Transcript

6.4.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: This is Anne. Reading from The Washington Post on Wednesday,
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June third, Rubio details US demands as Iran peace talks
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falter by Noah Robertson and John Hudson. Secretary of State
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Mark Rubio on Tuesday outlined the Trump administration's demands for
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a peace deal with Iran, saying the regimement Tehran must
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reopen the Strait of hormoes and commit to future talks
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on curtailing its nuclear program before Washington will lift its
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blockade of Iranian ports or ease financial sanctions strangling the
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country's economy. His comments before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
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were to date the most specific to be offered publicly
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on the US negotiating position, as recent tit fitat attacks
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between the two sides and Israel's aggressive military action in
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Lebanon threatened to collapse the talks. Rubio addressed the committee
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ahead of an other the scheduled appearance Tuesday afternoon before
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a House panel on State Department spending. The sessions set
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to continue Wednesday are sustensibly an opportunity for the Secretary
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to defend the administration's nearly thirty six billion dollar budget
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request for his agency. Unlike Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's combative
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testimony earlier this year, during which he called members of
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Congress critical of the war in Iran, America's biggest adversary.
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Rubio's exchange with lawmakers were mostly cordial, but from the outset,
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lawmakers pressed Rubio, who also serves as President Donald Trump's
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National security advisor, to explain the state of the Iran
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conflict and efforts to conclude it. Members of both parties
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have recently shown increased frustration with the war's costs and
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potential political liabilities ahead of the November mid terms. This
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war and the administration's decisions to block head has now
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held the entire world economy and the US economy hostage
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to the ability to negotiate an agreement with Iran, said
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Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat Connecticut. Rubio said that a peace
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deal would require Iran to pledge to reopen the Strait
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of Homus, a vital waterway for the oil and fertilizer
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trade that has been closed to virtually all commercial traffic
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since soon after the administration launched the military campaign in
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late February. The disruption has roiled global energy markets and
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led to an increased in domestic gas prices that some
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Republicans fear could cost the party as it seeks to
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retain control of Congress. Trump is also demanding that Iran
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enter into negotiating severe and long term limitations on its
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nuclear program, including disposing its highly enriched uranium, Rubio said.
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The Secretary of State noted that those talks, if Iran
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commits to them, could last for months. The administration is
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not willing to ease sanctions on Terran solely in exchange
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for reopening the Strait, Rubio said. Under further questioning from
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Senator Ted Cruz, Republican, Texas, Rubio acknowledged that one of
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Trump's other red lines during the talks was Iran's support
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for terrorist proxy groups. Over the weekend, the US military
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struck Iranian drone and radar sites, with Iran later launching
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missiles at Kuwait, a close American ally in the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile,
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanya, who announced Monday that he
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ordered new strikes on suspected Hesbelad's strongholds in Beirut. Israel's
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escalation of hostilities in Lebanon prompted Iran to announce the
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suspension of negotiations with the United States over ending the war,
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raising doubts about whether the two sides will extend a ceasefire.
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First agreed to an APE role that would lead to
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new talks over Iran's nuclear program. In an apparent effort
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to salvage the negotiations, Trump said later Monday that he
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spoke to net Nyaho and representatives of Hisbelah and urged
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both sides to call off attacks. He then announced on
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social media that US talks with Iran were back on
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and continuing at a rapid pace. Administration officials had previously
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said that a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran
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is undergoing last minute revisions and pending Trump's approval. Rubio
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acknowledged their attentions within Iran's post war government, but said
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Iranian Supreme Leader moch Dabi Khameni, who is believed to
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have been badly injured in a strike early in the conflict,
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is alive and increasingly engaging on government matters. Kamani's predecessor,
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Ayatola Ali Kamani, was killed in the wars. Opening Salvos,
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Rubio said that Iran's post war government is led by
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Mouchitaba Khamani, who in turn is advised by a council
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made up of members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
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and other elements of the regime. Iran's foreign minister in
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parliamentary's speaker need approval from the council before any decisions
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can be made, Rubio said, appearing to acknowledge the slow
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pace of the peace talks, Turan's use of couriers and
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security concerns have caused delays and miscommunications in the Iranian system.
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Rubio said, they need to get guidance from them, and
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that process oftentimes takes three to five days to get
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a response, Rubio said. While Rubio said the joint US
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and Israeli bombing campaign had been highly successful in reaching
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its military objective of degrading Iran's defense industrial base, he
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made clear that Iran still retains drone and missile capabilities.
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They still have a lot of drones because these are
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easy to make. Rubio said. His characterization is more in
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line with recent U S intelligence assessments that have found
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that Iran retains seventy percent or more of its pre
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war stockpiles of missiles and pre war inventories. Of mobile launchers.
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It contrasts sharply with how Trump and Hegseath have described
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the success of the war's bombing operations. Earlier this spring,
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heg Seth Curin's missile and drone programs were overwhelmingly destroyed.
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In a sign of the war's lagging popularity within the GOP,
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more Republicans have backed largely symbolic measures intended to halt
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the fighting. In recent weeks, Democratic led war powers resolutions
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in the House and Senate could come up for votes
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as soon as this week. The deteriorating security situation in
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the Middle East occurs as Rubio's top aides are set
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to convene the next round of talks between Lebanese and
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Israeli diploma in Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday, aimed at
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securing a longer term security and ceasefire deal. One US official,
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who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive
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diplomatic talks, said that Israel's escalation in Lebanon was so
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dramatic that Lebanon may decide to walk away from the talks.
