влада, вибори, народ
Вісім українських вишів потрапили до рейтингу QS World University Rankings
При складанні рейтингу використовували, зокрема, такі критерії, як академічна репутація, репутація у роботодавців, співвідношення викладачів та студентів, співвідношення місцевих та іноземних студентів, цитованість
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By Gromada | 06/09/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Для внутрішньо переміщених осіб спрощено процедуру реєстрації авто і отримання посвідчення водія – МВС
За даними Мінсоцполітики, в Україні 1 469 676 офіційно зареєстрованих внутрішньо переміщених осіб
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By Gromada | 06/09/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
В Україні через грозу і вітер знеструмлені 60 населених пунктів – ДСНС
Пориви вітру, дощ та гроза спричинили проблеми з електрикою в 5 областях
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By Gromada | 06/09/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Senate Passes Bill to Boost US Tech Industry, Counter Rivals
The Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Tuesday that aims to boost U.S. semiconductor production and the development of artificial intelligence and other technology in the face of growing international competition, most notably from China. The 68-32 vote for the bill demonstrates how confronting China economically is an issue that unites both parties in Congress. That’s a rarity in an era of division as pressure grows on Democrats to change Senate rules to push past Republican opposition and gridlock. The centerpiece of the bill is a $50 billion emergency allotment to the Commerce Department to stand up semiconductor development and manufacturing through research and incentive programs previously authorized by Congress. The bill’s overall cost would increase spending by about $250 billion with most of the spending occurring in the first five years. Supporters described it as the biggest investment in scientific research that the country has seen in decades. It comes as the nation’s share of semiconductor manufacturing globally has steadily eroded from 37% in 1990 to about 12% now, and as a chip shortage has exposed vulnerabilities in the U.S. supply chain. FILE – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks at the Capitol in Washington, March 6, 2021.”The premise is simple — if we want American workers and American companies to keep leading the world, the federal government must invest in science, basic research and innovation, just as we did decades after the Second World War,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.”Whoever wins the race to the technologies of the future is going to be the global economic leader, with profound consequences for foreign policy and national security, as well,” he added. FILE – U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 25, 2021.Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the bill was incomplete because it did not incorporate more Republican-sponsored amendments. He nonetheless supported it. “Needless to say, final passage of this legislation cannot be the Senate’s final word on our competition with China,” he said. “It certainly won’t be mine.” President Joe Biden applauded the bill’s passage in a statement Tuesday evening, saying, “As other countries continue to invest in their own research and development, we cannot risk falling behind. America must maintain its position as the most innovative and productive nation on Earth.” Senators slogged through days of debates and amendments leading up to Tuesday’s final vote. Schumer’s office said 18 Republican amendments will have received votes as part of passage of the bill. It also said the Senate this year has already held as many roll-call votes on amendments than it did in the last Congress when the Senate was under Republican control. While the bill enjoys bipartisan support, a core group of Republican senators has reservations about its costs. One of the bill’s provisions would create a new directorate focused on artificial intelligence and quantum science with the National Science Foundation. The bill would authorize up to $29 billion over five years for the new branch within the foundation, with an additional $52 billion for its programs. Senator Rand Paul said Congress should be cutting the foundation’s budget, not increasing it. He called the agency “the king of wasteful spending.” The agency finances about a quarter of all federally supported research conducted by America’s colleges and universities. “The bill is nothing more than a big government response that will make our country weaker, not stronger,” Paul said. FILE – Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 5, 2020.But Senator Maria Cantwell noted that a greater federal investment in the physical sciences had been called for during the administration of President George W. Bush to ensure U.S. economic competitiveness. “At the time, I’m pretty sure we thought we were in a track meet where our competitor was, oh, I don’t know, maybe half a lap behind us. I’m pretty sure now as the decade has moved on, we’re looking over our shoulder and realizing that the competition is gaining,” said Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. The lead Republican on the committee also weighed in to support the bill. “This is an opportunity for the United States to strike a blow on behalf of answering the unfair competition that we are seeing from communist China,” Senator Roger Wicker said. Senators have tried to strike a balance when calling attention to China’s growing influence. They want to avoid fanning divisive anti-Asian rhetoric when hate crimes against Asian Americans have spiked during the coronavirus pandemic. Other measures spell out national security concerns and target money-laundering schemes or cyberattacks by entities on behalf of the Chinese government. There are also “Buy America” provisions for infrastructure projects in the U.S. Senators added provisions that reflect shifting attitudes toward China’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak. One would prevent federal money for the Wuhan Institute of Virology as fresh investigations proceed into the origins of the virus and possible connections to the lab’s research. The city registered some of the first coronavirus cases. It’s unclear whether the measure will find support in the Democratic-led House, where the Science Committee is expected to soon consider that chamber’s version. Congressman Ro Khanna, who has been working with Schumer for two years on legislation that’s included in the bill, called it the biggest investment in science and technology since the Apollo space flight program a half century ago. “I’m quite certain we will get a really good product on the president’s desk,” Schumer said. Biden said he looked forward to working with the House on the legislation, “and I look forward to signing it into law as soon as possible.”
