Jordan Klepper crashes Donald Trump's "intimate event" (that is definitely NOT a rally) in South Carolina and speaks with MAGA fans who think Trump is still president in the latest episode of Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse.
Friday, February 3, 2023
Bess Levin | Donald Trump Is One Day Away From Leaving a Horse's Head in Ron Desantis's Bed
03 February 23
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For the most part, DeSantis has not responded to Trump’s comments, preferring instead to busy himself with banning an AP African American studies course and waging a war on transgender people. But on Tuesday, he decided to take a moment to hit back. Asked about Trump’s most recent criticism, the governor told reporters: “I roll out of bed, I have people attacking me from all angles, it’s been happening for many, many years. The good thing is, is that the people are able to render a judgment on that, whether they reelect you or not. And I’m happy to say—you know, in my case—not only did we win reelection, we won with the highest percentage of the vote that any Republican governor candidate has [had] in the history of the state of Florida…That verdict has been rendered by the people of the state of Florida.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) takes a subtle dig at Donald Trump when asked about the former president’s criticism of Florida’s COVID-19 response:
— The Recount (@therecount) January 31, 2023
“The people are able to render a judgement on that, whether they re-elect you or not. And I’m happy to say in my case ... we won.” pic.twitter.com/8pF9xqkmZ0
While Trump would undoubtedly bristle at any criticism whatsoever from DeSantis, whom he apparently believes owes him his political career, we’re assuming the pointed reference to the fact that the ex-president lost the 2020 election—something he continues to refuse to admit—will not go over well. (In his only public remarks re: Trump since the midterms, DeSantis said, of the ex-president‘s attacks: “One of the things I’ve learned in this job is when you’re leading, when you’re getting things done, you take incoming fire. That’s just the nature of it. We’ve focused on results and leadership, and at the end of the day, I would just tell people to go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night.”)
Hours after DeSantis spoke to reporters Tuesday, Trump took to Truth Social to post an old clip of the governor saying he aspired to be like Paul Ryan, the former House Speaker the ex-president dubbed a “weak RINO” and “pathetic loser” last year.
Trump posts a video tonight of a younger Ron Desantis saying he wants to be just like Paul Ryan. pic.twitter.com/w7IQkDMUeB
— Ron Filipkowski πΊπ¦ (@RonFilipkowski) February 1, 2023
If we know Trump, and unfortunately, we think we do, this is merely a prelude to what he has in store for Ron.
Get ready for two straight years of this:
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) downplays Tyre Nichols’ fatal arrest by Memphis police: “That city is Democrat-controlled, and the 5 officers ... are Black. I think this isn’t an issue of racism.”
— The Recount (@therecount) January 31, 2023
She then pivots to lamenting the death of 1/6 insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt. pic.twitter.com/vYXdftxBBO
…and this:
Greene: Can you tell me how much money went to CRT?
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 1, 2023
Dodaro: CRT?
Greene: It’s a racist curriculum used to teach children that somehow their white skin not equal to black skin and other things pic.twitter.com/ssFZE7Gxlz
…and, oh God, this:
Greene: Can you tell me how much money went to Drag Queen Story Hour? Where men dress up as women and read confusing books to children.
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 1, 2023
Dodaro: I thought you said dry clean pic.twitter.com/iKYCdwRZZw
Photo of Konstantin Yefremov in front of buildings in Bilmak - where he says prisoner torture took place. Local residents confirmed the location to the BBC. (photo: Konstantin Yefremov)
Allegations of brutal interrogations, where Ukrainian men were shot and threatened with rape, have been made by a former Russian military officer.
At one site in southern Ukraine, he said "the interrogations, the torture, continued for about a week".
"Every day, at night, sometimes twice a day."
Mr Yefremov tried to resign from the army numerous times - but he ended up being dismissed for refusing to return to Ukraine. He has now fled Russia.
Using photographs and military documents supplied by Mr Yefremov, the BBC has verified he was in Ukraine early in the war - in the Zaporizhzhia region, including the city of Melitopol.
This article contains graphic descriptions of torture.
Konstantin Yefremov's face flickers into view on my computer screen and we start to talk. He is a man with a story to tell. Until recently he was a Russian army officer.
