Ukraine until at least the fall, whereas the German-made Leopard 2 tanks could be in Kyiv’s hands within a couple months — possibly in time for Russia’s expected renewed offensive. 

The Leopards are the most common Western battle tanks in Europe, and the Abrams are a prized Western fighting machine. Both will provide significantly more firepower than the Soviet-era tanks the Ukrainian forces are currently using.

Henk Goemans, director of the University of Rochester’s Center for Conflict and Cooperation, said the tanks would be “very important” for Ukraine’s forces in the current stage of the war, which is largely stalemated in the east.

“Ukraine is at a quantitative disadvantage,” he said. “Russia has more manpower, they have more military … and the tanks would make a big difference there.”

Here’s what you need to know about the Leopard tanks and how they could impact the war. 

What are Leopard and Abrams tanks?

Germany first introduced the Leopard 2 in 1979 as its third-generation main battle tank, replacing the first-generation Leopard.

There are now four iterations of the combat vehicle: A4, A5 and A6 and A7.

Ukraine will be getting the Leopard 2 A6. Around 18 countries have those tanks and an estimated 2,000 have been produced over the years, with Germany holding around 300 in stock.

The tanks, which seat a crew of four, boast diesel engines with 1,500 horsepower and can travel up to 44 mph on roads.

The Leopard tanks, weighing in at around 62 tons, are built with heavy protective armor and are equipped with smoke grenade launchers, a 120mm smoothbore tank gun and an attached 7.62mm machine gun turret.

The U.S. Abrams, first introduced in 1980, is the third generation of U.S. battle tanks. It comes in three different model iterations ranging from a weight of about 60 tons to roughly 73 tons, with similar weapons specs to the Leopard but a turbine engine that most commonly uses jet fuel but can run on diesel.

How will the tanks help Ukraine?

Since European allies are also planning to donate their own Leopards, Kyiv could receive 88 of the tanks, or two battalions, within the next few months. It’s unclear exactly when the Abrams will arrive.

The tanks will come at a vital time. Ukraine is preparing to repel a Russian offensive and conduct a counteroffensive of its own in the spring. 

Leopards and Abrams would undoubtedly assist with brutal fighting in eastern Ukraine, where there is a grinding war of attrition, and in the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhya.

John Herbst, the senior director of Eurasia affairs for the Atlantic Council, said the “tanks will help Ukraine defend its positions with fewer casualties in both locations.”

“They will also prove invaluable if Moscow launches a major offensive from Belarus or elsewhere this year, something that Ukraine’s intelligence services expect,” Herbst said in an analysis on Wednesday. 

“If the tanks reach Ukraine in the next few months — which cannot be taken for granted — they could also be deployed by Ukraine in its own planning for a new counteroffensive,” he added. “On the flat terrain in Ukraine’s east and south, they could spearhead the counteroffensive.”

The tanks could also help Kyiv retake the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

So what was the holdup?

Germany was weighing concerns about escalating tensions with Russia and seeking to move in lockstep with the U.S. and other NATO allies. 

Ukraine has been requesting heavier combat vehicles for months. NATO allies first announced the donation of infantry fighting vehicles, such as the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, earlier this month. 

The tank debate picked up steam when the United Kingdom announced it would send over several of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks, putting pressure on Berlin and Washington to follow suit.

However, Germany and Washington remained at an impasse on the issue in recent weeks. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he would not “go it alone,” while the Pentagon said it wouldn’t send the Abrams over because they are difficult to maintain on the battlefield.

However, the U.S. and Germany hashed out their concerns and Biden changed his mind earlier this week, the White House said. 

“Today’s announcement builds on the hard work and commitment from countries around the world … to help defend Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Biden said. 

“We’re not going to allow one nation to steal a neighbor’s territory by force.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Ukraine will now push for F-16 fighter jets, government adviser says

With main battle tanks from the U.S. and Germany now headed to Ukraine, Kyiv is now focusing on securing modern fighter jets from Western allies.

Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s Defense secretary, told The Hill that he was optimistic about receiving Western fighter jets such as the American F-16s, which Ukrainians have sought since early last year when Russia first invaded.

“Every type of weapon we request, we needed yesterday,” Sak said. “We will do everything possible to ensure Ukraine gets fourth-generation fighter jets as soon as possible.”

Reuters first reported the news that Ukraine was setting its sights on fighter jets.

Ukraine scored a major win on Wednesday with the announcement from President Biden that the U.S. will donate 31 American-made M1 Abrams main battle tanks to Kyiv.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday also said he would supply Ukraine with the country’s Leopard 2 tanks and approve the transfer of other Leopards from European allies.

The tanks were the latest hurdle for Western allies, who have cautiously approved more and more advanced weaponry for Kyiv, from HIMARS launchers to the Western battle tanks.

Western fighter jets and longer-range artillery units, which would allow Ukraine to strike Russian forces deeper in occupied territory, will likely be the next debate for NATO.

Ukraine currently uses Soviet-era fighter jets, including MiG-29s, which became a point of controversy last March when the U.S. declined to facilitate the transfer of MiGs from Poland to Kyiv.

So far, the U.S. has resisted sending the F-16 fighter jets and does not appear ready to announce their transfer anytime soon.

But national security adviser John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday the U.S. was “in constant discussions” with Ukraine and “we evolve those as the conditions change.”

