Transcript

10.23.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of Today's Washington Post for Thursday,
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the twenty third of October of twenty twenty five. Your
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reader is Alice Daina, with the reminder that RADIOI is
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a service for those blind or with other disabilities making
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it difficult to hold or read printed material. And I
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start with the front page of Today's Washington Post. On
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the very far left stickers shock as Aca Price's skyrocket,
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debate over extending covid era subsidies at heart of shutdown
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fight by.
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Speaker 2: Page Winfield Cunningham.
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Speaker 1: In the middle of the front page at the top
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the title Ukraine hit hard after collapse of summit, and
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there is a pick of a man in firebrigrade type
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of clothing, helmet, visible stripes around his dark suit, standing
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in the midst of rubble and smoke all around him.
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And it is entitled search, Ears rescue or kindergarten rescuers
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search a kindergarten Wednesday in Kharkiv, Ukraine that was hit
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by a drone, killing one person. At least seven people
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were killed across the nation as the Kremlin renewed its
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attacks after plans for a Trump Putin meeting were abandoned.
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The US responded with sanctions against Russian oil companies. On
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the very far right, Russia duped West for its tech
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gear used an Arctic to protect subs. I guess that
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means submarines companies massed Moscow in transactions.
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Speaker 2: By Greg Miller.
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Speaker 1: Below the picture of the Kindergarten and Karkiev is an
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article with Venezuela Trump is beating drums of war by
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Karen Deyong, Warren p Strouble Susannah George and Anna Vanessa Herrero.
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As troops and hardware surge in the area, some see
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a goal of ousting Maduro and then below the fold, Andrew,
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after relinquishing dukedom, is still.
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Speaker 2: A royal pain.
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Speaker 1: Some call for his prince title to be stripped amid
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angle over alleged abuse by Carla Adam out of London.
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And there is a picture of Prince Andrew in twenty
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twenty four, who faces renewed outrage over sexual abuse allegations
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tied to deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein, and he has his
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hands clasped in front of him with his black suit
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on sort of a cream colored tie over a white shirt,
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and his whitish hair and he's standing in front of
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what looks like a building.
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Speaker 2: But you just see the background to the right of that.
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Speaker 1: Trump's ballroom project likely to proceed unchecked. Our hands are
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tied by White House exemption preservation leader, says by Dan Diamond,
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Paul Schwartzman, and Jonathan Edwards. And then below the picture
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of Prince Andrew and the article on him. The final
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article on the front page, desire for loyalist prospers acuters
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threatens the case against Comi by Jeremy Roebuck. Dismissal request
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says US attorney in charge was illegally appointed. The first
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article I'm going to read is the health insurance sticker
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Shock begins as shut down battle over subsidies rages. Many
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states have shown rising premiums ahead of open enrollment for
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Affordable Care Act plans. Congress is deadlocked over extending COVID
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era subsidies that bring costs down. By Page Winfield Cunningham,
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millions of Americans already seeing their health insurance cost soul
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for twenty twenty six as Congress remains deadlocked over extended
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COVID Era subsidies for premiums. The bit of fight sparked
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a government shutdown. At the start of October. Democrats refuse
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to vote on government funding legislation unless it extends the subsidies,
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while Republicans insist on separate negotiations after reopening the government. Now,
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lawmakers face greater pressure to act, as Americans who buy
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insurance through the Affordable Care Act are seeing our bouts
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the consequences of enhanced subsidies expiring at the end of
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the year. Healthcare dot gov, the federal website used by
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twenty eight states, is expected to post plan offerings early
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next year, ahead of the start of open enrollment in November,
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but windows shopping has already begun in most of the
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twenty two states that run their own market places, offering
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a preview of the sticker shock to come. Premiums nationwide
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are set to rise by eighteen percent on average, according
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to analysis of preliminary rate foulings by the nonpartisan health
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policy group KFF that, combined with the loss of extra subsidies,
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have left Americans with the worst year over year price
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hikes in the twelve years since the markets launched nationally,
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The average marketplace consumer will pay nineteen hundred and four
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dollars in annual premiums next year. Up from eight hundred
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and eighty eight in twenty twenty five. According to KFF,
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I just did the math on that, and it's one
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thousand and sixteen dollar increase, a one thousand sixteen dollar increase.
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The situation is particularly acute in Georgia, which recorded the
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second highest enrollment of any state run marketplace this year,
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hosted prices for twenty twenty six earlier in October. About
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ninety six percent of marketplace in rollies in Georgia received
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subsidies this year, according to the Center on Budget and
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Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank that supports extending the subsidies. Now,
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Georgians browsing the state website are seeing estimated monthly costs
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double or even triple, depending on their incomes, as lower
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subsidy threshold resume. We have people saying they will have
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to choose between their monthly premiums and mortgage, said Natasha Taylor,
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deputy director of Georgia Watch, a consumer advocacy group.
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Speaker 2: For example, a family.
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Speaker 1: Of four earning eighty two thousand dollars a year in
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Georgia could see their annual premium double tour around seven
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thousand dollars for a plan with mid range coverage. According
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to a CBPP analysis, if that family earned at least
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one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, they would have to
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pay the full cost of the annual premium, about twenty
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four thousand instead of eleven thousand dollars. It's a similar
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story in other states, where people in higher income tiers
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will see especially big premium increases as they've become ineligible
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for subsidies. A sixty year old couple earning eighty five
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thousand dollars may have to pay thirty one thousand dollars
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for a plan in Kentucky, a twenty eight thousand dollars
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for a plan in Oregon, and forty four thousand dollars
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for a plan in Vermont.
