Politics
At NATO, Biden’s top diplomat keeps eye toward leaders not condemning Putin
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is in pleasant territory: the headquarters of NATO the place European leaders, nearly to a person and lady, are supportive of U.S.-led efforts to punish Russia and assist Ukraine.
However what does a talented diplomat like Blinken do in regards to the many international locations not on board? Does he stress, promise or punt?
Earlier than he traveled Tuesday to NATO headquarters in Brussels, Blinken spent hours on the phone with leaders of strategically essential international locations whose reluctance to hitch the marketing campaign has most perturbed the administration. Amongst this group are robust U.S. allies like India, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
Blinken spoke to India’s overseas minister twice prior to now week. His aides declined to say whether or not there was any indication that India, or anybody else, had modified its place to sentence Russia. “We’ll see,” was the final response.
Right here in Brussels, Blinken anticipated that members of the North Atlantic Treaty Group together with the European Union would come along with one more batch of financial sanctions to impose on Russia, in addition to packages of support — deadly weapons and medical provides and meals — for Ukraine. The administration has repeatedly extolled its success in bringing allies collectively for an unprecedented unity on this trigger.
“Clearly within the wake of the horrific pictures popping out of Bucha, we now really feel much more compelled to take a contemporary have a look at extra types of help, individually, collectively, any approach that we will,” U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith mentioned in a briefing Tuesday.
Britain, which is now not a part of the EU, introduced sweeping new sanctions Wednesday, together with freezing all belongings of Russia’s largest financial institution, promising to cease Russian coal and oil imports by 12 months’s finish and focusing on extra oligarchs. In the meantime, the Biden administration sanctioned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two daughters and the household of Overseas Minister Sergei Lavrov and in addition focused two main Russian monetary establishments.
The European Union, nonetheless, did not agree on extra sanctions that might ban Russian coal, amongst different restrictions. The group was to proceed negotiations on Thursday, additional demonstrating the challenges of accelerating assist even among the many keen.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Belgian Overseas Minister Sophie Wilmès at Egmont Palace in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday.
(Evelyn Hockstein/Related Press)
Regardless of the EU’s lack of motion, the argument in Brussels is a comparatively straightforward one for Blinken. European leaders, confronting a disastrous struggle on their jap edges, have extra at stake than anybody.
Even inside this Western alliance nonetheless, there are strains — america and powers like Germany stay at odds over imports of Russian power and different points.
Requested whether or not the alliance unity might be maintained in what might stretch out to be a battle of months, even years, White Home spokesperson Jen Psaki acknowledged the problem.
“‘Unity’ doesn’t imply ‘equivalent,’ ” she mentioned, chatting with reporters Tuesday. “And as we’re trying on the penalties individuals are setting up, the actions they’re taking, our expectation shouldn’t be that it’s equivalent. It’s simply our effort to do every little thing we will to ensure it’s coordinated, and it’s unified because it presumably might be.”
Blinken’s hand could also be strengthened by the rising reviews of atrocities that the Ukrainians blame on Russian occupying forces, and whose pictures and movies of Ukrainians shot within the head or buried in unexpectedly dug mass graves have revulsed many elements of the world.
In Bucha, a suburb north of Kyiv, and presumably different cities, Russia engaged in “a deliberate marketing campaign to kill, torture, rape,” Blinken informed reporters who traveled with him to Brussels.
“This reinforces our willpower — and the willpower of nations all over the world — to guarantee that a method or one other, in the future or one other, there was accountability for individuals who dedicated these acts, those that ordered them,” Blinken mentioned.
But it was not clear that different international locations past NATO and the European Union would in truth rush to hitch a marketing campaign pushing for the prosecution of Russian President Vladimir Putin on struggle crimes costs. U.S. officers privately acknowledge that some international locations might proceed to take a seat this one out.
Policemen work on the identification course of following the killing of civilians in Bucha, earlier than sending the our bodies to the morgue, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine on Wednesday.
(Rodrigo Abd/Related Press)
Every nation has its causes for siding with Russia or, a minimum of, stepping gingerly the place Moscow is anxious. Many have robust commerce ties or rely upon Russia for power and weapons, like India. There’s additionally anti-U.S. sentiment amongst some, or a notion that the U.S. and NATO are partly responsible for the disaster unfolding in Ukraine due to their growth to international locations nearer to Russia’s borders, which Putin views as a provocation. Some have had a protracted diplomatic or political connection to Moscow, or, within the case of nations like more and more autocratic Hungary, a brand new one.
U.S. officers are hoping that if some international locations can’t make a full dedication to confronting Russia, they’ll make different contributions, comparable to diplomatic efforts or strictly humanitarian support. One instance is Israel, whose Prime Minister Naftali Bennett may nonetheless be capable of pursue a supposedly impartial place of mediator between Russia and Ukraine.
The following large take a look at for whether or not the U.S. has assist for increasing its base on this combat is in an upcoming U.N. Basic Meeting vote to kick Russia out of the physique’s Human Rights Council.
The decision proposed by america is, Biden administration officers acknowledge, extraordinary, however they contend {that a} Russian presence on the human rights monitor is a travesty and preserve they’ll marshal the votes vital.
“Given the rising mountain of proof, Russia mustn’t have a place of authority in a physique whose objective — whose very objective — is to advertise respect for human rights,” the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, informed the physique Tuesday. “Not solely is that this the peak of hypocrisy — it’s harmful.”
Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia responded with the inventory response of his authorities, that the our bodies in Bucha had been a part of a situation staged by “Ukrainian neo-Nazis.”
He warned international locations in opposition to being “manipulated” by Washington.
Following the day of conferences with its transatlantic allies Wednesday, Blinken lauded the “extraordinary unity” the U.S. and its NATO companions have proven within the the aftermath of Russia’s invasion. That unity stands in distinction to the years of the Trump administration, when the previous president was dismissive of NATO and worldwide alliances generally. Since taking workplace, Blinken has labored to restore the injury performed throughout that point.
Employees author Eli Stokols contributed to this report from Washington.
Politics
Biden rakes in big bucks last month, but haul is far short of Trump's massive May fundraising
President Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised a combined $85 million in May, which is their second-best month of fundraising this election cycle.
But the money raised by Biden and the DNC is far short of the staggering haul raised by former President Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee last month.
In announcing their May fundraising figures on Thursday evening, the Biden campaign also highlighted that they had a massive $212 million cash-on-hand as of the end of May.
“Our strong and consistent fundraising program grew by millions of people in May, a clear sign of strong and growing enthusiasm for the President and Vice President every single month,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.
BIDEN STRIKES GOLD IN CALIFORNIA, ONE WEEK AFTER TRUMP’S MASSIVE HAUL IN THE BLUE BASTION
President Biden’s re-election campaign scolded MSNBC and CNN on Wednesday for ignoring a “Black Voters for Biden-Harris” rally in Philadelphia. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Biden’s announcement came on the final day the presidential campaigns had to file their May fundraising figures with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
But the Trump campaign didn’t wait for the deadline to tout its May fundraising haul.
The former president’s campaign announced two and a half weeks ago that they and the RNC, fueled in part by the former president’s guilty verdicts in his criminal trial, combined hauled in a stunning $141 million in fundraising in May.
That was up from the $76 million they raised in April when they topped President Biden and the Democratic National Committee for the first time in their 2024 election rematch.
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower on May 30, 2024 in New York City after being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)
Spotlighting their grassroots appeal, the Trump campaign said that the average dollar donation was $70.27 with 25% of the donors in May being first time contributors to the former president’s 2024 run.
The Trump cash announcement came in the wake of what his campaign showcased as “record-shattering” fundraising immediately after he was found guilty of all 34 felony counts in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history.
The former president’s campaign highlighted that in the first 24 hours following Thursday evening’s verdict, they and the RNC hauled in nearly $53 million in fundraising, which counted towards May’s total.
BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON HELP BIDEN RAISE BIG BUCKS
The Biden campaign also raised funds off of the Trump verdict, and a source familiar told Fox News that “the 24 hours after the verdict were one of the best fundraising 24 hours of the Biden campaign since launch.”
Biden’s May haul came without any major fundraising events headlined by the president. The Biden campaign says that a majority of its May fundraising came from grassroots donors.
The campaign has been using its funds to build up what appears to be a very formidable ground operation in the key battleground states and announced hours earlier on Thursday that they had hired their 1,000 staffer. The Biden campaign enjoys a large organizational advantage over team Trump when it comes to grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote ground game efforts.
File photos of President Biden (left) and former President Trump ((AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson and Evan Vucci))
“The money we continue to raise matters, and it’s helping the campaign build out an operation that invests in reaching and winning the voters who will decide this election,” Chavez Rodriguez highlighted.
Biden’s campaign appears to enjoy a large cash-on-hand advantage over Trump, whose campaign didn’t report their cash-on-hand amount in announcing their May fundraising. The campaigns are not legally required to report those figures until the end of July, following the close of the second quarter of fundraising.
Biden enjoyed a $146 million to $88 million cash-on-hand advantage over Trump at the end of March, following the close of the first fundraising quarter of the year.
Trump has been aiming to close his fundraising gap with Biden, who had regularly been outpacing Trump in monthly fundraising.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks to the podium at a campaign event Tuesday, June 18, 2024, in Racine, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
Trump’s April haul was boosted by a record-setting $50.5 million that the former president’s campaign raked in at a single event early in the month with top dollar GOP donors that was hosted at the Palm Beach, Florida home of billionaire investor John Paulson.
Both candidates have held top dollar fundraising events so far in June.
The president set a new Democratic Party fundraising record – according to his campaign – as he hauled in over $30 million at a star-studded fundraiser on Saturday in Los Angeles with former President Obama, Hollywood heavyweights George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and late night TV talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.
President Joe Biden (L) laughs with former President Barack Obama onstage during a campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 15, 2024. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
And he brought in $8.1 million at a fundraiser at the Northern Virginia home of former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, where he was also joined by former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State and former Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was the Democrats’ 2016 standard-bearer.
Meanwhile, Trump’s team touted that they hauled in roughly $27.5 million during a fundraising swing by the former president in California and Nevada a week ago.
Fundraising, along with public opinion polling, is a key metric used to measure the strength of a candidate and their campaign. Money raised can be used to build up grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote operations, staffing, travel and ads, among other things.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Broadcast and cable networks, including Fox News and ABC, are falling in line to carry the simulcast of CNN’s presidential debate on June 27, the first general election face-off of this cycle between President Biden and former president Trump.
The cooperation marks a first among the typically fierce competitors.
Since 1988 and until now, presidential debates were organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates and presented across multiple outlets. The commission controlled the choices of venues and moderators, with different networks handling the technical aspects of the broadcasts.
The campaigns for the presumptive 2024 nominees bypassed the commission this year and agreed to two debates produced by individual networks. The first will be moderated by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash at the network’s Atlanta studio, while ABC will produce and carry the second event on Sept. 10. The running mates — Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump’s to-be-determined veep pick — are expected to meet on CBS.
Some outlets pushed back on CNN’s requirements for the simulcast, which include running the network’s logo on screen and referring to the event as the “CNN Presidential Debate” in all promotional spots and press releases.
But Fox News followed its rival’s conditions, announcing its plans Thursday. The coverage, including analysis and opinion commentary, will be called “Fox News Democracy 2024: CNN Presidential Debate.”
Fox News Media will present the event on the Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, the Fox broadcast network and the company’s streaming service Fox Nation.
Shannon Bream, anchor of “Fox News Sunday,” will lead the coverage on the broadcast network. Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will handle the event on cable. Pro-Trump “Fox & Friends” weekend co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy will give her take on Fox Nation.
While Fox News is respecting CNN’s guidelines, its conservative commentators have taken a typically critical tone of the network ahead of the event. In discussing the debate on Wednesday, prime time host Sean Hannity referred to Tapper as “Fake Jake” and the network as “Fake CNN.”
Based on recent history, Fox News may end up with the largest audience for the debate. In the first 2020 debate sanctioned by the commission and airing across multiple networks, Fox News had 18 million viewers, the largest share of any outlet. The total among all networks, according to Nielsen, was 73 million viewers.
ABC News has announced its intent to carry the simulcast — also streaming live on Hulu — with anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis overseeing the analysis. CBS News made its plans official Thursday, with evening news anchor Norah O’Donnell leading the coverage. She will be joined by “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King, chief political analyst John Dickerson, and “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan.
A representative for NBCUniversal News Group said it will carry the event on NBC, MSNBC and Spanish-language network Telemundo. Nexstar’s cable network NewsNation, Scripps News, and right-wing channel Newsmax have also signed on, their representatives said..
The debate is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. (Pacific) and run 90 minutes with two commercial breaks, another first for general election presidential debates, which in the past have run commercial free. The outlets carrying the simulcast are not allowed to use the breaks for commentary and analysis. CNN has said that the feed will be pulled from any outlet that violates that agreement.
Politics
Biden admin won't say whether it plans to contact family of Maryland mom allegedly killed by illegal immigrant
The Biden administration will not say whether it has plans to reach out to the family of Rachel Morin, a Maryland mother of five who was allegedly raped and murdered by an illegal immigrant last year.
Randolph Rice, an attorney for the Morin family, told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Patty Morin, Rachel’s mother, had yet to be contacted by an official from the Biden administration.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the White House seeking information on whether they planned to make contact with the Morin family after Patty Morin told Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham on Wednesday that no one from the administration had contacted her or her family about the death of her daughter.
No response was given to Fox by the White House or DHS about Morin’s comments or whether they are planning to contact the family.
DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR ‘INFURIATED’ BY MURDER OF RACHEL MORIN, REFUSES TO CRITICIZE BIDEN FOR MIGRANT CRIMES
From left to right: President Biden, Rachel Morin and Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas. (Getty Images)
In a statement, a DHS spokesperson said, “The Department cannot publicly comment on an ongoing criminal investigation. That said, anyone who commits a horrific and senseless crime, like the one this individual is accused of, should be prosecuted to the fullest extent under the law. Our hearts go out to Rachel Morin’s family.”
The White House offered condolences to the loved ones of Rachel Morin in a statement this week but would not say what steps it would take to secure the border when asked by a Fox News Digital reporter.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Rachel Morin,” a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “We cannot comment on active law enforcement cases. But fundamentally, we believe that people should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law if they are found to be guilty.”
Rice told Fox that former President Trump reached out to Patty Morin on Thursday morning and that the two had a 20-minute conversation about her daughter.
Patty Morin said in a press release offered by her attorney that she was “deeply touched by President Trump’s kindness and concern.”
“He was genuine and truly wanted to know how our family was coping,” she added. “He asked about Rachel and showed honest compassion for her untimely death. His words brought comfort to me during this very difficult time.”
Morin, 37, was reported missing in August by her boyfriend, who said she never returned after going out for a run on the Ma & Pa Trail, a pedestrian trail, in Bel Air, a quiet and typically safe town about 28 miles northeast of Baltimore, on Aug. 5, 2023.
BROTHER OF WOMAN ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SPEAKS OUT: SHE WAS A ‘JOY TO BE AROUND’
Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, was arrested in the murder of Rachel Morin.
Her body was found on a trail the following day.
Victor Martinez Hernandez, the illegal migrant suspected of murdering Morin, was arrested on June 14 after a lengthy 10-month investigation into Morin’s murder. He was charged with rape and first-degree murder.
Hernandez, who has reportedly been in the U.S. since February 2023, was apprehended while “casually sitting” at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Police said he arrived in the U.S. only a month after he allegedly murdered a young woman in El Salvador. His DNA was also linked to a March home invasion in Los Angeles, where a mother and her 9-year-old daughter were assaulted, according to authorities.
“We all suspected that Rachel was not his first victim,” Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler said during the arrest announcement last weekend. “It is my understanding that this suspect, this monster, fled to the United States illegally after committing the brutal murder of a young woman in El Salvador a month earlier in January of 2023.”
The Harford County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland posted signs at Ma & Pa Trail heads on June 17, 2024, announcing the arrest in the August 2023 murder of Rachel Morin. (Harford County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)
Hernandez was expected to be extradited to Maryland on Thursday to face charges. He was scheduled to leave Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Thursday morning and arrive at Martin State Airport between 12:30 and 1 p.m., the Harford County Police Department confirmed.
Following his arrival in Maryland, the 23-year-old will be taken to the Harford County Detention Center, police said.
Fox News’ Michael Lee, Bailee Hill and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
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