2/09/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Feb. 9, 2021

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FEBRUARY 8, 2021
White House Daily Briefing

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki held a briefing where she discussed policy goals and news of the day. The press secretary said President Biden is focused getting COVID-19 aid to Americans and not on the impeachment trial of former President Trump that begins this week. She also said the administration wants to see the minimum wage raised to $15 an hour but will have to wait and see what Congress does with the legislation. 



Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, is the lead impeachment manager in former President Donald J. Trump’s trial.
What to Watch for as Donald J. Trump’s Impeachment Trial Begins

Debate will begin at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. Though the trial is expected to be fast-paced, oral arguments could stretch into next week.

Feb. 9 - The second impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump begins on Tuesday, about a month after he was charged by the House with incitement of insurrection for his role in egging on a violent mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Here’s what you need to know.

    • A trial is being held to decide whether former President Donald J. Trump is guilty of inciting a deadly mob of his supporters when they stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, violently breaching security measures and sending lawmakers into hiding as they met to certify President Biden’s victory.
    • The House voted 232 to 197 to approve a single article of impeachment, accusing Mr. Trump of “inciting violence against the government of the United States” in his quest to overturn the election results. Ten Republicans joined the Democrats in voting to impeach him.
    • To convict Mr. Trump, the Senate would need a two-thirds majority to be in agreement. This means at least 17 Republican senators would have to vote with Senate Democrats to convict.
    • A conviction seems unlikely. Last month, only five Republicans in the Senate sided with Democrats in beating back a Republican attempt to dismiss the charges because Mr. Trump is no longer in office. On the eve of the trial’s start, 28 senators say they are undecided about whether to convict Mr. Trump.
    • If the Senate convicts Mr. Trump, finding him guilty of “inciting violence against the government of the United States,” senators could then vote on whether to bar him from holding future office. That vote would only require a simple majority, and if it came down to party lines, Democrats would prevail with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tiebreaking vote.
    • If the Senate does not convict Mr. Trump, the former president could be eligible to run for public office once again. Public opinion surveys show that he remains by far the most popular national figure in the Republican Party.
more details




Trump’s Final Defense of His Presidency May Be His Most Deranged
He’s misreading the Constitution and claiming to be the real victim of the Capitol riots.


Feb. 8 - Just over a month ago, rioters and insurrectionists attacked the Capitol and killed five people. They traipsed through the House and Senate chambers, taking photographs of themselves and rifling through the effects of the lawmakers who fled their approach. They disrupted and delayed the counting of electoral votes to formally transfer power to President Joe Biden. They pillaged and looted the citadel of American democracy. Now the Senate, gathered in that same building, will decide the fate of the president who sent them there.

It’s hard to imagine Donald Trump sinking lower, but he found a way. Trump is now the first federal official in the two-and-a-half-century history of the republic to be impeached twice and tried twice. Last year, he stood accused of abuse of power and obstruction of justice for a convoluted scheme to sabotage Biden’s candidacy through the Ukrainian government. This time, he will defend himself against a single charge—incitement of insurrection—for encouraging his supporters to prevent Biden’s presidency by force.

There is no real, substantive defense to these charges. Americans watched Trump spread lies about the election for months before the riot. He warned in dark and ominous terms that the country was in danger and that his supporters needed to fight back. “You’ll never take back our country with weakness,” he told supporters at a rally outside the White House on January 6. “You have to show strength and you have to be strong. We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated.” Even after his supporters trampled themselves and beat police officers, Trump praised them as “very special.”     continue to read

2/08/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Feb. 8, 2021

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Michael Cohen: Does Donald Trump have a 'secret' pardon? | 60 Minutes Australia
Feb 7, 2021

He may no longer be President, but Donald Trump can’t stop making headlines. In the next few days he goes on trial in the US Senate charged with inciting his supporters’ rampage on the Capitol building last month. But while the world was shocked by the shameful attack on democracy, Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, wasn’t surprised at all. In fact two years ago he predicted it. Cohen used to be The Donald’s closest ally but ended up an enemy, and in prison, when he took the fall for covering up Trump’s affair with porn star Stormy Daniels. And now, in an extraordinary interview with Tara Brown, filmed while he serves the remainder of his sentence under house arrest in New York, Cohen is happy to spill all of his old boss’s dirty secrets.



