#Biden calls #America’s democratic values the “grounding wire of our global power” & its #alliances “our greatest asset.” …#Trump, called for withdrawing American forces in #Europe & #Asia & has promised… to cut loose even our closest #allies if they don’t do as he tells them. …Trump sees all countries as unreliable, the relations between them #transactional. That sentiment has spread throughout a #GOP that once championed America’s values abroad…
#POTUS#Biden, asked whether #Israel PM Benjamin #Netanyahu was prolonging the #war in #Gaza in an effort to hold on to #power & stay in office, said that he believed “there is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.”
Big show of family support on the 1st day of #HunterBiden’s trial.
In addition to #POTUS’ statement, Hunter’s wife, Melissa Cohen, his sister Ashley Biden, his friend Kevin Morris, Peter Neal, who is married to Hunter’s daughter Naomi, & #FLOTUS Dr. #JillBiden are in attendance.
President #Biden will be in Wilmington, DL, w/no appearances scheduled. But he has given no indication that he would be in the courthouse — a possibility that would require considerable security arrangements.
Inside the courtroom, #HunterBiden has been surrounded by family members. At each break he has walked over to give a hug & kiss to his mother, FLOTUS Dr #JillBiden & embraces his wife, Melissa Cohen.
His uncle Jack Owens is there, as is his son-in-law, Peter Neal; Fran Person, a fmr aid to his father; his close friend Kevin Morris; Ricky “Mouse” Smith, a close family friend who has known #POTUS#Biden for decades.
Family members have been taking notes & listening closely.
In #HunterBiden’s trial, jury selection highlights #UnitedStates’ drug epidemic
The nation’s political divisions were also laid bare as 6 men & 6 women were chosen…. #JurySelection for the trial of #POTUS#Biden’s son Hunter turned into an impromptu but painful indictment of the nation’s drug epidemic, w/person after person telling the court of their loved ones’ battles w/ #addiction.
Many offered their own versions of a written statement from #POTUS#Biden…. He said he found his son’s #recovery from #addiction inspiring & knew that many families of addicts could relate to #HunterBiden’s journey.
“My daughter’s been given a 2nd chance,” said one prospective juror who was not chosen for the panel, but like many others said his experience watching a family member struggle w/drugs would not prevent him from judging Hunter Biden fairly. “Everyone deserves a 2nd chance.”
#POTUS#Biden addressed #Trump’s #conviction & said “the American principle that no one is above the #law was reaffirmed.”
“The #justice system should be respected, & we should never allow anyone to tear it down. It’s as simple as that,” Biden said.
“It’s reckless, it’s dangerous & it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the #verdict,” Biden asserted. “Our justice system has endured for nearly 250 years, & it literally is the cornerstone of #America.”
#POTUS underscored #Trump “was given every opportunity to defend himself” & the case “was heard by a jury of…12 people like you & millions of Americans who serve on juries…chosen the same way every jury in America” is chosen.
“The jury heard 5 weeks of evidence, 5 weeks, & after careful deliberation, the jury reached a #unanimous verdict. They found Donald Trump #guilty on all 34 #felony counts. Now, he’ll be given the opportunity, as he should, to #appeal that decision….”
The #UnitedStates is actively weighing whether to lift one of #POTUS#Biden’s longest-held precautionary measures of the #Ukraine war: a ban on the use of #US provided #weapons for offensive strikes inside #Russia.
The reassessment is a byproduct of Russia’s renewed cross-border assault on #Kharkiv, a chorus of pressure from #EU ofcls & a visit to Kyiv by Secy of State #Blinken that reinforced the peril facing Ukraine….
Starlink terminals continue to be sold in #Russia, used to kill Ukrainians.
Despite assurances from marketplaces that the terminals are not available for ordering and the Russian authorities' ban on using the systems, some sellers are putting the terminals up for sale under a different brand so that they will not be removed from the trading floor.
Only on the Russian marketplace "Ozon" managed to find 12 #Starlink terminals at a price of $1600.
