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‘This made us all unemployable’: Trump White House aides respond to January 6 in angry text exchange | CNN Politics

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‘This made us all unemployable’: Trump White House aides respond to January 6 in angry text exchange | CNN Politics



CNN
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A textual content change between Ivanka Trump’s chief of workers Julie Radford and White Home aide Hope Hicks reveals their anger over then-President Donald Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021, hurting them professionally, in line with newly launched paperwork collected by the Home choose committee investigating the Capitol Hill revolt.

“In at some point he ended each future alternative that doesn’t embrace talking engagements on the native Proud Boys chapter,” Hicks wrote to Radford on January 6, 2021. “And all of us that didn’t have jobs lined up can be perpetually unemployed. I’m so mad and upset. All of us appear like home terrorists now.”

Hicks added: “This made us all unemployable. Like untouchable. God I’m so f***ing mad.”

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Radford responded by texting, “I do know, like there isn’t an opportunity of discovering a job,” and indicating she already misplaced a job alternative from Visa, which despatched her a “blow off e-mail.”

The brand new launch is a part of a gentle stream of paperwork from the committee, complementing the discharge of its sweeping 845-page report. The newest comes because the panel winds down its work with the Home majority set to alter fingers from Democrats to Republicans on Tuesday at the beginning of the brand new Congress.

Within the textual content messages, Hicks then says “Alyssa seems like a genius,” an obvious reference to Alyssa Farah Griffin resigning from her put up as a White Home aide one month earlier than the assault on the US Capitol.

Hicks and Radford then talk about Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s in-law Karlie Kloss, the supermodel, tweeting that Trump’s response to the election was anti-American.

“Unreal,” Radford texted.

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The committee additionally launched name logs from the times main as much as January 6, 2021 portray a fuller image of who the previous president was talking to as he and his allies have been plotting for him to remain in workplace, the primary time the panel is releasing White Home name logs of their entirety.

The logs have been essential to the panel’s investigation in piecing collectively a timeline of occasions. Whereas the log for January 6 has a seven-hour hole, the committee has gone to nice lengths to fill in that a part of the timeline by means of witness interviews and different data.

The day earlier than the US Capitol assault, Trump spoke to then-Vice President Mike Pence. After that dialog, Trump spoke with Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who helped gas Trump’s election lies within the state, after which the switchboard operator left a word “that Senator Douglas Mastriano can be calling in for the Vice President.”

Trump additionally talked to plenty of members of Congress on January 5, together with Sens. Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham and Home Minority Chief Kevin McCarthy. Trump and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri tried calling one another many instances however couldn’t join. Trump additionally spoke with John Eastman, who helped Trump create the faux elector scheme that day.

The January 2 name log exhibits what occurred within the instant aftermath of the notorious hour-long name with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger when Trump requested Raffensperger to “discover” votes for him to win the state. As soon as the decision with Raffensperger wrapped, Trump had a zoom together with his then-lawyer Rudy Giuliani and spoke on the cellphone together with his Chief of Employees Mark Meadows and later Steve Bannon.

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On January 3, Trump had a number of calls with former Division of Justice official Jeffrey Clark and GOP Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, as the previous President tried and in the end failed to put in Clark because the appearing head of DOJ. The decision logs mirror a flurry of calls with DOJ officers, together with then-acting Lawyer Normal Jeffrey Rosen and his deputy Richard Donoghue.

At 4:22 p.m. ET that day, Clark is listed as appearing lawyer normal, however earlier within the day he was not.

Newly launched paperwork additionally present the Secret Service dispatched a safety staff to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, only a few minutes after Trump introduced unexpectedly throughout his Ellipse speech that he would be part of marchers headed there.

At about 1:10 p.m. ET, Trump known as for helps to “stroll down Pennsylvania Avenue” with him to the Capitol. Inside communications launched by the Home choose committee present the Secret Service Joint Operations Middle Counter Surveillance Unit despatched an e-mail round 1:15 p.m. ET, alerting that Trump had introduced “on LIVE TV that he plans head to the Capitol with the gang,” though his title is redacted.

“Per the announcement of (redacted) to the Capitol, a response staff is being devoted to the capitol,” brokers wrote within the e-mail. Publicly launched inner communications often redact the code title brokers use to consult with the president.

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The newly launched paperwork present contemporary perception into how the Secret Service scrambled to answer the chaos and violence that unfolded that day. The e-mail from the joint operations middle exhibits the company rushed to offer extra safety to the Capitol as a direct results of the previous president’s feedback.

