Fiona Hill, a Russia expert who served on the National Security Council under former President Trump, said billionaire Elon Musk was “transmitting a message” for Russian President Vladimir Putin when he tweeted out a proposal to end the war earlier this month.
Hill told Politico in an interview published Monday that before Musk tweeted out his so-called peace proposal earlier this month, he made a similar statement at a September event in Aspen, Colo., suggesting the Crimean Peninsula remain in Russian hands.
Musk also said then that control over the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions should be negotiated because Crimea would need water supplies from those regions, Hill noted.
“The reference to water is so specific that this clearly is a message from Putin,” she said.
Hill served as senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council from 2017 to 2019 and is now a senior fellow at Brookings.
She explained to Politico that Putin “often uses various trusted intermediaries including all kinds of businesspeople.”
“I had intermediaries sent to discuss things with me while I was in government,” she told Politico. “This is a classic Putin play. It’s just fascinating, of course, that it’s Elon Musk in this instance, because obviously Elon Musk has a huge Twitter following.”
Earlier this month, Musk tweeted out a poll asking his more than 100 million followers to weigh in on his peace proposal, which drew the rebuke of Ukrainian officials and U.S. lawmakers after the billionaire suggested Ukraine give up the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.
He also suggested new elections be held under United Nations supervision in four recently annexed eastern regions: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Ukraine has vowed to reclaim all of the illegally annexed territory.
Musk’s poll ended with 59 percent of users against and 40 percent in support with more than 2 million respondents.
Ian Bremmer, the president and founder of political consulting firm Eurasia Group, said last week that Musk told him he had spoken to Putin and knew what Russia’s red lines were. Musk replied that “nobody should trust Bremmer.”
“I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space,” Musk said in another tweet.
Last week, CNN reported that Musk has been floating the peace proposal at conferences for weeks, citing sources familiar with the matter, who also alleged Musk may have been in contact with the Kremlin.
The SpaceX and Tesla CEO also drew headlines last week when he threatened to pull his Starlink satellites, which are providing internet service to embattled Ukraine, out of the country because of the high cost. Musk later backed off from the idea and is reportedly discussing ongoing funding with the Pentagon.
Hill argued that Musk is merely a pawn in Putin’s game, noting that the billionaire is extremely popular in Russia.
“He’s got a longstanding reputation in Russia through Tesla, the SpaceX space programs and also through Starlink. He’s one of the most popular men in opinion polls in Russia,” she said.
“Putin plays the egos of big men, gives them a sense that they can play a role. But in reality, they’re just direct transmitters of messages from Vladimir Putin,” she added.
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Schumer and Gillibrand call on Cuomo to resign, joining growing chorus of Democratic voices
The two senators are highest-ranking Democrats to call for governor to step down.
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Cuomo and the Covid Death Count
Nursing-home fatalities are not well-reported, but which coronavirus-related deaths are?
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Andrew Cuomo’s weakness puts all of New York at risk
On Friday, a defiant Gov. Andrew Cuomo again told reporters, “I am not going to resign,” in answer to a wave of demands he step down from almost every top Democrat in the state. Thing is, the growing tide of calls for him to quit does erode his power, especially as new harassment accusers step…
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Schumer, Gillibrand Say Cuomo Should Resign
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in a statement late Friday called on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign amid mounting allegations of sexual misconduct. “Confronting and overcoming the Covid crisis requires sure and steady leadership. We commend the brave actions of the individuals who have come forward with serious allegations of abuse and misconduct. Due to the multiple, credible sexual harassment and misconduct allegations, it is clear that Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of his governing partners and the people of New York. Governor Cuomo should resign,” the two lawmakers said in a statement. Cuomo’s office did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment. The embattled governor on Friday said that he would not resign, even as more than a dozen House Representatives and some fellow Democrats have said he should leave his post. “Women have a right to come …
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‘Wanted’ Cuomo merchandise helps GOP New York Rep. Stefanik raise funds
New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik is capitalizing off Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s spiraling scandals by selling merchandise depicting a “wanted” poster for the accused serial sexual harasser. Stefanik called Cuomo a “criminal sexual predator” last month and was one of the first members of New York’s congressional delegation to demand that he resign when women…
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Who is Kathy Hochul? Governor Cuomo’s Possible Successor
Ms. Hochul, who has served as New York’s lieutenant governor since 2015, would become the first female governor in the state’s history if Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned or was removed from office.
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Bipartisan Support Against Governor Cuomo Mounts
As allegations against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are mounting, so is the push in Albany for either his resignation or impeachment.
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New York Magazine claims ’30 women’ allege inappropriate behavior by Gov. Cuomo
Aides reportedly told to dress a certain way, asked about dating life.
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Andrew Cuomo’s hilarious ‘cancel culture’ excuse
In keeping with his obstinate posture of denial and deflection, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has come up with a new excuse for his woes: cancel culture. Yes, Albany’s tyrant, accused now by seven women of sexual harassment, the target of a federal investigation into underreporting COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes, asked to resign by the majority…
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Cuomo Says He Won’t Resign, Blames ‘Cancel Culture’ for Calls to Step Down
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday said he again will not resign from office after more than a dozen New York Democratic U.S. representatives said he should step down. “People know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture, and the truth. Let the review proceed. I’m not going to resign,” the New […]
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For Some Women, Working for Cuomo Is the ‘Worst Place to Be’
Dozens of current and former employees of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive chamber described the office as chaotic, unprofessional and toxic, especially for young women.
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Cuomo: Politicians calling for him to resign are ‘reckless’
“I did not do what has been alleged. Period,” he said, again calling on the public to let ongoing investigations into his conduct to play out. “Wait for the facts.”
ALBANY, N.Y. — As the Democratic Party turned sharply against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and he faces growing allegations of sexual harassment, he insisted Friday he wouldn’t resign and castigated politicians calling for him to quit as “reckless and dangerous” and engaging in “cancel culture.”
“I did not do what has been alleged. Period,” he said, again calling on the public to let ongoing investigations into his conduct to play out. “Wait for the facts.”
“Politicians who don’t know a single fact but yet form a conclusion and an opinion are, in my opinion, reckless and dangerous.”
With a sprawling coalition of congressional leaders joining dozens of state lawmakers in calling for the embattled governor to step down, the Democrat hit back.
“You need to know the facts before you make a decision,” he said. “People know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture and the truth.”
Cuomo’s growing list of detractors now covers virtually every region in the state and the political power centers of New York City and Washington. His allies insist he will not resign, but as allegations of sexual harassment grow, his political isolation has reached unprecedented levels.
“The victims of sexual assault concern me more than politics or other narrow considerations, and I believe Governor Cuomo must step aside,” said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, a New York Democrat who leads his party’s House campaign arm.
Prominent progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, said she believes the women who have accused the three-term Democratic governor of wrongdoing.
“After two accounts of sexual assault, four accounts of harassment, the Attorney General’s investigation finding the Governor’s admin hid nursing home data from the legislature and public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York State legislature that the Governor must resign,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
Cuomo has denied he ever touched anyone inappropriately and has said he’s sorry if he ever made anyone uncomfortable. He reiterated that Friday while insisting: “I never harassed anyone. I never assaulted anyone. I never abused anyone.”
But, he said, “what is being alleged simply did not happen.”
The escalating scandal jeopardizes Cuomo’s 2022 reelection in an overwhelmingly Democratic state, but also threatens to cast a cloud over President Joe Biden’s earliest days in office. Republicans across the country have seized on the growing allegations against Cuomo to try to distract from Biden’s success with the pandemic and challenge his party’s well-established advantage with female voters.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has repeatedly said that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris support the state attorney general’s investigation into the harassment allegations.
The governor in recent days has been calling lawmakers and supporters asking them to refrain from calling for his resignation, and instead support the ongoing investigations. His strategy does not appear to be working.
The state Assembly allowed an impeachment investigation into Cuomo on Thursday as lawmakers investigate whether there are grounds for his forcible removal from office.
Along with an allegation that the governor groped a female aide at the Executive Mansion last year, Cuomo is facing allegations of sexually suggestive remarks and behavior toward women, including female aides. One aide said he asked her if she would ever have sex with an older man. And another aide claimed the governor once kissed her without consent, and said governor’s aides publicly smeared her after she accused him of sexual harassment.
In weeks past, calls for the governor’s impeachment or resignation have come from Republicans or left-leaning Democrats in New York City. But more Democratic lawmakers from surrounding and upstate communities have joined in as the week progressed.
A majority of state lawmakers and more than half of New York’s Democratic congressional members are now calling for him to step down.
On Friday, U.S. Reps. Jerry Nadler, Ocasio-Cortez, Jamaal Bowman, Mondaire Jones, Nydia Velazquez, Adriano Espaillat, Carolyn Maloney, Grace Meng, Antonio Delgado, Brian Higgins and Yvette Clarke pushed for Cuomo’s resignation, joining Kathleen Rice, who called for Cuomo’s resignation previously.
Other Republicans in New York’s congressional delegation previously called for Cuomo’s resignation, including Nicole Malliotakis, Elise Stefanik, Claudia Tenney and Lee Zeldin.
Nadler said Cuomo has lost the confidence of New Yorkers.
“The repeated accusations against the governor, and the manner in which he has responded to them, have made it impossible for him to continue to govern at this point,” Nadler said.
New York Democrats also pointed to sweeping criticism of Cuomo for keeping secret how many nursing home residents died of COVID-19 for months. The governor has claimed his administration had to verify deaths of residents at hospitals, but critics question why that hasn’t held up the release of data in other states.
Spokespeople for New York’s Democratic U.S. senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
The 63-year-old governor is seeking his fourth four-year term next year. New York has no term limits. He has touted his administration’s passage of liberal goals such as same-sex marriage as evidence that his hard-nosed approach to politics works.
Yet Cuomo has increasingly faced criticism that he’s too often aggressively wielded his power to bolster his own image rather than to benefit New Yorkers.
A state attorney general report in January correctly estimated that his administration had yet to reveal thousands of deaths among nursing residents to COVID-19, while a Democratic assemblyman accused the governor of bullying and threatening him for speaking up against the governor.
In recent days, more moderate Democrats in New York have raised concerns about the allegations against Cuomo, who has long enjoyed support from suburban and centrist voters. On Friday, a bloc of five moderate Democrats from Long Island called for Cuomo to step aside, at least until the attorney general’s investigation is complete.
The Long Island lawmakers said the allegations “are beyond troubling and describe a disturbing pattern of behavior that also now includes a potentially criminal act.”
“The governor cannot lead the state while faithfully responding to multiple investigations,” they wrote.
Ocasio-Cortez, Nadler, Other House Democrats in NY Say Cuomo Must Resign
Several top New York Democrats have joined the chorus of lawmakers calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign in the wake of allegations that he sexually harassed several women amid reports that his administration covered up nursing home COVID-19 deaths. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), Antonio Delgado (D-N.Y.) Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) on Friday said Cuomo should step down, according to statements released by their offices. “This week, the second sexual assault allegation and the sixth harassment allegation was leveled against Governor Cuomo. The fact that this latest report was so recent is alarming, and it raises concerns about the present safety and well-being of the administration’s staff. These allegations have all been consistent and highly-detailed, and there are also credible media reports substantiating their accounts,” Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman said in a statement. They …
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Judge Orders Release of Man Charged in Capitol Breach Who Previously Worked for FBI
Alleged Oath Keepers member Thomas Caldwell, who was charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol breach and was previously a section chief for the FBI, was granted a pretrial release from jail by a Washington judge on Friday. Caldwell was ordered by Judge Amit Mehta to be under strict home confinement pending trial. Mehta took into account a back injury that Caldwell, 65, had suffered. Caldwell claimed to be too disabled to partake in the breach or to be a flight risk. Mehta ultimately concluded that the Department of Justice (DOJ) did not fully show Caldwell’s direct role in planning the violence or breaching the Capitol during the Joint Session of Congress. “There is an absence of direct evidence, at least, of planning by Caldwell to enter the Capitol building … And ultimately, he did not enter the building,” Mehta said, reported Politico, adding that Caldwell also cannot have access …
Coronavirus Briefing: What Happened Today
An optimistic view of the weeks ahead.
Clay Travis of Outkick Media to Lawmakers: ‘Big Tech Controls the Country’
Clay Travis, founder of conservative sports website Outkick Media, says that big tech companies have too much power and are infringing on Americans’ First Amendment rights. “Big Tech controls the country. And they control the country by deciding what you see. And Big Tech’s power is only growing in the wake of Joe Biden’s election,” Travis told lawmakers at the House Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law Subcommittee at a hearing Friday. Travis recounted how after President Donald Trump joined his radio show on Aug. 11, 2020, on Outkick the Coverage, traffic for the website soared only to crash the next day. “Because Facebook killed our traffic. Overnight, our readership vanished on their site. We lost 68 percent of our Facebook users and 76 percent of our new users on the site,” Travis told lawmakers. He said his team concluded that because of the positive coverage of Trump, his organization was censored and lost thousands …
Iranian Ship Hit in Attack in Mediterranean, Company Says
DUBAI—An Iranian container ship was damaged in an attack in the Mediterranean, the state-run shipping company said on Friday, adding it would take legal action to identify the perpetrators of what it called terrorism and naval piracy. The ship, Shahr e Kord, was slightly damaged in Wednesday’s incident by an explosive object which caused a […]
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Google Says Microsoft’s Stance on News Is Effort to Distract From Hack
The two giants trade shots over tech’s impact on the news business as they face increased regulatory pressure and scrutiny around the world.
No Official Perpetrator Yet for Major Microsoft Hack: White House
The White House is still gathering information on the Microsoft hack that affected hundreds of thousands of customers worldwide. They said they can’t pin the blame on anyone yet, but they will be able to soon.
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Former State Dept. investigator believes COVID-19 virus escaped from Wuhan lab, possibly a bioweapon
“The Wuhan Institute of Virology is not the National Institute of Health,” said David Asher.
White and non-black people are told NOT to share Oprah memes because it is ‘digital blackface’
The Slow Factory Foundation recently raised awareness for digital blackface following Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.
China in Focus (March 12): Chinese Film Market Drives Hollywood Censorship
China steps up as the world’s biggest feature film market. It’s giving Hollywood even more incentive to comply with Beijing’s censorship. A New Yorker recounts being put under lockdown in Shanghai. Living in isolation for two months once drove him to a dangerous point. A top U.S. military commander fears China is speeding up plans […]
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NYC woman killed by a stray bullet in wild gang shootout
A 37-year-old Queens woman suffered a fatal gunshot wound to her head after being caught in the crossfire of two feuding gangs, law enforcement sources told The Post. Gudelia Vallinas lost her life in the Woodside Houses Friday evening, at the intersection of Broadway and 48th Street. Police got a 911 call from a resident…
Japan Rejects Chinese Vaccine for Olympics
As Japan prepares to host the Olympics, the country says it won’t provide Chinese-made vaccines to participants of the games. The International Olympic Committee already accepted an offer to buy vaccines from China the day before.
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Every adult in Britain could get their first Covid jab ‘by early June’ after surge in vaccine supply
In yet another boost to the UK’s rapidly advancing vaccine roll-out, the Government is reportedly set to take stock of a ‘bumper supply’ of vaccines in the coming days.
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Facts Matter (March 12): US Marshal Sting Operation: 31 Missing Children Located, Rescued in Texas
In Dallas, after a month-long rescue operation, 31 missing children were located, recovered, or rescued. In Manhattan, a school has released new language guidelines, which encourage the students to stop using words like mom, dad, and parents in order to make the campus a more “welcoming and inclusive” space. Facts Matter is an Epoch Times […]
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‘Gonna be sore:’ Louisiana troopers boasted of beating black man
Louisiana State Police troopers joked in a group text about beating a Black man after a high-speed chase last year, saying the “whoopin” would give the man “nightmares for a long time,” according to new court filings. “He gonna be sore tomorrow for sure,” Trooper Jacob Brown, who was charged in the case and resigned…
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Rochester mayor lied to public about Daniel Prude case, report finds
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren kept critical details of Daniel Prude’s in-custody suffocation death secret for months, and lied to the public about the case, a new investigation has found. A report commissioned by city lawmakers and released Friday found Warren knew on the day of Prude’s deadly March 23, 2020, arrest that officers had covered…
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Cliff House Restaurant Auctions its Inventory, Memorabilia After Closing
SAN FRANCISCO—The Cliff House, a historic San Francisco landmark restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean, has auctioned its contents after closing for good last year. For 157 years it served Californian cuisine to locals and tourists. At the end of 2020, it closed permanently after the restaurant’s lease with the government was up, and its contents went through a three-day online auction. Restaurant and kitchen inventory were auctioned starting March 11, to be followed by memorabilia and gift shop merchandise on the second day and 200-plus vintage autographed movie star photos on the third day. The movie star photos are from the 1930s and 1940s, according to Laura Reid, marketing director at the auction company, Rabin Worldwide Inc. “So Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Betty Davis, Judy Garland, people like that. And most of them say ‘To the Cliff House’ or ‘Best regard to the Cliff House,’ so they’re very unique, signed, …
Pakistan Blocks Social Media App TikTok Over Indecency Complaint
ISLAMABAD—Pakistan on Thursday blocked the popular social media app TikTok after a court order over a complaint that it ran indecent content, a spokesman for the country’s telecoms regulator said. “The court has asked PTA to block access to TikTok,” Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) spokesman Khurram Mehran told Reuters, adding that the authority would comply with the order. A high court in the northwestern city of Peshawar said it ordered the ban after a private complainant said the social media app was spreading indecent content, said Jehanzeb Mehsud, a lawyer who represented the PTA. The service providers have been directed to immediately block access to TikTok, the regulator said in a statement. The app stopped working within an hour of the direction. A TikTok representative in Pakistan said strong safeguards were in place to keep inappropriate content off the platform. “In Pakistan, we have grown our local-language moderation team, and …
4 People in Michigan Won January $1.05 Billion Mega Millions Prize
DETROIT—A four-member suburban Detroit lottery club won a $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot and will receive $557 million after taxes, officials said Friday. The winners claimed their prize weeks after the Jan. 22 drawing and chose the immediate lump sum option. After taxes, the $776 million payment was reduced to about $557 million, the Michigan […]
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In Nevada, Unemployed Workers Wait for Aid That Will Still Not Be Enough
Stimulus checks may be on their way, but those struggling to get by worry that the money will soon be gone. “Every morning I wake up thinking about where my help is going to come from,” one woman said.
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One year later: AP minidoc marks COVID-19 anniversary
The Associated Press has released a minidocumentary marking the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic.,br />Read More
Former African slave hub transformed with giant art piece
Giant hands appear at two locations in West Africa’s Benin. Using a spray gun and biodegradable paint, French artist Saype created one hand that appears to be slipping into the ocean while another hand is pulling it back. The moving artwork is located on a beach that was one of Africa’s main slave trade hubs….
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DHS to Hold Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic for Border Patrol Agents in Texas: Gov. Abbott
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will hold a mass vaccination clinic next week in the Rio Grande Valley to vaccinate Border Patrol agents in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott and National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) Brandon Judd said in a joint statement on Friday. Abbott and Judd said that agents had been left vulnerable and exposed to COVID-19, the disease the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus causes. “We are glad to hear that the Biden Administration is finally stepping up and holding a mass vaccination clinic next week for Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley who had been left vulnerable and exposed to COVID,” they wrote in the statement. They added that they had to publicly request the federal government provide vaccines for Border Patrol agents. “It is unfortunate that, after months of inaction, we had to publicly call on the federal government to protect these brave men and …
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At Least 100 More Expected to Be Charged in Capitol Breach Investigation: DOJ
The Department of Justice said in a court filing Friday that it expects to charge at least 100 more people in connection to the Capitol breach on Jan. 6.
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Texas AG Sues Austin Mayor for Defying Governor’s Lift of Mask Mandates
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Thursday that his office is suing officials in the City of Austin and Travis County for failing to comply with a governor order that lifts a mask mandate across the state. “I told Travis County & The City of Austin to comply with state mask law. They blew me off. So, once again, I’m dragging them to court,” Paxton said in a statement on Twitter while responding to an article about the lawsuit. “[Austin Mayor Steve] Adler will never do the right thing on his own. His obstruction won’t stop me from keeping TX free & open!” Paxton’s announcement comes a day after he sent a letter warning Adler and Travis County judge Andy Brown of legal consequences if they continue refusing to comply with Gov. Greg Abbott’s order. Austin is located within Travis County. Abbott lifted a statewide mask mandate that was enforced in …
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March 12, 2021 | Nightly News Rebroadcast | Video: 51 Minutes 53 Seconds
George Floyd’s family reaches a massive settlement with the city of Minneapolis, a memo reveals the National Guard chief advised against extending the troops’ deployment at the Capitol, and the family of the Jan. 6 Capitol protester who was shot and killed has hired an attorney.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 1 | Recorded March 12, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 37 Seconds
“We watched my grandmother die through the window of her nursing home,” said Dixon. “She paid nursing homes to take patients back that tested positive for covid. Our guests are: Maggie VandenBerghe, Jenny Beth Martin, Boris Epshteyn, Tom Del Beccaro, Tudor Dixon.
House Judiciary GOP Leaders Demand Amazon Answers to Allegations of Censorship Against Conservative Viewpoints
Two Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are asking Amazon to answer to allegations of Censorship against conservative viewpoints.
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