The delivery last Fri of the assurance letter signed by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant comes as #Israel & the Biden admin are locked in a contentious debate over Israel’s plan for a major military offensive in the southern #Gaza city of #Rafah. Biden has warned that the operation risks a #humanitarian catastrophe & called it a “mistake,” acc/to #NationalSecurity adviser #JakeSullivan.
A team of snr Israeli ofcls is due in DC early next week, at Biden’s request, to discuss the ongoing #offensive.
The #NationalSecurity memorandum signed by #POTUS#Biden on Feb 8 was a response to rising concerns about Israel’s conduct of the #war. It repeated many of the arms transfer rules in place in #UnitedStates#Law & #InternationalLaw, but included NEW assessment, transparency & reporting requirements.
While the memo applies to >70 countries receiving US weaponry, more restrictive reporting requirements are placed on 7 countries currently involved in armed conflict, incl’g both #Israel & #Ukraine.
Until Mon, #IsabellaDeLuca had been an unpaid volunteer media assoc at the Gold Institute for International Strategy, a research org in Washington, #DC focused on #NationalSecurity issues, its president, Eli M. Gold, said. She was hired for the role last May. The institute was unaware that she had been facing #criminal charges until being contacted by reporters… “Following further internal investigation, we felt it necessary to sever our relationship,” Gold said.
Western countries, including the #UnitedStates, shouldn’t be entirely opposed to the idea of sending #troops to Ukraine if conditions there worsen, said Finnish Foreign Minister #ElinaValtonen.
#Finland appeared closed off to the idea only a few weeks ago. After meeting w/ #Macron during a summit of #EU leaders in late Feb, then-Finnish President Sauli #Niinistö said “there was a widely shared perception that there would be no #military presence” — meaning no deployment of Western soldiers to Kyiv. He added, “this was also Finland’s position.”
An account using the name & photo of #Michigan#BarryCounty Sheriff lawbreaker & [#ConspiracyTheorist] #DarLeaf released >2,100 pages of emails from employees of Dominion; the company says Leaf improperly accessed internal msgs via breach of a #CourtOrder.
On Friday, attorneys for #Dominion filed an emergency motion in federal #court in Washington, DC, arguing in favor of a judge disqualifying Lambert from providing #legal help in the #defamation case, contending she had improperly shared w/ #DarLeaf confidential records, provided under a #ProtectiveOrder through document #discovery in the #lawsuit.
"Dominion seeks the court's immediate assistance in addressing a flagrant & ongoing breach of this court's order that has already, & will continue to, irreparably harm Dominion, including, but not limited to, jeopardizing the physical safety of #Dominion employees," lawyers for the company wrote in their Fri motion.
That motion was focused on a smaller batch of #Dominion records, ~48 pgs of emails, that were included w/an affidavit written by #DarLeaf that #StefanieLambert filed on Mar 8 in her own #criminal case that's pending in Oakland County.
Dominion's attys said on Mar 9, someone left a vm, accusing Dominion of "breaking our elections" & stating that "America should just f---ing hang all you motherf------.”
“From social media calls to lynch Dominion personnel to a man #armed w/a #rifle who came to their offices, Dominion's employees have directly suffered the consequences of the lies spread by #PatrickByrne & his fellow defendants," #Dominion's lawyers wrote. "They now fear further threats due to conduct of his counsel done at his direction."
#Dominion's lawyers said the documents #StefanieLambert released showed no evidence of criminal activity.
"Best Dominion can tell, Byrne & Lambert's #xenophobic conclusion is that any email from non-U.S.-based Dominion personnel is conclusive evidence of criminal activity," the attorneys' emergency motion said.
Spacex is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a #classified contract w/a US intelligence agency, 5 sources familiar w/the program said, demonstrating deepening ties between billionaire entrepreneur #ElonMusk's space company & #NationalSecurity agencies.
The network is being built by #SpaceX's #Starshield business unit under a $1.8B contract signed in 2021 w/the National Reconnaissance Office (#NRO), an #intelligence agency that manages #SpySatellites, the sources said.
The plans show the extent of SpaceX's involvement in #UnitedStates intelligence & #military projects & illustrate a deeper #Pentagon investment into vast, low-Earth orbiting #satellite systems aimed at supporting ground forces.
If successful, the sources said the program would significantly advance the ability of the #UnitedStates government & #military to quickly spot potential targets almost anywhere on the globe.
The contract signals growing trust by the #intelligence establishment of a company whose owner has clashed w/the #Biden admin and sparked controversy over the use of #Starlink#satellite connectivity in the Ukraine war, the sources said.
Reuters reporting discloses for the first time that the #SpaceX contract is for a powerful new #spy system w/hundreds of #satellites bearing Earth-imaging capabilities that can operate as a swarm in low orbits, & that the spy agency that Musk's company is working w/is the #NRO.
Reuters was unable to determine when the new network of satellites would come online & could not establish what other companies are part of the program w/their own contracts.
#Trump’s son-in-law said he was close to finalizing real estate projects in the two #Balkan nations, an example of the Trump family’s pursuit of deals abroad as the former president seeks the White House.
More than a decade ago, before running for president, Donald Trump expressed interest in developing the SAME site in Belgrade that his son-in-law now plans to invest $500 million in rebuilding.
News of the #Kushner proposal provoked strong objections…from opposition party ldrs in #Serbia….
Opposition party ldrs said they had not been properly informed of the plan & called it inappropriate that an American company owned by a #Trump family member would… #profit off a site that a #UnitedStates led coalition bombed 25 yrs ago.
US AMB hits out at HU’s ‘unhinged anti-American messaging’. In speech in Budapest, Pressman says while HUunder Orbán tries to wait out US govt, ‘we will act’.
Trump lawyers tried to convince federal Judge #AileenCannon to throw out the charges against him.
Judge Cannon heard from prosecutors & defense lawyers about Trump’s [BS] claim that he is protected from prosecution by the #PresidentialRecordsAct. #NationalSecurity#law experts say Trump’s arguments about the records act misstate the law.
"An alliance of #rightwing groups has crafted an extensive presidential proposal to bolster the planet-heating #oil and #gas industry and hamstring the #EnergyTransition.
#Project2025, was convened by the notorious rightwing, #climate-denying thinktank the Heritage Foundation, which has ties to fossil fuel billionaire Charles Koch."
US citizens: please vote, and organize your friends. It's you against the #FossilFuel industry. The stakes are high.
"For years, the #Pentagon has treated #ClimateChange as a threat multiplier that can inflame conflicts across the world and threaten U.S. #NationalSecurity. Military officials have also used climate research to pinpoint areas of the world likely to experience political destabilization due to drought or flooding or other consequences of a warming world.
But #Project2025 refers to the Pentagon as “a deeply troubled institution” because it is too “woke.” "