Today's politics recap
- Donald Trump considered issuing blanket pardons for those who participated in the Capitol insurrection before he left office, according to a new report. Asked yesterday about the former president’s comments, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said he would not support shortening any of the insurrectionists’ prison sentences.
- Joe Biden said the deployment of approximately 3,000 US troops to parts of Eastern Europe is “totally consistent” with what he had told Russia’s president Vladimir Putin earlier. “There is one aggressor here, that aggressor is Russia,” the White House reiterated in the media briefing via press secretary Jen Psaki, arguing the US, as part of NATO, was bolstering Ukraine’s resistance to Russian advances, not provoking Putin.
- The US president pledged that ending cancer is a “White House priority”, promising to bring a sense of urgency in the administration’s “moonshot” program to the fight against the disease. Biden announced a number of new initiatives including a newly created “cancer cabinet” which will include 18 federal departments, offices, and agencies.
– Guardian staff
Updated
Mississippi’s governor Tate Reeves signed a bill legalizing marijuana for people with some medical conditions.
The Republican governor was initially noncommittal on whether he would sign the bill.
From the AP:
The bill says patients could buy up to to 3.5 grams of cannabis per day, up to six days a week. That is about 3 ounces per month. The bill also sets taxes on production and sale of cannabis, and it specifies that plants must be grown indoors under controlled conditions.
The bill had enough support to override a veto had Reeves decided not to support it.
Robert Reich: Trump and his enablers unwittingly offer Democrats their best hope in the midterms.
For the Guardian’s opinions sections, Reich writes:
The midterm elections are just over nine months away. What will Democrats run on? What will Republicans run on?
One hint came at a Houston-area Trump rally Saturday night. “If I run and if I win,” the former guy said, referring to 2024, “we will treat those people from January 6th fairly.” He then added, “and if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons, because they are being treated so unfairly.”
Trump went on to demand “the biggest protest we have ever had” if federal prosecutors in Washington or in New York and Atlanta, where cases against him are moving forward, “do anything wrong or illegal”. He then called the federal prosecutors “vicious, horrible people” who are “not after me, they’re after you”.
Trump’s hint of pardons for those who attacked the Capitol could affect the criminal prosecution of hundreds now facing conspiracy, obstruction and assault charges, which carry sentences that could put them away for years. If they think Trump will pardon them, they might be less willing to negotiate with prosecutors and accept plea deals.
His comments could also be interpreted as a call for violence if various legal cases against him lead to indictments.
But if Trump keeps at it – and of course he will – he’ll help the Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections by reminding the public of the attempted coup he and his Republican co-conspirators tried to pull off between the 2020 election and January 6. That would make the midterm election less of a referendum on Biden than on the Republican party. (Don’t get me wrong. I think Biden is doing a good job, given the hand he was dealt. But Republicans are doing an even better job battering him – as his sinking poll numbers show.)
Read more:
A jury found that neither former US senate candidate Roy Moore, nor the woman who accused him of molesting her when she was 14, defamed the other.
The AP reports:
In allegations that roiled the 2017 Senate race in Alabama, Leigh Corfman said Moore sexually touched her in 1979 when she was a teen and he was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney. Corfman filed suit alleging Moore defamed her by branding her a liar when he denied the accusations. Moore countersued, claiming Corfman injured his reputation with false allegations meant to hurt him politically.
The jury deliberated for about three hours before ruling that neither party had prevailed in their claim against the other.
Moore said afterward that the decision was vindication for him and a “very heavy burden” had been lifted.
“There is no other way to interpret this but a victory,” Moore said, with his wife, Kayla, standing beside him.
“I’ve always said these allegations were false and malicious. I mean that today. I’ll say that today very clearly. There were meant to overturn a very successful election in 2017 to the United States Senate and they did exactly that,” Moore said.
Corfman’s attorneys rubbed her back seemingly to comfort her after the verdict was read.
Corfman attorney Neil Roman said the decision was not what they had hoped for but noted that jurors must have given credibility to her claim because they didn’t rule Corfman defamed Moore when she told the Washington Post he molested her.
