Latest news with #BidenStateDepartment
Fox News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Ex-Biden official scolds Trump on climate change after Texas floods
Monica Medina, a former Biden State Department official, scolded President Donald Trump on climate change in the aftermath of the devastating Texas floods. "First of all, I just want to say how heartbreaking this is for any parent to imagine this kind of a horrible thing happening to their child. And I hope that this will mean that the president will stop mocking climate change as an existential threat," Medina said during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday. Medina, wife of Biden's former chief of staff Ron Klain, served as the State Department's first Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources. "Because for those hundred souls, it was an existential threat, and it is an existential threat for Americans all across the country. It's touching everyone," Medina continued. "What I take away from this is that it was preventable. There are things that we can do. I know sometimes we feel powerless in the face of climate change, but we know that weather is getting more and more extreme," she said. Medina said that the particular part of Texas that was flooded was called "flash flood alley." "We had the ability to make small changes to be able to prevent something like this," Medina said. "NOAA weather radio. It's something that's available, and you can buy it in stores, and it will warn you in the middle of the night, you don't have to have a siren system if you don't have one in place, and it may take a while before Texas decides to put one in place." Prior to her State Department job, Medina was a Georgetown University professor and co-founder of Our Daily Planet, "an e-newsletter on conservation and the environment," the Biden White House said at the time. Medina backed the Green New Deal in 2019, writing in a Huffington Post column, "The Green New Deal is a unifying political message that gets back to the basics of creating an economy that works for all people and protects the planet as a result." Medina said weather services were stretched to the breaking point during her appearance on "Morning Joe." Over 100 people, including children and counselors at a girls' camp, were killed in central Texas in flash flooding that began early on the morning of the Fourth of July.
CBC
03-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Trump's trade war goes global: U.S. president blows up postwar order
Social Sharing After spending a few weeks pounding on Canada and Mexico, Donald Trump turned his attention Wednesday to a whole new target: the rest of Planet Earth. The U.S. president broadened his trade war by imposing the widest set of tariffs in generations, effectively resetting the postwar trading system. The only good news for Canada, such as it is, is that when Trump came swinging fast and furiously with new tariffs, it took no new lumps. The good news ends there. The bad news is that previously announced tariffs will remain in place: potentially devastating auto tariffs that kick in Thursday, steel and aluminum tariffs of 25 per cent, 10 per cent on energy and potash, and 25 per cent on certain other goods. For Trump, this was a personal Kodak moment. WATCH | Tariffs start at 10%: Trump announces 10% 'baseline' tariff 5 hours ago Duration 0:28 After showing a chart listing the various tariff percentages he will be charging some countries — Canada and Mexico were not on the chart — U.S. President Donald Trump said there would be a 10 per cent 'minimum baseline' tariff on goods from foreign countries. Standing on the White House lawn, he referred to this as the culmination of an old dream, given his decades as a dyed-in-the-wool protectionist. "I've been talking about it for 40 years," Trump said. "If you look at my old speeches when I was young, very handsome, in my old speeches… I'd be talking about how we were being ripped off by these countries." He added: "It's such an honour to be finally able to do this." And by "this" he meant imposing tariffs ranging from 10 per cent to an eye-watering 50 per cent on some countries — shocking not only markets, but potentially realigning the planet's geopolitical map, with the U.S. retrenching to this hemisphere. That said, elements of the plan appeared hastily slapped together. Trump's list included several non-countries, such as the unpopulated Heard and McDonald Islands, a barren Antarctic archipelago belonging to Australia that now faces a 10 per cent tariff. Asia's out, Latin America's in We'll see which countries, if any, negotiate a better deal. But the initial pattern is clear: Trump has flipped the tables on Asia. There, where the U.S. had been cultivating allies against China, trading partners now face tariffs of 46 per cent (Vietnam), 49 per cent (Cambodia), 24 per cent (Japan), 32 per cent (Taiwan), 26 per cent (India) and 37 per cent (Bangladesh). China also got a 34-per-cent tariff. Anyone selling clothing or electronics into the U.S. now has some incentive to shift production to Latin America, where tariffs are mostly 10 per cent. "I do think there's huge geopolitical implications," said Chad Bown, a trade expert at the Peterson Institute in Washington, and former chief economist of the Biden State Department. But he added an important caveat. There's so much uncertainty about how long these tariffs will last, and it takes time to redesign supply chains, so it's unclear anyone can make long-term investment assumptions based on Wednesday's numbers. The waves of uncertainty are certainly rippling through Canada. And, within Canada, no place risks being harder hit than auto country. Canada faces pain A tangle of tariffs is set to take effect on Canada's biggest manufactured product — it's up to 25 per cent on fully assembled vehicles and some parts, while other parts face none. A southern Ontario auto worker says his colleagues are afraid to make big purchases now, fearing layoffs. "It's going to be a hell of a time," Jayson Mercier told CBC News. "Here we are again, similar to [the economic crisis of] 2008 — where we don't know if we're going to have a job." One Canadian-American trade consultant says Canada fared better than most countries in Wednesday's announcement. But that's cold comfort for certain sectors, he added. "Autos is going to be massively impactful for Canada," said Eric Miller, the Canadian-born head of the Rideau Potomac consultancy in Washington. "That's a huge amount of pain for Canada. And you will see a huge amount of restructuring and realignment in the North American auto sector." WATCH | Canada will fight tariffs, Carney says: Carney says Canada will 'fight' latest Trump tariffs 3 hours ago Duration 1:38 Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking from Parliament Hill on Wednesday, says Canada will act with 'purpose and with force' to fight new U.S. tariffs. President Donald Trump slapped new 25 per cent tariffs on foreign-made cars, but Canada was spared the 10 per cent baseline tariffs applied to many other countries. One industry player put it even more bluntly in a social media post. He predicted an industry standstill within days, and not just in Canada. "The. Auto. Tariff. Package. Will. Shut. Down. The. Auto. Sector. In. The. USA. And. In. Canada," Flavio Volpe, head of Canada's auto-parts lobby, wrote on X. "Don't be distracted. 25% tariffs are 4 times the 6/7% profit margins of all the companies. Math, not art." Certain goods traded under the rules of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement face no tariffs, under exemptions Trump announced weeks ago. Estimates vary on how many goods will face duties, but it appears most of Canada's exports to the U.S. now indeed face tariffs. "I'm not sure anybody knows [the exact percentage] at the moment," Bown said. In Washington, tariff opponents rained on Trump's big moment. As he began speaking, the Republican-led U.S. Senate began hours of debate on a mostly symbolic vote to repudiate his tariffs on Canada. Some members of Trump's own party voted with Democrats in a no-hope bid to cancel the first batch of Canada tariffs. It's a doomed effort, even though it passed the Senate, 51-48. The House doesn't plan to take it up, and Trump would veto it anyway. But it was intended to deliver a political black eye to Trump on the day he announced his tariffs, with those on Canada being especially unpopular, according to polls. The first speaker was Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator who was one of the few Republicans backing the measure. He tore a strip off Trump's actions — calling them "crazy." Paul ridiculed Trump's idea that Canada represents a national security threat because of the fentanyl trade. He said more fentanyl comes from the U.S. than the other way, called Canada a valuable trading partner, and said Trump will drive up costs for Americans. Plus, the libertarian-leaning lawmaker blasted the idea on principle. He said there's nearly a millennium-long tradition, going back to the Magna Carta, through the American Revolution, that it should be a legislature to approve a new tax — not just one leader. That's exactly what opponents are calling Trump's plan: the largest sudden tax increase in American history. "Taxation without representation is tyranny," Paul said. "Conservatives used to understand that tariffs are taxes on the American people." He added: "What happened? Did we all of a sudden give up all the things we used to believe in?" Lately, for Republicans, there is no authority higher than Trump's. They could stop this if they wanted to, through the Congress. It has a constitutional role in international trade, but, over the decades, Congress wrote several laws giving the president new power to impose tariffs by declaring an emergency. Nobody has used that power, this way. Not until now. Now Trump is harnessing that power in unprecedented ways.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iran hawks divided over whether Trump's ‘maximum pressure' works without Europe's help
Can Washington strategically isolate Iran while growing further apart from Europe itself? In early February, the White House formally announced the resumption of 'maximum pressure' — the Trump first-term policy aimed at stifling Iran's nuclear program and regional influence through political pressure and sanctions targeting the country's oil exports. And in the wake of a series of reports about an Iranian-backed operation marking numerous targets linked to Trump's first term for assassination — including the president himself — it also directed authorities to identify and disrupt Iranian front groups within the United States. But with the world and in particular U.S. relationships with some of its closest allies (Canada, the U.K., France and Germany) strained in recent weeks by insulting rhetoric from the White House including repeated threats to annex America's neighbor to the north, the effectiveness of a strategy that relies at its core on international cooperation is in jeopardy. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, reiterated this week that Iran was not ready for talks with the U.S. regarding its nuclear program. He also accused Washington of practicing deception by claiming to be open to negotiation. Donald Trump this month claimed to have sent a letter to Khamenei suggesting talks begin, but the Iranian leader said he had not received it. After four years of Joe Biden's presidency, 'maximum pressure' remains a popular strategy among Republicans of many flavors as well as some Democrats towards the party's center and conservative wings. Part of that popularity stemmed from the failure of Joe Biden to lay out a coherent vision and strategy of his own, but it also hampered the former president's work aimed at reaching an improved version of the 2015 JCPOA deal which set limits on Iran's uranium enrichment. The 46th president allowed many sanctions enacted during Trump's first term to continue but enforcement lapsed, despite protests from the Biden State Department. Iran's oil exports, during Biden's presidency, shot back up to 3.4m barrels a day, close to pre-sanction levels, by the time of the November election. Iran also normalized relations with Saudi Arabia in an agreement brokered by China under his watch. 'You've got to keep at it constantly, because the people trying to avoid sanctions are constantly finding avenues [to avoid them],' former Senator Sam Brownback, an Iran hawk who served as an ambassador-at-large in the first Trump administration, told The Independent of sanctions enforcement. 'You've got to constantly be progressive and watching and adjusting how you deploy the sanctions, because people find secondary and tertiary roundabouts,' Brownback said in an interview. 'China's there, Russia is there, trying to help them figure out other ways to kind of launder the oil.' In the end, the Iranian government's demands for sanctions relief proved to be more than the Biden administration was willing or able to allow. Talks then collapsed completely after the October 7 attack on Israel and Iran's support of Hezbollah, which participated in the conflict that immediately followed. Within a month of reinstating 'maximum pressure' in February, the U.S. Treasury designated dozens of targets for their efforts in aiding Iranian exporters trying to evade U.S. sanctions. But amid the fallout from Donald Trump's disastrous meeting with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and his resumed trade war with U.S. allies, some fear that fraying ties could negatively impact the real-time work of catching sanctions evaders. An analysis from Rice University's Baker Institute of Public Policy identified Europe as the likeliest avenue for international cooperation on sanctions enforcement in December. 'I certainly am not a fan of going to war with the whole world at the same time,' Rep Brad Sherman, the lead Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, remarked on Saturday. 'You have to prioritize and the Iran nuclear program should be one of the very top priorities.' Sherman, like Brownback, spoke to The Independent on the sidelines of a rally held Saturday just off the steps of the Capitol building. Hosted by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a group of hundreds of Iranian-Americans gathered Saturday to call for internal resistance movements to topple the Ayatollah's regime, with US political support. Organizers said the gathering grew to thousands as speeches ended and the rally began a planned march to the White House. Led by president-elect Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI has steadily worked to grow political support on Capitol Hill for years. Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of State who served during Trump's first term, and Mike Pence, the former vice president, are both vocal supporters of the group. Democrats such as Cory Booker and Jeanne Shaheen have also spoken at recent events hosted by the NCRI in Congress. As a Democrat, Sherman is one of the few supporters of ramping up political and economic pressure on Iran who also acknowledged that U.S. isolationism could endanger their shared objectives. 'We need all the friends we can get, and I'm not sure that we're keeping the friends that we traditionally have,' Sherman said. 'For so many reasons, we need to rebuild the ties with Europe that have been pulled asunder in the last month, and Iran is just one reason to do that.' But some outside Trumpworld still remain optimistic. The reason, they say, is that Iran policy remains a bright spot in U.S.-E.U. relations where both sides of the Atlantic can find common ground, as it was for the Bush White House in the post 9/11 world. Michael Singh, director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that Europe still retained some temporary leverage through re-imposing pre-JCPOA sanctions pressure. 