“Can’t blame the Ukrainians for wanting more and more systems,” Kirby said. “It’s not the first time they’ve talked about fighter jets, but I don’t have any announcements to make on that front.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Fulton County sparks questions about whether Trump will face charges 

A prosecutor’s pledge to make imminent charging decisions for “multiple” people in a probe centered on Donald Trump’s actions in Georgia following the 2020 election has renewed interest in whether the former president could soon be facing charges. 

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) offered the revelation Tuesday as she argued that a special grand jury’s report that is expected to include charging recommendations should be kept from public view.  

The remarks have energized critics of Trump who see the Fulton County case as among the best avenues for bringing charges against the former president. 

“There are no certainties in the criminal law … but I would be absolutely stunned if Trump were not facing charges,” said Norm Eisen, a counsel for Democrats in Trump’s first impeachment trial who contributed to a Brookings Institution report modeling a prosecution memo for a potential Georgia case. 

It’s not clear that Willis will file charges. Prosecutors often decline to pursue criminal cases against defendants, and Trump is not one of the 17 people who have been informed that they are targets of the investigation.  

Still, the insistence by Willis’s office that the report should remain sealed because it could hinder future prosecutions if made public left some tongues wagging. 

“Decisions are imminent,” Willis said in the Tuesday hearing.  

Trump’s actions in Georgia have been under a microscope, including his call asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” that might have allowed him to defeat Biden in the state. The resignation of a U.S. attorney who dismissed Trump’s claims about mishandled ballots and the Trump campaign’s organization of a group of fake electors to claim that Trump had won the state have also been under scrutiny. 

“Based on the Trump tape alone, it’s hard to understand how he would not get charged,” Eisen said, referring to the call with Raffensperger. 

He also pointed to evidence collected by the House Jan. 6 committee demonstrating Trump’s involvement in the fake elector scheme. 

“Trump was already in profound danger before [Willis] ever made that comment. It just acts as kind of an exclamation point.” 

The known targets in Georgia include former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and 16 Republicans who held a meeting to carry out the fake elector plot by voting to certify the election for Trump. But that doesn’t mean all will be charged or that others couldn’t be included in a future indictment.  

“It’s really wide open at this point what plural defendants means,” said Gwen Keyes Fleming, a former Georgia district attorney who noted there is a “broad universe of people where there might be the potential for charges.” 

“And again, the DA may, through her investigation with the special grand jury, have gotten evidence either in support of those crimes, in support of different crimes; she may have gotten mitigating evidence for some of those crimes,” said Keyes Fleming, who worked alongside Eisen on the Brookings prosecution memo. 

Trump’s attorneys did not attend the hearing and noted before it began that Trump was never subpoenaed or asked to voluntarily appear before the grand jury. 

“We can assume that the grand jury did their job and looked at the facts and the law, as we have, and concluded there were no violations of the law by President Trump,” Trump attorneys Drew Findling, Marissa Golberg and Jennifer Little said in a joint statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

The team did not respond to request for comment Wednesday. 

Trump before the hearing began defended his actions while making more baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him through fraud. 

“With many people on the line on what was a PERFECT call protesting the Rigged Georgia Election, which I have a clear right to do, and in fact an obligation to do since I made the call as President, how come not one person said, while on the call, that I acted inappropriately, or made a statement of protest,” he wrote in one of three posts on the subject. 

The Brookings report determined that Trump could face charges for violating a number of state laws, including solicitation to commit election fraud, intentional interference with performance of election duties and interference with primaries and elections. 

The initial crop of target letters, however, suggests the fake elector scheme is a prime focus of the DA. 

Some involved in the plot have said they were told the move was done in preparation to preserve Trump’s legal rights if any of his numerous court battles were successful, and Keyes Fleming said that not all in the group of 16 may face charges. 

“Obviously the DA has a lot of discretion. And she will be evaluating the strength of her case against any defendant, including some who received target letters as part of the alleged fake electors scheme,” she said. 

It’s also possible other Trump allies could face charges as a result of the probe. 

Giuliani, former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) and Trump lawyer John Eastman, who crafted the memo encouraging former Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification of Biden’s victory, all appeared before the grand jury. 

“It depends on how broad the DA’s office might want to go as to whether they would be looking at Mark Meadows. There’s also a question as to whether Senator Graham’s behavior in November in terms of his outreach to the Georgia secretary of state might yield a separate set of charges,” Keyes Fleming said. 

“There’s still the question as to whether she would consider or pursue RICO charges. And that obviously could envelop a larger group of potential defendants.” 

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act charges would mean federal charges for a wider swath of people and allow for broader proof and penalties. 

Eisen sees a benefit, in that it “allows the Trump campaign to be charged as essentially an enterprise that turned into a delivery vehicle for an attempted coup.” 

But it’s also a way to address behavior aimed at Georgia, even if the activity didn’t directly occur there. He pointed to the attempt of Justice Department lawyer Jeff Clark, who Trump mulled installing as attorney general, to launch a federal investigation of the state. 

“It lets you more easily sweep in people like Jeff Clark who never set foot in Georgia but wrote that terrible draft letter the DOJ refused to approve,” Eisen said. 

It’s unclear just how imminent any action may be. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who is overseeing the grand jury’s work, said he planned to consult with attorneys before issuing his order and pledged to not immediately release the report when he issues his decision. 