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Speaker 2: According to CBPP.
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Speaker 1: If Congress doesn't extend the extra subsidies, Georgia could lose
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around three hundred and forty thousand people from its one
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point five million person marketplace.
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Speaker 2: According to an estimate.
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Speaker 1: By non partisan advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future,
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the enhanced subsidies had fully covered monthly premiums for millions
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of lower income people in the marketplaces, Many of them
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will have to start kicking in some of their own
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money starting January one, while people with higher incomes will
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see their monthly subsidies shrink, people earning more than four
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hundred percent of the federal poverty line will no longer
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be eligible for subsidies at all. The political followed in
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Georgia has already begun to reverberate. Representative Marjorie Taylor Green,
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Republican of Georgia, broke with her party to demand an
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extension of subsidies, noting her adult children's premiums are set
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to double. Green's office didn't respond on to our request
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for comment. Senator John Ossoff, considered the most vulnerable Democratic
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incumbent in next year's midterms, has seized on the issue
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of rising premiums. An Ossoff spokesman said the Senator wants
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the subsidies extended, pointing to polling showing a majority of
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Georgians feel the same. Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who championed
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the state's marketplace, didn't respond to her a request for comment.
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Atlanta resident Jodi Fililietou thirty one. She said she has
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been paying one hundred and sixty dollars a month for
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a subsidized plan on Georgia's marketplace. She makes about forty
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thousand dollars a year's dialing hair and providing behavioral therapy.
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She has yet to complete an application to see quotes
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for plans next year, but her.
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Speaker 2: Monthly premium is likely to nearly.
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Speaker 1: Double based on her age, income and zip code. Vliliteau
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said she rushed to schedule a surgery next week for
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a problem related to ministration because she's concerned about having insurance.
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Speaker 2: I'm feeling like I.
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Speaker 1: Need to get everything done this year because I don't
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know what next year is going to look like. Hillier Too,
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said in a telephone interview. Taylor of Georgia Watch said
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she finds that consumers often don't understand what that their
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plans are subsidized, which makes it difficult to explain that
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the pricey plans they see now could become cheaper if
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Congress boats to extend the subsidies.
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Speaker 2: For your average consumer, they look.
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Speaker 1: At the bottom line, what's my out of pocket mat
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I don't think they're looking at the minutia of why
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their premium is what it is, Taylor said. The rising
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insurance costs highlight the political difficulties faced by Washington lawmakers
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the Congressional Budget Office, the legislature's non partisan bookkeeper, has.
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Speaker 2: Estimated your four million.
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Speaker 1: Fewer people will have marketplace plans a decade from now
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if the extra subsidies expire. Republicans say the premium assistance,
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intended to help people be insured during the coronavirus pandemic,
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are just a band aid for a failure of the
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Affordable Care Act terrain in the cost of plans. They
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also say that subsidies were so generous they incentivised fraud,
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pointing to a CBO estimate the two point three million
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in rolies.
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Speaker 2: Improperly claimed a subsidy this year.
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Speaker 1: The thirteen House Republicans who faced competitive re election campaigns
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next year wrote to the host speaker, Mike Johnson, Republican
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of Louisiana, on Tuesday, asking him to consider extending premium
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in assistance. Millions of Americans are facing drastic premium increases
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due to shortsighted democratic policy making. While we did not
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create this crisis, we now have both the responsibility and
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the opportunity to address it, they wrote. Those of the
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host Republicans who faced competitive reelection campaigns. Senator Patty Murray,
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Democrat of Washington said in a news conference that she
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heard from families whose premiums are doubling as windows shopping
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started in her state Tuesday.
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Speaker 2: She said she heard.
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Speaker 1: Similar stories from Idaho and Montana, noting most people who
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rely on premium assistants live in red states. Murray said
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families are logging on looking for health care coverage for
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next year and coming face to face with massive price
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hikes because Republicans down right refused to work with us
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to do something about it. Insurers have partially blamed the
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premium hikes on the expiration of the subsidies, saying they'll
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cause healthy people to drop coverage, leaving a sicker, more
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expensive pool of customers behind. Insurance have also incited have
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also cited higher drug and hospital prices, expensive weight loss drugs,
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and medical inflation as reasons for raising premiums. But if
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Congress acts to extend the subsidies even after open enrollment
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begins November first, some plans may be willing to lower premiums,
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said David Merritt, senior vice president of external affairs at
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the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, whose member plans are
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sold in all market places. Adjusting rates law would get
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more complicated after December thirty first, he said, even if
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Congress does extend subsidies, consumer advocates say damage has already
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been done. Many people will visit the insurance market places
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and decide to forego coverage after seeing pricey twenty twenty six.
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Speaker 2: Plans they send, and not to.
