Hunter Biden faces backlash for claiming his father was not involved in business deals: ‘Perjuring himself’
Critics lambasted Hunter Biden Wednesday after he claimed during his opening statement before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees that he “did not involve” his father, President Biden, in his business dealings. Hunter appeared on Capitol Hill for a closed-door deposition as part of the committees’ ongoing impeachment inquiry into his father, where he accused Republicans of having no evidence to justify their investigation. “The goal posts are moving,” Republican strategist Steve Guest wrote in a post on X. “Joe Biden used to say he [had] never spoken with Hunter about his business dealings. Hunter Biden is now playing cute linguistic games.” HUNTER BIDEN TESTIFIES BEHIND CLOSED DOORS AS PART OF THE IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY AGAINST HIS FATHER “REMINDER: E-mails, texts, photos, voicemails, visitor logs, and witness testimony have shown that Joe Biden was INVOLVED in his son Hunter’s foreign business deals,” Guest later wrote in another post. Federalist co-founder Sean Davis wrote that Hunter had “no problem perjuring himself” with the claims because he “knows Daddy’s DOJ will never charge him for it,” while Washington Free Beacon reporter Chuck Ross wrote that there was “plenty of evidence Hunter did involve Joe in his business.” “Joe attended meetings w/ Hunter and CEFC, and with Tony Bobulinski to discuss China business. These were strictly business meetings,” he added. HOUSE REPUBLICANS SUBPOENA DOJ MATERIALS RELATED TO SPECIAL COUNSEL HUR INTERVIEW OF JOE BIDEN “Well if we can’t trust a crackhead, who can we trust?” another critic wrote, while Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., accused Hunter of “falsely” making the claim, and posted an image of what he described as a text message from Hunter “using his father’s name to shake down a Chinese businessman for millions of dollars.” “Hunter Biden clearly used his dad’s brand to conduct corrupt business overseas. Even Hunter’s closest business partners have testified that Joe Biden was THE BRAND and the BIDEN LIFT. How else does the Biden family and their associates get $24 million in 5 years?” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., added. Despite Hunter’s claims he “did not involve” his father in any of his business dealings, one of his ex-business associates testified earlier this month that in 2017 Biden met with the chairman of a Chinese energy firm that Hunter sought to create a joint business venture with. SCATHING DETAILS REVEAL WHY BIDEN APPEARS ‘SILENT’ ON CHINA’S ROLE IN FENTANYL CRISIS: BOOK “I don’t remember the exact time, but I remember being in Washington, D.C., and the former vice president stopped by. We were having lunch,” Rob Walker told the committees, according to a transcript of his interview reviewed by Fox News Digital. He mentioned how there were several CEFC executives at the meeting also. Additionally, records show some of Hunter’s business associates visited the White House more than 90 times while Biden was serving as vice president. Those visits included former associates connected with Hunter’s now-defunct investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners. The House Oversight Committee previously told Fox News Digital that it can “now confirm Joe Biden met with nearly every foreign national who funneled money to his son, including Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina, Romanian oligarch Kenes Rakishev, Burisma’s corporate secretary Vadym Pozharsky, Jonathan Li of BHR, and CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming.” Devon Archer, another former business partner of Hunter Biden, told House Oversight investigators last summer that Hunter used his dad as “defensive leverage” to send “the right signals” to his foreign business partners, while selling him as “the brand” that offered “capabilities and reach,” as well as a “unique understanding of D.C.” Archer also described how the elder Biden was put on the phone to sell “the brand” and that he was put on speakerphone at least 20 times by Hunter during meetings, contradicting multiple claims by the elder Biden on the campaign trail and during his presidency about talking to his son about his business dealings. During his opening statement, Hunter said his claim he “did not involve” his father in his business dealings was an “uncontestable fact that should end the false premise of this inquiry.” The first son said House Republicans “have built your entire partisan house of cards on lies told by” past witnesses, and blasted his ex-business associates Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis, who also testified as part of the impeachment inquiry, as well as the since-indicted former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov. He went on to address the “mistakes” he made in his life, including his battle with addiction, and claimed Republicans had taken the records of his various communications with individuals over the years “out of context.” He said he hoped his testimony would “put an end to this baseless and destructive political charade.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and representatives of Hunter Biden for comment. Fox News’ Brooke Singman, Jessica Chasmar and Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report.