Eisen said Willis’s comments that decisions are imminent would be an important warning to those who may still be mulling whether to cooperate with the probe as a way to avoid charges. 

“You got to have people on the inside who are your tour guides, your sherpas. And I think some of those fake collectors are in that position. If there are other inside witnesses who are deciding whether to cooperate or fight, I think today probably nudges them in the direction of cooperation,” Eisen said. 

“Because this case is coming, and it’s coming fast.” 

Source: TEST FEED1

Florida students threaten lawsuit against DeSantis over African American studies rejection

Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump said Wednesday that three Florida high school students are ready to file a lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) over his rejection of an Advanced Placement (AP) African American studies pilot program in the state. 

“Will we let Governor DeSantis or anybody exterminate Black history in the classrooms across America?” Crump asked at a press conference in the Florida Senate. “What this really is about is saying you cannot exterminate us. You cannot exterminate our culture and you can never exterminate the value of our children to this world.” 

Wednesday’s announcement was to “give DeSantis notice” that should he not allow the course to be run in classrooms, three students — Elijah Edwards, Victoria McQueen and Juliette Heckman — will be the lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit against him.

“Stealing the right for students to gather knowledge on a history that many want to know about because it’s a political agenda goes to show that some don’t want this — the horrors this country has done to African Americans — to finally come to light,” McQueen said. 

“Also, when students learn ‘all the basics,’ students learn just enough to get by, but don’t have to consider the trauma that will forever be engraved in this country’s history,” she added. “My Floridian classmates and I are being deprived by not getting this course, and we feel that we should be able to make the decision of whether or not to take a[n] Advanced Placement African American history.”

In addition to the three students, Crump was joined by Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell (D); Fedrick Ingram, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers; Florida Legislative Black Caucus Chairwoman Dianne Hart, state Sen. Shevrin Jones (D); and David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition.

“By rejecting the African American history pilot program, Ron DeSantis clearly demonstrated he wants to dictate whose story does and doesn’t belong,” said Driskell. “He is undermining the rights of parents and students to make the best decisions for themselves. He wants to say that I don’t belong. He wants to say you don’t belong.”

The Florida Department of Education sent a letter to the College Board, which administers the AP exams, earlier this month saying that “the content of this course is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.”

The department’s key concerns with the course included the topics of intersectionality, Black Queer Studies, the Black Lives Matter movement, Black Feminist Literary Thought, the reparations movement and the Black Study and Black Struggle in the 21st Century. 

Key readings by Kimberlé Crenshaw, the “founder” of intersectionality, Angela Davis, a “self-avowed Communist and Marxist,” Roderick Ferguson, Leslie Kay Jones, bell hooks and Robin D.G. Kelley also were reportedly cause for concern.

Despite backlash from across the country, DeSantis, who is said to be considering a 2024 White House bid, this week defended the decision, saying at a press conference the state wants “education, not indoctrination.”

But according to attorney Craig Whisenhunt, in 2010 a Republican-led government in Arizona similarly tried to limit Mexican American studies courses in the state before a federal court disallowed the policy. 

“The government doesn’t get to entangle itself in the education of students when it comes to a point of view,” Whisenhunt said. “There are equal protections under the law, and this effort by the governor disproportionately affects only some. There are protections to content-oriented speech, and this only intends to limit some content: the content that applies to African American studies and African American students’ histories, our Black communities.”

The College Board told The Hill on Wednesday that it will release an updated version to the AP course as part of ongoing revisions to the program. 

Though the statement did not specify what spurred the changes, DeSantis’s office has taken credit for the change. 

“Thanks to @GovRonDeSantis’ principled stand for education over identity politics, the College Board will be revising the course for the entire nation,” said press secretary Bryan Griffin on Twitter Tuesday. 

Source: TEST FEED1

In significant shift, Biden sending 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine

President Biden will send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, matching a German announcement to immediately provide Leopard tanks that Kyiv says are essential in their fight against Russia.

The Abrams tanks are not expected to reach the battlefield for months related to the time needed to procure the tanks and carry out the training necessary for Ukrainian forces, senior administration officials told reporters Wednesday.

The decision to provide the Abrams tanks marks a stunning reversal for the Biden administration, which had previously argued they would be of little benefit to Ukraine.

But the decision to send the tanks helped get Germany to move forward with a separate effort to provide Leopard tanks to Ukraine, which the U.S. had seen as benefitting Kyiv.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Wednesday that Berlin would send Leopard tanks to Ukraine and allow for other European nations to also send to Kyiv the German-made tanks.

“Today’s announcement really was the product of good diplomatic conversations as part of our regular and ongoing close consultations with allies and partners on security assistance to Ukraine,” a senior administration official said. “Certainly very appreciative of Chancellor Scholz’s announcement today.”

Ukraine lobbied hard for U.S., Germany and other countries to supply the tanks, which it said would be critical to a spring counteroffensive against Moscow.

“So the tank coalition is formed. Everyone who doubted this could ever happen sees now: for Ukraine and partners impossible is nothing,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dymtro Kuleba tweeted.

A senior administration official, responding to a question over whether the delivery of Abrams was a precondition for the Germans to greenlight Leopards, said Biden and Sholz spoke several times by phone over the past month and that the tank discussion was part of an “iterative conversation” between the U.S. and Germany.

