The Full Belmonte, 1/5/2024
Trump received millions of dollars from foreign governments while president, House Democrats allege
“Former President Donald Trump unconstitutionally profited from the presidency during his tenure in the White House, reaping millions of dollars for his business empire from foreign governments, House Democrats allege in an extensive report. The takeaway: The 156-page report released Thursday morning by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee accuses Trump of exploiting the presidency to financially benefit himself and members of his family. Among the report’s findings and records available to the committee, China made the most payments to Trump’s businesses during his tenure, spending more than $5.5 million.” Read more at USA Today
Ranking member of the House Oversight Committee Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) speaks next to Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) on Capitol Hill January 4, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Drew Angerer, Getty Images
Biden's warning on the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection
“Nearly three years ago, a mob of Donald Trump supporters attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election results.
Since then, about 750 defendants have been sentenced, with almost two-thirds receiving some time behind bars, but the criminal investigation into the incident is far from over.
•President Joe Biden will mark the anniversary by making the the case that democracy is on the line in this year’s presidential election. Biden is expected to use his remarks in Pennsylvania on Saturday to remind voters of Trump’s efforts to hang onto power.
•Poll: Trump supporters − who generally accept his unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent − are prepared to believe those allegations again in 2024. Trump has dangled the prospect of pardons for supporters who participated in the storming of the Capitol if he returns to the White House.
•A House committee that investigated the insurrection concluded that ‘the central cause of Jan. 6 was one man” – Trump.’” [USA Today]
Multiple victims shot at Iowa high school, gunman dead
Local residents pray during a candlelight vigil following a shooting at Perry High School, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, in Perry, Iowa.
Charlie Neibergall, AP
“Three people were injured in a shooting at an Iowa high school today, and the gunman is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, multiple law enforcement officials told NBC News.
The victims include two students and one school administrator, the officials said. Details on the severity of their injuries was not immediately available.
One student said she saw ‘blood on the floor’ as she ran away. ‘I get to my car and they’re taking a girl out of the auditorium who had been shot in her leg,’ she said.
The shooting comes on the first day of the new semester for the Perry Community School District, following the winter break.
The terrifying incident happened just 11 days before the Iowa caucuses, which will kick off the 2024 Republican presidential primaries.” [NBC News]
Newly unsealed Jeffrey Epstein documents reveal names of associates
“Nearly a thousand pages of court documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been unsealed, containing some powerful names, but lacking the bombshell revelations many conspiracy theorists had been hoping for.
Much of the information in the first batch of documents has previously been made public. The files include deposition transcripts that mention former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, but do not allege any wrongdoing by either man. Both have previously denied wrongdoing.
Other prominent names mentioned in the documents include Prince Andrewand attorney Alan Dershowitz, but neither has been criminally charged in connection with the case. Prince Andrew and Dershowitz have previously denied any wrongdoing.
The documents stem from a civil lawsuit filed by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime confidant who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.
More Epstein court documents will be released on a rolling basis, a New York federal court spokesman said.” [NBC News]
Major winter storm threatens East Coast with snow and rain
“We’re tracking a major winter storm sweeping across the country that could bring the first significant snowfall in two years to some cities in the Northeast.
Right now, the system is bringing a wintry mix to the Rockies, and it’s expected to push into the Southern Plains throughout the day.
On Friday, the storm moves into the South, where severe weather will be the primary threat along the Gulf Coast.
By Saturday, the system will move up the East Coast. Snowfall chances for Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia are dwindling, with a dusting to 1 inch possible Friday through Sunday, leaving roadways mostly wet.
New York City is currently seeing a forecast for 1-3 inches, while Boston and Providence could see 6 inches or more.” [NBC News]
Twenty-two states increased their minimum wages this month.
(The Washington Post)
“Where? Washington has the highest U.S. minimum wage at $16.28 per hour. California and some parts of New York rose to $16. Check each state’s jump here.
What it means: The increases will bump wages for about 9.9 million workers, one analysis shows. Women make up a majority of those receiving a wage increase.”
Read this story at Washington Post
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley participate in back-to-back CNN town halls in Iowa on Thursday.
