National and international media news & headlines compiled by CLG.

Trump Releases Video Opposing Ukraine’s Entry in NATO | 20 July 2023 | Former President Donald Trump said that offering Ukraine membership into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was “unhinged” in a video posted to Twitter on Thursday. Joe Biden said on July 9 that Ukraine was not ready to join NATO, citing the war with Russia. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced an expedited path for Ukraine to join the alliance July 11, in which it would waive the Membership Action Plan. “We have a corrupt, compromised president, crooked Joe Biden, who is dragging us into World War III — that’s what’s happening — on behalf of a nation that paid his family millions and millions of dollars in obvious bribes. All you have to do is take a look at how much China, how much Ukraine have paid the Biden family. It’s a total disgrace and a very dangerous one,” Trump said in the video posted on Twitter by the Team Trump account. “Under these circumstances, the notion that we would even consider admitting Ukraine into NATO at this time is completely unhinged,” Trump continued.

Senate votes down measure to rein in NATO war-making authority | 19 July 2023 | Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the measure as NATO membership for Ukraine is being discussed while the country is at war with nuclear-armed Russia. The final vote was 83 to 16. The amendment needed 60 votes to pass. Instead, well over 60 senators voted against it.

Ukraine Begins Using U.S.-Supplied Cluster Munitions – Reports | 20 July 2023 | Ukraine has begun using U.S.-provided cluster munitions against Russian forces in the southeast of the country, an American newspaper [The Washington Post] reported on Thursday, citing Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter. A Ukrainian official told the newspaper that the munitions were fired at Russian positions to destroy the fortifications which slow down Ukraine’s counteroffensive effort. Cluster munitions are also expected to be used near the Russian-controlled city of Artemovsk (Bakhmut), according to the report.

UK intelligence ‘freelancers’ helped Ukraine target Crimean Bridge – report –One of the British-devised plans allegedly involved replicating the 2020 Beirut explosion | 21 July 2023 | Ukraine’s drone attack on the Kerch Bridge was most likely planned by former British military intelligence agents who signed a contract with Kiev in 2022, the independent outlet Grayzone has reported citing leaked documents. A “cabal of British military-intelligence freelancers” led by Chris Donnelly has worked with the Odessa office of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) since April last year, Grayzone said in a report published Wednesday evening. The outlet had published leaked documents proving their partnership in October 2022, after the first attack on the Crimean Bridge. “A review of leaked files previously revealed by The Grayzone provides a solid basis for again blaming Donnelly’s cabal,” the outlet noted in reference to Monday’s drone attack that killed two civilians and orphaned a 14-year-old girl.

Kiev threatens to sink civilian ships bound for Russia –The warning comes after Moscow de-facto re-imposed naval blockade of Ukraine | 21 July 2023 | The Ukrainian military has said it will treat all vessels sailing toward Russia’s Black Sea Ports as if they are carrying military supplies, warning they could share the same fate as a Russian warship sunk earlier in the conflict. The thinly veiled threat was issued in a statement by Kiev’s Defense Ministry on Thursday, accusing Moscow of turning the Black Sea into a “danger zone” while vowing to retaliate in force against any ship in the area, including civilian vessels. “The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine warns that from [midnight] on July 21, 2023, all vessels heading in the waters of the Black Sea in the direction of seaports of the Russian Federation…may be considered by Ukraine to be carrying military cargo with all the associated risks,” it said. The statement noted that some areas in the northeastern Black Sea, as well as the Kerch Strait, would also be “prohibited as dangerous” starting Thursday.

Michigan attorney general charges 16 people with multiple felonies who signed letters claiming Trump won 2020 election | 18 July 2023 | The Michigan Attorney General’s Office has charged 16 people for signing certificates claiming that former President Donald Trump won the presidential election in 2020. The individuals have each been charged with eight felony counts, including forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, and election law forgery. Some of the charges carry jail sentences of 14 years and/or a $10,000 fine. Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the charges…on Tuesday.

Bombshell FBI memo: Hunter Biden hired by Ukrainian firm to ‘protect’ it from corruption probe –Sen. Charles Grassley releases long-sought FBI confidential informant report alleging bribery scheme | 20 July 2023 | A trusted FBI informant told agents in 2020 that Hunter Biden was hired by Burisma Holdings to use his father to help “protect” the Ukrainian gas firm from problems, including an effort to “take care of” a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the company for corruption, according to an explosive document released by Sen. Charles Grassley on Thursday. “They hired Hunter Biden to protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems,” the informant reported to the FBI that a top Burisma official named Vadim Pojarskii declared during a meeting while Joe Biden was still vice president, according to the FD-1023 confidential human source report Grassley, R-Iowa, released. The informant also reported that Burisma had asked Hunter Biden to help get the top prosecutor in Ukraine, Victor Shokin, sidelined because he was investigating the firm for corruption and interfering with Burisma’s effort to buy a U.S. firm.

IRS Whistleblower Joseph Ziegler Confirms Biden Family Received Approximately $17 Million in Payments From China, Romania and Other Countries | 19 July 2023 | Courageous whistleblower – IRS official Joseph Ziegler, a gay Democrat – told Congress on Wednesday that the Biden Family received approximately $17 Million in payments from China, Romania and other countries. The House Oversight Committee led by Rep. James Comer (R-KY) held a hearing with IRS whistleblowers on Wednesday. At least two IRS whistleblowers have come forward to reveal Hunter Biden received preferential treatment throughout the mop-up operation disguised as an investigation. The anonymous whistleblower, identified as Joseph Ziegler, finally came forward publicly on Wednesday. “Today, I sit here before you, not as a hero or a victim, but as a whistleblower compelled to disclose the truth. Ziegler testified that Ukrainian Burisma energy company paid the Biden family over $7.3 million.

‘Once You Start Censoring, You’re on Your Way to Dystopia and Totalitarianism,’ RFK Jr. Tells House Committee –In a hearing marred by contentious interruptions and attempts by House Democrats to remove him as a witness, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., CHD chairman on leave from Children’s Health Defense testified before a U.S. House hearing organized by the Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. | 20 July 2023 | In a hearing marred by contentious interruptions and attempts by House Democrats to remove him as a witness, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., CHD chairman on leave from Children’s Health Defense (CHD), testified before a U.S. House hearing organized by Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. The subcommittee, operating within the House Judiciary Committee, said today’s hearing was intended to “examine the federal government’s role in censoring Americans,” “Big Tech’s collusion with out-of-control government agencies to silence speech” and the ongoing Missouri v. Biden lawsuit alleging government censorship… Government censorship and alleged First Amendment violations on the part of the federal government featured prominently in today’s hearing. “We need to be able to talk,” Kennedy told the committee. “And, the First Amendment was not written for easy speech. It was written for the speech that nobody likes you for.”

RFK Jr. Responds to Democrat Attacks at Weaponization Hearing –He blasted efforts ‘to censor a censorship hearing’ | 20 July 2023 | Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to attacks from Democrats during a July 20 hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. The hearing on federal government censorship of certain stories and viewpoints featured Mr. Kennedy–an advocate for enhanced vaccine safety screening and research into the effects of pharmaceutical drugs–as the star witness. Democrats sought to deplatform Mr. Kennedy both before and during the hearing. Setting the tone for the hearing, Ranking Member Stacey Plaskett (D-Deranged-V.I.) opened her remarks with attacks on Mr. Kennedy, accusing him of “hateful, evidence-free rhetoric.” As Mr. Kennedy went to begin his opening remarks, Ms. Plaskett made a point of order in an effort to limit Mr. Kennedy’s time from 10 minutes to 5 minutes. After a heated exchange between Ms. Plaskett and Mr. Jordan, Mr. Kennedy’s time was reduced to the standard five minutes. “If you want to cut him off and censor him some more, you’re welcome to do it,” Mr. Jordan said, yielding to standard procedure.

Matt Gaetz Seeks to Defund Special Counsel Jack Smith for Election Interference | 20 July 2023 | Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Wednesday announced he would introduce legislation to defund Special Counsel Jack Smith, who may be seeking yet another indictment of former President Donald Trump in the midst of a presidential election. “BREAKING: I will be introducing legislation to DEFUND Jack Smith’s witch hunt against President Trump. They are attacking our democracy and engaging in election interference right now. The United States Congress has the capability to stop this election interference, and we must act immediately!”

Judge Rejects Trump’s Bid to Move New York Felony Case to Federal Court | 19 July 2023 | Former President Donald Trump’s attempt to shift his New York criminal case to federal court has been rejected by a U.S. judge. Trump and his lawyers argued that because Trump was president when he carried out the actions for which he’s been charged, the case should be heard in federal, not New York, court. U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a Clinton appointee, disagreed. “Trump has failed to show that the conduct charged by the Indictment is for or relating to any act performed by or for the President under color of the official acts of a President,” Hellerstein said in a July 19 ruling. “Trump also has failed to show that he has a colorable federal defense to the Indictment.”

Clinical Trial Documents Suggest Moderna Skimped on Autopsies, Discounted Serious Injuries – Did FDA Know? –The documents, previously submitted by Moderna to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, included details on unexplained deaths and fetal abnormalities in animal studies. | 20 July 2023 | A 13,685-page tranche of documents related to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials released Tuesday contain details about the deaths of 16 trial participants, the prevalence of severe adverse events (SAEs) and other abnormalities. The documents, previously submitted by Moderna to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as part of the licensing process for Moderna’s Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine, also exposed an “utter lack of thoroughness” in how the trials were conducted, according to Defending the Republic (DTR), a Dallas-based nonprofit that obtained the documents via a a still-pending Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against Moderna. The documents, shared with The Defender in advance of their public release, are the first set of “Moderna documents” to be released as part of the lawsuit — with approximately 8,000 more pages expected to follow later this year. Travis Miller, a Fort Worth-based attorney representing DTR, told The Defender, “These documents include over 13,500 pages relating to serious adverse event listings that  document injuries — such as shingles and Bell’s palsy and other more serious conditions — which we believe may be related to the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.”

CMT Yanks Jason Aldean’s Anti-Riot Music Video From Airwaves Amid Claims It’s ‘Pro-Lynching’ | 19 July 2023 | Country music star Jason Aldean defended his song “Try That in a Small Town” on Tuesday after Country Music Television pulled it from the airwaves amid backlash. CMT confirmed to Billboard that it had removed the video from its rotation as of Monday but refused to comment further on its decision. Legacy media outlets and leftist social media users put the song on blast this week, claiming the anti-riot lyrics are actually “pro-lynching.” The song has been out since May, but it gained new attention thanks to a newly released music video that has activists crying foul… Aldean insists that the song was not meant to have racist undertones. 

NYU teaches ‘white public school parents’ to grapple with their ‘internalized white superiority’ | 18 July 2023 | From February through June, New York University hosted monthly “anti-racist” workshops dedicated to educating “white public school parents.” The “From Integration to Anti-Racist” workshop series consisted of six, two-hour long courses and cost $360 per person. “The Education Justice Research and Organizing Collaborative (EJ-ROC) at NYU Metro Center will host a series of six (6) monthly workshops designed specifically for white public school parents in New York City committed to becoming anti-racist and to collaboratively building equitable, powerful, multiracial parent communities in their schools,” the since deleted web page read.

Food Giant Helps Get ‘Sound of Freedom’ Movie to the Big Screen | 19 July 2023 | Angel Studios’ anti-people trafficking movie, Sound of Freedom, has earned nearly seven times its original budget after only two weeks at the box office. Shedding a light on a dark, shadowy world–especially child sex trafficking–the film’s commercial success comes years after its production, surviving a corporate merger, the COVID-19 pandemic, and reports of several screenings gone awry. The picture owes a lot to two men who wanted everyone to see it–the producer and co-star Eduardo Verastagui and president of Goya Foods, Bob Unanue. The movie saw an increase of more than 30 percent in audience attendance in its second week, and more than 10,000 verified audience members have contributed to its 100 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.