There was only one Democrat among the visitors to a gun show in West Virginia
Americans voice 'legitimate fears' of civil war as Trump's impeachment trial looms


Many Americans are afraid of a looming civil war-style conflict, amid the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

Feb. 8 - American politics often baffles outsiders but on the eve of Donald Trump's second impeachment trial, it really has never been weirder.

Politicians promoting a delusional conspiracy claiming America is in the grips of a child-trafficking liberal cabal backed by the deep state are now sitting in the US Congress.

And Mr Trump's grand fiction that the election was stolen from him, is believed by millions.

From our soundings in West Virginiamany also fear the country is sliding towards civil war, backing claims in recent polls that more than half of Americans fear as much.

To gauge the mood of conservative rural America we went to a gun show where there was no shortage of people openly afraid of looming civil conflict.

"I'm very worried about this country, where it's going," gun dealer and wood carver Scott Pickett told me.

"If it keeps heading down this same way, they're going to push people into another civil war and I don't want to be here then."


From our soundings in West Virginiamany also fear the country is sliding towards civil war, backing claims in recent polls that more than half of Americans fear as much.

To gauge the mood of conservative rural America we went to a gun show where there was no shortage of people openly afraid of looming civil conflict.

"I'm very worried about this country, where it's going," gun dealer and wood carver Scott Pickett told me.

"If it keeps heading down this same way, they're going to push people into another civil war and I don't want to be here then."     source

Picture

Former US Ambassador to Syria Robert Stephen Ford, 2020.
Robert Ford’s slanted Article in favor of the Turkish expansionist Policy in the Middle East and beyond!

Feb. 8 - A misguided vision of Former Ambassador Ford’s article published on January 25th, 2021; recommends that the US should rely on Turkey and Russia in Syria. Ambassador Ford mentioned Russia, but Russia is only lip service, his main lobby is Turkey. If President Erdogan is to write an op-ed to defend his expanist policy in Syria; he most likely wouldn’t be able to defend his expansionist policy in the way that Ambassador Ford defends it.

Mr. Ford’s ill-advised venture will create more chaos, more wars, more refugees, more displacement of people, and more ethnic cleansing than the Middle East could ask for. Turkey’s invasion of sovereign states and neighboring countries under the cover of their own security is illegal under international law. Turkish forces are fighting in Iraq, and along with their cohort Jihadis, are also fighting in SyriaLibya, and in Nagorno Karabakh-Armenia. President Erdogan is threatening the Greek government over gas and oil explorations in the eastern Mediterranean.

President Erdogan’s Turkish expansionist flail upheaval policy is similar to Benito Mussolini’s expansionist policy of imperial colonization of the mid 1920’s to early 1940’s on the Horn of Africa, in Somalia, Ethiopia, British Somaliland, and Libya…
“Biden Should rely rely on Turkey, Russia in Syria”     continue to read
Robert Stephen Ford (born 1958) is a retired American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Algeria from 2006 to 2008 and the United States Ambassador to Syria from 2010 to 2014.

Syria
In 2010, U. S. President Barack Obama nominated Ford as the first U.S. Ambassador to Syria in five years (pending U.S. Senate approval).[6] In December 2010, after the U.S. Senate had failed to act on the nomination, Obama used a recess appointment to secure Ford the position.[7] The Senate then confirmed Ford by unanimous consent on October 3, 2011.[8][9] As a result, Ford no longer was serving under a recess appointment and therefore could have held the position until Obama's term ended in January 2017.

On October 24, 2011, Ford was recalled from Syria; the U.S. State Department cited "credible threats" to his safety.[10] Ford had attracted the ire of pro-Assad Syrians due to his strong support of the Syrian uprising. According to American officials, Ford had been attacked by an armed pro-government mob, and Syrian state television had begun running reports blaming him for the formation of death squads similar to those in Iraq. This led to fears that supporters of the Syrian government might try to kill him.[11]

In August 2013, it was reported by The New York Times that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had recommended that Ford serve as the next U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, following the incumbent ambassador, Anne W. Patterson, being nominated to serve as the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs – the head of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs within the U.S. Department of State, which oversees the Middle East.[12]  On February 4, 2014, officials of the U.S. State Department said that Ford was retiring[13] and on February 28 announced his departure.[14]  The U.S. States Department announced the appointment of Daniel Rubinstein as U.S. special envoy for Syria on March 14.[15]  In December 2018, Ford declared his support for President Trump's decision to withdraw US troops from Syria, describing it as "essentially correct."[16]

Actions in Syria
He visited Hama, where he was cheered by protesters.[17]  He met with Hassan Abdul-Azim, and was attacked with eggs and tomatoes by government supporters.[18][19]

2/06/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Feb. 6, 2021

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FEBRUARY 5, 2021
President Biden Delivers Remarks on the Economy
President Biden delivered remarks on the state of the economy and recovery efforts. The president said Republican’s proposed COVID-19 package deal does not go far enough and he is more concerned about getting help to Americans than “getting bogged down in lengthy negotiations.” He also said he is not willing to cut the size of stimulus checks from $1,400. 


Biden pledges to "act fast" on stimulus
​Biden leaves Republicans behind to fast track $1.9tn bill

US President Joe Biden is forging ahead with plans to ram through a $1.9tn (£1.4tn) relief bill without Republican support after disappointing jobs data.


Feb. 6 - Despite an Obama-era economist's warnings the stimulus package may be too big, Mr Biden vowed to "act fast".

The new president's fellow Democrats run Congress, and plan to pass the final bill using a budget manoeuvre.

Mr Biden's speech is being seen by US media as a shift in tone after he entered office pledging bipartisanship.

He met 10 Republican senators at the White House on Monday in the hope of a breakthrough, but brushed off their counter-proposal for a slimmed-down $618bn coronavirus relief bill.

Speaking at the White House on Friday after meeting congressional Democratic leaders, he said: "A lot of folks are losing hope.

What did Biden say?​
"I believe the American people are looking right now to their government for help, to do our job, to not let them down.
"So I'm going to act. I'm going to act fast. I'd like to be doing it with the support of Republicans. They're just not willing to go as far as I think we have to go."     more details

Related Articles:
When might life in US return to normal?
US job growth sluggish as virus hampers recovery
Biden ends deadlock over WTO leadership
'It's OK to have a bad day'

FEBRUARY 5, 2021
White House Daily Briefing
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki answered a range of questions from reporters on the economic relief plan, foreign policy priorities, the president’s pre-Superbowl interview and the recent jobs numbers. White House Council of Economic Advisers member Jared Bernstein also joined the briefing and gave remarks at the top on jobs and the economy.
FEBRUARY 5, 2021
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene News Conference
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) held a news conference the day after the House voted to remove her from her committee assignments. “Yesterday, when the Democrats and 11 of my Republican colleagues decided to strip me of my committee assignments … they actually stripped my district of their voice. They stripped my voters of having representation to work for them,” she said. The freshman representative later added she felt “freed” after being removed from her assignments. “If I was on a committee, I’d be wasting my time because my conservative values wouldn’t be heard and neither would my districts'.” She also criticized Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who she said “faked her outrage with another hoax” when describing her experience during the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Rep. Taylor Greene called the Senate impeachment trial a scam and expressed her support for former President Trump. “Republican voters support him still. The party is his. It doesn’t belong to anybody else.”

PBS NewsHour full episode, Feb. 5, 2021
Feb 6, 2021
Friday on the NewsHour, the economy faces an uneven recovery as daily coronavirus deaths top 5,000 for the first time, and Congress begins to move closer to passing a relief package. Also, six months after a massive explosion in Beirut a worsening pandemic complicates the city's long recovery, and David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart consider the Republicans Party's identity crisis.

2/05/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Feb. 5, 2021

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President Biden speaks at the State Department on Thursday.
White House convening National Security Council meeting for Iran nuclear program - Axios

Scoop: White House convening NSC to talk Iran

Feb. 5 - In a sign of the urgency President Biden feels about Iran, the White House is convening a National Security Council principals committee meeting Friday focused on the country's nuclear program, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.

Why it matters: The Biden administration is still refining its strategy about how to resurrect the 2015 deal that President Trump backed out of in 2018, but it wants to work with allies to slow Iran's effort to enrich uranium and prevent an arms races in the Middle East.     continue to read


New U.S. President Joe Biden is pitching a tough stance against Russia.
Biden Says No More U.S. 'Rolling Over' to Russia

Feb. 5 - President Joe Biden said Thursday the United States will no longer be "rolling over in the face of Russia's aggressive actions" and demanded release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

In toughly worded remarks pivoting from his predecessor Donald Trump's muted approach to Moscow, Biden warned of "advancing authoritarianism" in China and Russia.
The speech at the State Department thrust Russia back onto the front burner of the U.S. diplomatic agenda after four years during which Trump largely pushed the worsening relationship with Moscow to the side and consistently refused to criticize Putin.