Washington state House passes ban on hog-tying by police in a landslide
The Washington state House overwhelmingly approved legislation Wednesday that would ban police from hog-tying suspects, a restraint technique that has long drawn concern because of the risk of suffocation. “This practice is dehumanizing, and it’s dangerous,” said Democratic Rep. Sharlett Mena during the vote. “And yet hog-tying is still authorized by a small number of jurisdictions in Washington.” SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING DISRUPTED BY PROTESTERS BANGING ON WINDOWS, 6 ARRESTED The vote came nearly four years after Manuel Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man, died in Tacoma, about 30 miles south of Seattle, facedown with his hands and feet cuffed together behind him. The case became a touchstone for racial justice demonstrators in the Pacific Northwest. “He was hog-tied by police. He pleaded he couldn’t breathe, and he died in the heart of our community,” Mena said. The bill, which was previously passed by the Senate, will need to go back to that body for verification before heading to Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee’s desk. Republican Rep. Gina Mosbrucker said while there were still concerns from her party about smaller jurisdictions that might not have the money to start using alternative restraints, she supports the measure. “I feel like by this bill passing, for me Madam Speaker, we’re starting to amend that relationship between law enforcement and the community,” she said. The U.S. Department of Justice has recommended against the practice since at least 1995 to avoid deaths in custody. The attorney general’s office in Washington recommended against using hog-tying in its model use-of-force policy released in 2022. At least four local agencies continue to permit it, according to policies they submitted to the attorney general’s office that year. Ellis was walking home in March 2020 when he passed a patrol car with Tacoma police officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank, who are white. There are conflicting accounts of what happened next, but Ellis was ultimately shocked, beaten and officers wrapped a hobble restraint device around his legs and linked it to his handcuffs behind his back, according to a probable cause statement filed by the Washington attorney general’s office. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP A medical examiner ruled his death a homicide caused by lack of oxygen. Collins, Burbank and a third officer, Timothy Rankine, were charged with murder or manslaughter. Defense attorneys argued Ellis’ death was caused by methamphetamine intoxication and a heart condition, and a jury acquitted them in December.
Republican-led Mississippi House advances Medicaid expansion proposal, moves on to Senate
Mississippi’s Republican-led House passed a bill Wednesday that would expand Medicaid benefits to hundreds of thousands more residents in one of the poorest states in the U.S. — a landmark shift after state leaders refused to consider the policy for years. The bill’s passage was greeted by applause in the House chamber following a bipartisan 98-20 vote. It now heads to the state Senate, where its fate remains uncertain as lawmakers are expected to introduce a competing proposal that could serve as a foundation for further negotiations. MISSISSIPPI BILL WOULD CLOSE 3 OF 8 STATE UNIVERSITIES, BUT LAWMAKERS SAY IT’S UNLIKELY TO PASS The move follows years of opposition from Republicans, including Gov. Tate Reeves, to the expansion allowed under the Affordable Care Act, a 2010 federal health overhaul signed by then-President Barack Obama. The bill’s Republican sponsor, Rep. Missy McGee, said lawmakers had a “moral imperative” to put ideology aside to improve Mississippi’s poor health outcomes. “It is a topic that should transcend politics and economics. For at its core, it’s about the well-being and dignity of every Mississippian,” McGee said. “Sometimes, it’s OK to do the right thing, because it’s the right thing.” Mississippi has the highest rate of preventable deaths in the U.S. Its top health official has said it ranks at the bottom of virtually every health care indicator and at the top of every disparity. Hospitals are struggling to remain open. The state also has one of the nation’s lowest labor force participation rates. Expansion proponents have said the policy could help ameliorate these conditions. Opponents of Medicaid expansion say the program would foster government dependency, increase wait times for health services and push people off private insurance. In a social media post on Wednesday before the vote, Reeves repeated those criticisms and tied the bill to the goals of prominent Democrats. “Representative McGee keeps saying — over and over — that her bill is for working people,” Reeves said. “The truth is this: her bill passed by the House committee yesterday is straight Obamacare Medicaid Expansion.” The proposal would increase eligibility for Medicaid, a health insurance program that covers low-income people. Those making up to 138% of the federal poverty level, or $20,120 annually for a single person, would be eligible under the proposal. Mississippi has about 3 million residents, and its Medicaid program covered 754,585 people in January. McGee said it could extend benefits to about 200,000 people. At a committee hearing Wednesday, McGee touted a financial incentive for expanding Medicaid provided by Congress in the American Rescue Plan. The bonus helped with the passage of Medicaid expansion in North Carolina. In Mississippi, the incentive and other cost offsets like increased tax revenues would pay for the program for about four years, McGee said. House Democratic Leader Robert Johnson said he was stunned by the lopsided vote in favor of the bill. The result brought back memories of when Mississippi voted in 2020 to remove the Confederate battle emblem from its state flag. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “The last time I felt this good I cried because we changed the flag for the state of Mississippi,” Johnson said. “Today is a great day for working Mississippians.”
