Beltway Insider: Biden Prohibits Spyware, Trump Indicted, Russia Detains Journo, Nashville, Guns, Ammo and Dead Children

Details: Category: Beltway Insider; Published on Sunday, 02 April 2023 12:55; Written by Janet Walker

President Biden refused to be baited into commenting on the unprecedented, sealed indictment of former president Donald J. Trump, as the criminal charges are a pending legal matter for the jurisdiction where the charges are lobbied.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com, for the period ending April 2, 2023 increased by 0.3% to 42.6% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness increased by 0.6% to 53.4% of those polled who disapprove of his effectiveness. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

Beltway Insider: Biden Orders Retaliation, ISIS, Manhattan DA Targeted, Tik Tok Hearings, Deadly Weather, Nicholas Lloyd Webber

President Biden Signs Executive Order Prohibiting Spyware

In a week when former President Donald J. Trump distracted the media, President Biden attended to more pressing matters of government signing an Executive Order prohibiting the use by commercial spyware which poses any risk to national security.

"We focused purposefully on the most advanced and invasive tools: the end-to-end software suites that allow a user to remotely access an electronic device like a cellular phone, extract a device's contents, and manipulate its components, all without the knowledge or consent of the device's users," Senior White house officials said during a teleconference.

Simultaneously, U.S. allies Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, has signed a joint agreement to prohibit commercial spyware, of which is used to access user's data and circumvent stealing personal data resulting in identity theft which causes up to $6.1bn in financial losses annually in the United States alone.

A background teleconference call with Senior White House officials stated the motivation began as a growing number of foreign countries had deployed spyware to repress and deny citizens of their human rights, hijack their intellectual property and means to generate income and target activities and journalists the world over.

These actions were not limited to dictatorial governments such as Russia or China, but were used by other governments, even fringe agencies and representatives of the United States government and other democratic based governments.

"We also identified another significant gap: that U.S. departments and agencies did not have clear and consistent direction on whether they could use these spyware tools, even if the very same tools were being used to target U.S. diplomats or being misused extensively abroad to facilitate human rights abuses," Senior White House officials said.

If was from this year long investigation into the misuse and abuse of spyware that the president ordered a task force to develop the elements of the executive order.

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For President Donald J. Trump Indicted; Arraignment Expected This Week

Former President Donald J. Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan Grand Jury, and is expected to be arraigned this week on more than 30 charges arising from a year long investigation into the former President's business dealing.

The most telling charge has been the $130,000 in hush money paid to former porn star Stormy Daniels, by then presidential candidate Trump, as he sought to silence any unsavory or immoral behavior that could have been exploited and possibly damage his bid for the GOP nomination.

"Trump is expected to appear Tuesday in Manhattan, one adviser said. His legal team, speaking by phone late Thursday, scrambled to figure out the logistics and coordinate with the Secret Service on the security specifics for his arraignment," The Washington Post reported.

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, an elected official elected by a broad base of New York City democrats, has received death threats over his investigation of the former president, had initially announced at the beginning of his tenure that he would not be investigating the former president, which resulted in upheaval as two of his investigators resigned.

This action revealed to many the belief that the former president did in fact commit prosecutable crimes and should be charged. Shifting through heresy and inuendo to find the most damning or potentially convictable crime resulted in Bragg convening a grand jury. The Manhattan grand jury was charged with determining if there was probably cause.

"Hush money payments aren't illegal. Ahead of the indictment, prosecutors were weighing whether to charge Trump with falsifying the business records of the Trump Organization for how it reflected the reimbursement of the payment to Cohen, who said he advanced the money to Daniels. Falsifying business records is a misdemeanor in New York," CNN.com.

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Trump Still Rules the GOP

Many pundits and political talking heads believe the former president is gearing up for a rematch with President Biden, who is expected to run for reelection, and the indictment will only stoke the embers of those who believe the 2020 election was stolen and the democrats are demagogues.

Trump's recent high polling numbers at the Conservative Action Political Committee (CPAC) annual conference, where 62% of attendees cast their ballot supporting the former president, reveal he continues to possess broad base constituent appeal.

His upcoming arraignment notwithstanding, does not appear to have diminished this coalition of conservative voters who vow revenge on the current administration.

"While charges against a former president and leading contender for a major party's presidential nomination are unprecedented, there is nothing in the Constitution that prevents someone who has been charged or convicted from seeking or taking office. The specific charge or charges have not been publicly announced, an indictment is not a conviction," CBSnews.com reported.

Trump Calls for Protests

Prior to the announcement of his indictment Trump had anticipated the outcome and called for his constituents to rise up in protests, similar to the insurrection on January 6, 2020. While there has been repeated threats levied at the Manhattan DA, little public protest has arisen from his call to arms.

However, with an expected Tuesday arraignment the ex-president's secret security detail, who is still sworn to protect the former president, has been seen at the Manhattan court house preparing for the potential of large crowds and affording Trump celebrity status through the private entrances.