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Speaker 1: Revisit their decision even if subsidies are restored. Our second
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front page article Russia acquired Western Technology to protect its
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Nucleus Submars fleet. Russia secretly used front companies to buy
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Western Technology a director surveillance net in the Arctic where
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its submarines operate, and investigation shows and there's a picture
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of a Russian submarine in the waters of two people
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on the submarine at computers, one touching a Windows screen
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and typing on his computer keyboard. Another sort of shows
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a protective net. The article is by Greg Milli. Russia
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is protecting its nuclear submarine fleeting the Arctic with an
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undersea surveillance system built using high tech equipment acquired from
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US and European companies through a secret procurement network, according
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to newly uncovered financial records, court documents, and Western security
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officials guising its role in transactions through layers of front companies,
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Russia was able to obtain sensitive sonar systems, an underwater
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drone capable of operating adepts up to three thousand meters,
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sophisticated subsurface antennas, and a fleet of ships that posed
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as commercial or research vessels while carrying out installation tasks
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for the Russian military. According to officials and documents, all
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were integral to a secret multi year project to erect
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an invisible surveillance net across the Barren Sea and other
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frigid waters where Russian submarines operate carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles
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in case of nuclear conflict with the United States.
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Speaker 2: According to German.
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Speaker 1: Court records as well as US and Western security officials
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and experts, the surveillance system, called Harmony, relies on a
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constellation of seabed sensors to detect US submarines entering Russian
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naval bastions, disrupting Western attempts to track or, if war
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broke out, destroy Russian submarines that exist to ensure Russia
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can launch a nuclear strike even if its land based
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missile silos are disabled.
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Speaker 2: According to naval.
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Speaker 1: Experts, there's a globe showing Russian military bases along the
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northern part of the Russian area in the Barren Sea.
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It's Harmony Bastionian surveillance systems.
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Speaker 2: It's just below Greenland.
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Speaker 1: And the western part of Canada. Well that's not right.
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Maapis flat, but than part of the Russian territory. The
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extent to which MOTSCO relied on US and European suppliers
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for sensitive components in building the Harmony system, as well
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as key details of the illicit procurement network that Russia employed,
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have not previously been reported. The disclosures were uncovered as
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part of a reporting project called Russia's Secrets, involving the
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Washington Post and a consortium of European news organizations. The
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findings show how Russia was for years able to maneuver
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around Western sanctions and export controls to fortify a pillar
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of its nuclear strategy. The failure of Western government sent
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companies to prevent Russia's acquisition of such sensitive maritime technology
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has undermined the security of the United States and its
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NATO allies. According to experts and n current and foremot
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naval officials, Harmony bolsters Russia's ability to get its nuclear
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armed submarines in and out of port without being detected, harassed,
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or interdicted, said Brian Clark, a US senior US Naval
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official and submarine officer who now serves as the director
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of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the
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Hudson Institute. Clark added, this is Russia's effort to reduce
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America's ability to go in and surveill areas around submarine
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bases and trail their submarines from point of deployment. The
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perceived superiority of the US nuclear submarine fleet has for
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decades been seen as a strategic advantage over Russia. President
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Donald Trump announced that he had deployed two submarines into
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practical positions earlier this year in response to veiled threats
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from Moscow, but Russia has sought to close this gap,
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announcing a new class of attack submarines and shoring up
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defenses around northern fleet bases. At the center of the
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Harmony procurement network was a company Mostrlelio Commercial Limited that
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was headquartered in Cyprus, which is part of the European Union,
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but served as a front for Russia's military industrial complex,
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accounting for tens of millions of dollars in purchases of
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sensitive equipment. According to court records and other documents, Russia
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did not respond to request for comments. Mostrello's role as
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a Russian front involved in harmony was disclosed during a
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trial in Germany this year of a Russian citizen who
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was convicted of coordinating purchases for the Cypress Company in
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violation of German trade laws. Germany had been alerted to
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Rush's procurement operation by.
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Speaker 2: The c i A in twenty twenty one, according.
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Speaker 1: To S officials, the CIA declined to comment after German
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authorities rated sites associated with the network and arrested a
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key suspect. Last year, the U s Treasury Department announce
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sanctions on Mostrello and other companies linked to the Russian
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government or military. When reporters from Dutch public broadcaster k
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r O dash n c r V visited Mastrello's headquarters
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in Cyprus in late September, they found an office that
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appeared to have been abandoned abruptly, with no employees on site.
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The main door left a jar and floors lidded with rubbish.
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Company officials did not respond to the post's request for comment.
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This article is based on details drawn from hundreds of
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Nostrello corporate records, including sales invoices that are part of
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a trove of Cyprus related financial files obtained by the
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International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Reporters from the Post and
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news organizations in Europe and Japan also spoke with dozens
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of Western security officials and experts. The project was coordinated
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by German public broadcaster n DR. The documents traced Mastrello
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transactions spanning over a decade in involving companies in the
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United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Italy, and other
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NATO member countries. In response to press inquiries, officials from
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many of those companies said they did not knowingly violate
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any laws or export restrictions, and received ash asurances from
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Mostrello that the purchases were for civilian or commercial purposes.
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Even so, documents in some cases provided indications of Russian involvement.
