WTF Just Happened Today

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

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1/ White House now says it may take travel ban to the Supreme Court. Minutes after one White House official said Trump would not appeal the 9th Circuit ruling upholding a temporary stay of the travel ban, Reince Priebus said the White House is now “reviewing all of our options in the court system,” including possibly going to the Supreme Court. (Washington Post)

• Earlier: When asked if Trump was considering signing a new executive order on immigration: “Nothing’s off the table.” Trump also has the option of going back to the drawing board and coming up with a new way to impose “extreme vetting” restrictions he says are necessary. But it seems certain he will not take the route since to do so would involve not only admitting the bitter taste of a high stakes legal defeat but repudiating the combative win-at-all-costs attitude that animates his character. (CNN)

2/ US investigators corroborate some aspects of the Russia dossier compiled by a former British intelligence agent. None of the newly learned information relates to the salacious allegations in the dossier. The intercepts do confirm that some of the conversations described in the dossier took place between the same individuals on the same days and from the same locations as detailed in the dossier. (CNN)

3/ Russia considers returning Snowden to U.S. to “curry favor” with Trump. Trump has called the NSA leaker a “spy” and a “traitor” who deserves to be executed. Russia considers turning over Snowden to be a “gift” to Trump. (ABC News)

4/ National security adviser Michael Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador, despite denials. Flynn had “a series of contacts” with Sergey Kislyak in 2016 that “began before the Nov. 8 election and continued during the transition.” Flynn’s communications with the Russian ambassador were interpreted by some senior U.S. officials as an inappropriate and potentially illegal signal to the Kremlin that it could expect a reprieve from sanctions that were being imposed by the Obama administration in late December to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 election. (Washington Post)

• Did Mike Pence get burned by Michael Flynn? Either the national security adviser misled the vice president, or the vice president knowingly misled the American people. (Washington Post)

5/ Trump tells President Xi Jinping U.S. will honor the “One China” Policy, reversing his earlier expressions of doubt about the longtime diplomatic understanding and removing a major source of tension between the United States and China since shortly after he was elected. Trump had to publicly commit to upholding the 44-year-old policy for President Xi to take his call. The concession was clearly designed to put an end to an extended chill in the relationship between China and the United States. (New York Times)...

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