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US

Biden surveys flood damage in Kentucky, pledges more US help

Biden surveys flood damage in Kentucky, pledges more US help

LOST CREEK, Ky. (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Monday witnessed the damage from deadly and devastating storms that have resulted in the worst flooding in Kentucky’s history, as they visited the state to meet with families and first responders.

At least 37 people have died since last month’s deluge, which dropped 8 to 10-1/2 inches of rain in only 48 hours. Gov. Andy Beshear told Biden that authorities expect to add at least one other death to the total. The National Weather Service said Sunday that flooding remains a threatwarning of more thunderstorms through Thursday.

The president said the nation has an obligation to help all its people, declaring the federal government would provide support until residents were back on their feet. Behind him as he spoke was a single-story house that the storm had dislodged and then left littered on the ground, tilted sideways.

“We have the capacity to do this — it’s not like it’s beyond our control,” Biden said. “We’re staying until everybody’s back to where they were.”

In the summer heat and humidity, Biden’s button-down shirt was covered in sweat. Pacing with a microphone in his hand, he eschewed formal remarks as he pledged to return once the community was rebuilt.

“The bad news for you is I’m coming back, because I want to see it,” the president said.

The Bidens were greeted warmly by Beshear and his wife, Britainy, when they arrived in eastern Kentucky. They immediately drove to see devastation from the storms in Breathitt County, stopping at the site of where a school bus, carried by floodwaters, was crashed into a partially collapsed building.

Beshear said the flooding was “unlike anything we’ve ever seen” in the state and credited Biden with swiftly approving federal assistance.

He praised responders who “have moved heaven and earth to get where we are, what, about nine days from when this hit,” he said.

Attending a briefing on the flooding’s impact with first responders and recovery specialists at Marie Roberts Elementary School in Lost Creek, Biden told a delegation of Kentucky leaders that he would do whatever was necessary to help.

“I promise you, if it’s legal, we’ll do it,” he said. “And if it’s not legal, we’ll figure out how to change the law.”

The president emphasized that politics have no place in disaster response, noting his frequent political battles with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. “We battle all the times on issues,” Biden said, but in helping Kentuckians rebuild, “we’re all one team.”

Monday’s trip is Biden’s second to the state since taking office last year. I have previously visited in December after tornadoes whipped through Kentucky, killing 77 people and leaving a trail of destruction.

“I wish I could tell you why we keep getting hit here in Kentucky,” Beshear said recently. “I wish I could tell you why areas where people may not have much continue to get hit and lose everything. I can’t give you the why, but I know what we do in response to it. And the answer is everything we can. These are our people. Let’s make sure we help them out.”

Biden has expanded federal disaster assistance to Kentucky, ensuring the federal government will cover the full cost of debris removal and other emergency measures.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has provided more than $3.1 million in relief funds, and hundreds of rescue personnel have been deployed to help.

“The floods in Kentucky and extreme weather all around the country are yet another reminder of the intensifying and accelerating impacts of climate change and the urgent need to invest in making our communities more resilient to it,” she said.

The flooding came just one month after Kentucky’s governor visited Mayfield to celebrate the completion of the first houses to be fully constructed since a tornado nearly wiped out the town. Three families were handed keys to their new homes that day, and the governor in his remarks heard him back to a visit he had made in the immediate aftermath.

Now more disasters are testing the state. Beshear has been to eastern Kentucky as many times as weather permitted since the flooding began. He’s had daily news conferences that stretched to an hour in order to provide details and a full range of assistance for victims.

A Democrat, Beshear narrowly defeated a Republican incumbent in 2019, and he’s seeking a second term in 2023.

Polling has shown him consistently with strong approval ratings from Kentuckians. But several prominent Republicans have entered the governor’s race, taking turns pounding the governor for his aggressive pandemic response and trying to tie him to Biden and rising inflation.

Beshear comments frequently about the toll surging inflation is taking in eating at Kentuckians’ budgets. He has avoided blaming the president, instead pointing to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and supply chain bottlenecks as contributors to rising consumer costs.

