Tag Archives: Mitt Romney

Nov 7 2023

There Will Be No Peace As Long As Zelensky Runs Ukraine Re-Posted Nov 7, 2023 By Martin Armstrong


2023_11_06_19_09_09_Zelenskyy_insults_Putin_using_profanity_on_air_on_NBC_News_and_45_more_pages_P

It is stunning how the Ukrainian people have not looked at how their country has been destroyed and over 500,000 Ukrainian soldiers are dead all for a territorial grab under the propaganda that Zelensky loves to claim he is fighting for their freedom. The Minsk Agreement allowed the Donbas to vote for they are Russian and Ukraine was NEVER prosecuted for its Nazi war crimes against Jews, Polish, Hungarians, and Russians, all because the CIA wanted to use them against Russia.

Discord_in_Ukrainian_leadership._Zelenskyy_s_office_criticizes_a_general

Recently, General Valerii Zaluzhny, according to the “New York Times” publicly conceded that the war with Russia has reached a standoff and a substantial technological leap would be required to overcome it, although this seems unlikely. Zelensky went nuts. Sources say he had gagged the military and will not allow then to speak the truth. Everything from Ukraine is just propaganda now, celebrating that they are always winning a war that everyone knows is unwinnable.

Blinken no deal

Ukraine had its freedom. Now, it has a country that has been undermined by this high-heel dancing actor who cares nothing about the Ukrainian people. Zelensky is told what to do by the American Neocons. Both the Ukrainian and Israeli people need to wake up. They are BOTH pawns in the chess game of endless wars instigated behind the curtain by the Neocons. Both need to honestly assess what is in their own best interest long-term for future generations. Likewise, sources say that Hamas is NOT all Palestinian. They also have among their ranks zealots from all over the Middle East who are equally willing to use Palestinian civilians for political purposes.

Nov 7 2023

Neocons Pushing War Everywhere Re-Posted Nov 6, 2023 By Martin Armstrong


Blinken no ceasefire_in_Gaza Nov 6 2023

I have warned that Biden’s Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, and his #1, Victoria Nuland, are hardline Neocons with their own agenda, which is neither in the best interests of Israel nor the United States. They have control of the Biden Administration amid rising criticism. Blinken, on November 6th, 2023, said a ceasefire in Gaza would allow Hamas to regroup and carry out similar attacks. Blinken has also rejected peace in Ukraine and pushes for war everywhere he can. He is endangering the entire world, which appears to be his agenda.

Even Obama and other Democrats are starting to break with Biden. Biden is NOT in charge. He is too senile to make any rational decisions. He is doing as he is told, and there is nobody putting any checks against the Neocon agenda of engulfing the entire world in war.

Nov 6 2023

Sunday Talks – Zelenskyy Invites President Trump to Ukraine, Scoffs at Possibility of Peace Negotiations with Russia


Posted originally on the CTH on November 5, 2023 | Sundance

First things first.  Did you notice the byline on the NBC report we discussed about U.S. and EU officials beginning talks with Ukraine about peace-talks to end the stalemate.  For those who didn’t notice, Kristen Welker was one of the reporters who wrote the article {NBC LINK}.  Then today, Zelenskyy appears on NBC Meet the Press, with Kristen Welker, to discuss the status of the Ukraine war and say there is no “stalemate.”  Funny, but not accidental, how that happens.

The full interview link is here (and below); however, during the interview Welker asked Zelenskyy about President Trump saying he would end the conflict within 24 hours.  Zelenskyy scoffs at the possibility and rejects that any peace negotiations could take place.  WATCH (3 mins): 

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I’m going to try and put the absurd nature (literally his World War Reddit disposition) of Volodymyr Zelenskyy over there on the side for a moment [that’s not easy], and accept his pronouncements are with what he genuinely believes, with the full weight and support of the U.S. State Dept/CIA to frame his reference.

KRISTEN WELKER:

On Saturday, I sat down with an emotional President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who spoke to me in both Ukrainian and English and acknowledged his people are tired but undeterred. His plea to U.S. lawmakers: give Ukraine one more year of aid and it will be able to close its funding gap or, he warned, the price for the United States will be even higher.

KRISTEN WELKER:

President Zelenskyy, let me start off by asking you: It has now been more than 600 days since Russia invaded Ukraine. How would you describe the state of the war right now?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [TRANSLATED]:

Thank you very much for the question. As far as the situation on the front is concerned, I think – of course, I cannot provide all the details to you. But nevertheless, we hold the initiative in our hands. You can imagine what a full-scale war or what two years of a full-scale war is like. Everybody gets tired. Even the iron gets tired. But, nevertheless, I am proud of our warriors and of our people, that they are strong. Our people are helping. Our people are mobilized. And our people have a strong desire to win. Again, some spheres, Kristen, we see steps forward. Sometimes they are slow steps because of the landmines which Russia planted there while we were preparing for a counter-offensive. And in some spheres, we have problems with the air. Unfortunately, this thing hasn’t changed since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. We have seen Russia’s domination in the air. It’s a fact. And without the air defense, our steps forward are slow.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [ENGLISH]:

But I can give you one example about Black Sea. We have great success in the Black Sea. Even after Russia blocked Black Sea and canceled our grain corridor, grain initiative — by the way, we help by this corridor countries of Asia, countries of – every country to manage the hunger. And I think that was very important, crucial. And when Russia canceled it because they had initiative in the Black Sea, they blocked Black Sea. Now, we really defeated it. We really defend our Black Sea, and Russian fleet is being destroyed by our ammunition. And now, Russia doesn’t control fleet. That means that we used all ammunition — sea, drones and air defense — to defend this region. It’s very important. That was a signal – signal that we can manage this war even against such a terrorist organization like Kremlin.

KRISTEN WELKER:

The strategy of this war. This summer, and you reiterated right now, the progress has been slower than desired. And recently one of your top generals said Ukraine has, quote, “reached a stalemate.” Has the war reached a stalemate?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [ENGLISH]:

Kristen, you know, on the 24th of February when Russia invaded our cities, country, our land, our families, and they attacked all of us, the world gave us three days. Some European countries who really believed in us, they said one month. Others said it will be very quick. And this is really this situation, what they said. But now we speak with you. Now, it’s almost two years. Now, initiative in our hands. Yes, a lot of people, of course, in the world are tired. Of course, it’s understandable. Somebody tired on the battlefield, somebody tired on the works, and somebody tired abroad. They want to come back home to their husbands, to their soldiers, to these guys, women and children. Somebody tired from European leaders to support Ukraine. Yes, of course because long war.

