#interference by russia in ukraine

[tomorrowusa]

Part Two of The Kyiv Independent's history series Ukraine's True History.

This episode deals with Russia's attempts to subjugate what is now Ukraine dating back to late medieval times.

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #26

July 5-12 2024

The IRS announced it had managed to collect $1 billion in back taxes from high-wealth tax cheats. The program focused on persons with more than $1 million in yearly income who owned more than $250,000 in unpaid taxes. Thanks to money in Biden's 2022 Inflation Reduction Act the IRS is able to undertake more enforcement against rich tax cheats after years of Republicans cutting the agency's budget, which they hope to do again if they win power again.

The Biden administration announced a $244 million dollar investment in the federal government’s registered apprenticeship program. This marks the largest investment in the program's history with grants going out to 52 programs in 32 states. The President is focused on getting well paying blue collar opportunities to people and more people are taking part in the apprenticeship program than ever before. Republican pledge to cut it, even as employers struggle to find qualified workers.

The Department of Transportation announced the largest single project in the department's history, $11 billion dollars in grants for the The Hudson River Tunnel. Part of the $66 billion the Biden Administration has invested in our rail system the tunnel, the most complex Infrastructure project in the nation would link New York and New Jersey by rail under the Hudson. Once finished it's believed it'll impact 20% of the American economy by improving and speeding connection throughout the Northeast.

The Department of Energy announced $1.7 billion to save auto worker's jobs and convert factories to electronic vehicles. The Biden administration will used the money to save or reopen factories in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Virginia and retool them to make electric cars. The project will save 15,000 skilled union worker jobs, and created 2,900 new high-quality jobs.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development reached a settlement with The Appraisal Foundation over racial discrimination. TAF is the organization responsible for setting standards and qualifications for real estate appraisers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics last year found that TAF was 94.7% White and 0.6% Black, making it the least racially diverse of the 800 occupations surveyed. Black and Latino home owners are far more likely to have their houses under valued than whites. Under the settlement with HUD TAF will have to take serious steps to increase diversity and remove structural barriers to diversity.

The Department of Justice disrupted an effort by the Russian government to influence public opinion through AI bots. The DoJ shut down nearly 1,000 twitter accounts that were linked to a Russian Bot farm. The bots used AI technology to not only generate tweets but also AI image faces for profile pictures. The effort seemed focused on boosting support for Russia's war against Ukraine and spread negative stories/impressions about Ukraine.

The Department of Transportation announces $1.5 billion to help local authorities buy made in America buses. 80% of the funding will go toward zero or low-emission technology, a part of the President's goal of reaching zero emissions by 2050. This is part of the $5 billion the DOT has spent over the last 3 years replacing aging buses with new cleaner technology.

President Biden with Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau and Finnish President Alexander Stubb signed a new agreement on the arctic. The new trilateral agreement between the 3 NATO partners, known as the ICE Pact, will boost production of ice breaking ships, the 3 plan to build as many as 90 between them in the coming years. The alliance hopes to be a counter weight to China's current dominance in the ice breaker market and help western allies respond to Russia's aggressive push into the arctic waters.

The Department of Transportation announced $1.1 billion for greater rail safety. The program seeks to, where ever possible, eliminate rail crossings, thus removing the dangers and inconvenience to communities divided by rail lines. It will also help update and improve safety measures at rail crossings.

The Department of the Interior announced $120 million to help tribal communities prepare for climate disasters. This funding is part of half a billion dollars the Biden administration has spent to help tribes build climate resilience, which itself is part of a $50 billion dollar effort to build climate resilience across the nation. This funding will help support drought measures, wildland fire mitigation, community-driven relocation, managed retreat, protect-in-place efforts, and ocean and coastal management.

