5/20/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | May 20, 2021

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'Not a positive development': What the new criminal probe could mean for the Trump Organization
Legal experts say the New York attorney general's decision to team up with Manhattan prosecutors doesn't bode well for the former president's company.

May 20 - ...Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing, blasted the announcement in a lengthy statement Wednesday as "a continuation of the greatest political Witch Hunt in the history of the United States."


Vacco said the information-sharing could have big benefits for both Vance and James, who is also continuing with her civil investigation.

James' investigation has covered some of the same ground as Vance's, including looking into four real estate projects and Trump's failed attempt to buy the Buffalo Bills, an NFL team. Her office is likely to have some documents that Vance's doesn't, and it has taken depositions — including one from Trump CEO Eric Trump — that could be useful to Vance's team.

The cross-designation also means James' investigators would have access to information from Vance's inquiry that they would otherwise not be entitled to, including Trump's tax returns and other financial information, Vacco said...     quoted from

May 19, 2021
Vice President Harris Holds Meeting with Guatemalan Justice Leaders
Vice President Kamala Harris holds a virtual meeting with Guatemalan justice sector leaders at the her office near the White House.
Remarks by Vice President Harris Before Meeting with Guatemalan Justice Sector Leaders
MAY 19, 2021

...Corruption is preventing people from getting basic services that they should be entitled to receive, such as educating their children, getting a business started, or participating in a fair judicial trial.  And so these are some of the areas that we will focus on. 

I want to underscore one point also, which is that corruption is also a deterrent to financial and economic investment in the region — a significant deterrent.


So if part of our goal is to look at what we can do to support and enhance economic development in the region, understanding that lack of economic opportunity is one of the reasons that people flee — if we are prevented from a course of action that is about spurring economic activity because of the legitimate concern with corruption — that is another reason that demands our attention to what we must do to reduce corruption, if not eliminate it, in the region.  So that’s the work we are going to do together. 

I believe strongly in judicial independence.  That is a topic — that will be a topic of our discussion. 

I believe that the government must be held accountable when it violates the rights of its people. 

And I believe that a judicial system, when it is just, gives people confidence that they can live in a way that they can raise their families, that they can live with freedom, and they can live with certainty that there will be an equal application of the law as it relates to all people, regardless of who they are and which family they were born into.

So, I will say, as my final points, that the work that we are doing in this region is motivated by a number of principles, including my firm belief that if we give people a sense of hope — that if they stay, help is on the way — that they will indeed do what they want to do, which is remain with their families, remain in their community.  And part of giving people hope is having a very specific commitment to rooting out corruption in the region. 

So that is our work.  And I am honored again to have these incredible leaders join us.  And I’m looking forward to our candid conversation. 

So, with that, I thank you all.  Thank you very much for being here.     quoted from

May 19, 2021
Speaker Pelosi Holds News Conference on January 6 Commission

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and committee chairs held a briefing on forming an independent commission to investigate the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. She spoke about the importance of the commission and the service it will provide the public. When asked about opposition to the commission from Minority Leaders Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) she said, “it sounds like they are afraid of the truth.”

Trump supporters gather outside the Capitol in Washington on January 6. 
House passes a bill to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection


May 20 -The House approved a bill to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection on the Capitol.

The measure passed by a vote of 252-175, with 35 Republicans voting in favor of the bill despite an active effort from House GOP leadership to marshal opposition. 

The bill to form the commission, H.R. 3233, came out of a bipartisan deal with Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, and ranking member Rep. John Katko, a Republican. 

In Wednesday debate on the House floor, Katko called on his colleagues "to put down their swords for once, just for once," and vote for the commission to cut through partisan politics and get to the facts.      source from

May 20 - Donald Trump's former longtime lawyer and fixer said Wednesday that he believes the former president will "flip" on everyone, including his own family members, as New York investigators tighten the screws on the Trump Organization.

Michael Cohen's comments came after a spokesperson for New York attorney general Tish James said in a statement that James' office is now investigating the Trump Organization "in a criminal capacity," as opposed to a civil probe. James will join forces with the Manhattan district attorney's office — which is conducting its own separate inquiry into the Trump Organization — in the matter.


Speaking to MSNBC's Joy Reid, Cohen said he believes that while legal scholars and the public wonder whether investigators will be able to flip people close to Trump like his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani and the Trump Organization's CFO Allen

Weisselberg, Trump himself will ultimately be the one to switch sides.
"I think Donald Trump is going to flip on all of them, including his children," he said, adding, "I really believe that Donald Trump cares for only himself and he realizes that his goose is cooked."     source from

5/19/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | May 19, 2021

 White House News in Chinese - About (weebly.com)

Chinese-military linked securities
Investors are given more time to complete their transactions, with the deadline moved to June 11

May 19, Washington, USA - The Biden administration on Tuesday, May 18, gave investors two extra weeks to buy or sell securities in certain companies it deems are tied to the Chinese military, an extension it said was needed to craft a stronger policy to prohibit such trades.

