Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that the Trump administration is backing another round of stimulus checks to millions of Americans as part of another coronavirus relief package.
Congress has done nothing to directly help Americans since a first wave of stimulus checks went out in April, but Mnuchin said the administration is working “on a bipartisan basis with Republicans and Democrats&#8221; to get to an agreement. He said it’s a “priority” to have legislation passed by July 20.
“We do support another round of economic impact payments,” Mnuchin said in an interview with <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mnuchin-white-house-backs-more-stimulus-payments">CNBC</a>. “We’re discussing the criteria with the Senate, and had a productive talk with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.”
Mnuchin did not provide specific details.
President Trump has expressed support for another round of stimulus checks, which he implied could be larger than the $1,200 per person that millions of Americans received this spring.
Trump late last month said the next stimulus package would be “very generous” and would be announced in “a couple of weeks.”
Trump spoke of a second stimulus during an interview with Joe St. George, Washington correspondent for <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimwang/2020/06/22/president-trump-next-stimulus-bill-will-be-very-generous-and-announced-in-a-couple-of-weeks/#4beb5f632b23">Scripps</a>:
<blockquote>ST. GEORGE: I have a lot of viewers in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, who are still struggling economically, sir. They spent all of that first stimulus check. Are you going to get them a second stimulus check?
TRUMP: Yeah, we are. We are. Look we had this —
ST. GEORGE: When? When are you going to get it?
TRUMP: We had this going better than anybody’s ever seen before. We had the best job numbers, the best economics, the best economy we’ve ever had, and then we had the virus come in from China. Now we’re rebuilding it again. We will be doing another stimulus package. It’ll be very good; it’ll be very generous, and people—
ST. GEORGE: How much? People want to know.
TRUMP: You’ll find out about it. You’ll find out.</blockquote>
The House has already passed a bill that calls for a stimulus check similar to the one available in the Cares Act — a $1,200 check for adults and as many as three child dependents. That means a family of two adults and three children would qualify for a $6,000 stimulus check. But the price tag is a hefty $3 trillion.
The bill is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Senate, where McConnell is looking for a lower price tag, around $1 trillion. Both sides are expected to renew negotiations soon.
Under the Cares Act, individuals were eligible for payments of up to $1,200, but that amount declined for those with an adjusted gross income higher than $75,000 a year. The $1,200 payment dropped by 5% of every dollar above $75,000, or $50 for every $1,000.
The benefit didn’t apply for individuals with incomes over $99,000.
Married couples with combined incomes of up to $150,000 received $2,400, subject to the same phase-out that applied to individuals. The payments were phased out entirely for couples making $198,000 or more. Families also got $500 per dependent child under the age of 16.
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Partial view on a US Treasury payment check

Treasury Secretary Backs ‘Another Round’ Of Coronavirus Stimulus Checks; When You Might See Some Cash

Coronavirus

COVID-19

Steve Mnuchin

stimulus

Trump Administration

Suicide is a major, yet not often discussed, issue in modern society, and on Tuesday, the Trump administration took a step toward reducing high rates by launching a national campaign called <a href="https://www.wearewithinreach.net/">REACH</a>.
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-administration-reduce-high-suicide-rates-campaign">reported</a> that digital ads will be appearing on the Internet Wednesday displaying a message that “suicide is preventable,” and that together, we can reduce the rates.
“As we face the tragedy of suicide in our nation, we must reach beyond what we have done before. We must change the way we think about, talk about, and address emotional pain and suffering. Suicide is preventable – but only if we empower ourselves and others with the knowledge, tools and resources we need to reach those who feel hopeless,” the website for the campaign says. “REACH is about preventing suicide. It is for and about everyone because we all have risk and protective factors that we need to recognize and understand.”
The website, which is maintained by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, provides information about the risk factors of suicide and what can be done to prevent it, with a note at the top that includes the phone number to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
“Suicide is preventable. If you are struggling, or you are concerned about someone you know, please REACH out and call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (press 1 if you are a Veteran or service member), or chat online at <a href="https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/">suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/</a>.”
Second Lady Karen Pence is leading the effort in the administration to reduce suicides.
“Working together, we can implement this road map and end this national tragedy of suicide,” she said, according to Fox.
“All of us have been facing anxieties and isolation,” Pence said. “It’s OK to not be OK. &#8230; The best thing is to talk about it more, not less.”
“No one should be afraid to ask for help,” she added.
The effort is aimed particularly at veterans, who, according to Fox News, commit suicide at “a rate about 1.5 times higher than those who have not served in the military.” The outlet reported that about “20 veterans, guardsmen and reservists die by suicide each day.”
Surgeon General Jerome Adams is helping with the effort and explained that the stigma around mental health issues needs to disappear, saying it is a much bigger threat than cigarettes or even the coronavirus.
“When we feel comfortable seeking help, and unless more people feel comfortable offering help without judgment, we’ll never reach those who need it the most,” Adams said, according to Fox.
In 2018, NBC reported that mental health and suicide is an issue particularly affecting men and boys, who are taught not to share their feelings.
“While teenage girls attempt suicide more often than teenage boys, according to the <a href="https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/">American Foundation for Suicide Prevention</a>, boys are more likely to die by suicide. Suicide rates for teenage boys and girls rose steadily from 2007 to 2015. In 2015, there were 1,537 suicides documented for boys ages 15 to 19 and 524 for girls, according for the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6630a6.htm">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>,” the outlet reported.
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Mental Health

Trump Administration Launches Campaign To Reduce Suicides

Mental health

Suicide

Effective July 6, 2021, the United States will no longer be a member nation of the World Health Organization, the White House announced Tuesday, ending the U.S.&#8217;s involvement in the global group, which President Donald Trump has claimed conspired with China to hide the true extent of the coronavirus pandemic.
The United States submitted its withdrawal to the United Nations Secretary-General on Tuesday, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/506214-trump-administration-formally-withdraws-us-from-WHO-">according to The Hill</a>, and the White House informed Congress of its intent to drop participation in the WHO early Tuesday morning.
The World Health Organization, concerned that a break might be coming, was adamant Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic is far from over and warned member nations to stay the course, participating wholly in the WHO&#8217;s global efforts at pandemic containment.
The pandemic is &#8220;accelerating, and we have clearly not reached the peak of the pandemic,&#8221; Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at a briefing. &#8220;More than six months in, the case for national unity and global solidarity is undeniable. We cannot afford any divisions.&#8221;
The United States, however, has been reconsidering its membership in the WHO since early February, when suspicions arose among Trump administration officials that WHO administrations may have conspired with Chinese officials to hide the origin of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and may have helped the Chinese government conceal the extent of the pandemic within that country&#8217;s borders.
Later reports also seem to indicate that the WHO deliberately recast the novel coronavirus as largely harmless, tweeting in January that there was no proof the virus could be transmitted from human to human, although it was clear from the Chinese experience that the virus was highly contagious. In February, Dr. Ghebreyesus claimed that &#8220;the spread [of coronavirus] to other countries is minimal and slow,&#8221; and that Chinese efforts to contain the virus had been successful.
In recent days, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/who-quietly-alters-coronavirus-timeline-to-indicate-it-first-learned-of-coronavirus-from-the-internet-not-the-chinese-government">Fox News reports</a>, the WHO has been furiously recasting its narrative about the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, even going so far as to alter its official timeline on the matter, claiming now that it learned of the coronavirus from the Internet and not from health officials in Wuhan, where the global pandemic began.
The White House announced in April that it was looking to pull funding from the WHO, pending an investigation into the body&#8217;s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The move triggered panic within the WHO&#8217;s ranks, particularly given that the United States supplies a significant percentage &#8212; more than $400 million &#8212; of the group&#8217;s operating budget. At one point, members of the WHO accused Taiwan of orchestrating an uprising among member nations based on racism &#8212; a claim Taiwan quickly and forcefully disputed.
In late May, the U.S. officially announced that it would cut ties with the WHO but did not set a timeline for withdrawal.
Tuesday&#8217;s announcement fulfills the Trump administration&#8217;s threat.
Democrats quickly fired back at the administration. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) tweeted that &#8220;to call Trump’s response to COVID chaotic &amp; incoherent doesn&#8217;t do it justice. This won&#8217;t protect American lives or interests — it leaves Americans sick &amp; America alone.&#8221;
Correction: An earlier version of this article said the withdrawal from WHO would take place next Monday. It will actually take place July 6, 2021.
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United States Will Withdraw From The World Health Organization

