Prayers Up for Julian’s Freedom Today

WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange faces U.S. extradition judgment day

“I have the sense that anything could happen at this stage,” his wife, Stella, said last week. “Julian could be extradited, or he could be freed.”

May 19, 2024, 4:26 AM EDT

By Reuters

LONDON — A British court could give a final decision on Monday on whether WikiLeaks founderJulian Assange should be extradited to the United States over the mass leak of secret U.S. documents, the culmination of 13 years of legal battles and detentions.

Two judges at the High Court in London are set to rule on whether the court is satisfied by U.S. assurances that Assange, 52, would not face the death penalty and could rely on the First Amendment right to free speech if he faced a U.S. trial for spying.

Assange’s legal team say he could be on a plane across the Atlantic within 24 hours of the decision, could be released from jail, or his case could yet again be bogged down in months of legal battles.

“I have the sense that anything could happen at this stage,” his wife, Stella, said last week. “Julian could be extradited, or he could be freed.”

She said her husband hoped to be in court for the crucial hearing.

WikiLeaks released hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. military documents on Washington’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — the largest security breaches of their kind in U.S. military history — along with swaths of diplomatic cables.

In April 2010 it published a classified video showing a 2007 U.S. helicopter attack that killed a dozen people in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, including two Reuters news staff.

The U.S. authorities want to put the Australian-born Assange on trial over 18 charges, nearly all under the Espionage Act, saying his actions with WikiLeaks were reckless, damaged national security, and endangered the lives of agents.

His many global supporters call the prosecution a travesty, an assault on journalism and free speech, and revenge for causing embarrassment. Calls for the case to be dropped have come from human rights groups and some media bodies to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other political leaders.

Detained since 2010

Assange was first arrested in Britain in 2010 on a Swedish warrant over sex crime allegations that were later dropped. Since then he has been variously under house arrest, holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London for seven years, and held since 2019 in Belmarsh top security jail, latterly while he waited a ruling on his extradition.

“Every day since the 7th of December 2010 he has been in one form of detention or another,” said Stella Assange, who was originally part of his legal team and married him in Belmarsh in 2022.

If the High Court rules the extradition can go ahead, Assange’s legal avenues in Britain are exhausted, and his lawyers will immediately turn to the European Court of Human Rights to seek an emergency injunction blocking deportation pending a full hearing by that court into his case at a later date…

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/wikileaks-julian-assange-faces-us-extradition-judgment-day-rcna152951

Did anons notice Citizen Free Press has been attacked for 5 days +, it blanks out and supposedly refreshes every couple of minutes and the content disappears

Watch — (Fear Porn) Biden Delivers Bleak Commencement Address: Black Men ‘Being Killed in the Street’

Paul Bois19 May 2024

President Joe Biden delivered a bleak commencement address this weekend, characterizing America as a racist place that does not love black people.

Biden gave a commencement speech at Morehouse College in Atlanta on Sunday wherehe appeared to characterize America in the harshest light in terms of race relations.

“You started college just as George Floyd was murdered,” Biden proclaimed. “And there was a reckoning on race. It’s natural to wonder if the democracy you hear about actually works for you.”

What is democracy if black men are being killed in the street?” he openly wondered. “What is democracy with a trail of broken promises leaving black communities behind? What is democracy if you have to be ten times better than anyone else to get a fair shot? Most of all, what does it mean, as you’ve heard before, to be a black man who loves his country even if it doesn’t love him back in equal measure?”

The crowd applauded him.

As Breitbart News reported on Sunday, students were seen turning their back on the president due to his support for Israel:

At least three Morehouse graduates could be seen in photos with their backs turned, according to an X post by a pro-Trump super PAC. One of them wore a keffiyeh scarf to signify solidarity with Palestinians.

The press pool traveling with Biden acknowledged seeing one student who stood at the back of the ceremony with his back turned and his right fist raised. According to the pool, a “few” graduates and faculty staff were wearing keffiyeh scarves.

While Biden called Hamas’s attack on Israel on October “vicious,” and mentioned “hostages” from the attack, he focused more on the “humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” called for an “immediate ceasefire,” and told students their “voices should be heard,” in reference to the pro-Palestinian protests breaking out at college campuses.