Putin's Russian army war criminals are kidnapping more than 12,000 CHILDREN from one town, Ukrainian children forced into vast Russian network of Russian camps, Report.
“The level of mass re-education crime clear systematic attempt to erase the history, culture and language of Ukraine,” said one of the report's authors.
STOP MASS KIDNAPPING OF UKRAINIANS. RETURN THE CHILDREN FROM RUSSIAN CAPTIVITY.
Aggressive regimes like the Russian one are rapidly increasing their appetite for aggression. When they succeed in one part of the world, it creates problems in many other places: aggression spreads if not stopped.
The world has weapons to oppose Russian terror, and we in Ukraine need this help.Timely and sufficient support from partners. Steady, unchanging support for our soldiers. More modern air defense systems, including Patriots, and the ability to destroy Russian terrorists so that they cannot approach our borders, solutions that will help protect lives and prevent the spread of war.
Thank you to everyone in the world who understands this and supports Ukraine.
Putin's war of aggression and genocide of Ukrainians has continued full scale for the third year. Putin's army openly murders Ukrainians. We must stop Putin's genocide. Yesterday, Russian barbarians launched dozens of missiles and bombs on Civilians, killing many, including children. Arm Ukraine now. Nato into #Ukraine.
An absolute collapse of the legitimacy of the supreme court. Now the rule of law is what fascist (theocrat aka religious autocrats aka nazis) say it is.
Americans know there is no immunity from prosecution for crimes of former #potus.
Americans know it is wrong to deny women healthcare by order of the state.
Americans know that an insurrectionist can not hold office.
First, they turned the flag upside down, and then they turned the rule of law upside down. -SkyKiss
ruSSian Nazi murderers and war criminals have hit strategically highly important target in Kharkiv - a hobby market!, with more than 200 people inside, killing at least two. I call upon president Biden and other leaders of NATO countries to lift the ban on striking ruSSian territory with western weapons!
#Senate#Democrats opened an investigation on Thurs into #Trump’s meeting w/ #oil & #gas execs last month to determine whether Trump offered a “policies-for-money transaction” [#bribe ] when he asked for $1B for his 2024 campaign so he could retake the White House & delete #POTUS#Biden’s #climate#regulations.
The #DOJ policy statement on when officers can use #LethalForce —misrepresented by Trump & his supporters as proof of an assassination plot at #MarALago —was also in the paperwork for the consensual search the #FBI conducted of #POTUS Biden’s Wilmington home, looking for #ClassifiedDocuments.
After a sobering trip to #Kyiv, Secy of State Antony J. #Blinken is urging #POTUS#Biden to lift some restrictions on how Ukraine can use American arms.
Since the 1st US shipments of sophisticated weapons to #Ukraine, #POTUS#Biden has never wavered on 1 prohibition: President #Zelensky had to agree to never fire them into Russian territory, insisting that would violate Biden’s mandate to “avoid World War III.”
But consensus around that policy is fraying. Propelled by the State Dept, there is now a vigorous debate inside the admin over relaxing the ban to allow Ukrainians to hit missile & artillery launch sites just over the border in #Russia….
>160k student loan borrowers are now in line to have their balances canceled, bringing the total amount of #DebtForgiveness allowed under the Biden admin’s policies to $167B, the #Education Dept announced Wed.
With the #election months away, #POTUS#Biden is lauding his admin’s achievements in delivering loan cancellation to nearly 4.8M people through a mix of existing programs & new policies. #Republicans have remained staunchly opposed to the effort, decrying it as a waste of taxpayers’ money & patently unfair to Americans who never went to college.
Biden appears ready to sanction the #ICC, the international court that prosecutes genocidal fascists.
If u support #JoeBiden for #potus, then you support removing an international check against dictators of the likes of #Trump. It's time for Democrats everywhere to admit that our most important business in #Chicago this August must be choosing a replacement for #GenocideJoe