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Schreiner reported from Frankfort, Kentucky and Megerian reported from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

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Australia

COVID in WA: Hospitals wind back COVID-19 screening to free up staff as State passes peak

COVID in WA: Hospitals wind back COVID-19 screening to free up staff as State passes peak

West Australian hospitals will scale back their COVID-19 screening protocols in a bid to free up staff and allow more visitors.

Public hospitals will shift from “red alert” to a new blue alert level from August 15, bringing an end to several months of heightened precautions.

Patients presenting at emergency departments will only be required to undergo rapid antigen tests upon arrival if they are symptomatic.

The testing requirement will also be removed for asymptomatic visitors unless they are visiting a high-risk area or vulnerable patients.

Visitors must still show proof of vaccination but staff will conduct spot checks rather than mass inspections.

The medical system is on its knees at the moment … our system does not have enough beds to allow this to go up much more,

Healthcare workers who had been required to wear N95-style masks across all clinical areas will now only need to do so when caring for vulnerable patients or working in high-risk areas. Surgical masks must be worn elsewhere.

The changes come as hospitals continue to struggle with getting patients through emergency departments and into beds.

Ambulances spent a record 6982 hours ramped outside hospitals in July.

Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson says the changes will help ensure effective patient flow and free up frontline health staff.

“This is a measured approach to scaling back the COVID response in hospitals, which has been endorsed by the chief health officer, and expert infection control teams from the WA health system,” Ms Sanderson said on Tuesday.

“In a time when WA has passed its most recent peak of COVID-19, it makes sense to take practical, reasonable measures to free up some burdens, and support healthcare workers and families supporting their loved ones in hospital.”

WA Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson (file image)
Camera IconAmber-Jade Sanderson says the COVID screening changes will free up frontline health staff. Credit: AAP

A limit of two visitors per patient will remain but may be extended by staff under certain circumstances.

Visiting hours will be extended at every hospital and essential visitors will be allowed to visit outside the standard hours.

WA Health on Tuesday reported 2,965 new COVID-19 cases. There were 358 people in hospital including 11 in intensive care.

Australian Medical Association WA president Mark Duncan-Smith last month warned changing the screening protocols would make it easier for the virus to spread in hospitals.

“The medical system is on its knees at the moment … our system does not have enough beds to allow this to go up much more,” he said.

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Australia

Australian man Robert Pether’s health deteriorating 16 months after ‘arbitrary detention’ in Iraq began

Robert Pether surrounded by his three children at a table as they celebrate a birthday with a cake.

There are serious fears for the health of an Australian man languishing in an overcrowded Baghdad jail, with doctors arguing he needs urgent surgery to treat multiple suspected skin cancers.

Robert Pether, 47, has been behind bars in Iraq since April last year, found guilty of what his family and legal team described as trumped-up fraud charges.

United Nations investigators have raised concerns Pether, and his Egyptian colleague, Khalid Zaghloul, have been exposed to torture techniques while imprisoned.

Pether’s family spent nine months trying to get him access to medical experts in Iraq, after a photo of injuries on his back was sent to a doctor in Italy.

“His doctor was absolutely appalled at the state of him,” Pether’s wife Desree told the ABC.

“He’s got so many new moles on his back, he’s got a new mole on the same ear that he had a melanoma before, and it has changed significantly in the last few months.

“It’s displaying the same aggressive behavior as the melanoma that he had.”

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.

PlayAudio. Duration: 9 minutes 34 seconds

Australian engineer Robert Pether’s wife Desree says she fears he won’t live another six months

He now needs to have seven potential cancers cut out but there is no guarantee he can access the care he needs in Iraq.

“Our doctors stated that he looks 74, not 47, and he looks very frail, like a frail old man,” she said.

“He’s completely grey, and his skin tone is grey.

“There’s also [the risk of] post-operative infection when he’s in a 14-foot cell with 22 other men.”

A computer design of a large building next to a river at sunset
Pether’s firm was managing the construction of the Central Bank of Iraq’s $1 billion new headquarters.(Zaha Hadid Architects)

Pether’s doctor has gone so far as to write to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Ms Pether said her husband was “absolutely terrified” about the situation, and his mental health was deteriorating.

“He’s in a really dark place,” she said.