“This is not a victory for Roy Moore. It is not a vindication of him. Although we are disappointed that the jury did not find that Mr Moore’s statements about Leigh rose to the level of defamation, we are gratified that the jury necessarily found Leigh was telling the truth about her experiences with Mr Moore in 1979,” Roman said.
Updated
New Mexico Democratic Senator Ben Ray Lujàn is going to be away from the US Senate for an expected four to six weeks after suffering a stroke, according to multiple reports.
Staff announced last week that Lujàn had been taken ill and had been hospitalized after suffering a stroke, but that he is expected to make a full recovery.
With the evenly-split Senate, such an absence also risks Democrats’ already-delayed legislative agenda falling further behind, the Hill reports, noting that Democrats will also need Lujàn back in the chamber to confirm whomever Joe Biden nominates to fill the vacancy that will be left on the Supreme Court upon the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer - unless the nominee can attract some GOP support.
“All of us are hopeful and optimistic that he will be back to his old self before long,” Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said and the Hill reported.
Fox congressional reporter Chad Pergram notes on Twitter that: “There is no remote voting in the Senate. So, this could put on ice any 50-50 measure in a divided Senate.”
He also points out that: “It also means that any effort to rekindle Build Back Better is dead until at least the middle of March. Not that it was going anywhere quickly.”
Biden is expected to nominate a new supreme court judge soon and has pledged to pick a Black woman. There is a lively slate of stunningly talented and experienced contenders being chewed over pundits.
Summary
Hello again, live blog readers, your US east coast bloggers are handing over coverage now to our colleague on the west coast, Maanvi Singh. She’ll take you through some of the developments for the next while.
Here’s where things stand:
- Donald Trump considered issuing blanket pardons for those who participated in the Capitol insurrection before he left office, according to a new report.
- Joe Biden said the deployment of approximately 3,000 US troops to parts of Eastern Europe is “totally consistent” with what he had told Russia’s president Vladimir Putin earlier.
- The US president pledged that ending cancer is a “White House priority,” promising to bring a sense of urgency in the administration’s “moonshot” programe to the fight against the disease.
- “There is one aggressor here, that aggressor is Russia”, the White House reiterated in the media briefing via press sec Jen Psaki, arguing the US, as part of NATO, was bolstering Ukraine’s resistance to Russian advances, not provoking Putin.
A former high-ranking Department of Justice official appeared earlier today before the special congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol.
The purpose of Jeffrey Bossert Clark’s appearance was to be asked questions about his bid to bolster Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
Reuters further reports:
Jeffrey Bossert Clark was spotted entering a room inside a US House of Representatives office building where the select committee investigating the Jan 6 attack takes its depositions. A committee spokesman declined to comment.
Clark is among a growing list of Trump supporters who have balked at requests to cooperate with the investigation, though the panel has scored some legal victories over Trump’s efforts to keep certain government records under wraps.
The National Archives said it would be providing some of former Vice President Mike Pence’s records to the committee, in a letter that appeared on the Archives’ website.
The committee has so far interviewed about 400 witnesses, issued more than 60 subpoenas and obtained more than 50,000 pages of records.
Clark, who served as the acting head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, drafted a Dec. 28, 2020, letter to Georgia state lawmakers that falsely claimed the agency had found “significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple States, including the State of Georgia.”
The draft letter urged state legislators to convene a special session to overturn the election results there.
Clark tried to persuade former Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen and former Acting Deputy Attorney General Rich Donoghue to send the letter, but they refused.
Rosen and Donoghue later told U.S. Senate investigators that Clark also privately met with Trump to lobby the then-president to oust Rosen so Clark could be installed as acting attorney general, paving the way for him to send the letter and launch voter fraud investigations.
Clark in November declined to answer the committee’s questions about his legal advice to Trump, saying such discussions were privileged.
The panel voted on Dec. 1, 2021, to seek contempt of Congress charges against Clark, but it has not sought a vote of the full House after Clark’s attorney said his client intends to invoke his right against self-incrimination, protected by the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Updated
Another Capitol rioter has admitted his role in the deadly insurrection in Washington by supporters of Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, as they attempted to disrupt congressional proceedings and stop the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.
The man is a New York City judge’s son who referred to himself as a “caveman” eager to protest Trump’s election loss. He pleaded guilty earlier today to charges he stormed the US Capitol that day.
