Author: J.P. Knowles

The U.S. announced additional sanctions against Russia on Thursday, as President Joe Biden visits Europe for a series of summits with NATO and G7 leaders.

Thursday’s sanctions are aimed at higher-profile Russian individuals and are in addition to those implemented by the Biden administration earlier this month.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted these new sanctions target 328 members of the Russian State Duma, the lower house of the country’s parliament. The U.S. is also sanctioning the Russian State Duma “in its entirety,” as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s close ally Herman Gref, who heads up Sberbank.

More Russian elites, bank board members and defense entities will also be sanctioned according to Blinken.

“As part of this action, we are also targeting multiple Russian elites to include their properties and family members,” Blinken said. “Notably, this will include 17 members of the board of PJSC Sovcombank, a designated entity. These executives join the growing list of individuals associated with blocked Russian financial institutions that now also find themselves subject to U.S. sanctions.”

“Additionally, the United States is taking action to impose additional severe costs on Russia’s defense establishment. This includes designating multiple defense-related entities and one associated individual. An important component of today’s action is designating Russian defense companies that are part of Russia’s defense-industrial base and that produce weapons that have been used in Russia’s war of aggression,” Blinken continued.

At least a dozen states have proposed giving rebate checks of several hundred dollars directly to taxpayers, among them California, Kansas, and Minnesota. Critics, including many Republican lawmakers, say those checks won’t go far enough to make a difference in the long run given the pace of inflation and are pushing instead for permanent tax cuts.

Many lawmakers and governors across the country are considering cuts to sales taxes, property tax relief and a reduction or suspension in state gas taxes as well.

The proposals come at a time when many states actually have a surplus of billions of dollars in federal pandemic money.

It’s no coincidence that the relief is being considered during an election year, according to Mark Brewer, a political science professor at the University of Maine.

“There’s some real policy reason to do this,” Brewer said. “But at the same time, it’s also clear that this is an election year, and in an election year there are few things as popular as giving voters what voters see as free money from the state.”‘Yeah, I’ve never paid $4.50 for a gallon of gas.’”

Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham got into a heated exchange over Guantanamo Bay detainees during the confirmation hearing Tuesday and stormed out.

Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the Guantanamo detainees are being held at a cost of around $12-13 million per year and stated that it would be “dramatically cheaper” to transfer the inmates to a Florence, Colorado prison, adding that the recidivism rate of a released detainee is 5%.

“Mr. Chairman, according to the Director of National Intelligence, it’s 31%,” Graham interjected. “Somebody is wrong here. If you’re gonna talk about what I said I’m going to respond to what you said. If we close Gitmo and move them to Colorado, do you support indefinite detention under war for these detainees?”

“I just want to be clear here that I’m giving the facts—,” Durbin responded.

“The answer is no,” Graham interrupted. “What does it matter when it goes back to? We had them and they got loose and they started killing people. If you were one of the people killed in 2005, does it matter to you when we release them?”

Graham interjected again saying the “system has failed miserably” and releasing detainees would endanger the U.S.

“As long as they’re dangerous, I hope they all die in jail if they’re gonna go back and kill Americans,” the South Carolina senator continued. “It won’t bother me one bit if 39 of them die in prison. That’s a better outcome than letting them go and if it costs $500 million to keep them in jail, keep them in jail because they’re gonna go back to the fight! Look at the friggin Afghan government, it’s made up of former detainees in Gitmo. This whole thing by the left about this war ain’t working!”

Graham then got up from his seat and walked out of the hearing.

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s representation of four Guantanamo Bay detainees during her time serving as a public defender has been under scrutiny during the hearing as well. She defended her past record saying that a criminal defense lawyer does not choose their clients but defends them in order to serve the Constitution and the court.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) is looking for seven young men who were involved in a brutal attack on a 14-year-old boy in a Brooklyn subway station.

The NYPD is asking the public’s help in identifying the individuals who took part in the March 14 assault which they filmed and uploaded to social media, according to a police statement.

Six young men can be seen punching and kicking the teenage victim while a seventh young man filmed the attack while flashing a symbol with his hand, as shown in a video shared by the NYPD.

While the perpetrators’ faces were obscured in the video, four of them were captured clearly in other images shared by the NYPD.

The 14-year-old victim, whose identity was not disclosed required medical treatment after the attack, according to the NYPD.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently launched a new safety program aimed at reducing crime in the subway system following a string of violent attacks. The program, which began Feb. 18, involves increased police patrols in “high-priority” areas and the removal of the mentally ill and homeless individuals inhabiting the city’s public transportation system.

Republican Oklahoma Rep. Markwayne Mullin said the Biden administration intentionally revealed his location in Afghanistan when he tried to rescue an American family trapped in the country as it fell to the Taliban.

Mullin who is currently running to replace retiring Sen. Jim Inhofe traveled to Afghanistan at the end of August without the backing of the U.S. government in an effort to save four Americans who could not exit the country. Mullin allegedly threatened American embassy officials in Tajikistan when they kept him from transporting a large amount of hard currency into Afghanistan, he was temporarily considered missing.

Biden administration officials called the mission “extremely dangerous,” although Mullin was ultimately successful. Afterward, he accused the State Department of failing to order the gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport open for the Americans, saying the administration’s claim that it was helpful in the evacuation “a lie.”

Now, Mullin is accusing the Biden administration of deliberately disclosing his movements in a manner that put his life in danger. His travels in the region were first reported in a Sept. 1, 2021, Washington Post article. The article reported that Mullin traveled through Greece, Georgia, and Tajikistan, which shares a more than 800-mile border with Afghanistan.

“Without question, they tried to kill me.” hypothesizing that the White House disclosed information about his location to prevent him from proving that Americans were left behind.

A spokeswoman for Mullin clarified that the congressman referenced the fact that the White House made public Mullin’s travels in the region, as well as specific cities.

“All we were trying to do is just help get Americans out because we had the ability to do it. Why is that a bad thing?” he added.

The Department of Defense and Department of State both denied Mullin’s allegations.

Mullin was one of three members of Congress to travel to Afghanistan after the country fell to the Taliban. Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton and Republican Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer, both Afghanistan War veterans, secretly traveled to Kabul to observe the withdrawal of American citizens and Afghan Special Immigration Visa holders. Their trip was also criticized by the congressional leadership and the Biden administration.

President Vladimir Putin’s invasion into Ukraine has lasted for several weeks now but his forces have hit a wall, with the Pentagon keeping a close eye on his depleting combat power. The sudden weakness is reflective of the 150,000 soldiers he placed on Ukraine’s border in the weeks leading up to the invasion.

“We’ve assessed, for the first time, that the Russians may be slightly below a 90% level of assessed available combat power,” said a senior defense official. “It is not an assessment of all Russian military power.”

As Russian ground forces remain stranded across the country, security experts keep warning Putin that he may want to move additional forces into Ukraine to strengthen his battle.

Despite rumors that Putin has offered incentives to fighters from Syria and other countries, there is little proof that any foreign fighters have arrived in Ukraine.

There is evidence of continuous “discussions” by Moscow to aid its war “both in terms of resupply and also reinforcement,” but no such plan has been set in place.

Ukrainian military has fought back against Russian aggression. Despite weeks of destruction, Putin’s troops are no closer to taking Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.

“We’re definitely seeing anecdotal evidence that the Ukrainians are not only defending well, where they choose to defend, but they are making efforts to take back territory,” the senior defense official added.

Reports also surfaced showing that Ukrainian forces were able to take back a suburb outside of Kyiv, however, the senior defense official could not verify the reports.

The official said not only does this show a lack of planning for logistics and sustainment on Russia’s part but also the “Ukrainians have done a good job frustrating their efforts.”

According to police, fentanyl was detected in the air system of an Ohio juvenile detention institution after many people from the facility required hospitalization on Sunday.

According to Williams County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Lehman, four adolescents and three staff members from the Northwest Ohio Juvenile Detention Training and Rehabilitation Center in Stryker, Ohio, fell Sunday and were brought to the hospital.

On Sunday, about 8:30 p.m., emergency personnel was dispatched to the detention institution. Authorities discovered fentanyl evidence in the building’s ventilation system during a search of the premises.

The Williams County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that it’s unclear how the fentanyl got into the facility’s ventilation system at this time.

The victims are all listed in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery. Juveniles housed at the facility have been temporarily moved to an adult detention center, apart from the adult detainees while the investigation is ongoing and other arrangements are made.

Fentanyl is an opioid that “is estimated to be 80 times more potent than morphine and hundreds of times more potent than heroin,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President Joe Biden said Monday that Russia accused Ukraine of having biological weapons because Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely planning to unleash chemical weapons on Ukraine in a false flag operation.

Putin’s “back is against the wall and now he’s talking about new false flags he’s setting up including, asserting that we in America have biological as well as chemical weapons in Europe, simply not true,” Biden said.

Russia is “also suggesting that Ukraine has biological and chemical weapons in Ukraine. That’s a clear sign he’s considering using both of those. He’s already used chemical weapons in the past, and we should be careful about what’s about to come,” the president added.

“As we have said all along, Russia is inventing false pretexts in an attempt to justify its own horrific actions in Ukraine. The United States does not own or operate any chemical or biological laboratories in Ukraine, it is in full compliance with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and Biological Weapons Convention, and it does not develop or possess such weapons anywhere,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement early this month.

