Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Supreme Court on Dec. 11 threw out three cases involving federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, handing a win to President Joe Biden and his administration.

In unsigned rulings, the justices said that rulings against mandates imposed by President Biden and the U.S. military have been vacated.

They also remanded the cases back to lower courts with instructions for the courts to vacate preliminary injunctions that had been in place against the administration as moot.

The decisions mean that the rulings won’t act as precedent in future vaccine mandate cases.

“We believe the United States Constitution clearly does not permit the federal government to force federal workers—or any law abiding citizen—to inject their bodies with something against their will. In fact, the freedom to control your own body and your own medical information is so basic that, without those liberties, it is impossible to truly be ‘free’ at all,” Marcus Thornton, president of Feds for Freedom, said in a statement. “We are disappointed that the Supreme Court dodged these important Constitutional arguments and instead chose to vacate our case on technicalities.“

One case was brought by Feds for Freedom and involved President Biden’s mandate for federal employees. The mandate was imposed in 2021, with the president claiming that vaccination was the “best way to slow the spread of COVID-19” and that requiring vaccination would “promote the health and safety of the federal workforce and the efficiency of the civil service.”

An appeals court this year reinforced a preliminary injunction entered by a lower court, ruling that the court system—not a board composed of people appointed by the president—has jurisdiction over the case.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown had ruled previously that the president lacked the authority to impose the vaccine mandate.

Another case was brought by a federal worker who recovered from COVID-19 and thus enjoyed some protection against the illness but was still being forced to receive a vaccination under President Biden’s mandate because the government refused to formally recognize the post-infection protection. Jason Payne, the worker, said the mandate exceeded President Biden’s authority.

In the third case, federal judges ruled that the U.S. Air Force’s handling of its mandate was illegal, and prevented the branch from taking disciplinary action against members who had requested religious exemptions.

Government lawyers urged the Supreme Court to rule the decisions in these cases as moot, given that the vaccine mandates were ended.

“Consistent with this court’s ordinary practice under such circumstances, the court should grant the petition for a writ of certiorari, vacate the judgment below, and remand with instructions to direct the district court to dismiss its order granting a preliminary injunction as moot,” the lawyers wrote in one petition to the court.

Mr. Payne’s lawyers also asked for the decisions to be ruled as moot, after two courts ruled against him and following the rescinding of the mandate that affected him.

Lawyers for the other federal workers and for the military members opposed the request.

The government was asking the Supreme Court to endorse a “heads we win, tails you get vacated” version of a previous court decision, United States v. Munsingwear, lawyers for the federal workers wrote in one brief. If granted, the government would be able to “litigate to the hilt in both district and circuit court and—only if they lose—then decline to seek substantive review from this court and instead moot the case and ask this court to erase the circuit court loss from the books,” according to the brief.

Lawyers for the military members noted that Congress forced the military to rescind its mandate, but that the legislation didn’t prevent the Department of Defense from issuing another mandate.

Government lawyers said the mandates were rescinded because the pandemic situation had changed, not because they were challenged. They also argued that the mandates “cannot be reasonably expected to recur.”

Lawyers for the military members said that the claim was “in serious tension” with the demand to vacate the rulings under the Munsingwear precedent, given that the purpose of such a move “is to clear the path for future re-litigation without res judicata concerns.”

None of the Supreme Court justices except for Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was appointed by President Biden, explained their decisions on the cases.

“Although I would require that the party seeking vacatur establish equitable entitlement to that remedy, I accede to vacatur here based on the court’s established practice when the mootness occurs through the unilateral action of the party that prevailed in the lower court,” she said in regard to Mr. Payne’s case.

In the two other cases, Justice Jackson said that the government hadn’t “established equitable entitlement” to vacatur, but that she concurred with the overall judgment from her colleagues.

She cited a Dec. 5 decision in which the court ruled against a civil rights activist who sought a ruling that would force hotels to make information for disabled people publicly available.

Justice Jackson sided with the majority in that ruling but contested the majority’s decision to vacate a lower court ruling, arguing that vacatur—or the setting aside of the judgment—shouldn’t be granted automatically.

“Automatic vacatur plainly flouts the requirement of an individualized, circumstance-driven fairness evaluation, which, as I have explained, is the hallmark of an equitable remedy,” she wrote.

It’s also “flatly inconsistent with our common-law tradition of case-by-case adjudication, which ‘assumes that judicial decisions are valuable and should not be cast aside lightly,'” Justice Jackson said, quoting from yet another ruling.

“As a general matter, I believe that a party who claims equitable entitlement to vacatur must explain what harm—other than having to accept the law as the lower court stated it—flows from the inability to appeal the lower court decision.”

The world’s #1 tennis player Novak Djokovic says that he’s not against vaccination – he’s for people’s right to choose for themselves.

Djokovic, who faced significant backlash for his vaccination status, especially in Australia, told 60 Minutes about the ordeal, saying he was “basically declared as a villain of the world,” after refusing to take the Covid-19 vaccine in early 2022. While he initially received a vaccine exemption to play in the Australian Open, public outcry led to Australian immigration minister Alex Hawke revoking his visa, barring him from competition, and then deporting the tennis pro on the grounds that he was a “high-profile unvaccinated individual” who could influence public sentiment about vaccination.

“People tried to, you know, declare me as an anti-vax. I’m not anti-vax. Nor I am pro-vax. I’m pro-freedom to choose,” he said.

NEW – Tennis champion Novak Djokovic: “I’m not anti-vax. Nor I am pro-vax. I’m pro-freedom to choose.”pic.twitter.com/rqBMsmr3Xj

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) December 9, 2023

“Most of the world [was] against me. I had that kind of experience on the tennis court with crowds that were not maybe cheering me on. But I never had this particular experience before in my life,” he continued.

This decision, which led to Djokovic’s exclusion from the Australian Open and subsequent U.S. Open, was met with a mix of criticism and support, while the legal battle that ensued raised questions about the role of public figures in influencing health decisions.

Djokovic’s lawyers argued that his presence was not a risk to public health and that the visa cancellation could actually fuel anti-vaccination sentiment. However, the court sided with the minister, suggesting Djokovic’s choices could indeed foster anti-vaccination views.

Greg Barns S.C., spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance, described the visa ban as “troubling” in a free society. Yet, the Australian government later overturned the ban, allowing Djokovic to participate in the 2023 Australian Open.

Djokovic made a perfectly reasonable personal health decision that had no impact on the spread of COVID, but because he contradicted the (incorrect) public health/media industrial complex consensus, he was declared a villain

One of the most embarrassing time periods in history https://t.co/tlpRxZv2Yb

— Ian Miller (@ianmSC) December 11, 2023

Amidst this controversy, a broader conversation emerged about vaccinating athletes. A letter by cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough and structural biologist Panagis Polykretis revealed a startling number of cardiac arrests and major medical issues in vaccinated athletes, raising concerns about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in high-performance sports.

“Important reminder that Djokovic has NEVER said he was against vaccines. He even confirmed that he had all the vaccines as a child but when it came to the brand new Covid vaccine he was an advocate of freedom of choice and that everyone should be free to make their own decisions,” said Pavvy G, a tennis blogger, in a Dec. 9 post on X, the Epoch Times reports.

Moderna, a key player in vaccine development, reportedly placed Djokovic on a “vaccine misinformation” watch list. His victory at the Moderna-sponsored U.S. Open was seen by some as a challenge to vaccine mandates, with social media users highlighting the irony of his unvaccinated status in a tournament sponsored by a leading vaccine manufacturer.

The pharma company claimed that unvaccinated people were celebrating his win, with social media users “mockingly” pointing out that Moderna was the sponsor of the competition. The firm said that the “optics of Djokovic” bolster “anti-vaccine claims that vaccines—and mandates—are unnecessary.” -Epoch Times

Bravo for standing your ground, Novak.

The CEO of startup incubator Y Combinator, a registered Democrat, has had enough of radical progressive lawmakers in his own political party who have done nothing more than transform San Francisco into a crime-ridden hellhole with shit-covered streets. 

The San Francisco Standard has described Garry Tan as the metro area’s “preeminent political pitbull, an attack dog with a taste for progressives.” This is because Tan, along with other tech bros, have been funding campaigns to rid the city of awful progressives, such as former Soros-backed District Attorney of San Fran Chesa Boudin. 

Tan’s latest post on X quoted a New York Post article about San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston’s claim the city’s collapse into turmoil is a direct result of “capitalism.” 

“You understand why I donated $50K this year just to get this guy out of office, right?” Tan wrote. 

You understand why I donated $50K this year just to get this guy out of office right? https://t.co/j5085bZfQe

— Garry Tan 陈嘉兴 — e/acc (@garrytan) December 13, 2023

Elon Musk commented on Tan’s post, “Wow.” 

Wow

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 13, 2023

Preston’s District 5 includes the Tenderloin District, a part of the town with shit-covered streets, open-air drug markets, a huge homeless population, and violent crime.

The Democratic Socialist blamed his district’s woes on capitalism:

“I think what you’re seeing in the Tenderloin is absolutely the result of capitalism and what happens in capitalism to the people at the bottom rungs.” 

The socialist continued: 

“The biggest driver of why folks are on the street is because they lost their jobs, income or were evicted from their homes, usually for not being able to pay the rent. So you have major landlords literally causing folks to lose their homes, and real estate speculation making it impossible for folks to find an affordable place to live.” 

Preston has been an advocate for disastrous social justice policies and continues to call for defunding the police. He noted:

“I think we have a very, very bloated police budget. All kinds of waste in the police department. I could cut $100 million out of the department.” 

Musk has called for Preston to be fired:

“He is arguably the person most responsible for the destruction of San Francisco.” 

We must add that capitalism in the metro area worked fine until radical leftists took control of City Hall and implemented one failed public policy after another for more than a decade. 

X users expressed similar sentiments:

These people live in an upside down world. Just absolutely broken worldviews. Not just wrong about things – completely opposite of the truth is what they believe.

— tyler hogge (@thogge) December 13, 2023

We’ve had capitalism for over a century. The only thing that changed were certain people making bad public policy decisions over the past decade.

— namsh!k (@namshik) December 13, 2023

I absolutely appreciate your honesty on this subject. Enabling addicts is a recipe for disaster, I really hope SF gets it together soon, I’ve always loved that area. It’s sad to see it in such a state of decline.

— Jenna (@determinedbatch) December 13, 2023

that bro’s brain-wormed philosophy and policies are responsible for so many unnecessary deaths and misery

the dude is evil

— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) December 13, 2023

At least Mayor London Breed recognized the shifting winds and made a gigantic U-Turn this past summer to refund the police as her 2024 re-election bid remains murky due to a failed crime plan. 

Oddly enough, Democrats decided to clean up the homeless, open-air drug markets, and shit-covered streets (only temporarily) when Chinese President Xi Jinping came into the town for a major economic conference last month. This leads us to believe that crime-ridden streets, a by-product of failed progressive public policies, are a manufactured crisis with sinister intentions. 

At least now, Silicon Valley tech bros are fighting back against rogue Democrats to save the city. 

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Around 70 percent of people who died in Japan after receiving a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine lost their lives in the first 10 days following the jab, according to a recent study.

The peer-reviewed Japanese study, published in the Cureus journal on Dec. 7, looked at the association between Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination and deaths within 10 days of vaccination.

The risk period was defined as within 10 days of vaccination, with vaccination day being Day 1, and the control period defined as 11 to 180 days after vaccination.

The analysis was divided into two groups: Group 1 representing individuals aged 65 and above and Group 2, which included people aged 64 and below.

The researcher identified 1,311 deaths in Group 1, which included 662 males and 649 females. In Group 2, the team identified 247 deaths—155 males and 92 females.

“The percentage of reported cases that experienced death within 10 days after vaccination was 71 percent in Group 1 and 70 percent in Group 2,” said the study results.

Over-65s

In Group 1, more women than men died overall from various medical conditions in the first 10 days of vaccination. Following the 10 days, there were more deaths reported of men.

Most of the post-vaccine deaths happened on the second day, followed by the third and fourth days.

Other than “unexplained deaths,” the biggest cause of death in this group was ischemic heart disease (119 deaths), followed by heart failure (92), and aspiration pneumonia/asphyxia (72). Autopsies were performed in eight of the 239 unexplained death cases.

Group 2

In Group 2, over two times more men died than women from various medical conditions during the first 10 days of vaccination. Overall deaths after the initial 10 days were only slightly higher among men.

The highest number of post vaccination deaths were registered on the third day, followed by the fourth, second, and fifth days.

After “unexplained deaths,” the biggest cause of death in this group was ischemic heart disease (27 deaths), cardiac arrhythmias (24), subarachnoid hemorrhage (20), and myocarditis/pericarditis (17). Autopsies were conducted in nine out of the 51 unexplained deaths.

There was an outsized difference in male–female deaths owing to myocarditis/pericarditis during the “risk period,” with eight men dying compared to just one woman. Heart failure resulted in the deaths of nine men compared to two women.

“Some myocarditis/pericarditis cases may be included within the unexplained deaths category. Myocarditis is a complication of vaccination, especially in young adults and adolescent males,” said the study.

One contributing factor for higher deaths of men during the first 10 days is “thought to be the high number of myocarditis/pericarditis deaths including undiagnosed cases.”

For both groups, the other death causes were: cardiac arrhythmias, aortic aneurysm/dissection, intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, respiratory failure, interstitial lung diseases, pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, sepsis, anaphylaxis, thrombocytopenia, and marasmus.

In short, many more older Japanese women and men below 64 faced a higher risk of death immediately within the first 10 days of Pfizer vaccination.

Male–Female Differences, Study Limitations

The author, Yasusi Suzumura, calculated sex ratios for all-cause deaths and each outcome by dividing the number of males by that of females and multiplying by 100. That is, the higher the sex ratio, the greater the number of male deaths.

The author found notable differences between the number of deaths of men and women in both groups, impacting the study’s sex ratio.

“If there is no effect on the occurrence of death, there should be no difference in sex ratios by period. Thus, this finding indicates that vaccination may influence the occurrence of death during the risk period and might be associated with death,” the study stated.

The data on death numbers for the study were sourced from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW).

Specifically, cases involving only the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) mRNA vaccination reported between Feb. 17, 2021, and March 12, 2023, were included.

The study does not directly link the deaths with the vaccinations. “The results indicate that the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination may influence the occurrence of death during the risk period,” said the study.

The author pointed to some of the limitations of the study including that the number of days from vaccination to death may vary depending on treatment, and that the study did not consider the effects of the vaccination after 11 days.

Besides this, the author said the sex-based reporting could have only been performed by a few doctors, and that the mortality rates could not be calculated because the analysis was performed only for deaths after vaccination.

The study had a limited sample size, and hence should be “carefully” interpreted. “Finally, the analysis results should be carefully interpreted because not all deaths reported to the MHLW were related to vaccination. Incidental deaths may be included in the reported deaths.”

The study author stressed that since vaccines are administered to mostly healthy individuals, it should have a “higher level of safety than pharmaceuticals used for treatment and should have an exceptionally low vaccination mortality rate.”

Therefore, even when the vaccination mortality rate is exceptionally low, vaccine safety must be analyzed with statistical methods.

“On this occasion, it is difficult to determine whether a post-vaccination death is incidental or vaccine-related,” said the study. However, the author concluded that this approach can offer valuable insights into assessing vaccine safety.

The Epoch Times reached out to Pfizer for comment.

‘Similar to Vaccine Deaths in US’

Commenting on the study, cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough said that the data on “COVID-19 vaccination and death in Japan is very similar to vaccine deaths in US/Domestic cases in VAERS,” according to a Dec. 9 X post. “Strongly supports causality for the nearly 1150 immediate deaths observed.”

VAERS has reported 18,188 deaths from COVID-19 vaccination through Sept. 29, 2023, with 1,150 deaths occurring on the same day as the vaccination.

In addition, 2,040 miscarriages, 9,053 heart attacks, 17,433 permanent disabilities, 5,057 myocarditis/pericarditis cases, and 36,184 severe allergic reactions were also reported.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons also shared the Japanese study on X.

The study author clarified that they have received “no financial support” from any organization for their submitted work.

Multiple other studies have also linked COVID-19 vaccines with higher mortality rates. A Sept. 17 report by Correlation Research in the Public Interest found that in the 17 nations analyzed, all-cause mortality increased when COVID-19 vaccines were distributed.

Nine out of these 17 nations had no detectable excess deaths following the March 2020 WHO declaration of the pandemic. Excess deaths only began with the vaccination campaign.

In 15 of the 17 nations, there were unprecedented peaks in all-cause mortality in January and February 2022, which coincided with or followed the rollout of booster shots.

The study estimated 1.74 million excess deaths in the 17 nations during the vaccination period, which comes to roughly 1 per 800 injections.

Meanwhile, Japan has approved the world’s first self-amplifying mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, although the manufacturer has not published safety or efficacy data for the shot.

The latest iteration of the mRNA vaccine is even more potent than the present version, as it generates more spike proteins in the human body.

Millions of metro riders in crime-ridden Washington, DC, could face hellish commutes in the coming months as the district’s public transportation system head warned of potential dramatic service and job cuts to close a $750 million budget gap. 

It’s “no secret we have massive budget challenges,” Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority general manager and CEO Randy Clarke said during a briefing Monday. 

WMATA plans to reduce its 12,000-person workforce by nearly 20% or approximately 2,300 people. The reduction will lead to reliability issues across the metro’s network, a decline in safety, and dirtier stations. 

During the presentation, a slide was shown depicting WMATA’s bleak outlook: “Balancing Budget with Severe Service Cuts Would Make Metro Unrecognizable.”

Clarke pointed out the level of proposed service cuts “is hard to imagine.” 

This also includes reducing or eliminating service on 108 of its 135 bus lines. The rail system will have its midnight hours reduced by 2 hours and cease operations at 10 pm. 

Furthermore, Clarke’s budget calls for increased ticket prices on trains and busses, upwards of 20%. This means a regular Metrorail fare could cost $7.20 per trip. 

Here’s an overview of the potential changes to WMATA’s services if the budget gap is not filled (list courtesy of NBC Washington): 

Metrorail

• All stations would close at 10 pm. Currently, the earliest Metro normally closes is midnight.
• Ten stations would be shut down completely. WMATA has not decided which stations would close, but the final decision would be based on ridership numbers.
• Metro frequency would be reduced. Right now, the majority of Metro trains arrive every six minutes or less, but without a funding fix come July of next year, the percentage of trains with six-minute service or better would drop to just 10%.

Metrobus

• Metro could eliminate nearly half of its bus lines. Under the proposed budget, 67 of the existing 135 lines would be eliminated. Another 41 lines would see service reductions.
• A third of bus service would be cut across D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Fare increases

• Metro warned of a 20% increase in fares and parking fees. For example, the max fare on Metrorail right now is $6. Under the proposed budget, a Metrorail fare would be capped at $7.20.

Job cuts

• In January 2024, Metro plans to freeze salary and wage increases.
• In July 2024, 2,286 employees would be laid off.

The potential service cuts would only hurt the working poor because an increasing number of them have been forced to rely solely on public transportation in an era of failed ‘Bidenomics.’ 

Via SchiffGold.com,

Most mainstream pundits characterized the November jobs report as a “Goldilocks” report. Job growth was strong enough to support the “soft landing” narrative but not so strong it might scare the Fed into raising interest rates again.

President Joe Biden used the report to boast about his economic achievements. But according to Peter Schiff, Biden doesn’t have anything to boast about. He talked about it during a recent interview on the Capitol Report on NTD News.

After the jobs report came out, Biden released a statement bragging, “On my watch, we have achieved better growth and lower inflation than any other advanced country. A year ago, forecasters said it couldn’t be done.”

As far as Biden taking credit for the strong economy, Peter said he doesn’t think there is anything for the president to take credit for.

First of all, the job numbers – sure, it was better than expected. But we’ll probably end up revising it to ‘worse than expected’ next month. That’s pretty much what they do. They come out with a number and then the following month they revise it lower.”

Peter pointed out that 24% of the “new jobs” were striking auto workers and motion picture workers going back to jobs they already had.

That’s not really job creation.”

And 82% of the remaining jobs created were in the government and healthcare sectors.

These are not the productive jobs that are producing goods that we need, that we can consume, that we can export. And all these government workers have to be paid for by the private sector. That means the government has to run even bigger deficits. That means they have to create more inflation to pay their salaries. That puts more upward pressure on prices. I don’t think we have a strong labor market.”

Meanwhile, the economy is creating a lot of part-time, low-wage jobs.

People are taking second and third jobs because the economy is so weak that you can’t get by on one job anymore. So, most people need multiple jobs.”

The NTD anchor noted that gold hit a record high prior to the jobs report. What does that say about the state of the economy?

Peter said he thinks if people understood how bad things really are, and how much worse it will likely get, they would be buying even more gold. For one thing, despite Biden bragging about “lower inflation” Peter said it’s a huge problem that’s going to get worse.

The talk of the Fed successfully returning inflation to 2% — that’s all talk. It’s not going to happen. The genie is out of the bottle. There’s no putting it back in.”

Peter said in the meantime, we’re heading toward a severe recession.

I think we’re going to have a worse financial crisis than the one we had in 2008. In fact, we’d already be in it if it wasn’t for the bailouts of the banks earlier in the year, back in March. But that has a short shelf-life. I think the problems underlying the banking system are building. The entire banking system is insolvent based on more than 10 years of zero percent rates. They’ve loaded up on long-term, low-yielding bonds. They’re underwater in those positions. Meanwhile, I think the real economy is weakening. The deficits are skyrocketing.”

And as the national debt surges upward, the interest expense on the debt is rising. Interest expense rose by 23% to $879 billion in fiscal 2023.

This is a fiscal time bomb that’s going to blow, and I think people would be buying more gold if they understood how short this fuse was.”

Ford CEO Jim Farley made an odd comment on ‘free speech’ social media platform X, stating that the video of a Tesla Cybertruck getting stuck on a snow-covered grassy hill and winched up by a Super Duty truck was “NOT advertising.”

“Just to be clear… this is a Super Duty and NOT advertising. Glad a @Ford owner was there to help,” Farley wrote on X. 

Just to be clear… this is a Super Duty and NOT advertising. Glad a @Ford owner was there to help. https://t.co/Rr78EY9k2T

— Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) December 13, 2023

This isn’t the first instance where the rival Cybertruck has been compared with a Ford truck. Last month, the CEO posted a video showing the F-150 Lightning climbing the same off-roading trail where a Cybertruck seemed to have difficulty just a few weeks early. Farley captioned the video with “F-150 Lightning does it all.” 

Or does it?

BREAKING: Ford Lightning stuck in snow on flat ground, but nobody cares since it’s not a Tesla Cybertruck. “yikes” “the AWD software is so bad” pic.twitter.com/tmOCALq1CJ

— TSLA CHASE (@TESLAenjoyer) December 12, 2023

Meanwhile, demand for F-150 Lightnings has plunged as the legacy automaker plans a 2024 production capacity of 150,000 Lightnings a year, or about 3,200 per week. That means its production target for next year will be halved.

It’s unclear whether the Cybertruck incident was intentionally staged to portray Tesla negatively and highlight Super Duty’s capabilities.

What is particularly noteworthy is the unusual comment made by the CEO of Ford.

The House on Wednesday approved the launch of a formal impeachment probe into President Biden, just hours after Hunter Biden ditched Congressional testimony on Capitol Hill.

The 221-212 vote was along party lines, with Republicans formalizing a processes which began weeks ago, and Democrats criticizing the vote as a political stunt for retribution over the impeachments of former President Donald Trump – who was impeached for asking Ukraine about obvious Biden corruption, and his alleged role in the Jan. 6 riot.

Formalizing the impeachment process will grant Congress additional power by improving the likelihood that a court will authorize access to grand jury materials, as well as boosting the chances that Republicans will be able to overcome objections such as executive privilege, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The White House several weeks ago challenged House subpoenas and demands for transcribed interviews with Biden family members on the grounds that the existing impeachment probe, launched by GOP leaders in September, wasn’t valid because the House didn’t vote to authorize it.

“The impeachment inquiry is necessary now,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) told reporters this week, “because we’ve come to this impasse where following the facts where they lead is hitting a stone wall because the White House is impeding that investigation.” –WSJ

The inquiry has so far been two-pronged, with the House Oversight Committee focusing on the Biden family’s financial malarkey, and the House Judiciary Committee focusing on on the weaponization of the Justice Department and FBI.

“This vote will allow the House Judiciary, Oversight and Ways and Means committees to continue their investigations. The evidence mounting against the president cannot be ignored,” said House Majority Whip Tom Emmer in Wednesday comments to reporters.

“We know Joe Biden has lied to or misled the American people about his knowledge of his son’s business dealings over and over again, and it is very likely that he was involved in and benefited from his family’s corrupt business dealings as well.”

Democrats tantrum

“No amount of evidence could convince Republicans that Joe Biden did nothing wrong because they’re not looking for truth, they’re looking for revenge,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the top Democrat on the House Rules committee, ahead of the vote.

Earlier Wednesday, Hunter Biden defied a subpoena to appear before the House to testify about his family’s dealings, instead saying in a Capitol Hill speech: “Let me state as clearly as I can: My father was not financially involved in my business.”

The younger Biden has faced congressional and legal scrutiny regarding his overseas business dealings in Ukraine, China and elsewhere as well as alleged tax evasion, and Republicans have sought to show links between Hunter’s work and his father.

While Hunter Biden said he was willing to testify publicly, he rebuffed a subpoena from House Republicans to answer questions behind closed doors on alleged links between his foreign business dealings and his father. “I’m here today to make sure that the House committee’s illegitimate investigations of my family do not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence and lies,” he said.

The younger Biden had previously said he was only willing to testify publicly so that Republicans couldn’t selectively leak portions of his statements. House leaders said the president’s son couldn’t dictate the terms of his testimony and said they would now initiate contempt of Congress proceedings against Hunter Biden. -WSJ

“He was just across the way at the Capitol, you’d think he could’ve come here and sat for questions,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH).

There’s been some serious mixed messaging and contradictory signals coming from the White House of late regarding Israel and the Gaza War. President Biden on Tuesday had for the first time offered criticism of Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza – even while keeping the massive defense aid flowing to Israel’s military on an unconditional basis. He said Israel risks losing the world’s support.

But even as it hands over 2,000-pound bombs and other heavy munitions, the US administration has ironically enough temporarily blocked a shipment of more than 20,000 rifles on fears the small arms could fuel more Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Most or all of the rifle shipments appear to be M-16s.

These military-grade assault rifles had been requested by the Netanyahu government from within the first week of the war, in the wake of Oct.7.

Axios writes in a fresh report, “The Israeli request was treated with caution by the Biden administration because of concerns Itamar Ben Gvir, the ultra-nationalist minister of national security who oversees the police, would distribute the rifles to extremist settlers in the West Bank, according to U.S. officials.”

A US official told the publication, “This deal isn’t moving anywhere at the moment. We need more assurances from Israel about the steps it is going to take to curb attacks by violent settlers and to make sure no new U.S. weapons will reach settlers in the West Bank.”

This week, Turkish media correspondents documented the following incident in the West Bank:

Israeli settlers on Monday confronted olive pickers in the town of Aqraba, southern Nablus, firing live rounds to intimidate and force them to leave their lands, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Israeli occupation forces and settlers have carried out a total of 333 attacks against olive pickers since the beginning of the season in October, the agency said, citing the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.

Last week, the US administration unveiled rare sanctions on Israeli settlers involved in attacks on Palestinians, which bans them from traveling to the United States.

The US government has not sanctioned Israeli settlers going all the way back to the Clinton administration, but Washington has consistently condemned settler expansion in the West Bank, at least as far as public policy and rhetoric goes.

Video shows how Israeli settlers, escorted by Israeli forces, steal crops from Palestinian-owned olive trees and cut down several trees outside of Awarta, occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/QYRFfDW6Vn

— In Context (@incontextmedia) December 11, 2023

The conflict centered on Gaza has received by far most international media attention, but there’s been a parallel war raging in the West Bank. Nablus, for example, has been declared a closed military zone and is under blockade by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). An estimated more than 270 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have died in clashes with police and settlers since Oct.7.

Authored by Gene Schaerr via RealClear Wire,

It was T.S. Eliot who coined the phrase “wilderness of mirrors” in his poem, “Gerontion.” It was the saga of the CIA’s James Jesus Angleton’s betrayal by Soviet double-agent Kim Philby that made the phrase a byword in the shadowy world of intelligence.

Gene Schaerr, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney and former associate counsel to President George H.W. Bush, serves as general counsel to the non-partisan Project for Privacy and Surveillance Accountability.