The USDA announced $100 million in additional funds to help feed low income kids over the summer. Known as "SUN Bucks" or "Summer EBT" the new Biden program grants the families of kids who qualify for free meals at school $120 dollars pre-child for groceries. This comes on top of the traditional SUN Meals program which offers school meals to qualifying children over the summer, as well as the new under President Biden SUN Meals To-Go program which is now offering delivery of meals to low-income children in rural areas. This grant is meant to help local governments build up the Infrastructure to support and distribute SUN Bucks. If fully implemented SUN Bucks could help 30 million kids, but many Republican governors have refused the funding.

USAID announced its giving $100 million to the UN World Food Program to deliver urgently needed food assistance in Gaza. This will bring the total humanitarian aid given by the US to the Palestinian people since the war started in October 2023 to $774 million, the single largest donor nation. President Biden at his press conference last night said that Israel and Hamas have agreed in principle to a ceasefire deal that will end the war and release the hostages. US negotiators are working to close the final gaps between the two sides and end the war.

The Senate confirmed Nancy Maldonado to serve as a Judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Maldonado is the 202nd federal Judge appointed by President Biden to be confirmed. She will the first Latino judge to ever serve on the 7th Circuit which covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

Bonus: At the NATO summit in Washington DC President Biden joined 32 allies in the Ukraine compact. Allies from Japan to Iceland confirmed their support for Ukraine and deepening their commitments to building Ukraine's forces and keeping a free and Democratic Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. World leaders such as British Prime Minster Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, praised President Biden's experience and leadership during the NATO summit

[democratthatlovesguns]

There Are NO Iranian Assassins

It is Sunday November 10, 2024, stories have died down about this, but Putin will continue to push it because it's what that asshole does.

I have a prior post about this, but just so we're clear, there are NO Iranian agents actually trying to kill Trump.

There is no real intent for North Korean soldiers to engage in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It's all smoke and mirrors ... It is what makes Trump so confident he can end so many conflicts immediately upon entering the White House again - Putin is pulling all the strings.

Also, same script, the Trump team is refusing to sign executive power transition paperwork that in any other presidency would be a nonissue, but they have to make it an issue so Faux News has something to talk about while republicans in congress figure out how to ban abortions nationwide behind closed doors.

All just smoke and mirrors.

Soon, when Trump claims that he strong armed normalized relations with Iran, and his idiot supporters believe him unquestioningly, it will be the most hilarious show of stupidity I've seen in decades. And then, those same republicans will go out and accuse democrats of idolatry - it's going to be fucking hilarious.

It's not going to be hilarious when Trump attempts to make himself Chancellor of America, with the power to veto congress and future presidents, at that point we are going to be at war. We can all thank republicans for that.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Reuters, via Al Jazeera:

Russia again favours Republican Donald Trump as its preferred candidate to win the US presidential election this year, a US intelligence official has said. The official, briefing reporters on US election security, was careful not to name the former president and presumptive Republican nominee when asked who Moscow wants to see as the next US president.

But he indicated that Russia favoured Trump, adding that the US intelligence community had not changed its assessments of Moscow’s preference from previous elections. “We have not observed a shift in Russia’s preferences for the presidential race from past elections, given the role the US is playing with regard to Ukraine and broader policy toward Russia,” the official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said on Tuesday. Previous assessments found that Moscow had tried, through influence campaigns, to help Trump win in 2016 against Hillary Clinton and in the 2020 campaign which he lost to current US President Joe Biden.

US Intelligence report: Russia is favoring Donald Trump once again.

[jackassdemocrats]

Once a known liar, nobody will ever trust your words again.

[davidaugust]

If your media company is laundering money to buy “sniper rifles, drones and night-vision goggles” then it’s not a media company anymore. Your “activities extend beyond providing news.”

Gift article: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/13/us/politics/russia-sanctions-disinformation-rt.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KU4.g3J-.Q8BZYZWReVjY&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb&ngrp=mnp

[odinsblog]

The Republican impeachment push against President Joe Biden has always rested on the thinnest of evidentiary ice, but with one of their key informants facing criminal charges for lying to federal investigators, the charade is now on the verge of falling apart.

On Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee — one of the three Republican-controlled committees overseeing the Biden impeachment inquiry — held a hearing in an attempt to salvage the effort.

Democrats brought in Lev Parnas, a former Rudy Giuliani crony who was a key figure in the Ukraine scandal that led to Trump’s first impeachment. During his testimony, Parnas declared that he had found “zero evidence of the Bidens’ corruption in Ukraine” and that “no credible source has ever provided proof of criminal activity […] no respectable Ukrainian official has ever said that the Biden’s did anything illegal.”

“The only information ever pushed on the Biden’s in Ukraine has come from one source, and one source only: Russia and Russian agents,” Parnas said. “The impeachment proceedings that bring us here now are predicated on false information spread by the Kremlin.”

(continue reading)

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

A stunt impeachment inquiry.

December 13, 2023

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

          House Republicans will vote to open an impeachment inquiry of President Biden on Wednesday. Why? They can’t say—because they don’t know. Oh, sure, they have baseless conspiracy theories—but no evidence (a common situation with conspiracy theories). So, because they have no evidence to support baseless conspiracy theories, they argue they need an impeachment inquiry to help them pursue imaginary evidence—thereby maintaining the illusion of corruption where none exists.

          Of course, the real reason they will open an impeachment inquiry is because Donald Trump told them to do so. Trump was impeached twice—a level of disgrace achieved by no other president. Trump's solution is to denigrate and debase impeachment so he can argue that impeachments are nothing more than partisan retribution. As always, Trump seeks to undermine the institutions that dare to hold him accountable. Here, he is assaulting the Constitution because its provisions were (rightly) applied in a way never before witnessed in the history of our nation.

          The efforts of House Republicans to evade answering the “Why impeach Joe Biden” question would have been funny if they were not tragic and dangerous. Indeed, several House Republicans admitted that they did not have evidence to impeach Joe Biden—which is why (they claim) they need to open an impeachment inquiry. See Talking Points Memo, As They Admit There’s No Evidence, House Republicans Will Still Greenlight Impeachment Inquiry.

          The tragedy of the stunt impeachment inquiry is that it comes at a time when congressional Republicans are failing at every level in discharging their constitutional duties. Ukrainian President Zelensky visited with President Biden and senior congressional leaders on Tuesday—and left empty-handed. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell—a strong ally of Ukraine—expressed doubt that Congress will authorize additional funds for Ukraine before January, a month after the US will reportedly run out of funds earmarked for Ukraine. See Politico, McConnell: Border-Ukraine deal this year ‘practically impossible’.

          But if action on funding Ukraine is delayed until January, it will be swept into the maelstrom of two deadlines for government shutdowns. Current government funding expires on January 19 and February 2, 2024. While Senate negotiators are reportedly hard at work to reach a compromise, any compromise requires resolving intractable, decades-old issues relating to the management of the US southern border. By tying funding for Ukraine to the resolution of long-standing immigration issues in the US, congressional Republicans seem to be carrying water for Vladimir Putin and (therefore) Donald Trump. 

          Speaker Mike Johnson set an unattainable bar in setting conditions for aid to Ukraine. He said,

What the Biden administration seems to be asking for is billions of additional dollars with no appropriate oversight, no clear strategy to win and with none of the answers that I think the American people are owed.

          Johnson is demanding that the US exercise “oversight” of Ukraine’s “strategy” for defeating an invading Russian army. As the brave Ukrainian people have demonstrated, their “strategy” is to resist Putin’s vastly larger army with every ounce of determination and bravery they can muster. That bravery has held the Russian army at bay for more than 600 days, a stupendous achievement that continues to defy predictions that Ukraine would collapse in a week. The Ukrainian bravery and battlefield success is apparently not enough for the milquetoast Mike Johnson.