KRISTEN WELKER:

I hear you rejecting the characterization by your top generals that this is a stalemate. Are you changing strategies, as has been reported?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [TRANSLATED]:

I believe that today indeed, the situation is difficult. I don’t think that this is a stalemate, this attack on the, on the, on the part of the Russian army. But before that, we did a lot. We have done a lot. We had a very difficult situation. They thought that they would checkmate us, but this didn’t happen. And on the contrary, we took the initiative in our hands. Now, Russia wants to do – to attack us. They are attacking us in the east of our country while losing thousands of people and hundreds of units, pieces of weaponry. We don’t see it. But in the Andriivka direction in the last week, 200 pieces of weaponry, of ammunition were lost – have been lost. Thousands of people have been lost. They have been killed.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [ENGLISH]:

So we don’t see details. Sometimes our attitude to the war, that somebody staying on the one – one place. But it’s not just stay. When you stay, you kill the enemy, and this is the fact. Of course, Russia understands that now when focus from Ukraine taken off, and when this focus to the Middle East, and when they try to divide the world in this crisis, Israel/Palestine crisis, and of course, of course Russia is very happy with this war. They don’t count how many children were killed there. They don’t think about the flag or nationality. We saw some moments their attitude. We saw what was in Makhachkala, Dagestan. This is the part of Russia. This is what the biggest wave of antisemitism. So what they want? They just want to divide the world, to take focus from Ukraine to another war. And if it will not be enough for them – I’m again repeat it, and I’m repeating it these two years – if it will be not enough for them – it will not be enough. Because Syria was not enough. They began in Ukraine. After Ukraine, in the Middle East. They will continue their plan. And you see that Iran is supporting them, in Ukraine supporting them with the weapons and now in the Middle East again.

KRISTEN WELKER:

So, President Zelenskyy, are you looking at a shift in strategy to try to gain the upper hand right now?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [TRANSLATED]:

Our military are coming up with different plans, with different operations in order to move forward faster and to strike Russian Federation unexpectedly. But barehanded, it’s impossible to do without weapons, without relevant, proper weapons. It’s a fact. Therefore, we have to prepare. We have to clearly understand what steps could be more appropriate, and we have to move forward faster.

KRISTEN WELKER:

President Zelenskyy, NBC News is reporting that U.S. and European officials have begun quietly talking to your government about what possible peace negotiations with Russia might look like to end this war. Have you personally been involved in these talks, and what’s the status of these talks?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [ENGLISH]:

A lot of different voices around us. I heard a lot of different voices and emotions and without any contradictions and propositions, a lot of different things. But as for me, I don’t have – for today I don’t have any relations with Russians. And they know my position. That is the position of my country. That is the position of our people. We don’t want to make any dialogue with terrorists. And the president of the United States and Congress, bipartisan support, all these people, they know that I am not ready to speak with the terrorists because their word is nothing. Nothing. We can’t trust terrorists because terrorists always come back, always come back.

KRISTEN WELKER:

As you know, with this attack against Israel, Americans are now being asked to fund two wars. And there’s growing skepticism about ongoing support of Ukraine, particularly among Republicans in Congress. What is your message to U.S. lawmakers who don’t want to send another dollar to Ukraine?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [TRANSLATED]:

Thank you very much for this question. First of all, it’s not aid to Ukraine. I think that it is aid to the United States and the European Union. As I said, I believe that Ukraine is defending our joint values, common values. I will repeat: I believe that Putin wants to divide Europe, to weaken the United States of America. And he always wants to find a hot spot in Europe so that there is no stability in Europe, in the Middle East – what’s happening now – and on other continents, too. And I believe that Ukraine is defending both the European Union, the European continent, and our common values.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [ENGLISH]:

My message, one more message, you have to understand how we fight, how we live. You have to understand, just to come to Ukraine and see. We are the same people. We have the same values. I’m really thankful to President Biden. By the way, he was here. And I think he’s a strong man. And it was a historical moment. He’s a hero because he was in those moments under a Russian missile attack. But he was here, and he understood more about Ukraine. Yes, he knew Ukraine even before this invasion. Yes, he knew, but he understood the heroic attitude Ukraine has to democracy, to their people, to their houses, to their families. And he understood. He began more strongly to help us. And I’m also thankful to Congress. I had the opportunity to address Congress two times. And really, Congress and the bipartisan support was very important in a very important moment. Now, it’s a very important moment not to lose the will, not to lose this strong position and not to lose your democracy.

KRISTEN WELKER:

As you know –

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [ENGLISH]:

Please, it’s very important. Now, you don’t send your soldiers. God bless. Don’t send your daughters and sons to other NATO country. Because if Russia will kill all of us, they will attack NATO countries, and you will send your sons and daughters. And it will be – I’m sorry, but the price will be higher. That is my signal. And believe in democracy, believe in Ukraine.

KRISTEN WELKER:

How long should they expect to send more money? When do you anticipate you can end this war, President Zelenskyy?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY:

I think that the next year with the challenges, because this is the year of your elections. Now, again, we see the critical situation in the Middle East. So I think your help is very important for the next year. And that is crucial. And I think, if we will manage all the things that I said, the gap will be minimized in our budget. And after that, after next year, if – it the war will not finish next year – if – if it will not finish – I think that using air defense systems, using this platform of cooperation and co-production, and using these new jobs, I think we will manage to minimize this gap and you will not help us such high price. I’m sure. That’s it.

KRISTEN WELKER:

And to be very specific, I’m going to ask you about the election momentarily. You are asking for more air defenses. F-16s obviously are in the process of being ready. What more air defenses do you need, President Zelenskyy? Can you be specific?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [ENGLISH]:

Yes. Anti-drone systems and specific drones which our defense ministers and commanders they know very well. That’s drones which can attack enemies and also drones which are intelligent. They provide intelligence. So these specific things we began to produce.

KRISTEN WELKER:

And when we come back, more of my interview with President Zelenskyy, including his response to former President Trump’s proposal to end the war in 24 hours.