Biden also touched on issues of voting rights during his speech, sentiments he echoed in a later speech to the NAACP in Detroit.

(Fuck Joe Bidan!)

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/05/19/watch-biden-delivers-bleak-commencement-address-black-men-killed-street/

May 19, 2024 | Press Release

Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Secures Tem­po­rary Restrain­ing Order Against Biden Admin­is­tra­tion, Stop­ping Unlaw­ful ATFRule from Tak­ing Effect

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a temporary restraining order from a federal judge that prevents an unlawful rule promulgated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”) from taking effect while the case is litigated.

On May 1, Attorney General Paxton led a coalition suing the ATF to prevent a new regulatory restriction that unlawfully attempted to abridge Americans’ constitutional right to privately buy and sell firearms. The Final Rule was arbitrary and capricious and flagrantly violated the Second Amendment. Despite Congress having recognized the legality of private firearms sales by non-dealers, the Biden Administration issued a new regulation that would subject hundreds of thousands of law-abiding gun owners to presumptions of criminal guilt for engaging in constitutionally protected activities.

A federal district court has halted the implementation of the ATF rule until June 2, 2024, so that hearings may be held.

“I am relieved that we were able to secure a restraining order that will prevent this illegal rule from taking effect,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The Biden Administration cannot unilaterally overturn Americans’ constitutional rights and nullify the Second Amendment.”

The restraining order explained that Texas and the co-plaintiffs, “understandably fear that these presumptions will trigger civil or criminal penalties for conduct deemed lawful just yesterday. Nevertheless, ATF avers that its ‘knowledge of existing case law’ and ‘subject-matter expertise’ will prevent misuse or abuse of the presumption.…in other words, ‘just trust us.’ … For the forgoing reasons, Plaintiffs are substantially likely to succeed on the merits.”

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-secures-temporary-restraining-order-against-biden-administration

Democrat Fundraiser From Silicon Valley Donates $1M To Trump

By Tim Pearce

May 15, 2024 DailyWire.com

Tech adviser Jacob Helberg, who has donated large sums to Democrats, has joined a wave of big money donors rejecting President Joe Biden and supporting former president Donald Trump in 2024.

Helberg has donated $1 million to Trump’s re-election effort, making the tech adviser one of the largest financial backers of Trump’s bid to win back the White House in November. Just four years ago, Helberg was using his money and influence to support Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s doomed campaign for president, according to The Washington Post.

Helberg is one of a cadre of high-powered Silicon Valley businessmen who have warmed to Trump recently.

“The social cost of supporting Trump isn’t as great as it was,” Helberg said of Silicon Valley society, many members of which see that “Trump was right on a lot of make-or-break issues for America.”

After the Post reported Helberg’s contribution to the Trump campaign, Helberg posted on X: “This one’s for Israel.”

Helberg has given $844,600 to the Trump 47 joint fundraising committee, joining a small group of donors who have maxed out their contribution to the Trump group. By March, at least 20 others had given the limit to the group as well, according to FEC filings reviewed by the Post.

Helberg and Trump agree on a number of issues, but mainly China. The tech adviser and the former president bonded recently at Trump’s Florida resort Mar-a-Lago over the need to take an adversarial approach to China on trade, Tiktok, and other issues.

Helberg’s drift toward Trump is part of a trend of Democratic supporters who, disenchanted with Biden’s presidency, have taken a second look at Trump and like what they see, given the circumstances.

Trump’s former ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, said that he has spoken with many Jewish donors who are skeptical of Trump, but with Biden’s tilt away from Israel, have given the Republican candidate a second look, according to The Free Press.

“There is clearly a change going on, people who are active in politics with big money, people who were never Trumpers or reluctant ‘hold your nose Trumpers’ are telling me that Trump has to win,” Friedman told The Free Press.

Democratic mega-donor Haim Saban wrote an email to two Biden aides last week warning against the president’s increasing antagonism toward Israel amid its war against Hamas. Saban criticized the president for holding up munitions to Israel.

“Even beyond Israel,this [sic] sends a terrible message to our allies in the region ,and [sic] beyond,that, [sic] we can flip from doing the right [thing] to bending to political pressure,” Saban wrote. “Let’s not forget that there are more Jewish voters, who care about Israel,than [sic] [Muslim] voters who care about Hamas.”

https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-fundraiser-from-silicon-valley-donates-1m-to-trump

They Are Coming for Alito and It Has Nothing to Do With Upside Down Flags 1/4

May 19, 2024 | Sundance |

You are not going to like this, and most will say I’m nuts. However, with more than a dozen years of crazy “right-wing conspiracy theories” proven out in real time, I hope the long-time readers will adjust their perspectives and affairs accordingly.

The IC is coming after Judge Sam Alito, but not because of his non pretending, general J6 disdain, solid grasp on the fraud that is Joe Biden, or his wife having an upside-down flag (although the non-pretending aspect is very troubling for them). No, the IC has been coming for Justice Alito since Chief Justice John Robert’s internal courtcounselor’s lead office staff, Sheldon Snook, the husband of Mary McCord, leaked the Alito decision [Dobbs Decision]overturning Roe and sending the abortion issue back to the states.

The Sheldon Snook leak, hidden by Justice Roberts due to the origination from his office,is the structural compromise within the court that gives the IC leverage over the third branch of government. In a strange situation, Judge Alito appears to be holding the line and forcing the IC to come out of the shadows after him. My hunch is he’s just had enough.

There was a recent decision by the Supreme Court to validate the funding mechanism for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a racketeering operation of government created by Elizabeth Warren {GO DEEP – AMY HOWE} {GO DEEP – Background}.

The CFPB is supposed to protect consumers from predatory financial systems. That was the selling point. However, the CFPB is paid by (read “funded by”) the Federal Reserve to protect the interests of the U.S. dollar reserve system; that’s the deep state motive (you’ll see why later). The othermotive is the CFPB blackmailing the financial sector to support Democrat operations and policies– or else [we’re not supposed to talk about that part].

What few people paid attention to recently, including Amy Howe of SCOTUS blog, was…. the 7-2 decision not only approved the funding mechanism as constitutional (it’s not), but thehigh court also reversed itself on the 2020 decisionabout the constitutionality of the CFPB itself. Why reverse itself in only four short years?That’s where you need to see the leverage and insert John Roberts hiding the Sheldon Snook leak.

2017 SCOTUS had issues with the CFPB’s constitutional structure. 2020 SCOTUS still has issues with the CFPB’s constitutional structure. 2024 SCOTUS suddenly says ‘all good’ to CFPB funding and constitutional structure.What changed? Court is compromised by hiding the Dobbs leak.

However, Justice Alito…. same justice who wrote the Dobbs decision…. wrote the dissenting opinion on the CFPB construct (joined by Gorsuch).

AMY HOWE – In his dissenting opinion, Alito rejected Thomas’ recounting of history, arguing that the drafters of the Constitution “would be shocked, even horrified, by” the CFPB’s funding scheme. Offering his own detailed version of history, Alito concluded that “centuries of historical practice show that the Appropriations Clause demands legislative control over the source and disposition of the money used to finance Government operations and projects.”

But the CFPB’s “unprecedented combination of funding features,” Alito wrote, “affords it the very kind of financial independence that the Appropriations Clause was designed to prevent. It is not an exaggeration to say that the CFPB enjoys a degree of financial autonomy that a Stuart king would envy.”

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/05/19/they-are-coming-for-alito-and-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-upside-down-flags/

>>20891162

2/4

And that autonomy, Alito continued, “has real-world consequences.” Alito noted several “major” changes to consumer protection law that the CFPB has recently announced, including guidance indicating that financial institutions should not deny credit to consumers based on their immigration status, as well as a proposed rulemaking to cap overdraft fees and remove medical bills from credit reports. “These may or may not be wise policies,” Alito concluded, “but Congress did not specifically authorize any of them, and if the CFPB’s financing scheme is sustained, Congress cannot control or monitorthe CFPB’s use of funds to implement such changes.” (MORE)

Alito is correct, but that’s not the core issue.

The CFPB is funded by thefederal reserve, and will be a key player in the implementation of the dollar-based Central Bank Digital Currency (D-BCBDC). Likely, the CFPB will be the authorizing agency for the major banks that will facilitate digital currency transactions; this puts the CFPB in the position of power with the mechanics of central control. This is why Senator Elizabeth Warren is the key player in both the CFPB (she created it) and the currently ongoing legislation against crypto currency.

The D-B CBDC is almost certainly going to happen. Too much blood and treasure (NATO push + Ukraine use) has been shed to construct the financial walls that support it (Russian sanctions). Additionally, the issues are too complex for the average person to engage in opposition.

In related news,just as Australia was the tip of the spear in the COVID-19 vaccination enforcement effort, so too is thenation down-under the leading organizer of the digital identitythat forms the baseline for the digital currency distribution model.

AUSTRALIA – […] The Digital ID Bill 2024 and Digital ID (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Bill 2024 passed through the House of Representatives on the evening of 16 May in what theDepartment of Finance is calling a “milestone for the program”.

“This provides certainty for the expansion of the Australian government digital ID system and for providers and services to apply to join the government’s system. An economy-wide digital ID system will provide many benefits to Australians by improving privacy and security when interacting online,” the department said in a statement.

“It will also strengthen the voluntary Accreditation Scheme for digital ID service providersthat wish to demonstrate compliance with best practice privacy, security, proofing and authentication standards, providing Australians with more choice of secure and trusted providers.”

Once the act comes into effect, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will be the digital ID regulator, with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner regulating the privacy aspects of the new system. (read more)

As most will remember, theEuropean Unionhas already constructed their digital identityvia the mandated COVID-19 Passportprocess.For the key components, the EU is already digital id compliant thanks to COVID.

The Russian sanctions were not created to block the Russians.The Russian sanctions were created to wall-in the West.

There are now networks of people who operate in various places that createproactive financial mechanisms for what you might call, “financial preppers.”

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/05/19/they-are-coming-for-alito-and-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-upside-down-flags/

>>20891163

3/4

These people and groups set up bank accounts in foreign countries for you; they organize addresses (needed), phone numbers (needed), and create accounts that you can access that areoutside the control of the dollar-based financial system. You can even get an official passport in the process.

These people also sell hardware [to support the phone numbers (really digital ids)] that is completely different from what exists behind the wall of the yellow zone.

How many Americans know that an iPhone-15 sold in the USA is completely different from an iPhone-15 sold outside the yellow zone?Meaning, the internal hardware is different. How many Americans know that?

How many Americans know that an iPhone-15 sold inside the USA has different originating software than an iPhone-15 sold outside the USA?

How many people know that when you purchase one of these “ghost phones”, the data network automatically identifies the disparity when the phone crosses into the yellow zone, and shortly thereafter the cellular network transmits a software update to bring the “ghost phone” into USA (yellow zone) compliance?

How many Americans know phone apps, and internal app functions, can exist on phones outside the yellow zone that do not exist inside the yellow zone?

Example: use a ghost phone, andyou can access a digital wallet in Telegram; you can transmit funds to other Telegram users. However, use aUSA compliant phone and you cannot. The function is there, but the service is, “not available in your area.”

Why?

It’s about control.

If you don’t update the software, the function exists inside the yellow zone. However, update the software, and the function disappears.

This happens.

Another real-life example was recently missed by many people when the story of theApple Watch Series 9 was found to have violated patent technology and was banned for sale in the USA. {STORY}

To get into legal compliance, Apple transmitted a remotesoftware update disabling the function of the patent technology in the USA. Again, for emphasis, only in the USA. Bring your non-compliant Series-9 into the range of a wifi network, and bingo – auto-compliance. I mention this story only to highlight a modern compliance capability that many people do not know exists.

In essence, your tech devices – and the capability therein – are different than anidentical tech device sold outside the Western control zone.

♦ Technology is intertwined with Central Bank Digital Currencies. Tech companies are regulated by the U.S/Western government, and the tech companies have to comply.The regulatory compliance is part of the process of control. There are regulatory walls around usthat most do not understand. The same regulatory principle applies to finance and banking. Hence, the origination motive of the yellow zone wall, built under the auspices of Russian sanctions.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/05/19/they-are-coming-for-alito-and-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-upside-down-flags/

>>20891169

4/4

Let me make one big point resoundingly clear. When the WESTERN Central Bank Digital Currency system begins, all forms of cryptocurrency will be blockedand made unlawful inside the Western zone – either by regulation or by legislation.

Let me repeat this. Cryptocurrency in all forms will be banned.

Crypto is not technically a currency; it is a barter based on trust. However, at a certain point (origination or end) crypto must have the ability to transfer into currency value. Dollars (or another currency) are needed to purchase BitCoin,…. or BitCoin eventually sold or exchanged for Dollars (or another currency). [BitCoin only used as a familiar type of crypto.] This process is where crypto gets blocked.

Ownership of Crypto may not be unlawful, but any effort to useCrypto as an alternate digital currency to exchange value will be unlawful once the dollar based CBDC is launched.

A fully implemented govt controlled central bank digital currency will not allow competition. Alternate digital currency will be banned.

Ultimately, a dollar-based US-Central Bank Digital Currency, ie a “digital dollar,” is about control.

Every transaction has a unique digital fingerprint, and every digital dollar can be traced by the IRS to the digital id associated with it.

There is a BIG difference between electronic funds (current), and a digital dollar (future).

CFPB Background

CBDC Background

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/05/19/they-are-coming-for-alito-and-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-upside-down-flags/

Citizen Free Press

@CitizenFreePres

President Trump golfing in Dallas yesterday with Tony Romo.

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Diddy Apologizes For Cassie Assault, Says He Was ‘F*cked Up’

Sun, 19 May 2024 at 11:56 am

In a video posted to social media on Sunday morning, Sean “Diddy” Combs claimed to “take full responsibility” for his actions in the disturbing video that showed him beating his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a violent fit of rage in 2016.

“I was fucked up,” Diddy said in the videoposted to his Instagram account, before adding, “I’m sorry.”

“I mean, I hit rock bottom. I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video.”

The music mogul claimed the incident led him to seek out professional help, including therapy and rehab, and that he was “committed to be a better man each and every day.”

“I’m not asking for forgiveness,” he said. “I’m truly sorry.”

Diddy’s Instagram post came two days after CNN published a harrowing video that showed the star repeatedly stomping Ventura after she tried to escape their Los Angeles hotel room in 2016. The video, captured by CCTV, showed Diddy dragging her motionless body back into their room by her leg.

The footage prompted widespread condemnation, including by Ventura’s husband and Diddy enemy 50 Cent, and may have pushed Diddy to close his fashion line’s website. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office also said it found the video “extremely disturbing and difficult to watch,” but added it could not charge him as the statutes of limitations on aggravated assault had passed.

Meredith Firetog, a partner at Wigdor LLP and a lawyer for Ventura, chastised Diddy’s apology as “more about himself than the many people he has hurt.”

“When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday,” Firetog wrote. “That he was only compelled to ‘apologize’ once his repeated denials were proven false shows his pathetic desperation, and no one will be swayed by his disingenuous words.”

https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/diddy-says-f-cked-assaulted-155637485.html

Greene vs. Crockett, Round Two: The Fundraising/Spellcheck Edition

Rick Moran9:19 AM on May 19, 2024

The battle royale between Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Texas Democrat Jasmine Crockett continued over the weekend following their Thursday night war over "eyelashes" and "beach-blond butch-body."

Naturally, when you have a polarizing figure like MTG, it's hard to resist sending out a fundraising blast to shake the money tree a bit. Crockett gave in to the temptation and proceeded to show anyone interested why she has no business being in Congress.

Crockett decided to sell T-shirts emblazoned with her insult to Greene over her "blond, butch body."

Check out the congresswoman's signature on the T-shirt.

Senator John Fetterman had a thought.

Crockett wasn't finished with her insults.

The Hill:

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) said Friday night she wasn’t sure she could call Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) behavior in a clash between the two during a House Oversight hearing “a low,” when responding to a CNN anchor’s question on whether the days of former first lady Michelle Obama’s “When they go low, we go high,” mantra are over.

“I don’t know that we can even call this a low. I mean, she goes to hell, and then I do my best to remind her as to why she should not cross me,” Crockett told CNN’s Abby Phillip.

“She is racist. I mean, I don’t have any questions about that. Because, I mean, I don’t know that she’s ever attacked her own colleagues,” Crockett said.

The absence of evidence is obviously proof positive that MTG is a kluxer.

Crockett is so dumb, she insulted the entire black race for being too stupid to understand how good they have it under Joe Biden.

God save us from our own folly and the folly of idiots like Jasmine Crockett.

https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2024/05/19/greene-vs-crockett-round-two-the-fundraisingspellcheck-edition-n4929157

20 May, 2024 11:49

Assange wins right to appeal in US extradition case

The UK High Court has ruled that the WikiLeaks founder has the right to a full appeal process

London’s High Court has granted jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange the right to a fresh appeal against a previous ruling that had ordered his extradition to the US.

The founder of the transparency website claims his prosecution in the UK is part of a larger Western effort to punish him for publishing leaked classified materials exposing alleged war crimes by the US and its allies.

If handed over to the US, he would likely be kept in isolation for the rest of his life, his supporters fear.

Assange has been in British custody since April 2019, when Ecuador revoked his political asylum and allowed police to arrest him at its embassy in London. Assange has since been kept in a maximum security prison fighting the extradition request from the US. The American case against the publisher was revealed only after he was arrested in the UK.

American lawyers fought a legal battle against Assange in UK courts, securing London’s consent to hand him over in June 2022, when then-Home Secretary Priti Patel authorized the transfer. The WikiLeaks publisher's defense team has since been trying to overturn the outcome through several appeals.

In March, the High Court ruled there was merit in the argument that the 52-year-old’s rights may be infringed upon in the US prison system. Washington, in response, reportedly offered additional assurances to treat Assange fairly.

On Monday, Assange’s defense team argued that pledges given by the administration of President Joe Biden were “blatantly inadequate,” considering the risk of the death penalty and the chances that they would not be able to maintain contact with their client.

In a short ruling, two senior judges said American submissions were not sufficient and granted Assange another chance to fend off Washington’s claims through the British court system.

The US has indicted Assange under the Espionage Act, a law that is notoriously used by the American government to crack down on whistleblowers exposing classified materials. It does not allow defense on the grounds of public good. Assange stands accused of helping whistleblower Chelsea Manning in her 2010 disclosure to WikiLeaks of hundreds of thousands of classified and sensitive documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which the organization later made public.

https://www.rt.com/news/597918-assange-wins-right-appeal/

20 May, 2024 09:04

Ukraine has lost 90% of energy capacity – ex-minister

A former infrastructure minister says the country faces months of blackouts due to Russian strikes

About 90% of Ukraine’s power generation capacity has been taken out by Russian missile attacks, according to former minister of infrastructure Aleksey Kucherenko.

The situation is not expected to improve dramatically, as the damaged infrastructure cannot be restored quickly, the member of parliament warned during an interview with the YouTube channel Vishka.

“We have lost around eight thousand megawatts of electricity, that’s a lot, out of eight thousand, 800 are currently working,” he said, citing power engineers, and warning of extensive power outages through the summer and winter.

Moscow began targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the autumn of 2022, after Russia’s Crimean Bridge was bombed that October.

In recent months Russia has intensified its strikes on Ukrainian military and energy facilities. In April, the Russian Defense Ministry said the bombardment was in response to Kiev’s attempts to target Russian oil infrastructure. Since January, Ukraine has launched multiple long-range attacks on energy facilities deep inside Russia, including oil depots and refineries, using kamikaze drones.

In April, Russian President Vladimir Putin saidRussia’s strikes on energy facilities “directly affect the defense industry of Ukraine,” calling them part of“demilitarization”efforts. Moscow reiterated the attacks are only aimed at Ukrainian military targets and facilities that support their operations, and never at the civilian population.

To alleviate the pressure on the power grid, Ukraine has introduced temporary blackouts for industrial and household consumers in all regions. The nation has also ramped up imports of electricity from neighboring EU countries – Romania, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary – and also from Moldova.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko claimed that the combined financial losses from Russian attacks amounted to more than $1 billion, and warned that the figure is likely to rise. He noted that themain damage was to thermal and hydro generation, as well as power transmission systems.

In April, Galushchenko urged Ukrainians to prepare for outages during spring and summer, and advised the population to stock up on electricity generators and power banks.

https://www.rt.com/russia/597882-ukraine-energy-capacity-loss-strikes/

20 MAY, 06:11

West alarmed over plummeting support for Zelensky — Russian intelligence

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/.Western leaders are concerned about the catastrophic drop in the level of public supportfor Ukraine's leadership, withPresident Vladimir Zelensky’s approval rating down to 17%, the press bureau of the Foreign Intelligence Service(SVR) has said.

Zelensky's five-year term of office expires at midnight on May 20. In accordance with the Ukrainian constitution, starting from this moment he cannot be considered the legitimate head of state.

"The press bureau of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service reports that, according to reports theWest is extremely concerned about the catastrophic drop in the ratings of Ukrainian leaders, especially after the adoption of a new draconian law on mobilization.According to closed opinion polls conducted by the Americans and Europeans, the level of support for Vladimir Zelensky has dropped to 17% and continues to decline," the report says.

The SVR remarks that "in anticipation of the expiration of his term of office on May 20,Zelensky is desperately trying to get rid of any ‘unreliable’ characters."

"Large-scale purges are being carried out in the army and reshuffles are in progress in the government, the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine - TASS) and the National Security and Defense Council," the SVR said. "Fearful for his life, Zelensky has launched a major and obviously far-fetched media rowover an alleged plot by the leadership of the Ukrainian State Protection Directorate to assassinate the head of state," the SVR said, adding that a brain-washing campaign is being conducted in an attempt to intimidate Ukrainian citizens into thinking that if Kiev is defeated, "inevitable mass repression" will follow.

"Even among thecontinuously indoctrinated military personnel Zelensky's popularity does not exceed 20%," the SVR stated. "Over 70% of the population does not trust all Ukrainian media and about 90% would like to leave the country," the news release says. "The Ukrainian president feels the vulnerability of his position."

Western dictating

The Americans and their allies, the SVR points out, "strongly recommend Zelensky not to loosen his grip on the country's population and to continue to create an atmosphere of fear among civilians, grossly distorting the goals and objectives of Russia's special military operation."

The press bureau drew attention to the fact that history has shown time and again that attempts to retain power using lies and intimidation do not work.

"In Ukraine it will be the same. The country'speople will definitely have an opportunity to realize the scale of the pyramid of lies built by Zelenskyand give the period of his rule a proper assessment. It is unlikely, though, that for this they will have vocabulary suitable for print," the SVR concluded.

https://tass.com/politics/1790669

>>20891459

Notablebut not unexpected

>>20891189

I love his very polite departure statement:Thank you Very Much

BIZARRE, UNCATEGORIZED

May 20, 2024

Biden’s Voldemortian Theory of Privilege: The President Whose Voice Must Not Be Heard KEK 1/2

Below is my column in The Hill onthe curious claim of executive privilege over the audiotape from President Joe Biden’s interviewwith Special Counsel Robert Hur. It is the first time that I know of where the content of a presidential conversation was treated as unprivileged but the audio of the conversation claimed as privileged. It is also an invocation on answering questions about alleged criminal acts committed while a private citizen. It is, in my view, entirely without merit but Attorney General MerrickGarland appears more interested in running out the clock than prevailing on the claim.

Here is the column:

While all eyes were focused on a Manhattan courthouse for Donald Trump’s trial, a curious thing happened in Washington. President Joe Biden invoked executive privilege in defiance of Congress.

It is not the invocation that is particularly unusual. What is curious is that Biden iswithholding the audiotapeof his own interrogation by Special Counsel Robert Hur,even though the transcript has been releasedas unprivileged.

It appears that Joe Biden is “he who must not be heard.”

Theinvocation of privilegeover the audiotape is so transparentlypolitical and cynicalthat it would make Richard Nixon blush. Multiple committees are investigating Biden for possible impeachment and conducting oversight on the handling of the investigation into his retention and mishandling of classified material over decades. Classified documents were found in various locations where Biden lived or worked, including his garage. Themishandling of classified material is uncontestable.Broken boxes, unprotected areas and lack of tracking are all obvious from the photos.

The comparison to the Trump case in Florida is both obvious and disturbing. Where Trump was charged with a litany of charges, including mishandling and retention of documents (in addition to obstruction),Hurdecided not to charge Biden at all.His reason was outright alarming: The president is anelderly man with failing memory.

Biden made the situation even worse with a disastrous press conference in which he attacked Hur and misrepresented his findings.Biden toldthe public that thespecial counsel did not find willful retention of material. This was untrue— Hur not only found that Biden had done this, but repeatedly detailed such violations in the report.

Biden also claimed that he had not shown classified material to third parties, even though Hur specifically found that he had and established that there is a witness to that violation.

