Zach Basu
@zacharybasu
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Director of News @Axios • zach.basu @axios .com • Combat sports enthusiast • 🇮🇳🇦🇷🇬🇧
Washington, DC
Joined July 2011
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Translator chokes up as Zelensky addresses the European Parliament: "Nobody is going to break us. We are strong. We are Ukrainians. We have a desire to see our children alive. I think it's a fair one."
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At the pace these leaks are coming, we’re going to know the full story by Monday.
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Biden on May 1: "China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man...They’re not competition for us."
Biden today: "We are in a competition with China.
We need to get tough with China. They are a serious challenge to us, and in some areas a real threat."
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Pakistan will "absolutely not" allow the CIA to use bases on its soil for cross-border counterterrorism missions after U.S. forces withdraw from Afghanistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan tells
@jonathanvswan
in a must-see interview airing Sunday.
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Fauci calls for federally mandated stay-at-home order: "I don't understand why that's not happening.”
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Ukraine's defense minister posts a message on Facebook as dawn breaks in Kyiv and the city remains in Ukrainian control: "Three days that changed our country and the world forever. Where are all those who promised to capture Kyiv in 2 hours?"
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A White House official also provided us with this response on background: "This is clearly a form of anti-Semitism to levy these attacks against a Jewish staffer."
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Judge cites the John Bolton case in his decision to deny Trump family's effort to block Mary Trump's book: “By the looks of it the
horse is not just out of the barn, it is out of the country.”
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Andrew Weissmann, the architect of the Mueller team's case against Paul Manafort, says evidence in the Senate Intel report that suggests Konstantin Kilimnik was involved in Russia's DNC hacking operation is "substantial new information."
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After 7.5 hours behind closed doors today, Michael Cohen will return to the House Intel Committee on March 6 because there's "more to discuss."
The week after that, the committee will interview Felix Sater, who worked with Cohen on Trump Tower Moscow.
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Ukraine's defense minister: "We offer Russian soldiers a choice: to die in an unjust war or full amnesty and 5 million rubles of compensation (about $50,000, despite the loss in value) if they put down their guns and voluntarily surrender to prison."
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Episode 2 of our series on Trump's final days in office is out, taking you inside the president's inner circle after Nov. 7 — the day the election was called for Joe Biden.
"Off the rails: Conspiracy theorists commandeer Trump’s legal operation"
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Bloomberg has joined CNN, CNBC and the Financial Times in withdrawing as media sponsors for Saudi Arabia's "Davos in the Desert." As of now, Fox Business is the only American media sponsor that remains on the list.
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If reports are accurate? The White House literally released a statement telling everyone this is what’s happening.
If reports about US retreat in
#Syria
are accurate, the Trump administration has made a grave mistake that will have implications far beyond Syria.
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Four Seasons Total Landscaping gets a shoutout in the order suspending Rudy Giuliani's New York law license.
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House chairs investigating Trump and Ukraine just released the full text messages that were leaked today between Kurt Volker, Gordon Sondland and Bill Taylor.
They are...explosive.
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Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of CENTCOM, testifies that "the primary accelerant to lowering morale and general efficiency of the Afghan military" was the Trump-Taliban peace agreement reached in February 2020.
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Interesting nugget in Rand Paul's interview with Chuck Todd: He does not support *any* aid to Ukraine, which is currently fighting a war with Russia.
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New behind-the-scenes details from Trump's dinner with white nationalist Nick Fuentes ... w/
@jonathanvswan
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Is this written in Comic Sans???
Here’s the letter John Dowd sent to House Intelligence Committee claiming they are harassing his clients with their “overly broad and unduly burdensome” request for Ukraine docs. Dowd reps Giuliani associates Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas.
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NEW: Virgin Group's Richard Branson has announced he will suspend his directorships of two Saudi tourism projects over the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.
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To be clear, we didn't publish this anonymous comment in our story. But I thought it would be worth noting for those following that this is an argument the White House is giving to reporters on background.
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Rep. Matt Gaetz just tweeted from inside the House Intelligence Committee's SCIF, which is supposed to be a classified briefing room.
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The White House briefer "was knocked back on his heels," a source in the room said. "You could hear a gnat fart in that meeting. People were astonished. After the meeting ended, we thought, 'What the f---? What do we do with this?'"
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“Their fears include Trump's interest in Michael Flynn's wild talk of martial law; an idea floated of an executive order to commandeer voting machines; and the specter of Sidney Powell, the conspiracy-spewing election lawyer, obtaining governmental power.”
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Several Trump advisers tell
@jonathanvswan
they are utterly perplexed by Trump's decision to own pulling out of stimulus talks.