Deployed to Ukraine last year, the former senior lieutenant has agreed to tell me about the crimes he says he witnessed there - including torture and mistreatment of Ukrainian prisoners. He will talk about his comrades looting occupied areas of Ukraine, and describe brutal interrogation sessions, led by a Russian colonel, in which men were shot and threatened with rape.
On 10 February 2022, Mr Yefremov says he arrived in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia nine years ago. He was the head of a de-mining unit of the 42nd Motorised Rifle Division - and was usually based in Chechnya, in Russia's North Caucasus. He and his men were sent to take part in "military exercises", he says.
"At the time no-one believed there would be war. Everyone thought this was only a drill. I'm sure even senior officers didn't know."
'I was scared of quitting'
Mr Yefremov recalls seeing Russian troops taping identification marks on their uniforms and painting the letter "Z" on military equipment and vehicles. Within days, "Z" had become the symbol of what the Kremlin was calling its "special military operation".
Mr Yefremov claims he wanted nothing to do with it.
"I decided to quit. I went to my commander and explained my position. He took me to a senior officer who called me a traitor and a coward.
"I left my gun, got in a taxi and drove off. I wanted to return to my base in Chechnya and resign officially. Then my comrades telephoned me with a warning.
"A colonel had promised to put me in prison for up to 10 years for desertion and he'd alerted the police."
Mr Yefremov says he called a military lawyer, who advised him to turn around.
"I realise now I should have ignored that and driven on," he says. "But I was afraid of being put in jail."
He went back to join his men.
Mr Yefremov insists he is "anti-war". He assures me he did not participate in Russia's annexation of Crimea, or fight in eastern Ukraine when war first erupted in the Donbas nine years ago.
In 2014, Russia was not only accused of orchestrating a separatist uprising there, but of sending in its own troops. Konstantin also tells me he has not taken part in Russia's military operation in Syria.
"For the last three years I had been involved in mine clearance in Chechnya, a place that had experienced two wars. I think the work I've done there has benefited people."
Looting bicycles and lawnmowers
Mr Yefremov was placed in temporary charge of a rifle platoon. On 27 February, three days after the Russian invasion, he says he and his men were ordered to move north from occupied Crimea. They headed for the city of Melitopol.
The next 10 days were spent at an airfield which had already been captured by Russian troops. He describes the looting he witnessed.
"Soldiers and officers grabbed everything they could. They climbed all over the planes and went through all the buildings. One soldier took away a lawnmower. He said proudly, 'I'll take this home and cut the grass next to our barracks.'
"Buckets, axes, bicycles, they bunged it all in their trucks. So much stuff they had to squat down to fit in the vehicles."
Mr Yefremov has sent us photographs he says he took at Melitopol air base. They show transport planes and a building on fire.
They are among a number of pictures and documents he has shared - and which we have verified - to confirm Mr Yefremov's identity, rank and his movements in Ukraine in the spring of 2022.
Online mapping tools confirmed the images of Melitopol air base.
For a month and a half, he and eight soldiers under his command guarded a Russian artillery unit there.
"The whole time we slept outside," he recalls. "We were so hungry we started hunting for rabbits and pheasants. One time we came across a mansion. There was a Russian fighter inside. 'We're with the 100th Brigade and we live here now,' the soldier said.
"There was so much food. The fridges were packed. There was enough food to survive a nuclear war. But the soldiers living there were catching the Japanese carp in the pond outside and eating them."
'I saw interrogation and torture'
Konstantin Yefremov's group moved to guard what he describes as a "logistics headquarters" in April - in the town of Bilmak, to the north-east of Melitopol. There, he says he witnessed interrogations and mistreatment of Ukrainian prisoners.
He recalls a day when three prisoners were brought in.
"One of them admitted to being a sniper. On hearing this, the Russian colonel lost his mind. He hit him, he pulled the Ukrainian's trousers down and asked if he was married.
"'Yes,' the prisoner replied. 'Then someone bring me a mop,' said the colonel. 'We'll turn you into a girl and send your wife the video.'"
Another time, says Mr Yefremov, the colonel asked the prisoner to name all the Ukrainian nationalists in his unit.
"The Ukrainian didn't understand the question. He replied that the soldiers were naval infantry of the Ukrainian armed forces. For that answer they knocked out some of his teeth."
The Kremlin wants Russians to believe that, in Ukraine, Russia is fighting fascists, neo-Nazis and ultra-nationalists. This false narrative serves to dehumanise Ukrainians in the eyes of the Russian public and the military.