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A contract outlining a twenty fifteen sale of sonar systems
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made by edge Tech, a Massachusetts based manufacturer, included or
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includes pages of terms in Russian, and indicates that Mostrello
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planned to lease the equipment to a company with headquarters
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in Moscow. In a written response to questions, Doug McGowan,
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head of sales for edge Tech, said that the company
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always performs a great deal of due diligence when working
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with their customers, that Mostrello was not on any denied
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parties list at the time and did not present any
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red flags. Other Western companies ceased their sales to Mostrello
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only after explicit warnings from security services. Last year, Norwegian
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defense contractor Kongsberg Gruppen was preparing to sell a high
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speed acoustic positioning system to Mostrello when Norway's Domestic Security
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Service PST blocked the transaction, according to court records and
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information provided by the company. Kongsburg declined to respond to
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detailed questions from partner news organizations about that aborted transaction
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or the prior sale of seabed systems to Mostrello that
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date back to as early as twenty fifteen, but said
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in response to questions from the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation that
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the company allow or followed applicable regulations. The director of
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Norway's Surveillance or in Elligence Service, Vice Admiral Nils Stenstone's
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Steensones said, in response to questions about Harmony that to
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Russia has worked to establish complex procurement networks with legitimate
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European companies as contact points, a practice that conceals parts
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of the supply chain and obscures the Russian end user.
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US and Allied intelligence services have monitored Russia's efforts to
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build harmony over the past decade, but key details, including
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locations of its sonar arrays, are considered classified and have
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not been publicly disclosed. Tracking the movements of the ships
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acquired by Mastrello provides clues to the surveillance system's boundaries,
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forming a semi circular area from Murmansk east to Novaya
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zim law When and then north to Franz Joseph Lea,
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a Russian ar capello in the Arctic Ocean. Russia's northern fleet,
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as well as its principal submarine bases and bastions, lie
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behind this cordon. Any Western submarine crossing this boundary risks detection.
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The sensors would also help Russian submarine commanders determine whether
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their vessels were being followed and then take evasive maneuvers attacked.
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It known about naval experts as delacing. If you're afraid
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that somebody is following you, you drive over a sensor
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at a known time, said Tom Stephanik, an expert on
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naval strategy and technology at the Brookings Institution. If somebody
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is following you, you have to go over that censor too,
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and they get detected. Mostrello acquired sonas that can be
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mounted on holds of ships to map the seabed. The
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records show enabling crews to install harmonies, senses and beacons.
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These senses tend to work best if you can position
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them on a sea, mountain side or ridge line and
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have them look out into the water, Clark said. Mostrello
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also purchased hundreds of miles of Western made fiber optic
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cable and underwater antennas that experts said could be used
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to transmit signals from senses searching for usumarines to surface
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stations that collect and analyze surveillance data. The exposure of
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the Mostrellom network underscores the extent to which Germany continues
28:45
to rely on US intelligence. A German security official testify
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during the trial and Frankfurt that a foreign partner service
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had warned about the procurement network as early as twenty
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twenty one, but that Germany failed to act on the
29:01
information until after concerns about Russia became more acute following
29:07
its full scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Speaker 2: The defendant in the.
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Speaker 1: Trial, Alexander Shinakin fifty six, a native a Kerzikstan who
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resided in Germany, was convicted of coordinating purchases from Ostrello
29:23
in violation of German trade laws and sentenced to five
29:27
years in prison. Shiyakin is being held while his case
29:31
is under appeal. Components ordered by Mostrello were often initially
29:37
delivered to addresses in Germany, an arrangement that reduced security
29:42
from suppliers.
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Speaker 2: Everything went to Nuremberg.
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Speaker 1: Said Jens Steenstrup, chairman of R two Sonik, a Texas
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company that sold Sonaw systems to Mostrello in twenty fifteen
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and twenty seventeen. Mostrello said it was purchase the equipment
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for cable surveys in the Baltic Steamstrup said, adding that
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everything seemed above board. As part of the case, German
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authorities described Mostrello as a front for a Moscow company
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U provvelin Perspectin via Technology UPT. Archived pages of that
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company's website show that it has worked during the past
30:30
two decades, with Russian security services and the military listing
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the FSB, Russia's domestic intelligence service, and the SBR its
30:42
overseas spy agency as clients. The office complex where Mostrello
30:48
was based in Cyprus appears to have at least one
30:51
other notable occupant. Signs at the building show that a
30:55
neighboring suite is used by the Ukrainian gas company Barisma,
31:00
a firm that paid President Joe Biden's son Hunta to
31:04
serve on its board. Borisma became embroiled in Washington political
31:09
intrigue that culminated in the first impeachment trial of Trump
31:13
after his efforts to pressure Ukraine to launch an investigation
31:18
that could damage Biden politically.
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Speaker 2: About this story.
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Speaker 1: The Russian secret research is based on company data obtained
31:28
by the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists.
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Speaker 2: For the documents come.
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Speaker 1: From the Nord District LIP and the Dutch EV magazine Pointum,
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and journalists from LeMond, le Xpresso, Icij, Codo, Pointer, the Netherlands, Sweden,
31:48
in the Times of Great Britain and other German companies,
31:52
as well as The Washington Post were involved in the
31:55
research and the research was led by n d R.
32:01
Trump's desire for loyalist prosecutors threatens the case against Comy.
32:08
Former FBI Director James B. Comy is asking a judge
32:13
to dismiss his case on grounds that the US attorney
32:17
overseeing it was illegally appointed. And there's a picture of
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Lindsay Halligan, the federal prosecutor handling the case against James B. Coney,
32:28
and is taken by the Washington Post. She has on
32:31
sort of a teal green suit, long blonde hair, She's
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in front of an American flag, and she's holding some
32:40
records or folders in her hand. By Jeremy Roebuck. For months,
32:48
the Trump administration's unorthodox strategy to install and retain loyalist
32:53
in key prosecutorial positions while bypassing Senate approval, has royal quotes,
33:00
drawn legal challenges, and earn condemnation from federal judges. Now
33:05
it threatens to impail one of the cases the president
33:09
cares about. Most lawyers for former FBI Director James B.
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Comy on Monday asked a judge to dismiss the case
33:19
against him, arguing that President Donald Trump's hand picked prosecutor,
33:23
Lindsay Halligan was illegally appointed. Their request bear similarities to
33:29
other recent challenges that have sought to disqualify Trump's US
33:34
attorney appointees in New Jersey, Nevada, New Mexico, and Los Angeles.
33:40
Already federal courts have ruled that two of them are
33:44
serving unlawfully. The legal questions surrounding the administration's tactics remain
33:51
far from settled, and the peculiarity of particularities of Halligan's
33:57
appointment and Comy's prosecution differ an enough from the other
34:00
challenges to complicate any effort to predict how they might
34:05
affect the case against the former FBI director. Significantly, no
34:11
judge has so far concluded that dismissing an indictment is appropriate.
34:16
Even if the U s attorney's appointment is declared void.
34:21
It is not enough to merely assert the US attorney
34:25
is not violently appointed. US District Judge David G. Campbell
34:30
wrote in an opinion last month disqualifying Trump's acting US
34:35
attorney in Nevada, defendants must show that this fact somehow
34:40
affects the fairness of the proceedings against them. Komy argues
34:45
that Trump, after years of vitriol directed at Komy installed Halligan,
34:50
one of his former personal attorneys, as the interim US
34:54
attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, with the explicit
34:58
expectation that she would charge the former FBI director with
35:03
lying to Congress. Trump's previous appointee to the position, Eric S. Sebert,
35:11
resigned under pressure following his refusal to move against Komy,
35:15
after concluding that the evidence was insufficient. Comy's lawyers contended
35:21
in their dismissal motion Monday that by replacing Siebert with Halligan,
35:26
the Trump administration flagrantly violated federal law to engineer a
35:33
retaliatory prosecution against a man who has emerged as one
35:38
of the president's most vocal critics. Typically, US attorneys who
35:44
yield a broad prosecutorial discretion to pursue civil and criminal
35:48
matters in their districts are nominated by the President and
35:52
confirmed or rejected in a Senate vote. But Trump is
35:56
pushed back on Capitol Hill to some of his more
35:59
controvert nursial nominees, prompting the Justice Department to deploy novel
36:05
tactics to keep his picks in their jobs. The administration's
36:11
strategy relies on two separate laws that govern who can
36:15
temporarily fill vacant US attorney positions when there is no
36:19
permanent Senate confirmed replacement. Under one statute, the law under
36:25
which Halligan was appointed, the Attorney generalman name an interim
36:31
u S Attorney to serve for a period of one
36:34
hundred and twenty days. After that point, if there's still
36:38
no Senate confirmed replacement, the judges in each federal court
36:42
district may appoint their own candidate. Comey's attorney argued that
36:47
because the Trump administration used that law to install Siebert,
36:52
who was named interim u S Attorney in January, served
36:56
a full one hundred day twenty day term, and was
36:59
later appointed to his position by judges, administration officials use
37:05
it again to name Sibat's replacement. The law does not
37:09
allow the Justice Apartment to make successive one hundred and
37:13
twenty day interim appointments, they argue, because if the administration
37:17
could do so, there would be no reason to seek
37:20
Senate confirmation. The Justice Department maintains that it does have
37:26
that authority. However, a federal judge had rejected the administration's
37:30
position a month before Holligan's appointment, ruling in August, on
37:36
a challenge to Trump's US attorney pick for New Jersey,
37:39
Elena Habba, US District Judge Matthew Brown concluded that the
37:44
government's reading of the law would allow the president to
37:49
appoint temporary picks indefinitely and potentially for an entire term,
37:55
with ever seeking the Senate's advice or consent for a
37:59
permanent appointee to the position.
38:02
Speaker 2: Ultimately, though Brin's.
38:05
Speaker 1: Ruling to disqualify Haba swung on a separate law governing
38:09
temporary appointments, one that is driving the other pending challenges
38:14
to Trump's US attorney picks. And there is a picture
38:18
of Donald Trump and Alina Haba, whom he named the
38:21
U S. Attorney for New Jersey, and you see him
38:26
holding her hand and she's holding they're shaking, but her
38:30
hand is underneath his as.
38:32
Speaker 2: Sort of a supporting shake.
38:37
Speaker 1: That statute, the Federal Vacancy's Reform Act automatically designates the
38:43
chief Deputy in the U. S. Attorney's Office, typically a
38:47
position held by a career prosecutor, to take over the
38:51
top job if there is a vacancy and the Attorney
38:55
General or the courts have not designated and an interim appointee.
39:01
Haba served a stint as interim US attorney in New Jersey.
39:05
At the end of the one hundred and twenty day period,
39:07
the Trump administration fired her deputy chief and installed Haba
39:11
in that role.
39:13
Speaker 2: It argued.
39:17
Speaker 1: That because Habo was now the first assistant, there was
39:21
no one in the top job, she could effectively remain
39:24
as U S attorney in and acting capacity. The Justice
39:30
Department has followed a similar strategy to retain interim u
39:34
S attorneys in Nevada, New Mexico, Albany, New York, and
39:39
Los Angeles, but brand in Haba's case and Campbell in
39:45
his ruling to disqualify Trump's US attorney pick in Nevada,
39:49
Sigal Shada rejected that maneuvering as unlawful. A three judge
39:55
panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Third
39:57
District also appeared skeptic as it hurt arguments Monday in
40:02
an appeal of the Hobbit case. Can you come up
40:07
with any example in which a concatenation of events has
40:13
occurred with respect to the appointment of any other US Attorney?
40:18
Chief Judge D. Brooke Smith pressed Henry C. Whittaker the
40:23
Justice Department lawyer arguing the case, Ritka conceded he could not. Still,
40:30
courts have dismissed arguments brought by criminal defendants who maintained
40:35
that if the U S. Attorney was unlawfully appointed, indictments
40:40
brought under their authority should be considered invalid, the claim
40:44
COMI has made. Brand and Campbell both noted in their
40:50
rulings that challenged cases brought under Habbah's and Chatta's watch
40:55
had been primarily handled by line prosecutors pitical staffers of
41:01
their U. S. Attorney's offices, whose legitimacy was not in question.
41:06
The cases could proceed under the oversight of those attorneys.
41:10
The judges said that reasoning could open an avenue for
41:14
the case against Komy to proceed even if Halligan's appointment
41:18
is ultimately deemed invalid. Coomy's lawyers maintained, though, that the
41:25
prosecution of the former FBI director differs in at least
41:29
one key respect. No career prosecutor was involved in securing
41:34
the indictment against him. Instead, Halligan, just days into the job,
41:41
presented the case to the grand jury herself, after several
41:44
prosecutors in her office advised her against doing so, she
41:50
was the only official in her office to sign the
41:52
indictment until two line prosecutors from the U. S. Attorney's
41:57
Office in North Carolina joined her prosecution team. Last week.
42:03
No career lawyers had signed on to the Komi case.
42:08
A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to address Komi's
42:12
arguments this week.
42:14
Speaker 2: Is lawyers have until November.
42:15
Speaker 1: Three to file their response in court. Mister Komi was
42:20
charged only because Miss Halligan was unlawfully appointed and then
42:25
personally secured and signed the indictment acting alone, Komi's attorneys
42:31
wrote in their court filings Monday, a dismissal with prejudice
42:36
is the only remedy. Going into the first section of
42:41
the paper, Medians may lose SNAP food stamp benefits if
42:47
shut down continues. Texas, New York, California, and to other
42:52
states say lower income families risk losing access to SNAP
42:58
assistance if the government shutdown continues into November. By Kelley
43:05
Kuslous's cho millions of Americans are at risk of losing
43:10
food stamp benefits before the end of this month if
43:14
the government shutdown continues. Officials in several states have warned
43:19
signaling further financial stress for lower income families already facing
43:24
slashed federal food program budgets and rising food costs.
43:29
Speaker 2: State warnings.
43:31
Speaker 1: Officials from several state offices and agencies have issued warnings
43:36
in recent days that large swaths of people may lose
43:40
benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP by
43:46
November due to an illibility to access federal funds.
43:51
Speaker 2: Instituted in nineteen thirty.
43:54
Speaker 1: Nine, SNAP provides food assistance to lower income families to
44:00
supplement their grocery budget to maintain adequate nutrition and health.
44:05
Speaker 2: First distributed as.
44:07
Speaker 1: Food stamps, it changed to a debit card like system
44:11
years ago. New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, Oklahoma, California, Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri,
44:20
and Minnesota are among the states where officials have issued
44:23
warning in recent days. Some have said November SNAP benefits
44:29
will be disrupted or not issued at all if the
44:32
shutdown continues past October twenty seventh. Others, including Pennsylvania, Oklahoma,
44:39
and Illinois, have at rand said at right said that
44:43
November benefits.
44:44
Speaker 2: Will not be paid.
44:48
Speaker 1: You're talking about millions and millions of vulnerable families, of
44:52
hungry families that are not going to have access to
44:55
these programs because of this shutdown, Agriculture Second Terry Brooke
45:01
Rawlins warned last week. SNAP benefits are fully funded by
45:06
the federal government, though the Republican led One Big Beautiful
45:10
Bill has laid out a plan for some states to
45:13
begin sharing a portion of the cost starting in the
45:16
twenty twenty eight physical year. The move sparked widespread criticism
45:21
from Democrats and advocacy groups, and the non partisan Congressional
45:26
Budget Office projected that it would decrease household resources.
45:31
Speaker 2: For lawer income families.
45:34
Speaker 1: The bills passing in July marked the largest cut to
45:37
the US safety net in decades. Under SNAP, supplemental funds
45:42
for food and groceries are distributed through an Electronic Benefits
45:46
Transfer or e b T, carried each month. The amount
45:51
allotted depends largely on household income, and all eligible recipients
45:57
have to meet a certain low income threshold informed by
46:01
federal poverty guidelines. Devastating impact. More than forty two million
46:08
people received SNAP benefits, according to government data from August
46:13
in twenty twenty four of a twelve point three percent
46:16
of US residents received them. SNAP benefits are unlikely to
46:21
cover a household's entire monthly food budget, though they certainly
46:25
make a difference for lower income families.
46:28
Speaker 2: The average SNAP.
46:29
Speaker 1: Benefit in physical year twenty twenty three was around three
46:33
hundred and twenty dollars a month per household or one
46:37
hundred and seventy seven dollars per person, The USDA Food
46:42
and Nutrition Service said earlier this year, for an average
46:46
SNAP recipient that is less than six dollars in food
46:50
assistance per day, SNAP is the largest and most effective
46:56
hunger prevention program in the country. Barbara seeg In, the
47:01
New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance Commissioners
47:05
said in a release. She added, to permit monthly benefits
47:11
to halt, we be an unprecedented and have an immediate
47:15
and devastating impact rising food costs. Food prices in the
47:22
United States have been rising faster than the pace of
47:25
overall inflation, whether at the supermarket or in restaurants, according
47:30
to the Consumer Price Index released by the USDA Economic
47:34
Research Service. The CPI projected in September. In twenty twenty five,
47:43
overall food prices are anticipated to rise faster than the
47:47
historical average rate of growth. The CPI for all food
47:53
increased zero point four percent from July to August twenty
47:58
twenty five. Food prices in August twenty twenty five, or
48:02
three point two percent higher than in August twenty twenty four.
48:06
Food insecurity in the country has also been on the rise. Anecdotally,
48:13
US families appear to be feeling the uptick in prices.
48:17
In a survey conducted by Pew Research earlier this year,
48:22
nine in ten respondents said that healthy food has become
48:26
more expensive for them, and nearly seventy percent said they
48:31
feel it has been made more difficult for them to
48:34
eat healthy Pentagon announces a new right wing press corps.
48:41
After mass walkout, a new crop of conservative media and influences,
48:47
including The Gateway Pundit, The Post Millennial, Human Events, and
48:53
The National Pulse, signed an agreement with the Defense Department
49:00
by Scott Nova and Drew Harwell. Nearly one week since
49:04
a rash of Pentagon journalist turned in their press credentials
49:09
after refusing to sign a new restrictive press policy, the
49:13
Defense Department announce to a new media press corps, largely
49:18
hailing from right wing outlets. The sixty people from various
49:23
news organizations represent a broad spectrum of new media outlets
49:28
and independent journalists, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Purnell wrote in his
49:34
statement Wednesday on x adding that all of the publications
49:38
agreed to the agency's press policy. According to a draft
49:42
of the announcement obtained by The Washington Post ahead of
49:45
Parnell's tweet, the coalition of signatories includes the cable network
49:50
Real America's voice streaming service Lindall TV, started by My
49:55
Pillow and CEO Trump Ally Mike Lindall, the website The Gateway, Pundit,
50:01
the Post Millennial, Human Events in National Pulse, and Red State.
50:07
It also includes Turning Point USA's media brand front Lines,
50:12
as well as Influenza, Tim Poole's Temcast, and a sub
50:16
stack based newsletter called Washington Report. The memo said that
50:22
many independent journalists also signed, but did not specify who
50:27
they were. The Defense Department's policy blocs journalists from soliciting
50:34
information the Department has not authorized for release, even unclassified details,
50:40
a major shift impressed outreach from the organization. Parnell said
50:45
that twenty six people from eighteen outlets signed the original document,
50:50
including an The Federalist and The Epic Times. Newsmalidia outlets
50:58
and independent journalists have created the formula to circumvent the
51:02
lines of the mainstream media and get real news directly to.
51:06
Speaker 2: The American people.
51:08
Speaker 1: Their reach and impact collectively are far more effective and
51:13
balanced than the self righteous media who chose to self
51:17
deport from the Pentagon, Parnell wrote on X The Defense
51:23
Department declined to offer additional comment or give the full
51:27
list of signatories. Tim Kass, the National Pulse, and The
51:31
Washington Reporter all confirmed to the Post that they had
51:34
signed the policy. The Post Millennial, Just the News, Human Events, TPUSA, Frontlines,
51:43
Lyndall TV, The Daily Signal, and The Gateway Pundit all
51:48
confirmed on X. The introduction of a new media press
51:54
Corps follows a similar move earlier this year by the
51:57
White House, which has held special briefings for influences, upstart
52:02
news outfits, and other non traditional media. It also had
52:07
a new media seat in the briefing room, sometimes occupied
52:10
by newer, yet more mainstream outlets like.
52:13
Speaker 2: Semaphore and Notice.
52:16
Speaker 1: Trump administration officials have defended their new media shift by
52:20
suggesting they want to reach a broader and more diverse
52:23
American audience, but many of the newest Press Corps entrants
52:27
are small partisan outlets with low online engagement. Only a
52:33
few of the new entrants, including The Gateway Pundit and
52:36
red State, rank among the top twenty right wing web
52:40
sites in the US. According to estimates from the online
52:44
data firm similar Web, cited by the political Content tracker
52:50
The Writing, The Gateway Pundit had twenty five million visits
52:54
in August to its website, while Red State had fewer
52:57
than ten million. The estimate said The New York Times,
53:01
by comparison, had nearly six hundred million visits. The Defense
53:06
Department has made previous attempts to boost less traditional media outlets,
53:11
in February, removing The New York Times and NPR from
53:15
their dedicated office spaces in February in favor of The
53:19
New York Post, Breitbart News, o AN, and a left
53:23
wing outlet huff Post. The resident media press Corps, as
53:29
it's known, of the journalists, reporters, producers, photographers, videographers who
53:35
cover the Pentagon on a day to day basis. Of
53:39
the Pentagon's new press corps, only owned was a regular
53:43
presence before last week's walk out. But there's a little
53:49
unity in conservative media over this policy, Fox News Defense
53:54
secretary Pete Hegseth's former employer, joined ABCCBSNBC, and CNN and
54:01
announcing you would not agree to the media policy.
54:05
Speaker 2: The joint statement.
54:06
Speaker 1: Read today, we joined virtually every other news organization in
54:11
declining to agree to the Pentagon's new requirements. The policy
54:16
is where a precedent and threatens Corps journalistic protections. Other
54:22
conservative outlets Newsmacs, The Washington Times, and The Washington Examiner,
54:27
all of which have reporters who regularly cover the Pentagon
54:30
from the building, also declined to sign, as did The
54:34
Daily Call Up. The Post previously reported that only fifteen
54:39
people had signed the media policy as of October the sixteenth,
54:43
the day after the walk code. That list included Onan,
54:47
The Federalist, and Epic Times, as well as a smattering
54:50
of foreign outlets, freelances, and little known independent journalists. The
54:56
outlets that have stepped in to take the Old Guard's
54:59
place of relatively scrappy and less well known, and some
55:03
have trafficked in conspiracy theories. Tim Poole, CEO of Timcast,
55:09
wrote in a statement that his plan is to have
55:12
the outlet's White House correspondent attend any press briefings the
55:16
Pentagon may hold. Our access is mostly for general inquiries,
55:20
said interviews and interviews, Poole wrote, adding shoot a story
55:26
for some reason end up in air lapse that may
55:28
put us at odds with the Pentagon's press policy. We
55:31
will always prioritize the public's right to know and transparency. However,
55:37
given that we are not investigative reporters, we don't expect
55:41
to find ourselves in these circumstances. Pool, a popular YouTube book,
55:48
previously worked for a group called Tenant Media that the
55:51
Justice Department said in an indictment was operated by Russian
55:55
government funded our tee. He previously posted on x I
56:00
just read the Dow Press memo and I don't understand
56:05
what the media is complaining about, referencing the Department of
56:10
War the Trump administration's rebanding of the Defense Department. Gateway Pundit,
56:16
a popular right wing website, filed for bankruptcy after facing
56:20
a slew of lawsuits over its content. It settled one
56:24
high profile deformation lawsuit filed by Georgia election workers in.
56:28
Speaker 2: Twenty twenty four.
56:30
Speaker 1: Human Rights is the small right wing news block edited
56:34
by Jack Posobek, a right wing podcaster, who was invited
56:38
to travel with Hegsass on an overseas trip to Europe
56:42
earlier this year, though he did not attend. PROSOBC recently
56:46
criticized reporters for yelling questions at President Donald Trump and
56:51
Russian President Vladimir Putin at an August summit. Maybe I
56:56
was raised a little differently, he told Stephen K. Banham
57:00
on a podcast. The National Post's editor in chief, Rahim
57:05
Casam confirmed that the outlet had signed the press policy,
57:09
but declined to share details about future coverage. It is correct,
57:14
much like the Washington Post, we do not intend to
57:17
divulge as editorial decisions to external parties, Cossam wrote. Matthew Foldy,
57:25
editor in chief of The Washington Reporter, confirmed that his
57:28
outlet had raised its hand to sign the press policy.
57:32
The former Press Corps disgraced itself on a more or
57:36
less daily basis with what they covered and what they
57:39
didn't cover, and we at the Washington Reporter are eager
57:42
to pick up their slack, he told The Post. Pentagon
57:47
Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson sat for an interview with Turning
57:51
Point ussay's front Lines channel last week. Turning Point USA
57:56
was started by Charlie Kirk. The right wing influence a
57:59
cause an event in Utah last month. The interviewer Monica
58:05
Page had asked Wilson to clear up any misconceptions about
58:09
the policy a sympathetic set up for Pentagon official. What
58:13
are maybe the mainstream media reporters getting wrong about this policy?
58:18
Speaker 2: Page asked.
58:19
Speaker 1: Wilson then made false claims that when the Pentagon reporters
58:22
could go to wherever they wanted in the building and
58:25
said that the policy compromises reasonable common sense asks and
58:31
that not only ends the article, but ends the reading
58:34
for Today's Washington Post on the twenty third of October
58:38
of twenty twenty five, I'm back. I will be here
58:42
Saturday morning. Have a beautiful day, and I hate to
58:46
say it. Stay warm.
58:48
Speaker 2: Bye.