(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Overnight News Digest: DoJ tells DC federal court to expect 1,000+ new January 6 prosecutions [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-03-16 DOJ Told Court to Expect a Deluge of New Jan. 6 Prosecutions (cached) Bloomberg More than 1,000 additional people could still face charges in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, according to a letter to the DC federal court from the US attorney in Washington. The one-page letter, which was reviewed by Bloomberg News, was sent late last year to the chief judge and hasn’t been previously reported. It offers details on what Attorney General Merrick Garland has called “one of the largest, most complex, and most resource-intensive investigations in our history.” The Oct. 28 letter from US Attorney Matthew Graves to Chief Judge Beryl Howell, which came as the department neared its 900th arrest, estimated an additional 700 to 1,200 defendants. That could roughly double the number of cases filed so far – with this month marking the 1,000th arrest, according to statistics from the US attorney’s office. EXCLUSIVE: Behind the scenes of Trump grand jury; jurors hear 3rd leaked Trump call The Atlanta Journal-Constitution […] In an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, five of the 23 special grand jurors recounted what it was like to be a pivotal — but anonymous — part of one of the most momentous criminal investigations in U.S. history; one which could lead to indictments of … Donald Trump and his allies. […] One grand juror recalled U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s testimony about Trump’s state of mind in the months after the 2020 election. “He said that during that time, if somebody had told Trump that aliens came down and stole Trump ballots, that Trump would’ve believed it,” the juror said. […] Two of the jurors estimated that as many as 10 witnesses invoked their Fifth Amendment rights, some doing so even when asked to describe their education. In the prior interview, foreperson Kohrs said high-profile witnesses like Flynn, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and attorney Rudy Giuliani refused to answer some, if not most, of prosecutors’ questions. The January 6 Deniers Are Going to Lose The Atlantic GOP lawmakers cringe over Trump’s effort to destroy DeSantis The Hill Senate Republicans are wincing over … Trump’s early barrage of attacks against his chief rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), fearing they’re seeing a preview of a brutal primary to come that could leave both candidates weakened heading into the general election. GOP lawmakers acknowledge DeSantis needs to show he can take a punch and aren’t shocked Trump would take hard shots at a rival as the campaign heats up. But some are surprised the former president is unloading such a heavy barrage before DeSantis is even in the race, and they worry that getting into a yearlong mudslinging battle with Trump isn’t good look for the party heading into 2024. Poland to transfer MiG-29 jets to Ukraine within days Deutsche Welle Polish President Andrzej Duda said the nation is set to hand over PolSoviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in coming days. "In the coming days we will first transfer, if I remember correctly, four fully operational planes to Ukraine," Duda told a news conference in Warsaw. Duda said that Poland's air force would replace the planes it gives to Kyiv with South Korean-made FA-50 jets and American-made F-35s. The transfer would make Poland the first NATO member to have delivered the fighter jets, as Kyiv appeals for warplanes to fight Russian forces. The U.S. says it won’t stop surveillance flights despite the downing of its drone in the Black Sea. The New York Times Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said on Wednesday that the United States would continue to conduct surveillance flights after an American reconnaissance drone was struck by a Russian warplane and downed over the Black Sea. “Make no mistake, the United States will continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows,” Mr. Austin said in remarks at the beginning of a virtual meeting of some 50 nations supporting Ukraine’s efforts in the war against Russia. “This hazardous episode is a part of a pattern of aggressive and risky, and unsafe actions by Russian pilots in international airspace,” Mr. Austin said. “It is incumbent upon Russia to operate its military aircraft in a safe and professional manner.” Wagner’s convicts tell of horrors of Ukraine war and loyalty to their leader Reuters In October last year, a Russian news site published a short video of Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary army, sitting with four men on a rooftop terrace in the resort town of Gelendzhik, on Russia’s Black Sea coast. Two are missing parts of a leg. A third has lost an arm. They are identified as pardoned former convicts, returned from the front in Ukraine after joining Wagner from prison. “You were an offender, now you’re a war hero,” Prigozhin tells one man in the clip. It was the first video to depict the return of some of the thousands of convicts who joined Wagner in return for the promise of a pardon if they survived six months of war. […] In their ranks are murderers, thieves and a self-declared “Satanist.” Several are in hospital recovering from wounds sustained in the fighting. Reuters managed to make contact with 11 of these men. Five agreed to be interviewed by phone and messaging app. What follows is the most detailed insider account yet of Wagner's convict army: the fighters’ recruitment and training, the combat they saw in Ukraine, and their uncertain future in a Russia turned upside down by war with its neighbour. ‘The heart of the war’: Inside the secret talks with Putin’s generals that ended the siege of Mariupol CNN