The Associated Press takes up the story:
Aaron Mostofsky was seen inside the Capitol wearing a fur costume and a bulletproof police vest that he was accused of stealing during the mayhem. He also gave a video interview inside the building, telling the New York Post he was there “to express my opinion as a free American that this election was stolen.”
Mostofsky, 35, pleaded guilty to charges of civil disorder, theft of government property, and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds.
Mostofsky is scheduled to be sentenced May 6.
His father is Steven Mostofsky, a state court judge in Brooklyn. A message seeking comment was left with a court spokesperson.
Aaron Mostofsky’s unusual garb made him stand out from the crowd of camouflage-wearing, flag-waving rioters. At one point, he was photographed sitting on a bench near the Senate chamber holding a stick and the riot shield, which he said he picked up off the floor.
According to prosecutors, Mostofsky took a bus from New York to Washington and joined protesters in overwhelming a police line and storming the Capitol. Along the way, he picked up and put on the bulletproof vest, valued at $1,905, and the riot shield, worth $265, prosecutors said.
Before the protest, Mostofsky messaged another demonstrator that he could be found at the protest by looking for “a caveman.”
More than 730 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. More than 200 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors punishable by a maximum of six months imprisonment.
Mostofsky is one of about two dozen rioters to plead guilty to a felony. More than 90 riot defendants have been sentenced.
Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Donald Trump’s congressional allies, also criticized the former president for suggesting issuing pardons to Capitol insurrectionists.
In an interview Sunday, Graham said he thought the idea was “inappropriate” because it could encourage similar political violence in the future.
In response to Graham’s comments, Trump attacked him as a “RINO,” meaning “Republican in name only”.
“Lindsey Graham’s wrong. I mean, Lindsey’s a nice guy, but he’s a RINO. Lindsey’s wrong,” Trump said in a Newsmax interview last night.
But Graham is sticking by his comments, saying in a new statement, “All Americans are entitled to have a speedy trial and their day in court, but those who actively engage in violence for whatever political cause must be held accountable and not be forgiven.”
Graham stands by his statement after Trump calls him a “RINO” for saying it was “inappropriate” to suggest Jan. 6 rioters should be pardoned.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 2, 2022
“Those who actively engage in violence for whatever political cause must be held accountable and not be forgiven.” pic.twitter.com/DsciSqZRMR
Updated
Donald Trump’s suggestion of issuing pardons to those who attacked the Capitol on January 6 has even sparked some pushback from Republican lawmakers.
Asked yesterday about the former president’s comments, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said he would not support shortening any of the insurrectionists’ prison sentences.
.@LeaderMcConnell on former President Trump offering pardons to people who attacked U.S Capitol on January 6th: "My view is I would not be in favor of shortening any of the sentences for any of the people who pleaded guilty to crimes." pic.twitter.com/R3W0fAlYbG
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 1, 2022
“What we saw here on January 6 was an effort to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another, which had never happened before in our country,” McConnell said.
The Republican leader noted that at least 165 people have already pleaded to criminal behavior in connection to the insurrection. According to Politico’s database, more than 725 alleged insurrectionists have been arrested, and at least 87 have already been sentenced, although only 38 have received prison time.
“My view is, I would not be in favor of shortening any of the sentences for any of the people who pleaded guilty to crimes,” McConnell said.
Trump considered blanket pardons for insurrectionists before leaving office - report
Donald Trump considered issuing blanket pardons for those who participated in the Capitol insurrection before he left office, according to a new report.
Politico reports:
Between Jan. 6 and Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump made three calls to one adviser to discuss the idea. ‘Do you think I should pardon them? Do you think it’s a good idea? Do you think I have the power to do it?’ Trump told the person, who summarized their conversations.
Another adviser to the former president said Trump asked questions about how participants in the riot might be charged criminally, and how a uniform pardon could provide them protection going forward.
‘Is it everybody that had a Trump sign or everybody who walked into the Capitol’ who could be pardoned? Trump asked, according to that adviser. ‘He said, ‘Some people think I should pardon them.’ He thought if he could do it, these people would never have to testify or be deposed.’
The report comes days after Trump floated the idea of pardoning insurrectionists if he wins the White House again, as the former president teases a potential 2024 campaign.
