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Friday, February 16, 2024

Fulton County DA Fani Willis Testifies in Misconduct Hearing

NY Times: Fani T. Willis, the district attorney overseeing Donald J. Trump’s election interference case in Georgia, took the stand in a hearing on Thursday to defend her conduct in a romantic relationship with the case’s other top prosecutor, which defense lawyers have said created a conflict of interest that warrants removing her from the proceedings (NY Times). AP News: The district attorney’s testimony grew heated under questioning from a defense attorney who’s trying to remove Willis from Trump’s 2020 election interference case, with the prosecutor at one point raising papers in front of her and shouting: “It’s a lie!” “Do you think I’m on trial? These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. I’m not on trial no matter how hard you try to put me on trial,” Willis told defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant (AP News).

Report Says Obama’s CIA Worked With International Spy Agencies to Fabricate Russian Collusion Hoax

Federalist: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) set off the Russian collusion hoax in 2016 when U.S. intelligence officials recruited foreign governments to spy on Democrats’ American political opponents (Federalist). Public: Multiple credible sources tell Public and Racket that the United States Intelligence Community (IC), including the Central Intelligence Agency, illegally mobilized foreign intelligence agencies to target Trump advisors… the US IC asked the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance to surveil Trump’s associates and share the intelligence they acquired with US agencies, say sources close to a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HSPCI) investigation. The Five Eyes nations are the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (Public). PJ Media: When Trump won, the FBI continued the frame-up and attempted to hog-tie the Trump campaign in investigation after investigation during his presidency. Indeed, the Durham special counsel report said that the FBI had no — zero — reason to open the investigation into Trump but did it anyway (PJ Media).

Special Counsel Robert Hur to Testify Before House Judiciary Committee

National Review: Special counsel Robert Hur will testify about his investigation into President Biden’s handling of classified documents in a public hearing before the House Judiciary Committee next month… Hur, who released a more than 300-page report on his investigation last week, will testify before the committee on March 12 (National Review). Hill: Republicans have also made it clear they are eager to ask Hur about his comments on Biden’s memory. Three House committees on Monday asked Hur to turn over recordings and transcripts from his interview with Biden (Hill). Fox News: Hur did not recommend any charges against the president but did describe him as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory” — a description that has raised significant concerns for Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign. Biden has blasted Hur since the release of his report last week (Fox News).

Former President Trump’s New York Hush-Money Trial Set for March 25

Wall Street Journal: Donald Trump’s hush-money trial is set to begin on March 25, a New York judge ordered Thursday, making it the first of the four criminal cases the former president faces to be heard by a jury. Justice Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the case, also denied Trump’s bid to dismiss the 34 felony counts pending against him (Wall Street Journal). AP News: The hush money trial is expected to last six weeks, the judge said. Assuming the New York case remains on schedule, it will open just weeks after the Super Tuesday elections, colliding on the political calendar with a time period in which Trump will be looking to sew up the Republican race and emerge as the presumptive nominee in this year’s presidential contest. His attorneys cited that schedule in vigorously objecting to the March trial date (AP News).

Special Counsel Jack Smith Asks Supreme Court to Hasten Trump Immunity Case

SCOTUSblog: Special Counsel Jack Smith asked the justices on Wednesday evening to clear the way for Trump to be tried on charges that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Smith’s filing came just two days after Trump asked the court to temporarily block a decision by a federal appeals court rejecting his claim of immunity, and six days before the deadline that the court had set for Smith to respond to Trump’s request (SCOTUSblog). Reuters: “The nation has a compelling interest in seeing the charges brought to trial,” Special Counsel Jack Smith said in his filing to the justices (Reuters). NY Times: The question before the justices is preliminary: Should they pause an appeals court’s ruling rejecting Mr. Trump’s claim that he is absolutely immune from prosecution for things he did while president? The answer to that will determine whether trial proceedings may resume (NY Times).

Blinken’s State Department Releases Plan to Embed DEI Into Foreign Policy

Daily Wire: The State Department released on Wednesday its plan to embed “equity” into all aspects of the foreign policy making process, claiming that “inequity is a national security challenge with global consequences.” The report was released as part of an update to the Biden administration’s initiative to push diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies at all levels of the federal government. These efforts include funding for foreign LGBT groups and pushing DEI into all aspects of the State Department’s policy making process (Daily Wire). Townhall: Anthony Blinken wants to “modernize the State Department” by “carrying out diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives” to make “overseas missions more accessible” (X). This plan also coincided with the release of similar Equity Action Plans at other Cabinet Level federal agencies.

DOJ Sues the State of Tennessee for Convicting Sex Workers Knowingly Spreading HIV

ABC: The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday sued the state of Tennessee over its decades-old felony aggravated prostitution law, arguing that it illegally imposes tougher criminal penalties on people who are HIV positive. The lawsuit, filed in western Tennessee, follows an investigation completed in December by the Justice Department that warned that the statute violates the Americans with Disabilities Act…Tennessee is the only state in the United States that imposes a lifetime registration as a “violent sex offender” if convicted of engaging in sex work while living with HIV (ABC). Greg Price: You literally cannot make this up. Biden’s DOJ has filed a lawsuit against the state of Tennessee because they made it illegal for prostitutes to knowingly spread HIV. They are saying it’s a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (X).

White House Announces New Attempt to Cancel Student Debt

Because if at first you don’t succeed… try five more times? Hill: The Biden administration announced Thursday that it will seek to give student debt forgiveness to those experiencing “hardship” in the president’s latest plan for debt relief. The hardship category is one of five in Biden’s new student debt relief plan that is going through the negotiated rulemaking process (Hill). Politico: The draft proposal released by the Biden administration would empower the Education Department to discharge the student loans owed by borrowers who are experiencing financial hardship and unlikely to be able to repay their debts. The department proposed a one-time debt relief program that would automatically cancel debt in circumstances where its data suggests that borrowers are at least 80 percent likely to default on their debt within the next two years (Politico).

Conservative Groups Blacklisted From Receiving Donations From Major Charitable Organizations

Daily Caller: Charitable foundations across the country are using lists compiled by left-wing organizations to prevent donors’ funds from going to conservative and faith-based groups, according to a review of public records and documents. When screening grant recipients, some community foundations that run donor-advised funds (DAFs) rely on lists put together by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Horizon Forum that label mainstream conservative and faith-based organizations as “hate” groups… The DCNF identified 11 community foundations, collectively controlling more than $12 billion in assets as of 2022, using the resources produced by the SPLC or Horizon Forum to shape their donation policies (Daily Caller). AMGreatness: As a result of such systematic blacklist efforts, conservatives have been forced to create alternative charities that do not discriminate among recipients, such as the Christian crowdfunding alternative GiveSendGo (AMGreatness).

10.

Egypt Constructing Wall Along Border of the Gaza Strip

Wall Street Journal: Egyptian authorities, fearful that an Israeli military push further into southern Gaza will set off a flood of refugees, are building an 8-square-mile walled enclosure in the Sinai Desert near the border, according to Egyptian officials and security analysts. For weeks, Egypt has sought to bolster security along the frontier to keep Palestinians out, deploying soldiers and armored vehicles and reinforcing fences. The massive new compound is part of contingency plans if large numbers of Gazans do manage to get in… Egyptian officials think a broad Israeli offensive could happen within weeks (Wall Street Journal). Times of Israel: Rafah, a city that sits on the Gaza-Egypt border, is the target of the next IDF offensive, according to Israeli leaders (Times of Israel). Washington Post: Egyptian officials have threatened to suspend the countries’ 40-year peace accord if an attack on Rafah forces refugees across the border (Washington Post).