“It’s really, really hard to be in a position where you have to talk him off of a ledge quite frequently.

“And for our 19-year-old son to get off the phone and be in tears because of the way his dad’s talking, and thinking that his father’s going to do something drastic, it’s really difficult.”

Pair face further charges

Pether, an engineer, had been working on the construction of the new $1 billion Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) headquarters in Baghdad, when he was arrested alongside his colleague Zaghloul.

In August last year, an Iraqi court found the pair guilty of deception charges which carried a $16 million fine and five years in jail.

Since then, the two men have been hit with further charges as CBI has tried to enforce further ends for delays in the project.

The case has been put off until later this month.

Ms Pether had been highly critical of the Morrison government’s approach to her husband’s case, saying her family felt abandoned.

She said there had been a “marked difference” in the approach of the new government.

“It’s chalk and cheese,” Ms Pether said.

“I’m hoping that they’re able to do something a little bit more significant … in respect to trying to get him out.”

Peter Khalil and Linda Burney, who's out of focus, sit next to each other and look toward the left.
Peter Khalil is hopeful the Iraqi government might grant Robert Pether clemency due to his ill health.(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

In June, Mr Albanese spoke to his Iraqi counterpart, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.

An official transcript of the conversation from the Iraqi government did not mention Pether’s case but sources have told the ABC the matter was raised.

The ABC has contacted Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s office for comment.

Diplomats working ‘around the clock’

Last week, Labor MP Peter Khalil took to his feet in federal parliament to raise Pether’s situation.

“The strain on Robert is terrible, but so is the pain of his family — the pain they’ve had to endure for over 16 months — his wife, Desree, and his children, Nala, Oscar and Flynn,” he told the House of Representatives.

“The Pether family have sold a property to help pay for Robert’s legal fees, and, I think, a car as well. All they want is Robert to return home safely.

“His daughter, Nala, draws pictures of what she plans to do with Dad when he gets out and is back home. Desree tells me it’s hard to keep the kids’ and Robert’s hopes up.”

Mr Khalil said diplomats were working “around the clock” on the case, and hoped the Iraqi government might grant him clemency based on his deteriorating health.

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Categories
Technology

Montblanc’s Summit 3 Smartwatch Has Brains Plus Beauty

Montblanc's Summit 3 Smartwatch Has Brains Plus Beauty

Montblanc’s Summit 3 features a lightweight titanium case with hand finishes and other design tweaks.

Montblanc

Textsize

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Categories
US

Vermont Democrats face historic decision in open-seat House primary

Vermont Democrats face historic decision in open-seat House primary

The winner of Tuesday’s contest will be the overwhelming general election favorite to take the place of Rep. Peter Welch, who is running for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Patrick Leahy. That month, voters will also cast ballots on an amendment to the state constitution that would protect abortion rights.

Balint, a former schoolteacher first elected to the state legislature in 2014, is widely viewed as the frontrunner heading into Tuesday’s election, with Gray her closest rival. What began as a crowded field has thinned over the last few months. Louis Meyers, a physician, is the only other candidate actively campaigning following Sianay Chase Clifford’s withdrawal in July.

A former Welch staffer and Vermont assistant attorney general, Gray’s early momentum appears to have slowed over the summer as her rival solidified progressive support. Balint’s strength has been bolstered by endorsements from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the state’s popular independent progressive, and, importantly, state Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, who dropped out of the primary in May and immediately backed Balint, helping to consolidate support on the left.
The contest for Vermont’s lone House seat was triggered by Leahy’s announcement last November that he would retire at the end of the term after nearly 50 years on the job. Welch quickly announced his candidacy to replace Leahy, which cleared the way for the rare open-seat race.

Leahy has not formally endorsed Gray, though he has donated to her cause and said he voted for her. His wife, Marcelle Leahy, endorsed Gray, who also has the support of moderate former Vermont Govs. Howard Dean and Madeleine Kunin.

Welch, who won the seat in 2006 when it last came open, has largely steered clear of the primary except to praise the women on the ballot. He won reelection in 2020 with more than 67% of the vote.