Biden said that in his first phone call with the Russian leader since taking office on January 20 he "made it clear" to Putin that the relationship was changing.     source


FEBRUARY 4, 2021
White House Daily Briefing

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was joined by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to discuss foreign policy and news of the day. Mr. Sullivan announced the U.S. will no longer support offensive operations in Yemen. He also said the administration will issue a memorandum prioritizing LGBTQ human rights in foreign policy and discussed possible targeted sanctions against Myanmar officials. The press secretary reiterated the importance of passing COVID-19 relief and the goal of bipartisan support for the package. 

FEBRUARY 4, 2021
House Oversight Hearing on Trump Administration's Family Separation Immigration Policy
Michael Horowitz, inspector general with the Justice Department, testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on his team’s investigative report on the Trump administration’s family separation policy at the southern border. Investigators concluded that former Attorney General Jeff Sessions knew enforcing a zero-tolerance policy of prosecuting all adults who cross the border illegally would result in children being separated from their parents. The report also found that there was poor coordination between the agencies tasked with implementing the policy and the Health and Human Services Department who would be caring for the separated children. In addition, investigators found that a system to track the children’s parents as they went through the stages of prosecution was lacking. The Trump administration’s strict policy to prosecute adult migrants started in May 2018. According to legal documents, thousands of children were separated as a result. Mr. Horowitz said, as of this hearing, approximately 500 children had yet to be reunited with their parents.

2/04/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Feb. 4, 2021

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FEBRUARY 2, 2021
White House Daily Briefing

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki 
held a briefing to discuss the administration’s policy priorities. She addressed the current situation regarding progress on the next coronavirus pandemic relief package after the president met with Republican senators in the Oval Office and spoke to Democratic senators over lunch. She also responded to a variety of questions regarding the administration’s immigration policies, Russia’s sentencing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, former President Trump’s impeachment trial, President Biden’s interactions with various world leaders including China’s President Xi Jinping, and the future of Space Force.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, in Washington. Even as President Joe Biden gathers with senators and works the phones to push for a giant COVID relief package, his team is increasingly focused on selling the plan directly to voters.

Stuck in DC, Biden team pitches rest of US on big virus aid


Feb. 4 - Even as President Joe Biden gathers with senators and works the phones with Capitol Hill to push for a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, his team is increasingly focused on selling the plan directly to voters.

His administration has done 60-plus interviews with national TV and radio shows. There have been spots on local TV news and briefings last week with more than 50 groups that ranged from General Motors to Meals on Wheels America and Planned Parenthood. One of the main goals is to stop people from getting bogged down in the tangle of partisan deal-making and convince them that every penny of the “go big” package is needed.

“The public is not getting caught up in process — what they want is results,” said Cedric Richmond, the White House director of public engagement. “People these days are not worried about the inside-the-beltway terminology. They’re looking at who’s doing what to help.”     continue to read


FEBRUARY 3, 2021
Rules Committee Debates Rule on Removing Representative Greene from House Committees
The House Rules Committee debated the rule to remove a member of Congress from House Committees. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) came under heavy criticism for her controversial statements, including suggesting violence against members of Congress and claims that school shootings are “false flag” operations. Committee chair Jim McGovern (D-MA) began his opening statement saying, “We have never had a hearing like one this before,” and accused Republican leadership of refusing to hold Rep. Greene accountable. He later added that the purpose of the hearing was not about canceling someone with different beliefs, but about accountability, and that “if this isn’t the bottom line, I don’t know what the hell the bottom line is.” The resolution passed along party lines and will be voted on by the full House of Representatives. 
Republicans In Disarray Over Greene And Trump Impeachment | The 11th Hour | MSNBC
Feb 3, 2021
With one week until Trump faces his second Senate impeachment trial, Republicans are at odds over how to deal with that and the controversies surrounding Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. This as Biden takes action on asylum and child separation saying he’s ‘eliminating bad policy.’
Takeaways from legal filings for Trump’s impeachment trial

Feb. 4 - WASHINGTON (AP) — The legal sparring around Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is underway, with briefs filed this week laying out radically different positions ahead of next week’s Senate trial.


House prosecutors and the former president’s defense team are putting forward their arguments about Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and on the legality of even holding a trial. They’re also debating the First Amendment and a blunt assessment by Democrats that the riot posed a threat to the presidential line of succession.

Here are some of the takeaways from the arguments of both sides     continue to read