Russian President Vladimir Putin sat across from his defense minister in the Kremlin last April, slouched in his seat and gripping the table. They were discussing Russia’s siege of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant in the strategic city of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine. To Ukrainians, Azovstal had become a bleak but potent symbol of resistance, sheltering about 2,600 soldiers and civilians while the fortress-like facility was pummeled by Russian bombardment for weeks. To Moscow, the vast site was a frustration, the last stubborn holdout in a city that its forces had otherwise taken control over weeks earlier. “Block off the industrial site, so that not even a fly can escape,” Putin spat, his command broadcast on state-run television. But as the Russian president ordered a tightening of the noose around the hulking factory complex, a small group was about to begin secret negotiations to end the siege. They involved two of Putin’s most senior generals and a Ukrainian lawmaker who once served as a Soviet paratrooper. CNN can now exclusively reveal the inner details of how the deal was struck, and who was involved in the sensitive talks. European can live with longer war if Ukraine wins, report finds EU Observer European public opinion remains united on Ukraine and is moving away from a position of ending the war as soon as possible, a new survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) found. The Ukrainian army's success in pushing back the Russian offensive, has won over previously pessimistic supporters, the report — which is based on surveys in Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain and the UK — noted. […] On average, 29 percent want the war to end as soon as possible, while 38 percent want Ukraine to regain all its territory first, even if that means a longer conflict. Finland gears up for Turkey’s NATO blessing, as Sweden gets left behind Politico Turkey is expected to greenlight Finland’s NATO membership in the coming days — while leaving its running mate Sweden in limbo. Finnish President Sauli Niinistö announced Wednesday he will meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul on Friday, as Ankara edges closer to signing off on Helsinki’s NATO aspirations. “It was known that once President Erdoğan has for his part made the decision concerning the ratification of Finland’s NATO membership, he would wish to meet and fulfill his promise directly from President to President,” Niinistö said in a statement. Credit Suisse still has a fight on its hands despite $54 billion lifeline CNN A scramble by Switzerland’s authorities to shore up confidence in Credit Suisse went some way to calming panicked investors Thursday, but the country’s second-biggest bank may yet need more help if it is to survive. Credit Suisse said it would borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($53.7 billion) from the Swiss National Bank, taking advantage of a lifeline offered by the central bank late Wednesday after the lender’s stock had crashed as much as 30% to a new record low. It also said it would buy back some of its own debt. In a statement early Thursday, CEO Ulrich Körner said he had taken “decisive action” to strengthen the bank as its continues to implement a major overhaul announced last fall. “My team and I are resolved to move forward rapidly to deliver a simpler and more focused bank built around client needs,” he added. Big banks create $30B rescue package for First Republic AP News Eleven of the biggest banks in the country announced a $30 billion rescue package for First Republic Bank on Thursday, in an effort to prevent the California-based bank from becoming the third bank to fail in less than a week and head off a broader crisis in the banking sector. First Republic serves a similar clientele as Silicon Valley Bank, which failed Friday after depositors withdrew about $40 billion in a matter of hours. It appears that First Republic, which had deposits totaling $176.4 billion as of Dec. 31, was facing similar issues. In a statement, the group of banks confirmed that other unnamed banks had seen large amounts of withdrawals of uninsured deposits, which are those that exceed the $250,000 level insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. First Republic’s shares dropped more than 60% Monday, even after the bank said it had secured additional funding from JPMorgan and the Federal Reserve. Moderate Senate Democrats join GOP in resisting new bank rules after SVB failure NBC News Moderate Senate Democrats who voted to loosen regulations on midsize banks in 2018 are standing by their votes in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, joining Republicans in resisting enhanced scrutiny for financial institutions. […] “I don’t want to embrace solutions until I hear the analysis,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who noted that existing law gives regulators space to “tailor” rules on banks from $100 billion to $250 billion. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., both said they stand by their votes in favor of the 2018 deregulatory bill. Peter Thiel had $50mn in Silicon Valley Bank when it went under Financial Times Peter Thiel said he had $50mn in Silicon Valley Bank when it went under, even after his venture fund warned portfolio companies that the tech-focused lender was at risk. The veteran technology founder and investor was widely blamed for precipitating a bank run in which depositors tried to pull more than $40bn in 24 hours last week. His venture capital firm Founders Fund was among those that had advised clients to spread their deposits to other lenders as concerns about the bank mounted. […] Thiel has been a major backer of Republican politicians, including former president Donald Trump. Kyrsten Sinema's name is all over the Silicon Valley Bank collapse MSNBC Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who recently switched her party affiliation from Democrat to independent after facing intraparty criticism for her conservative stances, is yet again the subject of criticism for her political work in service of uber-wealthy finance executives. Sinema’s relationship with Silicon Valley Bank, in particular, has come into focus after its collapse. The Daily Beast’s Michael Daly framed Sinema’s dilemma succinctly, noting Monday: “Whether she’s calling herself a Democrat or an independent, her voting record is the same. And it marks her a shill for the banking industry.” Steve Bannon’s go-to funder Guo Wengui just got indicted for fraud Vox Some call him Miles Guo. Others call him Guo Wengui. To top Trump allies like Steve Bannon and Jason Miller, he is an ally and a business partner. But, to federal authorities, he is an alleged felony fraudster. On Wednesday, the FBI arrested Guo on 12 counts of felony fraud in New York. It marks another remarkable chapter in the bizarre saga of Guo, who has gone from a fugitive Chinese billionaire to a key figure on the MAGA right. His organization, the New Federal State of China, was a major sponsor of the Conservative Political Action Conference this year. […] Guo is alleged to have participated in an elaborate effort to defraud his online supporters in his campaign against the Chinese government of over $1 billion. He allegedly did this through falsely soliciting them to invest in his businesses and then misappropriating the funds for personal use. Among his alleged fraudulent schemes were soliciting $262 million in investments in a cryptocurrency “ecosystem” called the Himalaya Exchange, as well as a private club membership program called G|CLUBS, which attracted over $250 million in investment and purported to be “an exclusive, high-end membership program offering a full spectrum of services.” The indictment alleges that Guo has used the money to buy a mansion, Ferrari and Bugatti sports cars, and two $36,000 mattresses in addition to using money for upkeep on his yacht, which is worth $37 million. The indictment says federal law enforcement has already seized over $634 million in fraud proceeds from Guo over the past six months. Senate advances bill to repeal authorizations for Iraq, Gulf wars The Washington Post The Senate has advanced a bill that would repeal decades-old authorizations for use of military force for the Iraq and Persian Gulf wars, in an overwhelming show of bipartisan support for legislation that the White House has signaled it will back. The Senate voted 68 to 27 on Thursday to end debate on the bill, clearing the way for amendments and a final vote next week. If signed into law, the bill would repeal the 1991 Gulf War authorization and the 2002 Iraq War authorization. A bipartisan group of lawmakers who support the legislation argue that it is necessary to prevent abuse by presidential administrations that have — and still could — use the old authorizations to launch unrelated combat operations without congressional approval. The U.S. is sending an ambassador to India after leaving the job vacant for 26 months NPR News Across India, virtually all the headlines about Eric Garcetti's confirmation include one key word: "Finally." A divided U.S. Senate late Wednesday confirmed Garcetti, a former mayor of Los Angeles, as the next U.S. ambassador to India. The vote was 52-42. Washington had left its ambassador job in India vacant for 26 months – the longest stretch in the history of U.S.-Indian relations. The gap came at a time of rising global tensions, and despite U.S. and Indian leaders saying they've become closer partners than ever before. "Among the closest we have on Earth," President Biden told Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year. French government uses constitutional loophole to enact pension bill without vote EuroNews France’s government on Thursday invoked a special constitutional power to enact a contentious pension bill without a vote in parliament, in a risky move announced by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. The decision was made just a few minutes before the vote was scheduled because the government had no guarantee that the bill would command a majority at the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament. The bill will raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, and is the flagship legislation of President Emmanuel Macron's second term. The unpopular plan has prompted major strikes and protests across the country since January. Iranians urge their children to flee: ‘I want them to be safe’ Los Angeles Times Lida never wanted her children to leave Iran. Even as the 52-year-old retired schoolteacher watched the country’s moribund economic prospects spur more and more young people to leave, she still hoped to spend her retirement years with her son and daughter as they finished their education, got married and started families of their own. But between Tehran’s brutal clampdown on anti-government protests and a sanctions-crippled economy that continues to crater, she now feels she has little option but to help her children escape the country. “What if my son is killed in the protests like the others? What if my daughter was arrested? I now have nightmares thinking about them staying,” said Lida, who, like others interviewed, gave only her first name to avoid reprisals. What China’s baby woes mean for its economic ambitions BBC News […] A 2021 survey by China's Communist Youth League of almost 3,000 people between the ages of 18 and 26, found that more than 40% of young women living in cities did not plan to marry - compared to less than 25% of men. This is in part due to rising childcare costs and the ghosts of China's one-child policy. "Having just one child or no children has become the social norm in China," says Yi Fuxian, a senior scientist in obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a prominent critic of the one-child policy. "The economy, social environment, education and almost everything else relates back to the one-child policy," he adds. For Beijing, this is a worrying trend because China's population is declining. It's birth rate has been slowing for years but in 2022 its population fell for the first time in 60 years. ‘Understand me’: Hun Sen links AUKUS to concerns for Cambodia’s Chinese-funded naval base The Sydney Morning Herald Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has aired concerns about the transparency of Australia’s submarine ambitions during a rambling speech in which he also accepted they would be nuclear-powered and not nuclear armed. The strongman PM also linked the AUKUS announcement to Australian distrust over a controversial Chinese-funded naval base. The Cambodian leader was among more than 60 world leaders who were briefed by the Australian government on its $368 billion plan to acquire a fleet of nuclear-propelled submarines before the details were unveiled in San Diego by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, United States President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday. Deforestation on the rise in Quintana Roo, Mexico, as Mennonite communities move in Mongabay Less than a decade ago the El Bajío ejido — a form of communal land in Mexico —consisted primarily of rainforest. Today, the landscape is vastly different, with vast open fields of soybeans, sorghum and corn. This transformation was brought about by the mechanized agricultural activities of Mennonite families who began settling in the southern part of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo in the early 2000s. “In the past, we could enter on horseback, but since they [the Mennonites] came, they have made many roads for us,” said Rigoberto, an ejidatario — or communal landowner — in his eighties who has witnessed the transformation of the land. The mechanized agricultural practices employed by the Mennonites, a religious group of European origin known for their extensive monoculture plantations and demand for permanent land rights, have faced opposition from some of the region’s residents, who say they are flouting environmental regulations. Canada is sitting on 12 'carbon bombs.' Here's where they are CBC News Just under the surface of B.C. and Alberta, in a rock formation known as the Montney Play, lies enough potential greenhouse gasses to blow past Canada's 2030 emissions targets 30 times over. It's one of 12 fossil fuel reserves researchers in the journal Energy Policy have identified in Canada — called "carbon bombs" — that would each release a billion tonnes or more of carbon into the atmosphere if their resources were extracted and burned. This would be catastrophic for the world's efforts to slow rising global temperatures, the authors argue. But development in the Montney is set to ramp up in the next few years, and government subsidies for the natural gas industry mean many of these projects have been earmarked to make important contributions to the economy. White House: Biden’s hands were tied on Willow E&E News The White House on Thursday defended the administration’s decision to approve a massive oil and gas drilling project in Alaska after widespread criticisms that the move undercuts President Joe Biden’s promises on climate change and the environment. […] “The president kept his word when he can where he can by law,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday. “As the Interior Department said, some of the company’s leases are decades old, granted by prior administrations,” she added. “The company has a legal right to those leases. The department’s options are limited when there are legal contracts in place.” More than 63% of California is drought-free after latest atmospheric river storm The Sacramento Bee California continues to create distance from its “historic drought-stricken” label with record-level snowfall, rain and filling reservoirs. More than 63% of the state is drought-free, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Most of the central Sierra, foothills, Central Valley and the entire coast have exited drought conditions. Large portions Southern California are drought-free… On the flip side, California is struggling to contain all of its new water. Volcanoes on Venus? ‘Striking’ finding hints at modern-day activity Nature Scientists have found some of the strongest evidence yet that there is volcanic activity on Venus. Because the planet is a close neighbour to Earth and originally had water on its surface, one big question has been why its landscape is hellish while Earth’s is habitable. Learning more about its volcanic activity could help explain its evolution — and Earth’s. Scientists have known that Venus is covered in volcanoes, but whether or not any of them is still active has been long debated. Now, researchers have discovered that at least one of them probably is, by examining radar images of the planet’s surface collected by NASA’s Magellan spacecraft between 1990 and 1992. They determined that a volcanic vent located in Venus’s Atla Regio area, which contains two of the planet’s largest volcanoes, changed shape between two images taken eight months apart, suggesting an eruption or flow of magma beneath the vent. The scientists reported their findings on 15 March in Science and presented them at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in the Woodlands, Texas, on the same day. Federal agency hacked by 2 groups thanks to flaw that went unpatched for 4 years Ars Technica [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/16/2158610/-Overnight-News-Digest-DoJ-tells-DC-federal-court-to-expect-1-000-new-January-6-prosecutions Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/