The Full Belmonte, 12/20/2022
Jan. 6 Committee Votes to Refer Trump to Justice Department for Criminal Charges
The investigation focused on the former president’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election
WASHINGTON—The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol voted to refer former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department for four potential criminal charges, culminating its 18-month probe.
“Key findings in the committee’s investigation include allegations that Mr. Trump disseminated false allegations of fraud related to the 2020 election, provoking his supporters to violence on Jan. 6, according to the executive summary, which the committee released following the Monday meeting.
Despite knowing that he had lost dozens of election lawsuits, Mr. Trump refused to accept that his opponent, Joe Biden, won the election and ‘plotted to overturn the election outcome,’ the committee concluded, according to the summary, which contained a large amount of testimony aired in previous hearings.
‘We’ve never had a president of the United States stir up a violent attempt to block the transfer of power,’ Rep. Bennie Thompson (D., Miss.), chairman of the committee, said in an opening statement at Monday’s meeting. ‘I believe nearly two years later this is still a time of reflection and reckoning.’
Rep. Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.), the committee’s vice chairwoman, said: ‘Among the most shameful of this committee’s findings was that President Trump sat in the dining room off the Oval Office watching the violent riot at the Capitol on television [and] would not issue a public statement instructing his supporters to disperse.’ She added: ‘He is unfit for any office.’
The committee in its meeting unveiled four criminal referrals of Mr. Trump to the Justice Department, including obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to make false statements and incitement of an insurrection.
A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment on the committee’s referrals.
The criminal referrals, the first ever by Congress against a former president, don’t carry legal weight, since Congress has no formal say in Justice Department decisions. The Justice Department has been pursuing its own investigation related to Jan. 6 and last month named a special counsel, Jack Smith, to lead that effort.
Earlier this month Mr. Trump’s family business, the Trump Organization, was convicted of criminal tax fraud in connection with an off-the-books compensation scheme to pay some executives in car leases, apartments and cash. The former president and a number of his political allies are also under investigation in Georgia for their efforts to overturn his election defeat there.
The legal challenges come as Mr. Trump has launched a bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and against the backdrop of disappointing midterm election results, in which a number of high-profile candidates he endorsed lost. A number of elected officials and wealthy donors have said Mr. Trump should step aside, aides say his nascent campaign is regrouping.
‘These folks don’t get it that when they come after me, people who love freedom rally around me,’ Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. ‘It strengthens me. What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.’
The committee also made criminal referrals of John Eastman, a constitutional lawyer acting as Mr. Trump’s lawyer in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6 and who spoke to the crowd at the Ellipse before the Capitol, for obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiring to defraud the U.S. A lawyer representing Mr. Eastman criticized the committee in a statement, saying it was ‘absurdly partisan’ and designed to benefit Democrats.
Former President Donald Trump has said he did nothing wrong and has called the Jan. 6 panel a partisan witch hunt.PHOTO: PHOTO: CHANDAN KHANNA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
‘The whole purpose and obvious effect of Trump’s scheme were to obstruct, influence and impede this official proceeding, the central moment for the lawful transfer of power in the United States,’ Rep. Jamie Raskin (D., Md.) said in the meeting.
A federal judge in a case involving the committee earlier this year said Messrs. Trump and Eastman ‘more likely than not’ committed a felony in their efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Mr. Eastman filed a lawsuit against the committee to stop the release of emails to House investigators, claiming they were the product of his work as an attorney and exempt from disclosure. The judge, in rejecting the lawsuit, cited the crime-fraud exception, which removes protections for documents written in furtherance of a crime.
Mr. Eastman in comments to reporters after the panel’s meeting Monday said he was merely conducting research into election laws and recommended that Vice President Mike Pence delay counting Electoral College votes on Jan. 6 because of requests from state legislators.
The panel is also referring Republican House members Kevin McCarthy of California, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Andy Biggs of Arizona to the House Ethics Committee for failing to comply with subpoenas sent by the committee earlier this year to the lawmakers. Mr. McCarthy, the minority leader, is running to be speaker of the next session of the House and Mr. Jordan is expected to become the next chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
‘This is just another partisan and political stunt made by a select committee,’ a spokesman for Mr. Jordan said in a statement, while a spokesman for Mr. Perry said the referrals came from ‘a petulant and soon-to-be defunct kangaroo court desperate for revenge.’ Mr. Biggs, in a statement posted on Twitter, said it was inappropriate to use the House Ethics Committee ‘to help reach the J6 Committee’s pre-determined conclusions.’