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A second US official said the Trump administration was throwing
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its full weight behind Israel, saying the United States does
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not expect Israel to absorb ongoing attacks on its civilians
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by a terrorist organization. During the hearing, Republicans and Democrats
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also pushed Rubio to explain the Trump administration's policy towards China,
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including the month's long delay in a fourteen billion dollar
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arms sale to Taiwan, the self governing island Beijing claims
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as its own territory. Rubio said that the package was
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under review by the White House and argued that Beijing's
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injections to the sale, raised during Trump's summit with Chinese
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leader Shijin Ping in May, was not holding up our
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decision making. Trump picks mortgage chief Bill Poult to lead
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on national intelligence by Warren P. Strobel and Lorne Kori Gurley.
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President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced he was appointing Bill
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Poult an acting Director of National Intelligence, tapping a staunch
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political supporter who had a federal mortgage regulation agency but
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has no intelligence experience. In selecting Polt for the intelligen
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zur post, Trump turned to a reliable political ally who
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was a leading voice in trying to oust then Federal
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Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell and who has pursued mortgage
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fraud accusations against the president's Democratic foes. Poult will replace,
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at least temporarily, Telsey Gabbard, who announced her resignation last month,
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saying she was leaving the administration to attend to her
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husband after he was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer.
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Gabbard said in her resignation letter that she intended to
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stay in the position through June thirtieth. Polt's appointment was
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greeted with alarm by Democratic lawmakers and former intelligence officials,
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who voice concern that his record of doing Trump's bidding
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could lead to abuses within the powerful but traditionally nonpartisan U. S.
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Intelligence community. Frighteningly, he's got more of a platform at
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the Office of the Director of National Intelligence than he
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did as a housing regulator. Representative Jim Himes, Democrat Connecticut,
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said in an interview, there's a lot of opportunity for
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mischief here. Poult will have responsibility for thousands of intelligence personnel,
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as well as the safety of U. S. Citizens, said
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high ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. The National
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counter Terrorism Center is part of the Intelligence Czar's office.
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It remains unclear how Trump chose Poult, but the acting
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DNI job, which originally had been awarded to Gabbert's top deputy,
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former CIO officer Aaron Lucas. The President chooses the best
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and most talented people to serve in his cabinet. White
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House spokesman Davis Ingalls said Bill pult is a great
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selection and he will do a great job on behalf
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of the American people. The two thousand and four law
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establishing ODNI says that anyone nominated for appointment as Director
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of National Intelligence shall have extensive national security experience. Poult
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has no time in the military, no time in Congress,
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no time in the diplomatic corps, no time in law enforcement.
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Senator Mark R. Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on
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the Senate Intelligence Committee, said at a hearing Tuesday, it
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is an insult. Trump said in a post on True
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Social that pulled, director of the Federal Housing Finances Agency,
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has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America,
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the safety and soundness of the markets, and over ten
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trillion dollars at Fanny May Freddie Mack, a substantial increase
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from where it was just twelve months ago. Pulti said,
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will remain director of the FAHFA and chairman of Fannie
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May and Freddie Mack, two governments supported agencies that assist
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home buying a mortgage liquidity. The Director of National Intelligence
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oversees and coordinates eighteen US by agencies, but has no
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operational role in covert intelligence gathering programs. Gabbard, once a
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Democratic presidential candidate who left the party and supported Trump
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in twenty twenty four election bid, shrank the Intelligence Zire's
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offe office and turned it towards supporting Trump's domestic political priorities.
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She tried to rewrite the history of Russia's intervention in
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the twenty sixteen presidential election as treasonous conspiracy concocted by
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President Barack Obama and his aides, and was involved in
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at least two instances of securing materials related to the
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twenty twenty presidential election, which Trump falsely claims he won.
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Polt nomination comes as Congress prepares to vote on reauthorizing
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a controversial electronic surveillance program under Section seven two of
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the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the government to
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collect from US communications firms the texts, emails, and phone
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calls of foreigner's living overseas without a warrant. Those intercepts
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sometimes collect data from communications involving US citizens. The program's
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opponent said it should be the halt had given the
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appointment of Polt, who they said has shown a willingness
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to weaponize information for political purposes. Warner, a proponent of
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seven O two, which expires in mid June, said the
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task to reauthorize the legislation will be tougher. Now. I
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got to go and try to convince my Democratic colleagues
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and frankly, some of my Republican colleagues. He said, it
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is unclear whether Trump will ask the Senate to confirm Poult.
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Republican reaction to the appointment was muted. Senate Majority Leader
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John Thune, Republican South Dakota, said of Poult's appointment that
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if he is to take the position permanently, he'll have
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to go through a confirmation process and hearings and everything else,
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so we'll see. When asked if he's concerned about Pultz's
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appointment given his history of using mortgage records to prosecute
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some of Trump's foes, Thune said, we don't need a
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weaponized d and I we need professionals there. Over the
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past year, Pult has made a name for himself as
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a Trump loyalist, willing to bring aggressive legal action against
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Trump's political foes. Poul played a key role in accusations
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of mortgage fraud against New York Attorney General Letitia James, Democrat,
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Senator Adam Schiff, Democrat California, and Democratic appointed Federal Reserve
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Governor Lisa Cook. Trump cited Pult's fraud allegations when he
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moved to fire Cook last year. Schiff and Cook have
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not been charged, and the case against James was rejected
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by a grand jury. Poult also pushed for removing Powell,
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drafting a termination letter and sharing a prop resembling a
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wanted poster featuring the Fed official. At a meeting with
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President at Trump's Mary Lago estate in September, Pult reportedly
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got into a fight with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessont at
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a party. Pult's approach to leading the Federal Housing Finance
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Agency was unconventional from the start. A few days into
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the job in March last year, Pult overhauled the boards
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of Fanny and Freddy, made himself the chairman of both
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companies and axed top staffers. In the ensuing months, Polt
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fired dozens more employees, including internal watchdog investigators and the
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leader of the ethics team that was investigating one of
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his associates. The moves have undermined faith in pulled across
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the mortgage industry. Pul's tenure at Fanny and Freddie has
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also been marked by an effort to prepare the US
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mortgage agencies for a public offering, though that effort has
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lost steam amid firings and resignations. An IPO is unlikely
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while Fanny and Freddie remain under government control, analysts said,
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and appeared even less likely after today's news. We believe
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this makes the transaction that would permit Fanny and Freddy
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to exit Conservatives ship less likely, Jared Sieberg, managing director
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at T D Cowan said in an analyst note. It
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already was going to be operationally and politically difficult to
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end the Conservatives ships. We do not see how one
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could surmount those opticles obstacles if the FHFA director was
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devoting most of his time to national security issues. Commonly
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traded shares for the mortgage finance companies ended down for
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the day by about five percent on a day when
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major stock indices closed in positive territory. Shares of both
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entities fell Tuesday morning following the announcement. Before Trump tapped
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him to serve as chop housing regulator, Pult was known
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for his performative philanthropy on social media, sending people money
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for groceries and medical care through online callouts. Poult is
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the heir to a real estate and empire through his grandfather,
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a post war builder and founder of pulled homes. He
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attended Northwestern University, where he launched a business selling photography
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of properties taken by helicopter. Later, he started an investment
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firm dedicated to building and housing products, led an air
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conditioning company, and started a non profit, the Blight Authority,
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that cleared abandoned homes in the Midwest. Several Republicans on
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the Senate Intelligence Committee said they were unsure whether Pult
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had relevant experience to serve as Director of National Intelligence.