Donald Trump

World Health Organization

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chad Wolf announced on Wednesday that it is deploying Rapid Deployment Teams (RDT) across the country to protect federal monuments from &#8220;violent anarchists and rioters&#8221; during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
In a statment, DHS <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/07/01/dhs-announces-new-task-force-protect-american-monuments-memorials-and-statues">said</a> that Wolf had created the DHS Protecting American Communities Task Force (PACT), which is &#8220;a special task force to coordinate Departmental law enforcement agency assets in protecting our nation’s historic monuments, memorials, statues, and federal facilities.&#8221;
DHS said that an order signed by President Donald Trump last month, “Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Activity,” directed DHS to &#8220;provide personnel to assist with the protection of federal monuments, memorials, statues, or property.&#8221;
&#8220;As a result, DHS created the PACT, which will conduct ongoing assessments of potential civil unrest or destruction and allocate resources to protect people and property,&#8221; the statement concluded. &#8220;This may involve potential surge activity to ensure the continuing protection of critical locations. DHS’s Office of Operations Coordination will also partner closely with the Departments of Justice and Interior to establish information and intelligence sharing.&#8221;
The move comes as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2020-next-wave-statue-removals-afoot-map-n1230506">dozens</a> of statues have been removed or destroyed by left-wing protesters in recent weeks, including “statues of former Presidents <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-rioters-burn-american-flag-on-fire-on-top-of-george-washington-statue-tear-it-down">George Washington</a>, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/portland-protesters-tear-down-racist-statue-thomas-jefferson">Thomas Jefferson</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rioters-in-california-tear-down-statue-of-ulysses-s-grant-he-defeated-the-confederacy-devastated-kkk">Ulysses S. Grant</a>, and attempted to destroy the statue of former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-rioters-near-white-house-try-to-tear-down-presidential-statue-set-up-black-house-autonomous-zone">Andrew Jackson</a> before being stopped by law enforcement,” The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-signs-executive-order-protecting-monuments-barr-creates-task-force-to-tackle-extremists-includes-antifa">reported</a>. “Statues of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-rioters-tear-down-statue-of-francis-scott-key-he-wrote-the-star-spangled-banner">the man who wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner,”</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-rioters-in-california-tear-down-religious-statue-of-father-junipero-serra">a notable person from the Catholic church</a>, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/memorial-dedicated-to-holocaust-survivors-toppled-at-cemetery-in-california">a Holocaust memorial</a> have also been destroyed in recent days.”
“DHS is answering the President’s call to use our law enforcement personnel across the country to protect our historic landmarks,” Wolf said in a statement. “We won’t stand idly by while violent anarchists and rioters seek not only to vandalize and destroy the symbols of our nation, but to disrupt law and order and sow chaos in our communities.”
“As we approach the July 4th holiday, I have directed the deployment and pre-positioning of Rapid Deployment Teams (RDT) across the country to respond to potential threats to facilities and property,” Wolf continued. “While the Department respects every American’s right to protest peacefully, violence and civil unrest will not be tolerated.”
In a tweet, Wolf said that the anarchists and rioters &#8220;clearly hate this country&#8221; and that &#8220;we are here to stop them.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DHSgov</a> is pre-deploying rapid deployment teams to respond to any threats to our monuments in critical areas. We will not let anarchists and rioters who clearly hate this country continue to terrorize our cities and destroy federal monuments. We are here to stop them. <a href="https://t.co/MK5wICYOf9">pic.twitter.com/MK5wICYOf9</a>
&mdash; Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHS_Wolf/status/1278333529676550146?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DHSgov</a> will ensure that we have law enforcement personnel ready to protect our federal properties, facilities, buildings, statues, and monuments across the country. <a href="https://t.co/2HhFkBnHRW">pic.twitter.com/2HhFkBnHRW</a>
&mdash; Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHS_Wolf/status/1278332887071428608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The destruction of statues and monuments across the country was partly sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis back in May. After Floyd&#8217;s death, rioters burned down buildings, looted stores, and attacked law enforcement officials across the country. The violent riots eventually turned their focus to Confederate statues but quickly progressed to destroying statues of former U.S. presidents and non-political figures.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers with the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe"> member</a>.

Lafayette Park Riot

DHS Launching Rapid Deployment Teams Across U.S. To Protect Monuments From ‘Violent Anarchists And Rioters’ During July 4 Weekend

American History

Department of Homeland Security

The Republican National Committee (RNC) launched a new digital ad blitz on Wednesday to highlight one of the signature victories of President Donald Trump&#8217;s first term in office, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade agreement, which goes into effect today.
The USMCA was signed into law earlier this year as a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
&#8220;As part of its ongoing digital blitz between now and Election Day, the RNC and Trump campaign committees are launching a digital ad buy and using other digital tools, such as texting, to promote the implementation of the USMCA,&#8221; a source at the RNC told The Daily Wire. &#8220;These ads will reach voters in 17 target states and generate hundreds of millions of impressions to spread the word about the benefits of the USMCA, the boost it will give to the economy, and President Trump’s &#8216;Promises Made, Promises Kept&#8217; agenda. This latest blitz is part of a seven figure economy-focused nationwide buy.&#8221;
The ad is set to air in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The RNC source said that the party is going to be hitting those key states in the run up to the election by contrasting Trump&#8217;s record on fighting for trade deals that advocate for the American worker with the &#8220;failed trade policies that Joe Biden supported.&#8221;
&#8220;As more of his ‘Promises Made, Promises Kept’ agenda, President Trump has righted the wrongs of decades of failed trade deals, helping to ignite the Great American Comeback and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs for American farmers, workers and manufacturers,&#8221; RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. &#8220;The contrast between the America-First trade policies championed by President Trump and those supported by Joe Biden in his 40-plus years as a career politician in Washington could not be greater. The USMCA is a win for American workers, and a win for this country.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Republican National Committee (RNC) releases a new digital ad highlighting the Trump administration&#39;s success in securing the USMCA trade deal
The USMCA goes into effect today. <a href="https://t.co/W2jGBbEeGz">pic.twitter.com/W2jGBbEeGz</a>
&mdash; Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1278283780856270849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives gave Trump a major win last December when they passed the USMCA after passing articles of impeachment against the president. The move came after Democrats had dragged their feet in getting the USMCA passed.
The new trade deal, which was a signature promise that Trump made when he was running for office in 2016, delivered &#8220;stronger protections for workers and the digital economy, expanded markets for American farmers and new rules to encourage auto manufacturing in North America,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/business/economy/usmca-trump.html">reported</a>. &#8220;The deal will restore certainty about the direction of the North American economy for the multitude of companies that depend on the rules to carry out their businesses.&#8221;
“Today we are finally ending the NAFTA nightmare and signing into law the brand-new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” Trump said during the signing ceremony in January. “For the first time in American history, we have replaced a disastrous trade deal that rewarded outsourcing with a truly fair and reciprocal trade deal that will keep jobs, wealth and growth right here in America.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers with the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe"> member</a>.

WATCH: RNC Launches New Digital Ad On Key Trump Achievement, USMCA Trade Deal, Which Goes Into Effect Today

2020 Election

Economy

Joe Biden

Republican National Committee (RNC)

The Trump administration took drastic action this week to combat a possible second wave of coronavirus infections across the United States, buying up nearly the entire global supply of a new coronavirus treatment.
The Trump administration secured more than 500,000 treatment courses of remdesivir, an antiviral drug manufactured by Gilead Sciences. The Telegraph <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/30/united-states-buys-nearly-100-per-cent-world-remdesivir-supplies/">reported</a> that the massive buy represented the company&#8217;s entire production for the month of July and 90% of the company&#8217;s production output for August and September.
“President Trump has struck an amazing deal to ensure Americans have access to the first authorized therapeutic for COVID-19,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “To the extent possible, we want to ensure that any American patient who needs remdesivir can get it. The Trump Administration is doing everything in our power to learn more about life-saving therapeutics for COVID-19 and secure access to these options for the American people.”
As <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-gilead-sciences/gilead-prices-covid-19-drug-remdesivir-at-2340-per-patient-in-developed-nations-idUSKBN2401C8">reported</a> by Reuters, remdesivir &#8220;is expected to be in high demand as one of the only treatments so far shown to alter the course of COVID-19.&#8221;
&#8220;After the intravenously administered medicine helped shorten hospital recovery times in a clinical trial, it won emergency use authorization in the United States and full approval in Japan,&#8221; Reuters explains. &#8220;The drug is believed to be most effective in treating patients earlier in the course of disease than dexamethasone, which reduced deaths in patients requiring supportive oxygen and those on a ventilator.&#8221;
Gilead Sciences is also in the process of developing an inhaled version of the drug for potential outpatient use.
The company had reportedly agreed to price the drug at $2,340 per patient — lower than the suggested $2,520 to $2,800 price tag — but will charge U.S. patients with private insurance $3,120 per treatment course.
Daniel O’Day, Gilead’s chairman and chief executive, <a href="https://stories.gilead.com/articles/an-open-letter-from-daniel-oday-june-29">explained</a> the costs for the treatment in an open letter, writing:
<blockquote>In normal circumstances, we would price a medicine according to the value it provides. The first results from the NIAID study in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 showed that remdesivir shortened time to recovery by an average of four days. Taking the example of the United States, earlier hospital discharge would result in hospital savings of approximately $12,000 per patient. Even just considering these immediate savings to the healthcare system alone, we can see the potential value that remdesivir provides. This is before we factor in the direct benefit to those patients who may have a shorter stay in the hospital.
We have decided to price remdesivir well below this value. To ensure broad and equitable access at a time of urgent global need, we have set a price for governments of developed countries of $390 per vial. Based on current treatment patterns, the vast majority of patients are expected to receive a 5-day treatment course using 6 vials of remdesivir, which equates to $2,340 per patient.</blockquote>
As <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/29/gilead-sciences-remdesivir-cost-coronavirus/">highlighted</a> by The Washington Post, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) used the massive buy as an opportunity to attack the Trump administration for not demanding a lower price.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers with the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe"> member</a>.