Secret Service management was involved about Trump’s sudden plan to go to the Capitol, and the top of his element was informed the thought was “not advisable,” the paperwork launched by the committee present. In addition they element how the company bumped into technical difficulties and confiscated dozens of weapons on January 6, and had warned concerning the Proud Boys’ violent intentions as early as December 27.

A number of models throughout the Secret Service have been reporting technical issues, and brokers have been warned “to not rely” on their expertise, in line with an e-mail. A timeline offered to the committee by the Secret Service exhibits some Secret Service radios died on the peak of the chaos, nevertheless it’s not clear which protecting groups have been most affected.

One other doc particulars how the Secret Service confiscated a whole bunch of cans of pepper spray, physique armor, and a whole bunch of weapons resembling knives and blunt weapons from the roughly 28,000 individuals who poured by means of the magnetometers on the way in which to the Ellipse.

Within the wake of January 6, 2021, Dan Scavino, the previous deputy chief of workers and social media director in Trump’s White Home, texted a rally organizer that Trump “does do his personal tweets” after discussing the now notorious “can be wild” tweet on December 19, in line with paperwork launched by the choose committee.

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The panel and safety consultants have pointed to that tweet from Trump’s account, which promoted a giant protest deliberate for January 6, as a catalyst for the violence that day.

In a textual content change between Scavino and Katrina Pierson, who helped manage the Ellipse rally that preceded the US Capitol assault, the pair have been discussing a information article connecting right-wing rally organizer Alexander Ali to the previous president.

“I by no means spoke with Ali. … He’s a fraud, and the DJT tweet on December 19 had completely nothing to do with Ali, or any of his individuals,” Scavino texted, earlier than including: “He does do his personal tweets.”

This story has been up to date with further developments Monday.

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Russia aims to be global leader in nuclear power plant construction

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Russia aims to be global leader in nuclear power plant construction

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Russia is building more than 10 nuclear units abroad as it looks to tap into rising energy demand driven by artificial intelligence and developing markets, according to an envoy of President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow is doubling down on efforts to boost its global influence by expanding its nuclear fleet, with plants under construction in countries including Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Iran and Turkey. Russia has enhanced its role as a major nuclear energy provider even as the oil and gas sector has faced heavy sanctions after its invasion of Ukraine.

Boris Titov, the Kremlin’s special representative for international co-operation in sustainability, said the country wanted to cement its position as “one of the biggest builders of new nuclear plants in the world”. 

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He said Russia expected strong demand for nuclear power from developing countries eager for cleaner sources of energy, as well as from technology companies harnessing AI in data centres. The International Atomic Energy Agency forecast this year that world nuclear generating capacity would increase by 155 per cent to 950 gigawatts by 2050.

“We are building more than 10 different units around the world,” Titov told the Financial Times. “We need a lot of energy. We will not be able to provide this energy without using . . . nuclear. We know that it’s safe . . . it’s not emitting [greenhouse gas emissions], so it is very clean.”

Boris Titov, the Kremlin’s special representative for international co-operation in sustainability © Maksim Konstantinov/SOPA/LightRocket/Getty Images

Russia’s growing overseas nuclear portfolio, including reactor construction, fuel provision and other services, spans 54 countries, according to an article published last year in the journal Nature Energy by the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. 

Titov pointed to Hungary’s Paks 2 plant as well as units in Bangladesh and Turkey. Russia is also expected to build a plant with small modular reactors in Uzbekistan, while it signed an agreement with Burkina Faso’s ruling junta in 2023. The FT reported this year that Russia was involved in more than a third of new reactors being built worldwide.

Western governments have attempted to push back against Russia’s nuclear prominence, with the US banning imports of Russian-enriched uranium this May. 

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With the exception of Hungary, most eastern European countries have signed contracts for fuel developed to fit Soviet-era reactors by US company Westinghouse since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

As part of a wider push to meet an indicative target of being free from Russian fuel imports by 2027, Dan Jørgensen, the new EU commissioner for energy, said that he wanted to examine the “full nuclear supply chain”. 

But Hungarian premier Viktor Orbán and Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico have said they would block any steps to restrict Russia’s civilian nuclear energy industry.

After meeting Putin on Sunday, Fico said in a post on Facebook that potential sanctions against Russia would be “financially damaging and endanger the production of electricity in nuclear power plants in Slovakia, which is unacceptable”.

But fears that Russia could create critical nuclear fuel shortages for the bloc, as it did for gas in 2022, are overstated, one senior EU official said.

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“Rosatom has a vested interest to be reliable,” they added.

A more immediate problem is US sanctions on Gazprombank, a major conduit for energy payments to Russia. The measures exempted civil nuclear energy except for Hungary’s Paks 2 plant. Hungary’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó has called the singling out of the new plant an “entirely political decision”.

Many developing countries are looking at nuclear to meet clean energy requirements, offering more potential markets for Russia.

Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Malaysia’s natural resources and environmental sustainability minister, told the Financial Times that the country was “studying the introduction of nuclear”. 

He said all the “major players” were “talking to the [Malaysian] government” on potential projects, without referring to specific countries.

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Speaking at the UN COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan in November, Jake Levine, senior climate and energy director at the US National Security Council, said Washington was concerned about countries turning to China or Russia for nuclear power.

Global competitiveness in the industry was a “huge issue”, he added.

Additional reporting by Anastasia Stognei, Polina Ivanova and Raphael Minder

Climate Capital

Where climate change meets business, markets and politics. Explore the FT’s coverage here.

Are you curious about the FT’s environmental sustainability commitments? Find out more about our science-based targets here

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Why Trump's tariffs on Mexico would mean higher avocado prices at the grocery store

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Why Trump's tariffs on Mexico would mean higher avocado prices at the grocery store

Avocados grow on trees in an orchard in the municipality of Ario de Rosales, Michoacan state, Mexico, on Sept. 21, 2023. Tariffs on Mexican imports would have a big effect on avocados in the U.S.

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Of all the products that would be affected by President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on Mexico, avocados stand out: 90% of avocados consumed in the U.S. are imported. And almost all of those imports come from Mexico.

Trump has said he plans to impose a blanket tariff of 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada, along with an additional 10% tax on goods from China.

It’s unclear whether the tariffs will be implemented or if they will serve merely as a negotiating tactic.

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If enacted, they could have multiple effects on the avocado industry.

“Broad tariffs, like what’s being proposed, is not something that we’ve seen” before, says David Ortega, a food economist and professor at Michigan State University. “We had the trade war with China back in 2018 that affected steel and aluminum, but when it comes to food, these types of policy proposals are not something that are very common or that we’ve seen recently.”

With one of the biggest guacamole-eating events of the year — the Super Bowl — approaching in February, here’s what to know about avocados, tariffs, and why so many avocados are grown in Mexico.

Prices will rise

Avocados are displayed in a grocery store in Washington, D.C., on June 14, 2022. Experts predict avocado prices will rise in the event of tariffs on Mexican imports.

Avocados are displayed in a grocery store in Washington, D.C., on June 14, 2022. Experts predict avocado prices will rise in the event of tariffs on Mexican imports.

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First, a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico would lead to higher avocado prices at the grocery store.

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But estimating just how much higher is hard to say. It’s possible that producers and importers will absorb some of the costs to keep prices down and stay more competitive.

Ortega says there could be “pretty significant increases in the price of avocados. Maybe not the full 25%, but pretty close, given that there’s very little substitute ability with regards to where we would source avocados.”

But he cautions that because the tariffs apply only to the product’s value at the border, and not to other costs like transportation and distribution within the U.S., prices may not go up by the full 25%.

Regardless of these potential price increases, however, people in the U.S. love their avocados and they’re willing to pay more. Avocado consumption tripled in the U.S. between 2000 and 2021.

“Given that avocado is a staple of our consumption here, I would say that the elasticity is not very high, meaning that even with a big increase in price, consumption is not going to change that much,” says Luis Ribera, a professor and extension economist in the agricultural economics department at Texas A&M University.

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Why Mexico

A farmer works at an avocado plantation at the Los Cerritos avocado group ranch in Ciudad Guzman, state of Jalisco, Mexico, on Feb. 10, 2023. Mexico provides 90% of the avocados consumed in the U.S.

A farmer works at an avocado plantation at the Los Cerritos avocado group ranch in Ciudad Guzman, state of Jalisco, Mexico, on Feb. 10, 2023. Most of the avocados consumed in the U.S. are grown in Mexico.

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Mexico is the biggest producer of avocados in the world and exported $3.3 billion worth of avocados in 2023. A study funded by the industry estimated that avocado production supports 78,000 permanent jobs and 310,000 seasonal jobs in Mexico.

“It’s a very important business in Mexico, very lucrative,” Ribera says.

Mexico emerged as the largest foreign supplier of fruits and vegetables to the U.S. for a few reasons, he says. One: Its proximity to the U.S. market. With a perishable product, closer is better. Peru is the second-largest source of foreign avocados in the U.S., but its greater distance means avocados need to be shipped farther.

The other reasons for Mexico are favorable weather that allows for year-round production of avocados and access to cheap labor, according to Ribera.

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Avocados are grown in the U.S. too, mostly in California and to a lesser extent Florida and Hawaii, but U.S. growers can’t meet Americans’ big appetite. Avocado production in the U.S. has declined, even as Americans grew fonder of the green fruit, according to the USDA.

California avocado growers have faced droughts and wildfires in recent years, making it difficult to offer the year-round availability that American consumers crave, Ortega says. In addition, land is expensive and water is limited.

If the goal of implementing tariffs is to force avocado production to move somewhere besides Mexico, that isn’t easy.

It takes about eight years for avocado trees to produce fruit, according to the USDA. “This is not a product that you can just simply plant more of this season and you get more of in a few months,” Ortega says.

Other countries where the U.S. sources avocados — Peru, the Dominican Republic and Chile — “just simply don’t have the production capacity to replace Mexico’s supply,” he says.

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Tariffs could impact the organic avocado market

Tariffs could also alter the market dynamic when it comes to organic vs. conventional foods.

If prices rise across the board, consumers who typically buy organic avocados might switch to conventional ones to save money. Organic produce makes up about 15% of total fruit and vegetable sales in the U.S., according to the Organic Trade Association, which represents hundreds of organic businesses and thousands of farmers.

“My hypothesis is that the price of conventional products would increase more than the premium organic product,” Ortega says. He reasons that because people who are used to buying organic avocados would move to buy conventional ones, “that in turn increases the demand and would make prices rise more for that category.”

Matthew Dillon, co-CEO of the Organic Trade Association, says those in the organic food industry are looking at diversifying their supply chains away from Mexico, but there’s a three-year transition period required for farmers to switch from producing conventional to organic produce.

“Supply chains are not incredibly elastic in organic. It takes more time to pivot and change when there’s a supply chain disruption. And tariffs are in some ways a form of supply chain disruption for a company, because it creates unpredictable pricing,” he says.

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Together with grocery prices that have gone up more than 26% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump’s plans for tariffs on Mexico, along with mass deportations, could create “a perfect storm of high inflationary pressure on the organic sector,” Dillon says.

Furthermore, retaliatory tariffs from Mexico could have their own impacts.

Avocado producers face uncertainty as Trump’s return looms

Avocados in boxes are pictured at a packing plant in the municipality of Ario de Rosales, Michoacan state, Mexico, on Sept. 21, 2023.

Avocados in boxes are pictured at a packing plant in the municipality of Ario de Rosales, Michoacan state, Mexico, on Sept. 21, 2023.

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Aside from the threat of tariffs, the avocado industry has other challenges to deal with: climate change presents several problems, and avocados require a large amount of water to grow. Meanwhile, environmentalists say some avocado growers are cutting down forests to plant avocados.

Producers also face extortion from criminal gangs in Mexico.

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And now with Trump’s tariff threats, producers are left to wonder about their next steps.

“Producers, they react to market fundamentals,” Ribera says. For example, people can foresee how bad weather in Mexico would affect avocado prices. Producers and retailers will adjust to higher and lower demand.

“The issue with a tariff is it’s not a market fundamental — it’s a policy. It’s a political move,” he says. “It could happen or it could not happen, or it could be increased or it could be decreased, you know. So it’s hard for the whole supply chain to adjust.”

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Live news: SingPost shares slump after CEO fired over handling of whistleblower report

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Live news: SingPost shares slump after CEO fired over handling of whistleblower report

While the holiday spirit will dominate the news agenda, there are notable developments to watch across the world, as the three defining themes of 2024 — elections, war and inflation — continue to hum in the background.

On Tuesday, Moldova’s pro-EU president-elect Maia Sandu will attend her inauguration. Her narrow election victory in October, despite alleged Russian meddling in the process, will set the former Soviet country on a path to EU membership.

Maia Sandu © Dumitru Doru/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Georgia, on the other hand, will on Sunday swear in Mikheil Kavelashvili to the presidency, a pro-Russian firebrand and Croatia will hold a first-round presidential vote on Sunday.

On Monday, Mozambique’s top court is set to give a verdict on the country’s disputed election in October, while Albanian opposition parties block roads demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation

Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda will deliver a speech on Christmas Day. Economists will pore over his words for clues on how president-elect Donald Trump’s tariffs will affect the pace and trajectory of monetary policy.

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UK third-quarter GDP figures will be out on Monday, after months of disappointing economic releases for chancellor Rachel Reeves.

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