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I don't see any evidence of qualifications for the job.
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Senator John Cornyn, Republican, Texas, told reporters. I do not
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know mister Pult at all. Senator Susan Collins, Republican Maine
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told reporters I don't know whether he has any intelligence
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on military background. I don't even know whether he has
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a security clearance. Trump administration abandons one point eight billion
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dollar payout fund after revolt by GOP by Theodoric Meyer,
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Perry Stein, and Gerald Dillard. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche
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said Tuesday that the Justice Department would abandon plans for
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a one point eight billion dollar fund to compensate people
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who claimed they were unfairly investigated. His declaration was an
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attempt to end an unusual standoff between the Trump administration
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and Republican lawmakers who have refused to fund immigration enforcement
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agencies over concerns about the payout fund. Dissolving the fund
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before could begin disbursing payments allows the Trump administration to
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assuage lawmakers' concerns that taxpayer money might be used to
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compensate people who attack the US capital. On January sixth,
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twenty twenty one, we are not moving forward with the fund, period,
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Blanche said, not moving forward with the fund ever. Representative
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Grace Meng, Democrat New York, asked him during a hearing
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of the House Appropriations Committee panel overseeing the Justice Department.
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Correct Blanche said the Trump administration seemed to have little
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choice but to declare the fund did to salvage a
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key part of its aggressive and costly immigration agenda. Some
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Republican lawmakers said that if the administration wanted money for
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immigration enforcement agencies, they would accept nothing less than an
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explicit guarantee from Blanche that there would be no Payout Fund.
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Blanche gave that guarantee during oral testimony, but suggested that
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the Justice Department wouldn't issue a formal statement clearing the
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fund's demise beyond the hearing. I'm not committing to putting
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anything in writing, Blanche said, after Meng argued that such
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a statement would help instill trust in the Justice Department's plan.
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I don't know what the purpose is of putting something
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in writing. I'm telling you what we are doing. The
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Trump administration's retreat on the fund was a rare instance
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of Congressional Republicans defying President Donald Trump and prevailing, and
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it comes roughly five months before mid term elections that
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will decide control of Congress. The Payout Fund laid bare
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strains between the President and a Republican party that has
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more often than not been to his will. The now
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scrapped fund was created last month as part of an
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expansive settlement in exchange for Trump dropping a ten billion
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dollar lawsuit he filed against the IRS over the twenty
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nineteen league of his confidential tax records. Blanche made clear
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that one of the deal's most valuable provisions to Trump
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would survive without the fund. Under the settlement, the Justice
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Department agreed it was forever barred from prosecuting potential crimes
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over tax filings by Trump, his family, or his companies
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from before the agreement. Democratic lawmaker criticized Blanche for keeping
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that part of the settlement intact. They also said it
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was a conflict for Blanche, who was Trump's personal defense
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attorney in multiple cases before he returned to the White
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House in twenty twenty five to sign off on a
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settlement for the president. What are you saying is a
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conflict of interest? Blanche asked the fact that I used
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to have a job and I now have a current job.
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At least one Republican said the testimony settled the matter
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in his mind. The testimony I heard from the Attorney
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General was categorical, It was unequivocal, it was unconditional. Senator
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John Neely Kennedy Louisiana told reporters, I take him at
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his word. He said not now, not ever, and so
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for me, that's enough. I'm ready to move forward. For days,
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Senate Republicans expressed alarm at Trump's decision to set up
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the fund. Republicans defied Trump by leaving Washington last month
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without passing legislation to fund immigration enforcement agents because of
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their concerns about the payout fund. Then on Monday, the
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Justice Department said it would comply with a court order
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temporarily blocking the fund, a striking reversal from days earlier
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when it vowed not to let judges policy preferences stand
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in its way. But some Senate Republicans thought that move
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was not enough and wanted to hear from the President himself.