“If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6 fairly,” Trump said at a Saturday rally in Conroe, Texas. “We will treat them fairly. And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly.”
Biden: deployment of troops is "totally consistent" with what he told Russia's Putin
Biden has commented on the deployment of approximately 3,000 troops to parts of Eastern Europe, saying that the move was “totally consistent” with what he had told Russia’s president Vladimir Putin earlier.
As Biden was leaving a White House event, presumably the “cancer moonshot” program relaunch, Biden answered a question from a CNN White House reporter about the deployment to support NATO allies, saying that the that the decision was “totally consistent with what I told Putin in the beginning.”
“As long as he is acting aggressively we’re going to make sure we can reassure our NATO allies and Eastern Europe that we’re there and Article Five is a sacred obligation,” said Biden.
.@POTUS was asked by @kaitlancollins about his decision to deploy 3,000 troops to #Ukraine: “As long as he [Putin] is acting aggressively we're going to make sure we can reassure our NATO allies and Eastern Europe that we're there and Article Five is a sacred obligation.”
— Stephen Michael (@stephenreports) February 2, 2022
Biden: ending cancer 'as we know it' is a 'White House priority, period'
During his speech relaunching the “cancer moonshot” program, Biden pledged that ending cancer is a “White House priority,” promising to bring a sense of urgency to the fight against cancer.
Following statements from Jill Biden and vice president Kamala Harris, Biden gave an emphatic speech about the impact of cancer, the number two cause of death in the US after heart disease, pledging “bold” action.
“We can end cancer as we know it,” said Biden. “Let there be no doubt, this is a presidential White House priority, period.”
Biden: “We can do this… We can end cancer as we know it… Let there be no doubt, this is a presidential White House priority, period.”
— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) February 2, 2022
Under the relaunch of the “cancer moonshot” program, Biden announced a number of new initiatives including:
- A newly created “cancer cabinet” which will include 18 federal departments, offices, and agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, Veteran Affairs, and other departments.
- Calling on congress to fund ARPA-H program; the White House previously requested $6.5bn for the program in its 2022 fiscal budget.
- Calling on scientists and medical experts to share data related to cancer and make drugs more affordable.
“This will be bipartisan. This will bring the country together, and frankly, other nations,” said Biden.
Biden also touched upon addressing health inequities when it comes to cancer prevention and screening, an issue the “cancer moonshot” program will address.
Biden also encouraged those listening to get their routine cancer screenings, citing that Americans missed more than 9 million cancer screenings due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Last November, I got a colon cancer screening. I’m glad I did, trust me. I know cancer is scary. Going to the doctors can be scary. But screening is how you catch it early before it’s too late” says @POTUS, urging people to get their screenings, especially those put off by COVID
— Cassie Semyon (@casssemyon) February 2, 2022
Biden closed by saying: “Go spread the faith guys. We can do this.”
Updated
David Smith, the Guardian’s Washington bureau chief, is live tweeting from the White House’s East room where the relaunch of Biden’s “cancer moonshot” program is taking place.
Vice President Kamala Harris: “My whole life I stood witness as my mother worked to end breast cancer…. My mother’s discoveries helped save women’s lives… Today we are closer than we have ever been.” pic.twitter.com/CUBrCaJxeA
— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) February 2, 2022
Harris: I will never forget the day my mother sat my sister and me down and told us she had colon cancer. “It was one of the worst days of my life.”
— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) February 2, 2022
Smith also captured a moment of levity at the event: Joe Biden’s introduction of himself.
Joe Biden: “I’m Joe Biden, Jill Biden’s husband.” pic.twitter.com/Q8V31vV4oQ
— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) February 2, 2022
Updated
The relaunch of Biden’s “cancer moonshot” program has just begun, with Joe Biden set to speak later on. The relaunch of the cancer prevention program is a revival of an Obama-era health initiative that Biden oversaw in the final years of Obama’s presidency.
The “cancer moonshot” program will focus on prevention, screening, and other health objectives with the goal of cutting cancer deaths by half across 25 years.
First lady Jill Biden is currently speaking, opening up the program’s relaunch with a speech about the widespread impact of cancer, including on herself and Joe Biden.