Mr Yefremov says the Ukrainian prisoner had a blindfold on.
"The colonel put a pistol to the prisoner's forehead and said 'I'm going to count to three and then shoot you in the head.'
"He counted and then fired just to the side of his head, on both sides. The colonel started shouting at him. I said: 'Comrade colonel! He can't hear you, you've deafened him!'"
Mr Yefremov describes how the colonel gave orders that the Ukrainians shouldn't be given normal food - only water and crackers. But he says: "We tried to give them hot tea and cigarettes."
So that the prisoners didn't sleep on bare ground, Mr Yefremov also recalls how his men tossed them hay - "at night, so that no-one saw us".
During another interrogation, Mr Yefremov says the colonel shot a prisoner in the arm - and in the right leg under the knee, which hit the bone. Konstantin says his men bandaged the prisoner up and went to the Russian commanders - "not to the Colonel, he was crazy" - and said the prisoner needed to go to hospital, otherwise he would die from blood loss.
"We dressed him up in a Russian uniform and took him to hospital. We told him: 'Don't say you're a Ukrainian prisoner of war, because either the doctors will refuse to treat you, or the injured Russian soldiers will hear and shoot you and we won't be able to stop them."
The UN's Human Rights Office has been documenting cases of mistreatment of prisoners in the war in Ukraine. It has interviewed more than 400 POWs - both Ukrainians and Russians.
"Unfortunately, we've found there is torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war happening on both sides," says Matilda Bogner, head of the UN's Ukraine-based monitoring team.
"If we compare the violations, the torture or ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war tends to happen at almost every stage of confinement. And, for the most part, the conditions of internment are worse in many areas of Russia or occupied Ukraine."
The worst forms of torture or ill treatment for Ukrainian prisoners of war usually occur during interrogation, says Ms Bogner. They can be subjected to electrocution and a whole range of torture methods - she says - including hanging people up and beating them.
"When they arrive at places of internment there are often so-called welcoming beatings. They also often face inadequate food and water," she adds.
Russian prisoners of war, too, have reported beatings and suffering electrocution.
"Any form of torture or ill treatment is prohibited under international law," says Ms Bogner. "It is unacceptable for either side to do this."
The BBC was unable to independently confirm Konstantin Yefremov's specific allegations of torture, but they are consistent with other claims of abuse of Ukrainian prisoners.
Russia's Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Denounced as a traitor and defector
Mr Yefremov would eventually return to his de-mining unit, but not for long.
"Seven of us had taken the decision [to leave the army]," he tells me.
At the end of May, back in Chechnya, he wrote his letter of resignation. Some senior officers were not happy.
"They started threatening me. Officers who hadn't spent a day in Ukraine were telling me that I was a coward and a traitor. They wouldn't allow me to resign. I was dismissed."
Mr Yefremov shows us letters from the military.
In the first document, he is accused of "shirking his duties" and disregarding an order to return to Ukraine. It is described as "a serious breach of discipline".
The second letter refers to Mr Yefremov's "early dismissal from military service… for breaking his contract".
"After 10 years of service I was denounced as a traitor, a defector, just because I didn't want to kill people," he says. "But I was glad that I was now a free person, that I wouldn't have to kill or be killed."
Mr Yefremov was out of the army. But not out of danger of being sent back to the war.
In September 2022, President Putin declared what he called "partial mobilisation". Hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens would be drafted into the military and sent to Ukraine.
Mr Yefremov says he knew - because he had already served with the military in Ukraine - he would not be left alone. He came up with an escape plan.
"In the house where I was living I made a hatch in the attic ceiling… in case police and enlistment officers broke in to deliver call-up papers.
"Enlistment officers were driving to my house and waiting for me in their cars. So, I rented a flat and hid there.
"I hid from the neighbours, too, because I'd heard of cases when neighbours told police about young men who'd been drafted and were hiding. I found this situation humiliating and unacceptable."
Mr Yefremov contacted Russian human rights group Gulagu.net, which helped him leave Russia.
What does Mr Yefremov think about those Russians - and there are many - who express support for Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine?
"I don't know what's going on in their heads," he says. "How could they allow themselves to be fooled? When they go to market, they know they could be short-changed. They don't trust their wives, their husbands.
"But the man who has been deceiving them for 20 years, he only has to give the word and these people are ready to go and kill and die. I can't understand it."
As we end our chat, Mr Yefremov says sorry to the people of Ukraine.
"I apologise to the entire Ukrainian nation for coming to their home as an uninvited guest with a weapon in my hands.
"Thank God I didn't hurt anyone. I didn't kill anyone. Thank God I wasn't killed.
"I don't even have the moral right to ask for forgiveness from the Ukrainians. I can't forgive myself, so I can't expect them to forgive me."
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Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., departs a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 26. (photo: Drew Angerer/Getty)
The vote was 218-211 along party lines. In her first term, Omar drew criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike for tweets that invoked anti-Semitic tropes. She apologized for those tweets but has remained outspoken about the influence of Israel and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful pro-Israel lobby, on U.S. politics.
The resolution, introduced by Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, stated that Omar "has disqualified herself from serving on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, a panel that is viewed by nations around the world as speaking for Congress on matters of international importance and national security."
Miller, who is one of two Jewish Republicans in the House, said in a statement that Omar "cannot be an objective decision-maker on the Foreign Affairs Committee given her biases against Israel and against the Jewish people."
Omar, who herself has faced anti-Muslim bigotry since taking office, told reporters last week that the move to remove her from the committee was "purely partisan."
In an emotional speech on the House floor Thursday, Omar said she is being targeted for her identity as a Muslim immigrant from Africa.
"Is anyone surprised that I am somehow deemed unworthy to speak about American foreign policy? Or that they see me as a powerful voice that needs to be silenced." she said. "I didn't come to Congress to be silent."
Her experience as an immigrant and refugee who survived a civil war give her a valuable and unique perspective on American foreign policy, she added.
Democrats rebuked Omar for her past comments at the time, but they united around her ahead of the vote. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Thursday the motion to remove her was not about accountability, but "political revenge."
"Rep. Omar certainly has made mistakes," Jeffries told reporters. "Ilhan Omar has apologized. She has indicated that she'll learn from her mistakes, is working to build bridges....with the Jewish community."
Republicans cite Democrats' votes to strip GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar of their committee assignments in 2021 as precedent for the Omar move.
Greene lost her committee assignments over her own history of engaging with antisemitism, conspiracy theories and calls for political violence. Gosar was censured by the House after he shared a cartoon video that showed him murdering Democratic colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Greene and Gosar have regained their committee spots under the new Republican House majority.
GOP leadership also recently blocked California Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from serving on the House Intelligence Committee.
Some Republicans have been calling for Omar's removal from the committee for years. But others voiced concerns about due process this week, and with a razor-thin Republican majority, it wasn't clear that the resolution had enough votes to pass.
Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., supported the move only after language was added allowing members to appeal their removal to the House Ethics Committee. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., dropped his opposition after a conversation with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Wednesday, in which Buck proposed future removals be handled by a majority vote in the evenly split Ethics Committee.
"He committed to the process of getting something like that done," Buck said Wednesday, adding that Congress needs to "stop this nonsense of kicking people off committees because it's just wrong."
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., had voiced opposition to the move throughout the week. But Thursday she told reporters she would vote yes after McCarthy committed to creating a process to handle removals through the Ethics Committee in the next 30 days.
"We shook hands ... and I got this commitment from him," Mace said. "Due process is very important to me, and preserving the institution is what this will do."
Omar has faced accusations of antisemitism since 2019
Omar first came under fire for comments on Israel in February 2019, when she posted tweets that invoked tropes about Jewish wealth and influence on U.S. politics. The tweets received bipartisan criticism, and Omar shortly after issued an apology, saying she was "listening and learning" about "the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes."
The next month, Omar again drew condemnation for comments criticizing pro-Israel lobbying in American politics. In a speech at a political event, she said, "I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country. I want to ask why is it OK for me to talk about the influence of the NRA, of fossil fuel industries or Big Pharma, and not talk about a powerful lobbying group that is influencing policies?"
Many saw these comments as suggesting American Jews have "dual loyalty" — a smear used to harass and persecute Jewish people throughout history. The remarks prompted the House to approve a resolution condemning "anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism and other forms of bigotry."
In 2021, Omar drew criticism for comments that appeared to equate the United States and Israel with terror groups. In a tweet about the role of the International Criminal Court, she said that "we have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban."
After a group of 12 Democrats denounced Omar's comments, she issued a clarification: "To be clear: the conversation was about accountability for specific incidents regarding those [International Criminal Court] cases, not a moral comparison between Hamas and the Taliban and the U.S. and Israel," she wrote in a press release.
"I was in no way equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries with well-established judicial systems," she added.
In 2018, Omar became one of the first Muslim women elected to the House and, along with other progressive women of color, has been a target of vicious attacks since.
In 2019, then-President Donald Trump tweeted that Omar and her colleagues often known as "the squad" should "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came." At one of the former president's rallies, the mention of Omar — who was born in Somalia and spent time in a refugee camp — drew chants of "send her back" from the crowd.
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Monterrious Harris in Memphis on Thursday. Harris says he was assaulted by the same Scorpion officers days before Tyre Nichols was fatally beaten. (photo: Brandon Dill/NBC News)
“I thought someone was trying to carjack me,” Monterrious Harris told NBC News.
Monterrious Harris said he was beaten up three days before Nichols was attacked by some of the same officers who were with the now-disbanded Scorpion unit.
He said that the black-clad men who ordered him to get out of his car on Jan. 4 did not identify themselves and that he had no idea they were part of the special crime-fighting squad that would be implicated in Nichols’ death.
“They were trying to pull me out of the car, but my car was locked,” Harris said this week. “I thought someone was trying to carjack me. I didn’t know they were officers.”
Harris said he plans to sue the city and its police department Saturday in U.S. District Court in Memphis.
Harris’ lawyer, Robert Spence, said Harris called him about a week after Nichols died.
A Jan. 4 affidavit of complaint filed by the arresting officers revealed that the five officers involved in Nichols’ beating were part of the nine-member team that arrested Harris. The document did not indicate whether any officers were involved in a physical altercation.
City officials, the police department and lawyers for the five former officers did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
Harris said he was sitting in his car at the Twin Oak Apartments when several men wearing ski masks suddenly appeared with guns drawn.
One of them banged on the window of his Chrysler 300 and another blinded him with a flashlight as other officers surrounded his vehicle, Harris said.
“Get out the car, or I’m going to shoot,” Harris said one of the men told him.
Harris said he was terrified and put his car into reverse and hit the gas in an attempt to flee. But he wound up backing into a wall.
“At that point, I got out of the car,” Harris said.
The men in black closed in on him and ordered him to put his hands up, he said. But before he could do that, they slammed him on the concrete and began punching him in the face, he said.
“You almost got your head blowed off,” Harris said one of the men told him.
Harris was arrested and taken to jail, where a nurse determined he needed medical attention, which he received at a hospital, he said. Regional One Health did not respond to phone calls requesting Harris’ medical records and details of his injuries Thursday. Spence said he has asked the hospital for Harris’ medical records but has not received them yet.
The affidavit names the five former officers involved in the Nichols case: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith and Desmond Mills Jr. The police department fired all five after Nichols died from his injuries on Jan. 10.
The five are charged with second-degree murder, two counts of official misconduct, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of official oppression and one count of aggravated assault. Like Nichols, they are Black.
The Scorpion team, according to the affidavit, was conducting an investigation at the apartment complex when Harris “began screeching his tires” and drove at the officers at a fast speed before he stopped.
Smelling marijuana, an officer asked Harris to roll down his window, according to the affidavit. Instead, Harris drove his car in reverse, abandoned the vehicle and tried to run away, the document says.
Harris, who was convicted of a felony in Arkansas two years ago for fleeing law enforcement in a manner that could cause substantial injury or death, had a 9 mm handgun, marijuana and the anxiety medication Xanax, according to the affidavit. Officers also found a black holster and live magazine rounds in his car, it says.
Spence said Harris is charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun, criminal trespass, evading arrest, felony possession of a controlled substance with the intent to sell and other counts.
Harris insisted in the interview that the car did not smell like pot and that the gun was not his. He also said he considers himself very lucky he did not meet the same fate as Nichols.
“I thought someone was trying to carjack me. I didn’t know they were officers,” Harris said of his encounter with the Scorpion unit.
“I really felt like God was with me,” he said.
His encounter occurred three days before Nichols crossed paths with a group of Memphis police officers during a Jan. 7 traffic stop and suffered a beating that led to his death.
The five officers who were charged were members of Scorpion, or Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods, an anti-violence unit launched in November 2021, when the city’s murder rate was soaring and the community was calling for action.