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The court order blocked the administration from making payouts from
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the fund only for two weeks and did not weigh
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in on its legal merits. In the hours leading up
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to Blanche's testimony Tuesday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader John Thune,
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Republican South Dakota, said he believed, after speaking with the
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Acting Attorney General Tuesday, that Blanche's testimony would make clear
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that the fund was no more. I think his statements
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are going to be very definitive, very clear, and create
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this certainty that I hope all of our members and
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House members need as well in order for us to
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proceed on the reconciliation bill, though told reporters referring to
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the stalled Immigration Enforcement legislation, but I'm not guaranteeing that
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happens yet. Even if the administration had not abandoned the fund,
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it was likely to face serious legal hurdles. Two courts
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have taken steps to scrutinize aspects of the fund, and
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other challenges were pending. In one decision in the Eastern
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District of Virginia, U S District Judge Leone M. Brinkima
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scheduled a hearing for next week to determine whether the
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fund should remain blocked while the court considers the merits
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of a lawsuit that argues the fund is illegal. Republicans
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are working to pass the legislation important to Trump that
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would fund two agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs
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and Border Protection for the next three years. Trump had
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asked Congress to pass the legislation by Monday, but Senate
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Republicans refused, and the administration addressed the controversy over the
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payout fund. Senate Republicans plan to use a special process
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known as reconciliation to pass the government funding bill without
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Democratic votes, but the party's fifty three forty seven majority
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in the chamber means they need the support of all
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but three Republican senators if every Senator is voting. Democrats
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said Blanche's verbal guarantee was worth little without a binding commitment.
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Blanche and Trump's words are worthless. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer,
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Democrat New York, wrote on x during the testimony, the
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only way to stop Trump's nearly two billion dollar magus
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slush fund in his blank check to commit tax fraud
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is to abolish it by law permanently. Representative Jamie rask
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and Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Panel,
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echoes that, saying he wants legislation to permanently bar any
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such fund in the future. God Regardless of Blanche's assurances,
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Democrats has signaled that they would try to force Republicans
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into politically uncomfortable votes on amendments related to the fund
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if the GOP moved to jumpstar Trump's immigration agenda. Shortly
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before Blanche's testimony, at least one Republican Senator Tom Tillis
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North Carolina, who has criticized attempts to downplay the January
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sixth attack, said he also planned to introduce an amendment
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to bar the administration from resurrecting the fund in the future.
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I just feel like we just need to do a
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way back machine and just pretend like this never existed
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and take whatever steps are necessary to make sure it
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can never exist or disperse till its total reporters not
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in the current environment, there are other mechanisms for people
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who were over prosecuted. On Tuesday morning, a spokesman for
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Trump's personal legal team defended the underlying case, saying the
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IRS had wrongly allowed out a rogue, politically motivated employee
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to leak confidential information about Trump, his family, and his
26:06
company to news organizations. President Trump continues to hold those
26:11
who wrong America and Americans accountable, the spokes and said.
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In addition to the Brinkhima ruling, another federal judge in
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Florida last week ordered Trump and his family to respond
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to grievous allegations that the fund constituted an act of fraud.
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Using a rare judicial authority to investigate misconduct against the court.
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That judicial investigation is in its nation stages. The judge
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asked Trump and his family to respond to the allegations
26:43
of misconduct by June twelfth. Even if the administration follows
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through with abandoning the fund, Trump could find other ways
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to reward allies who claimed they were victims of a
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weaponized Justice Department. For example, under the Federal Tort Claims Act,
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people are entitled to file claims against the federal government
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if they think they were wrongly hurt by government actions.
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Thousands of such claims are filed each year, including many
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that have come from January sixth defendants. Those claims have
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kept coming amid the uncertainty on the payout fund. Peter Tickton,
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an attorney who has filed for compensation on behalf of
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January sixth defendants, said he saw payments Friday for nine
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more clients, arguing in a court filing that each was
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owed more than one million dollars for medical bills, lost income,
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paign and suffering emotional distress, loss of liberty, and damage
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to their reputations. If there's a fund, that makes it
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all a little bit easier, Tickton said, But if there's
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no such fund at all, the government needs to settle
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these lawsuits. The Justice Department could decide to settle such
27:54
claims before they are brought to court, effectively deciding who
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deserves to be paid for damages by the federal government.
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That claims process is typically not made public. Pentagon hires
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convicted January sixth rioter for sensitive counter terrorism job by
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Tara Copp and Salvador Rizzo, a convicted January sixth rioter
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who later said that he regretted his participation in the
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US capital attack, has been hired by the Trump administration
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to work inside a Pentagon office that manages highly classified
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military operations. According to four people familiar with the matter,
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the appointment of Elias Irizari, who was nineteen at the
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time of the riot in twenty twenty one, to a
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post in the Defense Department Special Operations and Low Intensity
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Conflict Office, has raised alarm internally among staff, who questioned
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how anyone convicted in the assault on American democracy could
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be trusted for such a sensitive role in the US government.
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These people said, all spoke on the condition of anonymity,
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citing fear of retaliation. Irisari is assigned to the office's
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Irregular Warfare and counter Terrorism section. The people familiar with
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the matter said the team comprises about forty people and
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its portfolio includes operations such as embassy security, personnel recovery,
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and hostage rescue. Two people characterize the work as among
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the most delicate that the Pentagon performs. All positions, they said,
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require a top of secret security clearance. In the case
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of rescue extraction missions, it can place our special operators
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in some of the most complex and dangerous environments we
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ask of them, said one person familiar with Irisari's hiring.
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To put someone so junior and new to DoD and
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with such a checkered background into such a sensitive portfolio
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raises serious questions for leanleadership. Irizari did not respond to
30:02
requests for comment. In a statement, the acting Pentagon Press Secretary,
30:07
Joel Valdez said that Irizari is a qualified, patriotic, young professional,
30:13
and we are proud to have him as a political
30:15
appointee at the Defense Department. It's unclear who within the
30:20
defrump administration appointed him to the post. At the time
30:24
of the capital attack, Ierrozari was a freshman at the Citadel,
30:28
a public military college in South Carolina and serving as
30:32
a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol. Court filings show
30:37
after traveling to Washington with two other men, Irazari joined
30:41
the mob of Donald Trump's supporters who breached police lines
30:44
and broke into the building while members of Congress attempted
30:48
to certify Joe Biden's victory in the twenty twenty presidential election.