Presidential race
“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley ramped up their attacks on Republican frontrunner Donald Trump during back-to-back CNN town halls Thursday in Iowa. Haley touted her electability, saying ‘chaos follows him,’ referring to Trump, while also noting her strength in polls and foreign policy experience. DeSantis slammed Trump, criticizing his legal woes and his repeated refusal to debate. He also pitched his economic policies, including eliminating the IRS and implementing a flat tax rate. President Joe Biden is also sharpening his attacks on Trump with a planned campaign speech today about protecting democracy. It comes one day ahead of the anniversary of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol.” [CNN]
It took decades, but San Francisco finally installs nets to stop suicides off Golden Gate Bridge
“Suicide-prevention barriers at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge have been completed more than a decade after officials greenlighted a project to install stainless-steel mesh nets on both sides of the 1.7-mile bridge.” Read More at AP News
A judge in Oregon refuses to dismiss a 2015 climate lawsuit filed by youth
“A judge in Oregon has rejected a U.S. Department of Justice request to dismiss a 2015 lawsuit brought by young people that alleges the federal government knew the dangers posed by carbon pollution but that it has continued through policies and subsidies to support the fossil fuel industry.” Read More at AP News
U.S. drone strike kills Iran-linked militia leader in Iraq
“A U.S. drone strike in Baghdad killed the leader of an Iran-linked militia group today, according to a senior defense official.
Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari, the leader of Harakat-al-Nujaba, was ‘actively involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel,’ the official said.
The strike also killed one other Harakat-al-Nujaba member, but no civilians were harmed and no infrastructure or facilities were struck, the official said.
The Iraqi government has condemned the strike, including calling it ‘a dangerous escalation and assault on Iraq.’
It comes a day after two blasts in Iran killed dozens of people at a memorial for a top general.
An ISIS-affiliated group has now claimed responsibility for that attack, but its involvement has not been confirmed by NBC News.” [NBC News]
Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for a pair of bombings that killed dozens of people yesterday in the largest attack in Iran since the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
“Iranian authorities are investigating the blasts and have vowed revenge. The Middle East is on edge because of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas—an Islamist militant group that has moved closer to Iran in recent years—and increasing tensions between the U.S. and Israel on one side and other Iranian-backed militant groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen on the other. Separately, a deadly U.S. drone strike in Baghdad was the Biden administration’s first known targeted killing of an Iranian-backed militia leader. The attack that killed Moshtaq Talib Al-Saadi marked a more aggressive bid to stop ongoing attacks on American forces there, U.S. officials said.” [Wall Street Journal]
An investigation into a fiery collision at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport is trying to figure out why a Japan Coast Guard plane was on the same runway where a Japan Airlines jet had permission to land.
“Regulators said they found no record of the coast guard aircraft being cleared to go on the runway. A control-tower transcript shows it being told to taxi to a holding point next to the runway, followed by one of the two pilots correctly repeating the instruction. Two minutes later, the aircraft collided. The captain, the coast guard plane’s sole survivor, said he had received permission to enter the runway, according to a coast guard official. The black box will help determine what the captain and the co-pilot said during the final minutes. The three Japan Airlines pilots said they didn’t see the other aircraft, according to the airline. The coast guard plane was bringing aid to Japan’s west coast, site of a New Year’s Day earthquake.” [Wall Street Journal]
'We are the ones serving a life sentence'
Reeva Steenkamp's mother (left) said her husband (right), who died last year, suffered from a ‘broken heart’ caused by their daughter's death. Credit: Reuters
“Paralympian medallist Oscar Pistorius has been released from prison on parole, having served half of his more than 13-year sentence for murdering his girlfriend, law graduate and model Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day 2013. Until his sentence expires in 2029, he will be subject to conditions that, if violated, would return him to jail. Ms Steenkamp's mother June said she welcomed the conditions imposed by the parole board, adding that those decisions had ‘affirmed Barry and my belief in the South African justice system’, referring to her late husband. But, she added: ‘There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back. We, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence.’
•What's next for Pistorius: Family and friends of Ms Steenkamp tell Daniel De Simone they fear the renewed spotlight on the former athlete will cause them further misery.
•'She had a beautiful heart and ambition': Kerry Smith and Reeva Steenkamp had planned to open a law firm to help abused women. This is how Ms Smith remembered her friend in a 2014 interview.” [BBC]
Middle East Escalations
A member of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces holds a sign identifying one of the group’s slain members during a funeral in Baghdad on Jan. 4.Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP
“U.S. forces launched an airstrike on a vehicle transporting top members of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iran-linked paramilitary faction that is part of Iraq’s larger Hashed al-Shaabi (or Popular Mobilization Forces), in eastern Baghdad on Thursday. At least two militants, including senior commander Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi, were killed and six others wounded. The assault struck near the brigade’s logistics headquarters.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani called the attack a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and a ‘dangerous escalation and assault’ in an already-volatile region. ‘Iraq reserves its right to take a firm stance and take all measures that deter anyone who tries to harm its land and security forces,’ the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said.
The United States deems Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba a terrorist organization, with one U.S. official saying Saidi was targeted because he ‘had American blood on his hands.’ The Shiite Islamist group is closely aligned with Iran and actively opposes Washington’s support of Israel. However, its membership in Hashed al-Shaabi, which falls under government authority, has limited state crackdowns on the group’s activities.
Since the Israel-Hamas war first began on Oct. 7, militants have launched more than 100 attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq and Syria. Iran-linked armed groups that oppose U.S. engagement in the Middle East have claimed responsibility for many of these assaults. Last month, Washington carried out retaliatory strikes against Iranian-aligned militants in Iraq after three U.S. soldiers were wounded in an attack on a U.S. base. Around 2,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, with another 900 service members in Syria.
Thursday’s strike is the latest high-profile killing to rock the Middle East this week. On Tuesday, Israeli troops killed top Hamas officials meeting in Beirut. A day later, twin bombings killed more than 100 people attending a procession in Iran to remember the 2020 assassination of former military commander Qassem Suleimani by U.S. forces. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s explosions.” [Foreign Policy]
“Debt bailout. A delegation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived in Argentina on Thursday to finalize a deal to restart a suspended $44 billion bailout program. If confirmed, the IMF will unlock more than $3 billion in new funding at a time when Buenos Aires is due to pay more than $2 billion by the end of the month. This will be the first time IMF officials meet with newly elected President Javier Milei, who campaigned on finance reform and kicked off his tenure with extensive economic shock measures.
But the start of the new year has been far from smooth sailing for Milei. On Wednesday, an Argentine court suspended the president’s labor reforms, arguing that they violated worker protections. Under the proposed policies, probationary periods would extend from three to eight months, pregnancy leave would shorten, and dismissed employees would receive less compensation. Milei is expected to appeal the decision, and the country’s main labor union has called for a nationwide strike on Jan. 24.” [Foreign Policy]
“Israel-Hamas future. An uptick in Israeli shelling killed at least 16 Palestinians, including nine children, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Thursday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Locals said Israeli forces also attacked three refugee camps in the region, killing at least five people. The recent operations have prompted more Palestinians to flee south as international condemnation of the war grows. More than 22,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began.
Israel kicked off 2024 by announcing its first drawdown of troops to prepare for a less intense campaign. However, Israeli officials said fighting in the Gaza Strip will continue for ‘six months at least’ as forces prepare for a potential wider war along the Israel-Lebanon border. Following Tuesday’s attack in Beirut, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened unrestrained warfare against Israel on Wednesday, one ‘without boundaries or rules’ that will come at a ‘very, very, very high cost.’” [Foreign Policy]
“Opening the doors. The Biden administration reopened four entry ports along the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday: two in Arizona, one in California, and one in Texas. U.S. Customs and Border Protection urged the White House to reopen the ports, which were closed for much of last month, after December saw a record-setting 300,000-plus migrants cross. ‘We anticipate the encounter numbers at the border will continue to fluctuate,’ a senior U.S. administration official said.
The decision follows a delegation of more than 60 House Republicans visiting the U.S. southern border on Wednesday to pressure U.S. President Joe Biden into enacting stricter immigration policies. House Speaker Mike Johnson demanded continued funding for the country’s border wall, among other measures, as well as blamed Biden for the nation’s migrant crisis.” [Foreign Policy]