          President Biden responded to the vacuous, mealy-mouthed statement by Johnson, saying it was a “Christmas gift” to Vladimir Putin. Biden also noted that news commentators in Russia’s state-controlled broadcast network celebrated the Republican stonewalling of aid to Ukraine. Biden said,

This host of a Kremlin-run show said: ‘Well done, Republicans. That’s good for us,’” If you’re being celebrated by Russian propagandists, it might be time to rethink what you’re doing. History, history will judge harshly those who turn their back on freedom’s cause.

          The GOP’s impeachment and the reluctance to provide more military aid to Ukraine are rooted in Donald Trump's scheme to use his control over Republicans in Congress to inflict political damage on Biden—even if that vendetta hurts the interests of the American people and its allies.

          The good news (explained below) is that Democrats are making progress toward regaining control of the House. Indeed, Speaker Johnson’s stunt impeachment and abandonment of Ukraine will hasten that outcome.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[jackass-democrats]

Biden calls putin president of Ukraine.

As always, never buy anything made in china. Don't ever trust a democrat and NEVER leave your child alone with one.

[head-post]

Sandu back in power thanks to Moldovans unwilling to return home

President Maia Sandu is leading in the second round of the Moldovan presidential election with 54.43 per cent of the vote. After 98 per cent of ballots were counted, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC), her main rival, former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo of the opposition Party of Socialists, is in second place with 45.57 per cent of the vote. At the same time, he is leading in internal polling stations.

Alexandr Stoianoglo, despite the overall result, showed the best performance domestically. The majority of residents in the northern and southern regions of Moldova cast their votes for the former prosecutor general, who was sacked by the authorities under Sandu.

The turnout was 54.3 per cent – the election was recognised as valid. A total of 1,676,543 people came to the polling stations. At the same time, Stoianoglo won the majority of votes inside the country (turnout 1,352,759 people, 51.19 per cent against 48.81 per cent for Sandu). In the polling stations abroad (323,784 voters), Sandu had 82.72 per cent against 17.28 per cent for her opponent.

In fact, Sandu stayed in power thanks to the votes of emigrants, Moldovans who left their state in search of a better life and travelled to the EU. However, locals living in Moldova would not want the current president to continue ruling the country, indicating a likely dissatisfaction with the government.

Maia Sandu announced her victory in the Moldovan presidential election. In her speech, she emphasised her obligation to be president for all citizens of the country, regardless of their political preferences. Sandu said at a briefing at her campaign headquarters:

“I would like to express my gratitude to my voters for their active participation in the past elections. Moreover, every citizen’s vote is a contribution to the future of the country, regardless of who they favoured – for me or my rival Alexandr Stoianoglo.���

Sandu also supported her opponent Alexandr Stoianoglo’s calls to preserve peace and stability in the republic. She emphasised that her priority remains the strengthening of trust between citizens and the pursuit of stability regardless of political differences.

Earlier, it became known that the CEC of Moldova received information about 190 violations at polling stations. There were also reports that the Moldovan embassy in Moscow ran out of ballots while there was still an impressive queue of those wishing to vote outside. In addition, residents of unrecognised Transnistria also experienced difficulties in voting.

On October 20, a referendum on Moldova’s accession to the EU was also held. The votes were almost equally divided with a small margin (slightly more than 10,000 votes) in favour of supporters of European integration. Moreover, immediately after the polls closed, a small gap was in favour of the opponents of European integration. But at night, as the votes were counted in Chisinau and abroad, the gap narrowed considerably (76 per cent of citizens abroad supported European integration).

The European Commission said that there was alleged pressure and intimidation from Russia in the Moldovan presidential election. The corresponding statement during the briefing was made by the official representative of the foreign policy service of the European Union Peter Stano. He said:

“This vote took place under conditions of unprecedented interference and intimidation by Russia and its proxies.”