KRISTEN WELKER:

Welcome back. As the Republican presidential candidates prepare to meet in Miami this week for their third debate, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy spoke directly to the frontrunner who will not be on stage, former President Donald Trump.

KRISTEN WELKER:

President Zelenskyy, former President Trump, who is the GOP frontrunner, has said that if he is reelected he could end this war in 24 hours. What is your reaction and message to former President Trump about that?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [ENGLISH]:

Former President Trump said that about 24 hours, that he can manage it and finish the war. For me, what can I say? So he’s very welcome as well. President Biden was here, and he – I think he understood some details which you can understand only being here. So I invite President Trump. If he can come here, I will need 24 minutes – yes, 24 minutes; not more. Yes. Not more. Twenty-four minutes to explain President Trump that he can’t manage this war. He can’t bring peace because of the Putin. If, but always there is an “if,” If he’s not trying and if he’s not ready to give our territory for this terrible man, for the Putin, if you are not ready to give it, if you are not ready to give our independence, he – he – he can’t manage it. Yes.

KRISTEN WELKER:

You have –

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [ENGLISH]:

– So he’s very welcome.

KRISTEN WELKER:

He’s welcome to come to Ukraine. Other presidential candidates have obviously come to Ukraine as well. Have you had any contact with former President Trump since he left office, President Zelenskyy?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [ENGLISH]:

No. No. No, no. That’s why he’s very welcome to repeat our tradition, which was when he was the president.

KRISTEN WELKER:

Do you think he would have Ukraine’s back if he were to be reelected?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [ENGLISH]:

Really, I don’t know. Really, I don’t know. I hope that – that – that it depends not only on the president institutionally. I think it depends on the opinion of Americans, of your society. I think that is most important. I think it’s important in the United States and EU, the attitude of just ordinary people. It’s their support. It’s their money. It – it depends on them.

KRISTEN WELKER:

There are reports that you plan to visit Israel. Is that true, and what will your goal be?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [TRANSLATED]:

From the very start, on the first day of the attack by the terrorist organization Hamas against Israel, we condemned this aggression and we stated our position. And I said that we are ready to go to Israel today. It is difficult to say because I’m a president of a country at war, and you know that on our battlefield it’s very hard. Therefore, my visit there depends on a number of things. I have to be open. First – so what’s happening on the battlefield defines many things. And, second, it depends on whether we will be able to get our citizens of Ukraine who are stranded there. If we can get them out of there, if for this it’s necessary for me to be there, in Israel, in Egypt, wherever our people are released, I will fly there if it’s possible. If that can be done without my involvement at the level of diplomacy, they will do that then.

KRISTEN WELKER:

Do you believe Israel is following international law?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [TRANSLATED]:

I have to be sincere. We are looking at this situation as if something new. It’s not a new situation at all. It’s a fire that has been burning between Israel and Palestine, and some people are still throwing matches into this fire. And I’m sure that Russia was behind and sponsoring Hamas. And Iran, too. That’s who is to blame. When we talk about laws, rules, where there are terrorists, there are no rules. Everything is beyond laws. Everybody’s trying to save their own lives and fight against the enemy using all the effort, all the forces. First, in order to finish this war and sit down at the negotiation table, pressure on Russia and Iran, you have to admit that these countries are behind approaches. And I would also add North Korea there. You saw how many North Korean munitions were found in Gaza. It’s a fact, absolute fact. And it’s difficult, of course. The main thing is that if terrorists are attacking, if terrorists attack, if they behead children, you have the full right to defend people and defend your own country, state. But we have to understand: If we can open humanitarian corridors, take away prisoners of war, help people who are not involved there, the whole world should do this and the whole world should do all they can to stop this war.

KRISTEN WELKER:

President Zelenskyy, thank you so much. Before you go, if you want to share: What keeps you going? Do you ever feel defeated?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [ENGLISH]:

I have a lot of power, but even feeling strong, and I have a lot of energy, it doesn’t mean that we want to fight all our lives because the price is high, like I said. Because the war takes the best of us, the best heroes, the best men, women, children. That’s it. But we are not ready to give our freedom to this [EXPLETIVE] terrorist, Putin. That’s it. That’s why we are fighting. That’s it.

KRISTEN WELKER:

President Zelenskyy, thank you so much for your time this morning. We really appreciate it.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY [ENGLISH]:

Thank you.

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Nov 5 2023

U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon Pauses All Trial Deadlines in Florida Documents Case


Posted originally on the CTH on November 4, 2023 | Sundance 

After several interesting hearings and court filings last week, U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon has indicated she is likely to postpone the trial schedule requested by Special Counsel Jack Smith due to the scope of material evidence and the need for defense attorneys to review slow production by the prosecution.

As noted by journalist Julie Kelly, who has attended the hearings, “On Friday morning, [Cannon] announced a stay, or suspension, of all pre-trial deadlines as she prepares a formal order to explain her thinking and very likely issue a new trial date.”

Bad News / Good News – Before getting to the great summary outline provided by Kelly, it is worth remembering one of the challenges in the case, which fortunately Judge Cannon has great familiarity with.

You might remember when the issue of defining “classified documents” surfaced, Judge Cannon appointed a “special master” to review the documents and make determinations.  The prosecution filed an appeal to that approach and won within the 11th Circuit based on an outlook the Jack Smith team is relying on.

Essentially the appellate court ruled on the DOJ calling the material “classified” and “vital to national security”, by saying in the court’s determination they have no authority to question the decision of the executive branch when it comes to matters of national security. {Go Deep}

[Source]

The appellate court (judicial branch) stated they defer to the DOJ (executive branch) as to any/all claims of harm to national security that may be caused by a review of documents the DOJ-NSD determine, on their own authority, to be identified as classified (sensitive, secret or top-secret).  Therefore, if the DOJ states sharing the “classified documents” with a special master may harm national security, the court must accept that position without challenge.

The Trump legal team did not appeal this 11th Circuit Appeals Court ruling for valid reasons.

The Supreme Court would not want to touch the issue of “classified documents” and/or how they are defined by the agencies in the Executive Branch.  Any review of definitions by the executive could be interpreted as interfering in the plenary power of the Executive Branch to make decisions about national security.

To take up the issue would be to create consequences putting the Supreme Court in the middle of any classification argument beyond the Trump case.  Think about FOIA requests denied due to “National Security” or classification status.

