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….
AKA the #PineTreeFlag, it dates back to the Revolutionary War, but largely fell into obscurity until recent yrs & is now a symbol of support for #Trump, for a #religious strand of the “Stop the Steal” campaign & for a push to remake American govt in #Christian terms.
3 photos obtained by NYT, along w/accounts from…neighbors & passers-by, show that the #AppealToHeaven flag was aloft at the #Alito home…in July & Sept of 2023. A Google street view image from late Aug also shows the flag.
The photos, each taken independently, are from 4 different dates. It is not clear whether the #flag was displayed continuously during those months or how long it was flown overall.
Justice #Alito declined to respond to questions about the beach house flag, including what it was intended to convey & how it comported w/his obligations as a justice. #SCOTUS also declined to respond.
During the period the #AppealToHeaven flag was seen flying at the justice’s NJ house, a key #Jan6 case arrived at #SCOTUS, challenging whether those who stormed the Capitol could be prosecuted for #obstruction.
In coming wks, the justices will rule on that case, which could scuttle some of the charges against #Trump, as well as on whether he is #immune from prosecution for actions he took while president.
#Judges are not supposed to give any impression of #bias, yet the #flag could be seen as telegraphing #Alito’s views….“We all have our biases, but the good judge fights against them,” said Charles Geyh, a #law prof at IU. “When a judge celebrates his predispositions by hoisting them on a flag…that’s deeply disturbing.”
Records show that the Alitos have owned the beach house since 2014, & he is a well-known presence in the waterfront community. Residents…recalled seeing the justice last summer….
#Republican members of #Congress & state ofcls have displayed the #flag as well, among them #DougMastriano, a PA state senator & a leader of the “Stop the Steal” campaign. The highest-ranking elected ofcl known to show the flag is Rep #MikeJohnson, who hung it at his office last fall shortly after becoming #speaker of the #House.
>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.
“I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity,” #Biden said in a stmnt Wed. “I will never stop working to cancel student debt — no matter how many times Republican elected ofcls try to stop us.”
The Spanish, Irish & Norwegian govts announced Wed that they would recognize a #Palestinian state, saying there would be no #peace in the #MiddleEast w/o it.
Israel denounced the move as giving aid to its enemy #Hamas.
The coordinated announcements are purely symbolic — but not w/o some power.
The leaders of the 3 countries said they hoped their recognition would press #Israel, the #Palestinians & the international community toward a #TwoStateSolution to the conflict.
“In the midst of a #war, w/tens of thousands killed & injured, we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution for Israelis & Palestinians alike: Two states, living side by side, in #peace & #security,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said.
In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz ordered the immediate recall of the Israeli ambassadors to #Spain, #Ireland & #Norway. “I am sending a clear message today: #Israel will not be complacent against those who undermine its sovereignty & endanger its #security.”
The #UnitedStates govt reiterated its position that recognizing a #PalestinianState was premature & must be the result of direct negotiations between Israel & the #Palestinians.
A Tues evening fundraising email from #Trump’s campaign &signed in his name arrived w/the subj, "They were authorized to shoot me!" & said of the #Biden admin, "You know they’re just itching to do the unthinkable ... Joe Biden was locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger."
Trump also wrote on TruthSocial:
"Joe Biden's DOJ, in their Illegal & UnConstitutional Raid of Mar-a-Lago, AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE."
#Trump appeared to be referring to a #law enforcement document, released Tues in court filings in the #ClassifiedDocuments case, that describes the FBI’s plans for a court-authorized search on Aug. 8, 2022, at #MarALago, his Florida residence & private club. #FBI agents recovered #classified material from Trump’s time in the WH —which Trump is now charged w/illegally retaining.
One page in the document includes a “policy statement” on the use of deadly force, which says officers may resort to lethal force only when the subject of such force poses an “imminent danger of death or serious physical injury” to an officer or another person.
4 months after the #FBI raided #MarALago, Trump’s attys discovered 4 docs marked #classified in his personal bedroom.
That revelation was among several cited by US District Judge Beryl Howell in a newly unsealed 2023 opinion that found prosecutors had presented compelling #evidence that #Trump#knowingly stashed #NationalSecurity docs in his home & then tried to conceal them when the #DOJ tried to retrieve them.
@lin11c the Corcoran who took accurate & truthful contemporaneous handwritten notes & recorded voice memos when advising Trump to return the classified documents.