Representatives for Mr. McCarthy didn’t respond to requests for comment.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Biden From Ending Trump-Era Border Policy
Chief Justice John Roberts freezes lower court order canceling Title 42
A woman crosses the Rio Grande toward El Paso, Texas, which has been overwhelmed with a new surge of migrants.PHOTO: PAUL RATJE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
“WASHINGTON—Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily extended a Trump-era policy that bars asylum applicants from entering the U.S. to protect the American population from Covid-19, issuing a brief order on Monday that maintains the status quo while the Supreme Court considers an emergency request from Republican-led states to keep the exclusions in place.
In November, a federal judge found the policy unlawful because it denies applicants a chance to seek humanitarian protection. Title 42, the pandemic-era public-health measure allowing migrants to be quickly expelled back to Mexico after crossing the border illegally, was set to expire on Wednesday, leaving immigration officials scrambling to put in place a new legal regime that could stem the flow of unlawful migration.
Chief Justice Roberts, who oversees emergency matters from the District of Columbia, gave the Biden administration until 5 p.m. Tuesday to file its legal response. The temporary order is to remain in effect until the court decides the emergency request, led by the Republican attorneys general of Arizona and Louisiana.
The order doesn’t indicate the court’s view of the legal issues. But the court’s conservative majority has in other cases issued emergency orders that blocked Biden administration priorities, from public-health measures to combat Covid-19 to the plan to forgive student-loan debt. In the latter case, the court rejected the administration’s request to lift lower court orders suspending the plan and set the cases for argument in February.
In a statement Monday after the court’s order, the Department of Homeland Security said Title 42 would ‘remain in effect at this time and individuals who attempt to enter the United States unlawfully will continue to be expelled to Mexico. While this stage of the litigation proceeds, we will continue our preparations to manage the border in a safe, orderly, and humane way when the Title 42 public health order lifts.’
The Biden administration has been narrowing in on a plan that would combine Trump-era limits on asylum claims at the border with a new system for asylum seekers to apply to enter the U.S. legally, according to people familiar with the matter.
Title 42 is believed to have acted as a deterrent for some migrants seeking asylum because they could be turned back even if they asked for protection.
With that deterrent potentially ending, the administration is racing to put together a combination of policies aimed at staving off what is expected to be an unprecedented increase in illegal border crossings once the policy lifts, a prospect that could quickly overwhelm the Border Patrol, cities near the southern border and nonprofit shelters. Some border cities have already seen surges of migrants in anticipation of Title 42’s end.
Though officials are still completing specific policy elements, the overall plan they are moving toward would enact a new series of carrots and sticks to deter would-be asylum seekers from attempting to cross the border illegally and let them apply for admission into the U.S. instead.
A key deterrence measure would be an updated version of a short-lived Trump-era policy known as the transit ban. That ban would target migrants who cross the border illegally, subjecting them to quick deportation unless they can pass a tougher initial asylum screening, according to people familiar with the plans.
Migrants stand on the banks of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, where city officials have recorded an average of about 2,500 crossings a day.PHOTO: PAUL RATJE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
For migrants of some nationalities, the administration is planning to offer an alternative path into the U.S., allowing them to apply through an online portal for permission to fly to the U.S., where they can live on temporary humanitarian grounds and apply for asylum. The administration created such an immigration program for Venezuelan migrants in October, and it is expected to be expanded to Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans.
Some migrants will also be permitted to apply for asylum at legal land border crossings, though the administration will likely require them to register for an appointment in advance by filling out their information on a mobile application called CBP1, according to people familiar with the administration’s thinking. It couldn’t be determined how many migrants would be permitted to enter the U.S. using either pathway.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment Monday on specific policy measures the administration may put in place.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Lawmakers unveil government funding bill to stave off Friday shutdown
The so-called omnibus would provide the military with $858 billion this fiscal year, while funding domestic programs at more than $772 billion.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and other Marylanders were pushing for language that would favor their state when it came to picking a site for a new FBI headquarters. | Samuel Corum/Getty Images
“Senior lawmakers early Tuesday released the text of a $1.7 trillion year-end spending bill that Congress is racing to pass by Friday at midnight, when current government funding expires.
The bill would provide the military with $858 billion for the current fiscal year, a nearly 10 percent boost over current levels. The massive measure would fund domestic programs at more than $772 billion, including nearly $119 billion, or a 22 percent increase, for veterans’ medical care, according to Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy’s office. The measure also includes $45 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine, exceeding President Joe Biden’s $37 billion request, and $40 billion in disaster assistance for storm and wildfire recovery. Read the bill here; read the summary here.
The Senate is expected to act first on the spending package this week and seek a time agreement that would alloCan w the bill to pass before Thursday night, sending it to the House. Any senator could hold up that deal in exchange for amendments or concessions.” Read more at POLITICO
Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape in Los Angeles trial
“LOS ANGELES (AP) — After a month-long trial and nine days of deliberations, Los Angeles jurors on Monday found Harvey Weinstein guilty of the rape and sexual assault of just one of the four accusers he was charged with abusing.
But the three guilty counts involving an Italian actor and model known at the trial as Jane Doe 1 still struck a major blow against the disgraced movie mogul, and provided another #MeToo moment of reckoning, five years after he became a magnet for the movement.
Weinstein, 70, who is two years into a 23-year sentence for a rape and sexual assault conviction in New York that is under appeal, could get up to 24 years in prison in California when he’s sentenced.
He was found guilty of rape, forced oral copulation and another sexual misconduct count involving the woman who said he appeared uninvited at her hotel room door during a Los Angeles film festival in 2013.” Read more at AP News
Twitter investors are divided on Musk moves
“Twitter's investors have divided into two camps: copacetic and apoplectic.
Why it matters: Elon Musk never intended to lead the site forever, both based on public and private comments. But investors were told that a transition would occur between the three and six month mark, not based on a crowdsourced decision just six weeks into his ownership.
Reminder: Musk is Twitter's majority owner, but his $44 billion takeover was partially financed by outside equity investors that include venture capital funds, mutual funds, wealthy individuals, corporations and sovereign wealth funds.
Catch up quick: It was a very messy weekend at Twitter, including some journalist accounts getting suspended, and the creation of an already-rescinded policy that blocked all users from mentioning or linking to their other social media accounts.
It culminated in Musk launching a Twitter poll last night, asking if he should step down as ‘head’ of Twitter, saying he'd abide by the result. More than 57% of users responded affirmatively.
No successor appears to have been chosen, and it's unclear if Musk will step down immediately, or use the poll results to launch a CEO search process. It's also worth emphasizing that any new chief executive would report to Musk, so a switch may be more stylistic than substantive.
Some optimistic shareholders believe that Musk has largely done what he said he would do — stripping out costs and increasing engagement. Short-term pain for long-term gain.
One source in this camp adds that while Musk is factually wrong in tweeting yesterday that Twitter was ‘on the fast lane to bankruptcy since May,’ it's a falsehood that Musk also has previously applied to SpaceX as a rhetorical tool to motivate both himself and others.
There's acknowledgment that Musk had a very bad weekend, but his past success with SpaceX and Tesla gives confidence that he'll eventually figure things out.
But a group of worried investors include some limited partners of VC funds in the first group. One tells Axios that he’s dreading having to be grilled on this situation in front of his institution’s investment committee.
All investors knew that Musk marches to the beat of his own drummer, and that he’s partial to nonlinear business decisions. But they’ve been taken aback by Musk publicly attacking Twitter advertisers (i.e., customers), getting distracted by media beefs and the CEO poll.
The group's general sentiment is that Musk has already decided he overpaid, and thus is no longer valuing their investment as an owner should.
The bottom line: Musk last week reached out to existing Twitter shareholders, asking them to buy even more stock at the $44 billion price. No matter what investors are saying publicly or to reporters on background, we'll learn where they really stand by how they respond to his offer.” Read more at Axios
Arctic blast and intense winter holiday storm to slam U.S.
“Some 33 million people are under winter storm watches and 27 million others are under wind chill alerts ahead of an Arctic outbreak and a related major storm sweeping the country this week.
Threat level: Artic air began to bite across the Northern Plains Monday, ahead of the blockbuster storm forming and hammering the Midwest and the Great Lakes later this week. Forecasters are warning of power outages and "extensive" holiday travel delays throughout the Midwest and East.
‘A surge of Arctic air behind a cold front crossing the U.S. through the week will bring widespread, dangerous wind chill temperatures through much of the central U.S. and a potential flash freeze from the mid-South to the East Coast,’ per a National Weather Service update Monday night.
‘A major winter storm will form on this front bringing heavy snow and high winds creating blizzard conditions for parts of the Plains into the Great Lakes.’
By the numbers: 270 million people in the Lower 48 states are expected to see temperatures plunge to 32°F or below during the next seven days, and a major winter storm will strike the Midwest, according to National Weather Service forecast data analyzed by Weatherbell.com.