World politicians’ reaction to Sandu’s victory

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was happy to continue working with the tentatively re-elected Moldovan president “for the good of the country’s European future.” The EC chief wrote on social media:

“Congratulations, dear Sandu, on today’s victory. It takes a rare willpower to overcome the difficulties you faced in this election.”

The French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Maia Sandu on her re-election as President of Moldova after the second round of voting. The corresponding publication appeared on his page in social network X. Macron assured that Paris will continue to support Chisinau on its European path. He wrote on X:

“I want to congratulate Maia Sandu on her re-election as President of the Republic of Moldova. Democracy has triumphed in the face of all interference and manoeuvring.”

European diplomatic chief Josep Borrel congratulated Maia Sandu on her victory in the presidential election. The Moldovan people, according to the EU diplomatic chief, have again “demonstrated the determination” to build a future aimed at Europe. This happened, Borrell thinks, despite “hybrid attempts to undermine democracy.”

EU politicians openly rejoice at the victory of the pro-European candidate, however, all are silent that Sandu became president again at the expense of votes of those citizens who left the country and are not going to return.

On the way to the Ukrainian scenario

Parliamentary elections in Georgia were held on October 26, with more than 2 million people taking part in them. Immediately after the polls closed, both the ruling party and Georgian President Salome Zourabishvili, who supports the opposition, announced their victory, citing exit polls. Western organisations Edison Research and Harrys X have estimated that the Georgian Dream will get 40-42% of the vote, while its pro-European opponents will get more than 50%. At the same time, the Georgian television channel Imedi reported that the ruling party was receiving 56.1 per cent of the vote.

On the morning of October 27, the Georgian Central Election Commission officially announced Georgian Dream’s victory in the parliamentary elections. According to the election commission, the party received 53.9 per cent of the vote, guaranteeing it a majority in parliament. The OSCE observation mission said that the parliamentary elections in Georgia were competitive and the CEC conducted them “efficiently.”

After the official results were announced, Zourabishvili refused to recognise the election results and called on all those who share her position to come out to protests on October 28.

A large opposition rally was held in front of the parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi at 7 p.m. on October 28. Many people came to it with flags not only of Georgia and the EU, but also of Ukraine. Head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen came to the protest and said that the Georgian people “are fighting for democracy.”

Media also reported that Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Deputy Oleksiy Goncharenko also arrived at the protest.

Georgia’s opposition announced a large rally on Monday evening near the country’s parliament over non-recognition of the results of the past elections. The Coalition for Change, Unity – National Movement and Strong Georgia were involved in the preparation of the rally. Representatives of the For Georgia Party refused to take part in the organisation of the event, concentrating on collecting evidence of election fraud.

The organisers are not revealing the scenario of the upcoming rally, but intend to announce further plans at the event. Earlier, the Coalition for Change announced the collection of tents, with up to a thousand of them in reserve, but it is unclear whether the tent city will appear in the centre of Tbilisi during the rally.

In fact, the EU is directly interfering in the election and campaigning process in Georgia and Moldova, putting pressure on voters and refusing to recognise the victory of non-European candidates. The fighters for democracy are stifling democratic freedoms with their own hands. Georgia and Moldova are not yet part of the European Union, and judging by the results of voting and referendums, the people of these countries are not particularly keen to follow the path of Ukraine, whose authorities ten years ago wanted to enter the EU at any cost, and in fact destroyed the country with war and huge debts to Europe.

Read more HERE

[tomorrowusa]

A vote for Trump is a vote for Putin. Why else does Russia subsidize MAGA blowhards?

[canadianabroadvery]

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/foreign-affairs/ukrainian-trial-proves-2014-maidan-massacre-was-false-flag-coup

Ukrainian Trial Proves 2014 Maidan Massacre Was False Flag Coup A massacre of protesters during the 2014 Maidan coup set the stage for the ouster of Ukraine’s elected president, Viktor Yanukovych. Now, an explosive trial in Kiev has produced evidence the killings were a false flag designed to trigger regime change.