30:52
Prosecutors said that along with the crowds, he entered through
30:56
a broken window while wielding a metal poll, but that
30:59
he never see struck anyone. Irozari pleaded guilty to a
31:03
misdemeanor charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building
31:07
or grounds and was sentenced to fourteen days in jail.
31:09
Court filing show. In those legal filings, Irasari was described
31:14
as attending Trump's rally at the Ellipse before ending up
31:19
at the riot by happenstance and quickly disavowing his involvement,
31:24
but the judge in his case also described him as
31:26
someone who, at critical moments on January sixth, such as
31:30
when one of his traveling companions, Grace and Cheryl, struck
31:33
a police officer with the poll, did nothing to stop
31:36
the violence. Cheryl was sentenced to seven months in custody
31:40
in twenty twenty three after pleading guilty to assaulting federal officers.
31:44
Irizari apologized to the widow of several law enforcement officers
31:48
who lost their lives, who he said had to bury
31:51
their partners because of that horrible day. I am ashamed
31:55
because I will always be part of this disgrace, Irazari
31:58
said it his sentencing into an ode January sixth represented
32:03
something truly horrible. It was the largest attack on our
32:06
democracy since the Civil War. Irizari, who was among the
32:10
youngest of the January sixth defendants, ended up in Washington
32:14
that day because he'd been trying to spend time with
32:16
his friend, the third traveling companion, Elliot Bishai, before Bishai
32:23
joined the military. Court record show Bishai pleaded guilty to
32:26
the same misdemeanor as Irazari and lost a commission to
32:30
join the Army Warrant Officer flight program as a result.
32:34
According to a twenty twenty three court filing, Bishai was
32:38
separated from the military's delayed entry program and never served.
32:42
An Army official said, on the condition of anonymity to
32:45
discuss personnel matters. Irizari's record before the capital attack had
32:51
been quite commendable. US District Judge Tanya s Chutkin noted
32:56
at his sentencing she offered at the time to write
32:59
him a letter to to help him reapply to the
33:01
Citadel after the school discharged him for his involvement in
33:05
the assault. Shukins's chambers did not respond when asked if
33:09
she ultimately wrote the letter. Irazari was readmitted to the
33:13
Citadel in twenty twenty three and graduated the following year,
33:17
Citadel's spokesman, Zach Watson said. Federal prosecutors at the time
33:22
of his sentencing said Irazari's service in the Civil Air
33:26
Control and his military training made his decisions that day
33:30
all the more egregious. According to a sentencing brief, when
33:34
FBI agents obtained a search warrant for Irazari's phone, they
33:38
found a gap of data between January first, twenty twenty
33:41
one and January eighth, twenty twenty one, which suggests that
33:45
Irazari deleted information from his cell phone pertaining to his
33:49
involvement on January sixth, twenty twenty one. The prosecutors added,
33:55
Irazari Cheryl Ambishai were among the January sixth participants pardoned
34:00
by President Donald Trump. In twenty twenty five, Trump pardoned
34:04
nearly all the Rioters more than fifteen hundred who were
34:07
charged by the Justice Department, and commuted the sentences of
34:10
the most serious offenders who were convicted of carrying out
34:14
a seditious conspiracy against the United States. But the Justice
34:18
Department then began throwing out those Rioters' convictions last year,
34:22
a process that is expected to be complete within Whigs.
34:26
Since graduating, Irrazari has run unsuccessfully for a South Carolina
34:31
state House seat, losing in the twenty twenty four Republican
34:34
primary to state Representative Randy Ligan. His biography on the
34:40
professional networking site LinkedIn says that he earned multiple academic
34:46
Order honors during his time at the Citadel and cites
34:50
patriot as his profession since January twenty twenty four. In
34:55
twenty twenty three, as he was being sentenced, he told
34:58
the judge in those assembled that he was committed to
35:01
doing better. While you see me today as a result
35:05
of my foolish mistake, I hope that you will see
35:07
me again some day and be proud of what you see.
35:10
Irrazari said. In twenty twenty three, Republican leaders in Congress
35:15
demanded that then Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin explain one of
35:19
the Biden administration's hires within the Pentagon's Office of Special
35:23
Operations in Low Intensity Conflict. Lawmakers had alleged that Ariyani Tabathabai,
35:30
a national security scholar and Middle East expert who was
35:34
serving as the office's chief of staff, had questionable ties
35:38
to Iran's government. At the time, the House Armed Services
35:41
Committees Republican chairman, Representative Mike d Rogers Alabama, said that
35:47
Tabatabi's work history and past should be disqualifying for anyone
35:52
seeking such a sensitive position of trust within the United
35:56
States Department of Defense. Senator Roger Wickers Mississippi, the Senate
36:02
Armed Services Committee's top Republican, organized a group of thirty
36:06
GOP lawmakers who demanded a review of the allegations and
36:10
the suspension of Tabatabi's security clearance. She was eventually promoted
36:16
and assigned to another office in the Pentagon, a move
36:19
made by the Biden administration without public explanation. The next year,
36:23
the Pentagon defended TABATAVII when an international media outlet falseley
36:28
suggested that she was the source of an intelligence leak
36:32
on potential Israeli military strikes against Iran. The leak was
36:36
eventually traced to a CIA analyst who pleaded guilty to
36:40
violating the Espionage Act and was sentenced to prison. Texas
36:47
settlement papers described nation's first gendered D transition clinic by
36:53
Molly Hennessy Fiske. The nation's first D transition clinic will
36:58
provide an array of METAYD treatment, including surgery, fertility counseling, psychotherapy,
37:05
and speech pathology to patients who have received gender transition
37:09
care before the age of twenty one, according to a
37:12
previously unreleased settlement agreement with the Texas State Attorney General's office.