'It's something Iran wants to avoid, and this diplomatic pressure – when combined with the economic and military pressure the US and Israel are exerting – can help bring Tehran to the table for negotiations. But it's a wasting asset – the SnapBack mechanism expires in October of this year,' said Singh. 'Pressure is always more effective when it has broad international support, and that begins with close U.S.-Europe cooperation,' said Singh, who added: 'At a time when the U.S. and Europe have mounting disagreements, preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is a point on which they agree vehemently, and can be a point of collaboration amid acrimony.' Supporters of Trump's all-or-nothing diplomacy with longtime U.S. allies in Europe and North America are not, however, armchair quarterbacking the president's strategy. Many, like the president's former fix-it man Rudy Giuliani, are still warning European powers to get in line or be left behind. 'I don't think western Europe matters,' Giuliani told The Independent on Saturday. The former mayor, past his legal troubles, was another speaker at the NCRI's rally. 'I think it hasn't mattered in 30 years. I can't remember the last time western Europe mattered for anything.' He went on to stress: 'We're NATO. And we're much better off organizing NATO around members who want to be a part of NATO, who want to have 5% of their GDP in defense.' Brownback took a more conciliatory note but even he seemed to suggest that Europe risked being left behind simply through its leaders' potential to ignore the threat he said was posed by Iran's nuclear program. He also agreed that European nations understood the threat the U.S. and the west say a nuclear-armed Iran would pose to regional and global security. Like Singh, he argued that Europe had left the JCPOA behind. 'They fully understand, they're very sophisticated [in terms of gathering intelligence on Iran],' Brownback said. 'It's just whether there's a willingness [to act].' 'Europe has long believed that the JCPOA is dead and that efforts to revive it are somewhere between useless and counterproductive, yet [France, Germany and Italy] have not withdrawn from the agreement or moved yet to restore pre-JCPOA sanctions,' added Singh. A recent analysis of reports from the UN's nuclear agency (IAEA) by the Institute for Science and International Security found that Iranian scientists would be able to produce enough high-grade nuclear material for a weapon within a few days of launching such an effort, and would be able to complete production of a weapon capable of delivering it within a six month period. In his interview Brownback warned that while Europe may be disaffected and disgusted by Trump's treatment of Zelensky and his backing away from western alliances, including NATO, leaders across the Atlantic would need to swallow their discomfort and work with the U.S. in the immediate future in order to prevent Iran from developing those weapons. 'I said, and I really believe it: It's not now or never. It's now or nuclear on Iran,' he said. 'So Europe may not be happy with Trump right now, over Russia and Ukraine, but Iran nuclearized — and a nuclear Ayatollah — is a terrible prospect for Europe.'
The Independent
13-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Iran hawks divided over whether Trump's ‘maximum pressure' works without Europe's help
Can Washington strategically isolate Iran while growing further apart from Europe itself? In early February, the White House formally announced the resumption of 'maximum pressure' — the Trump first-term policy aimed at stifling Iran's nuclear program and regional influence through political pressure and sanctions targeting the country's oil exports. And in the wake of a series of reports about an Iranian-backed operation marking numerous targets linked to Trump's first term for assassination — including the president himself — it also directed authorities to identify and disrupt Iranian front groups within the United States. But with the world and in particular U.S. relationships with some of its closest allies (Canada, the U.K., France and Germany) strained in recent weeks by insulting rhetoric from the White House including repeated threats to annex America's neighbor to the north, the effectiveness of a strategy that relies at its core on international cooperation is in jeopardy. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, reiterated this week that Iran was not ready for talks with the U.S. regarding its nuclear program. He also accused Washington of practicing deception by claiming to be open to negotiation. Donald Trump this month claimed to have sent a letter to Khamenei suggesting talks begin, but the Iranian leader said he had not received it. After four years of Joe Biden's presidency, 'maximum pressure' remains a popular strategy among Republicans of many flavors as well as some Democrats towards the party's center and conservative wings. Part of that popularity stemmed from the failure of Joe Biden to lay out a coherent vision and strategy of his own, but it also hampered the former president's work aimed at reaching an improved version of the 2015 JCPOA deal which set limits on Iran's uranium enrichment. The 46th president allowed many sanctions enacted during Trump's first term to continue but enforcement lapsed, despite protests from the Biden State Department. Iran's oil exports, during Biden's presidency, shot back up to 3.4m barrels a day, close to pre-sanction levels, by the time of the November election. Iran also normalized relations with Saudi Arabia in an agreement brokered by China under his watch. 'You've got to keep at it constantly, because the people trying to avoid sanctions are constantly finding avenues [to avoid them],' former Senator Sam Brownback, an Iran hawk who served as an ambassador-at-large in the first Trump administration, told The Independent of sanctions enforcement. 'You've got to constantly be progressive and watching and adjusting how you deploy the sanctions, because people find secondary and tertiary roundabouts,' Brownback said in an interview. 'China's there, Russia is there, trying to help them figure out other ways to kind of launder the oil.' In the end, the Iranian government's demands for sanctions relief proved to be more than the Biden administration was willing or able to allow. Talks then collapsed completely after the October 7 attack on Israel and Iran's support of Hezbollah, which participated in the conflict that immediately followed. Within a month of reinstating 'maximum pressure' in February, the U.S. Treasury designated dozens of targets for their efforts in aiding Iranian exporters trying to evade U.S. sanctions. But amid the fallout from Donald Trump's disastrous meeting with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and his resumed trade war with U.S. allies, some fear that fraying ties could negatively impact the real-time work of catching sanctions evaders. An analysis from Rice University's Baker Institute of Public Policy identified Europe as the likeliest avenue for international cooperation on sanctions enforcement in December. 'I certainly am not a fan of going to war with the whole world at the same time,' Rep Brad Sherman, the lead Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, remarked on Saturday. 'You have to prioritize and the Iran nuclear program should be one of the very top priorities.' Sherman, like Brownback, spoke to The Independent on the sidelines of a rally held Saturday just off the steps of the Capitol building. Hosted by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a group of hundreds of Iranian-Americans gathered Saturday to call for internal resistance movements to topple the Ayatollah's regime, with US political support. Organizers said the gathering grew to thousands as speeches ended and the rally began a planned march to the White House. Led by president-elect Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI has steadily worked to grow political support on Capitol Hill for years. Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of State who served during Trump's first term, and Mike Pence, the former vice president, are both vocal supporters of the group. Democrats such as Cory Booker and Jeanne Shaheen have also spoken at recent events hosted by the NCRI in Congress. As a Democrat, Sherman is one of the few supporters of ramping up political and economic pressure on Iran who also acknowledged that U.S. isolationism could endanger their shared objectives. 'We need all the friends we can get, and I'm not sure that we're keeping the friends that we traditionally have,' Sherman said. 'For so many reasons, we need to rebuild the ties with Europe that have been pulled asunder in the last month, and Iran is just one reason to do that.' But some outside Trumpworld still remain optimistic. The reason, they say, is that Iran policy remains a bright spot in U.S.- E.U. relations where both sides of the Atlantic can find common ground, as it was for the Bush White House in the post 9/11 world. Michael Singh, director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that Europe still retained some temporary leverage through re-imposing pre-JCPOA sanctions pressure. 'It's something Iran wants to avoid, and this diplomatic pressure – when combined with the economic and military pressure the US and Israel are exerting – can help bring Tehran to the table for negotiations. But it's a wasting asset – the SnapBack mechanism expires in October of this year,' said Singh. 'Pressure is always more effective when it has broad international support, and that begins with close U.S.-Europe cooperation,' said Singh, who added: 'At a time when the U.S. and Europe have mounting disagreements, preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is a point on which they agree vehemently, and can be a point of collaboration amid acrimony.' Supporters of Trump's all-or-nothing diplomacy with longtime U.S. allies in Europe and North America are not, however, armchair quarterbacking the president's strategy. Many, like the president's former fix-it man Rudy Giuliani, are still warning European powers to get in line or be left behind. 'I don't think western Europe matters,' Giuliani told The Independent on Saturday. The former mayor, past his legal troubles, was another speaker at the NCRI's rally. 'I think it hasn't mattered in 30 years. I can't remember the last time western Europe mattered for anything.' He went on to stress: ' We're NATO. And we're much better off organizing NATO around members who want to be a part of NATO, who want to have 5% of their GDP in defense.' Brownback took a more conciliatory note but even he seemed to suggest that Europe risked being left behind simply through its leaders' potential to ignore the threat he said was posed by Iran's nuclear program. He also agreed that European nations understood the threat the U.S. and the west say a nuclear-armed Iran would pose to regional and global security. Like Singh, he argued that Europe had left the JCPOA behind. 'They fully understand, they're very sophisticated [in terms of gathering intelligence on Iran],' Brownback said. 'It's just whether there's a willingness [to act].' 'Europe has long believed that the JCPOA is dead and that efforts to revive it are somewhere between useless and counterproductive, yet [France, Germany and Italy] have not withdrawn from the agreement or moved yet to restore pre-JCPOA sanctions,' added Singh. A recent analysis of reports from the UN 's nuclear agency (IAEA) by the Institute for Science and International Security found that Iranian scientists would be able to produce enough high-grade nuclear material for a weapon within a few days, and would be able to complete production of a weapon capable of delivering it within six months. In his interview Brownback warned that while Europe may be disaffected and disgusted by Trump's treatment of Zelensky and his backing away from western alliances, including NATO, leaders across the Atlantic would need to swallow their discomfort and work with the U.S. in the immediate future in order to prevent Iran from developing those weapons. 'I said, and I really believe it: It's not now or never. It's now or nuclear on Iran,' he said. 'So Europe may not be happy with Trump right now, over Russia and Ukraine, but Iran nuclearized — and a nuclear Ayatollah — is a terrible prospect for Europe.'
Russia Today
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
US journalist's open letter to Trump (FULL TEXT)
The former head of RT America, Ben Swann, has called on US President Donald Trump to drop restrictions imposed against several Russian media outlets, including RT and Sputnik. Set under Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, the 'unprecedented' sanctions were nothing but 'corruption on display,' the investigative journalist and producer argued. Swann worked as a news anchor on American television as well as a TV sports producer and managing editor at various media outlets. He had previously headed all of RT's operations in the US, being in charge of the broadcaster's office in the country and all of the shows produced by RT America. The journalist also founded the Truth in Media project. Before joining RT, Swann also worked for several Fox affiliates. The journalist published an open letter addressing Trump on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday: Open Letter To President Trump, Time to End the Biden- Era Sanctions Against RT and American JournalistsPresident Donald J. Trump,In his speech to European leaders only days ago, your Vice President JD Vance stated plainly, 'In Washington, there is a new sheriff in town. And… President Donald J. Trump, In his speech to European leaders only days ago, your Vice President JD Vance stated plainly, 'In Washington, there is a new sheriff in town. And under Donald Trump's leadership, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer in the public square. Agree or disagree?' Mr. President, the first 30 days of your current administration have moved at warp speed. In that time you have quickly re-established American principles of free speech and a free press, upheld through Executive Orders as well as clarified positions by your Department of Justice and State Department. There is a major oversight taking place however, when it comes to freedom of speech and freedom of press. A major sanction in the last few months of the Biden State Department remains in place and directly violates both of those Constitutionally protected American freedoms. On Sept. 13, 2024, under the direction of Antony Blinken, the Biden State Department placed unprecedented sanctions on the Russian news organization RT, with whom my company contracts to produce fair, factual, and honest news and opinion programming. The excuse used to place our work under sanction was based on an old lie: that Russia and RT had in some way interfered in U.S. elections. This move is unprecedented, as no U.S. administration has ever banned, blocked or sanctioned a news organization. The Biden Administration through the Treasury Department placed financial sanctions against RT and TV Novosti, thereby making it illegal for American journalists to exercise their Constitutionally protected rights of freedom of speech and press. The journalists targeted by these sanctions are American citizens. Not only did they lose their jobs, but also the opportunity to share factual reporting with an audience of over 800 million people across the globe. The bullying of social media companies by the Biden Administration was corruption on display, however, by outright banning a news organization what the Biden Administration has done is violation of Constitutional law. We ask you to drop all sanctions against RT, Sputnik and TV Novosti and allow the public square to remain free for all voices, all journalists and all points of view. Ben Swann