On October 18 2023, Ukraine’s Sviatoshyn District Court determined that of the five officers on trial, one would be acquitted outright, while another was sentenced to time served for alleged “abuse of power.”

The remaining three, who no longer live in Ukraine, were convicted in absentia on 31 counts of murder and 44 counts of attempted murder. This, under a Supreme Court opinion stipulating suspects can be held collectively responsible for the actions of a group deemed criminal.

The verdict means no one will face jail time, or be in any way punished for their alleged role in the infamous Maidan massacre, which saw over 100 protesters killed, triggered an avalanche of international condemnation and led directly to the downfall of President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country mere days later.

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/foreign-affairs/ukrainian-trial-proves-2014-maidan-massacre-was-false-flag-coup

[imkeepinit]

[trendynewsnow]

Escalating Tensions: North Korea's Provocative Actions Against South Korea

Tensions Escalate Between North and South Korea The ongoing tensions between North and South Korea have reached new heights as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un showcases his advancing nuclear and missile capabilities. In a provocative display of aggression, North Korea has resorted to electronic and psychological warfare tactics, including the release of thousands of balloons carrying trash and…

[jarviskingston]

🌍🌎🌏

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Daniel Boris, Vladimir Putin's Nesting Dolls

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 8, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 09, 2024

On Sunday, Representative Michael R. Turner (R-OH), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said it is “absolutely true” that Republican members of Congress are parroting Russian propaganda. “We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor,” he said on CNN’s State of the Union.

Turner was being questioned about an interview in which Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Russia specialist Julia Ioffe that “Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base.” McCaul blamed right-wing media. When asked which Republicans he was talking about, McCaul answered that it is “obvious.” 

Catherine Belton and Joseph Menn reviewed more than 100 internal Kremlin documents from 2022 and 2023 obtained by a European intelligence service and reported in the Washington Post today that the Russian government is running “an ongoing campaign that seeks to influence congressional and other political debates to stoke anti-Ukraine sentiment.” Kremlin-backed trolls write fake “news articles, social media posts and comments that promote American isolationism, stir fear over the United States’ border security and attempt to amplify U.S. economic and racial tensions” while claiming that “Biden’s policies are leading the U.S. toward collapse.”

Aaron Blake pointed out in the Washington Post that Republicans are increasingly warning that Russian propaganda has fouled their party. Blake notes that Russia specialist Fiona Hill publicly told Republicans during the 2019 impeachment inquiry into Trump that they were repeating “politically driven falsehoods that so clearly advance Russian interests,” but Republicans angrily objected. 

Now Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and John Cornyn (R-TX) and a top aide to Senator Todd Young (R-IN), as well as former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and even Trump’s vice president Mike Pence, have warned about the party’s ties to Russia. Former Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) has said the Republican Party now has “a Putin wing.” 

Trump has hinted that he has a plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine in 24 hours. Yesterday, Isaac Arnsdorf, Josh Dawsey, and Michael Birnbaum reported in the Washington Post on the details of that plan: he would accept Russian annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea and the Donbas region. He refuses to say how he would negotiate with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been adamant that Ukraine will not give up its territory to an invader, or Russia president Vladmir Putin, who has claimed all of Ukraine, but after meeting with Trump last month, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán said Trump told him he would accomplish “peace” by cutting off funds to Ukraine.

Trump’s team said Orbán’s comment was false, but it is worth noting that this plan echoes the one acknowledged by Trump’s 2016 campaign director Paul Manafort as the goal of Russian aid to Trump’s campaign.

Fiona Hill told the Washington Post reporters that Trump’s team “is thinking…that this is just a Ukraine-Russia thing…rather than one about the whole future of European security and the world order.”