Harrowing video of Nichols, 29, being beaten and crying out for his mother was released last week, sparking nationwide outrage and condemnation from the White House on down.
Two Shelby County sheriff’s deputies were also relieved of duty pending an administrative investigation into Nichols’ death, Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. announced.
Two other Memphis men, Glenn Harris and Demarius Hervey, told NBC News this week they experienced a violent encounter with former officer Martin in August 2020.
An Aug. 2, 2020, affidavit of complaint signed by Officer E. Martin said Harris and Hervey were arrested after Harris crashed the black Nissan Maxima he was driving and started a brief foot chase.
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The U.S. is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted over U.S. airspace for a couple days, but the Pentagon decided not to shoot it down due to risks of harm for people on the ground. (photo: Larry Mayer/AP)
A senior defense official told Pentagon reporters that the U.S. has “very high confidence” it is a Chinese high-altitude balloon and it was flying over sensitive sites to collect information. One of the places the balloon was spotted was Montana, which is home to one of the nation’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.
Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, provided a brief statement on the issue, saying the government continues to track the balloon. He said it is “currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.”
He said similar balloon activity has been seen in the past several years. He added that the U.S. took steps to ensure it did not collect sensitive information.
A senior administration official, who was also not authorized to publicly discuss sensitive information, said President Joe Biden was briefed and asked the military to present options. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advised against taking “kinetic action” because of risks to the safety of people on the ground. Biden accepted that recommendation.
The defense official said the U.S. has “engaged” Chinese officials through multiple channels and communicated the seriousness of the matter.
The incident comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken was supposed to make his first trip to Beijing, expected this weekend, to try to find some common ground. Although the trip has not been formally announced, both Beijing and Washington have been talking about his imminent arrival.
It was not immediately clear if the discovery of the balloon would impact Blinken’s travel plans.
The senior defense official said the U.S. did get fighter jets, including F-22s, ready to shoot down the balloon if ordered to by the White House. The Pentagon ultimately recommended against it, noting that even as the balloon was over a sparsely populated area of Montana, its size would create a debris field large enough that it could have put people at risk.
It was not clear what the military was doing to prevent it from collecting sensitive information or what will happen with the balloon if it isn’t shot down.
In a letter sent Thursday to Austin, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., wrote: “The fact that this balloon was occupying Montana airspace creates significant concern that Malmstrom Air Force Base and the United States’ intercontinental ballistic missile fields are the target of this intelligence gathering mission. ... It is vital to establish the flight path of this balloon, any compromised U.S. national security assets, and all telecom or IT infrastructure on the ground within the U.S. that this spy balloon was utilizing.”
The defense official said the spy balloon was trying to fly over the Montana missile fields, but the U.S. has assessed that it has “limited” value in terms of providing China intelligence it couldn’t already collect by other means, such through spy satellites.
The official would not specify the size of the balloon, but said it was large enough that despite its high altitude, commercial pilots could see it. All air traffic was halted at Montana’s Billings Logan International Airport from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, as the military provided options to the White House.
A photograph of a large white balloon lingering over the area was captured by The Billings Gazette, but the Pentagon would not confirm if that was the surveillance balloon. The balloon could be seen drifting in and out of clouds and had what appeared to be a solar array hanging from the bottom, said Gazette photographer Larry Mayer.
The defense official said what concerned them about this launch was the altitude the balloon was flying at and the length of time it lingered over a location, without providing specifics.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said he was briefed Wednesday about the situation after the Montana National Guard was notified of an ongoing military operation taking place in Montana airspace, according to a statement from the Republican governor and spokesperson Brooke Stroyke.
“From the spy balloon to the Chinese Communist Party spying on Americans through TikTok to CCP-linked companies buying American farmland, I’m deeply troubled by the constant stream of alarming developments for our national security,” Gianforte said in a statement.
The administration official said congressional leaders’ staffs were briefed on the matter Thursday afternoon. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., tweeted, “China’s brazen disregard for U.S. sovereignty is a destabilizing action that must be addressed.”
Tensions with China are particularly high on numerous issues, ranging from Taiwan and the South China Sea to human rights in China’s western Xinjiang region and the clampdown on democracy activists in Hong Kong. Not least on that list of irritants are China’s tacit support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, its refusal to rein in North Korea’s expanding ballistic missile program and ongoing disputes over trade and technology.
On Tuesday, Taiwan scrambled fighter jets, put its navy on alert and activated missile systems in response to nearby operations by 34 Chinese military aircraft and nine warships that are part Beijing’s strategy to unsettle and intimidate the self-governing island democracy.
Twenty of those aircraft crossed the central line in the Taiwan Strait that has long been an unofficial buffer zone between the two sides, which separated during a civil war in 1949.
Beijing has also increased preparations for a potential blockade or military action against Taiwan, which has stirred increasing concern among military leaders, diplomats and elected officials in the U.S., Taiwan’s key ally.
The surveillance balloon was first reported by NBC News.
Some Montana residents reported seeing an unusual object in the sky around the time of the airport shutdown Wednesday, but it’s not clear that what they were seeing was the balloon.
From an office window in Billings, Chase Doak said he saw a “big white circle in the sky” that he said was too small to be the moon.
He took some photos, then ran home to get a camera with a stronger lens and took more photos and video. He could see it for about 45 minutes and it appeared stationary, but Doak said the video suggested it was slowly moving.
“I thought maybe it was a legitimate UFO,” he said. “So I wanted to make sure I documented it and took as many photos as I could.”
Protesters, supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, storm the the National Congress building in Brasilia, Brazil, Jan. 8, 2023. (photo: Eraldo Peres/AP)In the recording, Sen. Marcos do Val tells the magazine Veja that the idea was discussed when he met with Bolsonaro and lawmaker Daniel Silveira on Dec. 9 at the presidential residence, three weeks before leftist Luiz InΓ‘cio Lula da Silva was set to take office.
Do Val, who was an ally during Bolsonaro’s four-year term, said the far-right leader gave him the “mission” of recording Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court justice who also heads Brazil’s electoral authority, while trying to get the judge to admit he overstepped his powers under the constitution.
“‘I annul the election, Lula isn’t sworn in, I stay in the presidency and arrest Alexandre de Moraes because of his comments,’” do Val quotes Bolsonaro as saying.
Veja released the audio in response to denials the senator issued following the magazine’s report Thursday morning about the purported plot, which had not cited him as its source. Do Val told reporters after the magazine published its story that the plot had been Silveira’s idea and that the former president hadn’t said a word during the meeting.
Later Thursday, de Moraes ordered the Federal Police to take do Val’s sworn testimony within five days. Bolsonaro, who has been keeping a low profile in Florida since Dec. 30, did not comment on the matter on any of his social media channels. He recently applied for a six-month tourist visa to stay in the U.S.
Contacted by The Associated Press, Bolsonaro’s lawyer Frederick Wassef declined to comment.
The alleged meeting adds to the growing list of woes for Bolsonaro, who is already under investigation for his possible role in his supporters’ uprising in the Brazilian capital on Jan. 8.
Bolsonaro cast doubt on the nation’s electronic voting system for months in the lead-up to the election, and he then refused to concede defeat. His die-hard supporters have accused de Moraes of rigging the election in Lula’s favor, without offering any evidence, and of overstepping his authority by blocking social media accounts and ordering allegedly arbitrary arrests and searches.
Suspicions of a coup plot increased after police searching the home of Bolsonaro’s former justice minister found a draft decree that would have seized control of the electoral authority and potentially overturned the election. The origin of the unsigned document is unclear, and it remains unknown if Bolsonaro or his subordinates took any steps to implement the measure.
Lula said in an interview Thursday that Bolsonaro tried to stop him from taking office. He also said supporters of the former president had hoped to invade government buildings on his inauguration day but had to settle for Jan. 8, one week later.
“Now I am aware, and I will say it loud and clear: That man prepared the coup. They wanted to make that mess on January 1st, but they noticed they could not because there was too much police, too many people on the street,” Lula told the TV network RedeTV!.
Do Val told both Veja magazine and journalists later Thursday that he informed de Moraes of what was discussed at the meeting with Bolsonaro and Silveira, and that he declined to participate in the alleged plot.
Sen. FlΓ‘vio Bolsonaro, the former president’s son, said he was aware of the meeting, which he described as an attempt by Silveira to persuade the other two men to do something “absolutely unacceptable, absurd and illegal.” But discussing such an idea does not constitute a crime, he said.
Silveira was arrested Thursday on de Moraes’ order for violating terms of his release from prison. Silveira was previously sentenced for anti-democratic acts after issuing threats against de Moraes and other justices, but was released after Bolsonaro pardoned him. Still, he was prohibited from using his social media accounts and required to wear an electronic ankle bracelet as other investigations targeting him proceed.
READ MORE 
Greenpeace climate justice activists approaching Shell platform en route to major oilfield with message: ‘STOP DRILLING. START PAYING.’ (photo: Chris J Ratcliffe/Greenpeace)
Carlos Marcelo Bariggi Amara of Argentina, Yakup Γetinkaya of Turkey; Imogen Michel of the UK and Usnea Granger of the U.S. managed to board the White Marlin at 8 a.m. Tuesday and went on to occupy an oil and gas platform that will be used to unlock eight new oil wells. Fellow activists Yeb SaΓ±o from the Philippines and Waya Pesik Maweru from Indonesia also approached the vessel but were unable to board.
“Shell must stop drilling and start paying,” SaΓ±o, who is also the executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said in a press release. “We’re taking action today because when Shell extracts fossil fuels it causes a ripple of death, destruction and displacement around the world, having the worst impact on people who are least to blame for the climate crisis.”
π¨ BREAKING: Greenpeace activists have OCCUPIED a Shell platform en route to the North Sea. Here's why.#MakeShellPay #StopDrillingStartPaying #Shell #FossilFuels #Oil&Gas #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis pic.twitter.com/dLQaKmaZx6
— Greenpeace (@Greenpeace) January 31, 2023
The activists approached the vessel while it was located north of the Canary Islands. They arrived in three smaller boats launched from Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise and then used ropes to climb onto the 51,000-tonne Shell-contracted ship.
“There was a couple of meters of swell. It was a bit of an adventure to get on board,” Granger said, as The Guardian reported. “But we are well and safe. We have all the equipment we need to keep ourselves safe.”
The protest is intended to draw attention to the fact that Shell and other fossil fuel companies are contributing to the climate crisis without paying for any of the losses and damages it causes. Granger told The Guardian she had friends who had been forced to flee their homes because of wildfires and hurricanes.
“Shell and the wider fossil fuel industry are bringing the climate crisis into our homes, our families, our landscapes and oceans,” SaΓ±o said in the press release. “So we will take them on at sea, at shareholder meetings, in the courtroom, online and at their headquarters. We won’t stop until we get climate justice. We will make polluters pay.”
The action comes as Shell is expected to announce around $83 billion in profits for 2022 on Thursday, according to Greenpeace and The Guardian. Major fossil fuel companies have raked in record profits due to the high oil and gas prices associated with the ongoing energy crisis. Shell reported record quarterly profits during the first three months of 2022 and broke that record again during the year’s second quarter, as Reuters reported.
The oil platform targeted by the climate activists is bound for the Penguins oil and gas field 150 miles off of Scotland’s Shetland Islands, according to The Guardian. It marks the first new crewed production platform that Shell is sending to the North Sea in 30 years, Greenpeace said, and it could help Shell extract 45,000 barrels of oil a day from the Penguin oil field. If all of the oil and gas in the Penguin oil field were burned, it would generate more than the yearly greenhouse gas emissions of Norway, according to The Guardian.
The International Energy Agency has calculated that, if policy and financial leaders want to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, they should not invest in any new oil and gas developments beyond those planned as of 2021. Shell says that Penguin is an already active oil field, according to The Guardian. However, the new platform could also be used to generate oil and gas from a new source Shell is currently drilling.
In response to the protests, Shell emphasized safety.
“These actions are causing real safety concerns, with a number of people boarding a moving vessel in rough conditions,” a Shell spokesperson said in an email to Bloomberg. “We respect the right of everyone to express their point of view. It’s essential they do that with their safety and that of others in mind.”
As of Wednesday, the four activists were still occupying the platform, Greenpeace tweeted.
π¨ UPDATE π¨
— Greenpeace (@Greenpeace) February 1, 2023
Four brave activists are STILL OCCUPYING a 34,000 tonne oil platform on its way to the North Sea.
It's time for Shell to start paying up for the loss and damage it's caused.
Let's show some support for their brave actions ππ#MakeShellPay pic.twitter.com/QcRJ5A9pqG
They said they had supplies to remain in place for several days, according to Greenpeace.
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