If the Supreme Court interjected in the debate between President Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith, they would be stepping into an argument within the Executive Branch.  This could be perceived as setting precedent for any denied FOIA lawsuit to appeal directly to SCOTUS, and that would create an entire apparatus of the High Court now being the arbiter of what is “classified intelligence” and what is not.   This exceeds their constitutional limitations and separation.

If the executive branch wants to call the dinner menu between President Trump and Chairman Xi a classified document in the interests of national security, they can.  The Supreme Court is not going to step in and be the arbiter to determine validity of the classification status.

This outlook of the judicial branch plays into the hands of Special Counsel Jack Smith and the unprecedented Lawfare approach.

Jack Smith (Weissmann/Eisen) knows the High Court doesn’t want to get involved in an “inside executive” dispute, not on this granular stuff.  So, he is leveraging the ability of the current politics within the executive to his advantage.  Essentially, the executive rules are whatever the current executive says they are.

That brings us to last week, and Judge Aileen Cannon who can clearly see the approach Jack Smith is taking.   Julie Kelly has a great summary of the week in the Florida court:

Julie Kelly – […] “The games already have begun. For example, Trump this week filed a motion at the appellate court in D.C. seeking an emergency stay (or hold) on Chutkan’s broad gag order. If the appellate court, stacked with Obama appointees, ultimately denies the request, Trump’s team signaled they are prepared to seek immediate relief at the Supreme Court. (Late Friday, a three-judge panel issued a temporary hold and expedited Trump’s appeal on the matter.)

Defense motions to dismiss the January 6 indictment based on selective prosecution and overall unconstitutionality now sit on Chutkan’s desk—requests she presumably will deny, prompting another wave of appeals. One can only imagine the coming fight over jury selection, which will commence on February 9 when potential jurors in D.C. are asked to complete questionnaires about their knowledge of the case.

In addition to the logical difficulties in viewing classified evidence in the documents case—which also involve tight restrictions under the Classified Information Procedures Act, or CIPA, and numerous hearings—the amount of discovery in the matter is “exceedingly voluminous,” Cannon wrote in July. She did not exaggerate.

DOJ so far has turned over at least 1.3 million pages of unclassified and 5,500 pages of classified records, far more than Smith’s office initially claimed. Further, roughly 60 terabytes of video footage recorded by security cameras at Mar-a-Lago must be reviewed by defense attorneys to track the movement of dozens of boxes, the basis of Smith’s obstruction charges. Both sides debated on Wednesday whether the amount of footage represented the equivalent of five years (Smith) or ten years (Trump) since the archive includes video captured by multiple cameras stationed throughout the property over the course of several months.

Team Trump also accuses Smith’s team of violating discovery deadlines, an allegation Bratt seemed to acknowledge when he admitted to the judge that the government made a discovery production as late as last week. (READ MORE)

I strongly suggest reading the full article presented by Kelly above.

President Trump’s legal position is very strong in the Florida documents case.

As we noted from the outset, and entirely different from what traditional pundits were saying at the time, the Mar-a-Lago documents case is the weakest case Jack Smith’s Lawfare crew have assembled.   Additionally, the judge in Florida is indicating she can see through the Lawfare schemes of the prosecution – and she doesn’t like it.

Nov 4 2023

The Meatgrinder – REPORT: U.S. and EU Officials Gently Discussing Need for Ukraine to Enter Peace Negotiations with Russia


Posted originally on the CTH on November 4, 2023 | Sundance

All things considered, this is a positive first step and the first significant indication that Western propaganda around World War Reddit is failing.

According to sources who are speaking to NBC News, U.S. and EU officials are gently beginning to talk to Ukraine government officials about what steps might need to be taken to bring an end to the Ukraine-Russia war. Obviously, for those who do not pretend, we all know the decision to end this conflict comes down to the USA telling Ukraine President Zelenskyy to open peace talks with Russia.

The EU NATO alliance has recently started to show less interest in the maintenance of a U.S. proxy war against Russia, and more open public statements that the current status of a stalemate is unsustainable given the amount of money, hardware and political energy required to maintain it.

Additionally, Zelenskyy is running out of men to throw into the meat grinder; the troops and military leaders are actually defying his orders now.

Therefore, if the Biden administration (State Dept and CIA) concede to the reality, Zelenskyy will have no alternative except to talk to Russia about ending the conflict.

This is the baseline of non-pretending honesty that President Trump has been saying in his remarks about his ability to end the “killing and death” within 24 hours. The reality of the situation is not complex.

Ukraine pledges not to join NATO, the USA pledges not to use Ukraine as a proxy nation to conflict with Russia, the untrusting Russian government keeps part of Eastern Ukraine as a safety mechanism, and the war/bloodshed ends.

However, given the use of Ukraine as a financial mechanism for U.S. politicians to get rich, and given the financial stakes for multinationals like Blackrock, there are other financial considerations which will play out in the background of any potential peace talks. In the end, just like in the beginning, it’s all going to come down to money.

(Via NBC) – WASHINGTON — U.S. and European officials have begun quietly talking to the Ukrainian government about what possible peace negotiations with Russia might entail to end the war, according to one current senior U.S. official and one former senior U.S. official familiar with the discussions.

The conversations have included very broad outlines of what Ukraine might need to give up to reach a deal, the officials said. Some of the talks, which officials described as delicate, took place last month during a meeting of representatives from more than 50 nations supporting Ukraine, including NATO members, known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the officials said.

The discussions are an acknowledgment of the dynamics militarily on the ground in Ukraine and politically in the U.S. and Europe, officials said.

They began amid concerns among U.S. and European officials that the war has reached a stalemate and about the ability to continue providing aid to Ukraine, officials said. Biden administration officials also are worried that Ukraine is running out of forces, while Russia has a seemingly endless supply, officials said. Ukraine is also struggling with recruiting and has recently seen public protests about some of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s open-ended conscription requirements.

And there is unease in the U.S. government with how much less public attention the war in Ukraine has garnered since the Israel-Hamas war began nearly a month ago, the officials said. Officials fear that shift could make securing additional aid for Kyiv more difficult.