President Joe Biden's administration has been reviewing a number of aspects of US-China policy, including a ban imposed under his predecessor Donald Trump on investments in certain Chinese companies that the United States says are linked to China's armed forces and intelligence agencies.


Investors now have until 9:30 am (1330 GMT) on June 11 to compete their transactions, the US Treasury Department said in a notice posted on its website. The previous deadline was May 27.

A senior administration official said the White House was deeply concerned about the issue, and that the two-week extension would allow it to address problems in the Trump administration's executive order, which was drafted and implemented in a "careless manner."

The new policies, once complete, would "strengthen our ability to prohibit US investment in the PRC's military, intelligence, and other security apparatuses," the official said, using an acronym for the People's Republic of China.
"We will have more on the permanent way forward soon, and we are determined to deal with this issue expeditiously," the official said.

A request for comment from the Chinese consulate was not immediately returned...     more

May 18, 2021 | Part Of Pres. Biden Tours Ford E-Vehicle Center in Michigan
President Biden Delivers Remarks at the Ford Rogue Electric Vehicle Center
President Biden delivered remarks on the nation’s infrastructure at Ford Motor Company’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan. The president spoke about competing with China, the union workforce, and modernizing the nation’s infrastructure, which includes investment in electric vehicles and putting in vehicle charging stations along America’s highways. President Biden also addressed climate change and how it will help spur job creation in the future.



Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center
Dearborn, Michigan

Remarks by President Biden on a Future Made in America
MAY 18, 2021

THE PRESIDENT:  My name is Joe Biden and I’m a car guy.  (Applause.)  I got — please sit down.  I got through high school and college and law school because my dad ran an agency.  And I’m delighted to be here.
I want to say something else up front: I’m standing here because, about 180 years ago, when I first got elected to the Senate, Gov — (laughter) — the UAW elected me.  (Applause.)  We used to have the highest percentage of autoworkers of any state in the nation because we have a small workforce and two giant plants, plus Mopar and a few other things going on.  So I want to thank you.

Look, and I want to thank a good friend of mine: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.  (Applause.)  As my mother would say, Gretchen, “God love you, dear.”  You’ve got a backbone like a ramrod, you got a brain as big as anybody in the business, and you are so honorable.  It’s a delight to know you.  And anything I can do — as I said to you before, I’ll come campaign for you or against you, whichever will help the most.  (Laughter.)
And, Ang — I want to thank Angela.  We were talking backstage — backstage, yeah, on the other side of the truck — and I want to thank her very much for being so gracious...     more

THE COVENANT OF THE HAMAS - MAIN POINTS

The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement was issued on August 18, 1988. The Islamic Resistance Movement, also known as the HAMAS, is an extremist fundamentalist Islamic organization operating in the territories under Israeli control. Its Covenant is a comprehensive manifesto comprised of 36 separate articles, all of which promote the basic HAMAS goal of destroying the State of Israel through Jihad (Islamic Holy War). The following are excerpts of the HAMAS   more details
Hamas In Their Own Words
May 17, 2021
Hamas, the terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip, has been indiscriminately firing rockets at civilian areas of Israel for the past week. Hamas has always been clear about its main objective: to eradicate Israel and Jewish people, no matter where they live.

Damage from an Israeli air strike overnight in Gaza City
Israel-Gaza: Hamas chiefs targeted as truce efforts stall

Israel says it has targeted the homes of Hamas commanders as deadly fighting with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip enters a 10th day.

May 19 - Israel said it had tried to kill Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif "several times". Overnight, two militants died in a strike on an apartment.
Fresh barrages of rockets were also fired into Israel, with Hamas saying it had targeted an air base in the south.

Ceasefire moves continue behind the scenes but have made little headway.
France filed a resolution calling for an end to the violence with the UN Security Council in co-ordination with Egypt and Jordan, but it is only a draft. The US has been blocking attempts to issue a joint statement, although it has called for a ceasefire.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said its military operation in Gaza will continue "as long as needed" but also told authorities in the south that it could end within "several days".

The fighting began after weeks of rising Israeli-Palestinian tension in occupied East Jerusalem that culminated in clashes at a holy site revered by both Muslims and Jews. Hamas, which controls Gaza, began firing rockets after warning Israel to withdraw from the site, triggering retaliatory air strikes.


At least 219 people, including almost 100 women and children, have been killed in Gaza so far, according to its health ministry. Israel has said at least 150 militants are among those killed in Gaza. Hamas does not give casualty figures for fighters.

In Israel 12 people, including two children, have been killed, its medical service says. Israel says some 3,750 rockets have been fired towards its territory by militants in Gaza.     more details

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APaletinian man inspects the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes that leveled a six-story building in Gaza City on May 18, 2021.
Israel and Hamas have been here before. How might it end this time?