“Cancer changes everyone it touches and, in some ways, it touches us all,” said Jill. “For Joe and me, it has stolen our joy. It left us broken in our grief. But through that pain, we found purpose.”
Stay tuned for more remarks as the event continues.
Summary
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are due to talk publicly in Washington shortly about “moonshot” US efforts to prevent cancer, so do stay tuned. It’s been a lively day so far and there’s much more to come.
Here’s where things stand:
- White House press secretary Jen Psaki has reiterated that the move to send additional US troops to eastern Europe is in response to Russian aggression, not designed as an aggressive move by the US. She called Russia the aggressor.
- Joe Biden has approved sending 3,000 troops to parts of Eastern Europe to bolster allies against a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, confirmed Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby.
- US soldiers who refuse to get a Covid-19 vaccination will be immediately discharged, the US army stated earlier today.
- House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer confirms that a deal to fund the federal government will be reached before a potential shutdown.
- Alexander Vindman filed a federal lawsuit against allies and aides of Donald Trump’s allies and aides, accusing them of witness intimidation and retaliation following his subpoena during Trump’s first impeachment trial.
- Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will relaunch the “cancer moonshot” program, a long-term cancer prevention initiative that then-vice president Biden began in the final days of the Obama presidency.
Updated
'There is one aggressor here. That aggressor is Russia' - White House
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has reiterated that the move to send additional US troops to eastern Europe to shore up Ukrainian resistance to Russia is not designed to provoke Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
The Guardian’s Washington bureau chief David Smith is at the media briefing today and has tweeted some of what Psaki said.
Psaki: "There is one aggressor here. That aggressor is Russia. They are the ones who have gathered tens of thousands of troops on the border."
— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) February 2, 2022
Psaki said: “There is one aggressor here - that aggressor is Russia...They are the ones threatening to invade a sovereign country.”
She’s calling Russia’s stance in massing military might on the border with Ukraine “escalatory” behavior. But the White House appears to be distancing itself from earlier predicting that an invasion of Ukraine by Russia appeared to be imminent.
Asked whether administration is still using word "imminent" to describe Russian invasion of Ukraine, Psaki says: "I used that once... then I stopped using it."
— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) February 2, 2022
The White House press briefing just concluded.
Updated
White House press secretary Jen Psaki is briefing right now. She’s talking further about planned US troop deployments to NATO’s eastern flank to bolster Ukraine’s preparedness in facing massed Russian military might at its border.
“They are not going to Ukraine to fight,” Psaki said, attempting to clarify the mission, in response to questions from reporters about what they’ll be doing.
US troops are being sent from the Fort Bragg base to Poland and Germany, while some US troops already in Germany will shift to Romania, the Pentagon has announced.
However, the troops are “ready for every contingency”, but the main point it “to reassure our allies,” Psaki said.
“There is no question you look at President Putin’s actions and they have been escalatory, not de-escalatory,” she added, to a subsequent question from reporters in the White House briefing room.
Biden approves sending 3,000 troops to NATO allies in Eastern Europe, officials confirm
Today, Biden has approved sending 3,000 troops to parts of Eastern Europe to bolster allies against a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, confirmed Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby.
Around 2,000 troops will be sent from Fort Bragg, North Carolina to parts of Poland and Germany this week while approximately 1,000 troops currently based in Germany will be sent to Romania, assuring NATO allies that the US will protect them amid Russia adding around 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s border.
Biden and the NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg have made it clear that no NATO combat troops would be going into Ukraine, although there are a small number of military advisers there.
“These are not permanent moves,” said Kirby, noting increased buildup from Russian despite the US urging deescalation.
“Its important that we send a strong signal to Mr. Putin and the world that NATO matters,” said Kirby during today’s press conference. “We are making it clear that we are going to be prepared to defend out NATO allies if it comes to that.”
US soldiers who refuse to get a Covid-19 vaccination will be immediately discharged
US soldiers who refuse to get a Covid-19 vaccination will be immediately discharged, said the US army today.
Citing vaccinations as key to maintaining combat readiness, the US army said the order applies to all regular Army soldiers, cadets, and active-duty Army reserve members, unless they have an already approved or pending exemption.