37:17
The agreement between State Attorney General Ken Paxton, Republican and
37:22
Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, coordinated with the Justice Department,
37:27
ended a three year investigation into the hospital's treatment of
37:30
transgender use. Under the terms of the settlement announced last month,
37:35
the hospital will pay ten million dollars to the state
37:39
to resolve allegations of improper billing to the state's Medicaid program,
37:44
ban five doctors from practicing at the facility, and permanently
37:49
irrevocably cease providing any sex rejecting procedures. The ten page settlement,
37:55
obtained Monday by The Washington Post through a public records
37:59
request to the Atturnyny General's Office, details how the D
38:03
Transition Clinic must be run under the agreement. Texas Children's,
38:07
the nation's largest pediatric hospital, will create its DE Transition
38:13
Clinic within ninety days of the settlement. The clinic services,
38:17
provided at no cost for five years, will include a
38:21
patient navigator to coordinate care across departments, endochronology, surgery, primary care,
38:28
fertility counseling, psychiatry's, speech pathology, and social work to assist
38:33
with insurance and legal name changes. Services will be provided
38:38
to patients who have received gender transition care before age
38:42
twenty one, and obstetric gynecology care for those over age
38:47
twenty one. The D Transition Clinic will formalize the supportive,
38:52
multidisciplinary services we already delivered to all patients who need
38:56
our care, Texas Children's said in a statement, This simply
39:03
provides structure and a name for the services we currently provide.
39:07
The agreement mandates that the hospital's medical staff amend their
39:11
by laws within ninety days, to require that staff and
39:15
prospective appointees be evaluated on compliance with the new ban
39:19
on sex rejecting procedures, and that anyone who violates it
39:24
will automatically relinquish their position. According to the agreement, the
39:28
clinic's director will report directly to the hospital's chief compliance officer.
39:33
The d Transition Clinic will have its own page on
39:36
the hospital's website and a gift designation on the hospital's
39:40
fundraising web page. The agreements stipulated and any donations must
39:45
be used to fund free treatment of the clinic beyond
39:48
five years. Texas Children also agreed to maintain a list
39:52
of patients who had received gender transition care and have
39:56
its compliance department audit the list annually to confirm compliance
40:01
with state and federal laws and with this agreement, the
40:05
agreement did not stipulate that the list remained confidential. We
40:09
abide by HIPAA and protecting patient privacy is one of
40:16
our top priorities, the hospital statement said, referring to the
40:20
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a federal law created
40:25
to protect health records from being disclosed without patient's consent.
40:29
When the settlement was announced in May, Texas Children said
40:33
in a statement that officials made the difficult decision to
40:36
settle with the Attorney General's Office to protect our resources
40:40
from endless and costless litigation. Following an investigation into the
40:44
hospital billing practices, Paxton announced he was investigating the hospital
40:49
in May twenty twenty three, alleging gender transition care constituted
40:54
child abuse under state law after a doctor leaked to
40:57
transgender children's medical records. The state also accused the hospital
41:02
of medicaid fraud and submitting false billing claims to conceal
41:07
gender transition care. Such care was still legal in Texas
41:11
at the time, although state lawmakers outlauded. In September twenty
41:15
twenty three, federal prosecutors initially charged the doctors who leaked
41:19
the children's records with four felony counts of wrongful disclosure
41:24
of individually identifiable health information, but the charges were later dismissed.
41:30
I applaud Texas Children's Hospital for changing course and committing
41:34
to being part of the solution, Paxton, who was running
41:37
for US Senate, said last month in announcing the settlement.
41:42
The Justice Department has issued administrative subpoenas seeking records from
41:47
more than twenty providers of gender transition care to miners,
41:51
and last month, a New York hospital said it was
41:55
one of several to have received a grand jury subpoena
41:58
from federal pross Coecuter in Texas seeking information about youths
42:03
who receive gender related medical care. A report commissioned by
42:09
the Trump administration concluded that the risks of gender transition
42:13
care outweighed the benefits. The Department of Health and Human
42:17
Services has proposed rules that would bar federal funding to
42:22
hospitals that provide such treatments to young people. There's an
42:26
intense debate about when young people should be able to
42:28
get medical interventions, as more have sought gender transition care.
42:33
Some systematic reviews have suggested the evidence for the benefits
42:37
and risks of pediatric transition is insufficient. Supporters of transition
42:42
care for youths have pointed to its widespread endorsement by
42:46
US medical organizations. Regret is inordinately rare among transgender youths,
42:53
said Marissa Vldinsky, a clinical professor of pediatric at Stanford
42:57
University's Medical School. KI practiced for a decade in Birmingham,
43:03
where she treated several hundred youth until Alabama's ban on
43:08
transition care for minors fully took effect in twenty twenty four.
43:12
Only two or three decided they wanted to pursue a
43:15
different treatment path, she said, and even they didn't regret
43:18
the care they had received. Ledinsky said she was flummixed
43:22
by the agreement's description of the clinic. It's not clear
43:26
to me what care will be delivered and who will
43:28
be delivering that care, she said, given that the specialists
43:32
and the teams best suited to provide the care they
43:36
articulate were terminated as part of this same settlement. Ethanheim,
43:42
the North Texas surgeon who leaked the Texas Children's patient
43:45
records and described himself at a congressional hearing as a whistleblower,
43:51
called the de Transition clinic outlined in the settlement very
43:55
comprehensive and in acknowledgment of the damage this twisted field
44:00
of medicine caused in the first place. Heim was particularly
44:04
impressed that the clinic would provide OBGYN care to patients
44:09
over age twenty one, because he said hormone treatments can
44:13
complicate pregnancy and childbirth for those who deed transition. The
44:17
fact that they even put this on paper is a
44:20
massive step forward in the right direction, he said. As
44:26
Russia fails to achieve war aims in Ukraine, Putin needs
44:30
a way out. By Catherine Belton, pressure is mounting on
44:35
Russian President Vladimir Putin over how to end his war
44:38
in Ukraine as Moscow's battlefield offensive stalls, financial resources dwindle,
44:44
and more frequent Ukrainian drone strikes inside Russia exacerbate growing
44:48
public dissatisfaction. Russian and European officials and analysts said. Russian
44:55
officials have issued increasingly shrill threats to intensify the bombing
44:59
of ki warning Western officials to leave the Ukrainian capital.
45:05
Overnight Tuesday, Russia fye another fierce barrage of ballistic missiles
45:11
and drones of the city, killing at least four and
45:14
injuring dozens as several residential buildings were hit. Russia also
45:19
bombed the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine, killing at
45:22
least nine there. On Friday, former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev,
45:28
now the deputy head of his security council, dismissed European
45:32
anger over a Russian drone that crashed into an apartment
45:35
in Romania, a NATO member, calling the incident only the
45:40
first warning sign citizens of EU countries, you should realize
45:44
your authorities have latterally entered into a war with Russia.
45:50
Medvedev posted on x so be vigilant and don't be
45:54
surprised by anything. The peaceful sleep is over. European officials,
45:59
speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters,
46:03
said the escalating aggression was a result of increasing difficulties
46:07
that Russia is facing militarily and economically, and could signal
46:12
a bid to force a revival of stall peace talks
46:15
in pursuit of a deal on Moscow's terms. A recent
46:19
analysis published in one of Russia's top foreign policy journals,
46:23
Russia in Global Affairs, stated that Putin's war goals were
46:27
now unachievable, and the report appeared to be a further
46:31
sign of growing descent at the top of Russia's political establishment.
46:36
The analysis by Vastly Kash, a respected Russian academic, argued
46:42
that ongoing Western assistance for Kiv, means it is now
46:46
impossible for Russia to outspend Ukraine on military equipment and technology,
46:51
while Ukraine's mobilization efforts are proving a sufficient counterweight to
46:55
Russian's more limited constription system. The war is going on
47:00
between comparably equal opponents. Historically, such wars have only extremely
47:05
rarely led to the total destruction of one of the sides,
47:08
Cash wrote. Liquidating the anti Russian regime, he wrote, is
47:13
principally unattainable without a total military occupation of the entire
47:17
country over a long period. For Russia, this is technically impossible.
47:23
Several senior European officials have raised concerns that Russia could
47:26
try to expand its war against Ukraine into Europe, comments
47:30
that Putin on Friday dismissed as crude brazen lies. In
47:34
a speech last week, the head of Britain's electronic surveillance
47:38
agency gc HQ said Moscow's progress on the battlefield was
47:44
going backward, while warning of Russian efforts to intensify its
47:48
hybrid warfare against Britain and of the European countries. In
47:52
official comments, Russian officials have tied their harsher rhetoric about
47:58
targeting Kiev to a Ukrainian airstrike that hit a student
48:01
dormitory in Sterobilsk in the Russian occupied legion of Luhansk
48:08
in eastern Ukraine, killing twenty one people, but Russia and
48:11
European officials and analysts said the Kremlin was scrambling for
48:15
ways to reclaim the initiative as it confronts a summer
48:18
fighting season that could be more difficult than expected. Ukrainiand
48:23
mid Age Jones strikes are causing severe disruption to logistical
48:28
networks and supply routes along the Keyland Corridor connecting Russia
48:32
across occupied southern Ukraine to Crimea, which Russia invaded and
48:37
annexed in twenty fourteen in violation of international law. Fuel
48:42
is now being rationed in Crimea as a result, said
48:46
Sergi Markov, a pro Kremlin analyst, and over the weekend
48:50
there were reports of widespread gasoline shortages. Russia had fired
48:55
waves of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones at Ukraine
48:59
in recent weeks, including what many Ukrainians said was one
49:04
of the worst strikes on Kiev since the start of
49:06
Russia's full scale invasion in February twenty twenty two. Clearly,
49:10
the announced strikes and the recent actions of Russia in
49:14
relation to Kiev are a reaction, not just to the
49:17
recent strikes of Ukraine on the college in Luhansk, but
49:21
also a reaction to the expanding geography of Ukrainian drones
49:25
and missiles, as well as the slowed military offensive, said
49:29
a Russian academic close to senior Russian diplomats who spoke
49:32
on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. Putin
49:37
appears to still think that Russia forces can seize the
49:41
remaining territory in the Darnetsk region in eastern Ukraine within
49:46
several months, the academics said, and on this basis we
49:50
start talks to end the conflict. But the academics said,
49:54
we don't see this may is coming to an end.
49:57
It is clear that if additional efforts are not made,
50:00
then we can only speak of stagnation. Tatiana Stanovaya, a
50:06
senior fellow at the Karnegie Russia Eurasian Foundation, said events
50:12
seem to be turning against Russia. Russia's military advantage is
50:16
beginning to dissipate, and Ukraine is expanding the geography of
50:20
strikes in their intensity, while the US has taken a
50:24
pause in the negotiations. Stenovaya said, all of this creates
50:29
the feeling that things are not moving in the direction
50:32
Putin wants. She added, to a great degree, escalation is
50:36
the only way to respond to a situation which you
50:39
can't control. Jonathan Sevyov, Secretary General of Estonia's Foreign ministry,
50:47
warned in a post on x that the Kremlin was
50:49
trying to escalate tensions with NATO in a last attempt
50:53
to lure the West into a negotiation trap, fracture support
50:57
for Ukraine and divert US from our course. On Friday,
51:02
Putin repeated an assertion first made earlier this month that
51:06
Russia's battlefield momentum meant the conflict in Ukraine was nearing
51:10
its conclusion, but he has provided no evidence of that.
51:15
Russian analysts and one of the European officials said Moscow
51:19
could be using the threat of escalation to try to
51:21
coax the United States into resuming peace talks, in which
51:25
the Kremlin is counting on the Trump administration to pressure
51:29
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski into withdrawing forces from the heavily
51:34
fortified Dunetsk region. But this isn't going to happen. Stanavya said,
51:40
I can't imagine it at all. Capturing Donetsk has emerged
51:44
as Putin's top military goal and his main condition for
51:47
ending the war after his wider effort to occupy kiv
51:51
In Topolzelenski's government failed. But Russian analysts and European officials
51:56
say agreeing to a Ukrainian withdrawal from Dune would simply
52:01
allow Putin to re arm and later attempt to take
52:03
more territory. Putin also claimed to have an annexed four
52:08
Ukrainian regions Luhansklanets, Dafaricia and Khersan, but his forces still
52:15
do not fully control them. Russia's economy is under increasing
52:19
strain despite surging oil prices resulting from the US war
52:23
against Iran, enclosure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key
52:26
channel for global energy supplies, increase spending on the Russian military,
52:31
combined with plummeting revenue from the civilian sector as the
52:35
economy contracts amid punishing sanctions and high interest rates, means
52:41
Russia will continue to rack up a considerable budget deficit.
52:45
According to Janus Cluge and economists with the German Institute
52:50
for International and Security Affairs, regional budgets are where the
52:55
pressure is at the moment. Kluge said, Russian Finance Minister
52:59
and Anton Sulinov told the Comersant newspaper last week that
53:05
the government was preparing to make severe budget cuts everywhere
53:10
apart from defense and social spending, after doubling the deficit
53:14
in the first quarter of this year compared with the
53:17
previous one. Our reserves are not endless, Sulanov said. Even
53:23
normally pliant Russian members of parliament of finding it difficult
53:27
to hold their tongues. Valerie Gartung, a member of parliament
53:32
with the pro Kremlin party A Just Russia, swore during
53:35
a speech in parliament last week when describing the country's
53:39
growing budget whole of eleven trillion rubles about one hundred
53:43
and fifty billion dollars. What are we going to do
53:48
about this print money? Is it going to be as
53:51
it was in nineteen ninety two, when every week prices
53:53
grew thirty percent, Gartung asked, referring to the hyperinflation that
53:58
ravaged Russia's saving them in the early nineteen nineties. As
54:03
Russian casualties mound, reaching tens of thousands killed and wounded
54:07
every month, Russia is finding it increasingly difficult to replenish
54:12
its troops. Drone controlled kill zones on the front line
54:16
mean soldiers can't crawl out, said Mikhail Kodorowski, at one
54:22
time Russia's richest man, who was now a leading opposition
54:26
figure living in London. Before almost half of the casualties
54:30
returned to the front line. Now they can't do this.
54:34
Some European officials have suggested that at current rates of attrition,
54:38
Russia could be forced to launch an unpopular mobilization following
54:42
parliamentary elections in September, but others said the Kremlin will
54:46
likely would be forced to pause its military campaign given
54:50
its reluctance to embark on such a political risky move.
54:54
A wide scale conscription in autumn twenty twenty two led
54:58
to protests and to tens of thousands of men fleeing
55:01
the country. The reason why they haven't done it will
55:05
continue to be the reason they don't do it. One
55:08
of the European officials said Russia might want to pause
55:13
instead because it's not sustainable for them. Western officials, long
55:18
pessimistic about Ukraine's chances, see the tide turning against Putin.
55:23
At least for now, there is an outcome where Russia
55:26
just runs out of puff, said Sir Alex Younger, the
55:30
former head of britain secret intelligence service, where it doesn't
55:34
get pushed out of Ukraine, but where the activities of
55:37
the Russian Army become strategically irrelevant. Why many Democrats say
55:44
they're voting for Platner despite the Sexton controversy by Joanna Slater.
55:51
Breis Regal, a sandwich shop owner, listened carefully as someone
55:55
explained the latest controversy to engulf the campaign of Graham Plattner,
55:59
the main Democrat who hopes to one seat Republican Senator
56:02
Susan Collins in a crucial race in the November midterms.
56:05
Regal knew about the old stuff, the inflammatory read it
56:08
posts from twenty thirteen. The tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol,
56:13
Platinus said was inked after a drunken night with fellow Marines.
56:17
But now there was something new. Late last week, it
56:20
emerged that Plattner's wife, Amy Gertner, told a senior campaign
56:23
aid that her husband had sent sexually explicit text messages
56:28
to several women after they wed in twenty twenty three.
56:32
Rego thirty seven shook his head. It's like goddamn again,
56:37
but he loves Platinus politics and believes Collins must go.
56:41
When push comes to shove, I'm going to vote for
56:44
Himrigo said in a dozen interviews in southern Maine on Monday.
56:48
Democratic voters expressed dismay at the latest revelations, but only
56:52
one said the news would impact her vote in November's elections,
56:56
where Democratic hopes of winning control of the Senate hinged
56:59
on the race. Many Democratic voters brushed off platinus baggage,
57:04
saying they were choosing to overlook his liabilities in the
57:07
Trump era. Platner is a forty one year old Oyster
57:11
farmer and US Marine Corps veteran who served three combat
57:14
tours and has never held elected office. He is poised
57:18
to win next week's Democratic primary after his chief rival,
57:22
Maine Governor Janet Mills, announced in April that she was
57:25
suspending her campaign. Mills seventy eight recently reminded voters that
57:29
her name remains on the primary ballot. Plat New's insurgent
57:33
anti oligarch campaign has electrified many Democrats here, drawing hundreds
57:38
of people to pack town halls and inspiring a fervor
57:41
that is atypical for this generally reserved New England state.
57:49
That's all the time we have for today. This is
57:51
Anne saying goodbye and I'll talk with you again soon