White House spox KJP says Biden passes a ‘cognitive test’ everyday with rigors of the presidency
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday defended President Biden not taking a cognitive test as part of his physical exam, arguing that the demands of the job proved he didn’t need one. A reporter had asked why a cognitive test wasn’t included in the president’s physical exam, given the recent scrutiny he has received over major gaffes that raised questions about his mental fitness. “Why not just have his doctor administer the test and then case closed?” the reporter asked. Jean-Pierre said Biden’s doctor felt it was unnecessary, and added that “folks need to understand that the president passes a cognitive test every day.” “If you look at what a clinical cognitive test is – actually what it does – it is a 15-minute appointment that is administered by someone who, most of the time, people don’t actually know,” Jean-Pierre said. She added that the president’s duties, on a daily basis, are more rigorous than that 15-minute clinical appointment. WHITE HOUSE CALLS FOR SANCTUARY CITIES TO COOPERATE WITH ICE, AMID FUROR OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMES “You think about the job growth, you think about the record small business action, you think about the bloom in that particular space of 16 million more small businesses have been created. You think about delivering historic investment that has been done by a president who has to deal with these issues every day, again, on a granular level and so his doctor, including the neurologist, do not believe that he needs one,” Jean-Pierre said. Results of Biden’s physical examination, released later Wednesday, declared the president to be a “healthy, robust, 81-year-old.” In a release from Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the Physician for the President, Biden was declared fit to “successfully execute the duties of the presidency.” “President Biden is a healthy, active 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief,” the release said. Recent polling has found that Biden’s age is a major issue for a majority of not only Americans in general, but also Democrat voters. A recent poll from ABC/Ipsos found that 86% of Americans believe Biden is too old to serve another term, including 73% of Democrats. Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
Laken Riley’s murder the ‘direct result’ of immigration laws passed by NYC Democrats: councilman
The murder of a Georgia nursing student allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant who was previously arrested in New York City is the “direct result” of recent New York City laws that severed ties between the NYPD and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Republican Councilman Joe Borelli argued. “It is a direct result of the City Council passing legislation that limits cooperation. If those laws were not enacted, the Department of Corrections would have given ICE the opportunity to issue a detainer against Jose Ibarra,” Borelli told Fox News Digital in a phone interview this week. Georgia nursing student Laken Hope Riley, 22, was discovered beaten to death earlier this month after going for a run on the University of Georgia’s campus. The Augusta University student crossed paths with illegal immigrant Jose Antonio Ibarra, according to authorities, and died from blunt force trauma to the head. Ibarra, a Venezuelan national, entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was granted border “parole,” which allows noncitizens to temporarily enter the country due to an emergency or humanitarian reason, authorities have said. Ibarra soon made his way up to New York City, where he was arrested in August and “charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation,” according to ICE. 7.2M ILLEGALS ENTERED THE US UNDER BIDEN ADMIN, AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN POPULATION OF 36 STATES The NYPD, however, has said it does not have a record of Ibarra’s arrest. Typically, when ICE learns an illegal immigrant is arrested on criminal charges, the agency will issue a detainer that requests the local police department hold the suspect until ICE can take over and begin deportation proceedings. In Ibarra’s case, ICE said he was released by the NYPD before a detainer could be issued. New York City, however, is a “sanctuary city” with relatively recent laws passed by City Council severing many ties between the NYPD and ICE. LAKEN RILEY CASE: HECKLERS SHOUT DOWN ATHENS MAYOR AS HE DENIES SANCTUARY CITY, ANNOUNCES PUBLIC SAFETY FUNDS “A woman is dead in Georgia because the New York City Council passed local laws barring the NYPD from cooperating with ICE, and as such the suspect was released without any notification to federal law enforcement,” Borelli tweeted this week, accompanied by a list of laws that restricted local cooperation with the immigration agency. Under a pair of 2014 laws, the local Department of Corrections and NYPD were restricted from complying with ICE detainers under certain conditions. The DOC, for example, is only allowed to comply with an ICE detainer if it is accompanied by a warrant from a federal judge and if the suspect has been convicted of a violent crime in the last five years. LAKEN RILEY MURDER IGNITES DEMANDS TO HIRE MORE CBP AGENTS, REDIRECT $15B DEMOCRAT IRS PAYDAY TO BORDER “Our city is not served when New Yorkers with strong ties in the community are afraid to engage with law enforcement because they fear deportation. Today, we send another message to Washington that the time to act has come to provide relief to so many individuals who contribute to our nation’s growth,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said