“Army readiness depends on soldiers who are prepared to train, deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars,” said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth. “Unvaccinated soldiers present risk to the force and jeopardize readiness.”
The majority of Army service members have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, reported Reuters.
The Army is the latest branch to begin discharges over vaccination compliance, following an order by the Pentagon that all service members were required to get vaccinated in August 2021.
The Air Force branch began discharging service members in 2021 who did not receive Covid-19 vaccination.
Updated
House Majority Leader Hoyer: Government funding deal will be reached, House recess interrupted if needed
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer confirms that a deal to fund the federal government will be reached before a potential shutdown, adding that the House may come back earlier from recess if needed.
While speaking to reporters via Zoom during his weekly pen and pad sessions after testing positive for Covid-19 (“As you can see, I’m still operational,” remarked Hoyer to reporters, referring to his Covid diagnosis), Hoyer spoke on the government funding deadline, saying, “We will act prior to that time to ensure that the government does not shut down.”
Hoyer also added that the House, which is set to take a recess during the middle of next week, may be cut short to pass a deal.
Hoyer acknowledges the government funding deadline: “We will act prior to that time to ensure that the government does not shut down," adds House may come back from recess if it needs to vote.
— Natalie Andrews (@nataliewsj) February 2, 2022
Congress is at risk of missing the funding deadline, with a deal required by February 18th to avoid a government shutdown.
Updated
Trump also called Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina a RINO, ‘Republican Only In Name,’ for not supporting pardons for those involved in the January 6th Capitol attack, reports Politico.
In an interview with Newsmax, Trump was asked about Graham being against presidential pardons for January 6th participants.
Trump responded in his usual long-winded fashion: “Lindsey Graham’s wrong. I mean Lindsey’s a nice guy, but he’s a RINO ... Lindsey Graham doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about if he says that.”
Trump doubled down on his suggestion that January 6th insurrectionists were being unfairly “prosecuted” and that their proposed punishments were disproportionate.
Trump’s comments followed Graham’s appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” where he said granting pardons would be “inappropriate.”
“I don’t want to reinforce that defiling the Capitol was OK,” said Graham. “I don’t want to do anything that would make this more likely in the future.”
Alexander Vindman, the retired lieutenant colonel suing several of Trump’s closest allies and aides over witness intimidation and retaliation, announced his lawsuit via Twitter, sharing a link to an op-ed he wrote explaining his decision.
“I filed a suit against Donald Trump Jr, Rudy Giuliani, Dan Scavino and others for witness intimidation and retaliation,” tweeted Vindman earlier today. Vindman also announced that Donald Trump, Fox News, and Ingraham Angle, a host on Fox News.
I filed suit against @DonaldJTrumpJr, @RudyGiuliani, @DanScavino, & others for witness intimidation & retaliation. Donald Trump, @FoxNews, & @IngrahamAngle are also named in the law suit. https://t.co/mxWaZMCvwT
— Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) February 2, 2022
Below is a tweet containing the actual suit that Vindman filed, laying out the witness intimidation conspiracy that Vindman says painted him as “disloyal to the United States”, engaged in “espionage,” and as an insubordinate “leftist,” ultimately ruining his military career as Vindman’s active military duty left him unable to defend himself.
New: Former Lt. Col. @AVindman just filed suit in D.C. district court against Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, Julia Hahn and Dan Scavino alleging they engaged in a witness intimidation conspiracy against him ahead of his testimony in Trump's 1st impeachment trial. pic.twitter.com/QB1EhqbYVx
— Alex Mallin (@alex_mallin) February 2, 2022
Vindman files federal suit against Trump's allies and aides
In other news, Alexander Vindman, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel, filed a federal lawsuit today against several of former president Donald Trump’s allies and aides, accusing them of witness intimidation and retaliation following his subpoena during Trump’s first impeachment trial.
In a complaint filed in a federal DC. court today against Donald Trump, Jr., Rudolph Giuliani, Julia Hahn, and Daniel Scavino, Jr, Vindman said that following his witness testimony in Trump’s impeachment trial, Trump, his close aides, and key media figures conspired to portray Vindman as disloyal to America, ultimately hurting his military career and pushing him into an early retirement.