Some U.S. military officials have privately begun using the term “stalemate” to describe the current battle in Ukraine, with some saying it may come down to which side can maintain a military force the longest. Neither side is making large strides on the battlefield, which some U.S. officials now describe as a war of inches. Officials also have privately said Ukraine likely only has until the end of the year or shortly thereafter before more urgent discussions about peace negotiations should begin. U.S. officials have shared their views on such a timeline with European allies, officials said.

“Any decisions about negotiations are up to Ukraine,” Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the National Security Council, said in a statement. “We are focused on continuing to stand strongly in support of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and independence against Russian aggression.”

An administration official also noted that the U.S. has participated with Ukraine in discussions of its peace summit framework but said the White House “is not aware of any other conversations with Ukraine about negotiations at the moment.”  (read more)

Ultimately the decision to end the Ukraine-Russia war is not up to Joe Biden.  At a certain point the CIA and State Dept will tell him the cost -v- benefit analysis is no longer worth it, politicians are getting too many angry calls from Americans, and it’s time to end the conflict.

Biden will do what he’s told and read what is prepared for him, while the people around him try to position the end of the Ukraine conflict to gain Joe Biden the Nobel Prize for peace.

The political propaganda at the conclusion of a proxy war that NATO and Biden started is very clear to see.

Nov 4 2023

Eric Trump Speaks to Media After Testimony in New York Case Against Trump Organization


Posted originally on the CTH on November 3, 2023 | Sundance 

Everything about the case in New York City against the Trump organization business operations is ridiculous.  There are no victims.  There was no fraud.  All of the lenders did their own due diligence.  All of the loans were paid back without issue and the statement of financial condition was factual and accurate.

Additionally, the statute being used as the predicate for the case is a consumer fraud statute, intended to protect borrowers from predatory lenders. In the four corners of this case, Trump was the borrower, and the banks were the lenders.  New York is flipping the statute to claim the borrower defrauded the lenders, despite the lenders denying there was any fraud and there was no harm.   The entire case is ridiculous.

Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump have been called by the state prosecution as witnesses; the transparent motive is simply to extend the anxiety upon the family of President Donald Trump.  Eric Trump talks to the media today. WATCH:

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Nov 3 2023

Zelensky “Feels Betrayed” By West Re-Posted Nov 3, 2023 By Martin Armstrong


ZelenskyAmericaQuote

Sorry Zelensky, there is a new, younger war in town and all eyes are on her. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Time Magazine that he feels “betrayed” by the West since America is now funding two proxy wars. “Zelensky feels betrayed by his Western allies. They have left him without the means to win the war, only the means to survive it,” Time quoted a member of his team as saying.

Zelensky attempted to travel to Washington yet again to ask for another blank check. The entire US government almost shutdown over these blank checks but lawmakers managed to remove an additional $6 billion in aid for Ukraine to avert another crisis. Zelensky could care less about the crippling US national debt or the fact that our own people do not receive aid. He doesn’t care that the US sent more to Ukraine than all of Europe combined because Biden promised unwavering support and funding. The most alarming aspect is that he does not care about the tens of thousands of Ukrainian men who have died fighting this pointless war.

Zelensky Money Hungry

“The scariest thing is that part of the world got used to the war in Ukraine,” Zelensky said, adding, “Exhaustion with the war rolls along like a wave. You see it in the United States, in Europe. And we see that as soon as they start to get a little tired, it becomes like a show to them: ‘I can’t watch this rerun for the 10th time’.”

I for one am exhausted of hearing this former comedian with no geopolitical experience beg for fame and fortune. He knew the deal when he was installed as president. He could easily be replaced with another puppet. Did he actually think the West would show up and defeat Russia to save a nation that they wouldn’t even permit into the EU or NATO? Ukraine was merely the stepping stone for the Neocons to launch their own war with Russia. Now, the Neocons believe they can use the Middle East as their battleground instead. The invisible hand causes everyone to act in their own self-interest, and the West will put their money in that direction.

Ukraine is now the property of BlackRock and JPMorgan, and they may cause more economic hell for Ukraine than Russia ever did. It was always a game, Zelensky – a game Ukraine was destined to lose.

Nov 3 2023

Could Be Interesting – Tucker Carlson Visits Julian Assange?


Posted originally on the CTH on November 2, 2023 | Sundance

For a brief moment I will allow myself to imagine that Tucker Carlson’s research team is aware of the information we have previously provided.  If so, an interview with Julian Assange could be exceptionally interesting.

Tucker posts on Twitter that he was visiting with Julian Assange today:

[Source Link]

A WALK IN THE VERY DEEP WEEDS….

The Weissmann/Mueller report contains claims that Russia hacked the DNC servers as the central element to the Russia interference narrative in the U.S. election.  This DNC hack claim is the fulcrum issue structurally underpinning the Russian election interference narrative pushed by the Weissmann and Muller Special Counsel.  However, this essential claim is directly disputed by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, as outlined during a Dana Rohrabacher interview and by Julian Assange’s own on-the-record statements.

Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London immediately after the Weissmann/Muller report was released to Bill Barr.  Despite investigating the background of the Trump-Russia nonsense, John Durham never touched the DNC hacking claim – the core of the Mueller report.  Why? Because Durham knew the U.S. Government threw a bag over Assange to protect the fraudulent Trump-Russia and Russian interference claims.

Again, this reality speaks to the corruption within the John Durham investigation.  Durham was protecting Weissmann, Mueller and the core of their justification for a 2-year investigation.   Durham knows why Assange was arrested.  Durham stayed away from it, intentionally.

The Russians HAD TO have made efforts to interfere in the election, or else the factual basis for the surveillance operation against candidate Donald Trump is naked to the world.

That’s why so much DOJ, FBI and Mueller special counsel energy was exhausted framing the predicate.

“Seventeen intelligence agencies,” the December 29th Joint Analysis Report, the expulsion of the Russian diplomats which was an outcropping of the JAR, the rushed January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment, shoving microphones in everyone’s faces and demanding they answer if they believed Russia interfered – all of it, and I do mean every bit of it, is predicated on an absolute DC need to establish that Russia Attempted to Interfere in the 2016 election.

The “Russian Malicious Cyber Activity – Joint Analysis Report” (full pdf) is pure nonsense.  It outlines nothing more than vague and disingenuous typical hacking activity that is no more substantive than any other hacking report on any other foreign actor. However, it was needed to help frame the Russian interference narrative.