“It is Russia that has active chemical and biological weapons programs and is in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and Biological Weapons Convention,” Price added.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had expressed concern on March 15 that Russia may use chemical weapons in a false flag operation.

Biden said on March 11 that Russia would pay a “severe price” if they use chemical weapons, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that the use of chemical weapons would get a “significant reaction.”

“If a chemical or biological weapon was used, you’d see a significant reaction from not only the United States, but also the global community,” Austin said Sunday. “I don’t want to speculate about what exactly would change our calculation. I think engaging in hypotheticals is probably not helpful here either, but this is a very serious step and as you heard our president say, we won’t take that lightly.”

President Joe Biden will go to Poland, where he will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda to discuss the Ukraine conflict, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

Following discussions with NATO allies, G7 leaders, and E.U. leaders in Brussels, Belgium, Biden will visit Poland as part of a bigger European trip this week.

On Friday, Biden will meet with Poland’s President in Warsaw, Poland, some 170 miles from Ukraine’s border.

“The President will discuss how the United States, alongside our Allies and partners, is responding to the humanitarian and human rights crisis that Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine has created,” Psaki said.

Warsaw’s mayor has warned that the city has nearly reached capacity in the number of refugees it can support.

“In 2015, we had 300,000-400,000 people coming into Europe every month. We just had 300,000 people come into Warsaw in three weeks,” Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski said. “We want to take everyone who needs help, but how many kids can we take into schools? How can we do everything we can so the health system doesn’t break down in our city?”

On March 10, Vice President Kamala Harris visited with Duda in Warsaw, thanking Poland for accepting over 2 million Ukrainian migrants.

When asked what the US will do about Ukrainian refugees at a news conference, Harris laughed inappropriately and looked towards Duda.

“A friend in need is a friend indeed,” Harris said, before bursting out in laughter.

A group of House Republicans sent a letter Monday to the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, calling on them to investigate President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s past rulings as a judge, saying she showed leniency toward those who committed sexual crimes against minors.

The letter which was spearheaded by Colorado Rep. Ken Buck and signed by 18 other House Republicans was sent to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin and Ranking Member Sen. Chuck Grassley. In the letter, the House Republicans called on the committee to investigate three child pornography cases from when Jackson was Vice-Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

The letter names the three cases specifically and says “for every child pornography case in which Judge Jackson has ruled and for which records are available, she deviated from federal sentencing guidelines in favor of the offenders.”

The Three Cases Highlighted In The Letter:

U.S. v. Hawkins, saying, “Jackson sentenced a man convicted of possessing child pornography to three months when sentencing guidelines called for 10 years.” 

U.S v. Stewart, saying, “Jackson sentenced a man convicted of possessing thousands of images of child pornography, along with attempting to cross state lines to molest a 9-year-old girl, to 57 months when sentencing guidelines called for 97-121 months.” 

U.S. v Chazin, saying, “Jackson sentenced the defendant to 28 months for possession of child pornography when sentencing guidelines called for 78-97 months.” 

“Judge Jackson’s pattern and practice of leniency on sentencing for child sex crimes is deeply troubling. Her record of special empathy towards criminals is the fulfillment of Democrats’ soft-on-crime, defund the police movement that has caused a spike in crime across the nation,” Buck argued.

Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley pressed Jackson about her the cases during the first day of her Senate confirmation hearings before the Judiciary Committee Monday.

In the case of U.S. v. Hawkins, “Jackson sentenced the perpetrator to only 3 months in prison” when the “Sentencing Guidelines called for a sentence of up to 10 years,” Hawley said. “This goes beyond ‘soft on crime.’ I’m concerned that this a record that endangers our children,”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki disputed the allegations Thursday, claiming that Jackson’s sentencing of sex crimes have all been “consistent” with the recommended sentences.

Psaki said Hawley “took a snippet of a transcript out of context” when Jackson was repeating a witness’ remarks.

“This is toxic and weakly-presented misinformation that relies on taking cherry-picked elements of her record out of context — and it buckles under the lightest scrutiny,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in response to Hawley’s accusations.

Grassley said he and Senate Republicans will be investigating all of Jackson’s decisions and statements.

“My colleagues in the House have every reason to be concerned about leniency provided to those involved in crimes against children. These are concerns I share and they’ll be the subject of very legitimate questions from all of us,” Grassley said.

“In the next few days, we’ll use information from my office’s exhaustive review and investigation of every one of Judge Jackson’s decisions and statements on the matter to question her. It’s a shame that the White House and my Democratic colleagues continue to stonewall on records related to the judge’s tenure on the Sentencing Commission, which might shed some light on these preferences,” he added.