May 18, GAZA CITY -- The Gaza Strip is once again a blood-soaked battleground, with Israel and the militant group Hamas engaging in their fourth round of warfare since 2008. Now the talk has turned to the conflict’s possible endgame.

On Tuesday, turning aside growing international calls for a cease-fire, Israel’s military declared it would press ahead with bombardment of the Palestinian enclave, and Hamas fired more rockets into Israel, killing two Thai agricultural workers.

Amid deepening suffering in Gaza, the United Nations said that more than 50,000 Palestinians had fled bombardment and that nearly 450 buildings in the territory had been destroyed or damaged. By day’s end, Gaza’s Health Ministry put the number of dead in nine days of fighting at 217, 63 of them children.


At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be trying to set the stage for a possible halt to hostilities, saying that Israel’s enemies had learned a painful lesson after enduring more than a week of punishing airstrikes on the impoverished coastal enclave...     continue to read

5/18/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | May 18, 2021

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Biden: We've Gone From Stagnation To Fastest Growing Economy In 40 Years
President Joe Biden delivered remarks on Monday on the administration's COVID-19 response and the status of the economy

May 18 - "As a result of our prompt action to roll out the vaccine and boost the economy, we’ve gone from stagnation to an economy that is growing faster than it has in nearly 40 years," Biden said to reporters. "We’ve gone from anemic job creation to a record of creation for more — for a new administration. None has ever created this many jobs in this timeframe."


"The progress is undeniable, but we’re not done yet," Biden claimed. "And some of the hardest work is ahead."     source from

May 17, 2021
President Biden Remarks on COVID-19 Pandemic and Vaccinations

President Biden 
gave an update on the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination effort. The president said for the first time, all 50 states had seen a decrease in coronavirus cases. He also spoke about the worldwide effort to combat the pandemic, committing the U.S. to sending 80 million combined doses of AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines abroad before the end of June. President Biden also spoke about the child tax credit, which was passed as part of the American Rescue Plan. He said U.S. households with children would begin receiving monthly tax credits in July. When questioned, the president said he planned to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding recent Israeli-Palestinian violence.
Remarks by President Biden on the COVID-19 Response and the Vaccination Program
MAY 17, 2021

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon.  There are three things I want to speak briefly today with you all about: the new — new milestone in our progress against COVID-19 here at home, steps we’re taking to fight COVID internationally, and an important tax cut for families with children under the age of 18.  And that’s where I’m going to start.

Today is tax day, when — when everyone’s taxes are due.  No one likes to pay taxes, I know.  But as my dad used to say, “It’s a small price to live in this country.”  But I want to tell everyone with children why, as they are filling their taxes today — filing their taxes today, they should know that a new tax cut will be coming their way for working-class and middle-class folks, and very soon.

As everyone knows, I firmly believe — we firmly believe the need to make our tax system work for the middle class. That’s why I think we should ask corporations and the top 1 percent to start paying their fair share, and why we should crack down on millionaires and billionaires who escape taxes by cheating...     more

May 17, 2021
White House Daily Briefing

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki held a briefing on the Biden administration’s policy agenda and news of the day. She was pressed by reporters on why the White House has not joined calls for a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict despite bipartisan and international partners doing so. She said the White House is focused on diplomacy to end the violence and deescalate the situation on the ground. She also defended the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s decision to roll back mask guidance, saying the change was based on science not politics.
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, May 17, 2021

MS. PSAKI:  Hi everyone.  Happy Monday.  Okay, a couple of things happening around here today.  Today is the deadline to file your taxes.  That’s not a reminder to all of you, but take it as one if you’d like to.  And we encourage everyone to file as soon as possible to make sure they receive the full amount of benefits they are owed.
 
Filing taxes will ensure people benefit from the three rounds of relief and rescue payments issued since the start of the pandemic, including up to $1,400 per person provided in the President’s American Rescue Plan.  Filing also ensures people get all the refundable tax credits they may be eligible for, like the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child — and the Child Tax Credit...     more


Explosions light up sky as Israel strikes Gaza
The sky is lit up as Israeli jets continue air strikes on Gaza. A week of violence has killed more than 200 people and pushed world leaders to step up mediation.

Israel-Palestine conflict: Joe Biden tells Netanyahu he supports a ceasefire


May 18 - The White House says US President Joe Biden expressed support for a ceasefire in a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday (Tuesday NZ time), the eighth day of Israeli-Palestinian airstrikes and rocket attacks
Biden stopped short of demanding an immediate stop to the eight days of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket barrages that have killed more than 200 people, most of them Palestinian.