"You have to try to be this politically inept. What is going on in the White House? Where is Mark Meadows?"
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From Stephen Miller's own uncle last August...
"I have watched with dismay and increasing horror as my nephew...has become the architect of immigration policies that repudiate the very foundation of our family’s life in this country." via
@politicomag
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In addition to SWIFT and Russian Central Bank sanctions, Western allies are forming a joint task force to "collectively hunt down the physical assets of sanctioned Russian companies and oligarchs — their yachts, jets, fancy cars and luxury homes."
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.
@NatashaBertrand
is a must-follow for understanding the tangled web that ties together the pieces of the Russia investigation. She reported on Sam Patten back in April.
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Scoop w/
@jonathanvswan
: For the third time, the White House has directed a Republican senator to block a resolution formally recognizing Turkey's genocide of the Armenian people.
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Mayor of Kyiv (and former heavyweight boxing champion) Vitali Klitschko says Germany sending 5,000 military helmets to Ukraine is a "joke."
"What kind of support will Germany send next," he asked. "Pillows?"
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Two sources tell
@jonathanvswan
there's more to Trump publicly steamrolling Brian Kemp than a simple policy disagreement, and that he remains irritated by Kemp's decision to appoint Kelly Loeffler to Georgia's open Senate seat over Doug Collins.
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Germany expels 40 Russian diplomats/suspected intelligence officers in the wake of the Bucha massacre, following similar moves last month by Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and the Czech Republic.
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Breaking: Germany will go further than just lifting its ban on third countries transferring German-origin weapons.
Olaf Scholz says Germany will send 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger missiles to Ukraine, calling Russia's invasion a "turning point."
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NEW: Spencer writes in a resignation letter, "I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took in the presence of my family, my flag and my faith to support and defend the Constitution of the United States."
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"I don't know if they got the transcript wrong."
What a bold-faced lie by Erik Prince. Kudos to
@mehdirhasan
for holding him to account and bringing the receipts.
So if you enjoyed the earlier Erik Prince
@AJHeadtoHead
clip, here's the latest 1 - me asking him why he didn't mention his secret Trump Tower meeting while under oath to Congress. His reply... :-)
I wrote why it's a big deal here:
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New: Senate passes sweeping China competition bill in rare bipartisan vote.
Hailed by Chuck Schumer as one of the most significant bipartisan achievements in recent history.
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New reporting from
@jonathanvswan
: Milley wasn't the only one who feared China was consuming bad intel about the possibility of a surprise U.S. strike by Trump.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper ordered a back-channel message in October to reassure them.
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New: The U.S. said for the first time that Manafort associate Konstantin Kilimnik provided Russian intelligence with "sensitive information on polling and campaign strategy" in 2016 — filling a key link that had previously been left unanswered.
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Important. Biden will declare on Saturday that the Ottoman Empire's killing of 1.5 million Armenians was an act of genocide, becoming the first sitting president to do so.
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You can find all the episodes released so far of "Off the rails," a special series from
@jonathanvswan
and me about Trump's final weeks in office, on this page. Much more to come ...
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You can really see the wheels turning in Steve Castor's head as he realizes what he's just unleashed.
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New: Bob Menendez has introduced an NDAA amendment that would trigger a cascade of crushing sanctions against top Russian officials, banks, Nord Stream 2, sovereign debt transactions and more in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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New w/
@jonathanvswan
: Biden and his top aides have gone into diplomatic overdrive to repair relations with France.
Plus, details on how AUKUS came together, including assurances Australia made to the Biden team about its submarine deal with France.
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How is this tweet not getting ratioed? Putin just signed a law that can send Russians to jail for insulting the government online.
When the leader of an openly authoritarian regime believes in free speech more than most western leaders.
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Of note: House Democrats attempted to subpoena the interpreter who attended the Trump-Putin summit back in July. They were blocked by Republicans.
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"It's a perfect visual encapsulation of Kushner's absence — on the other side of the world, planting a tree with Bibi and accepting plaudits, while Trump discusses mayhem with Sidney Powell."
Where's Jared? A source told Axios that Kushner, who yesterday participated in a tree-planting ceremony in Jerusalem Forest's Grove of Nations, "is focused on the Middle East."
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Zelensky video: "I am the president of an adequate country, an adequate nation. And the father of two children. And no chemical or any other weapons of mass destruction were developed on my land."
"The whole world knows that."
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A sampling of Trump's online footprint over the last 24 hours...
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New: Russia adds eight Americans to no-entry list.
- AG Merrick Garland
- FBI Director Chris Wray
- DNI Avril Haines
- DHS Sec. Ali Mayorkas
- Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal
- John Bolton
- Susan Rice
- Ex-CIA Director R. James Woolsey Jr.
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This Cuomo-on-Cuomo exchange about running for president is pretty funny.
"Have you thought about it?"
"No."
"Are you open to thinking about it?"
"No."
"Might you think about it at some point?"
"No. ... You're a great interviewer, by the way."
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Schiff says Erik Prince was lying when he told
@mehdirhasan
that he testified to House Intel about the 2016 meeting he had with foreign nationals at Trump Tower.
Transcripts appear to show Don Jr. also neglected to tell the committee about that meeting.
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Trump to
@jonkarl
, the literal president of the White House Correspondents' Association: "You will never make it."
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Huge news from Madrid: NATO leaders will invite Sweden and Finland to become the 31st and 32nd members of the alliance tomorrow, after Turkey struck a trilateral agreement with the Nordic countries to lift its veto.
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In his now-famous memo, Trump's AG nominee Bill Barr wrote that "if a a President knowingly...suborns perjury, or induces a witness to change testimony...then he, like anyone else, commits the crime of obstruction."
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A senior U.S. official says there are indications Russia did not anticipate this level of Ukrainian resistance and has had to commit more logistics and supplies than initially planned.
More than 50% of Putin's total assembled power is now inside Ukraine.
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Due this week in the Mueller investigation.
- Tuesday: A sentencing memo on Michael Flynn
- Friday: A sentencing memo on Michael Cohen
- Also Friday: A sentencing memo on Paul Manafort, which will be public.
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New tidbit on Bolton: The New York Times learned about the contents of the Bolton manuscript *before* the White House press shop, a source tells
@jonathanvswan
.
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Breaking: The House has voted 428-1 on a bill to ban all imports from China's Xinjiang region unless the U.S. government determines that the products were not made with forced labor.
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New: The Ukrainian government is publicly urging senators to vote for Ted Cruz's bill this week sanctioning the Nord Stream 2 pipeline — calling the project "no less an existential threat to our security" than the Russian troops on its border.
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Germany confirms it will authorize weapons for Ukraine, a monumental shift.
"After Russia's shameless attack, Ukraine must be able to defend itself. ... The German government is therefore supporting Ukraine in equipping it with urgently needed material."
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The UAE has told U.S. officials it intends to pull out of a $23 billion F-35 and drone deal because "security requirements the U.S. had laid out to safeguard the high-tech weaponry from Chinese espionage were too onerous." via
@WSJ
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Deeply reported
@jonathanvswan
story on Ben Carson and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's campaign to get the Trump administration to embrace an unproven botanical extract as a COVID "cure."
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Exclusive: Josh Hawley is calling on Biden to drop longstanding U.S. support for Ukraine's eventual membership in NATO, arguing that a binding commitment to defend the country would undermine efforts to counter China.
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Trump sold an estimated $35 million worth of real estate in 2018, some of which was purchased via LLCs that allowed customers to conceal their true identities, according to Forbes.
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"The New York Times obtained exclusive security camera footage and witness accounts to show how the military launched a drone strike that killed 10 people in Kabul on Aug. 29 without knowing who it was hitting."
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Scoop (and leaked picture), via
@BarakRavid
: DeSantis dined with Miriam Adelson — Trump's top financial backer in 2020 — and other major GOP donors in Jerusalem yesterday.
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"President Biden ... should call the King himself,"
@RoKhanna
told
@alaynatreene
. "He should say you have five days to reverse your decision. If not, I am going to work with Congress to pass a ban on supplying air parts to your Air Force."
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New: Israel turned down a U.S. request to allow Berlin to supply Ukraine with anti-tank missiles produced in Germany with Israeli technology under an Israeli license.
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U.S. no longer recognizes Lukashenko as president of Belarus after rigged election
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Updated story after a wild back-and-forth between Poland and the U.S., which was taken by surprise by Warsaw's fighter jet announcement.
In short, the Pentagon believes sending fighter jets to Ukraine from a U.S./NATO base in Germany is simply too risky.
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The magnitude of this bill should not be underestimated. Will have major implications for U.S. supply chains and impose real costs on the Chinese government for its genocide for the first time.
Breaking: The Senate just unanimously passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which will ban all imports from Xinjiang unless the USG can determine "clear and convincing evidence" that they aren't made with forced labor. This is revolutionary.
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Zelensky does not mince words in his video address to the NATO summit: "Never, please, never tell us again that our army does not meet NATO standards. We have shown what our standards are capable of."
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A source close to Zelensky tells me that as of now, the president still plans on leaving Ukraine to attend the Munich Security Conference.
The White House says it's up to President Zelensky if he thinks it's wise to leave Ukraine on Saturday as he's currently scheduled to do to attend the Munich Security Conference.
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Breaking: In a stunning turn of events, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has ordered the certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to be suspended, announcing: "The situation has fundamentally changed."
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Wow: Marco Rubio has placed a hold on Nick Burns' nomination to be ambassador to China. Burns is a widely respected former career diplomat and was expected to have overwhelming bipartisan support.
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French government responds (translated) to Australia scrapping a $90 billion submarine deal to enter into the new AUKUS partnership with the U.S. and U.K.
Very strong language for this kind of statement, could be a real test for U.S.-France relations.
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In Merrick Garland's first 50 days on the job, DOJ has:
• Allowed FBI to raid Giuliani's home
• Ordered sweeping probes into Minneapolis and Louisville PDs
• Revoked restrictions on funding for sanctuary cities.
• Led executive actions on gun control
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If asked about the bombshell BuzzFeed News article that alleged Trump directed Cohen to lie about the extent of the Moscow project, a source told Axios that Cohen will explain that Trump never speaks in direct language: "It’s always code words."
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Strzok claims that Trump "has consistently tolerated and even encouraged partisan political speech by federal employees" as long as it praises him and attacks his opponents — specifically pointing to Kellyanne Conway's Hatch Act violations as an example.
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Scenes like this underscore why U.S. officials believe Putin has no sustainable political end game.
An occupation will encounter the same level of civilian resistance in Kherson — one regional capital with less than 300,000 people — all over the country.
Day 14. Good morning. Video: Kherson - the only regional capital that has fallen. Ukrainian crowd of protestors gets angry after Russian troop start beating up a protestor. Russians open fire (in the air) and that does not stop but mobilize protestors. Pure anger and no fear
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The U.K. has now sanctioned over 1,000 individuals and entities since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, with the latest batch of about 370 announced today. A few of the highlights, via the Foreign Office.
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On a call with reporters just now,
@ChrisMurphyCT
addressed the Kremlin's warning about sanctioning Putin:
"A conventional invasion of Ukraine shatters post-World War II norms ... It needs to be treated as a serious, significant, world-shattering breach of international norms."
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Taiwan President Tsai has a stark message for world leaders in the latest Foreign Affairs : "[I]f Taiwan were to fall ... it would signal that in today’s global contest of values, authoritarianism has the upper hand over democracy."
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Scoop: Ukrainian President Zelensky told U.S. senators visiting Kyiv this week that waiting to impose sanctions on Russia until after an invasion is of no use to Ukraine, according to four sources familiar with the discussions.
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Zelensky receives a standing ovation from British members of Parliament, as he becomes the first foreign leader to virtually address the House of Commons.
Here we go … watch live on
@BBCNews
- first time a foreign leader has addressed the House of Commons like this - he’s listening to the Speaker from his desk in Ukraine - greeted with huge applause and ovation, whole house on its feet
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Putin has done the unthinkable with his unprovoked invasion, reversing decades of German defense and energy policy, turning a European peace project into a weapons dealer, and setting Ukraine on an accelerated path to EU membership.
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Zelensky is furious in his latest video, tearing into NATO for ruling out a no-fly zone at today's summit: "All the people who will die starting from this day will also die because of you. Because of your weakness, because of your disunity."
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Biden plans to call Saudi King Salman tomorrow, ahead of the public release of a potentially damning intelligence report about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi,
@HansNichols
scoops.
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This is the same guy who said he didn't know who Michael Cohen was until the day of the House Oversight hearing. A true rising star in the Republican Party.
OMG.
@RepClayHiggins
is comparing migrants and asylum-seekers trying to cross the southern border to the Allies' D-Day invasion to liberate Europe from the Nazis.
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.
@ddiamond
has absolutely crushed the Trump/Covid beat: “[E]mails from communications aides to CDC Director Robert Redfield and other senior officials openly complained that the agency’s reports would undermine Trump’s optimistic messages ...”
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In August 2017, the NYT reported on emails from Felix Sater to Michael Cohen about Trump Tower Moscow.
"Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it. I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process."
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Told of an incident in which Mick Mulvaney asked the White House IT department to search cell records of senior staff, presidential historian
@ccwhip
called it "unprecedented."
"It's a level of paranoia that we never even saw in the Nixon White House."
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The harrowing exposé we've been waiting for on the "filtration camps" for Ukrainians forcibly deported to Russia, by
@ChristopherJM
.
"Their ordeal is a microcosm of what is happening to more than one million Ukrainians in the Russian-controlled east."
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Update: AOL co-founder Steve Case announced he will no longer speak at the Saudi investment conference, pending further information on Khashoggi.
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Lots of good content on today dissecting how this all happened, but this by
@dalykyle
is especially instructive: The Capitol siege's QAnon roots
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