when the two laws were enacted. “I’d like to thank Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and the City Council for passing this legislation, which further establishes New York City as a leader in immigration reform.” Similar reforms continued under the de Blasio administration, including in 2017, when the City Council passed a bill prohibiting “City agencies from partnering with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to enforce federal immigration law.” “The de Blasio Administration today announced the issuance of citywide guidance and new NYPD protocols to clarify and institutionalize the City’s policy that it will not voluntarily cooperate with federal immigration enforcement activities, and will only coordinate in limited circumstances, including where there is a public safety risk,” a press release from the de Blasio administration stated of the law at the start of 2018. Borelli, who has served on City Council representing portions of Staten Island since 2015, argued “it’s interesting to see people trying to backtrack on the impact that these laws have on the cooperation between ICE and city law enforcement.” GEORGIA STUDENT MURDER SUSPECT CONFIRMED TO BE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT “But the proof is in the pudding,” he said. The New York Republican pointed to comments made by local politicians when the laws were passed, arguing that Democrats wanted to sever communication between local law enforcement and federal authorities when involving illegal immigrants. “The day we start helping ICE is the day we lose the public trust, which is why this guidance and protocol is so critical,” a former NYC council member said in 2018, when de Blasio announced the prohibition of city agencies partnering with the Department of Homeland Security when related to immigration laws. Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams also supported the measure in 2018, when he served as Brooklyn borough president. LAKEN RILEY CASE: GEORGIA AUTHORITIES IDENTIFY MURDER SUSPECT IN CUSTODY IN NURSING STUDENT’S SLAYING “It is important for our police officers and City employees to have clear guidance and protocol on how to interact with federal immigration enforcement, especially considering the overaggressive behavior of ICE agents. Public safety for all of our residents must come first,” Adams said, according to the de Blasio-era press release. Following Laken Riley’s murder, Adams said this week that he supports altering city laws that would open the doors to New York City officials working with federal authorities on immigration matters involving violent suspects or repeat offenders. “I want to go back to the standards of the previous mayors who I believe subscribed to my belief that people who are suspected of committing serious crimes in this city should be held accountable,” Adams told reporters at City Hall Tuesday. “We should not be allowing people who are repeatedly committing crimes to remain here, and we cannot collaborate with ICE in the process,” the mayor
NY Dems approve bill that will limit where voters can challenge gerrymandering: ‘Rig the game’
New York Democrats approved a piece of legislation that will limit where residents can legally challenge gerrymandering, which is unconstitutional in the state, allowing redistricting suits to only be heard in four heavily-Democratic jurisdictions, an election attorney in the state said. “With the state Legislature on the cusp of adopting a new Congressional district map, two state legislators have proposed a bill that would limit the ability for voters to have their day in court and challenge unconstitutional gerrymanders. Under this proposal, voters would be unable to have their challenges to gerrymandered districts heard in 58 of New York’s 62 counties,” New York Republican election attorney Joe Burns, who also serves as counsel to the Erie County Republican Committee, said in a statement earlier this week. Burns’ statement was in response to a pair of Democratic lawmakers in New York, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie and Assemblymember William Magnarelli introducing a bill that that will only allow redistricting cases to be brought before judges in Albany, New York, Westchester or Erie counties. It passed the state Assembly on Wednesday and now heads to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk for her signature. It will take effect immediately, upon the governor’s signature. NY DEMOCRATS REJECT BIPARTISAN CONGRESSIONAL MAP, PROMPTING LEGISLATIVE REDRAWING The bill comes as state lawmakers hash out a new congressional redistricting map ahead of the 2024 election. Burns argued in an interview with Fox Digital that Democrats in the state are likely working to push the bill so it applies to the new map this year. “I suspect the plan is to get this venue bill passed either right before, or at the same time as the redistricting plan. So it would be subject to the new venue rules,” he said. Back in 2014, voters in the Empire State approved an amendment to the state’s constitution that reformed its redistricting process and prohibited partisan gerrymandering. It ultimately created the bipartisan Independent Redistricting Commission, which is tasked with redrawing congressional lines. “It’s the strongest prohibition on partisan gerrymandering in any state constitution in the country,” Burns previously told Fox News Digital. New York is fresh off a redistricting saga that played out in 2022, when the commission failed to reach a consensus ahead of elections that year that allowed the Democrat-controlled legislature to step in and draw the maps. NEW YORK COULD FACE REDISTRICTING DEJA VU AFTER COURT HANDS MASSIVE LEGAL WIN TO DEMS: EXPERT Hochul signed the redrawn maps into law, sparking legal action from Republicans that the maps gave Democrats the upper hand in 22 of the state’s 26 districts. A county judge at the time struck down the Democrat-drawn maps before Democrats in the state took the case to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals also struck down the map and appointed a “special master” to redraw the congressional lines ahead of the 2022 election. Republicans that year won five out of the six competitive House races in New York and flipped four blue seats — red seats Democrats are trying to regain. In December, New York’s highest court handed Democrats a massive win ahead of the 2024 election cycle, ordering a state commission to redraw congressional district lines. The state Legislature this month, however, rejected the commission’s redrawn congressional maps, with Democrats again introducing their own version of the maps this week. DEMS TURN TO STATE COURTS AS POLITICAL ‘WEAPON’ AMID 2024’S GERRYMANDER BLITZ: EXPERTS Democrats argued in 2022 that Republicans “judge shopped” where to legally battle the redrawn map that year, and now say the bill that would restrict where such lawsuits are filed would end judge and venue shopping. “We felt that the forum shopping that was done was inappropriate and that we should have a venue to bring these types of cases,” Magnarelli said earlier this month, according to the Times Union. Burns pushed back that Democrats are now trying to do their “judge shopping in advance” if the bill is signed into law. NEW YORK REDISTRICTING COMMISSION APPROVES NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP Burns said the lawmakers “certainly have chosen some very heavily Democratic counties with a very Democrat-heavy judiciary in each of those counties,” referring to Albany, New York, Westchester and Erie counties. New York County is home to Manhattan, while Buffalo is the seat of Erie County. Democrats “said two years ago that it was judge shopping, that Republicans found a small county where all the judges were Republicans, and they were gonna get a favorable decision. Now, but isn’t what they’re doing today just doing your judge shopping in advance,” Burns said. “With the redistricting decision two years ago… the judge’s decision was affirmed by the Appellate Division, which on that panel that heard the case, three of the five judges are Democrats. And then that decision was affirmed by the Court of Appeals, where I think six of the seven judges were Democrats – all seven were appointed by Democratic governors,” he noted. Assemblyman Magnarelli told Fox Digital that the bill will “discourage forum shopping in the future.” “The venue bill passed the assembly today. It will go into effect immediately upon the Governor’s signature. Therefore, it will affect any lawsuits brought concerning the congressional reapportionment maps that were also passed today. Contrary to the Republican’s idea of ‘forum shopping in advance,’ this bill will discourage forum shopping in the future and allow the courts designated in the bill to have expertise in the area of apportionment, not only with the judges but also the court staff,” he said. Burns argued that the legislation on where voters can challenge redistricting and gerrymandering is similar to a law passed last year requiring all constitutional challenges regarding election law only be heard in Erie, Albany, Westchester or New York counties. “Any constitutional challenges now in state court to the election law, have to be filed in those four counties: Erie, Albany, New York and Westchester County. So now, they’re looking to do the same thing with challenges to redistricting,” he said.
Baby pig thrown like football at Mardi Gras rescued, adopted, ‘pardoned’ in Baton Rouge
A baby pig that was rescued after being tossed like a football near a Mardi Gras event in New Orleans was “pardoned” Wednesday and has found a permanent home with a Louisiana lawmaker. The weeks-old little pink critter — dubbed Earl “Piglet” Long, a play on the name of the former 45th governor of Louisiana — was ceremoniously pardoned by Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser on the Louisiana Capitol steps. “He will live out his life without any threat of being thrown like a football or being part of jambalaya or boudin in someone’s kitchen here in Louisiana,” Nungesser said referring to two popular dishes that contain sausage. NEW ORLEANS HAT SALESMAN, 99, HONORED BY FRENCH PRESIDENT FOR WWII SERVICE While beads, stuffed animals and hand-decorated souvenirs are frequently catapulted through the air during Carnival Season in Louisiana, pigs are not among those items. The piglet’s journey to a new home began earlier this month when a bystander noticed men in a park, not far from a Mardi Gras parade, throwing “what appeared to be a mini-football” to one another and laughing, according to the Humane Society of Louisiana. As the bystander approached they could hear squealing and realized the object flying through the air was a baby pig. The bystander approached the men and asked for custody of the terrified animal. “The rowdiness, endless parades, and party-like atmosphere often lend themselves to questionable behavior — like how three grown men behaved a few days ago,” the Humane Society said in a social media post. The piglet, who is expected to grow to be 80 pounds, has since been adopted by state Rep. Lauren Ventrella and will live on a farm in the Capitol region. “As a Republican, sometimes we like to cut the pork,” Ventrella said, alluding to the GOP’s reputed conservative approach to fiscal spending. “But, I will tell you this is the pork we won’t be cutting.”
‘Groundbreaking’: Michigan’s uncommitted vote for Gaza should ‘worry’ Biden
In the Michigan city known as the capital of Arab America, United States President Joe Biden came second in the Democratic primaries, in a vote hailed as “groundbreaking”. Most Democratic voters in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn chose “uncommitted” over the incumbent, as part of an organised effort to denounce his “unwavering” support for Israel’s war on Gaza. And it wasn’t just Dearborn. Initial results, released early on Wednesday, reveal that more than 101,000 people across the state joined the protest campaign at the ballot box. Advocates said the numbers serve as an enormous rebuke to Washington’s backing of Israel, not to mention a warning sign for Democrats heading into the general election in November. “It’s huge,” Palestinian-American human rights lawyer Huwaida Arraf said of the “uncommitted” tally. But Arraf, who is based in the Detroit area, said Tuesday’s 101,000 votes do not fully convey the growing frustration at Biden’s policies. She pointed out that some voters opted to cast their ballots for other candidates also to display displeasure with the incumbent president. Both Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips, who challenged Biden for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, have previously called for a ceasefire. Phillips won 20,000 votes while Williamson, who dropped out of the race ahead of Tuesday’s voting, received more than 22,000. In the aftermath of the state primary, Williamson has announced she would relaunch her campaign. Arraf added that many people chose not to participate in the process altogether. She explained that the “uncommitted” campaign was working with limited resources and started only a few weeks before the election. “Tuesday’s showing of no confidence in Biden, anger with Biden and people’s willingness to use their vote to express that extreme discontent should have the Biden team and all Democrats very, very worried,” she told Al Jazeera. One of the groups behind the effort to vote “uncommitted”, the Listen to Michigan campaign, celebrated the results in a social media post. “Our movement emerged victorious tonight and massively surpassed our expectations,” it wrote. The group promised to continue the pressure at least until the Democratic National Convention in August when the party will officially choose its candidate after the individual state primaries and caucuses. It has not, however, released an announcement about its stance on the general election — and whether it will encourage voters to boycott Biden then. ‘Historic’ vote The adage of “every vote counts” rings especially true in Michigan. That’s because in November’s general election, presidential candidates compete in individual state contests for Electoral College votes. Those Electoral College votes then decide who wins the White House. In recent general elections, the victor has come down to just a handful of key “swing states”, which can tilt either Republican or Democrat. Michigan, home to more than 10 million people, is one such state. It is often won by small margins. For instance, in 2016, former President Donald Trump beat his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, in Michigan by fewer than 11,000 votes. The state was crucial to putting Trump in the White House. In 2020, Biden beat Trump by about 150,000 votes in Michigan — roughly equal to the number of voters who did not support Biden in this primary election. Recent polls have shown an even tighter general election race in the likely event of a rematch between Biden and Trump. The electoral math, according to Sally Howell, the director of the Center for Arab American Studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, means the Biden campaign “has to be concerned about Michigan”. Howell said the significance of Tuesday’s vote cannot be understated with the Arab American and Muslim voters in the state showing their electoral leverage despite representing a relatively small proportion of overall voters. The Arab American community makes up about 2 percent of the electorate in Michigan, she explained. Together with the Muslim electorate, which overlaps with the Arab American community, they represent about 3 percent. “I think it’s historic,” she told Al Jazeera. “And for Arab American political participation, it’s really groundbreaking. I don’t think they’ve ever gotten the attention of a presidential campaign like they have it now.” ‘Not over yet’ In Arab American- and Muslim-dominated areas like Dearborn, the story is in the numbers. For instance, in Hamtramck, a Detroit-area town that is believed to be the only Muslim-majority city in the country, the ballot category “uncommitted” received 61 percent of the votes, compared with 32 percent for Biden. But even in areas with no significant Arab and Muslim presence, the uncommitted campaign made a strong showing, underscoring that the movement has extended beyond individual communities. For example, in Washtenaw County west of Detroit — a liberal stronghold that is home to the main campus of the University of Michigan — 17 percent of Democrats voted uncommitted. Overall, 13.3 percent of voters cast “uncommitted” ballots in Tuesday’s state primary with nearly all votes counted, far outpacing the Arab American and Muslim representation in the state. Howell explained those results offer a forecast for other state races, particularly as Super Tuesday — the day with the most state primary contests — approaches next week. “It’s also not over yet,” Howell said. “There are other swing states with an Arab American community or a Muslim American community or an African-American community that is in solidarity with Palestinians or a young, educated population.” “All of these groups are going to have paid attention to what’s happening in Michigan.” Advocates in nearby Minnesota, which has a large Muslim and Somali American population, have already upped their efforts to urge residents to vote “uncommitted” in the state’s Super Tuesday primary. The Michigan campaign “has just shown us that we CAN alter the course of Biden’s actions with added pressure”, Asma Nizami, an advocacy director at the Minnesota-based organisation Reviving Sisterhood, wrote in a post on social media. Still, what happens next remains unclear with some “uncommitted” voters saying a policy pivot from Biden could still win their vote. Others, including those who have rallied behind
