WTF Just Happened Today

Your essential guide to the daily shock and awe in national politics.

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Day 30: "Restore common sense."


Thursday, February 18, 2021

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1/ Pence: US will hold Russia accountable and stands with NATO. Trump has repeatedly called NATO “obsolete,” but U.S. officials appear to be concentrating more on pushing allies to meet NATO defense spending commitments rather than focusing on Trump’s desire for a new relationship with the Kremlin, a major fear in Europe. Many European allies see Russia as a security threat following its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. (Washington Post)

2/ The F.B.I. is pursuing at least three separate probes relating to alleged Russian hacking of the U.S. presidential elections. The FBI’s Pittsburgh office is trying to identify the people behind breaches of the Democratic National Committee’s computer system. The bureau’s San Francisco office is trying to identify the people who posted John Podesta’s stolen emails. And, agents based in Washington are pursuing leads from informants, foreign communications intercepts, and financial transactions by Russian individuals and companies who are believed to have links to Trump associates. (Reuters)

  • FBI Director James B. Comey met with the Senate Intelligence Committee behind closed doors on Friday, amid an uproar over alleged contacts between members of President Trump’s campaign and Russian officials. (The Hill)

3/ The White House abruptly dismissed a senior National Security Council aide after his harsh criticism of Trump at a private, off-the-record think tank gathering. The aide laced into Trump, his chief strategist Steve Bannon, as well as Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. (Politico)

4/ Trump down to three candidates to replace Flynn after former CIA Director David Petraeus pulled his name from consideration for National Security Adviser. Still on the short list for the position are acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg, former United Nations ambassador John Bolton, and Army strategist Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. (The Hill)

5/ Trump weighs new travel ban that won’t stop green card holders or travelers already on planes from entering the U.S. The Homeland Security chief says there will be a “short phase-in period” to avoid people being stopped in transit. (Reuters)

  • Legal analysts said a new executive order that maintains bans would not likely allay the concerns of federal judges who put the original order on hold. Even if Trump made clear his order did not apply to green-card holders, or limited it so that it affected only those applying for visas, a three-judge panel with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit said that would not necessarily convince them to lift their freeze. (Washington Post)

6/ Trump yells at CIA Director Mike Pompeo for not pushing back hard enough against reports that the intelligence community was withholding information from him. The White House denied the report. The president “did not yell at the CIA director,” a White House spokesp...

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 February 19, 2021  6m