Covid Intel Declassified, AG Under Fire for Weaponized DOJ, Texan Unloads on House GOP, Fauci's Wuhan Cover-Up, Royals Get Bad News & More!
Becker Brief: Morning Report for 3-2-23.
COVID ORIGINS
Tonight the United States Senate unanimously passed U.S. Senator Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) bill, the COVID Origins Act of 2023, to require the Biden administration to declassify intelligence related to any potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) and the origins of the Covid pandemic.
FBI Director Chris Wray says the FBI believes Covid probably originated from a "potential lab incident" in Wuhan, but that the Chinese government has tried to "thwart and obfuscate" the agency's ongoing probe. (Fox News)
In January 2020, when COVID was beginning to emerge, Kristian Andersen, a virologist from the San Diego-based Scripps Research Institute, suspected the virus came from a lab leak. However, he was kept quiet.
Andersen dismissed the theory that the novel coronavirus originated from a bat virus lab as one of many “crackpot theories” about the virus’s origin. In March of that year, he co-authored a paper in the journal Nature Medicine that stated COVID-19 was not created in a laboratory or intentionally manipulated.
According to author Andrew Huff, a few months after the paper’s publication, Andersen timely received a research grant of $1.88 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which was under the supervision of Dr. Francis Collins at the time.
COVID FRAUD
White House proposes $1.6 billion to combat ‘historic’ covid aid fraud
The request comes as lawmakers in Congress continue to sound the alarm about the theft of taxpayer dollars — yet largely fail to deliver more funds
Flashback: White House downplays Secret Service estimate of at least $100 billion in COVID fraud
The White House downplayed a statement by the U.S. Secret Service that nearly $100 billion at minimum has been stolen from COVID-19 relief programs
AG UNDER FIRE FOR WEAPONIZING DOJ
Merrick Garland Says DOJ Doesn’t Prosecute Antifa Attacks Because They Happen at Night
On Wednesday, Attorney General Garland testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Judiciary Committee to discuss the Justice Department’s budget and priorities.
CPAC
The annual event, which began yesterday in National Harbor, has been abandoned by most top GOP elected officials. Here’s a breakdown (via Politico):
Senate GOP leadership: None attending.
House GOP leadership: Only ELISE STEFANIK is attending.
GOP governors: Only Idaho Gov. BRAD LITTLE.
GOP presidential candidates, declared and undeclared: Trump, NIKKI HALEY, MIKE POMPEO and VIVEK RAMASWAMY.
SCOTUS SET TO REBUKE BIDEN
Student Loan Case Could Redefine Limits of Presidential Power
It is not the first time that the Supreme Court has suggested that President Biden has overstepped his authority, but the case could curtail his ambitions.
Conservative justices on the court signaled Tuesday that they are deeply skeptical that Mr. Biden has the power to wipe out such a vast amount of student debt. In oral arguments, several justices said they believed a program that costs so much and affects so many people should have been more explicitly approved by Congress.
Sen. Hawley slams Biden’s national Archivist nominee for lying under oath.
Biden Judicial Nominee on the Ropes
Michael Delaney nomination in peril as parents of sexual assault victim speak out
Michael Delaney, who represented the elite St. Paul's School in a civil lawsuit against a teenage sexual assault victim, wasn't scheduled for a Senate vote on Thursday, and the First Circuit nominee faced rare—and extensive—written questions from Democratic senators about his role defending institutions embroiled in sexual misconduct scandals.
CAPITOL HILL
Texas Republican unloads on ‘do-nothing’ GOP
JAN. 6 FOOTAGE FREAK-OUT
“I mean, look, a lot of the footage has come out in ongoing court cases. Again, they’ve had access to it and many clips have come out in trials and other court proceedings related to January 6th defendants. What the Capitol Police is most concerned about is a wide release of massive amounts of footage because that would enable bad actors, including, for example, foreign intelligence services, to glean information about vulnerabilities in the Capitol. And so that, I think, is why the Department has been opposed to these sort of wide releases. Now, McCarthy hasn’t said he’s going to release all of this widely to everyone — and if he ever does, it would probably be with restrictions — but he does say he wants to release a large amount of it publicly. So the question is, how will they balance that line between security and transparency on that?”
DIPLOMATIC DEVELOPMENTS?
Blinken and Lavrov Meet For the First Time Since Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia briefly spoke one on one during a Group of 20 summit, U.S. officials said.
The top diplomats from the United States and Russia spoke face-to-face on Thursday for the first time since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, a brief meeting on the sidelines of a meeting of envoys from the Group of 20 nations that has been dominated by tensions over the war.
The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that the two diplomats “conversed briefly,” but added that “there were no negotiations,” according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.
Biden Challenged by Softening Public Support for Arming Ukraine
Overall, public support for Ukraine aid has fallen from 60 percent last May to 48 percent now, according to surveys by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The share of Americans who think the United States has given too much to Ukraine has grown from 7 percent a year ago to 26 percent last month, according to the Pew Research Center.
WOKE POLITICS
Hersheys is featuring a male in costume as a woman for its international women’s day ad campaign.
Mississippi Becomes Seventh State To Outlaw Sex Change Surgeries for Minors
Mississippi governor Tate Reeves (R.) signed a bill Tuesday that prohibits sex change procedures for minors, making his state the seventh to restrict such practices.
FENTANYL CRISIS
ROYAL PAINS IN THE REAR
Harry and Meghan Told to Leave Their Royal Cottage in the U.K.
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, have been asked to move out of Frogmore Cottage, their five-bedroom Georgian house on the grounds of Windsor Castle, the couple’s press secretary said, in a further sign of the bitter rupture between them and the British royal family since they withdrew from royal duties and left Britain.
Queen Elizabeth II offered the house to the couple, known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, at the time of their wedding in 2018. It has served as their home base on infrequent visits to Britain since they relocated to Montecito, Calif.
Another great brief with articles on many important issues. Thanks!