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Russians Accuse WSJ Reporter of Spying

Wall Street Journal Moscow reporter Evan Gershkovich, 31, has been accused by Russian officials of espionage, arrested, and detained in Moscow awaiting trial.

President Biden was briefed and in a rare meeting Secretary of State Antony Blinked, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and demanded both Gershkovich and Paul Wheelen, a former Marine, who was also accused of espionage, be immediately released.

"The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich," the Journal said. "We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family," The Wall Street Journal reported.

A veteran reporter and native Russian speaker, Gershkovich began working for the Wall Street Journal in 2017. He also worked for The New York Times, the Moscow Times, and Agence-France-Presse.

Vaccine Totals

As of April 2, 2023, in the United States, 674,024,493 have been administered with a 7-day increase weekly increase of 1,012,228, doses. More than 90% of the population have received the two-dose vaccine. (Date from the CDC). As of April 2, 2023, 13,331,975,343 vaccines doses have been administered worldwide (Data from WHO).

Coronavirus Totals

Mandates have been altered or lifted in most urban areas with limited exceptions, and the population is encouraged to maintain personal protective practices. Masks are optional and tolerated. Vaccines and boosters are still considered the most effective agents against contracting the Coronavirus.

For the week ending April 2, 2023, the total of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide reached 761,402,282 people, with a 7-day increase of 330,456 with a total worldwide death toll of 6,887,000 deaths. (Data from The World Health Organization).

COVID U.S. Totals

Infections rates in the United States are also on the rise. For the 7-day period ending April 2, 2023, the total confirmed cases rose to 104,137,196 people with new confirmed cases increasing by 180,143 with a 7-day average of 25,734 cases per day. The coronavirus has claimed 1,125,366 total deaths, adding 1,753 more deaths over the 7-day period. (Data from the CDC).

Pentagon's Diary Gets Personal

Protecting for gain of function knowledge only aides those who initiated the constitutional violations. It does nothing to combat the homegrown terrorism or the narcissistic above the law belief. The best obtainable version of the truth.

SCOTUS Wife Generates Huge Influencing Donations for Right Wing Radicals

Virginia "Ginny" Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, became the subject of a Washington Post investigation, as her activism and fundraising abilities, have propelled a little known leftists group which has raised more than 600,000 to wage political battle against the democrats.

"In 2020, she privately pressed White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to pursue efforts to overturn the presidential election, and she sent emails urging swing-state lawmakers to set aside Joe Biden's popular-vote victory in awarding electoral votes," reported The Washington Post.

Six Dead in Nashville School Shooting

Nashville School Shooting

Three children and three adults were murdered this week in yet another mass shooting when a heavily armed former female student entered the Covenant Presbyterian grade school and proceeded to hunt potential victims.

Security footage released from the Nashville Police department show the shooter looking dejected as she walked out of classrooms unable to find victims. She gained access by shooting out the windows of the door. After entering the building, she walked through an empty hallway, entering rooms, and indiscriminately firing the AR-15, military-style rifle, used in the killing spree. She also carried a 9 mm pistol caliber carbine, and a 9 mm Smith and Wesson handgun, each with 30 round magazine clips.

The location of the six victims has not been disclosed. Body cam footage from police on the scene show Nashville Police officers fully engaged in finding the shooter and neutralizing the situation.

"The violence Monday at The Covenant School was the latest school shooting to roil the nation and was planned carefully. The shooter had drawn a detailed map of the school, including potential entry points, and conducted surveillance of the building before carrying out the massacre, authorities said," APnews.com reported.

The collective Post Traumatic Stress Americans live under, due to the plague of mass shootings especially after the massacre in Uvalde, Texas, continues to drive the overwhelming support that the only response available to law enforcement in mass shootings is direct action. No talking, no attempts at disarming or engage the suspect, like a rabid animal the shooter needs to be downed.

America Under Siege: One Week, Three Mass Shootings, Two Dozen Dead

Guns, Ammo, and Dead Children

A six-person mass shooting is barely a news cycle in America, except of course to the families of the victims who will never forget, and like a pebble in the pond, extends to complete the circle of the life of the victim.

This week Nashville, one year ago Uvalde, and the year in between how many that didn't make the news cycle? Recaps of shootings past, where automatic weapons were used populated the news, filling in the gaps of the thankfully and unfortunate small death toll. The shift once again to guns, ammunition, and the commonsense conversation that constituent beg their elected officials to engage and yet, elections are won and lost with the people and so the across the aisle effort needed to pass gun legislation will never happen.

The shocking military grade ammunition available for legal purchase was featured in an interactive article published in The Washington Post that highlights the damage an AR-15 does to the body, and through the use of more than 100 autopsies recreate the catastrophic injury these weapons cause on victims.

Words can at time resonate and enlighten or at least provide knowledge, but seeing through 3D imagery the actual affects of the AR-15 on students from Sandy Hook, where the shooter we know fired into a child's bathroom killing all 15 who were hiding, and Parkland recreation where one student, Peter Wang, 15, exhibited courage in the face of unimaginable danger, was obliterated, after helping others escape.

For more information on President Joe Biden w ww.whitehouse.gov.