In 2019, Vindman, who worked for the National Security Council as an Ukraine expert, heard a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Vindman heard Trump asking the Ukrianian president to pursue an investigation into then-former vice president Joe Biden and his son. Vindman reported the phone call to internal channels and was asked, months later, to testify in the initial impeachment trial for Trump.
“We can’t have a functional government or healthy democracy if witnesses can’t testify, and if federal officials can’t do their jobs, without fear of payback,” wrote Vindman in an op-ed published today for USA Today.
“I filed this lawsuit because I believe in the active role all citizens must play in upholding our democracy … I hope this lawsuit will shed more light on the abuses that are chipping away at our democracy and eventually bring a measure of justice to those who are responsible.”
Updated
Ahead of a relaunch of the Obama-era “cancer moonshot” program, here’s a look back to 2016, when then-president Barack Obama announced that the US would be the country to find a cure for cancer, written by Scott Bixby for the Guardian:
Barack Obama has channeled John Kennedy’s space race with the Russians to pledge a new “moonshot”, led by vice-president Joe Biden at “mission control”, for the United States to win a new global health race and find a cure for cancer.
“Last year, vice-president Biden said that with a new moonshot, America can cure cancer,” Obama said during a standout new policy moment during his final State of the Union address on Tuesday, referencing Biden’s remarks in announcing he would not run for president. “Last month, he worked with this Congress to give scientists at the National Institutes of Health the strongest resources they’ve had in over a decade.
“Tonight, I’m announcing a new national effort to get it done. And because he’s gone to the mat for all of us on so many issues over the past 40 years, I’m putting Joe in charge of Mission Control. For the loved ones we’ve all lost, for the family we can still save, let’s make America the country that cures cancer once and for all.” ...
Inspired and led by Biden, who lost his eldest son, Beau, to brain cancer last year, the White House’s bold pledge follows the path laid forward by the vice-president when he declined to run to replace Obama in the White House.
“I’m going to spend the next 15 months in this office pushing as hard as I can to accomplish this,” Biden said from the White House Rose Garden in October. “Because I know there are Democrats and Republicans on the Hill who share our passion, our passion to silence this deadly disease.”
“If I could have been anything, I would have wanted to be the president that ended cancer,” Biden added. “Because it’s possible.”
Read the full article here.
Today, Biden will be relaunching an Obama-era cancer prevention program, “ending cancer as we know it today” with a set of new long-term goals including reducing the cancer death rate by 50% across the next 25 years.
The reviving of the “Cancer Moonshot” program, an initiative that Biden oversaw during the final moments of the Obama presidency, will allow Biden to focus on new long term objectives that Biden was unable to complete as a then-vice president.
“Now you can start messaging, prevention and screening, nutrition, a focus on disparities,” said a source familiar with the project and its relaunch to Politico.
Cancer prevention is a cause close to Biden following the death of his son Beau, 46, from brain cancer in 2015.
The program’s revival will not include any additional financial commitments, despite the Moonshot program only being budgeted for one more year under the 21st Century Cures Act, according to Politico.
The relaunch event will take place at 1.30pm ET with an event in the White House’s East Room. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff will also be in attendance.
Updated
Biden relaunching Obama-era cancer prevention program
Good morning, US politics live blog readers! It’s Gloria Oladipo from the New York office on the blog.
Here’s what’s coming up today:
-
Joe Biden will relaunch his “Cancer Moonshot” program with an event in the White House’s East Room at 1.30pm eastern time, co-hosted by Kamala Harris and Jill Biden. “Cancer Moonshot” is a long form cancer prevention initiative he began in the final days of the Obama presidency as a then-vice president. In addition to prevention, the program will also focus on screening, coordination, and health disparities, according to a source familiar with the project.
- Tensions remain high between the US and Russia over a possible Ukraine invasion, with Putin saying on Tuesday during a news conference that the US and Nato have “ignored” Russia’s security concerns over Ukraine.
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West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, one of two senators blocking Biden’s Build Back Better bill, called the social spending package “dead” on Tuesday, raising fears that Biden’s domestic agenda could be permanently stalled.
- On Tuesday, Pzfier asked the US to allow children under the age of five to receive extra-low doses of its Covid vaccine, potentially allowing younger Americans to become vaccinated by March.