Biden also attacked Hur for bringing up the death of Beau, his son who passed away in 2018. In showing why Biden could use his diminished faculties as a defense, Hur had noted that Biden got the date wrong of his own son’s death.

In the press conference, Biden angrily asked “How in the hell dare he raise that?” Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself it wasn’t any of their damn business.”

It was later shown that it was not Hur butBiden himself who raised his son’s death, which he often does in speeches.

Hur’s view thatBiden’s diminished cognitive abilities would undermine any prosecution left many dumbfounded. After all, the man who is too feeble to prosecute is not only running a superpower with a massive nuclear arsenal but running for reelection to add four more years in office.

From impeachment to oversight to the 25th Amendment (allowing the removal of a president for incapacities), there are ample reasons for Congress to demand information and evidence from the government on these questions. Congress is also interested in looking at repeated omissions for “inaudible” statements. Under this sweeping theory that Biden can legitimately withhold these recordings under executive privilege, any president could withhold any evidence of incapacity or criminality.

The House is poised to find Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to release the audiotapes. It is a cynical calculation. Garland knows that his own department will never prosecute him for contempt of Congress. Obama Attorney General Eric Holder was clearly in contempt of Congress and abused executive privilege arguments to shield embarrassing details tied to Operation Fast and Furious. His department refused to even submit the matter to a grand jury…

https://jonathanturley.org/2024/05/20/bidens-voldemortian-theory-of-privilege-the-president-whose-voice-must-not-be-heard/

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Garland also knows that it will take months to get any ruling on the matter once Congress can file with a court. That will push any decision and release until after the election. While theadministration and liberal legal analysts insisted that courts should expediteany and all trials ofDonald Trumpbefore the election, they are not eager for the public to know this information about whether Biden seemed feeble or confused under questioning.

A court may be a tad confused as to why a president’s answers are not privileged, but the actual audio recording of those answers can be privileged.

White House counsel Edward Siskel added to thedubious basis for the claimin a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio.) and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) on Thursday. He suggested that, if there were a compelling reason for the audiotapes, it might be different.

“The absence of a legitimate need for the audio recordings lays bare your likely goal—to chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan political purposes,” wrote Siskel. But that is not a basis for an executive privilege assertion. How material would be treated is not relevant to whether Congress has a right to the information.

Past presidents have routinely over-extended privilege claims for political purposes. Nixon had his own tapes in the Watergate scandal. Of course, he was denying access to all of the information on the tapes. Yet, in a strange way, that may have been more compelling, since Nixon was arguing that the disclosure would compromise the content of privileged conversations.

Biden is not claiming the actual conversations as privileged; onlyhow he sounded and spokethe words that are already in available transcripts.

For the Justice Department itself, these pendulum swings between being a contempt hawk and dove are enough to give a judge vertigo. The department just prosecuted Trump officials for refusing to appear or supply evidence to Congress. Likewise,arguments of privilegeby former Chief of StaffMark Meadows have been rejected. Yet privilege is now being asserted for this conversation between Hur and Biden, concerning potentially criminal conduct committed when Biden was a private citizen — neither vice president nor president.

In other cases, federal and state prosecutors have argued that Trump’s statements on Jan. 6 were criminal, made in relation to private interests and not protected under executive privilege or immunity. Notably, unlike in Biden’s case, these were statements made while Trump was president and concerned matters raised during Trump’s term. Likewise, prosecutors rejected claims that Trump has any protection over his call with Georgia officials over the demand for a recount.Imagine if Trump had argued that it was privileged to hear his voice, but not to read his words in the call.

Biden’s Voldemortian theory of privilege is unlikely to succeed legally, but that is not the point. Garland knows that it is likely to succeed politically. With generally favorable judges in Washington, the Biden administration hopes to run out the clock on the election. If Biden wins the election or the Democrats win the House, there may be no ongoing investigation or justification to support the demand in court.

Of course, unlike Voldemort, who simply did not want to be named,Biden wants to remain “he who must not be heard” outside of short, carefully controlled settings.

What Hur heard could therefore remain a privilege of office.

https://jonathanturley.org/2024/05/20/bidens-voldemortian-theory-of-privilege-the-president-whose-voice-must-not-be-heard/