Biden Official Clears Ukraine of Misusing U.S. Financial Aid

Simon Kent24 Feb 2023

Ukraine is not misusing the tens of billions of dollars in direct financial assistance it is receiving courtesy of U.S. taxpayers according to a top Biden administration official.

Samantha Power, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), gave the public affirmation during a CNN live town hall on Thursday evening.

Her assurances came just hours ahead of the White House revealing it would give another $2 billion in military aid to Ukraine as its war with Russia officially hits the one-year mark, bringing the total amount of American military assistance to over $30 billion in one year.

The former Obama administration official further claimed Ukraine has made progress in working to root out corruption while officials are continually checking to ensure U.S. taxpayer dollars are used properly.

“Up until this point, we don’t have any evidence that U.S. assistance is being misused or misspent but, again, the key is not resting on anybody’s goodwill or virtue,” Power said.

She was responding to a question posed about Ukraine’s long history of corruption. “It’s checks and balances, the rule of law, the integrity of officials,” Power added were the key to her confidence in the Zelensky administration.

The U.S. has given more than $100 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the start of the war one year ago even as doubts have been expressed over the potential for corruption.

As Breitbart News reported, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has been dealing with a string of corruption scandals, the latest one concerning excessive payments for food.

Other allegations included dubious military contracts with under-the-table kickbacks to deputy ministers, the sale of military equipment – including American hardware – to international buyers, and embezzlement from the national winter aid budget.

Last month President Zelensky sought to clear the air by sacking a string of officials in the wake of corruption allegations.

In acknowledging the constant allegations of corruption, Power explained the U.S. Government Accountability Office launched a new initiative to help Ukraine expand its auditing institution, which she said will be needed for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Power added the U.S. does not provide for resources like paying health workers or providing disability support to Ukraine unless officials see a receipt for an expenditure and acts on a basis of reimbursing Ukraine for its spending.

Some House Republicans have raised doubts about the continued U.S. support for Ukraine and questioned how the money being sent there is being used, seeking to begin an audit of the money trail, as Breitbart News reported.

(I literally hate these lying thieves. All of them!)

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/02/24/biden-official-clears-ukraine-of-misusing-u-s-financial-aid/

White House: Biden Decided to Send Tanks to Ukraine ‘Even if It’s Not the Most Sensible Military Move’

Ian Hanchett24 Feb 2023

1:51

During a town hall on CNN on Thursday, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated that President Joe Biden was advised by the military that the Abrams tanks the U.S. agreed to send to Ukraine wouldn’t “make sense” for that war, Germany said it wouldn’t provide the tanks that would make sense “unless you, the United States, provide your tanks. And President Biden said, if me providing Abrams tanks, even if it’s not the most sensible military move, will help unlock German tanks to get to the front lines and also will sustain alliance unity, I will do it.”

Sullivan responded to a question by host Fareed Zakaria on why the U.S. seems to resist sending weapons before changing its mind by stating, “So, first, Fareed, the way that our military and our intelligence community make recommendations to the President is they look at the needs of the Ukrainian military during the phase of the war that they are confronting at that time. … As we head into the spring, what Ukraine really needs is armor, infantry fighting vehicles, and, yes, tanks. Now, — and we’re providing those. The President was advised by his military, Abrams tanks, the American tank, doesn’t really make sense for this fight, what they really needed were Leopard tanks, German tanks that a bunch of countries in Europe own, but the Germans said, we won’t provide our tanks unless you, the United States, provide your tanks. And President Biden said, if me providing Abrams tanks, even if it’s not the most sensible military move, will help unlock German tanks to get to the front lines and also will sustain alliance unity, I will do it.”

(Told you Abrams tanks won’t work there unless they send US soldiers to maintain them.Kash says contractors are already there taking care of equipment, they all “used to” work for the military)

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2023/02/24/white-house-biden-decided-to-send-tanks-to-ukraine-even-if-its-not-the-most-sensible-military-move/

Bidenflation Jumps Higher as Prices Rise at Fastest Pace in 6 Months

John Carney24 Feb 2023

Joe Biden speaks about the release of US women's basketball player Brittney Griner, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on December 8, 2022. - Biden said Thursday that Griner is "on her way home" after being freed from Russia in a prisoner swap for Russian …

A key measure of consumer prices showed inflation accelerating in January as spending, income, and saving surged.

The personal consumption expenditure price index jumped 0.6 percent in January compared with a month earlier, the Commerce Department said Friday. The prior month’s inflation rate was revised up from 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent.

Compared with a year ago, the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index was up 5.4 percent. The 12-month gain for December was revised up from five percent to 5.3 percent.

Economists had expected a much milder increase. The median forecast was for a 0.4 percent price increase month-to-month and a 4.9 percent increase for the year.

The annual and monthly figures indicate that inflation has accelerated. The revisions indicate that the apparent reprieve from inflation at the end of last year was less substantial than it appeared. The comparison with estimates indicates that economists have been underestimating the strength of inflationary pressures in the economy.

The PCE price index is used in the calculations of economic growth by the Commerce Department. It is often called the PCE deflator because it is subtracted from nominal growth in gross domestic product to calculate the real—meaning, inflation-adjusted—rate of growth.

By subscribing, you agree to our terms of use & privacy policy. You will receive email marketing messages from Breitbart News Network to the email you provide. You may unsubscribe at any time.

The Federal Reserve uses the PCE price index as the basis for its two percent inflation target. Fed officials use the index when making the inflation forecasts—known as the Summary of Economic Projections—that are released at every other meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.

The core PCE price index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, also rose 0.6 percent compared with the prior month and the November to December increase was revised up from 0.3 percent to 0.4 percent. Economists had forecast a 0.4 percent gain from the prior month.

Compared with January of last year, core prices were up 4.7 percent, defying predictions that it would decline to 4.3 percent from the initially reported 4.4 percent year-over-year gain in December. That December figure was revised up to show a 4.6 percent gain.

Prices for goods and services both increased 0.6 percent compared with the prior month. Goods prices have been expected to moderate as spending shifts toward goods but goods inflation has been surprisingly persistent. Food prices rose 0.4 percent and energy prices increased 2.0 percent.

Compared with a year ago, prices for goods are up 4.7 percent and prices for services have risen 5.7 percent. Food prices have soared, rising 11.1 percent, and energy prices increased 9.6 percent.

After inflation appeared to retreat in November and December, many analysts concluded that the Federal Reserve’s rate increases had finally begun to take hold and put the economy back on a path to price stability, which the Fed defines as two percent annual increases in the PCE price index. In January, however, inflation surged higher and revisions to earlier months indicate that it had not faded as much as thought.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.5 percent compared with the month before, a big step up in the pace of price increases from the 0.1 percent recorded for December, according to data released by the Labor Department last week. The December figure was revised up from the preliminary report showing the CPI had declined by 0.1 percent. Compared with a year ago, the CPI is up 6.4 percent. Those inflation figures all exceeded expectations.

The producer price index (PPI) jumped 0.7 percent compared with December, with goods prices rising 1.2 percent and services prices rising 0.4 percent. The figures exceeded expectations and indicated that the pace of inflation had increased from the month before. Compared with a year ago, PPI was up six percent.

The PCE report also showed that consumer spending rose 1.8 percent for the month, above the expected rise of 1.4 percent. Personal income rose 1.4 percent, more than the 1.4 percent median forecast. The personal saving rate increased to 4.7 percent from 3.4 percent in December.

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2023/02/24/bidenflation-jumps-higher-as-prices-rise-at-fastest-pace-in-6-months/

UK Defence Secretary Warns ‘War is Coming’ to Britain, Demands More Military Spending

Kurt Zindulka24 Feb 2023

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has warned that “war is coming” to Britain, as he redoubled his demands that the government commit to more military spending.

Speaking ahead of the one-year anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, Mr Wallace said the world is “definitely more dangerous, more unstable and more insecure” and therefore Rishi Sunak’s government must commit to increasing the defence budget of the nation.

In an interview with the Sun newspaper, Wallace warned: “Conflict is coming by the end of this decade… whether it is a cold war or hot, war is coming.”

“We just have to recognise that in order to deter you just have to be ready, you have to be equipped and you have to stand with your friends and your allies,” he said, adding that therefore “we need a greater proportion of the public spend on defence.”

Warning that the conflict in Ukraine could last for another year, Wallace continued: “We are not in for a period, we are in it until you defeat Russia and Ukrainians can go home. Britain’s message to Russia is we are not giving up and we are not going away.”

The battle over Britain’s defence spending will come to a head next month when the government’s finance chief, Jeremy Hunt will release his Spring Budget. Firing a metaphorical shot across the treasury’s bows, Wallace told the paper: “Freedom isn’t free.”

Ben Wallace is not alone in the defence community in lamenting the derelict state of the British Armed Forces, with Defence Committee Chairman in the House of Commons, Russia hawk Tory MP Tobias Ellwood saying last month that the military is in a “dire state” after cutting some 10,000 soldiers from its ranks.

Despite being able to find money to fund the so-far disastrous green agenda and sending millions in taxpayer money in foreign aid, including to Communist China, over the past decade, the Conservative government saw fit its first seven years in power to slash annual defence spending by £6.6 billion in real terms — a reduction of 14.6 per cent compared to the 2009-10 budget.

As a proportion of GDP, UK defence spending has been cut in half since the 1980s, according to an analysis from Sky News, which claimed that this has resulted in a decline in the availability of military equipment as well as the number of military personnel being reduced from over 300,000 active members in 1989 to just over 145,000 today.

In 2021, the government spent £45.9 billion on defence representing 2.2 per cent of the nation’s GDP, compared to 4.1 per cent in 1980 and approximately 8 per cent in 1956. Defence Secretary Wallace has reportedly called for the government to increase its defence spending by around £10 billion over the next two years in order just to put it on the same level prior to the inflation crisis.

Even though the nation has been grappling with a cost of living crisis, the UK has been one of the chief backers of the war effort in Ukraine, having sent nearly £4 billion to Ukraine in aid, £2.3 billion of which has come in the form of weapons, ammunition, or other military equipment over the past year, alone.

This figure will likely only increase, with the government admitting that it was actively considering shipping fighter jets to the nation following Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to London earlier this month.

Last week, Prime Minsiter Rishi Sunak announced that Britain will become the first Western nation to supply Ukraine with “longer range weapons”, believed to be missiles that could expand the conflict to the Crimean peninsula or even possibly the Russian mainland itself.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/02/24/uk-defence-secretary-warns-war-is-coming-to-britain-demands-more-military-spending/

Fredericks: East Palestine Is Another Disgusting Example Of The Establishment Forgetting Americans

He attended a hearing by Mastriano in PA for citizens and they came telling their stories of the sickness and fear they are all feeling because they are damaged and sick from the train crash and burning of chemicals too. No one IS Helping Them, No One will answer questions in gov.

https://rumble.com/embed/v286ebe/?pub=4

>>18403444

Fuck off fag, you will never be a woman, it doesn’t matter how much you lie to yourself and others lie to you

24 Feb, 2023 16:08

Pentagon unveils new major Ukraine aid package

The US has pledged to provide more weapons and equipment to the tune of $2bn, including several types of drones and munitions

Washington is shelling out another $2 billion to shore up the Ukrainian military, the Pentagon has announced. The US Department of Defense stressed yet again that the White House, along with its Western allies, will continue to support Kiev “for as long as it takes.”

In a statement on Friday, the first anniversary of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, the Pentagon said that its commitment to supporting Kiev had “only strengthened” over the past 12 months.

The latest security assistance package places particular emphasis on additional unmanned aerial systems, including Switchblade 600 UAS kamikaze drones, as well as anti-drone and electronic warfare detection equipment. On top of that, Washington has pledged to supply Ukraine with an undisclosed number of missiles for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (M142 HIMARS) and 155mm artillery rounds.

The Pentagon said that unlike ‘Presidential Drawdown’, the weapons comprising the latest package will not be sourced from the US Army’s own stocks, but rather procured specifically from the manufacturers.

The DOD vowed to continue providing Ukraine with “capabilities to meet its immediate battlefield needs.”

Meanwhile on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned US Ambassador to Moscow Lynne Tracy, issuing her a “formal demarche” over the “growing involvement of the United States in hostilities on the side of the Kiev regime.”

Moscow accused Washington of “pumping the Ukrainian military with arms and providing it with targeting information for strikes on Russian military and civilian infrastructure.”This proves that the US has effectively become a party to the conflict, the ministry said.

Russian diplomats also told their American colleague that Washington’s “aggressive course” of action was only serving to “deepen confrontation” with Moscow.

The demarche came hard on the heels of President Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Kiev on Monday. While in the Ukrainian capital, Biden pledged an additional $500 million in military assistance to the country, including more artillery ammunition, rockets, and anti-armor systems.

According to the Pentagon’s estimates, the US has earmarked around $30 billion in military aid to Ukraine as of February 20.

(Its closer to $200 billions with all the humanitarian aid, paying the pensions of Ukrainians and off the books contributions Tucker says)

https://www.rt.com/news/572021-pentagon-ukraine-military-aid/

24 Feb, 2023 15:31

US and UK stall on jets for Ukraine

Washington and London both consider warplanes a longer-term defense strategy for Kiev

Neither the US nor the UK will give Ukraine fighter jets in the near term, officials from both countries have said. Kiev has demanded that NATO countries hand over their warplanes, but the Western bloc has sent mixed signals thus far.

Speaking to CNN on Thursday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that combat aircraft “are not the key capability” the Ukrainian military needs at the moment.

“F-16s are not a question for the short-term fight,” he elaborated. “F-16s are a question for the long-term defense of Ukraine and that’s a conversation that [US] President Biden and [Ukrainian] President Zelensky had.”

Biden met with Zelensky in Kiev on Monday, where the Ukrainian president reportedly asked his American counterpart to transfer F-16 fighter jets to his forces. Biden had previously rejected Zelensky’s pleas for the American-made fighters, simply telling reporters “no” when asked about the possibility in January.

Zelensky and his officials have demanded combat aircraftfrom multiple countries, including the UK. While former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss have urged the government to donate a fleet of Eurofighter Typhoon fighters, Defense Minister Ben Wallace said on Friday that “we’re not going to send our own Typhoon jets in the short term to Ukraine.”

“Gifting a fighter jet comes with hundreds of people: engineers, pilots, training, electronic warfare,” he told Sky News on Friday. “The West is not going to be putting troops into Ukraine on those scales. The idea that we would put Typhoons in – we would have to send 200 [Royal Air Force] people and we’re not going to do that … at this current stage.”

Sunak said earlier this month that the UK will train Ukrainian fighter pilots, and Wallace said on Friday that London is prepared to supply Typhoon jets to Eastern European countries who send their own Soviet-era planes to Kiev.

Across the rest of the NATO bloc, national leaders have been more elusive on the potential supply of warplanes. The leaders of France and the Netherlands have both declared that the idea is being considered, while Italy was reportedly nearing a dealinvolving the transfer of five aging ground attack and fighter planes, before Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ruled the possibility out on Tuesday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly shot down Ukraine’s requests for jets, and urged his allies last month against “entering into a constant competition to outbid each other when it comes to weapons systems.” However, Berlin initially refused to provide Ukraine with tanks, before succumbing to a pressure campaign led by Kiev and its most committed supporters in Eastern Europe.

(They obviously are not paying attention Russia said they have weapons no one knows about, not to mention what China will bring)

https://www.rt.com/news/572020-no-fighter-jets-ukraine/

Steve Cortes: Buttigieg Should Live And Drink In East Palestine If Water Is Safeshort video

https://rumble.com/embed/v286b5i/?pub=4

Blinken heads to Asia, with China, Russia tensions soaring

AP24 Feb 2023

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Central and South Asia next week for international talks that will put him in the same room as his Chinese and Russian counterparts

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fresh from a meeting with China’s top diplomat and a U.N. Security Council session on Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Central and South Asia next week for international talks that will put him in the same room as his Chinese and Russian counterparts.

The State Department announced late Thursday that Blinken would travel to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan before going to India for a meeting of the Group of 20 foreign ministers from the world’s largest industrialized and developing countries, including China and Russia.

The trip comes as tensions have soared between the U.S. and Russia and between the U.S. and China over Russia’s war in Ukraineand Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. All three countries are competing fiercely to outdo each other in global influence.

U.S. officials have been tight-lipped about the prospects for Blinken having sit-down talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang or Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New Delhi. But all three will be present in the Indian capital for the G-20 meeting. The State Department has said only that no meetings are scheduled.

The last time the group met — in Bali, Indonesia, in 2022 — Blinken held extensive talks with China’s then-foreign minister, Wang Yi, that led to a summit between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Xinping in November.

And Wang, who has since been promoted, met with Blinken last weekend on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany, the first high-level talks since the U.S. shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon and Blinken postponed a much-anticipated trip to Beijing.

A meeting between Blinken and Qin, who was formerly China’s ambassador to the U.S., would be their first in Qin’s current capacity.

The broader G-20 meeting is expected to focus on food and energy security, especially for developing countries, which have been hit by fallout from the Ukraine conflict. In Bali, a number of nations that have not outright condemned Russia for the war expressed deep concern about its impact on the prices and supply of food and fuel.

Before traveling to Delhi, Blinken will visit the Kazakh capital of Astana for talks with leaders there as well as a meeting of the so-called C5+1 group, made up of the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and the United States.

At that meeting, he will stress the U.S. “commitment to the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Central Asian countries,” the State Department said in a statement that mirrors the wording it has been using to support Ukraine against Russia.

Blinken will then go to Tashkent for talks with Uzbek officials.

(Blanken either begging or threatening these countries)

https://www.breitbart.com/news/blinken-heads-to-asia-with-china-russia-tensions-soaring/

President Joe Biden First Tweeted About Ohio Disaster the Day Before Trump’s Visit

Kristina Wong24 Feb 2023

President Joe Biden was silent on Twitter about the train wreck in East Palestine, Ohio, until the day before former President Donald Trump was set to arrive.

After the train wreck on February 3, that prompted the evacuation of residents of the town due to toxic chemical exposure, Biden was silent about it on his official presidential Twitter account @POTUS until February 21 — the day before Trump was to arrive, according to a review of the account.

During the same time, he tweeted about Ukraine eight separate times.

His first tweet on the disaster also came after he made a surprise visit across the world to Ukraine, to mark the Ukraine war’s one year mark this week.

His top aides on a conference call boasted about how logistically difficult the trip was, and how much it meant to the president to visit Ukraine and stand next to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Watch as Donald Trump tells East Palestine residents: “You are not forgotten”

Alana Mastrangelo / Breitbart News

Republicans slammed Biden for visiting Ukraine before Ohio.

After Biden delivered a speech in Warsaw on Ukraine, his official account finally tweeted about East Palestine, including a photo of Biden calling Ohio state officials and lawmakers, saying he spoke with them about the situation.

“I reaffirmed my commitment to making sure they have everything they need,” he tweeted as part of a thread.

Biden also tweeted as part of the thread, “I want affected residents to know that we’ve got your back. And as I said to your govs, they’ll have every resource that they need.”

The White House had previously issued a “fact sheet” on what it had done to assist Ohio on February 17 — the same day it was first reported that Trump would visit East Palestine.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg finally showed up to East Palestine a day after Trump, and snapped at a reporter who asked him if he had a message for the people suffering from the disaster and refused to answer.

His press secretary also refused to answer questions on camera, including the question of why it took three weeks for Buttigieg to visit East Palestine.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/02/24/president-joe-biden-first-tweeted-about-ohio-disaster-the-day-before-trumps-visit/

Nick Sortor

I guess @PeteButtigieg doesn’t want to talk about his “personal time”

https://t.co/jCwZ6zS347

https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1628976818295394304?s=20

Nick Sortor

I decided to ask Pete Buttigieg how long he’s going to keep blaming Trump for all of Pete’s own failures. His press secretary didn’t exactly like that.

https://t.co/EN9Jjb4smA

https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1628844041931464708?s=20

The Perfect Irony

https://twitter.com/JohnBasham/status/1628924904736272386?s=20

https://twitter.com/BuckSexton/status/1628764615143301120?s=20

A win for Sidney Powell

Sidney Powell 🇺🇸 🗽⚖️🚜🇺🇸

@SidneyPowell1

·

18h

our production of more than 55,000 pages of documents & a massive privilege log.Yesterday the Texas Judge applied settled law and held that the Bar had NO evidence as a matter of law that I violated any rule in our four election fraud cases. A link to the order will follow

136

693

4,132

https://twitter.com/SidneyPowell1/status/1628922941839646721?s=20