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© APN.C. Rep. Mark Meadows
The ruling was a broad rejection of arguments from Meadows that his case should be heard in federal court because he was acting in his capacity as chief of staff at the time.
It marks a major victory for Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis (D), who has pushed back on the attempt by Meadows and multiple other defendants to move their charges out of state court.
In a 49-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ruled that many of the allegations were instead political activities outside of the scope of Meadows's job.
© Ludovic Marin | AFP | Getty Images(From L) US President Joe Biden, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky talk ahead of a working session on Ukraine during the NATO summit, in Vilnius on July 12, 2023.
Early confidence that Russia, in its current form, would collapse under the pressure of the harshest sanctions regime in history failed to materialize. Early Russian miscalculations on the battlefield were not followed by a military meltdown, but by a pragmatic display of strategic adaptability, which is begrudgingly admired in the military war rooms of the West. The Russian army, far from falling apart, has steeled itself into making bold decisions to retreat when prudent and advance when required, both of which have proven devastating for their Ukrainian opponents. It follows that, as the Western political elites that cultivated this conflict peer into another winter of political, military, and potentially economic discontent, it is now that we potentially face the most dangerous period in Europe since the outbreak of WWII.
The catalyst for a wider war in Europe isn't, in fact, a limited conflict in Ukraine in itself, one that started in 2014 and, notably, had been largely ignored by Western powers for almost a decade. The real issue is that NATO, which is currently engaged in a proxy War with Russia, is facing a 'damned if you do and damned if you don't' scenario regarding its growing military involvement in Ukraine. If the US-led bloc escalates further as defeat looms, it could likely lead to direct confrontation with Russia. If it doesn't, its proxy will collapse and leave Russia victorious, a fate once utterly unthinkable in Brussels, Washington, and London, but now becoming a nightmarish reality.
© Mariam Zuhaib | APDaniel Werfel testifies before the Senate Finance Committee during his confirmation hearing to be the Internal Revenue Service Commissioner, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
The IRS announced new enforcement initiatives Friday to crack down on 1,600 millionaires and 75 large companies it said owe hundreds of millions in unpaid taxes.
IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said the agency will use Inflation Reduction Act funding to focus on high-income earners, partnerships, large corporations and promoters. He said the IRS won't increase audit rates for those earning less than $400,000 a year.
Neil Oliver
© Planet Labs PBC/AP/FILE CNNIn this satellite photo provided by Planet Labs PBC, vessels identified by the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran as the Virgo, left, and the Suez Rajan are seen in the South China Sea on Feb. 13, 2022.
"This is the first-ever criminal resolution involving a company that violated sanctions by facilitating the illicit sale and transport of Iranian oil," according to the DOJ.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, allegedly shipped more than 980,000 barrels of oil, the press release stated.
Comment: Ultimately these thefts will have little impact on the flow of oil and the flouting of sanctions, and the US establishment's pitiful influence on the planet will continue to wane: Oil prices surge to 10-month high as Saudi, Russia extend supply cuts
© PIBPrime Minister Narendra Modi with the US President Joe Biden and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud at the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment and India-Middle East-Europe Economics Corridor event in New Delhi on Saturday
The colossal strategic infrastructure project that is seen by many analysts as an alternative to China's controversial Belt and Road Initiative - also billed as the new Silk Road - was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the G20 Leaders' event on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) in the Indian capital.
"Charting a journey of shared aspirations and dreams, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor promises to be a beacon of cooperation, innovation, and shared progress. As history unfolds, may this corridor be a testament to human endeavour and unity across continents," tweeted PM Modi later in the evening.
© REUTERS/Valentyn OgirenkoMajor General Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Military Intelligence of Ukraine, speaks during an interview with Reuters, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 6, 2023.
Ukraine launched a much-vaunted counteroffensive this summer that has retaken more than a dozen villages in the south and east over three months, but has been complicated by vast minefields and heavily entrenched Russian forces.
Comment: It was initially called their 'spring counter offensive', except they didn't launch it until summer, and there was nothing 'counter' about it.
"Combat actions will continue in one way or another. In the cold, wet and mud, it is more difficult to fight. Fighting will continue. The counteroffensive will continue," Budanov said.
Comment: Even the propaganda peddlers are preparing the ground for the public to accept that Ukraine, and in effect the US, and the West, have lost this proxy war: Ukraine's army is running out of men, and time - UK Telegraph
Ukraine and its backers in the US are desperate to revive their offensive and, in turn, seem to feel that their only real option is to try to drag another NATO member into the fray: Romania 'categorically' rejects Ukraine's claim Russian drone fell on their territory, allegation is made hours before meeting to discuss grain deal
© Sputnik/Russian Foreign MinistryRussian FM Sergey Lavrov
Kiev's forces tried to attack Russian military ships patrolling the waters near the 'TurkStream' and the 'Blue Stream', Lavrov claimed, adding:
"Russia has launched patrols to these areas of the Black Sea, since there is information that there are attempts to blow up [these pipelines] just as the Nord Stream was blown up."Now, "everyone" is demanding Russia consent to Ukraine's agricultural exports under the Black Sea grain deal Moscow suspended in July, according to the foreign minister.
© screenshotIRS whistleblower Gary Shapely
The Federalist's blockbuster exclusive on Tuesday revealed U.S. Attorney David Weiss was spoonfed The New York Times' false narrative that the Pittsburgh U.S. attorney had pushed the Delaware office to investigate Rudy Giuliani's claims of Biden family corruption. That revelation adds new texture to the IRS whistleblowers' earlier testimony. More importantly, it suggests a select few DOJ and FBI agents buried the FD-1023 sent to Delaware for further investigation — a report memorializing a "highly credible" FBI confidential human source's claims that Burisma paid $5 million bribes each to Hunter and Joe Biden.
On Dec. 11, 2020, The New York Times ran an article titled, "Material from Giuliani Spurred a Separate Justice Depart. Pursuit of Hunter Biden." As I previously detailed, the Times' reporting was "replete with falsehoods and deceptive narratives," and sought to paint the "then-U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Scott Brady, whom Barr had tasked with screening any new material related to Ukraine," as a partisan hack out to get the Bidens. The article falsely represented Brady as pushing the Delaware U.S. attorney's office to investigate the Bidens based on material provided by Rudy Giuliani.
However, as a whistleblower would later confide in Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Pittsburgh U.S. attorney's office had sought the investigation not of Giuliani material, but of separate intel provided by a longtime and "highly credible" confidential human source (CHS) on which agents briefed the Delaware office.
Comment: The case is a farce from beginning to end, but the Democrats don't care how many lives they ruin in the process. Orange Man bad! Besides, Meadows has been a thorn in the Democrats' side since 2016, so it's personal there too.