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By Polityk | 06/09/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Російський футбольний союз звернувся в УЄФА з приводу форми збірної України
Водночас Європейський футбольний союз вже раніше заявив, що форма збірної України з футболу відповідає його вимогам
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By Gromada | 06/08/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Вийшов трейлер першого фільму Netflix, знятого в Україні
Фільм «Останній найманець» знімали минулого року у Києві та Парижі
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By Gromada | 06/08/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Свідоцтво про народження відтепер можна отримати поштою – Мінцифри
У Мінцифри заявили і про послугу «єМалятко» для жителів окупованих територій
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By Gromada | 06/08/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Зеленський хоче посадити за три роки мільярд дерев. Це майже по 1 мільйону щодня, незважаючи на пору року
Для досягнення цієї мети необхідно висаджувати пересічно трохи більш ніж 913 тисяч 242 дерева щодня протягом цих трьох років, безперервно
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By Gromada | 06/07/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
СБУ підозрює експрацівника Адміністрації президента у держзраді
Суд вже відправив його під цілодобовий домашній арешт
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By Gromada | 06/07/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Key Democratic Senator Voices Opposition to Voting Law Reforms
A key U.S. centrist Democratic lawmaker, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, adamantly voiced his opposition Sunday to sweeping nationalization of voting laws favored by President Joe Biden and other Democrats.Manchin, perhaps the most conservative Democrat in the 100-member U.S. Senate, said in an opinion article in a home-state newspaper, the Charleston Gazette-Mail, and in a “Fox News Sunday” television interview that he will continue to oppose the voting reforms because they are too partisan and have not drawn any Republican congressional support.In the television interview, Manchin described the measure as “the wrong piece of legislation. It will continue to divide us.”The national voting rights measure would overturn voting restrictions approved by at least 14 Republican-controlled state legislatures that would curb some expanded voting access that was deployed in the 2020 presidential election, such as extended voting hours, drive-through voting at central locations and the widespread use of mail-in balloting.In his Charleston newspaper essay, Manchin argued that “congressional action on federal voting rights legislation must be the result of both Democrats and Republicans coming together to find a pathway forward or we risk further dividing and destroying the republic we swore to protect and defend as elected officials.”“The truth, I would argue, is that voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen,” he said.The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has already approved the legislation. Congressional Democrats overwhelmingly support it, with Republicans equally opposed.FILE – Voting rights activists gather during a protest against Texas legislators who are advancing a slew of new voting restrictions, in Austin, Texas, May 8, 2021.Democrats have said the federal legislation is necessary, especially to ensure the voting rights of minorities, while accusing Republicans of trying to limit such voting because Blacks overwhelmingly vote for Democrats. Republicans say the new laws are needed to protect election security although there was no evidence of any substantial irregularities in the November 2020 election. Manchin’s opposition imperils its passage in the politically divided Senate. Democrats, voting as a 50-member bloc, have been able to push through some legislation on 51-50 votes, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote.Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has pledged to bring the voting rights legislation to a Senate floor vote in two weeks, but Republicans are likely to filibuster against it, forcing a 60-vote supermajority for passage. That would require Democrats to gain at least 11 Republican votes to support the legislation if Manchin maintains his opposition.Some progressive Democrats have called for ending Senate filibusters to ease passage of legislation by simple majority votes, but Manchin, and some other Democrats, are opposed, saying the legislative tactic has benefited them when Republicans have controlled the Senate.State passage of new voting restrictions has its roots in the November election, with some Republican state lawmakers voicing support for former President Donald Trump’s continuing baseless claims that the election was rigged and that he was cheated out of another four-year term in the White House.The federal legislation Manchin opposes would set minimum standards for early voting that was widespread before the official Election Day on November 3 and mail-in voting that could override some of the state Republican voting laws.Manchin has voiced support for these proposals but has not clarified where he stands on other provisions, such as requiring that congressional geographic redistricting every 10 years be done by nonpartisan commissions and establishing public financing for congressional campaigns.Manchin said he favors limited voting rights reform, requiring the federal government to sign off on state election law changes, but his stance so far has only drawn support from one Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
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By Polityk | 06/07/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Зеленський підписав закон, який забороняє поширення пластикових пакетів
Верховна Рада ухвалила закон «Про обмеження обігу пластикових пакетів на території України» 1 червня
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By Gromada | 06/07/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Чорновол повідомила, що судді в її справі взяли самовідвід
Учасниця Революції гідності припустила, що судді взяли самовідвід через її політизованість
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By Gromada | 06/07/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Key US Senator Voices His Opposition to Voting Law Reforms
A key U.S. centrist Democratic lawmaker, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, adamantly voiced his opposition Sunday to sweeping nationalization of voting laws favored by President Joe Biden and other Democrats.Manchin, perhaps the most conservative Democrat in the 100-member U.S. Senate, said in an opinion article in a home-state newspaper, the Charleston Gazette-Mail, and in a “Fox News Sunday” television interview that he will continue to oppose the voting reforms because they are too partisan and have not drawn any Republican congressional support.In the television interview, Manchin described the measure as “the wrong piece of legislation. It will continue to divide us.”The national voting rights measure would overturn voting restrictions approved by at least 14 Republican-controlled state legislatures that would curb some expanded voting access that was deployed in the 2020 presidential election, such as extended voting hours, drive-through voting at central locations and the widespread use of mail-in balloting.In his Charleston newspaper essay, Manchin argued that “congressional action on federal voting rights legislation must be the result of both Democrats and Republicans coming together to find a pathway forward or we risk further dividing and destroying the republic we swore to protect and defend as elected officials.”“The truth, I would argue, is that voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen,” he said.The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has already approved the Congressional Democrats overwhelmingly support it, with Republicans equally opposed.FILE – Voting rights activists gather during a protest against Texas legislators who are advancing a slew of new voting restrictions, in Austin, Texas, May 8, 2021.Democrats have said the federal legislation is necessary, especially to ensure the voting rights of minorities, while accusing Republicans of trying to limit such voting because Blacks overwhelmingly vote for Democrats. Republicans say the new laws are needed to protect election security although there was no evidence of any substantial irregularities in the November 2020 election. Manchin’s opposition imperils its passage in the politically divided Senate. Democrats, voting as a 50-member bloc, have been able to push through some legislation on 51-50 votes, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote.Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has pledged to bring the voting rights legislation to a Senate floor vote in two weeks, but Republicans are likely to filibuster against it, forcing a 60-vote supermajority for passage. That would require Democrats to gain at least 11 Republican votes to support the legislation if Manchin maintains his opposition.Some progressive Democrats have called for ending Senate filibusters to ease passage of legislation by simple majority votes, but Manchin, and some other Democrats, are opposed, saying the legislative tactic has benefited them when Republicans have controlled the Senate.State passage of new voting restrictions has its roots in the November election, with some Republican state lawmakers voicing support for former President Donald Trump’s continuing baseless claims that the election was rigged and that he was cheated out of another four-year term in the White House.The federal legislation Manchin opposes would set minimum standards for early voting that was widespread before the official Election Day on November 3 and mail-in voting that could override some of the state Republican voting laws.Manchin has voiced support for these proposals but has not clarified where he stands on other provisions, such as requiring that congressional geographic redistricting every 10 years be done by nonpartisan commissions and establishing public financing for congressional campaigns.Manchin said he favors limited voting rights reform, requiring the federal government to sign off on state election law changes, but his stance so far has only drawn support from one Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
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By Polityk | 06/07/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Рятувальники попереджають про грози в Україні на початку тижня
Укргідрометцентр оцінює погодні умови в понеділок як «потенційно небезпечні»
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By Gromada | 06/06/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Ситуація в ООС: з початку доби – один обстріл, військовий підірвався на вибуховому пристрої
Військового госпіталізували, його стан – середньої тяжкості
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By Gromada | 06/06/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Trump to GOP: Support Candidates Who ‘Stand for Our Values’
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday urged Republicans to support those candidates who share his values in next year’s midterm elections as he launched a new phase of his post-presidency.Trump teased the prospect of presidential bid of his own in 2024 but vowed first to be an active presence on the campaign trail for his allies in next year’s fight for control of Congress.”The survival of America depends on our ability to elect Republicans at every level starting with the midterms next year,” Trump said.Trump delivered his latest comments in a speech to hundreds of Republican officials and activists gathered for the North Carolina GOP convention, the opening appearance in what is expected to be a new phase of rallies and public events.Democratic National Committee spokesman Ammar Moussa took a shot at Trump in a statement released ahead of his speech.”More than 400,000 dead Americans, millions of jobs lost and recklessly dangerous rhetoric is apparently not enough for Republicans to break with a loser president who cost them the White House, Senate and House,” Moussa said.Other appearances consideredThe former Republican president, who has been out of office for more than four months and banned from his preferred social media accounts, hopes to use events like the North Carolina gathering to elevate his voice ahead of another potential presidential run.His advisers are considering appearances in Ohio, Florida, Alabama and Georgia to help bolster midterm candidates and energize voters.In contrast to the mega rallies that filled sports arenas when Trump was president, he spoke to several hundred North Carolina Republicans seated at dinner tables inside the Greenville convention center Saturday night. Tens of thousands more followed along on internet streams.Invited to the stage briefly during his remarks, Trump daughter-in-law and North Carolina native Lara Trump announced she would not run for the Senate, citing family obligations.”I am saying no for now, not no forever,” she said.Minutes later, Trump announced his endorsement of loyalist Representative Ted Budd in the crowded Republican primary in the state’s 13th District, adding a slap at former Governor Pat McCrory, who has been critical of Trump’s falsehoods about the 2020 election.”You can’t pick people who have already lost two races and do not stand for our values,” Trump said.Trump devoted much of his remarks to railing against President Joe Biden, who he said was leading “the most radical left-wing administration in history.”While Trump has had to work harder to make his voice heard since leaving office, he remains a commanding force in the Republican Party.A recent Quinnipiac University national poll found that 66% of Republicans would like to see him run for reelection, though the same number of Americans overall said they would prefer he didn’t.
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By Polityk | 06/06/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Infrastructure Bill Would Upgrade Aging US Waterways System
It’s a routine sight on the Illinois River: towboats slowly pushing barges carrying everything from salt and petroleum to corn and soybeans.”This is the backbone of our economy,” said Tom Heinold, chief of the operations division for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District. “Here in the upper Midwest, we feed the world from right here.”Heinold oversees Corps of Engineers facilities along the Illinois River, including the Starved Rock Lock and Dam near Utica. The National Waterways Foundation says the statewide system moves more than 83 million tons of freight annually, worth more than $13 billion to the U.S. economy.Using barges to transport goods on rivers is not only efficient but also environmentally friendly, reducing the need to use petroleum-guzzling trucks, Heinold said.”We can take 1,000 tractor-trailer trucks’ worth of commodities and put them on a single 15-ton barge tow,” he told VOA. “If it’s big, bulk, it’s more efficient to go on the rivers. So we see the benefits of that, that cost savings over roads and rails.”Showing their ageBut the locks, which rise and fall to allow barges to navigate a consistent depth of the river, were built nearly a century ago and are showing their age.”It is literally, in places, crumbling,” Heinold said while peering from a balcony overlooking the lock and dam. “You can see the concrete right in front of you, deteriorating. On the vertical walls, you can see the corner armor rusting. Some of it is bent.””They were built with a 50-year design life,” explained Rodney Weinzierl, a farmer in central Illinois, where the waterways are key to getting crops to foreign buyers. Weinzierl serves as executive director of the Illinois Corn Growers Association, which advocates for improving the country’s inland waterway system.”Exports are very important to Illinois and the U.S., and infrastructure is what keeps us competitive with foreign competition,” Weinzierl said. But since most taxpayers rarely engage with this part of the country’s infrastructure, he said, the waterways often get overlooked.”The public just never really sees it,” he told VOA. “It’s much lower on the list of awareness of infrastructure that’s really helped make our nation what it is today.”FILE – These are the Emsworth Locks and Dam on the Ohio River at Emsworth, Pa., April 9, 2021. They are 70 years old and in need of repair.Weinzierl says it’s crucial to improve the locks and dams so they don’t become unusable, which would impact the flow of grains and other goods — as well as the prices of those goods.But for Heinold to be able to keep things running, the system “needs some help to be reliable and safe,” he told VOA.’Long-term investments’Both President Joe Biden’s $1.7 trillion infrastructure plan and a Republican counterproposal would invest in the country’s inland waterways and ports.Previous funding allowed Heinold to oversee upgrades to the Starved Rock Lock and Dam in 2020, which closed the river to all traffic for several months. Heinold says more work is needed throughout the system, and Weinzierl understands it isn’t cheap.”Each one of these projects are several hundred million dollars,” Weinzierl explained, and he hopes enough money is allocated to perform upgrades to at least two locks along the Illinois River in the greatest need of repair.”These are long-term investments,” Weinzierl said. “The [U.S.] House [of Representatives] last year actually passed out of committee a bill to put more money in the river system, which is the first that happened in several decades. So we felt good that if there was going to be an infrastructure package that rivers were going to be a part, and we’re pleased to see that it was a part.”Heinold says he already has a list of what he would do with an infusion of funding.”It’s not that we have it spent before it gets here, but we know exactly what our capabilities are and where the funding needs to go,” he said.Biden’s infrastructure plan would dedicate $17 billion to improve waterways, ports and airports. A Senate Republican counteroffer also proposes spending billions to upgrade waterways. Efforts to advance legislation both parties can support continues in Washington.
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By Polityk | 06/06/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Кличко розповів, коли побудують метро на Виноградар і на Троєщину
Щодо Виноградаря, з 1300 метрів під землею вже понад 900 метрів прокладено. На Троєщину ж метро неможливо побудувати без мосту
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By Gromada | 06/05/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Представники ЛГБТ-спільноти протестували в Києві проти нападів на них
Вони вимагали, зокрема, якнайшвидшого ухвалення законопроєкту № 5488 «Про внесення змін до КУпАП і КК щодо боротьби з проявами дискримінації»
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By Gromada | 06/05/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
JPMorgan Freezes Donations to Republicans who Contested 2020 Election
JPMorgan Chase & Co will resume making political donations to U.S. lawmakers but will not give to Republican members of Congress who voted to overturn President Joe Biden’s election victory, according to an internal memo Friday seen by Reuters.The country’s largest lender was among many corporations that paused political giving following the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot when supporters of former president Donald Trump tried to stop Congress from certifying the election.Just hours later, 147 Republicans, the vast majority of them in the House of Representatives, voted to overturn the Electoral College results which Trump falsely claimed were tainted by fraud.Following a review, JPMorgan will this month resume giving through its Political Action Committee (PAC) but will continue its freeze on donations to a “handful” of the 147 lawmakers whom it had previously supported, the bank said.The pause will last through the 2021-22 election cycle, which includes November’s midterm elections, after which JPMorgan will review whether to resume contributions to the lawmakers concerned on an individual basis, it said.”This was a unique and historic moment when we believe the country needed our elected officials to put aside strongly held differences and demonstrate unity,” the bank wrote of the Jan. 6 vote to certify Biden’s win.Also on Friday, Citigroup said it was resuming PAC contributions but did not specify how it would treat the lawmakers who tried to block Biden taking office.Citigroup said it would evaluate whether to give to all lawmakers case-by-case based on a new set of criteria which includes “character and integrity” and “a commitment to bipartisanship and democratic institutions.”JPMorgan noted that its PAC is an important tool for engaging in the political process in the United States. PACs are political committees organized for the purpose of raising cash to support or in some cases oppose election candidates.”Democracy, by its nature, requires active participation, compromise, and engaging with people with opposing views. That is why government and business must work together,” JPMorgan wrote.As part of its revamped spending strategy, the bank will also expand donations beyond lawmakers who oversee financial matters to those active on issues the bank considers “moral and economic imperatives for our country,” such as addressing the racial wealth gap, education and criminal justice reform.Spending slowly resumesSince the initial January backlash, corporations have been grappling with how to resume PAC spending, seen by lobbyists as important for gaining access to policymakers, without alienating other stakeholders, including their employees who fund the PACs.Other big financial companies that paused donations have slowly resumed spending.Morgan Stanley’s PAC resumed donations to some lawmakers in February, while the American Bankers Association PAC, one of the biggest in the country, started giving again in March, federal records show.While JPMorgan did not name lawmakers in its memo, the bank’s new policy risks alienating Republicans with sway over banking policy, some of whom are already angered by its active stance on issues like climate change and racial equity.Of the 147 lawmakers, JPMorgan gave $10,000 each to House finance committee members Blaine Luetkemeyer and Lee Zeldin, and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, among others, during the 2019-20 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). Representatives for the lawmakers did not respond to requests for comment.All told, JPMorgan’s PAC gave nearly $1 million to federal candidates and committees backing candidates during the 2019-20 election cycle, according to CRP.Of the $600,300 it gave to federal candidates, nearly 60% went to Republicans and the rest to Democrats, according to the CRP data, a mix that is likely to swing further to the left as the bank supports a broader range of social and economic issues.Commercial banks overall have ramped up political spending in recent years, dishing out $14.6 million to federal candidates in the 2020 cycle, the second highest amount since 1990, the data shows.Following the 2008 financial crisis, that mix favored Republicans but in recent years banks have increased spending on Democrats as they look to rebuild bipartisan support in Congress.
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By Polityk | 06/05/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Ex-Counsel Tells Congress of Trump Efforts to Undercut Russia Probe, Democrats Say
A former White House counsel “shed new light” on the investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 U.S. elections and the pressure he was under to stymie the federal probe, congressional Democrats said Friday. Don McGahn, who served as Donald Trump’s presidential lawyer for nearly two years before resigning in October 2018, testified in a daylong, closed-door session before the House Judiciary Committee.McGahn appeared under a subpoena issued about two years ago to testify as the committee was looking into allegations of wrongdoing by Trump. Late in 2019, the House voted to impeach Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate, then under Republican control, acquitted him.A transcript of McGahn’s testimony is due to be made public in coming days. Under an agreement with the Department of Justice, Judiciary Committee members declined to provide specifics of what he said before then.”Mr. McGahn was clearly distressed by President Trump’s refusal to follow his legal advice, again and again, and he shed new light on several troubling events today,” committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said in a statement.Republican Representative Matt Gaetz told reporters that McGahn’s testimony provided no new information, however.”The expectation was that Don McGahn would be some sort of essential witness bringing new information worthy of years of litigation and countless taxpayer dollars spent,” Gaetz said of Democrats.Democratic Representative Madeleine Dean, a senior Judiciary Committee member, told reporters McGahn “brought to life the pressure he was under, the pressure that other aides were under by the president to direct Rod Rosenstein to oust special counsel [Robert] Mueller.”At the time, Rosenstein was serving as deputy attorney general, and Mueller was probing Trump and his 2016 presidential campaign.After a lengthy investigation, Mueller found “numerous links” between the campaign and the Russians and concluded the campaign “expected it would benefit” from Moscow’s effort to tilt the vote in Trump’s favor. But Mueller said such interactions either did not amount to criminal behavior or would be difficult to prove in court.
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By Polityk | 06/05/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Україна переходить на е-лікарняні – Ляшко
Очільник МОЗ додав, що запроваджені зміни не можуть запрацювати відразу
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By Gromada | 06/05/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Добровольці батальйону «Айдар» отримали статус учасників бойових дій
Посвідчення учасників бойових дій отримали 26 добровольців
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By Gromada | 06/04/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
After 2-year Battle, House Panel to Interview Trump Counsel
The House Judiciary Committee is poised to question former White House counsel Don McGahn behind closed doors on Friday, two years after House Democrats originally sought his testimony as part of investigations into former President Donald Trump.
The long-awaited interview is the result of an agreement reached last month in federal court. House Democrats — then investigating whether Trump tried to obstruct the Justice Department’s probes into his presidential campaign’s ties to Russia — originally sued after McGahn defied an April 2019 subpoena on Trump’s orders.
That same month, the Justice Department released a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the matter. In the report, Mueller pointedly did not exonerate President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice but also did not recommend prosecuting him, citing Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president.
Mueller’s report quoted extensively from interviews with McGahn, who described the president’s efforts to stifle the investigation.
While the Judiciary panel eventually won its fight for McGahn’s testimony, the court agreement almost guarantees they won’t learn anything new. The two sides agreed that McGahn will only be questioned about information attributed to him in publicly available portions of Mueller’s report.
Still, House Democrats kept the case going, even past Trump’s presidency, and are moving forward with the interview to make an example of the former White House counsel. House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said the agreement for McGahn’s testimony is a good-faith compromise that “satisfies our subpoena, protects the Committee’s constitutional duty to conduct oversight in the future, and safeguards sensitive executive branch prerogatives.”
It is unclear what House Democrats will do with the testimony, which they sought before twice impeaching Trump. The Senate acquitted Trump of impeachment charges both times.
As White House counsel, McGahn had an insider’s view of many of the episodes Mueller and his team examined for potential obstruction of justice during the Russia investigation. McGahn proved a pivotal — and damning — witness against Trump, with his name mentioned hundreds of times in the text of the Mueller report and its footnotes.
He described to investigators the president’s repeated efforts to choke off the probe and directives he said he received from the president that unnerved him.
He recounted how Trump had demanded that he contact then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to order him to unrecuse himself from the Russia investigation. McGahn also said Trump had implored him to tell the deputy attorney general at the time, Rod Rosenstein, to remove Mueller from his position because of perceived conflicts of interest — and, after that episode was reported in the media, to publicly and falsely deny that demand had ever been made.
McGahn also described the circumstances leading up to Trump’s firing of James Comey as FBI director, including the president’s insistence on including in the termination letter the fact that Comey had reassured Trump that he was not personally under investigation.
And he was present for a critical conversation early in the Trump administration, when Sally Yates, just before she was fired as acting attorney general as a holdover Obama appointee, relayed concerns to McGahn about new national security adviser Michael Flynn. She raised the possibility that Flynn’s conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak — and his subsequent interview by the FBI — left him vulnerable to blackmail.
Trump’s Justice Department fought efforts to have McGahn testify, but U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in 2019 rejected Trump’s arguments that his close advisers were immune from congressional subpoena. President Joe Biden has nominated Jackson to the appeals court in Washington.
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By Polityk | 06/04/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden’s Pledge on Media Freedom May Be Easier Said Than Done
One of the Biden Justice Department’s first big moves has been to alert reporters at three major news organizations that their phone records were seized as part of leak investigations under the Trump administration, with President Joe Biden saying he would abandon the practice of spying on journalists.
But while Biden’s stated commitment that his Justice Department won’t seize reporters’ phone records has won support from press freedom groups, it remains unclear if that promise can be kept, especially because Democratic and Republican administrations alike have relied on the tactic in an effort to track down leaks of classified information. His comment last month about what law enforcement should or should not do was all the more striking given Biden’s pledge to uphold the tradition of an independent Justice Department.
“In this case, it seems bad policy to institute an absolute ban on logical investigative actions geared to finding out who violated the law, particularly in instances where the journalists themselves whose records may be at issue are not the subject or target of criminal investigation,” said David Laufman, a former Justice Department official who led the section that oversaw investigations into leaks.
The Justice Department in recent weeks disclosed that federal investigators had secretly obtained call records of journalists at The Washington Post, The New York Times and CNN in an effort to identify sources who had provided national security information published in the early months of the Trump administration.
Past administrations also have struggled to balance the media’s First Amendment newsgathering rights against government interests in safeguarding national security secrets. Inside the Justice Department, officials have on several occasions over the years revised internal guidelines to afford media organizations better protection without ever removing from their arsenal the prerogative to subpoena reporters’ records.
Biden appears to be looking to change that.
He told a reporter last month that seizing journalists’ records was “simply, simply wrong” and that the practice would be halted under his watch. After the most recent revelation — that the Justice Department in the Trump administration had secretly seized the phone records of four New York Times reporters — White House press secretary Jen Psaki reaffirmed the commitment to freedom of the press.
But she also said discussions with the Justice Department were still underway and that no new policy was ready to be announced.
Michael Weinstein, a former Justice Department prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer in New Jersey, said he understood Biden’s comments as making clear his disdain for the practice without necessarily precluding the possibility that it could ever be used under any circumstances.
“I don’t see that he’s directing any specific case or that he’s directing that an investigation take one path or another,” Weinstein said. “He’s simply putting forth priorities and procedures, which then the Justice Department has to modify its protocols as a result.
“I don’t think he’s saying you can never do it,” he added. “I think he’s saying the standards have to be higher.”
The Justice Department says it has now concluded notifying the media organizations whose phone records were accessed. The latest revelation came Wednesday when The Times said it had learned that investigators last year secretly obtained records for four reporters during a nearly four-month period in 2017.
The gap in time likely reflects that the Justice Department regards the seizure of phone records as a last resort when other avenues in a leak investigation have been exhausted. The department said the reporters are neither subjects nor targets of the investigation but did not reveal which leak was under investigation.
The four reporters shared a byline on an April 2017 story that detailed the FBI’s decision-making in the final stages of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. The story included classified information about a document obtained by Russian hackers that helped persuade then-FBI Director James Comey that he, not Attorney General Loretta Lynch, should be the one to announce the investigation had concluded without criminal charges. His unusual July 2016 news conference, held at the FBI and without Lynch or other leaders, marked an extraordinary departure from protocol.
The Trump administration announced a crackdown on leaks in 2017 as part of an aggressive stance. In addition to the phone records seizures disclosed over the past month regarding the reporters, the department won guilty pleas from a former government contractor who mailed a classified report to a news organization and a former Senate committee aide who admitted lying to the FBI about his contacts with a reporter.
Psaki said Thursday that Trump administration officials had “abused their power” and that Biden was looking to turn the page. But the same intrusive tactics of the last four years were also employed during the Obama administration, which secretly seized phone records of Associated Press reporters and editors during a leak investigation in 2013 and also labeled a Fox News reporter a co-conspirator in a separate leak probe.
Amid blowback, former Attorney General Eric Holder announced guidelines for leak investigations that among other things required sign-off by the highest levels of the department for subpoenas of journalists’ records.
But the department’s ability to obtain those records under certain circumstances remained intact.
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By Polityk | 06/04/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Кримськотатарський телеканал ATR отримає фінансування з держбюджету – Мінреінтеграції
ATR виграв тендер як єдиний канал, що здійснює мовлення кримськотатарською мовою на територію АР Крим
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By Gromada | 06/04/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
