Month: March 2023

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to demand the official records on the department’s Dissent Channel warning against a speedy withdrawal from Afghanistan.  The Dissent Channel is a confidential channel operated by the State Department and used by foreign affairs officials and other government employees. Employees may use the channel to share dissenting opinions about the government or matters of foreign affairs.

The cable from the State Department may reveal what the department’s employees in Kabul shared with Blinken and the Biden administration nearly a month before troops were withdrawn. McCaul’s press release said the record was first requested in August 2021, after U.S. troops and staff were evacuated.

Signed by 23 staffers from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul on July 13, 2021, the Dissent Channel cable warned the State Department that the Taliban was rapidly advancing in Afghanistan, forecasting a situation the Afghan military would be unable to handle. McCaul said in a statement that Blinken has refused to provide the cable despite multiple concessions being offered on McCaul’s behalf: “We have made multiple good-faith attempts to find common ground so we could see this critical piece of information. Unfortunately, Secretary Blinken has refused to provide the Dissent Cable and his response to the cable, forcing me to issue my first subpoena as chairman of this committee. The American people deserve answers as to how this tragedy unfolded, and why 13 U.S. service members lost their lives.” McCaul said concessions included reviewing the documents by camera and having the names of staffers who signed the cable redacted.

Blinken testified to the Foreign Affairs Committee last week and during his testimony he said he was preparing the relevant information the committee is seeking.

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The Manhattan grand jury concluded its proceedings in former President Trump’s case on Monday afternoon with no vote. The grand jury had reconvened Monday in New York City after its proceedings related to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into Trump were canceled twice last week.

Bragg has been investigating the $130,000 hush-money payment that then-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford. That payment was made in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 through his own company and was later reimbursed by Trump’s company, which logged the payments as “legal expenses.” Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing with regard to the payments made to Daniels, and he has repeatedly said the payments were “not a campaign violation” but rather a “simple private transaction.”

The grand jury heard from one witness, David Pecker, who served as president of National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc. and had previously testified before the grand jury as part of this case. The grand jury is set to reconvene Wednesday.

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Three adults and three children are confirmed dead following a mass shooting Monday morning at The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville. The 28-year-old female suspect was killed in an altercation with police.

Don Aaron, a spokesman for the Metro Nashville Police Department, said during a press conference that three adults and three students were killed in the shooting at The Covenant School.  The female shooter had entered the school through a side entrance armed with at least two “assault-type rifles” and a handgun and moved from the first floor to the second floor, firing multiple shots. The suspect was fatally shot by two of five-member police team around 10:27 a.m. in a second floor lobby.  Police said that the shooter was a former student of the school.

The Covenant School was founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church and has students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. Enrollment fluctuates between 195 and 210 with 33 teaching faculty members. On a normal day, the school has about 200 students and 40 staff members on campus.  Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk said the investigation remains ongoing: “While I cannot comment on the ongoing nature of the investigation, I’m really impressed with the work that’s being done by law enforcement. This is the ultimate crime when school children and caregivers are the victims of senseless gun violence.”

The school shooting is believed to be the fifth in the Nashville area since 2011, and first since 2018. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., tweeted: “Chuck and I are heartbroken to hear about the shooting at Covenant School in Nashville. My office is in contact with federal, state and local officials and we stand ready to assist. Thank you to the first responders working on site. Please join us in prayer for those affected.”

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Authorities in West Reading, PA confirmed on Sunday night that the remains of two more victims of the chocolate factory explosion in Pennsylvania were discovered, bringing the death toll from the explosion on Friday at the R.M. Palmer Co. chocolate factory to seven. West Reading Police Chief Wayne Holben said at an evening news conference that this closes search operations at the R.M. Palmer Company, as no other people connected to the location were missing.

Identities of the dead were unavailable. West Reading Mayor Samantha Kaag said Sunday that the White House reached out on Saturday: “They’ve offered condolences, asked us that if we need anything, to please reach out. So we are getting calls from numerous sources and we’re grateful for all of them. We’re grateful the resources that they’re offering. Right now we’re just kind of trying to get our feet on the ground and figure out where we can put them and how we can delegate them.”