There were no Russian diplomats involved; there was no Russian election interference; there was no Russian hacking of the DNC; it was all a fraud created by the intelligence community (IC), FBI and Main Justice to support Hillary Clinton’s lies and then cover their own targeting tracks.

On September 26, 2021, Yahoo News published an extensive article about the CIA targeting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2017 and the extreme conversations that were taking place at the highest levels of the U.S. government about how to control him.

There is a much bigger story transparently obvious when overlapped with CTH research files on the Mueller investigation and the U.S. intelligence community.  Specifically, the motive intentionally not outlined by Yahoo News.

What I am going to share is a deep dive using the resources and timeline from within that Yahoo article and the specific details we have assembled that paints a clear picture about what interests existed for the Deep State, the Intelligence apparatus and the Mueller-Weissmann special counsel.

This fully cited review is not for the faint of heart. This is a journey that could shock many; it could alarm more and will likely force more than a few to reevaluate just what the purpose was for Mike Pompeo within the Donald Trump administration.

As the Yahoo News article begins, they outline how those within the Trump administration viewed Assange as a risk in 2017.

Here it is critical to accept that many people inside the Trump administration were there to control events, not to facilitate a policy agenda from a political outsider.   In the example of Assange, the information he carried was a risk to those who attempted and failed to stop Trump from winning the 2016 election.

Julian Assange was not a threat to Donald Trump, but he was a threat to those who attempted to stop Donald Trump.  In 2017, the DC system was reacting to a presidency they did not control.  As an outcome, the Office of the President was being managed and influenced by some with ulterior motives.

Yahoo, via Michael Isikoff, puts it this way: “Some senior officials inside the CIA and the Trump administration even discussed killing Assange, going so far as to request “sketches” or “options” for how to assassinate him. Discussions over kidnapping or killing Assange occurred “at the highest levels” of the Trump administration, said a former senior counterintelligence official. “There seemed to be no boundaries.”

As we overlay the timeline, it is prudent to pause and remember some hindsight details.  According to reports in November of 2019, U.S. Attorney John Durham and U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr were spending time looking carefully at CIA activity in the 2016 presidential election. One quote from a media-voice increasingly sympathetic to a political deep-state noted:

“One British official with knowledge of Barr’s wish list presented to London commented that, “It is like nothing we have come across before, they are basically asking, in quite robust terms, for help in doing a hatchet job on their own intelligence services”“. (Link)

It is interesting that quote came from a British intelligence official, as there was extensive pre-2016 election evidence of an FBI/CIA counterintelligence operation that also involved U.K. intelligence services. There was an aspect to the FBI/CIA operation that overlaps with both a U.S. and U.K. need to keep Wikileaks founder Julian Assange under tight control.

To understand the risk that Julian Assange represented to FBI/CIA interests, and effectively the Mueller special counsel, it is important to understand just how extensive the operations of the FBI/CIA were in 2016. It is within this network of foreign and domestic operations where FBI Agent Peter Strzok was clearly working as a bridge between the CIA and FBI operations.

By now, people are familiar with the construct of CIA operations involving Joseph Mifsud, a Maltese professor generally identified as a western intelligence operative who was tasked by the FBI/CIA to run an operation against Trump campaign official George Papadopoulos in both Italy (Rome) and London. {Go Deep}  John Durham ignored him.

In a similar fashion, the FBI tasked U.S. intelligence asset Stefan Halper to target another Trump campaign official, Carter Page. Under the auspices of being a Cambridge Professor, Stefan Halper also targeted General Michael Flynn. Additionally, using assistance from a female FBI agent, under the false name Azra Turk, Halper also targeted Papadopoulos.  Again, John Durham ignored it.

The initial operations to target Flynn, Papadopoulos and Page were all based overseas. This seemingly makes the CIA exploitation of the assets and the targets legal and much easier.  If Durham went into this intelligence rabbit hole, there would be a paper trail that leads back to Robert Mueller.  Durham didn’t go there.

John Durham and IG Michael Horowitz both outlined how very specific exculpatory evidence was known to the FBI and Main Justice, yet that evidence was withheld from the FISA application used against Carter Page and/or it was ignored.  The FBI fabricated information in the FISA and removed evidence that Carter Page was previously working for the CIA.  This is what FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith was indicted and convicted for doing.

One week after the FBI and DOJ filed the second renewal for the Carter Page FISA [April 7, 2017], Yahoo News notes how Mike Pompeo delivered his first remarks as CIA Director:

[…] On April 13, 2017, wearing a U.S. flag pin on the left lapel of his dark gray suit, Pompeo strode to the podium at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank, to deliver to a standing-room-only crowd his first public remarks as Trump’s CIA director.

Rather than use the platform to give an overview of global challenges or to lay out any bureaucratic changes he was planning to make at the agency, Pompeo devoted much of his speech to the threat posed by WikiLeaks. (link)

Why would CIA Director Mike Pompeo be so concerned about Julian Assange and Wikileaks in April 2017?

In April of 2017 Pompeo’s boss, President Donald Trump, was under assault from the intelligence community writ large, and every deep state actor was leaking to the media in a frenzied effort to continue the Trump-Russia collusion conspiracy.

The Trump-Russia effort was so all consuming that FBI Director James Comey was even keeping a diary of engagement with President Trump in order to support an ongoing investigation built on fraud – yet, Mike Pompeo is worried about Julian Assange.

Again, here it is important to put yourself back into the time of reference.  Remember, it’s clear in the text messages between FBI Agent Strzok and Lisa Page that Peter Strzok had a working relationship with what he called their “sister agency”, the CIA.

♦ Former CIA Director John Brennan admitted Peter Strzok helped write the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) which outlines the Russia narrative; and it was also Peter Strzok who authored the July 31st, 2016, “Electronic Communication” from the CIA to the FBI that originated FBI operation “Crossfire Hurricane.”  Strzok immediately used that EC to travel to London to debrief intelligence officials around Australian Ambassador to the U.K. Alexander Downer.

In short, Peter Strzok was a profoundly overzealous James Bond wannabe who acted as a bridge between the CIA and the FBI. The perfect type of FBI career agent for 2016’s CIA Director John Brennan to utilize.

Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson hired CIA Open-Source analyst Nellie Ohr toward the end of 2015, at appropriately the same time as “FBI Contractors” were identified exploiting the NSA database and extracting information on a specific set of U.S. persons.  One, if not the primary extractors, has now been identified as Rodney Joffe at Neustar.   “The campaign plot was outlined by Durham in a 27-page indictment charging former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann with making a false report to the FBI.  The plot was also outlined in the finished Durham report.  Eight individuals who allegedly conspired with Sussmann but does not identify them by name. The sources familiar with the probe confirmed that the leader of the team of contractors was Rodney L. Joffe.” {Go Deep}

It was also Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson who was domestically tasked with a Russian lobbyist named Natalia Veselnitskaya. A little reported Russian Deputy Attorney General named Saak Albertovich Karapetyan was working as a double agent for the CIA and Kremlin. Karapetyan was directing the foreign operations of Natalia Veselnitskaya, and Glenn Simpson was organizing her inside the U.S as part of his Trump-Russia creation.

Glenn Simpson managed Veselnitskaya through the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr. However, once the CIA/Fusion GPS operation using Veselnitskaya started to unravel with public reporting, back in Russia Deputy AG Karapetyan died in a helicopter crash.

Simultaneously timed in late 2015 through mid 2016, there was a domestic FBI operation using a young Russian named Maria Butina tasked to run up against Republican presidential candidates. According to Patrick Byrne, Butina’s handler, was FBI agent Peter Strzok who was giving Byrne the instructions on where to send her. {Go Deep}

All of this context outlines the extent to which the FBI/CIA was openly involved in constructing a political operation that settled upon anyone in candidate Donald Trump’s orbit.  A large international operation directed by the FBI/CIA and domestic operations seemingly directed by Peter Strzok operating with a foot in both agencies. [Strzok gets CIA service coin]  Durham eviscerated the predicate for all of this in his report, yet stayed away from the part that leads to Robert Mueller in 2017.

Recap: ♦Mifsud tasked against Papadopoulos (CIA). ♦Halper tasked against Flynn (CIA), Page (CIA) and Papadopoulos (CIA). ♦Azra Turk, pretending to be Halper asst, tasked against Papadopoulos (FBI). ♦Veselnitskaya tasked against Donald Trump Jr. (CIA, Fusion GPS). ♦Butina tasked against Trump and Donald Trump Jr (FBI).

Additionally, Christopher Steele was a British intelligence officer hired by Fusion GPS to assemble and launder fraudulent intelligence information within his dossier. And we cannot forget Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch, who was recruited by Asst. FBI Director Andrew McCabe to participate in running an operation against the Trump campaign and create the impression of Russian involvement. Deripaska refused to participate.

All of this engagement directly controlled by U.S. intelligence, and all of this intended to give a specific Russia impression. This predicate was what John Durham was reviewing in November of 2019, and then released in his final report – while whitewashing the parts that led to the Mueller silo.

The key point of all that contextual background is to see how committed the CIA and FBI were to the constructed narrative of Russia interfering with the 2016 election. The CIA, FBI, and by extension the DOJ and a multitude of political operatives, put a hell of a lot of work into it.

We know John Durham looked at the construct of the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA); and talking to CIA analysts who participated in the construct of the January 2017 report that bolstered the false appearance of Russian interference in the 2016 election. This context is important, because it ties in to the next part that involves Julian Assange and Wikileaks.  This is where the motives of Mike Pompeo in mid/late 2017 come into play.

[…] By the summer of 2017, the CIA’s proposals were setting off alarm bells at the National Security Council. “WikiLeaks was a complete obsession of Pompeo’s,” said a former Trump administration national security official. (link)

On April 11th, 2019, the Julian Assange indictment was unsealed in the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA). From the indictment we discover it was under seal since March 6th, 2018:

(Link to pdf)

On Tuesday April 15, 2019, more investigative material was released. Again, note the dates: Grand Jury, *December of 2017* This means FBI investigation prior to….

The FBI investigation took place prior to December 2017, it was coordinated through the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) where Dana Boente was U.S. Attorney at the time. The grand jury indictment was sealed from March of 2018 until after Mueller completed his investigation, April 2019.

Why the delay?

What exactly was the DOJ waiting for from March 2018 to April 2019?

This timeframe is the peak of the Robert Mueller/Andrew Weissmann special counsel investigation.

Here’s where it gets interesting….

The Yahoo article outlines, “There was an inappropriate level of attention to Assange“, by the CIA according to a national security council official.  However, if you consider the larger ramifications of what Julian Assange represented to all of those people inside and outside government interests who created the Trump-Russia collusion/conspiracy, well, there was actually a serious risk.

Remember, in May 2017 Robert Mueller and Andrew Weissmann effectively took over the DOJ.  The purpose of the Mueller investigation was to cover up the illegal operation that took place in the preceding year.   The people exposed in the Trump-Russia targeting operation included all of those intelligence operatives previously outlined in the CIA, FBI and DOJ operations.  These are the people John Durham did not indict.

The FBI submission to the Eastern District of Virginia Grand Jury in December of 2017 was four months after congressman Dana Rohrabacher talked to Julian Assange in August of 2017: “Assange told a U.S. congressman … he can prove the leaked Democratic Party documents … did not come from Russia.”

(August 2017, The Hill Via John Solomon) Julian Assange told a U.S. congressman on Tuesday he can prove the leaked Democratic Party documents he published during last year’s election did not come from Russia and promised additional helpful information about the leaks in the near future.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican who is friendly to Russia and chairs an important House subcommittee on Eurasia policy, became the first American congressman to meet with Assange during a three-hour private gathering at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where the WikiLeaks founder has been holed up for years.

Rohrabacher recounted his conversation with Assange to The Hill.

“Our three-hour meeting covered a wide array of issues, including the WikiLeaks exposure of the DNC [Democratic National Committee] emails during last year’s presidential election,” Rohrabacher said, “Julian emphatically stated that the Russians were not involved in the hacking or disclosure of those emails.”

Pressed for more detail on the source of the documents, Rohrabacher said he had information to share privately with President Trump. (read more)

Dana Rohrabacher later published this account of the events:

Knowing how much effort the CIA and FBI put into the Russia collusion-conspiracy narrative; and knowing that Assange could essentially destroy the baseline predicate for the entire Trump-Russia investigation – which included the use of Robert Mueller; it would make sense for corrupt government officials to take keen interest after this August 2017 meeting between Rohrabacher and Assange.