About 55 million people in the Lower 48 states are expected to see temperatures hit 0°F or below during the next seven days, per NWS forecasts.
What's next: The monster storm is forecast to start slamming the north-central U.S. on Wednesday night. Affected cities include Buffalo, Des Moines, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Kansas City and Chicago — where the National Weather service is warning of ‘dangerous cold,’ blizzard conditions and strong winds.
The NWS warned low visibility and drifting snow will from Thursday make travel ‘difficult to impossible’ in Chicago and strong winds would likely bring power outages.
Meanwhile, the Dallas-Ft. Worth area is expected to see two to three days of temperatures below freezing, including Christmas Eve, with bitterly cold wind chills during the period.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said in a statement that the grid operator "expects sufficient generation to meet forecasted demand" in the state after working with the Public Utility Commission to ‘implement reforms.’
Between the lines: For many people, it will be the coldest Christmas Eve and Christmas in many years, with some seeing the coldest Christmas since the 1980s.” Read more at Axios
FBI warns of explosion of "sextortion" schemes targeting kids and teens
“The FBI issued a public safety alert Monday about an ‘explosion’ of financial ‘sextortion’ schemes targeting children and teens.
Why it matters: The agency said it has received more than 7,000 reports of financial sextortion against minors over the past year and has recorded at least 3,000 victims of the crime — primarily boys. It also linked more than a dozen suicides to such schemes.
The agency released the alert in partnership with Homeland Security Investigations and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The ‘sextortion’ schemes involve victims being coerced online into sending explicit images and then extorted for money or gift cards through threats to release the images.
Federal law enforcement said a large percentage of the schemes originate outside of the U.S., primarily in West African countries including Nigeria and the Ivory Coast.
What they're saying: The FBI advised parents and caregivers to remain vigilant over the holidays and to talk to children about the schemes ‘so we can prevent them in the first place.’
‘The FBI has seen a horrific increase in reports of financial sextortion schemes targeting minor boys—and the fact is that the many victims who are afraid to come forward are not even included in those numbers,’ FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement Monday.
‘The FBI is here for victims, but we also need parents and caregivers to work with us to prevent this crime before it happens and help children come forward if it does. Victims may feel like there is no way out—it is up to all of us to reassure them that they are not in trouble, there is hope, and they are not alone,’ his statement continued.
The big picture: The schemes usually occur on social media platforms, gaming websites and video chat apps, with online predators typically targeting minor males between 14 to 17 years old by using fake female accounts.
The FBI said it has interviewed victims as young as 10 years old and that many of the images were released even if payments were made.
Victims, because of shame, guilt or fear, often do not seek help or report the abuse, per the alert.” Read more at Axios
The murky details in one congressman-elect's campaign biography
“Republican Rep.-elect George Santos clinched victory on Long Island last month. But large portions of his résumé — which he made central to his campaign — have been called into question, according to a New York Times report out Monday.
The big picture: Santos, the first openly gay, non-incumbent Republican elected to the House, is the son of Brazilian immigrants who the GOP touted as an embodiment of the American dream.
Santos' campaign biography highlighted stints at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and noted that he worked at his family's firm, which he said managed more than $80 million in assets.
The website also said he founded an animal rescue charity that has saved thousands of dogs and cats.
Yes, but: Key parts of his biography could not be verified, the New York Times reports after reviewing public documents and court filings. For example, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs told the Times they had no record of Santos ever working there.
A spokesperson for Citi was not able to confirm to Axios that Santos was employed with the bank.
A Goldman Sachs spokesperson also confirmed that they had no record of employment for Santos.
Santos has said he ran a 501(c)(3) nonprofit animal rescue organization called Friends of Pets United for five years. But a search on the Internal Revenue Service's website did not return a listing for a charity by that name.
ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer site — which compiles IRS filings for roughly the 2011-2018 fiscal years — includes no organization with that name.
Baruch College, where Santos said he graduated, told Axios it checked school records for someone with his name and date of birth but didn't find a match.
New York University also said it found no record of someone with Santos' name and date of birth attending the institution.
The website of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House Republicans' campaign arm, says he attended both Baruch College and NYU.
Santos also reported a $750,000 salary and more than $1 million in dividends from his family's firm, the Devolder Organization, which does not have any easily accessible public websites, and his disclosure did not note any clients.
Of note: The biography on his campaign's website was significantly revised between Oct. 21 and 27 to remove references to Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, the family's firm and the nonprofit, according to archived versions of the site captured by the Wayback Machine.
A spokesperson for Santos did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
What they're saying: Joe Murray, an attorney for Santos, said that ‘George Santos represents the kind of progress that the Left is so threatened by - a gay, Latino, immigrant and Republican who won a Biden district in overwhelming fashion by showing everyday voters that there is a better option than the broken promises and failed policies of the Democratic Party.’
‘After four years in the public eye, and on the verge of being sworn in as a member of the Republican led 118th Congress, the New York Times launches this shotgun blast of attacks,’ Murray said in a statement.
‘It is no surprise that Congressman-elect Santos has enemies at the New York Times who are attempting to smear his good name with these defamatory allegations.’
State of play: Santos flipped his seat from blue to red in November after beating Democrat Robert Zimmerman.” Read more at Axios
Air Force grounds entire B-2 fleet after emergency landing
“WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force has grounded its entire fleet of B-2 stealth bombers following an emergency landing and fire earlier this month, and none of the strategic aircraft will perform flyovers at this years’ college bowl games.
A bomber experienced an in-flight malfunction on Dec. 10, forcing it to make an emergency landing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where it caught fire. The fire was extinguished and there were no injuries.
The standdown is significant in that there are fewer than 20 stealth bombers in the entire fleet and the aircraft provides, along with the B-52 Stratofortress, the air leg of the nation’s nuclear triad. The B-2 has been regularly deployed to the Indo-Pacific and more recently to Europe as a show of force. During the standdown the entire fleet will be inspected, 509th Bomb Wing spokeswoman Air Force Master Sgt. Beth Del Vecchio said.
The B-2 was scheduled to fly over the 2023 Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game but it will be replaced by the B-1 Lancer, the 509th Bomb Wing said in a statement.” Read more at AP News
Drones Strike Ukraine as Kyiv Scrambles to Restore Power and Heating
A new wave of Russian attacks using Iranian-made drones comes as Kyiv says it has restored power to six million people
“Russia launched a fresh wave of drone attacks against Ukraine on Monday as the country struggled to repair energy infrastructure damaged by recent missile attacks that have left millions without power.
The Ukrainian Air Force said it destroyed 30 Iranian-made Shahed 136 drones launched by Russia overnight into Monday from the eastern coast of the Azov Sea. Authorities in Kyiv said 23 of the drones, which detonate upon impact, had been spotted in the skies over the Ukrainian capital in the morning, of which 18 were shot down. No number was given for the total number of drones used in Monday’s attack on Ukraine.
The head of Kyiv’s military administration, Serhiy Popko, said emergency workers were doing repair work on some infrastructure that was hit. Debris from drones shot down over the city also blew out the windows of one high-rise building in the city center and damaged the surface of a road, he said, though no injuries were reported.
The new wave of attacks came as Ukrainian authorities were touting the results of the latest repair effort to water and power infrastructure affected by a Russian missile barrage that had damaged nine power-generating facilities as well as electricity substations.
The regional administration building in Kherson, in southern Ukraine, was hit in a Russian strike.PHOTO: SERHII KOROVAYNY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
In his nightly television address on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said power had been brought back online for six million people throughout the country. The mayor of Kyiv said that heating was fully restored to the capital, but that one-third of the city remained without electricity.
Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s electricity-transmission-system operator, said that, as of Monday morning, emergency power shutoffs continue in 10 regions of Ukraine and that repairs there could take some time. It didn’t specify the number of Ukrainians still living with daily blackouts.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Ball From Aaron Judge’s 62nd Home Run Sells for $1.5 Million
Predicted by an auction house to break records and sell for more than $3 million, the ball went for half that amount.
“Aaron Judge’s 62-homer season for the Yankees helped him secure the largest contract awarded to a player in this off-season, but the baseball from that last home run was somewhat of a disappointment at auction.
Caught by a spectator at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Oct. 4, the ball was predicted by Goldin Auctions to set a record by selling for more than $3 million. Instead, it sold for $1.5 million to an anonymous bidder who was described in a statement by the auction house on Sunday as a ‘prominent Midwestern businessman and collector.’
In a statement released by Goldin, Cory Youmans, the seller of the ball, repeatedly referred to the buyer as ‘Joe.’
As a result of the sale price coming in lower than expected, the record for a game-used ball at public auction will continue to be the $3,005,000 fetched by the ball from Mark McGwire’s record-setting 70th home run in the 1998 season.” Read more at New York Times