Trump’s MAGA loyalists in the House of Representatives have held up funding for Ukraine for six months. Although a national security supplemental bill that would fund Ukraine has passed the Senate and would pass the House if it were brought to the floor, House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) refuses to bring it to the floor. The House returns to work tomorrow after a two-week recess but is so backed up on work that Johnson is not expected to bring up the Ukraine measure this week.  

Clint Watts, the head of Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center, told the Washington Post’s Belton and Menn: “The impact of the Russian program over the last decade…is seen in the U.S. congressional debate over Ukraine aid…. They have had an impact in a strategic aggregate way.” 

The Trump loyalists echoing Russia who have taken control of the Republican Party appear to be hardening into a phalanx around the former president, but even as they do so, Trump himself appears to be crumbling. 

In the week since Trump posted a $175 million appeals bond, halting the seizure of his properties to satisfy the $454 million judgment against him and the Trump Organization, multiple problems with that bond have come to light. It is possible the bond isn’t worth anything at all, and New York attorney general Letitia James has filed papers to require Trump’s lawyers or the bond underwriter to show that it’s good within ten days. A hearing is set for April 22.

Meanwhile, Trump’s trial for election interference in 2016, when he paid people with damaging information to keep quiet before the election and falsified business records to hide those payments, is set to begin on April 15. Evidently very worried about this trial, Trump has already tried eight times to delay it until after November’s election, and today his lawyers tried yet again by requesting a delay so he could fight to get the trial moved to a different venue, but an appeals judge rejected the attempt.

Aside from Trump’s personal problems as a presidential candidate, the Republicans face strong headwinds because of their deeply unpopular opposition to abortion rights. Trump has openly bragged about being the instrument for ending the rights recognized in the United States since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. Since then, abortion bans are galvanizing opposition, and the Republicans are trying to find a message that can bring back angry voters without antagonizing the antiabortion white evangelicals who make up their base. 

After months of waffling on the issue, Trump today released a video trying to thread that needle by echoing the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Trump said in the video that states will decide the issue for themselves, a statement that simply reflects the Dobbs decision. 

This was a dodge. In the video, Trump appealed to the antiabortion loyalists by telling the ghoulish lie that women are “executing” their babies even after birth. He also ignored that Republicans are already calling for a national ban, extremist antiabortion Texas judge Matthew Kacsmaryk has tried to take the common abortion drug mifepristone off the national market by challenging its FDA approval, and legislatures in many Republican-dominated states are refusing to implement the will of the people to protect abortion rights even after they have voted for such protections. 

Still, antiabortion leaders, including Mike Pence, immediately slammed Trump’s statement.

The video did, though, make an enormously interesting and unintended point: Trump is communicating with voters outside his carefully curated bubble almost exclusively through videos, even on a topic as important as abortion. At rallies, his speeches have become erratic and wandering, with occasional slurred words, and observers have wondered how he would present to more general audiences. It appears that his team has concluded that he will not present well and that general audiences must see him in carefully curated settings, like this apparently heavily edited video.

The Trump takeover of the Republican National Committee (RNC) also appears to be in trouble. This weekend, Trump claimed to have raised $50 million in a single night from billionaires, but that number is conveniently a little more than double the new record of what President Joe Biden raised at an event last week with former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and it is long past time for everyone to stop believing anything Trump says about money. 

More to the point, The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reported today that the RNC’s aggressive purge of the staff to guarantee that positions are held only by Trump loyalists means that “the RNC has been left without people with deep knowledge of election operations at the Republican party’s central committee.” Lowell notes this lack is especially apparent on the RNC’s data team, which is being moved from Washington, D.C., to Palm Beach, Florida, near Mar-a-Lago.

And yet Trump loyalists continue to block aid to Ukraine, threatening the existence of the rules-based international order that has helped to prevent war since World War II. Last week, even Trump’s former secretary of state Mike Pompeo warned Speaker Johnson against “abandoning our Allies at this time of great need, when they are staring down enemies of the free world.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON