The Full Belmonte, 2/26/222.
Photo: Drew Angerer via Getty Images
“President Biden's nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court is groundbreaking on two fronts:
First Black female justice in the court's history.
First justice in decades with significant experience representing criminal defendants.
Between the lines: Jackson was a federal public defender, and she was a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission when it significantly rolled back federal sentencing guidelines for many drug offenses, Axios' Hans Nichols and Sam Baker report.
Not since Thurgood Marshall has there been a Supreme Court justice with any real experience as a defense lawyer in those kinds of cases.
What they're saying: ‘For too long, our government, our courts, haven't looked like America," Biden said while introducing Jackson.
Just last year, the Senate confirmed her to the D.C. Circuit by a 53-44 vote.” Read more at Axios
“Russia presses its invasion into the heart of Ukraine, taking aim at Kyiv
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday pressed the world to help his country beat back a Russian invasion, even as those forces closed in on the capital city of Kyiv from various directions overnight in their effort to take the city. Despite international condemnation of Russia's strike against its smaller neighbor, Russia pressed on with the attack, with airstrikes on cities and military bases in the predawn hours. However, it was not immediately clear how far Russian troops had advanced. Ukrainian officials reported some success in fending off assaults, but fighting persisted near Kyiv. Skirmishes reported on the edge of the city suggested that small Russian units were probing Ukrainian defenses to clear a path for the main forces. The U.S. government urged Zelenskyy early Saturday to evacuate Kyiv but he turned down the offer, an official told the Associated Press. The official quoted Zelenskyy as saying that ‘the fight is here’ and that he needed anti-tank ammunition but ‘not a ride.’” Read more at USA Today
'Hands off Ukraine!' Russian protesters, celebrities risk arrest to denounce Putin's war
Zelenskyy's Ukraine government: What happens if Kyiv falls?
'I fear very much for their lives': Boxing world stands by Ukraine's Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (right) at a meeting today with top envoys from separatist regions in eastern Ukraine. Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP
The EU and U.K. have frozen the assets of Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Axios' Zachary Basu reports.
The U.S. is also sanctioning the two.
Photo: Valentyn Ogirenk/Reuters
Above: A desolate street in central Kyiv today.
China said in a five-point position that it believes the ‘sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected — a principle that ‘applies equally to Ukraine.’
Photo: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images
Above: A Ukrainian mother walks with her daughter in Hungary today, along the road from the Ukrainian border crossing.
More than 50,000 Ukrainians have fled the country in less than 48 hours.” Read more at Axios
“Biden, Harris to meet with their national security team about Ukraine
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will remain focused on assessing the situation in Ukraine this weekend and the two leaders will participate in a secure call with their national security team at 10 a.m. ET Saturday, according to the president's official schedule. Late Friday, Biden signed a memo authorizing up to $350 million in additional security assistance to Ukraine, bringing the total security aid approved for Ukraine to $1 billion over the past year. It was not clear how quickly the aid would flow. Also on Friday, the White House announced new sanctions on Russia after Biden met with fellow NATO heads of state to discuss the mounting crisis. Biden said the new economic measures would ‘limit Russia's ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen to be part of the global economy.’ The White House also confirmed Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Friday about strengthening sanctions against Russia and other steps to retaliate for Russia's invasion.” Read more at USA Today
“Ten years ago: Killing of Trayvon Martin shook America
On Feb. 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was fatally shot during an altercation with George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. Zimmerman claimed he felt threatened by the Black teenager, even though he had followed Martin in his car and then on foot and had reported him to the Sanford Police as suspicious. Zimmerman was found not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter at trial a year later, a result that sparked a wave of protests about racism and helped fuel the Black Lives Matter movement. The case was a brutal reminder that Black and white Americans view safety, the country’s judicial system and the notion of fairness in starkly different ways. Martin's family recognized the anniversary of his death on Saturday, Feb. 5 on what would have been Martin's 27th birthday with an event that included a walk, speakers and performances in their hometown of Miami.” Read more at USA Today
“One of the world’s largest grain suppliers, Ukraine kicks in 13% of global corn exports and 12% of wheat, so disruptions to the country’s ports could threaten supplies destined for China and the Middle East. Also in jeopardy are oil and natural gas; shortages of energy supplies and other commodities will likely exacerbate inflation at a time when central banks around the world are trying to control it. In the U.S., banks are girding for possible cyberattacks by Russia, which could try to retaliate over the economic sanctions.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“A majority of American voters say that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine had former President Trump still been in office, according to a new survey released on Friday.
A new Harvard Center for American Political Studies (CAPS)-Harris Poll survey released Friday found that 62 percent of those polled believed Putin would not be moving against Ukraine if Trump had been president. When looking strictly at the answers of Democrats and Republicans, 85 percent of Republicans and 38 percent of Democrats answered this way.
However, 38 percent of all Americans polled believed that Putin would have invaded Ukraine even if Trump had been president.
A majority of Americans polled — 59 percent — also said they believed that the Russian president moved on Ukraine because Putin saw weakness in President Biden, while 41 percent said that it was not a factor in Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.
Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine late Wednesday, President Biden condemned what he described as an ‘unprovoked and unjustified attack’ and expressed solidarity with Ukraine. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Russian financial institutions, Russian elites and their family members, the Nord Stream 2 AG — the parent company of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline — and, the White House confirmed Friday, Putin himself, among other entities.” Read more at The Hill
“The CDC has relaxed its Covid-19 mask guidelines. The agency changed the metrics used to assess Covid-19 risk by county across the U.S., with its factors now seeking to account for strains on hospital systems. About half of U.S. counties meet the CDC’s new threshold for recommending masks indoors, including at schools, compared with 95% under its earlier metrics.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation reached its fastest pace in 38 years. The Commerce Department’s personal-consumption-expenditures index measure of core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 5.2% in January from a year ago, up from 4.9% in December. That marks the sharpest 12-month increase since April 1983. Credit strong consumer demand and continued pandemic-related supply issues.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Carlson no longer praises Putin but continues to blame Democrats and others for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Photograph: Brian Cahn/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock
“As Russian troops encircled Ukraine, politicians and media pundits in the US were largely united in their condemnation of Vladimir Putin’s imminent attack.
Tucker Carlson, however, took a different approach. Hours before Putin ordered his forces into Ukraine, Fox News’ biggest star was still praising the Russian president.
Putin’s bellicose threats towards Ukraine and assembling of up to 190,000 troops on the country’s border, was, Carlson said, a mere ‘border dispute’. Carlson, who played into Kremlin talking points by declaring that Ukraine was ‘not a democracy’, launched an apparent attempt to humanize Putin.
‘Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle-class job in my town to Russia?’ Carlson said as he then recited a right-wing tip sheet of pet causes.
‘Did he manufacture a worldwide pandemic that wrecked my business and kept me indoors for two years? Is he teaching my children to embrace racial discrimination? Is he making fentanyl? Is he trying to snuff out Christianity?’
Just over 24 hours later, Putin effectively declared war on Ukraine.
Carlson was roundly condemned, but he wasn’t alone. Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s sometime-advisor turned podcast host, has praised Putin for being ‘anti-woke’, for not flying pride flags, and for his hostility to trans people.
Charlie Kirk, a right-wing media personality and the founder of Turning Points USA, suggested Putin felt emboldened by ‘energy policies that Joe Biden put forward.’
By the end of the week Carlson’s colorful defense of Putin was being played on Russia 1 and the Kremlin-backed RT television network.
‘As Russia prepared to invade Ukraine, the biggest star on Fox News was busy doing what he does best: being thoroughly and appallingly wrong,’ Margaret Sullivan, a media columnist for the Washington Post, wrote.
By Thursday night, after Putin’s forces had begun bombing Ukraine, and after widespread US and global outrage at the carnage, Carlson had changed his tune.
‘I don’t think anybody approves of what Putin did yesterday. I certainly don’t,’ he said on his show.
Carlson added: ‘Vladimir Putin started this war.’ He continued: ‘He is to blame tonight for what we’re seeing tonight in the Ukraine.’
But those expecting a mea culpa from Carlson, who has recently also become enamored with the authoritarian regime of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, were disappointed.
The overt praise for Putin may have receded, but Carlson and his Fox News co-hosts and pundits have continued to blame others for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
‘Well, I think we all know if Donald Trump was president, this would not have happened,’ Lara Trump, Fox News contributor and daughter-in-law of the former president, told Fox and Friends on Thursday.
‘We exuded strength on the world stage when Donald Trump was there. Now you see Joe Biden in office. And gosh, how many times have we all talked about how weak America has looked since the day that Joe Biden was inaugurated?’
Fox News Twitter feed on Friday essentially served as a tribute to the same viewpoint, lavishly quoting almost identical statements from Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Marsha Blackburn.” Read more at The Guardian
“WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol said on Friday that it would compel Kimberly Guilfoyle, the fiancée of former President Donald J. Trump’s eldest son, to testify after she abruptly ended a voluntary interview with the panel.
Ms. Guilfoyle, a television personality who is engaged to Donald Trump Jr., met virtually with the committee’s staff investigators on Friday after she provided documents the committee described as ‘germane’ to its inquiry. But she became agitated and cut off the questioning upon learning that members of the committee — including Representatives Adam B. Schiff of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland, both Democrats, and Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the panel’s top Republican — were participating in the session, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke about the confidential interview on the condition of anonymity.
Members of the committee routinely take part in the panel’s interviews of high-profile witnesses.
When news of the interview leaked to news media outlets, Ms. Guilfoyle refused to continue, and her lawyer accused the panel of attempting to ‘sandbag’ her and using her participation in the inquiry as a ‘political weapon’ against the former president.
‘Ms. Guilfoyle, under threat of subpoena, agreed to meet exclusively with counsel for the select committee in a good-faith effort to provide true and relevant evidence,’ Ms. Guilfoyle’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said in a statement after the interview fell apart. ‘However, upon Ms. Guilfoyle’s attendance, the committee revealed its untrustworthiness, as members notorious for leaking information appeared.’
When he asked for a break to address the issue, Mr. Tacopina said, the panel leaked the incident to reporters.
A spokesman for the committee denied having done so, and said Ms. Guilfoyle’s refusal to cooperate had left the panel with no choice but to use its subpoena power to force her to testify.
‘The select committee had hoped she would do as dozens of other witnesses have done: participate in a voluntary transcribed interview with staff and committee members,’ said Tim Mulvey, the spokesman. ‘Ms. Guilfoyle has now declined to do so, forcing the select committee to compel her testimony at an upcoming deposition.’
Ms. Guilfoyle has said she raised millions of dollars to help fund the rally that preceded the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. She was seen dancing in a backstage area to the Laura Branigan song ‘Gloria’ before the mob assault. Her lawyer denied she had anything to do with the violence that broke out.
‘They can do what they’re going to do,’ Mr. Tacopina said of the committee’s threat of a subpoena. ‘Obviously, trust has gone out the window. At the end of day, Kimberly has done nothing wrong.’” Read more at New York Times
“CNN’s parent company determined that the network’s former marketing chief provided guidance to then-anchor Chris Cuomo as he tried to help then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo deal with allegations of sexual misconduct, in violation of CNN’s standards, according to people familiar with the matter.
Allison Gollust, who resigned last week as CNN’s marketing and communications chief, through a spokeswoman denied offering advice to Andrew Cuomo and said the notion that her communications with Chris Cuomo could be considered as such was ‘patently ridiculous.’” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Reindeer Herders Push to Reclaim Land From Norway Wind Farms
Norway’s top court ruled that towering wind turbines built by Fosen Vind, vital to the oil-dependent nation’s switch to green energy, threatened the indigenous Sami people’s culture and economy and violated their human rights. Lars Erik Taraldsen, Lars Paulsson and Jesper Starn describe what’s shaping up as a test case for wind power’s future in the country.” Read more at BloombergReindeer roaming around the wind turbines at Storheia wind farm in Fosen, Norway.
Photographer: Heiko Junge/AFP
“African countries that contribute the least to global greenhouse-gas emissions are spending billions of dollars a year dealing with the impact of climate change, the non-profit group Power Shift Africa said in a study entitled ‘Adapt or Die.’ As Jessica Shankleman writes, Ethiopia alone will spend 5.6% of its gross domestic product, or $6 billion, each year until 2030 to counter the impact of floods, climate-driven diseases, hailstorms and wildfires.” Read more at Bloomberg
A boy takes his donkeys back to his village on Jan. 21. Drought has forced his school to close in Ethiopia’s Somali region.
Photographer: Mulugeta Ayene/UNICEF/AP Photo
“The Swedish skating star Nils van der Poel jumped for joy on the podium when he received his gold medal for the men’s 10,000-meter speedskating race at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Years of grueling training had brought him the world record-breaking victory.
Even in his moment of glory, though, he had a secret plan: to use his victory to denounce the Chinese government’s ferocious clampdown on free speech, dissent and ethnic minorities.
Mr. van der Poel has now acted on that plan. On Thursday, he gave his gold medal to the daughter of Gui Minhai, a Chinese-born Swedish publisher of books critical of Beijing, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence in China. It was the boldest protest yet by an athlete who took part in the Beijing Games.” Read more at New York Times