That contact between Rohrabacher and Assange explains why those same government officials would quickly gather specific evidence (related to Wikileaks and Bradley Manning) for a grand jury by December 2017.

Within three months of the grand jury seating (Nov/Dec 2017), the DOJ generated an indictment and sealed it in March 2018.

The EDVA then sat on the Julian Assange indictment while the Mueller/Weissman probe was ongoing.

As soon as the Mueller probe ended, on April 11th, 2019, a planned and coordinated effort between the U.K. and U.S. was executed; Julian Assange was forcibly arrested and removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and the EDVA indictment was unsealed (link).

As a person who researched this fiasco, including the ridiculously false 2016 Russian hacking/interference narrative: “17 intelligence agencies”, Joint Analysis Report (JAR) needed for Obama’s anti-Russia narrative in December ’16, and then a month later the ridiculously political Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) in January ’17, this timing against Assange is not coincidental.

It doesn’t take a deep researcher to see the aligned Deep State motive to control Julian Assange, because the Mueller report was dependent on Russia cybercrimes, and that narrative is contingent on the Russia DNC hack story which Julian Assange disputes.  Again, John Durham stayed away from it!

♦ This is critical. The Weissmann/Mueller report contains claims that Russia hacked the DNC servers as the central element to the Russia interference narrative in the U.S. election.

This claim is the fulcrum underpinning the Russia election interference narrative.  However, this core and essential claim is directly disputed by Julian Assange, as outlined during the Dana Rohrabacher interview, and by Julian Assange’s on-the-record statements.

The predicate for Robert Mueller’s investigation was specifically due to Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The fulcrum for this Russia interference claim is the intelligence community assessment (Peter Strzok); and the only factual evidence claimed within the ICA is that Russia hacked the DNC servers; a claim only made possible by relying on forensic computer analysis from another Michael Sussmann partner, Shawn Henry at Crowdstrike, yes another DNC contractor and collaborator with the Clinton campaign.

The CIA held a massive conflict of self-interest problem surrounding the Russian hacking claim as it pertained to their own activity in 2016. The FBI and DOJ always held a massive interest in maintaining the Russian hacking claim.  Robert Mueller and Andrew Weismann did everything they could to support that predicate; and all of those foreign countries whose intelligence apparatus participated with Brennan and Strzok also carried a self-interest in maintaining that Russia hacking and interference narrative.

Julian Assange was/is the only person with direct knowledge of how Wikileaks gained custody of the DNC emails; and Assange claimed he has evidence it was from an inside DNC leak, not from a DNC hack.

The Russian “hacking” claim was ultimately so important to the CIA, FBI, DOJ, ODNI and U.K Intelligence apparatus.  Well, right there is the obvious motive to shut Assange down as soon as intelligence officials knew the Mueller report was going to be public.  And that is exactly what Main Justice and the U.S. intelligence community did.

This is why John Durham never touched it.

All of them know what happened.

All of them know why Julian Assange was taken from the Embassy in London.  A bag had to be thrown over Assange in order to retain the justification for the Weissmann/Mueller special counsel and the larger Russian election interference claims.  None of them do not know this.  They all know.

Start asking the right questions about the timeline of Assange being arrested.  Ask about the DNC hack and Russian provenance according to Crowdstrike.  Ask key and specific questions about the FBI working with Crowdstrike and about the DOJ and EDVA case against Assange.

The people around the Deep State all know what happened.  SO DO WE!

Nov 3 2023

Trump Attorney Alina Habba Summarizes Status of New York Case Against Trump Business Organization


Posted originally on the CTH on November 2, 2023

Everything about the case in New York City against the Trump organization business operations is ridiculous.  There are no victims.  There was no fraud.  All of the lenders did their own due diligence.  All of the loans were paid back without issue and the statement of financial condition was factual and accurate.

Additionally, the statute being used as the predicate for the case is a consumer fraud statute, intended to protect borrowers from predatory lenders. In the four corners of this case, Trump is the borrower, and the banks were the lenders.  New York is flipping the statute to claim the borrower defrauded the lenders, despite the lenders denying there was any fraud and there was no harm.   The entire case is ridiculous.

In this brief video segment, Trump defense lawyer Alina Habba reviews the current status of the case.  WATCH:

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Nov 3 2023

House Passes $14.3 Billion Stand Alone Bill to Support Israel – Vote 226-196 With 12 Democrats in Support


Posted originally on the CTH on November 2, 2023 | Sundance

If it was a Democrat sponsored bill, the media would be highlighting the bipartisan nature of the vote.  However, because it is a Republican sponsored bill, the media immediately say the stand alone measure to support Israel is dead upon arrival in the Senate.

Joe Biden has said he will veto the House version of the bill, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he will not entertain the bill due to the pay-go funding mechanism (removal of $14.3 billion in IRS funding) and the fact it is not a package bill that includes support for Ukraine.   Biden wants his $106 billion bill with funds for Israel, Ukraine, Hamas (via USAID), Taiwan and support for arriving migrants.  Chuck Schumer is working with Mitch McConnell to put the combined package together.

Twelve Democrats supported the $14.3 billion House bill, and two Republicans voted against it (MTGreene and Massie). The vote was 226-196 for passage.

WASHINGTON – […] While aid to Israel is something both parties strongly agree with, Democratic support for the legislation broke down after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) added a provision in the bill that would cut $14.3 billion in funding from the Internal Revenue Service to offset the cost of the aid to Israel — prompting Democratic leaders to encourage party members to vote against it.

“It’s a bad precedent to set. It costs resources. But we have never conditioned emergency aid like we have under Speaker Johnson this week. This is wrong. This is wrong for Israelis, this is wrong for the region,” House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) said on Thursday. “This is Republicans playing politics with aid to Israel.”

However, Johnson and Republicans have defended the decision to add a pay-for in the bill because of the growing national debt.

“We are in dire straits as a nation,” Johnson said at a press conference. “We have obligations, and we have commitments, and we want to protect and help and assist our friend Israel, but we have to keep our own house in order as well. And I think people at home — I think the American people understand that.” (read more)

As noted by Politico, “I am glad that the president issued a veto threat over this stunningly unserious proposal,” Schumer said Thursday. “The Senate will not be considering this deeply flawed proposal from the House GOP.”

Speaker Mike Johnson remarks. Prompted: