Politics
Matt Gaetz calls for Biden to ‘blow up TikTok’ after US military shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon
A Republican lawmaker is requesting President Biden take motion to eradicate TikTok, an app critics allege offers the Chinese language authorities personal entry to tens of hundreds of thousands of People.
Hours after Biden ordered the USA Air Power to shoot down a suspected Chinese language spy balloon, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., took to Twitter with a easy instruction: “Now blow up TikTok.”
Biden’s choice to shoot down the balloon got here per week after it was first detected over Alaska on Jan. 25 and days after it was later reported over Montana, Missouri, and the Carolinas.
The social media app has been the purpose of competition as critics say the Chinese language authorities’s management over ByteDance, the corporate that developed TikTok, enable it to regulate what teenagers and others who’ve the app see. This management can lead to providing propaganda, influencing choices and elections, or just distracting the populous, critics say.
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The Air Power finally shot down the balloon Saturday afternoon because it hovered over the Atlantic Ocean, simply off the coast of South Carolina.
China’s authorities launched a blistering assertion after the USA shot down a suspected spy balloon that floated from Montana to the Carolinas, calling the motion an “assault” that was “completely sudden.”
“China strongly disapproves of and protests towards the U.S. assault on a civilian unmanned airship by drive,” China’s International Ministry mentioned in an announcement on Saturday.
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The International Ministry additionally mentioned it repeatedly knowledgeable the U.S. that the suspected spy balloon was “civilian” and posed no danger, saying it largely collected climate information.
Beijing additionally requested the U.S. authorities to reply in a “calm, skilled and restrained method” simply days earlier than the U.S. Air Power shot it down off the coast of South Carolina.
“The Chinese language facet has, after verification, repeatedly knowledgeable the U.S. facet of the civilian nature of the airship and conveyed that its entry into the U.S. on account of drive majeure was completely sudden,” the ministry mentioned. “The Chinese language facet has clearly requested the U.S. facet to correctly deal with the matter in a peaceful, skilled and restrained method.”
The White Home mentioned on Friday Biden wouldn’t shoot down the balloon, regardless of calls from lawmakers and others, because it “doesn’t current a army or bodily menace to individuals on the bottom.”
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China’s overseas ministry mentioned the choice to shoot it down was a “clear overreaction.”
“Beneath such circumstances, the U.S. use of drive is a transparent overreaction and a severe violation of worldwide observe,” the assertion learn. “China will resolutely safeguard the official rights and pursuits of the corporate involved, and reserves the fitting to make additional responses if essential.”
Republican lawmakers have additionally criticized Biden’s dealing with of the choice, with many arguing he had loads of alternatives to shoot down the balloon earlier than it made its approach over the continental U.S.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, mentioned: “Every part concerning the Biden admin’s response to the Chinese language spy balloon reeks of indecision and weak point. They cannot determine whether or not to shoot it down or not.”
Forward of the suspect spy balloon drama, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to go to China and would have been probably the most senior official to take action because the begin of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In mild of it, the go to was canceled indefinitely.
“They cannot determine whether or not to go to China or not,” Cruz added.
BIDEN SAYS HE AUTHORIZED PENTAGON DAYS AGO TO SHOOT DOWN CHINESE SPY BALLOON
President Biden claims he gave the order to shoot down the balloon on Wednesday, however that army officers waited till Saturday to take action.
“I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down on Wednesday as quickly as doable,” Biden advised reporters on Saturday.
He added: “I advised them to shoot it down on Wednesday. They mentioned to me let’s look ahead to the most secure place to do it.”
Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin confirmed the order was given to the army on Wednesday.
“On Wednesday, President Biden gave his authorization to take down the surveillance balloon as quickly because the mission may very well be completed with out undue danger to American lives underneath the balloon’s path,” Lloyd mentioned.
The balloon was shot down on Saturday afternoon, after it traveled over a number of key areas within the U.S., together with army bases containing nuclear missiles.
Fox Information’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
Politics
Judge rules illegal immigrants have gun rights protected by 2nd Amendment
A federal judge in Illinois has found that the Constitution protects the gun rights of noncitizens who enter the United States illegally.
U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman on Friday ruled that a federal prohibition on illegal immigrants owning firearms is unconstitutional as applied to defendant Heriberto Carbajal-Flores. The court found that while the federal ban is “facially constitutional,” there is no historical tradition of firearm regulation that permits the government to deprive a noncitizen who has never been convicted of a violent crime from exercising his Second Amendment rights.
“The noncitizen possession statute … violates the Second Amendment as applied to Carbajal-Flores,” the judge wrote. “Thus, the Court grants Carbajal-Flores’ motion to dismiss.”
Coleman, a President Obama appointee, cited the landmark Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), which established a new standard to determine whether a law violates the Second Amendment. Since Bruen, a multitude of federal and state gun control measures have been challenged in courts with mixed results.
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In this case, U.S. v. Carbajal-Flores, the court considered whether people who enter the country illegally can be banned from owning firearms.
Carbajal-Flores is an illegal immigrant who, on June 1, 2020, was found to be in possession of a handgun in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. He was subsequently charged with violating a federal law that prohibits any noncitizen who is not legally authorized to be in the U.S. from “possess[ing] in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.”
In an April 2022 decision, Coleman denied Carbajal-Flores’ first motion to dismiss his indictment, finding that the ban was constitutional. However, Carbajal-Flores asked the court to reconsider that ruling following the Supreme Court’s decision in Bruen and appellate decisions in the Third and Seventh Circuit that considered whether people convicted of non-violent crimes can be prohibited from possessing firearms.
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Upon review, Coleman concluded that Carbajal-Flores’ illegally present status was not sufficient to deny him Second Amendment rights. The judge said the “plain text” of the Constitution “presumptively protects firearms possession by undocumented persons.”
“Carbajal-Flores has never been convicted of a felony, a violent crime, or a crime involving the use of a weapon. Even in the present case, Carbajal-Flores contends that he received and used the handgun solely for self-protection and protection of property during a time of documented civil unrest in the Spring of 2020,” the judge wrote. “Additionally, Pretrial Service has confirmed that Carbajal-Flores has consistently adhered to and fulfilled all the stipulated conditions of his release, is gainfully employed, and has no new arrests or outstanding warrants.”
The court determined that because there is insufficient evidence to suggest Carbajal-Flores is a danger to society, there is no historical analogue that would permit the federal government to deny him his gun rights.
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“The Court finds that Carbajal-Flores’ criminal record, containing no improper use of a weapon, as well as the non-violent circumstances of his arrest do not support a finding that he poses a risk to public safety such that he cannot be trusted to use a weapon responsibly and should be deprived of his Second Amendment right to bear arms in self-defense,” Judge Coleman wrote. “Thus, this Court finds that, as applied to Carbajal-Flores, Section 922(g)(5) is unconstitutional.”
The ruling has divided gun rights activists, with some arguing that noncitizens should not have rights protected by the Constitution.
Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America (GOA), told Fox News Digital his group “has historically recognized the dangers unchecked illegal immigration presents, chiefly of which is a serious potential to swing the balance of power into the hands of anti-gun politicians.”
Pratt reiterated GOA does not support amnesty for illegal immigrants.
“In this underlying ruling, the Second Amendment community undoubtedly has mixed feelings, because while illegal aliens are most certainly not part of ‘the People,’ everyone has a God-given right to defend themselves against violent acts like rape and murder,” he said.
“Of course, the courts wouldn’t have to decide this question if Joe Biden and the Democratic Party would simply secure our borders.”
Politics
Trump sues ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation
Former President Trump is suing TV journalist George Stephanopoulos and ABC News for defamation for saying he raped advice columnist E. Jean Carroll.
On a March 10 edition of “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” the anchor said Trump was “liable for rape” during his interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.). Stephanopoulos was pressing Mace, a rape victim herself, on how she could rationalize supporting Trump’s 2024 presidential candidacy.
Trump’s lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Miami, said the jury in the Carroll case found him liable for sexual abuse — not rape — and that Stephanopoulos defamed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee by using the term.
A jury ruled in January that Trump must pay Carroll $83.3 million in damages after finding Trump liable for defamation, the second case related to a 1996 incident that occurred when the two met in a New York department store.
In May, jurors rejected Carroll’s allegation that she was raped but found Trump responsible for the lesser charge of sexual abuse, along with defamation, and awarded Carroll $5 million in damages. Trump, who denied that the incident occurred, repeatedly mocked Carroll over her claims.
Trump’s suit cites how Stephanopoulos himself reported that Trump was not liable for rape when he reported on the verdict of the previous Carroll case on May 10.
The suit also noted that the headline on an ABC News online story on the Mace interview first used the word “rape” and was later changed to “sexual abuse.”
Trump’s suit is asking for unspecified damages.
ABC News has not issued a comment on the matter.
The tense “This Week” interview was widely shared on social media. Mace took umbrage at Stephanopoulos’ question, claiming he was “rape-shaming” her by bringing up her own experience as a victim, which she has publicly discussed.
Trump has previously sued media outlets, including the New York Times and CNN, with no success.
Trump sued the Times over its investigation of his finances, which led to the recent New York civil court ruling that has him on the hook for $454 million. The suit was dismissed in March and Trump had to reimburse the Times legal cost.
In 2022, Trump sued CNN for $475 million claiming the news network was waging a campaign against him by booking guests critical of his policies and speeches. The case was dismissed in 2023.
Politics
Mark Milley and former CENTCOM commander to face grilling in Congress over Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal
Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, will testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday for the first time since retiring, potentially freeing him to offer new details about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Joining Milley will be retired Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, who served as United States Central Command (CENTCOM) commander during the 2021 withdrawal. The pair have appeared before Congress to discuss failings in the operation before, but Republicans say they may have been more tight-lipped then because they were still serving under President Biden.
Both Milley and McKenzie testified in 2021 that they had advised Biden to maintain a small U.S. force in Afghanistan, rather than committing to a full U.S. withdrawal. Milley himself has described the operation as a “strategic failure,” saying he has “lots of regrets.”
“It didn’t end the way I wanted it. That didn’t end the way any of us wanted it,” he told ABC News in September. “In the broader sense, the war was lost.”
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The Tuesday afternoon hearing comes after months of Republican investigations into Biden’s handling of the withdrawal. Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas., has repeatedly demanded the State Department turn over documents relating to the operation.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken has so far refused to offer interview notes relating to the Afghanistan after action report, which blamed senior officials for failing to prepare for all outcomes in the operation.
Despite the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers and the abandoning of tens of thousands of Afghan allies to Taliban rule, Biden strongly believes behind closed doors that he made the right decisions during the operation, according to an upcoming book.
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Following the withdrawal, “no one offered to resign, in large part because the president didn’t believe anyone had made a mistake. Ending the war was always going to be messy,” author Alexander Ward writes in the book, “The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore Foreign Policy After Trump.”
Biden allegedly told his top aides, including White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, that they had done their best given the situation and vowed to stand by them.
Fox News’ Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.
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