Month: August 2021

On Wednesday, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol requested documents from Trump administration officials and other federal agencies. Wednesday’s request is the panel’s “first round of demands” as part of its task to determine the cause of the attack and prevent such an event from happening again. The committee issued letters to the National Archives and Records Administration and other executive branch agencies for information related to the riots.

In addition to the records administration, the Jan. 6 committee sought records from the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Interior and Justice, the FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The panel said it’s looking for records that include remarks made during the rally at the Ellipse, calendars, schedules, communications and call logs for Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, and photographs and other media from the rally, march to the Capitol or violence at the Capitol.

The letters also requested documents from Jan. 6 related to a number of people close to Trump, including first lady Melania Trump; his children Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and their spouses,Jared Kushner, Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle; and current and former advisers including Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, Hope Hicks, Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani and Roger Stone.

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President Joe Biden described cybersecurity as a “core national security challenge” as he met with leaders on Wednesday from the private sector to discuss national cyber defenses and form a strategy for how to improve security. The White House summit included chief executives from various industries including technology, financial services, insurance, energy and education and addressed critical infrastructure resilience, building enduring cybersecurity and the cybersecurity workforce.

Biden met with Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, IBM and ADP, and CEOs from JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, TIAA and U.S. Bancorp.  The White House said that Coalition, Vantage Group, Resilience and Travelers insurance companies also attended the summit, along with creative education leaders from Code.org, the University of Texas system, Tougaloo College, Girls Who Code and Whatcom Community College.

Following the meeting, the White House announced the National Institute of Standards and Technology will work with members of the industry to develop a framework to improve the security and integrity of the technology supply chain. The Biden administration also said it will expand the Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Initiative to include natural gas pipelines.

House Democrats have approved a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint, which advanced two pieces of President Joe Biden’s agenda. The House voted 220-212 on Tuesday to instruct committees to write the bill, despite a disagreement between a small group of moderate Democrats and progressives in the House that lasted into the early morning of Tuesday.

Lawmakers returned during their August recess to Capitol Hill as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tied the $3.5 trillion budget spending plan and a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill together, while committing to take up a vote on the infrastructure bill by Sept. 27. The rule was passed along party lines with all Democrats voting in favor and all Republicans voting against it.

Biden praised House Democrats and called Pelosi “masterful” in her leadership. Biden said: “We are a step closer to truly investing in the American people, positioning our economy for long-term growth and building an America that outcompetes the world,” adding, “There were differences, strong points of view. They’re always welcome. What is important is that we came together to advance our agenda.”

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President Joe Biden said he doesn’t plan to extend the August 31 deadline for all U.S. military personnel to be evacuated from Afghanistan. Biden made the announcement on Tuesday during remarks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, saying there are contingency plans to continue the evacuations after Aug. 31 if the Taliban allow it. Biden said: “We are determined to complete this mission. Another 19 U.S. military flights, 18 C-17s and one C-130 carrying approximately 6,400 evacuees, and 31 coalition flights carrying 5,600 people have left Kabul just in the last 12 hours — a total of 50 more flights, 12,000 more people since I’ve updated you this morning.”   Western allies have been pushing Biden to extend the deadline for all U.S. military personnel to leave the country, and Biden had previously expressed a willingness to do so. However in his remarks on Tuesday, Biden cited safety for U.S. troops as a reason for leaving by the existing Aug. 31 deadline.

Meanwhile, the Taliban announced Tuesday that it opposes the extension of the evacuation deadline, and has also banned Afghan nationals from leaving on the flights. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters: “We are not in favor of allowing Afghans to leave. The Americans “have the opportunity, they have all the resources, they can take all the people that belong to them but we are not going to allow Afghans to leave and we will not extend the deadline.”

Tuesday’s virtual summit G7 meeting came after Biden was criticized internationally at how he handled the Afghanistan withdrawal. The Taliban militant group swiftly took over control of the country this month and the U.S. government has been working to airlift the remaining citizens and Afghan aides out of Afghanistan.

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