“We have closely coordinated our security assistance with allies and partners throughout the conflict, including Germany,” the official said.

Biden spoke Wednesday morning with Sholz, French President Emanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sumak, officials said.

A senior administration official said the U.S. expects other nations to announce contributions of additional armored capability, including some that will be readily available for use on the battlefield in the coming weeks and months. 

The administration expects that Russian President Vladimir Putin will push for the Russian military to go on another offensive as the weather improves, another senior administration official said. The tanks decision is meant to help give the Ukrainians the “the ability to retake, to reclaim their sovereign territory and that means everything that is recognized by international borders.”

The British Ministry of Defense said in a recent intelligence assessment that Ukraine has liberated around 54 percent of the maximum amount of extra territory Russia seized since it launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24.

Russia still controls around 18 percent of internationally recognized areas of Ukraine, including the eastern region of Ukraine, called the Donbas, and the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow seized in 2014. Their annexations have been rejected by the U.S. and other international partners. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the full liberation of Ukrainian territory, and in particular Crimea, is necessary for any peace talks with Russia. 

The Biden administration has been careful in offering military support to Ukraine, wary of Putin threats to use nuclear weapons.

Russia’s ambassador to Germany, Sergei Nechaev, reportedly said in a statement Wednesday that Germany’s decision to approve the delivery of Leopards is “extremely dangerous” and takes the conflict “to a new level of confrontation.” 

Western support of advanced military capabilities is viewed as essential for Ukrainians to mount a counter offensive that could threaten Russia’s holding of the Crimean peninsula.

The senior administration official, responding to a question of whether the administration supports Ukraine retaking territory in the Donbas and Crimea, said that the U.S. does not “tell the Ukrainians where to strike, where to attack, where to conduct offensive operations.”

“Crimea is Ukraine. We’ve never recognized the illegal annexation of Crimea,” the official continued. “But where the Ukrainians decide to go and how they decide to conduct operations in their country, those are their decisions to make.” 

It is expected to take months before the Abrams reach the battlefield. Training of Ukrainian forces for operating and maintaining the tanks is expected to take place outside of Ukraine, the officials said. 

A senior administration official described the coordination on tanks for Ukraine as “an impressive display of unity nearly a year into the conflict,” underscoring Biden’s focus on coordination with allies and partners. 

“The President has been extremely focused on the importance of alliance-unity, of Trans-Atlantic unity, and we have tried to make that a hallmark of everything that we have done for Ukraine throughout the 11 months of this conflict.”

Source: TEST FEED1

The Hill's Morning Report — Pence returned classified documents — now what?

Editor’s note: The Hill’s Morning Report is our daily newsletter that dives deep into Washington’s agenda. To subscribe, click here or fill out the box below.

News that former Vice President Mike Pence retained classified documents at his home in Indiana until the FBI retrieved them last week blunted the partisan potency of a controversy House Republicans had aimed full bore at President Biden.  

GOP lawmakers expressed surprise on Tuesday when CNN first reported the development. They quickly reformulated assessments of the president’s prolonged paper chase in Wilmington, Del., while suggesting low-level staff members may have mistakenly packed classified documents with Pence’s personal papers before he left office.

Pence is weighing a presidential race in 2024 and is on a book tour with a new memoir. The Justice Department and FBI are reviewing the discovery by his lawyer Matt Morgan according to CBS News, of about a dozen pages of material marked classified and stored at the former vice president’s home. Pence says he’s cooperating with the Justice Department and with congressional overseers.

“Can we all agree it shouldn’t happen?” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said Tuesday during an interview on SiriusXM’s “The Briefing with Steve Scully.”  

“And can we come up with a system that guarantees it won’t happen again going forward?” he continued. “I know that this should be just built-in discipline, but we’ve got to institutionalize that discipline so that there’s some sort of a process where somebody other than the interns are packing your boxes before you leave the [vice presidential residence at the] Naval Observatory or the White House West Wing.”

▪ The Hill: The discovery of Pence’s classified documents and their return to the government complicate efforts by congressional Republicans to attack Biden over his handling of sensitive materials dating to his years as vice president and senator.

▪ The Hill: Pence’s retention of vice presidential records clashes with his previous comments.

▪ The Hill: Former President Trump defended Pence on social media as an “innocent man.” Trump is under criminal investigation by the Justice Department for possible obstruction after the FBI needed a subpoena to seize presidential records Trump initially claimed he did not possess. Agents last summer found clearly marked classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Until two special counsels assigned by the Justice Department are finished investigating the circumstances of Trump’s withholding of classified records from the National Archives and Biden’s rolling discoveries of past classified materials, House Republican investigators can convene oversight hearings but will gain scant sworn testimony or fresh information from the central players.

Senators on both sides of the aisle were caught off guard Tuesday to learn about Pence’s documents, The Hill’s Al Weaver reports.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on around here. It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen,” Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told The Hill. “I have no reason to believe it’s nefarious in any way, but clearly at the executive branch they’re just packing boxes.”

Rubio on Tuesday told Fox News, “I think [Biden’s handling of documents] is more concerning for the following reasons. Number one, we’re talking about eight years of vice presidential service. Number two, and the one that’s really bizarre, is [some of these] documents [are from Biden’s years in] the Senate. … For a senator to take classified documents, they would have to do it almost deliberately.” 

Rubio added, “These are the kinds of things we need answers to right now. We’re not getting any answers from the director of national intelligence, but we will. And I think there’s a bipartisan commitment, frankly, to get those answers.”

The senator told reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday that he expects to discuss the controversy today when Avril Haines, director of national intelligence, appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee behind closed doors. Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.), along with Rubio, requested information from Haines about potential national security vulnerabilities following the discovery at Mar-a-Lago of more than 100 presidential records with various classified markings.

Although some House Republicans have suggested Biden’s storage in a private office and at home of materials that should have been in the Archives could lead to impeachment charges, Senate Republicans frown on that idea, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports.  

The Hill: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Tuesday urged the Justice Department to investigate any Biden documents held at the University of Delaware.

Related Articles

▪ Punchbowl News: The White House plans to invite Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)  to meet with Biden before the State of the Union address on Feb. 7. Details are still in flux. 

▪ The Hill: Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wants to be reelected during the party’s winter meeting in California, which ends on Friday. She has critics and two competitors for the job she’s held since 2016. 

▪ The Hill: Chances of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis winning over large numbers of Black voters in a hypothetical presidential contest could fade because of state policies he supports, which his critics describe as “racist” and “anti-Black.” 

▪ The Hill: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) on Tuesday asked a Georgia judge not to make public a special grand jury’s report because decisions about possible criminal charges “are imminent” following an extensive probe into whether Trump and allies sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state.

LEADING THE DAY

➤ ADMINISTRATION

The Justice Department and several states on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging the search and advertising behemoth illegally monopolized the $250 billion U.S. online ad market through a years-long practice of anticompetitive acquisitions, self-dealing, and forcing businesses to use multiple products and services that it offers.

The complaint is seeking to break up the company’s advertising business, along with unspecified damages for harm directly impacting the federal government. Google earned about $169 billion in digital ads worldwide in 2022, but the vast majority of that revenue comes from search ads, or are ads that businesses place on user searches that might be relevant to them. It’s the second Justice Department antitrust suit filed against the tech giant since 2020 (Vox and The Hill). Attorney General Merrick Garland at a press conference called Google’s practices a 15-year illegal monopolization “scheme.” 

“Website creators earn less, and advertisers pay more,” Garland said.

Google called the complaint “flawed,” and alleged it would hamper competition, but progressives welcomed the lawsuit.

“As the Justice Department’s suit meticulously documents, Google is a buyer, broker, and digital advertising exchange with pervasive conflicts of interest,” Matt Stoller with the American Economic Liberties Project, told Politico. “Google regularly abuses this power, manipulating markets, muscling out any form of competition, and inspiring fear across the commercial landscape.”

The Treasury Department has suspended new investments in a federal retirement program, the latest in a string of actions it has taken to prevent default after the government hit its debt ceiling, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told congressional leaders Tuesday. The department is taking so-called extraordinary measures to keep paying its bills after it breached its $31.4 trillion borrowing limit Thursday.

As congressional leaders and the White House remain in a stalemate about whether to raise the debt ceiling or enact spending cuts, Yellen has said she expects the actions to prevent default at least until June 5 (CNBC).

The Hill’s Sylvan Lane explains five ways the federal government can try to keep the U.S. out of default, from a bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling to a discharge petition, payment prioritization, invoking the 14th Amendment, or minting a $1 trillion coin.

▪ The Washington Post: The White House today unveiled new tenant protections amid soaring rental costs, with heavy reliance on state and local governments as well as housing providers around the nation.

▪ Reuters: Separately, Treasury Tuesday said it reallocated and awarded $690 million to 89 state and local grantees to assist renters facing financial hardship.

▪ Yahoo News: On Tuesday, Treasury took additional “extraordinary measures” to pay bills while the statutory limit on borrowing is depleted.

▪ Reuters: Yellen, who says she is not leaving the administration, says the Internal Revenue Service needs to be “completely redone.”

▪ The Atlantic: Amid the debt ceiling debate, the trillion-dollar coin may be the least bad option.

▪ Politico: Biden on Tuesday met with Democratic leaders in the Roosevelt Room.

The IRS warned Monday as the 2023 tax filing season opened that taxpayers should be prepared for smaller refunds this year, writes The Hill’s Tobias Burns. This comes as pandemic-era relief measures approved by Congress expire, including an expanded version of the child tax credit as well as a credit for people who didn’t receive the full amount of economic stimulus sent out by the federal government in 2021. 

▪ Gizmodo: NASA and the Pentagon announced an alliance to develop advanced propulsion technology for civilian and criminal space defenses.

▪ The Washington Post: How special counsel Jack Smith charged Kosovo’s president and blew up a Trump meeting.

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

➤ CONGRESS

Ticketmaster defended its online market power in the digital ticketing space at an unusually unified Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, after months of increased scrutiny following a chaotic sale of tickets to Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour that branded the site as an anti-hero to many of Swift’s devotees. The company has long been a target of lawmakers after its merger with Live Nation in 2010, but sparks started to fly after the messy rollout and ultimate cancellation of the public sale to the pop star’s nationwide tour reignited public attention. The hearing to kick off the committee’s activity for the year may also boost efforts from a bipartisan group of lawmakers looking to revamp antitrust laws.

“May I suggest, respectfully, Ticketmaster ought to look in the mirror and say, ‘I’m the problem. It’s me,’” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said, quoting recent Swift lyrics.

Although not directly related to bills put forward to target tech giants, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) may use the opportunity to advocate for her bipartisan antitrust reform bills that failed to get across the finish line last year. The Hill’s Karl Evers-Hillstrom and Rebecca Klar have rounded up five key takeaways from the hearing.  

▪ Bloomberg News: Senators fault Ticketmaster “monopoly” for Taylor Swift ticket debacle.

▪ Time: Who is Clyde Lawrence, the Ticketmaster hearing witness?

▪ Pitchfork: Senate holds hearing on Ticketmaster operations: “The solutions are there for the taking.”

▪ Vox: The problem with Ticketmaster, explained not by Taylor Swift.

Some senators are eyeing a divided Congress as a chance to reform Social Security, writes The Hill’s Aris Folley. While changes to Social Security are a perpetually heavy lift for Congress, the idea has taken on traction as some House Republicans have eyed potential reforms to entitlement programs as part of debt ceiling negotiations.   

“A wise senator said that whenever you see reforms shore up those kinds of programs, it usually takes a divided Congress,” Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) told The Hill this week. “So, maybe that historically bodes well for something that would make sure that Americans have a secure retirement system.” 

▪ The Kansas City Star: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) will introduce legislation to ban Tik Tok nationwide.

▪ Washington Monthly: Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-Ohio) reckless new committee.

McCarthy’s promotion of conservative firebrands to the powerful House Rules Committee has given some of his leading GOP detractors enormous new powers to dictate the party’s legislative agenda — and could lead to headaches for Republican leaders down the line. As The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Mychael Schnell report, the Rules Committee, a relatively obscure panel, gets the last crack at most legislation before it’s sent to the House floor, dictating not only the content of those proposals but also the rules by which they’ll be debated. 

Historically, Speakers of both parties have stacked the committee with their allies to ensure that their desired agenda has few roadblocks when bills come to the floor. But this year is different. Faced with a revolt from conservatives in his own conference, McCarthy promised them new spots on the Rules panel, making good on that offer on Monday when he named three conservatives — Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) — to the committee.

The trio has been highly critical of the procedures of past Congresses, vowing to use their new perch to ensure that rank-and-file lawmakers have a chance to amend proposals on the floor. And their numbers are significant on the 13-member panel: The three can join forces to block most any legislation from leaving the Rules Committee, which could create enormous headaches for GOP leaders hoping to fast-track any must-pass bills with their new majority.  

Truth & Consequences? Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) remains firmly in the headlines as more details about his past emerge.

A newly published interview Santos conducted with Brazilian journalists in December includes a new slate of falsehoods, ranging from claims that he was mugged on a busy New York City street in 2021 without anyone noticing and that he was the target of an assassination attempt (Vanity Fair). While Santos’s ever-changing claims about his past are making for good late-night television, some of his Long Island constituents told The Washington Post they both regretted their choice of candidate and were resigned to his status as a member of Congress.

“Every day that he’s still there, we are suffering. I mean, he’s become a joke on late-night talk shows, but to us, it’s not funny because we deserve a real congressman,” North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, who endorsed Santos during his campaign but has since called on him to resign, told the Post.

McCarthy on Tuesday said Santos will be removed from office if the House Ethics Committee finds that the embattled congressman broke the law. The remark is McCarthy’s most extensive comment yet on potential punishments Santos could face (The Hill).

▪ The Hill: Santos skips White House event for new members.

▪ The Daily Beast: Santos admits $500,000 “personal” loan to his campaign wasn’t personal.

▪ Vox: “A made-up life”: Congress has never seen anyone like Santos. 

▪ CBS News: New Siena poll reveals most Democrats, nearly half of Republicans say Santos should resign.

▪ Business Insider: In a resurfaced 2020 interview, Santos claimed he met the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and entertained the idea that he could still be alive.

▪ NBC News: Santos promised to explain himself within a week. It’s been a month.

➤ INTERNATIONAL

The U.S. and Germany are set to send tanks to Ukraine after weeks of debate. CNN reports that, according to three US officials familiar with the deliberations, the Biden administration is finalizing plans to send U.S.-made Abrams tanks and could make an announcement as soon as this week. A growing cohort of congressional lawmakers had been pushing the Biden administration to send battle tanks to Ukraine, The Hill’s Brad Dress reports. 

The lawmakers, which included Democrats and Republicans in both chambers, raised their voices as Germany and the U.S. stalled on sending tanks to Ukraine. The bipartisan calls mounted more pressure on the Pentagon to act decisively on the issue so Ukraine could get the weapons it needs to respond to an expected Russian offensive in the spring with a counteroffensive of its own. Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said in a statement that such a supply would broaden the conflict and could lead to a “U.S. ‘proxy-war’ with our country,” he added, calling Washington “the real aggressor in the current conflict (The Washington Post).

Germany’s reluctance to send tanks, or to approve the transfer of the German-made tanks from the many European countries that stock them has frustrated some NATO allies as well as Ukraine. Poland promised to supply Kyiv with Leopard 2 tanks of its own and Ukraine has been telling allies it urgently needs the equipment to stave off a potential Russian offensive (The New York Times). 

Berlin on Wednesday confirmed its plans to send over a dozen of its sought-after tanks from the Bunsdeswehr stocks after “months of debate” involving a hesitant Chancellor Olaf Scholz (The Washington Post and CNN).

▪ Der Spiegel: Germany’s tank debate: Why the chancellor deliberated over tanks.

▪ The New York Times: The Pentagon will increase artillery production sixfold for Ukraine.

▪ Vox: Ukraine’s corruption shake-up, briefly explained. And The New York Times reports why Western allies are watching Ukraine closely to see where their aid goes.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday held a surprise meeting in the capital Amman with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid heightened diplomatic tensions over the Temple Mount, also known as the Haram al-Sharif or the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in Jerusalem. Netanyahu, whose relationship with the king was strained when he was last in power, in 2018, committed to maintaining the status quo in Jerusalem (Axios and Al Jazeera).

▪ The New York Times: Inflation is so high in Egypt that eggs are a luxury.

▪ Foreign Policy: “They have to balance”: New Iraqi leader tilts the scales toward the U.S.

▪ NBC News: Pope Francis says homosexuality is a sin but not a crime and criticizes “unjust” anti-gay laws.

OPINION

■ Things are looking pretty weird for Merrick Garland, by Jack Goldsmith, guest essay, The New York Times.https://nyti.ms/3RclV6j

■ The George Santos malignancy, by former Rep. John LeBoutillier (R-N.Y.), opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/3wqzNjE

WHERE AND WHEN

👉 INVITATIONS to The Hill’s upcoming virtual events: Thursday, 1 p.m. ET, “Expanding Adult Vaccine Access,” with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure and Reps. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.). RSVP and save your spot. 

🎤 Friday, 2 p.m. ET, The Hill’s live virtual newsmaker event with Heather Boushey, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, in discussion with The Hill’s Sylvan Lane. RSVP and join live.

📲 Ask The Hill: Share a news query tied to an expert journalist’s insights: The Hill launched something new and (we hope) engaging via text with Editor-in-Chief Bob Cusack. Learn more and sign up HERE.

The House will convene at 10 a.m.

The Senate meets at 10 a.m. 

The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 8:30 a.m. Biden will have lunch with Vice President Harris at 12:30 p.m.

The vice president today will travel to her home state of California to react to a pair of mass shootings since the weekend that left a total of nearly 20 people dead. She will visit the Los Angeles area (The Hill). 

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen begins today in South Africa, where she toured a wildlife park and spoke about Treasury Department efforts to combat illegal wildlife trafficking. 

First lady Jill Biden at 11 a.m. will donate to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History two outfits she wore on Inauguration Day in 2021 to be part of its First Ladies Collection. 

The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 1:30 p.m.

ELSEWHERE

➤ HEALTH & PANDEMIC

Long COVID-19 is having a significant effect on America’s workforce, a new analysis shows, as it is preventing substantial numbers of people from going back to work, while others continue needing medical care long after returning to their jobs. 

The study, published Tuesday by New York’s largest workers’ compensation insurer, found that in 2020 and 2021, about 71 percent of people the fund classified as experiencing long COVID-19 either required continuing medical treatment or were unable to work for six months or more. More than a year after contracting COVID-19, 18 percent of these patients had still not returned to work, and more than three-fourths of them were younger than 60 (The New York Times).

“Long Covid has harmed the work force,” said the report, by the New York State Insurance Fund, a state agency financed by employer-paid premiums. The findings, it added, “highlight long Covid as an underappreciated yet important reason for the many unfilled jobs and declining labor participation rate in the economy, and they presage a possible reduction in productivity as employers feel the strains of an increasingly sick work force.”

ABC News: COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective for kids, according to new data.

Information about the availability of COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots can be found at Vaccines.gov.

▪ The Hill: The Food and Drug Administration issues guidance to reduce lead exposure in baby food.

▪ The New York Times: A dilemma for governments: How to pay for million-dollar therapies.

▪ Time: Life’s uncertainty has led to a mental health crisis at work.

Researchers at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, today unveiled a new health dashboard organized to sort through 435 congressional districts using 36 measures related to health. Some observations shared by the creators: People living in congressional districts in the 11 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are twice as likely to be uninsured compared to those in states with expanded Medicaid coverage; residents of congressional districts in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas are almost 3.5 times on average more likely to be uninsured than those in congressional districts in New England; and Black newborns are roughly twice as likely to be underweight at birth than white babies in more than three-quarters of the congressional districts in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported as of this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (trackers all vary slightly): 1,105,204. Current U.S. COVID-19 deaths are 3,953 for the week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (The CDC shifted its tally of available data from daily to weekly, now reported on Fridays.)

THE CLOSER

And finally … ☀️ Hot, flashy, magnetic.

Active regions of the sun are producing what are described as violent solar flares that are expected to remain facing Earth until today, after which the light show should disappear from view, reports Space.com. The intense bursts of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy a million times greater than the energy from a volcanic eruption on Earth pose little risk aside from minor radio blackouts. A flare appears when intense magnetic fields snap after tangling, emerging as sudden, intense bright areas of the sun lasting several minutes to hours. Check out video HERE.

Stay Engaged

We want to hear from you! Email: Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch. Follow us on Twitter (@asimendinger and @kristinakarisch) and suggest this newsletter to friends!

Senate GOP pours cold water on idea of impeaching Biden

Senate Republicans are pouring cold water on the idea that President Biden’s classified documents controversy rises to the level of an impeachable offense, heading off House conservatives looking for revenge after former President Trump’s two trials.

Even before Tuesday’s revelation that about a dozen classified documents had been found at former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home, GOP senators were cool to the idea of impeachment. 

“I don’t think you want to get into where it’s a tit for tat, every two years or four years you’re dealing with impeachment proceedings in the House and Senate,” Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) told The Hill. “There has to be a really good reason, obviously, the constitutional reasons and grounds for that. So we’ll see where it goes.” 

Asked whether Biden’s possession of classified documents has the potential to rise to the level of an impeachable offense, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an adviser to the Senate GOP leadership team, gave a simple answer: “No.” 

Many Republicans thought the Democrats’ first impeachment of Trump over delaying military aide to Ukraine was a partisan overreach. But that means they are also wary of doing the same thing now that their party has the House majority.

It’s just one of several tension points emerging between Republicans in the two chambers.  

Senate Republicans have mostly ignored chatter in the House about impeaching Biden’s secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, or wiping out the tax code and replacing it with a 23 percent to 30 percent national sales tax. 

Some Republicans think talk of impeaching Biden will grow in the House, even though GOP senators warn that it’s a bad idea. 

House Republicans introduced more than a dozen impeachment resolutions against Biden in the last Congress, and the GOP-controlled House Judiciary Committee has already initiated an investigation of Biden’s handling of classified documents, which could lay the ground for future impeachment proceedings.  

Trump has also come under criticism for a separate classified documents controversy, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in an interview with Fox Business argued that Biden’s handling of classified documents was more egregious because the former Republican president at least secured the classified information he held with padlocks.

“That’s much different than what we’re finding now with President Biden, and I think it is severely going to cause him a great deal of trouble in the future as we get more of the truth,” McCarthy told Fox host Larry Kudlow. 

A few Senate Republicans entertain the idea that the classified documents found at Biden’s Delaware home and former Washington, D.C., office would lead to a Senate impeachment trial. 

“This actually might be an impeachable offense. If there’s a high crime and misdemeanor standard, which there is, this is the closest thing to one in recent years,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.). “If the special counsel comes up with anything, realizing [Biden’s] a sitting president, I suppose they could draft up what would become articles of impeachment, depending on what they find.” 

Cramer said “I personally hate impeachments” but thinks the standard has changed since House Democrats impeached Trump in 2019 after he held up aid to Ukraine to use as leverage to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden’s family’s business dealings in the country.  

Only one Republican senator, Mitt Romney (Utah), voted to convict on an article of impeachment during Trump’s 2020 Senate trial.  

Cramer said “Democrats created an impeachment cycle and we may be in that cycle,” calling Trump’s first impeachment “far-fetched and silly.”  

He said House Republicans now need to decide whether they want to keep the impeachment bar as low as they believe Democrats set it in 2019 or whether to elevate it to cover only the most serious crimes.  

The documents found at Pence’s home would further muddy any attempt to argue that Biden’s possession of classified documents meets the standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. 

Romney on Tuesday said it will be hard for House Republicans to credibly push an article of impeachment against Biden for keeping classified documents at his Delaware home after Pence admitted the same transgression.  

“I can’t imagine that’s where it’s going to head with so many people in the same arena,” he said.  

Some key Senate Republicans, such as Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (Fla.), are already on record downplaying Trump’s possession of classified documents at his Florida home as a “storage” issue.  

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday dismissed a question about whether Biden’s possession of classified documents could rise to the level of an impeachable offense.  

“I don’t have an answer to that hypothetical. I do think that the Justice Department seems to be willing to treat everybody the same and to try to retrieve the documents, and obviously it’s not a great idea to take classified documents away from the archives. We’ll see how they continue to handle it,” he said.   

Republican senators say it should be up to Robert Hur, the special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, to decide whether Biden should be charged with a crime, not House Republicans, who filed more than a dozen articles of impeachment against Biden in the last Congress.  

“It could be a criminal offense,” Cornyn said. “That’s what the special counsel is for. Mishandling classified materials is very serious.”   

Garland appointed special counsel Jack Smith in November to oversee the Justice Department’s investigation of Trump’s handling of classified documents and whether he unlawfully interfered with the 2021 transfer of presidential power.  

Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, blasted some Democrats for “hypocrisy” by trying to minimize Biden’s culpability after hammering Trump for months after the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago in August to retrieve classified documents.  

“The thing that’s made this such a story is the hypocrisy, [Democrats] attacking Trump,” he said. “Nobody should take classified materials outside of a secure facility, period.”   

Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said fellow Republicans should “be careful” about “knee-jerking to impeachment.”  

“I think the country will fatigue of that,” he said, pointing out that recent impeachment proceedings against former Presidents Clinton and Trump “have not ended up with any real result.”  

“If you start doing it on everything, I think it would be bad politically and for the mechanics of government working,” he said.  

Democrats picked up five House seats in the 1998 midterm elections as the Republican majority was in the midst of gearing up to impeach Clinton, marking a rare instance when the president’s party picked up House seats in the middle of a second term.  

Republicans picked up 14 House seats in the 2020 election after Democrats impeached Trump at the end of 2019.

Source: TEST FEED1