Balint and Gray have raised similar amounts of cash over the course of the race, but Balint has benefited from significant outside spending — which Gray’s campaign has repeatedly criticized. The LGBTQ Victory Fund’s PAC has been the biggest player, backing Balant, who is gay, and investing about $1 million on her behalf. The Congressional Progressive Caucus’ campaign arm has also spent nearly $200,000 for Balint.

Rich Clark, a professor at Castleton University and Vermont pollster, said that with so little separating the candidates on policy, branding has become a more influential element in the race.

“I don’t think this is an issues race,” Clark said, a factor that has added more weight to endorsements and the “progressive versus moderate impression” among voters.

Though Gray and Balint are, indeed, closely aligned on almost every major issue, Balint has emerged as the progressive standard-bearer, winning support from Sanders and both senators from neighboring Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey. Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is also backing Balint, along with other leading national figures on the left.

“When it comes down to policy, there’s not a lot of space between them, but when it comes down to image, I think there is,” Clark said. “High turnout for us has been about 25% (in primary elections), so we’re not talking about a real representation of the Democratic Party in Vermont. It’ll be the most engaged and they’ll tend to be on the progressive side.”

Balint has outflanked Gray on the left with her clear support for stripping qualified immunity from police, which protects officers from most private lawsuits. Gray has been noncommittal, suggesting in a recent debate that she might support such a move should it extend to a wider swath of public officials.

But even as they sought to carve out distinctions in their views on policing and drug policy, it was a remark by Balint in May, during a forum with members of the Vermont Progressive Party, that provided the debate’s sharpest exchange.

Balint, at a gathering with VPP members this spring, said it would “be an absolute catastrophe if the candidate representing us on the left was Molly Gray,” whom she labeled a “corporatist Democrat.”

During the debate, Gray jabbed Balint over “negative attacks” and said that while Balint subsequently backed off the comment, “There’s never been a personal apology.”

“You can take the opportunity tonight if you want,” Gray said.

Balint did.

“If you took offense to that comment, I apologize,” she said. “If you found it hurtful, I apologize.”

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Categories
Australia

Bail act, Crown Perth and Metronet top priority list as WA Parliament resumes after winter break

Bail act, Crown Perth and Metronet top priority list as WA Parliament resumes after winter break

After a six-week winter recess, West Australian politicians will return to parliament today to start the last half of the sitting year.

Plenty has happened since they last agreed, including another COVID-19 wave and controversies involving the Agriculture Minister and Attorney-General.

Even still, the government insists a cabinet reshuffle is not on the cards, with its focus instead on five priorities for the 33 sitting days ahead.

At the top of their list for reforms are long-awaited changes to WA’s Bail Act, largely in response to the death of Annaliesse Ugle in 2020.

The 11-year-old took her own life after the man accused of sexual assaulting her was released on bail.

The reforms are currently sitting in the lower house and will change the act in a variety of ways, including when a person is charged with child sex offences.

A man wearing handcuffs
Labor will use its majority in parliament to pass long-awaited changes to WA’s Bail Act.(AAP Image/David Gray)

Once the new legislation is passed, anyone deciding bail in that situation will have to specifically consider a number of factors, including the “physical and emotional wellbeing” of the child victim.

Another provision will mean that where a child victim raises concerns about their safety and welfare if the accused is not kept in custody, the person deciding bail must be presented with that information by the prosecutor and take it into consideration.

When he introduced the bill into parliament, Attorney-General John Quigley said it struck the right balance “between elevating the voices and concerns of child victims of sexual abuse and maintaining the precepts of our justice system”.

Crown Perth reforms also high priority

It has been around five months since the WA government was handed the Crown Casino Royal Commission’s final report, containing 59 recommendations on how to clean up money laundering, criminal infiltration and problem gambling.

The first swathe of laws designed to start chipping away at those recommendations are yet to pass parliament but are on the priority list.

A sign showing the Crown Resorts logo in front of shrubs beside a road.
The reforms are aimed at tackling money laundering and problem gambling at Perth’s casino.(ABC News: Hugh Sando)

The bill is also still in the lower house, having been introduced just before parliament broke for the winter break.

Once passed, it will establish an independent monitor who will oversee the casino for a two-year remediation period, as recommended in the report.

Questions have been raised about the utility of that monitor though, with one gambling researcher raising concerns the casino would return to “business as usual” at the end of that two-year period.

The bill will also increase maximum penalties under the Casino Control Act from $100,000 to $100 million, and allow the minister to appoint an independent chair of the Gaming and Wagering Commission.

While there are more than a dozen other bills currently on the books for MPs to consider, the government is particularly keen to see three of them pass soon.

One will implement recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse by requiring about 4,000 organizations to report allegations or convictions of child abuse.

The silhouette of a child sitting on a bed with an adult sitting alongside them.
The WA government is keen to push through a bill to provide greater protection to child abuse victims.(abcnews)

That is on the list to be debated in the upper house this fortnight, and once passed will also give the state’s ombudsman oversight of how those organizations handle child abuse complaints and allow for independent investigations.

Another bill will provide greater protection for owner-drivers and other small businesses in the road freight sector, including minimum periods for contract termination.

Finally, there’s a bill to allow for the construction of a number of Metronet projects along the Armadale Line, including removing level crossings and raising tracks, and extending the line to Byford.

An artist's impression of the exterior of a train.
Metronet projects along the Armadale line will benefit from the proposed legislation.(Supplied: WA Government)

Opposition piles pressure on ministers

While that is what the government wants to focus on, the state opposition is keen to keep the pressure on a number of ministers who have been in the headlines for the wrong reasons over the winter break.

Among them is Alannah MacTiernan, who apologized after what she described as “clumsy” comments about foot and mouth disease, including that if it landed in WA it could make domestic milk and meat cheaper.

Then there is Mr Quigley, who had to correct evidence he gave in the defamation case between Mr McGowan and Queensland mining magnate Clive Palmer earlier this year.

It led to Justice Michael Lee describing Mr Quigley’s evidence as “all over the shop”, although he did make the point that “being a confused witness is a quite different thing from being a dishonest one”.

A tight head shot of WA Attorney-General John Quigley during a media conference.
Justice Michael Lee described John Quigley’s evidence as “confused and confusing.”(ABC News: Eliza Laschon)

Even still, it prompted Deputy Liberal Leader Libby Mettam to yesterday label Mr Quigley a “lame duck.”

“But fair questions could be asked of other members and ministers in the McGowan government cabinet,” she said.

Opposition Leader Mia Davies also piled on the pressure.

Head and shoulder shot of Mia Davies speaking outside WA Parliament.
Mia Davies says several WA ministers have fallen short of the public’s expectations in recent weeks.(ABC News: Keane Bourke)

“The Premier has an Attorney-General that is confused and confusing, an Agriculture Minister who has lost the confidence of the industry, a Health Minister that has overseen the highest ever ambulance ramping in the state, and a Housing Minister with no housing,” she said.

“It just doesn’t add up when you consider the strength of numbers Labor have in the parliament and the wealth the Premier has at his fingertips as Treasurer.”

Metronet ‘behind schedule and over budget’

Ms Davies said the opposition would also “maintain its focus on a Labor Government that is failing to deliver on promises made to the people of Western Australia”.

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Categories
US

Photos show handwritten notes that Trump apparently ripped up and attempted to flush down toilet

Photos show handwritten notes that Trump apparently ripped up and attempted to flush down toilet

Maggie Haberman, a New York Times reporter and CNN contributor, is publishing the new images in her forthcoming book, “Confidence Man,” and the images were posted earlier by Axios. CNN has previously reported how Trump flouted presidential record-keeping laws and would often tear up documents, drafts and memos after reading them.

He periodically flushed papers down the toilet in the White House residence — only to be discovered later on when repairmen were summoned to fix the clogged toilets. Trump has denied the allegations, and in a statement given to Axios on Monday, a spokesman claimed that reporting about the practice was fabricated.

This picture shows notes that former President Donald Trump apparently ripped up and attempted to flush down the toilet.

In the images revealed on Monday, it’s unclear what the documents are in reference to — and who authored them — but they appear to be written in Trump’s handwriting in black marker. Haberman said one image is from a White House toilet and the other one is from an overseas trip that was provided to her by a Trump White House source.

“Who knows what this paper was? Only he would know and presumably whoever was dealing with it, but the important point is about the records,” Haberman told CNN’s John Berman and Brianna Keilar on “New Day” Monday morning.

Trump had a pattern of disregarding normal record preservation procedures. On one occasion, Trump asked if anyone wanted to put a copy of a speech he just delivered up for auction on eBay, during a mid-flight visit to the press cabin Air Force One.

In other instances, Trump would task aides with carrying boxes of unread memos, articles and tweet drafts aboard the presidential aircraft for him to review and then tear to shreds.

A former senior Trump administration official said a deputy from the Office of Staff Secretary would usually come in to pull things out of the trash and take them off Trump’s desk after he left a room.

A former White House official recalled that while document preservation was a key responsibility of the staff secretary, the rest of Trump’s senior staffers lacked the sense of their obligation to maintain records of papers that moved through the West Wing.

Trump’s haphazard record-keeping was the subject of a drawn-out fight earlier this year between him and the National Archives, and the Justice Department has been investigating the matter.

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Categories
US

New Yorker: Milley was set to excoriate Trump in unreleased resignation letter drafted after Lafayette Square photo-op



CNN
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In the wake of then-President Donald Trump’s infamous photo-op at the height of the George Floyd protests, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley penned a lengthy and vociferous critique of Trump in a resignation letter he ultimately never sent, The New Yorker reported on Monday.

On June 1, 2020, Milley accompanied Trump on a walk from the White House to St. John’s Church, where he was photographed wearing his combat uniform and moving with the President’s entourage through Lafayette Square. Protesters had been forcibly cleared out of the area minutes before.

The images provoked a swift wave of criticism from lawmakers and several senior former military officials who said they risked dragging the traditionally apolitical military into a contentious domestic political situation.

Milley’s letter was dated June 8, a week after the incident, according to The New Yorker. The article was based on “The Divider: Trump in the White House 2017-2021,” a forthcoming book by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser.

“The events of the last couple weeks have caused me to do deep soul-searching, and I can no longer faithfully support and execute your orders as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Milley wrote, according to The New Yorker. “It is my belief that you were doing great and irreparable harm to my country. I believe that you have made a concerted effort over time to politicize the United States military.”

In this June 1, 2020 file photo, President Donald Trump departs the White House to visit outside St. John's Church, in Washington. Walking behind Trump from left are, Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The report said Milley sought advice regarding the resignation letter, including from former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford, retired Army Gen. James Dubik, an expert on military ethics, as well as members of Congress and former officials from the Bush and Obama administrations.

Milley ultimately decided not to quit.

“F*** that s***,” Milley told his staff, according to The New Yorker. “I’ll just fight him.”

“If they want to court-martial me, or put me in prison, have at it,” Milley added. “But I will fight from the inside.”

A spokesman for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs declined to comment to CNN about the report.

Milley would later publicly apologize for his involvement in the incident in a pre-recorded speech at the National Defense University.

“I should not have been there. My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics. As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it,” Milley said during the address.

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Categories
US

Trump says FBI raiding his Mar-a-Lago home

Trump says FBI raiding his Mar-a-Lago home

The FBI is raiding Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump’s resort home in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said Monday evening.

In a lengthy statement, Trump said his residence is “currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.”

The raid was “unannounced,” Trump said.

The FBI did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Trump’s statement.

These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before. After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate. It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections. Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before. They even broke into my safe! What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democratic National Committee? Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States.

The political persecution of President Donald J. Trump has been going on for years, with the now fully debunked Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, and so much more, it just never ends. It is political targeting at the highest level!

Hillary Clinton was allowed to delete and acid wash 33,000 E-mails AFTER they were subpoenaed by Congress. Absolutely nothing has happened to hold her accountable. She even took antique furniture, and other items from the White House.

I stood up to America’s bureaucratic corruption, I restored power to the people, and truly delivered for our Country, like we have never seen before. The establishment hated it. Now, as they watch my endorsed candidates win big victories, and see my dominance in all polls, they are trying to stop me, and the Republican Party, once more. The lawlessness, political persecution, and Witch Hunt must be exposed and stopped.

I will continue to fight for the Great American People!

The raid came hours after Politico reported that attorney John Rowley, a former federal prosecutor, is now representing Trump in talks with the Department of Justice about executive privilege issues related to the department’s investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

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Categories
US

US pledges $1 billion more rockets, other arms for Ukraine

US pledges $1 billion more rockets, other arms for Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Monday it was shipping its biggest yet direct delivery of weapons to Ukraine as that country prepares for a potentially decisive counteroffensive in the south against Russia, sending $1 billion in rockets, ammunition and other material to Ukraine from Defense Department stockpiles.

The new US arms shipment would further strengthen Ukraine as it mounts the counteroffensive, which analysts say for the first time could allow Kyiv to shape the course of the rest of the warnow at the half-year mark.

Kyiv aims to push Russian troops back out of Kherson and other southern territory near the Dnipro River. Russia in recent days was moving troops and equipment in the direction of the southern port cities to stave off the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

“At every stage of this conflict, we have been focused on getting the Ukrainians what they need, depending on the evolving conditions on the battlefield,” Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, said Monday in announcing the new weapons shipment.

The new US aid includes additional rockets for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, as well as thousands of artillery rounds, mortar systems, Javelins and other ammunition and equipment. Military commanders and other US officials say the HIMARS and artillery systems have been crucial in Ukraine’s fight to block Russia from taking more ground.

While the US has already provided 16 HIMARS to Ukraine, Kahl said the new package does not include additional ones.

“These are not systems that we assess you need in the hundreds to have the type of effects” needed, Kahl said. “These are precision-guided systems for very particular types of targets and the Ukrainians are using them as such.”

He declined to say how many of the precision-guided missile systems for the HIMARS were included in Monday’s announcement, but said the US has provided “multiple hundreds” of them in recent weeks.

The latest announcement brings the total US security assistance committed to Ukraine by the Biden administration to more than $9 billion.

In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the United States for the package, and said “100% of it we will use to protect freedom, our common freedom.”

Until now, the largest single security assistance package announcement was for $1 billion on June 15. But that aid included $350 million in presidential drawdown authority, and another $650 million under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides funding for training, equipment and other security needs that can be bought from other countries or companies.

Monday’s package allows the US to deliver weapons systems and other equipment more quickly since it takes them off the Defense Department shelves.

In addition to the rockets for the HIMARS, it includes 75,000 rounds of 155mm artillery, 20 mortar systems and 20,000 rounds for them, 1,000 shoulder-mounted Javelin rockets, and other arms, explosives and medical equipment.

For the last four months of the war, Russia has concentrated on capturing the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists have controlled some territory as self-proclaimed republics for eight years. Russian forces have made a gradual headway in the region while launching missile and rocket attacks to curtail the movements of Ukrainian fighters elsewhere.

Kahl estimated that Russian forces have sustained up to 80,000 deaths and injuries in the fighting, though he did not break down the figure with an estimate of forces killed.

He said the Russian troops have managed to gain “incremental” ground in eastern Ukraine, although not in recent weeks. “But that has come at extraordinary cost to the Russian military because of how well the Ukrainian military has performed and all the assistance that the Ukrainian military has gotten. And I think now, conditions in the east have essentially stabilized and the focus is really shifting to the south.”

The new funding is being paid for through $40 billion in economic and security aid for Ukraine approved by Congress in May.

This is the 18th time the Pentagon has provided equipment from Defense Department stocks to Ukraine since August 2021.

The US and allies are still evaluating whether to supply aircraft to Ukraine, Kahl said. It’s “not inconceivable that western aircraft down the road could be part of the mix,” he said.

Zelenskyy early in the war made near-daily appeals for warplanes, calling them essential to protecting Ukraine’s skies. The US and some other NATO countries feared that they could draw them into more direct involvement with Ukraine’s war against Russia, and have not provided Western aircraft.

Separately Monday, the Treasury Department said it was sending $3 billion more in direct economic assistance to Ukraine. That’s part of a previously approved $7.5 billion in economic assistance, with $1.5 billion yet to be disbursed.

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Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.

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