COVID-19 medicine production in Egypt

Trump Administration Buys Up Nearly Entire Global Supply Of New Coronavirus Treatment For Americans

remdesivir

The Trump administration is expected to expel thousands of Chinese graduate students that are in the United States and who have ties to Chinese military schools. The expected order comes as U.S. intelligence officials continue to warn of spying by Chinese nationals at U.S. universities and in science and technology fields.
&#8220;American officials are discussing ways to punish China for its passage of a new national security law intended to enable crackdowns in Hong Kong, but the plans to cancel student visas were under consideration before the crisis over the law, which was announced last week by Chinese officials,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/28/us/politics/china-hong-kong-trump-student-visas.html">reported</a> Thursday. &#8220;Administrators and teachers have been briefed in recent years by the F.B.I. and the Justice Department on potential national security threats posed by Chinese students, especially ones working in the sciences.&#8221;
The Times added that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed the plans with President Donald Trump earlier this week during a meeting at the White House.
The move comes as the Department of Justice has announced numerous arrests in recent weeks of people working in the U.S. who were allegedly being paid by China&#8217;s Thousand Talents Plan, which allegedly pays high-level scientific and technology talent to steal trade secrets from other countries and bring them to China to further China’s scientific development, economic prosperity and national security.
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Security and defense experts praised the move by the Trump administration to expel Chinese students who had links to Chinese military schools.
David Reaboi, who has extensive experience in national security consulting, responded by writing: &#8220;Right, proper, &amp; long overdue. Universities have long prized the income they get from rich, regime-connected Chinese students, even as it&#8217;s a national security threat. They will squeal, but a sane country has no obligation to educate China&#8217;s next generation of fascist oligarchs.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Right, proper, &amp; long overdue. Universities have long prized the income they get from rich, regime-connected Chinese students, even as it&#39;s a national security threat. They will squeal, but a sane country has no obligation to educate China&#39;s next generation of fascist oligarchs. <a href="https://t.co/30GImP1pfV">https://t.co/30GImP1pfV</a>
&mdash; David Reaboi (@davereaboi) <a href="https://twitter.com/davereaboi/status/1266025910932824065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Defense expert and Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute Rebeccah Heinrichs responded to the report by writing on Twitter, &#8220;Wrong to view this as &#8216;punishing&#8217; the CCP. Expelling a few thousand Chinese students (a tiny fraction of those here) who are affiliated w/ the PLA is a matter of American self-preservation. The universities complaining loudest about this deserve scrutiny.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Wrong to view this as “punishing” the CCP. Expelling a few thousand Chinese students (a tiny fraction of those here) who are affiliated w/ the PLA is a matter of American self-preservation. The universities complaining loudest about this deserve scrutiny. <a href="https://t.co/eUraGvtCAx">https://t.co/eUraGvtCAx</a>
&mdash; Rebeccah Heinrichs (@RLHeinrichs) <a href="https://twitter.com/RLHeinrichs/status/1266032698176438272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The New York Times said that universities were worried about racism and a &#8220;new red scare,&#8221; but did not mention in its report that China has given <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2020-02-13/colleges-and-universities-fail-to-report-billions-from-china-qatar-saudi-arabia-and-others">billions</a> of dollars to U.S. universities and colleges, including top institutions like <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-06/harvard-leads-u-s-colleges-that-received-1-billion-from-china">Harvard</a>.
&#8220;A lot of our ideas, technology, research, innovation is incubated on those university campuses,&#8221; Bill Evanina, the top counterintelligence official in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/china/american-universities-are-soft-target-china-s-spies-say-u-n1104291">told</a> NBC News. &#8220;That&#8217;s where the science and technology originates — and that&#8217;s why it&#8217;s the most prime place to steal.&#8221;
&#8220;No country poses a greater, more severe or long-term threat to our national security and economic prosperity than China,&#8221; Boston&#8217;s top FBI agent, Joseph Bonavolonta told NBC News. &#8220;China&#8217;s communist government&#8217;s goal, simply put, is to replace the U.S. as the world superpower, and they are breaking the law to get there.&#8221;
U.S. officials are also pushing to expel suspected Chinese spies at media organizations after China expelled U.S. journalists from its country earlier this year.
&#8220;Some American intelligence officials have pushed for years to expel employees of Chinese media organizations who they say mainly file intelligence reports,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/us/politics/coronavirus-china-spies.html">reported</a>. &#8220;American officials view the state-run outlets in China as a potent threat in the growing strategic rivalry between the two superpowers, both because the outlets disseminate propaganda around the world and because of their ability to provide cover for intelligence operatives.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

China Slowly Recovers From Coronavirus Outbreak

Trump To Expel Thousands Of Chinese Grad Students In U.S. Who Have Ties To Chinese Military Schools

China

In response to China&#8217;s aggressive move to impose a new national security law on Hong Kong that would further the Chinese Communist Party&#8217;s control of what is supposed to be an independent legal system, the Trump administration is now publicly threatening to impose economic sanctions on both Hong Kong and China.
In an appearance on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; on Sunday, White House national security adviser Robert O&#8217;Brien said the administration is likely to revoke Hong Kong&#8217;s special status in response to China&#8217;s increased interference in the administrative region and impose sanctions, what he suggested would be a &#8220;real blow&#8221; to the communist regime.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-moves-to-criminalize-dissent-sedition-in-hong-kong-hong-kong-fights-back">The Daily Wire</a> reported, Chinese authorities announced on Friday a new law cracking down on what the regime deems acts of &#8220;sedition&#8221; or &#8220;subversion.&#8221; The law would empower Hong Kong law enforcement to arrest residents connected to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy, anti-China movement at the behest of the Chinese government, effectively bypassing Hong Kong&#8217;s independent legislature and chief executive.
The end of the &#8220;one country, two systems&#8221; framework — established when Hong Kong was released by the United Kingdom in 1997 — would also end Hong Kong&#8217;s role as a &#8220;financial center&#8221; in the region, O&#8217;Brien suggested on Sunday. If China is effectively taking over the administrative region, the U.S. is likely to revoke Hong Kong&#8217;s special status and impose sanctions, O&#8217;Brien warned.
Citing what he predicts will be a &#8220;brain drain&#8221; in the region as members of Hong Kong&#8217;s financial community move out of the area, O&#8217;Brien said he doesn&#8217;t see how Hong Kong&#8217;s current status as an economic center will hold. &#8220;It&#8217;s hard to see how Hong Kong could remain the Asian financial center that it&#8217;s become if China takes over,&#8221; said O&#8217;Brien, as reported by <a href="https://www.axios.com/china-hong-kong-sanctions-obrien-b2dacc96-e949-4844-854f-62d03b2f0ee6.html">Axios</a>.
&#8220;One reason that [members of the financial community] came to Hong Kong is because there was the rule of law there, there was a free enterprise system, there was a capitalist system, there was democracy and local legislative elections,&#8221; the national security adviser explained. &#8220;If all those things go away, I&#8217;m not sure how the financial community can stay there.&#8221;
Asked if sanctions will significantly impact China, O&#8217;Brien noted that the communist regime country is &#8220;dependent on capital from the rest of the world&#8221; and &#8220;liquidity in financial markets.&#8221;
&#8220;If they lose access of that through Hong Kong, that&#8217;s a real blow to Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party,&#8221; he said.
China&#8217;s moves to further violate Hong Kong&#8217;s independence comes amid increased pushback from pro-Democracy protesters in the region.
&#8220;As Hong Kong suffered through lockdowns, there were indications that China would use the pandemic as cover for more intensive missions to undermine the island democracy and impose Chinese authority,&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-moves-to-criminalize-dissent-sedition-in-hong-kong-hong-kong-fights-back">The Daily Wire</a> reported Sunday. Overnight Saturday and into Sunday, protests broke out, thousands of protesters taking to the streets of Hong Kong. In response, authorities promptly and aggressively cracked down, police firing tear gas into the crowds, citing protesters&#8217; failure to receive official authorization amid the city&#8217;s &#8220;social distancing&#8221; restrictions.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Hong Kong Protests

Trump Vs. China Escalates: WH Threatens Sanctions Amid Protest Crackdown, Hong Kong ‘Take-Over’