Six children die of malnutrition in Gaza hospitals: Health Ministry
Six children have died from dehydration and malnutrition at hospitals in northern Gaza, the Health Ministry in the besieged Palestinian territory has said, as the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave worsens. Two children died at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the ministry said on Wednesday. Earlier it reported that four children died at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, while seven others remained in critical condition. “We ask international agencies to intervene immediately to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in northern Gaza,” Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement, as Israel’s attacks on Gaza continue. “The international community is facing a moral and humanitarian test to stop the genocide in Gaza.” Kamal Adwan Hospital’s Director Ahmed al-Kahlout said that the hospital had gone out of service due to a lack of fuel to run its generators. On Tuesday, Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia also went out of service for the same reason. In a video posted on Instagram and verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification unit, journalist Ebrahem Musalam shows an infant on a bed inside the pediatric department at Kamal Adwan Hospital, as power comes in and out. Musalam said the children in the department are suffering from malnutrition and a lack of infant formula, and that necessary devices have stopped working due to the constant power outages as a result of fuel shortages. Palestinian group Hamas on Wednesday said that the closure of Kamal Adwan Hospital would exacerbate the health and humanitarian crisis in Northern Gaza, which is already teetering on the brink of famine as Israel continues to block or disrupt aid missions there. ‘Killing and starvation’ On Wednesday, Israel said a convoy of 31 trucks carrying food had entered northern Gaza. The Israeli military office that oversees Palestinian civilian affairs, the Coordination of Government Activity in the Territories (COGAT), also said nearly 20 other trucks entered the north on Monday and Tuesday. These were the first major aid deliveries in a month to the devastated, isolated area, where the United Nations has warned of worsening starvation. Israel has held up the entry of aid into Gaza for weeks, with Israeli protesters taking part in demonstrations calling for no aid to be allowed into the territory, even as hunger and disease spread. UN officials say Israel’s months-long war, which has killed nearly 30,000 people in Gaza, has also pushed a quarter of the population of 2.3 million to the brink of famine. Project Hope, a humanitarian group operating a clinic in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, has said that 21 percent of the pregnant women and 11 percent of the children under the age of five it has treated in the last three weeks are suffering from malnutrition. “People have reported eating nothing but white bread as fruit, vegetables, and other nutrient-dense foods are nearly impossible to find or too expensive,” Project Hope said. Qatar, France Reaffirm in Joint Communique Depth, Breadth of Their Strategic Partnership 🔗To learn more: https://t.co/7sF2yFaDpl#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/cLsoIKdFdy — Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) February 28, 2024 In a joint communique on Wednesday, Qatar and France stressed their opposition to an Israeli military offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza and underlined their “rejection of the killing and starvation suffered by the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip”. They called for the opening of all crossings into Gaza, including in the north, “to allow for humanitarian actors to resume their activities and notably the delivery of food supply and pledged jointly $200m effort in support of the Palestinian population”. Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, also said Israel must allow aid trucks into Gaza in order to address the dire humanitarian crisis. “Hundreds of aid trucks wait in line to cross into Gaza at the Rafah and Kerem Shalom [Karem Abu Salem] crossings to a starving civilian population,” Egeland said in a social media post, with a video showing scores of aid trucks lined up. “There has not been a single day we have gotten the needed 500 trucks across. The system is broken and Israel could fix it for the sake of the innocent.” Hundreds of aid trucks wait in line to cross into Gaza at the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings to a starving civilian population. There has not been a single day we have gotten the needed 500 trucks across. The system is broken and Israel could fix it for the sake of the innocent pic.twitter.com/dMb9gTbchJ — Jan Egeland (@NRC_Egeland) February 28, 2024 Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), has meanwhile said that medical workers are struggling to serve hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Gaza who are living in dire conditions with nowhere to go. “Healthcare has been attacked, it’s collapsing. The whole system is collapsing. We are working from tents trying to do what we can. We treat the wounded. With the displacements, people’s wounds have been infected. And I’m not even talking about the mental wounds. People are desperate. They don’t know anymore what to do,” MSF’s Meinie Nicolai said. Adblock test (Why?)