Biden's carefully worded statement, in a White House readout of his second known call to Netanyahu in three days as the attacks pounded on, came with the administration under pressure to respond more forcefully despite its determination to wrench the US foreign policy focus away from Middle East conflicts.

Biden's comments on a ceasefire were open-ended, and similar to previous administration statements of support in principle for a ceasefire...     more

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5/17/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | May 17, 2021

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Sen. Bernie Sanders commented on the latest conflagration in Israel/Palestine during an appearance Sunday on MSNBC

Bernie Sanders: "Pretty Strong Right Wing Government" Coalition In Israel Includes "Overt Racists"

May 17 - SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: The Israeli government has evolved over the years into a pretty strong right-wing government, and their coalition now includes people who are overt racists.

And when you have the United States of America, Ali, putting almost $4 billion a year into Israel, we have the right to demand that they respect the human rights of all people, including the Palestinians.

What we need now is an even-handed policy that protects the security of Israel. They have a right to live in peace and security without terrorist attacks. But the people in the Palestinian territories also have a right to live in peace and dignity.

Anyone who takes a look at what's going on in Gaza right now, where youth unemployment is 70%, and I'm talking about before this current war and the terrible things that have happened in the war. Where youth unemployment is sky-high. Where people can't get electricity and clean water on a regular basis. This is a territory controlled by Israel. So we've got to deal with the corruption of the Palestinian authority. We've got to deal with that. But we have also got to create a situation where the people in the Palestinian territories are respected as well.     quoted from

Bernie Sanders says US should reconsider foreign aid to Israel, which partially funds defense system

May 16 - As fighting between Israel and Hamas militants occurred for a week, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday called for a "hard look" into the billions of dollars in annual military aid that the United States provides to Israel.

"The devastation in Gaza is unconscionable. We must urge an immediate ceasefire. The killing of Palestinians and Israelis must end,” Sanders posted in a tweet Sunday. "We must also take a hard look at nearly $4 billion a year in military aid to Israel. It is illegal to support human rights violations."

The devastation in Gaza is unconscionable. We must urge an immediate ceasefire. The killing of Palestinians and Israelis must end. We must also take a hard look at nearly $4 billion a year in military aid to Israel. It is illegal for U.S. aid to support human rights violations.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 16, 2021


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Damaged residential buildings following Israeli airstrikes in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on 12 May 2021
Israel faces greater dangers than Hamas’s rockets

The shocking images of lynch mobs and street fighting between Arabs and Jews within Israel underscore the fact that the most formidable threat to the country is now internal.

May 17 - Israel and Hamas have taken to open warfare yet again. The sense of déjà vu, as the militant group’s rocket attacks on Israeli territory are met by retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza, is compounded by Western politicians repeating an old formula: “Israel has the right to defend itself.”

That’s undoubtedly true. And yet it’s equally clear that Israeli actions are unlikely to deter Hamas. Nor will re-establishing military superiority over a technologically primitive enemy obscure Israel’s new and acute vulnerabilities.

The shocking images of lynch mobs and street fighting between Arabs and Jews within Israel underscore the fact that the most formidable threat to the country’s present and future stability is now internal. About one in 5 Israelis are Arabs, the descendants of Palestinians who stayed in the country after the creation of Israel in 1948, and they have long been disaffected...     more
An Israeli artillery unit fires toward targets in the Gaza Strip
Israel claims Gaza tunnels destroyed in heavy air strikes


May 17  - The Israeli military has unleashed a wave of heavy air strikes on the Gaza Strip, saying it destroyed nine miles of militant tunnels and the homes of nine alleged Hamas commanders.

Residents of Gaza who were awakened by the overnight barrage described it as the heaviest since the war began a week ago, and even more powerful than a wave of air strikes in Gaza City the day before that left 42 dead and flattened three buildings.

There was no immediate word on the casualties from the latest strikes. A three-storey building in Gaza City was heavily damaged, but residents said the military warned them 10 minutes before the strike and everyone cleared out. They said many of the air strikes hit nearby farmland...     more


Palestinian Resistance attacks Beersheba, Ashkelon with rockets

Tel Aviv officially threatens to kill Hamas leaders


May 17 - ...Al-Qassam Brigades once again fired rockets at Beersheba and Ashkelon on early Monday morning.

In a statement, Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing called the rocket attacks in response to the Zionist regime's attacks on civilians on Sunday.

On the other hand, the Zionist military launched new raids on the Gaza Strip early on Monday, just hours after Benjamin Netanyahu said an end to hostilities was not imminent.


The Israeli regime’s bombardment of Gaza entered its eighth consecutive day after raids on Sunday killed at least 42 Palestinians, wounded dozens more and flattened at least two residential buildings.

At least 192 people, including 58 children and 34 women, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the latest violence began a week ago.     source from

Watch President Joe Biden's full inauguration speech
Jan 21, 2021
President Joe Biden gives a speech after being sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.
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