Hong Kong

Former South Carolina Governor and U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley offered an opinion and prediction in response to the Trump administration taking action to hurt China&#8217;s Huawei Technologies as part of the U.S. response to the communist country&#8217;s role in the economically devastating coronavirus pandemic as well as threats posed by the expansion of China&#8217;s technology company.
On Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department issued a new rule requiring that foreign semiconductor manufacturers obtain licenses from the U.S. to sell products containing U.S. software and technology to Huawei. The new rule vastly strengthens the authority and ability of the U.S. to hinder the expansion of the Chinese-based communications technology company.
In response to a Wall Street Journal report on the Trump administration crackdown on China&#8217;s Huawei, Haley, who has been hammering China for weeks over its role in the COVID-19 crisis, tweeted, &#8220;China will lose their bucket over this move. It is hands down the right move for us in terms of national security.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
China will lose their bucket over this move. It is hands down the right move for us in terms of national security. 🇺🇸<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheyDeserveToLoseTheirBucket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheyDeserveToLoseTheirBucket</a><a href="https://t.co/ELcFznmSjr">https://t.co/ELcFznmSjr</a>
&mdash; Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) <a href="https://twitter.com/NikkiHaley/status/1261357858442149889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Haley&#8217;s comment on national security is a reference to the administration&#8217;s repeated warnings about the threat posed by China&#8217;s attempt to dominate the 5G market.
As The Daily Wire reported, U.S. Attorney General William Barr <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ag-barr-highlights-greatest-threat-to-u-s-should-vastly-outweigh-all-other-priorities">warned</a> in a speech earlier this year that Huawei poses one of the greatest threats to U.S. national security.
&#8220;From a national security standpoint, if the Industrial Internet becomes dependent on Chinese technology, China would have the ability to shut countries off from technology and equipment upon which their consumers and industry depend,&#8221; said the attorney general. &#8220;The power the United States has today to use economic sanctions would pale by comparison to the unprecedented economic leverage we would be surrendering into the hands of China.&#8221;
&#8220;Within the next five years, 5G global territory and application dominance will be determined,&#8221; said Barr. &#8220;The question is whether, within this window, the United States and our allies can mount sufficient competition to Huawei to retain and capture enough market share to sustain the kind of long-term and robust competitive position necessary to avoid surrendering dominance to the Chinese.&#8221;
The Trump administration&#8217;s new rule requiring licenses for foreign manufacturers to ship products to Huawei has already resulted in negative fallout for the Chinese company. As reported by <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-huawei-tech-tsmc-idUSKBN22U0EW">Reuters</a> Monday, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world’s largest manufacturer of advanced microchips, has announced that it has stopped new orders from Huawei in response to the administration&#8217;s new rule.
China&#8217;s communist government has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-cuts-chinas-huawei-off-from-worlds-top-chip-maker-china-threatens-biggest-counterattack">responded</a> by vowing to take &#8220;all necessary measures&#8221; to respond to the restrictions and has condemned the new rule as an abuse of power. &#8220;The U.S. uses state power, under the so-called excuse of national security, and abuses export control measures to continuously oppress and contain specific enterprises of other countries,&#8221; said the regime.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.  
&nbsp;

Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley Responds To Trump’s Actions Against China’s Huawei, Offers Grim Prediction For China

The Trump administration has cut off China&#8217;s Huawei from being able to receive products from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), which is the world&#8217;s largest manufacturer of advanced microchips.
TSMC &#8220;has stopped new orders from Huawei Technologies in response to Washington’s move aimed at further limiting chip supplies to the Chinese company,&#8221; Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-huawei-tech-tsmc-idUSKBN22U0EW">reported</a>. &#8220;A new rule, unveiled by the U.S. Commerce Department on Friday, expands U.S. authority to require licenses for sales to Huawei of semiconductors made abroad with U.S. technology, vastly expanding its reach to halt exports to the world’s No. 2 smartphone maker.&#8221;
The news hit Beijing hard with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) responding that it will take &#8220;all necessary measures&#8221; to respond to the devastating news technology restrictions.
The CCP claimed that the moves by the U.S. federal government threaten the &#8220;global industrial and supply chain&#8221; and that it is an abuse of power.
“The U.S. uses state power, under the so-called excuse of national security, and abuses export control measures to continuously oppress and contain specific enterprises of other countries,” the communist regime said in a statement.
The CCP published propaganda in their state-run Global Times in a piece titled, &#8220;China readies biggest counterattack against US,&#8221; which said that China would &#8220;take forceful countermeasures.&#8221; China threatened to target specific Americans as well as &#8220;putting US companies on an &#8216;unreliable entity list,&#8217; launching investigations and imposing restrictions on US companies such as Apple, and halting purchase of Boeing airplanes.&#8221;
The threats from China come after TSMC announced last week that it would build a new factory in Arizona as part of a $12 billion deal that it reached with the U.S. that will “create over 1,600 high-tech professional jobs directly, and thousands of indirect jobs in the semiconductor ecosystem,” the company <a href="https://www.tsmc.com/tsmcdotcom/PRListingNewsAction.do?action=detail&amp;newsid=THGOANPGTH">said</a> in a statement.
“TSMC welcomes continued strong partnership with the U.S. administration and the State of Arizona on this project,” the company added. “The strong investment climate in the United States, and its talented workforce make this and future investments in the U.S. attractive to TSMC. U.S. adoption of forward-looking investment policies to enable a globally competitive environment for a leading edge semiconductor technology operation in the U.S. will be crucial to the success of this project.”
The move by the Trump administration against Huawei comes after China repeatedly lied about the coronavirus pandemic that originated in Wuhan and has proven not to be atrustworthy nation that operates in good faith.
Devastating Huawei&#8217;s abilities is a key component of U.S. national security because China is trying to use Huawei to dominate the global 5G market. In a speech earlier this year, Attorney General William Barr <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ag-barr-highlights-greatest-threat-to-u-s-should-vastly-outweigh-all-other-priorities">said</a> that Huawei represents one of the greatest threats to U.S. national security because of what China would be able to do if they dominate the 5G market.
“Within the next five years, 5G global territory and application dominance will be determined,” Barr said. “The question is whether, within this window, the United States and our allies can mount sufficient competition to Huawei to retain and capture enough market share to sustain the kind of long-term and robust competitive position necessary to avoid surrendering dominance to the Chinese.”
“From a national security standpoint, if the Industrial Internet becomes dependent on Chinese technology, China would have the ability to shut countries off from technology and equipment upon which their consumers and industry depend,” said the attorney general. “The power the United States has today to use economic sanctions would pale by comparison to the unprecedented economic leverage we would be surrendering into the hands of China.”
“The time is very short. We and our allies have to act quickly. While much has to be done, it is imperative to make two decisions right away,” Barr added.  “Throughout history, free societies have faced regimented adversaries.  At critical junctures, they have achieved the unity and purpose necessary to prevail, not because they have been compelled to do so, but because they freely chose to do so.  We must make that choice today.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Huawei TSMC

Trump Cuts China’s Huawei Off From World’s Top Chip Maker; China Threatens ‘Biggest Counterattack’

The Trump administration hit hard against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) late this week with the announcement that a Taiwan chip manufacturer will be building a plant in the United States and that the move will severely restrict the company&#8217;s ability to sell to China&#8217;s Huawei.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) announced that it will build a new factory in Arizona as part of a $12 billion deal with the U.S. that will &#8220;create over 1,600 high-tech professional jobs directly, and thousands of indirect jobs in the semiconductor ecosystem,&#8221; the company <a href="https://www.tsmc.com/tsmcdotcom/PRListingNewsAction.do?action=detail&amp;newsid=THGOANPGTH">said</a> in a statement.
&#8220;TSMC welcomes continued strong partnership with the U.S. administration and the State of Arizona on this project,&#8221; the company added. &#8220;The strong investment climate in the United States, and its talented workforce make this and future investments in the U.S. attractive to TSMC. U.S. adoption of forward-looking investment policies to enable a globally competitive environment for a leading edge semiconductor technology operation in the U.S. will be crucial to the success of this project.&#8221;
Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-semiconductors-tsmc/taiwan-semiconductor-to-announce-plans-for-us-factory-source-idUSKBN22Q38T">reported</a>:
<blockquote>A U.S. Commerce Department official said TSMC’s decision to locate the plant in the United States generated &#8220;good will&#8221; at the department, the drafter of a law that would, if implemented, severely restrict TSMC chip sales to Huawei.
Credit Suisse analysts said proposed restrictions could threaten TSMC’s 14% of sales from Huawei, escalate U.S.-China tensions and delay the rollout of the next-generation 5G mobile network.</blockquote>
The plant is &#8220;the biggest foreign investment by TSMC,&#8221; Reuters notes, and &#8220;will produce the most sophisticated 5 nanometer chips, which can be used in high-end defense and communications devices.&#8221;
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded to the news on Twitter, writing: &#8220;The U.S. welcomes TSMC’s intention to invest $12B in the most advanced 5-nanometer semiconductor fabrication foundry in the world. This deal bolsters U.S. national security at a time when China is trying to dominate cutting-edge tech and control critical industries.&#8221;
Pompeo said that the chip will be used for a wide range of functions, including in 5G base stations and F-35 fighter jets, Reuters notes.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The U.S. welcomes TSMC’s intention to invest $12B in the most advanced 5-nanometer semiconductor fabrication foundry in the world. This deal bolsters U.S. national security at a time when China is trying to dominate cutting-edge tech and control critical industries.
&mdash; Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1261143980634509318?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross <a href="https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2020/05/us-secretary-commerce-wilbur-ross-praises-plans-taiwan-semiconductor">praised</a> the deal, saying, “TSMC’s plan to build a $12 billion semiconductor facility in Arizona is yet another indication that President Trump’s policy agenda has led to a renaissance in American manufacturing and made the United States the most attractive place in the world to invest.”
“This plan is the result of years of close collaboration among TSMC, the Governor of Arizona and his staff, and the Administration, particularly our Assistant Secretary of Commerce Ian Steff,” Ross added. “This announcement is the product of strong cooperation between federal, state, and local governments, leveraging the unprecedented investment climate for manufacturers created by President Trump. Our global team of Commerce professionals stand ready to work with additional semiconductor companies looking to expand their operations and investments in the United States.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

TSMC Chairman Mark Liu Declines to Reaffirm Previous Forecast Given Uncertainty

Trump Delivers Blow To China With Announcement That Taiwan Chip Maker Building $12 Billion U.S. Plant

Taiwan

Dr. Rick Bright, who claims that he was improperly removed by the Trump administration as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), will testify as a whistleblower on Thursday morning in front of a House subcommittee led by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), who has a company in her district that has received hundreds of millions of dollars in awards from BARDA under Bright&#8217;s leadership.
Eshoo&#8217;s decision to hold a hearing only a few weeks after Bright made his allegations against the Trump administration has come under fire from lawmakers who state that she is breaking norms and procedures by rushing the hearing. Bright made the allegations against the Trump administration in late April after he hired <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/09/24/meet-christine-blasey-fords-lawyer-debra-katz-nerves-of-steel-and-proud-to-be-among-the-top-10-plantiffs-attorneys-to-fear-most/">Democrat lawyer</a> Debra Katz, the same lawyer that represented Kavanaugh accuser <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2019/12/02/21-reasons-not-to-believe-christine-blasey-fords-claims-about-justice-kavanaugh/">Christine Blasey Ford</a>.
Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/13/eshoo-bright-testify-257488">highlighted</a> some of the actions that Eshoo took when setting up the hearing that upset lawmakers:
<blockquote>For instance, committee lawmakers traditionally discuss the structure, format and potential witnesses about two weeks ahead of a hearing. But Eshoo didn’t brief Republicans on the hearing’s structure until Monday, about 72 hours beforehand, said two committee aides, giving them little time to prepare or seek witnesses to balance Bright.
Republicans also said that Eshoo didn’t inform them about whom she had invited to testify, noting that the California Democrat sent out invitations to potential witnesses like Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on her own personal office’s letterhead, rather than the traditional practice of sending invitations through the committee.
</blockquote>
Bright claims that the Trump administration pressured officials to push hydroxychloroquine, that he was ignored after warning about shortages of some medical equipment, and that the administration did not respond as strongly to the China-originating pandemic as it could have.
However, a separate <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/13/rick-bright-vaccine-chief-coronavirus-254127">report</a> from Politico painted a different picture:
<blockquote>But some colleagues say Bright’s complaint leaves out the full context for the pivotal malaria drug episode, which two current and two former officials say paints a murkier picture of Bright’s claims. Some of his allegations about department decisions on Covid-19 don’t match officials’ statements or the public record. And Bright’s central claim that he was ousted for battling Trump appointees over science is less than certain given that some of his own staff spent months raising concerns about his leadership, including a complaint filed by a person in Bright’s office last summer.</blockquote>
Politico noted that while some of Bright&#8217;s former colleagues said that he inspired some, he also reportedly &#8220;alienated&#8221; others that he worked with. One apparent ally of Bright&#8217;s, who spoke anonymously to Politico, said that an administration official tried to force him out because they viewed him as an outsider. However, Politico noted that Bright had praised that very official only a month before he was relieved of his position.
Politico added:
<blockquote>[Eshoo] represents a Northern California district home to a company that received more than $110 million in awards from BARDA while Bright led the office. Other companies with offices in Eshoo’s district benefited from more than $100 million in awards from BARDA in the decadeprior to Bright&#8217;s leadership.
Eshoo, who helped craft the 2006 legislation to create BARDA and has since worked to bolster its authorities, also has been a longtime booster of Bright, including for his work to fund the development of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics through public sector-private industry partnerships.</blockquote>
Politico reporter Dan Diamond reported in April that the Trump administration had been looking to oust Bright from his position since last year, before the pandemic was on anyone&#8217;s radar, due to his &#8220;incompetence and insubordination.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Trump administration has been working to oust Bright since last year, as officials battled with him over his management and leadership.
With permission, sharing this time-stamped text from individual with knowledge of those fights. <a href="https://t.co/ExYILm1pQI">pic.twitter.com/ExYILm1pQI</a>
&mdash; Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) <a href="https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/1253097522811359239?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Rick Bright Anna Eshoo

Whistleblower Rick Bright Testifies To Anna Eshoo’s Committee. A Company In Her District Got $110 Million From Agency He Ran.

President Donald Trump&#8217;s nominee to be the next Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX), made a strong impression on the Senate Intelligence Committee during his hearing this week after he repeatedly stressed that communist China was the &#8220;greatest threat&#8221; facing the United States.
“I’ve had the conversation with a lot of people about what I view as the greatest threat and the greatest threat actor and I view China as the greatest threat actor right now,” Ratcliffe said. “I mean look at where we are with respect to COVID-19 and the role that China plays, the race to 5G, cybersecurity issues, all roads lead to China there.”
Ratcliffe said that if confirmed that he would take a serious look at whether the U.S. was dedicating enough resources to countering increased aggression from the China.
“When you look at the initiatives that they have, the Belt And Road, the Made In China 2025, the Military Civil Fusion Initiative, where they literally want by law Chinese companies to collect intelligence,” Ratcliffe continued. “These are all spokes of the same initiative and that’s for China to supplant as the world’s super power and to be able to set standards around the world and we very clearly don’t want an authoritarian regime like Chinese Communist Party (CCP) setting standards in the world market place.”
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Director of National Intelligence (DNI) nominee Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) on the biggest threat the United States: “I view China as the greatest threat actor right now.” <a href="https://t.co/jkDic2ZH3o">pic.twitter.com/jkDic2ZH3o</a>
&mdash; Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1258353031998959617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Ratcliffe later answered questions from Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) about the threat that China poses to the U.S., specifically in regard to what China is doing in the tech sector.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WATCH:
DNI nominee John Ratcliffe explains how China is the &quot;greatest threat actor&quot; the U.S. faces and discusses “Made In China 2025” and other Chinese Communist Party initiatives that are a threat to free market standards with Sen. <a href="https://twitter.com/BenSasse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BenSasse</a>. <a href="https://t.co/xiKnabGYP4">pic.twitter.com/xiKnabGYP4</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1258363216561868802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Ratcliffe also answered questions from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), who is one of America’s top China hawks, on matters related to the coronavirus pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WATCH:
Director of National Intelligence nominee Rep. John Ratcliffe answers questions during his confirmation hearing from <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTomCotton?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenTomCotton</a> about the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China. <a href="https://t.co/ufRkzS3lck">pic.twitter.com/ufRkzS3lck</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1258361441557655558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Ratcliffe’s confirmation hearing and his likely confirmation to the DNI position comes as U.S.-China relations have reached an all-time low after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) lied about the coronavirus outbreak and reportedly <a href="https://apnews.com/bf685dcf52125be54e030834ab7062a8?utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_medium=AP">deceived</a> the world about what was going on in Wuhan so they could hoard medical supplies from around the world that were needed to fight the pandemic.
Chinese intelligence, realizing that anti-China sentiment is the highest its been in decades, has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/facing-coronavirus-fallout-chinese-leaders-told-to-be-ready-for-war-with-u-s-report-says">advised</a> its top officials to be ready for an armed conflict to break out with the U.S.
The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bill-gates-attacks-u-s-praises-china-china-did-a-lot-of-things-right-at-the-beginning">reported</a> that China has “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/world/asia/coronavirus-china-conspiracy-theory.html">falsely claimed</a> that the came from the United States Army; tried to cover it up by <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-it-all-started-chinas-early-coronavirus-missteps-11583508932">silencing</a> doctors and journalists who were trying to warn the world; <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/04/world-health-organization-blame-pandemic-coronavirus/609820/">told</a> the world that there was not evidence the could be transmitted person to person when they <a href="https://apnews.com/68a9e1b91de4ffc166acd6012d82c2f9">knew</a> for a fact that it could; <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-01/china-concealed-extent-of-virus-outbreak-u-s-intelligence-says">intentionally lied</a> about how bad the outbreak was to buy themselves time to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-intel-report-suggests-china-intentionally-concealed-the-severity-of-pandemic-to-hoard-supplies">hoard medical supplies</a> and tried to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/washington-post-evidence-coming-out-of-wuhan-suggests-real-death-toll-over-40000">cover up</a> deaths; and is <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-still-misleads-the-world-on-the-coronavirus-11586818132">allegedly</a> continuing to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-still-not-letting-u-s-in-to-study-coronavirus-mike-pompeo-says">withhold</a> critical information about the outbreak.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

US-POLITICS-CONGRESS-INTELLIGENCE

WATCH: DNI Nominee John Ratcliffe Gives Strong Answer On ‘Greatest Threat’ To U.S.

National Security

In an interview with The Washington Post on Thursday, Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan explained why he has felt compelled to order the Maryland National Guard and state police to protect an order of 500,000 COVID-19 tests recently flown in from South Korea, including reports from other governors that the federal government has &#8220;confiscated&#8221; their tests.
Asked by the Post why the shipment of hundreds of thousands of tests, which were flown from South Korea and arrived at Baltimore-Washington International Airport on April 18, have been under strict guard by both state police and the National Guard, Hogan emphasized the value of the tests to the state.
&#8220;We were making sure that that plane took off from Korea safely, landed in America safely and that we guarded that cargo from anyone who might interfere with us getting it to our most in need,&#8221; said Hogan (partial transcript via Daily Mail). &#8220;We landed it there with a large contingent of Maryland National Guard and Maryland State Police. Because this was an enormously valuable payload. It was like Fort Knox to us because it&#8217;s going to save the lives of thousands of citizens.&#8221;
He then suggested the possibility of the highly valued tests being be seized by the federal government.
&#8216;There had been reports of, for example in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker told the story of his planeload that came in with masks was basically confiscated by the federal government,&#8221; said Hogan. &#8220;He then had to get Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots, to fly in a second mission on a private plane to try and bring that equipment in and there were a couple of other state with similar stories.&#8221;
As the <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/04/30/maryland-gov-larry-hogan-has-national-guard-protecting-coronavirus/">New York Post</a> explains, the governor&#8217;s comments &#8220;reference several reports that have circulated of FEMA either diverting coronavirus-related supplies that states had ordered or outbidding local officials <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/politics/coronavirus-fema-medical-supplies.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">at the last minute</a>.&#8221;
In its post on social media, Washington Post Live highlighted Hogan&#8217;s concern that the feds might try to get their hands on the tests. &#8220;Maryland [Gov. Hogan] on whether he was concerned that the federal government would seize the tests the state procured from South Korea. He says the tests are being guarded by the National Guard at an undisclosed location.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Maryland <a href="https://twitter.com/GovLarryHogan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GovLarryHogan</a> on whether he was concerned that the federal government would seize the tests the state procured from South Korea. He says the tests are being guarded by the National Guard at an undisclosed location. <a href="https://t.co/uGcUi6U5rL">https://t.co/uGcUi6U5rL</a> <a href="https://t.co/15BhHmLzql">pic.twitter.com/15BhHmLzql</a>
&mdash; Washington Post Live (@postlive) <a href="https://twitter.com/postlive/status/1255878355016134656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Responses to the Post&#8217;s video online has included expressions of amazement at governor&#8217;s claim and has prompted conspiratorial talk about President Trump and Jared Kushner.
&#8220;What the hell? In the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA &#8211; a Governor feels he must have the state’s National Guard guard health care supplies b/c he fears the Federal Government will SEIZE them&#8230; after the President has told states they were &#8216;on their own&#8217; to procure such supplies?&#8221; wrote one responder.
&#8220;Massachusetts was one of the first victims of Trump and Kushner’s maneuvers just almost a month ago,&#8221; wrote another. &#8220;Their orders were seized at JFK. Many of us encouraged them to use their National Guard and arrange flights direct to Massachusetts. Done.&#8221;
&#8220;How insane is this? The Governor has to hide the tests so our own damn federal government doesn’t confiscate them and sell them for a profit which probably goes in the pockets of the trump and Kushner crime families,&#8221; wrote another. Another declared: &#8220;Trump thinks he&#8217;s Al Capone and Kushner (aka &#8216;The Blue Flame&#8217;) is in charge of hijacking PPE shipments. I hope this load gets through.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan

WATCH: Governor Suggests He Ordered National Guard To Protect Covid Tests From ‘Confiscation’ By Feds; Internet Responds

Larry Hogan

Maryland

President Donald Trump told reporters late on Thursday afternoon that he will &#8220;certainly consider&#8221; bringing back former national security adviser Michael Flynn into his administration after bombshell FBI documents were unsealed this week that showed that the FBI discussed whether to use its interview with Flynn to &#8220;get him fired&#8221; and to &#8220;get him to lie.&#8221;
&#8220;General Flynn was under an enormous pressure and it was an artificial pressure because what they did to Genera Flynn was a disgrace, it was a total disgrace, it&#8217;s shocking,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;What they tried to do to destroy him and to hurt this presidency was &#8212; there has never been anything like it. An absolute disgrace.&#8221;
A reporter then asked Trump, &#8220;are you going to pardon him and if so are you considering bringing him back into your administration?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, it looks like Michael Flynn would be exonerated based on everything I see,&#8221; Trump responded. &#8220;I&#8217;m not the judge, but I have a different type of power but I don&#8217;t know that anybody would have to use that power I think he&#8217;s exonerated. I&#8217;ve never seen anything like it.&#8221;
&#8220;I think he&#8217;s a fine man, I think it&#8217;s terrible what they did to him,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;I would certainly consider it, yeah, I would. I think he is a fine man. I think he has got a great family.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
President Trump is asked about <a href="https://twitter.com/GenFlynn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GenFlynn</a> and he says that he would consider bringing him back into his Administration. <a href="https://t.co/d4SMj29GYM">pic.twitter.com/d4SMj29GYM</a>
&mdash; Benny (@bennyjohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1255967299078705153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump&#8217;s remarks come after FBI documents were unsealed on Wednesday that showed that agents discussed using their interview with Flynn to &#8220;get him to lie&#8221; and to &#8220;get him fired.&#8221;
Fox News <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-unloads-on-cnn-for-not-covering-bombshell-flynn-story">reported</a>:
<blockquote>The handwritten notes — written by the FBI’s former head of counterintelligence Bill Priestap after a meeting with then-FBI Director James Comey and then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Fox News is told — further suggested that agents planned in the alternative to get Flynn “to admit to breaking the Logan Act” when he spoke to then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition period.
The Logan Act is an obscure statute that has never been used in a criminal prosecution; enacted in 1799 in an era before telephones, it was intended to prevent individuals from falsely claiming to represent the United States government abroad.</blockquote>
On Thursday, additional documents were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-was-closing-flynn-case-over-lack-of-derogatory-evidence-then-strzok-stepped-in">unsealed</a> that showed that the FBI was going to close its investigation into Flynn in early January because they did not find any &#8220;derogatory&#8221; information on Flynn.
“Following the compilation of the above information, the CH team determined that CROSSFIRE RAZOR was no longer a viable candidate as part of the larger CROSSFIRE HURRICANE umbrella case,” the FBI’s memo stated. “The FBI is closing this investigation. If new information is identified or reported to the FBI regarding the activities of CROSSFIRE RAZOR, the FBI will consider reopening the investigation if warranted.”
On the same day that the FBI wrote in an internal memo that they were closing the investigation into Flynn, disgraced former FBI agent Peter Strzok intervened to keep the investigation open.
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/strzok-stopped-bureau-from-ending-flynn-probe-despite-lack-of-derogatory-evidence-unsealed-documents-reveal">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Yet, on that same day — Jan. 4, 2017 — Strzok instructed the FBI case manager handling CROSSFIRE RAZOR to keep the investigation open. “Hey don’t close RAZOR,” Strzok texted an unidentified individual.
Strzok informed the FBI case manager that the FBI’s 7th floor was involved, referring to FBI leadership — and that they still “need to decide what to do with him [with respect to] the [REDACTED].”</blockquote>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn Returns To Court

Trump Considering Bringing Michael Flynn Back Into Administration

Michael Flynn

The Trump administration is considering an effort to curb intelligence sharing operations with allied countries that criminalize homosexuality, a move that would expand on the administration’s 2019 plan to push nearly 70 countries to end the practice.
According to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/us/politics/intelligence-sharing-lgbt-laws.html?action=click&amp;module=Latest&amp;pgtype=Homepage">The New York Times</a>, Richard Grenell, acting director of national intelligence, has been leading the initiative, also noting that President Trump will support the policy change.
“We have the president’s total support,” said Grenell, who serves as the highest ranking openly gay member of the president’s cabinet. “This is an American value, and this is United States policy.”
“If a country that we worked in as the United States intelligence community was arresting women because of their gender, we would absolutely do something about it,” he said. “Ultimately, the United States is safer when our partners respect basic human rights.”
The news agency reports that specific details have not yet been finalized, and that it is not clear how it could affect current intelligence-sharing operations in Middle Eastern countries like Egypt.
Such a policy could have large ramifications for Saudi Arabia, where a first-time offense can result in flogging or prison time, and a subsequent offense can lead to execution, reports <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/06/14/countries-where-being-gay-is-legally-punishable-by-death/39574685/">USA Today</a>.
“We can’t just simply make the moral argument and expect others to respond in kind because telling others that it’s the right thing to do doesn’t always work,” said Grenell.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-launches-effort-end-criminalization-hank-berrien">The Daily Wire</a> previously reported, the Trump administration launched the initiative to end the criminalization of homosexuality last year, after the Iranian regime publicly hanged a 31-year-old man.
“This is not the first time the Iranian regime has put a gay man to death with the usual outrageous claims of prostitution, kidnapping, or even pedophilia. And it sadly won’t be the last time,” Grenell wrote in the German newspaper <a href="https://www.bild.de/politik/kolumnen/kolumne/ambassador-grenell-the-hanging-of-a-gay-man-in-iran-should-be-a-wakeup-call-59900136.bild.html">Bild</a> at the time.
“Barbaric public executions are all too common in a country where consensual homosexual relationships are criminalized and punishable by flogging and death,” he said, arguing that “politicians, the U.N., democratic governments, diplomats and good people everywhere should speak up — and loudly.”
Although Grenell has not yet been confirmed as director of national intelligence, his actions have already drawn criticism from Democrats, including Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who recently sent a letter to Grenell demanding that he stop making major staffing changes to the department until he’s confirmed by the Senate.
In a letter obtained by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ric-grenell-gives-snarky-response-to-adam-schiffs-demands-to-oversee-intelligence-community-appointments">The Daily Wire</a>, Grenell responded to Schiff by noting that he was making changes that the intelligence community itself was asking for.
“Career IC officials have conducted four studies in the last two years calling for reforms at the ODNI, and the career officials are eager to implement the recommendations. It is my duty to listen to these ODNI career employees who have ideas on how to improve the work we do for the American people,” said Grenell.
“Going forward, I encourage you to think of the relationship between your committee and the IC as that between the legislative and executive branches of government, rather than that between a hedge fund and a distressed asset, as your letter suggests,” he said.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">subscriber</a>.

Germany Day of the Junge Union

Trump Backing New Policy To Decriminalize Homosexuality Around The World, Says Acting DNI

Foreign Policy

Homosexuality

On Thursday, former Secretary of State John Kerry pontificated that The Trump administration will “kill more Americans” because of their actions vis-à-vis environmental regulations. Kerry intoned, “The insidiousness of the Trump administration using the coronavirus moment as cover — where people are highly preoccupied with health and safety and their lives — and they’re attacking these rules, which will actually kill more Americans, make more people sick, you can’t dream that kind of thing up.”
Interviewed on <a href="https://www.acast.com/skullduggery">Yahoo News’ “Skullduggery” podcast</a>, Kerry referenced the Trump administration’s decision to create a new method of estimating the costs and benefits of restricting mercury pollution.
Kerry said, “It’s a tragedy. It’s stupid. It’s absolutely counterproductive. There are reasons that those rules are put in place because mercury kills people. Because these pollutants kill people … Rachel Carson in the 1960s was fighting to protect people from DDT …”
Kerry described Carson’s fight to stop the spraying of DDT, but he did not mention that when the spraying of DDT stopped, millions more people died from malaria. Even the leftist <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-rachel-carson-cost-millions-of-people-their-lives">Daily Beast</a>admitted:
<blockquote>… her crusade against one pesticide cost millions of people their lives …Although DDT soon became synonymous with poison, the pesticide was an effective weapon in the fight against an infection that has killed—and continues to kill—more people than any other: malaria. By 1960, due largely to DDT, malaria had been eliminated from eleven countries, including the United States. As malaria rates went down, life expectancies went up; as did crop production, land values, and relative wealth … Since the mid 1970s, when DDT was eliminated from global eradication efforts, tens of millions of people have died from malaria unnecessarily: most have been children less than five years old.</blockquote>
Kerry continued, “The bottom line is the weakening of these regulations is now rampant, and the insidiousness of the Trump administration using the coronavirus moment as cover — where people are highly preoccupied with health and safety and their lives — and they’re attacking these rules, which will actually kill more Americans, make more people sick, you can’t dream that kind of thing up. George Orwell never conceived of quite such a topsy-turvy situation. And I don’t think anybody’s ever dreamt we’d have a president who’s quite such an enemy of common sense and facts and science.”
Kerry stated:
<blockquote>We’ve had 25 years of people doubting science, claiming on an ideological basis, we don’t have to move; we don’t have to do things; and proposing to Americans a completely contrived, artificial choice. They say, “If we do what the people who want to solve climate want to do it’s gonna hurt our economy; it’s gonna hurt your jobs; it’s gonna take away your quality of life.&#8221; That’s a lie. That’s a complete and total fabrication of the choice that we face.
Well, it’s no secret anywhere in the international community  that the United States has lost ground, serious ground, over the course of these last years of the administration. Pulling out of the TPP … the president has attacked NATO, criticized our friends … and sided with dictators across the world … I heard countless conversations in which  people wondered why the United States has pulled back …</blockquote>
Kerry attacked the Trump administration’s intent to pull funding from the World Health Organization:
<blockquote>You take something like the World Health Organization, I wouldn’t say our Congress is working very effectively. There are a whole bunch of institutions here that aren’t working effectively. And so don’t be surprised that you find a hiccup here or there in some international institution. But the World Health Institution (sic), this is the moment that they need to be strengthened; this is the moment they need to be fully funded and even plussed up in terms of their budget.
And when the president pulls out support for the WHO, he’s not just hurting them immediately in terms of their budget for something he didn’t need to do, by the way, they would fix the things that need to be fixed. He is hurting us, because the World Health Organization is critical to managing the health crises of the world. And if you don’t want the next pandemic to hurt us, the last thing you ought to do is be defunding the World Health Organization.</blockquote>
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

COP25 Climate Summit Enters Second Week

John Kerry: Trump Administration ‘Using The Coronavirus Moment As Cover,’ Will ‘Kill More Americans’ With Regulation Change

Environmentalism

John Kerry

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz unloaded on his Democratic colleagues on Friday in response to Sen. Dianne Feinstein sending a letter to President Trump declaring that she is &#8220;disappointed&#8221; in his administration&#8217;s plan to block funding to the world&#8217;s leading state sponsor of terrorism, Iran. The Democrats&#8217; demand of Trump to help Iran get $5 billion in aid, Cruz noted, comes &#8220;at the exact same time&#8221; that they are &#8220;blocking desperately need relief to small businesses in America.&#8221;
In late March, a group of Democratic lawmakers — among them Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Ilhan Omar (MN), and Rashida Tlaib (MI), and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) — sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin calling for the easing of U.S. sanctions on Iran during the coronavirus pandemic, a request that was dead on arrival. Iran has since requested $5 billion in aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In response to the Trump administration indicating that they have no intention of allowing the terror-sponsoring state to get the massive infusion of money, Sen. Feinstein sent her own letter on Thursday expressing her disappointment.
&#8220;The coronavirus has hit Iran hard, with the potential for even greater spread in the region,&#8221; the high-ranking Democratic senator tweeted Thursday along with a copy of her letter. &#8220;In the interest of international security, President Trump should support Iran’s request to the IMF for emergency funds to contain this virus.&#8221;
&#8220;I am disappointed to see reports that your administration intends to block Iran from receiving $5 billion in humanitarian aid from the IMF to combat the coronavirus pandemic,&#8221; the letter begins. &#8220;Providing these funds to Iran would help it respond more effectively to the disease and mitigate the risk of further destabilization in the region.&#8221; She goes on to urge Trump to reconsider so that the infamously tyrannical regime can receive the billions in aid from the IMF.
Feinstein&#8217;s letter was issued the same day that Senate Democrats blocked an urgent request from Sec. Mnuchin to increase the amount of cash in the emergency small business loan program recently established by Congress from $350 billion to $600 billion.
In response to the pair of moves, Cruz called out Feinstein and the Democrats for what he suggested were some backward &#8220;priorities.&#8221;
&#8220;The Ayatollah leads chants of &#8216;death to America.&#8217; He pledges to destroy America, which he calls &#8216;the Great Satan.&#8217; And Senate Dems want to send him millions???&#8221; Cruz tweeted. &#8220;At the EXACT SAME TIME, Senate Dems are blocking desperately need relief to small businesses in America.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Ayatollah leads chants of “death to America.” He pledges to destroy America, which he calls “the Great Satan.” And Senate Dems want to send him millions??? At the EXACT SAME TIME, Senate Dems are blocking desperately need relief to small businesses in America. 😱 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Priorities?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Priorities</a> <a href="https://t.co/o44wqG9bOm">https://t.co/o44wqG9bOm</a>
&mdash; Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1248719994424262656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
As the <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/04/09/democrats-opt-for-blackmail-over-small-business-money/">New York Post&#8217;s editorial board</a> explains, instead of agreeing to the desperately needed increase in cash on Thursday, the Democrats &#8220;issued partisan demands&#8221;: &#8220;They insisted the new money include $60 billion for &#8216;community-based lenders&#8217; that serve minorities, women, nonprofits and other groups. And the bill also had to OK an immediate $250 billion for cities, states, hospitals, food stamps and other needs.&#8221;
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) explained in response that “everything is an opportunity.&#8221; This was an &#8220;opportunity&#8221; to address &#8220;disparities&#8221; she suggested are plaguing the country.
&#8220;And if they don’t get their way, no one gets a dime more,&#8221; the Post&#8217;s editorial board noted. &#8220;Never mind that businesses face bankruptcy or that 17 million people filed for jobless benefits in recent weeks.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-trump-pushing-behind-closed-doors-to-reopen-much-of-u-s-next-month">Report: Trump Pushing ‘Behind Closed Doors’ To Reopen Much Of U.S. Next Month</a>

Ted Cruz

Cruz Slams Feinstein: Trying To Send Millions To Iran, While Blocking Relief To American Businesses

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Bernie Sanders

Dianne Feinstein

Elizabeth Warren

Ilhan Omar

Iran

Multiple federal executive branch agencies announced on Thursday that they have unanimously recommended to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it &#8220;revoke and terminate&#8221; a Chinese state-owned telecom service provider&#8217;s ability to operate in the United States.
The six federal agencies that made the recommendation against China Telecom Corp. were led by the Department of Justice and included the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative.
&#8220;The Department of Justice led the review of China Telecom’s authorizations, and it based the recommendation on developments since the authorizations were last transferred in 2007, including China Telecom’s failure to comply with the terms of an existing agreement with the Department,&#8221; the DOJ <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/executive-branch-agencies-recommend-fcc-revoke-and-terminate-china-telecom-s-authorizations">said</a> in a statement. &#8220;In its recommendation, the Executive Branch agencies identified substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks associated with China Telecom’s operations, which render the FCC authorizations inconsistent with the public interest.&#8221;
The DOJ highlighted the following five bullet points on why the executive branches made the recommendation:
<ul>
<li>The evolving national security environment since 2007 and increased knowledge of the PRC’s role in malicious cyber activity targeting the United States;</li>
<li>Concerns that China Telecom is vulnerable to exploitation, influence, and control by the PRC government;</li>
<li>Inaccurate statements by China Telecom to U.S. government authorities about where China Telecom stored its U.S. records, raising questions about who has access to those records;</li>
<li>Inaccurate public representations by China Telecom concerning its cybersecurity practices, which raise questions about China Telecom’s compliance with federal and state cybersecurity and privacy laws; and</li>
<li>The nature of China Telecom’s U.S. operations, which provide opportunities for PRC state-actors to engage in malicious cyber activity enabling economic espionage and disruption and misrouting of U.S. communications.</li>
</ul>
“Today, more than ever, the life of the nation and its people runs on our telecommunications networks,” said John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “The security of our government and professional communications, as well as of our most private data, depends on our use of trusted partners from nations that share our values and our aspirations for humanity. Today’s action is but our next step in ensuring the integrity of America’s telecommunications systems.”
The move comes as American&#8217;s views towards China have rapidly soured in response to the coronavirus pandemic which originated in China and has devastated the world. China has been accused of lying about the outbreak, trying to cover it up, and not reporting truthful figures about the extent of the epidemic inside its borders.
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-begins-japan-pays-billions-to-firms-to-leave-china-relocate-production-elsewhere">reported</a> that &#8220;a new poll shows that, outside the Beltway, the coronavirus crisis is actually bringing Americans together on the China issue. Republicans and Democrats now largely agree that the Chinese government bears responsibility for the spread of the pandemic, that it can’t be trusted on this or any other issue, and that the U.S. government should maintain a tough position on China on trade and overall, especially if Beijing again falters in its commitments.&#8221;
Japan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-begins-japan-pays-billions-to-firms-to-leave-china-relocate-production-elsewhere">announced</a> this week that it would spend billions of dollars to help its firms move their production out of China and back to Japan or to other countries.

Members Of The Coronavirus Task Force Hold Press Briefing

Trump Admin Moves To ‘Revoke And Terminate’ China-Owned Telecom Firm From Operating In U.S.

The Trump administration is now the first U.S. administration to label a white supremacist group a terrorist organization. The move, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/politics/terrorist-label-white-supremacy-Russian-Imperial-Movement.html">The New York Times</a> notes, &#8220;could cut against criticism that the Trump administration has played down the threat of white nationalist violence for political reasons.&#8221; The group also happens to be pro-Russia.
The State Department’s counterterrorism coordinator, Ambassador Nathan Sales, underscored in a statement to the Times Monday that by naming a white nationalist group a &#8220;specially designated global terrorist organization,&#8221; the Trump administration is doing something &#8220;unprecedented.&#8221;
&#8220;These designations are unprecedented,&#8221; said Sales, as reported by the Times Monday. “This is the first time the United States has ever designated white supremacists as terrorists, and this illustrates how seriously this administration takes the white supremacist terrorist threat. We are doing things no previous administration has done to counter this threat.”
&#8220;The State Department’s designation for the organization, the Russian Imperial Movement, sets up the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to block any American property or assets belonging to the group,&#8221; the Times explains. &#8220;It will also bar Americans from financial dealings with the organization and make it easier to ban its members from traveling to the United States.&#8221; Three of the group&#8217;s leaders — Stanislav Anatolyevich Vorobyev, Denis Valliullovich Gariev and Nikolay Nikolayevich Trushchalov — are being labeled individually as terrorists, officials told the Times, a designation that includes additional sanctions.
Officials told the Times that the group is not believed to be sponsored by the Russian government, but that its actions have been &#8220;tolerated&#8221; by President Vladimir V. Putin and it has &#8220;helped advance the Russian government’s external goals by recruiting Russian fighters to aid pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine.&#8221; The organization has also supported neo-Nazi organizations in Scandinavia, which follows a larger Russian government strategy of &#8220;sow[ing] chaos in Western democracies,&#8221; the paper adds.
While Trump&#8217;s critics have frequently portrayed the president as &#8220;racist&#8221; and &#8220;empowering&#8221; white supremacists in his rhetoric, his administration has now taken multiple decisive and historic steps to counter the threat of white supremacism. As the Times notes, the White House added white supremacist groups to the federal government’s <a class="css-1g7m0tk" title="" href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/NSCT.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Strategy for Counterterrorism</a> in 2018.
In the document, the administration cites nationalist and separatists movements, including specifically neo-Nazis&#8217;, as potential global threats. Below is an excerpt from a passage describing the global threat posed by such groups:
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<blockquote>There is also a broad range of revolutionary, nation- alist, and separatist movements overseas whose use of violence and intent to destabilize societies often puts American lives at risk. For example, the Nordic Resistance Movement is a prominent transnational, self-described nationalist-socialist organization with anti-Western views that has conducted violent attacks against Muslims, left-wing groups, and others. The group has demonstrated against United States Government actions it perceives are supportive of Israel and has the potential to extend its targeting to United States interests. Similarly, the neo-Nazi National Action Group, a terrorist organization that was banned by the United Kingdom in 2016 for its promotion of violence against politicians and minorities, operates mainly in the United Kingdom but has engaged with like-minded groups in the United States, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, and Poland—expanding the potential influence of its violent ideology. Likewise, Babbar Khalsa International seeks, through violent means, to establish its own independent state in India and is responsible for significant terrorist attacks in India and elsewhere that have claimed the lives of innocent civilians. Such groups may avoid or deprioritize targeting United States interests for now to avoid detracting from their core goals but frequently conduct assassinations and bombings against major economic, politi- cal, and social targets, heightening the risk to United States personnel and interests overseas.</blockquote>
The document also describes domestic terrorists motivated forms of violent extremism not connected to radical Islam, &#8220;such as racially motivated extremism&#8221;:
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<blockquote>Lastly, the United States has long faced a persistent security threat from domestic terrorists who are not motivated by a radical Islamist ideology but are instead motivated by other forms of violent extremism, such as racially motivated extremism, animal rights extremism, environmental extremism, sovereign citizen extremism, and militia extremism.</blockquote>
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Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/first-european-country-announces-multi-step-plan-to-ease-coronavirus-lockdown">First European Country Announces Multi-Step Plan To Ease Coronavirus Lockdown</a>
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