Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Year: 2023

Capping off an eventful year: Here are the top 6 political stories of 2023

Capping off an eventful year: Here are the top 6 political stories of 2023

The year that was 2023 is on its way out, and 2024 — along with its consequential and increasingly complicated presidential election — are quickly approaching. Between a historic ousting of a House speaker to cocaine found at the White House, 2023 proved to be an eventful year in America. Here are the top six political stories of 2023. DEM-APPOINTED COLORADO JUSTICE SAYS TRUMP BALLOT BAN UNDERMINED ‘BEDROCK’ OF AMERICA IN FIERY DISSENT Arguably the biggest political story of the year, the House of Representatives saw the ousting of its leader for the first time in American history this October. Now-former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was removed from his post by eight Republicans, led by Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz. The House Republicans who voted McCarthy out were joined by every Democrat in the chamber in the vote. McCarthy’s ouster led to a near-monthlong fight to determine the House Republican who would take the gavel. Three top House Republicans — Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota — made gambits for the gavel, but all were shot down by their conference. The speaker fight culminated with the election of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to the position. Just weeks after being elected to the speakership, Johnson made a massive move in congressional transparency. He released 40,000 hours of footage from the January 6 Capitol riots. “When I ran for Speaker, I promised to make accessible to the American people the 44,000 hours of video from Capitol Hill security taken on January 6, 2021. Truth and transparency are critical,” Johnson said in a statement. “Today, we will begin immediately posting video on a public website and move as quickly as possible to add to the website nearly all of the footage, more than 40,000 hours. In the meantime, a public viewing room will ensure that every citizen can view every minute of the videos uncensored.” He continued, “This decision will provide millions of Americans, criminal defendants, public interest organizations, and the media an ability to see for themselves what happened that day, rather than having to rely upon the interpretation of a small group of government officials.” Johnson said that roughly 5% of the footage would likely be held back due to “sensitive security information related to the building architecture,” and that some faces would be blurred “to avoid any persons from being targeted for retaliation of any kind.” While drugs may not be far removed from politics, they typically do not make public appearances at the White House. However, that is exactly what happened this July as Americans geared up to celebrate Independence Day. While President Biden and his family were at Camp David, the Secret Service found a bag of cocaine in a White House locker. EXPERTS BAFFLED BY WHITE HOUSE INVOKING HATCH ACT TO DODGE HUNTER COCAINE QUESTION: ‘RIDICULOUS’ The Secret Service launched an investigation into how the July snowstorm happened at the White House. Speculation surged on how the nose candy ended up in the White House, and legal experts were baffled when the Biden administration invoked the Hatch Act to dodge a question about former President Trump’s claim that the cocaine belonged to either the president or Hunter Biden. The Secret Service investigation was closed 11 days later with no conclusive cocaine culprit. In general, Hunter Biden has been at the center and center-adjacent of several controversies throughout 2023. The president’s son is also facing several criminal tax charges as his father seeks re-election in 2024. The younger Biden’s federal charges are in connection with an alleged “four-year scheme” in which he did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 while also filing false tax reports. Special Counsel David Weiss alleged Hunter “engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020.” Weiss said Hunter spent millions to fund an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills. Hunter will make his initial appearance in a California federal court on nine tax-related charges on Jan. 11, 2024. In another first, now-disgraced GOP New York former Rep. George Santos became the first Republican to be expelled from the House of Representatives. The lower chamber voted to remove Santos after a damning House Ethics Committee report alleged campaign finance abuses and that the congressman had “engaged in fraudulent conduct.” Expelling a member of Congress takes a two-thirds majority vote. The last time a House lawmaker was expelled was more than two decades ago, when late former Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, was voted out of Congress in 2002. Prior to his ousting, Traficant had been convicted of 10 felony counts, including racketeering and taking bribes. Santos has not been convicted of a crime, but he has been indicted on 23 counts related to wire fraud, identity theft, falsification of records, credit card fraud and other charges. Santos has been accused of using campaign funds on a number of luxury goods and treatments such as Botox. He has pleaded not guilty. The 311 to 114 vote was strongly bipartisan, although slightly more Republicans voted to keep Santos than to oust him. EMBATTLED GOP REP GEORGE SANTOS EXPELLED FROM HOUSE Former President Trump is facing criminal charges of his own in Georgia after the former president was indicted on state charges out of Fulton County related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the crucial southeastern battleground state. The current GOP presidential primary frontrunner is facing charges that include violating the Georgia RICO Act — the Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Act; Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit

Battleground state poses Biden’s toughest 2024 challenge in potential Trump rematch

Battleground state poses Biden’s toughest 2024 challenge in potential Trump rematch

President Biden is set to face what could be the toughest battleground test in his bid for re-election in 2024 as he prepares for a potential rematch with former President Donald Trump. Georgia, long a bastion of Republican support, has been one of the most closely watched states in recent election cycles, and could ultimately determine who ends up in the White House on Inauguration Day 2025. Recent polls have shown Trump with an early advantage in the Peach State, strengthened by Biden’s lackluster support from Black voters, and growing concerns among Democrat activists over funding and enthusiasm have emboldened Republicans hoping to reverse the state’s battleground status. AS DEMOCRATS LEAN ON JAN 6, CRITICS ARGUE BIDEN’S PARTY IS THE REAL THREAT TO DEMOCRACY According to a recent New York Times report, Democrat grassroots organizers in Georgia who helped boost Biden to victory in 2020, as well as Democrat Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, are beginning to grow concerned that the party’s attention on the state has begun to wane, evidenced by less money flowing in from national liberal groups and increased “apathy” among voters in key constituencies. The report added that cost-cutting and delayed voter initiatives had “privately stoked fears among some organizers about their ability to replicate their successes.” One activist told the outlet that Georgia wasn’t being treated as “first tier” by national Democrats, and that there were indications the state was “not going to get top-level prioritization.” VETERANS SHAME DEMOCRAT IN TOP 2024 HOUSE RACE FOR WEARING ARMY UNIFORM DURING EVENT DESPITE NEVER SERVING A poll released in early November by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution showed Biden narrowly trailing Trump 44%-45%, with just 78% of Black voters expressing support for the president. That surprising number was down from the 88% support from Black voters Biden garnered in 2020. A New York Times poll released the same week showed Biden trailing Trump by a wider margin, 43%-49%, a trend that continued in a December CNN poll that showed the president trailing the former president 44%-49%. Despite those early signs that winning Georgia could be a bigger hurdle for the Biden campaign this time around, some argue the state is very much in play for Democrats. FORMER TRUMP ADVISER KELLYANNE CONWAY LEADS CHARGE TO OVERHAUL GOP ABORTION STRATEGY, END DEMS’ 2024 ADVANTAGE “Georgia is a highly competitive state, and I think that really speaks to just how much progress Democrats have made there over the period of a few cycles,” one Democratic strategist with extensive experience in Georgia politics told Fox News Digital. “You’d be hard-pressed, I think, to find someone on any side of the political aisle at this point who disagrees with that.” “I think that says a lot about the ability of Georgia Democrats and the president’s campaign to get out and win this thing. The fact that you now have two Democratic senators in the state, one of whom was just reelected in the last cycle, says a lot about how there is a strong path to victory,” they said. The strategist argued that voters seeing “a more positive economic reality,” combined with the investment made by the Biden administration on infrastructure projects in Georgia, and some Republican voters in the state hesitant to embrace Trump, could pose a greater challenge for Republicans to overcome. “We’re talking about the kind of swing voters that make up a lot of the suburban areas. Trying to convince them to return to Donald Trump, particularly in a situation in which the state’s sitting governor has already expressed his own reservations about the president, is going to be a challenge for them,” they said.  BIDEN SCRAMBLES TO WIN OVER SWING STATE BLACK VOTERS AS SUPPORT FROM THE TRADITIONALLY BLUE BLOC FALTERS “And this kind of anti-democratic, anti-choice agenda that Republicans really haven’t leaned away from in any way, I think just complements the president’s strengths. They’re not necessarily ready to take this kind of new radical agenda you see a lot of the 2024 Republican candidates pushing,” they added. Others, however, argue that Biden being at the top of the 2024 Democrat ticket will continue to drive Georgians’ sentiment toward Republicans. “Georgians want an end to the non-stop crises coming out of Washington, from high prices, reckless spending and harebrained climate activism, to a partisan justice system, indoctrination in the classroom, and a declining commitment to our military,” former Republican Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler told Fox News Digital. Upon leaving the Senate in 2021, Loeffler founded Greater Georgia, a non-profit that aims to register more conservative voters in the state, engage a more diverse slate of voters, and turn out the vote with the necessary ground game infrastructure. The group played a major role in the down-ballot success of Georgia Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections. According to Loeffler, the “political prosecution” of Trump in Fulton County, Georgia for allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state runs in stark contrast to Democrats’ “refusal to prosecute actual criminals,” and is contributing to Republicans’ advantage in the state compared to the losses they suffered in 2020. “With America’s strength being dramatically diminished in the last three years, and the majority of Georgians saying our country is on the wrong track, Georgians know they are not better off than they were four years ago,” she said.  “Whether paying higher bills with stagnant wages, rising credit card balances, and mortgage rates at 8%, the weight of the Biden Administration’s out-of-control spending and regulatory regime is weighing on hardworking Georgians from all walks of life,” she added. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Biden has another calamitous year at the southern border in 2023 as records shatter

Biden has another calamitous year at the southern border in 2023 as records shatter

After two years of chaos at the southern border, 2023 was seen as a year the migrant crisis could be brought under control. But it was not to be, and the border enters 2024 in the grips of a record-setting surge. The year started after December 2022 saw a record 252,000-plus encounters at the border with the Title 42 public health order, which allowed for the rapid expulsion of migrants at the border, still in place but facing a looming legal challenge before the Supreme Court. In early January, the Biden administration announced a number of new measures to bring order to the border, while pushing Congress for more funding and immigration reform. MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AT BORDER SOAR PAST THE 200K MARK IN DECEMBER Biden visited the border and later announced a program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans that would allow 30,000 to fly directly into the U.S. each month and be paroled into the country. It’s part of a strategy to expand “lawful pathways” for migrants so they don’t enter the U.S. illegally. “The actions we’re announcing today will make things better but will not fix the border problem completely,” Biden said. Separately, the administration expanded the use of the CBP One app, which had been primarily used for inspections at ports of entry, to allow migrants to make appointments to be exempted from the Title 42 order and released into the U.S.  Republicans blasted it as a “concierge” service for migrants.  Numbers dropped sharply over the coming months, down to 156,000 encounters in February, but a new challenge loomed as the Biden administration moved to end the COVID-19 national emergency. That meant Title 42, instituted in March 2020 due to the pandemic for rapid removals, was also ending. The halt to that policy was met with delight by activists and Democrats who said it was cruel and outdated. The administration announced expulsions would end May 11 and drew up a broad strategy to deal with an expected surge that would follow. It included continued use of CBP, increased use of expedited removal, anti-smuggling actions and a rule to make migrants ineligible for asylum if they crossed illegally and failed to claim asylum at a country through which they have previously traveled. UNION PACIFIC WARNS BORDER CROSSING CLOSING DUE TO MIGRANT CRISIS HURTS CROSS-BORDER TRADE AS CHRISTMAS NEARS  Numbers surged in the weeks leading up to May 11, with over 10,000 encounters a day as migrants rushed to the border. Chaos was predicted once the order ended, and both Democrats and Republicans demanded the administration extend the order. But the opposite happened. Numbers dropped, both through the end of May into June, when numbers hit a low of 144,000 encounters. While still high compared to pre-2021 numbers, the June numbers were the lowest since early 2021. Numbers went up in July, but only slightly. The administration hailed it as a sign its post-Title 42 strategy was working.  “Our approach to managing the borders securely and humanely even within our fundamentally broken immigration system is working,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at a House hearing in July. “Unlawful entries between ports of entry along the southwest border have consistently decreased by more than half compared to the peak before the end of Title 42.” But the celebrations were premature. Numbers shot up to 232,000 in August and 269,735 in September, a new monthly record. October’s 240,000 encounters were the highest on record for that month. The political implications of the crisis increased, and budget discussions began to snarl as conservatives demanded sweeping changes, calling for asylum limits and restrictions on the administration’s use of parole and additional border security.  5,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED EVERY DAY INTO US, ADMIN OFFICIALS PRIVATELY TELL LAWMAKERS Meanwhile, Democratic mayors in cities like New York City and Chicago, where migrants had flocked in the tens of thousands, increased pressure on the administration to do more, in addition to the billions of funding the feds had already provided. The administration granted temporary protected status (TPS) to hundreds of Venezuelans, allowing them to get work permits, but those mayors said it wasn’t enough, and they called for $5 billion in additional funding. The White House called for an additional $14 billion in supplemental funding, including for increased removals, funding for communities and more processing and border agents. But Republicans have continued to press for asylum limits. House Republicans have called for their entire border package passed earlier this year to be included, while a Senate working group offered a slimmed-down package. The White House has said it is open to “significant compromises” and has reportedly opened the door to a Title 42-style authority, greater detention and greater expedited removal. Liberal Democrats balked at that suggestion, some saying any policy changes must be accompanied by amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the U.S. Lawmakers attempted to thrash out a deal before the Christmas break but have so far been unsuccessful. Late 2023 saw yet another surge at the border, breaking multiple records. Sources told Fox that December was on track to break the record for monthly encounters, marking an unfortunate end to a tough year at the border for the administration.

Japan announces sanctions against three senior Hamas figures

Japan announces sanctions against three senior Hamas figures

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa says three individuals believed to have participated in October 7 attacks. Japan has announced sanctions against three senior members of the Palestinian armed group Hamas. Tokyo will freeze assets belonging to the three individuals and impose sanctions on payments and capital transactions, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa said on Tuesday. The sanctioned individuals, who were not named, are believed to have been involved in Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel and be in a position to use funds to carry out similar attacks in future, Yoshimasa said. The move comes after Tokyo in October imposed sanctions on nine people and a company over their alleged links to Hamas. Tokyo has attempted to walk a fine line on the war in Gaza war, striving to balance relations with the United States, its closest ally, and its ties to energy-supplying partners in the Middle East. Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio condemned the October 7 attacks on Israel and called for the immediate release of Hamas’s captives while expressing concern about civilian deaths and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza. Japan earlier this month supported a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, after abstaining from a similar vote in October. Last week, Japanese container shipper Ocean Network Express announced it would reroute vessels away from the Red Sea to avoid being targeted by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have ramped up attacks on commercial shipping since the start of the war in Gaza. In November, the Houthis seized a British-owned vessel chartered by Tokyo-based Nippon Yusen, prompting the shipping line to stop accepting cargo bound for Israel. Adblock test (Why?)

Israel-Hamas war: List of key events, day 81

Israel-Hamas war: List of key events, day 81

EXPLAINER Netanyahu says the war is not over and Israeli forces arrest a Palestinian politician – here are the key updates. Here’s how things stand on Tuesday, December 26, 2023: Latest developments Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the war is far from over, during his visit to Israeli soldiers in Gaza on Monday. He added that the remaining captives taken by Hamas during its October 7 attack on southern Israel cannot be freed without military pressure. Families of captives heckled Netanyahu during an address to parliament earlier on Monday. Both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have denounced Netanyahu’s statements in Gaza. Human impact and fighting Over 100 people were killed overnight in the Israeli air strike on the Maghazi refugee camp as some families are still trapped under the rubble. Palestinian authorities have reported that 250 people were killed in waves of Israeli bombardment over 24 hours on Christmas. The attacks have taken place in the al-Amal neighbourhood in the southern city of Khan Younis, as well as the Bureij and Nuseirat camps and Juhor ad-Dik in central Gaza. An Israeli air attack outside Syria killed a top Iranian military advisor, Sayyed Razi Mousavi, on Monday. WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Gaza’s health system is under “unbearable strain” in a post on X on Monday. Diplomacy Israel will not renew the visa of a United Nations staff member in the country and will also deny the visa request of another UN employee. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said “We will stop working with those who cooperate” with Hamas, in a post on X on Monday. As a response to Cohen’s criticism of the UN the recent visa denials, Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur to the occupied Palestinian territories, said Israel’s “baseless attacks” on the “UN only proves moral cowardice”. 1/2. Baseless attacks agst the UN only proves moral cowardice. The UN has been weakened by decades of ISR impunity for breaches of Intl Law,incl colonisation of occup.territory & Pal. forced displacement.The UN must hold ISR to account if it is to salvage its reputation/purpose. https://t.co/Tk2qTcsBgl — Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) December 25, 2023 US acknowledged strikes on Iran-backed groups in Iraq as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the “proportionate strikes” hit three sites used by the Iraqi group Kata’ib Hezbollah and other affiliated groups on Monday. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hosted a Christmas day lunch with the latest group of Palestinian-Brazilians to be repatriated from Gaza. Protestors in New York also held Christmas Day rallies in solidarity with Palestine. Escalation in the West Bank The Al Jazeera team in the occupied West Bank reports that Khalida Jarrar, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the political group, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, has been arrested in Ramallah. Israeli forces have raided different areas across the occupied West Bank, including the Tulkarem, Nablus and Hebron governorates. Israel’s ongoing attacks in Nur Shams, Tulkarem, have been described by locals as one of the largest since the war began, reported Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut from occupied East Jerusalem. At least one house was blown up by the Israeli military. In Nablus, a young man was injured after settlers attacked his vehicle near the Taneeb Junction, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Adblock test (Why?)

India’s navy deploys warships to Arabian Sea after tanker attack

India’s navy deploys warships to Arabian Sea after tanker attack

Guided missile destroyers to ‘maintain deterrent presence’ after Israel-linked vessel hit off Indian coast. The Indian Navy has dispatched guided missile destroyers to the Arabian Sea after an attack on an Israel-linked chemical tanker off its coast, the Ministry of Defence said. Three stealth-guided destroyers were deployed “in various areas of the sea” to “maintain a deterrent presence” considering the “recent spate of attacks in the Arabian Sea”, the ministry said in a statement late on Monday. It was also using long-range maritime patrol aircraft for “domain awareness”, it said. The United States claimed that the December 23 strike on MV Chem Pluto in the Indian Ocean was “fired from Iran”, an accusation that Tehran has dismissed as baseless. The attack came as a US-led task force sought to counter similar threats to maritime shipping in the Red Sea posed by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. Amid the uptick in maritime strikes, this was the first that the US has sought to directly pin on Iran. It was also the first on a vessel outside the Red Sea. “We can see that militarisation is increasing, not only in the Red Sea, but also in the Arabian Peninsula,” said Al Jazeera’s Resul Sardar, reporting from Djibouti. “These are the regional ramifications of the war on Gaza,” he reported on Tuesday. The Indian Navy said it was investigating the nature of the attack on MV Chem Puto, which “anchored safely” in the financial capital, Mumbai, on Monday. An initial assessment “pointed to a drone attack”, the ministry said. But “further forensic and technical analysis will be required to establish the vector of attack, including type and amount of explosive used”. The vessel had been “cleared for further operation” by its company, according to the ministry. Shipping under threat MV Chem Pluto, a Japanese-owned tanker carrying 21 Indians and one Vietnamese citizen, was hit on Saturday while travelling 200 nautical miles (370km) off the coast of India, according to the Pentagon. The attack sparked a fire, which was put out, but caused no casualties. The Houthis have pledged to target any Israel-linked vessel in the Red Sea, through which some 12 percent of all global trade passes, in solidarity with Gaza which has been bombarded by land, sea and air by the Israeli military. Sardar said that despite the new US-led task force, there still hasn’t been an increase in ships trying to pass through the Red Sea, adding that dozens of cargo ships remain stranded in Djibouti. Since October, the Houthis have waged attacks on more than a dozen vessels, pushing some of the world’s largest firms to abandon the route. The attack in the Indian Ocean, far away from the Red Sea, has raised concerns about even broader risks to maritime shipping amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Washington has accused Tehran of being “deeply involved” in the Houthi operations. But Iran insists that it is not coordinating with the Houthis and plays no role in the attacks. “The resistance [Houthis] has its own tools … and acts in accordance with its own decisions and capabilities,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri told the Mehr news agency on Saturday. Adblock test (Why?)