Supreme Court agrees to review whether Trump immune from prosecution in federal election interference case
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review whether former president Donald Trump has immunity from prosecution in the Special Counsel’s federal election interference case, an election-year dispute that will have blockbuster legal and political implications for the nation. The justices have fast-tracked the appeal, and will hear oral arguments in late April, with a ruling on the merits expected by late June. Trump’s criminal trial has been put on hold pending resolution of the matter. This will be the second time this term the High Court will hear a case involving the presumed Republican presidential nominee. Separate arguments were held earlier this month over whether Trump can be kicked off the Colorado primary ballot over claims he committed “insurrection” in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots. The high court was considering an emergency appeal filed by former President Trump to extend the delay in the trial stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 2020 election interference case, arguing that he has presidential immunity to protect him from prosecution. TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO EXTEND DELAY IN ELECTION CASE, CLAIMING PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY That request came just days after a D.C. appeals court ruled the former president and 2024 GOP front-runner is not immune from prosecution in Smith’s case. The request was for temporary relief, to stay or block the appeals court mandate from taking effect, which would give the Trump legal team more time to file an appeal to the Supreme Court on the merits of whether a former president deserves immunity from criminal prosecution for actions while in office. Smith, days later, requested that the U.S. Supreme Court reject Trump’s bid to delay his trial. Though the special counsel’s filing does not explicitly mention the upcoming November election or Trump’s status as the Republican primary front-runner, prosecutors described the case as having “unique national importance” and said that “delay in the resolution of these charges threatens to frustrate the public interest in a speedy and fair verdict.” The trial stemming from Smith’s case against Trump has been on hold pending resolution of the immunity question. “If the prosecution of a President is upheld, such prosecutions will recur and become increasingly common, ushering in destructive cycles of recrimination,” the Trump request stated. “Criminal prosecution, with its greater stigma and more severe penalties, imposes a far greater ‘personal vulnerability’ on the President than any civil penalty.” The request added, “The threat of future criminal prosecution by a politically opposed Administration will overshadow every future President’s official acts — especially the most politically controversial decisions.” TRUMP NOT IMMUNE FROM PROSECUTION IN 2020 ELECTION CASE, FEDERAL APPEALS COURT RULES The request states that the president’s “political opponents will seek to influence and control his or her decisions via effective extortion or blackmail with the threat, explicit or implicit, of indictment by a future, hostile Administration, for acts that do not warrant any such prosecution.” “This threat will hang like a millstone around every future President’s neck, distorting Presidential decision-making, undermining the President’s independence, and clouding the President’s ability ‘to deal fearlessly and impartially with’ the duties of his office.’” Trump’s lawyers added, “Without immunity from criminal prosecution, the Presidency as we know it will cease to exist.” TRUMP TRIAL DELAYED IN CASE STEMMING FROM SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S JAN. 6 INVESTIGATION The decision comes after Washington, D.C., federal Judge Tanya Chutkan officially delayed the trial, which was set to begin on March 4 — a day before the critical Super Tuesday primary contests, when Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Vermont vote to select a GOP nominee. Chutkan said in December that she does not have jurisdiction over the matter while it is pending before the Supreme Court, and she put a pause on the case against the Republican 2024 front-runner until the high court determines its involvement. Smith charged the former president with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Those charges stemmed from Smith’s investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in August 2023. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.