Tommy Tuberville opposes aid for Gaza while it is under Hamas control
U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) joined their colleagues in sending a letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) urging him to reject President Joe Biden’s request for up to $9 billion in humanitarian assistance to Hamas-controlled Gaza. “We are writing to demand that, during Israel’s existential war against Iran’s terrorist proxies, you reject the billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance requested for Gaza as part of President Biden’s $106 billion aid package,” Tuberville and Blackburn wrote. “As you know, sending aid to the Palestinians in Gaza is akin to funneling aid directly to Hamas. The President’s decision to allocate additional funding, in addition to the $100 million in aid previously announced, will inevitably end up in the hands of a genocidal Palestinian terrorist organization that has evidenced its desire to destroy the Jewish state.” “Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East,” the Senators wrote. “As such, it is perplexing why the President would ask Congress to enable the United States to inadvertently fund Hamas’ terror campaign against Israel. As we’ve seen in the past, this so-called “humanitarian aid” will likely be channeled through international organizations, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). This is not speculation — just last week, we saw reports that Hamas stole fuel and medical equipment from UNRWA, which the organization initially admitted but then subsequently denied. UNICEF medical kits were even found on the bodies of Hamas terrorists from the horrific October 7th attack. For over a decade, Hamas has stolen aid from UNRWA intended for the Palestinian people, and the organization has a well-documented history of antisemitism. For example, UNRWA distributes educational materials that teach Palestinian children to hate Jews and which glorify acts of terrorism.” “Sending aid to the Palestinians would be a gift to Hamas, the same group that slaughtered over 1,400 Israelis and abducted over 200 hostages, including Americans,” the Senators wrote. “We implore you to ensure the U.S. does not send aid that will only strengthen Hamas’ ability to murder more Jews. This is the time to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our closest ally in the Middle East as they fight for their very existence.” The letter was also signed by Senators Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Mike Braun (R-Indiana). Tuberville has announced his support for Israel in their war against Hamas. Last week, Coach Tuberville joined legislation to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel. “Hamas needs to be totally wiped out,” Tuberville said recently on a television appearance on Fox Business Channel’s Larry Kudlow program. Tuberville and the other Senators argue that while Hamas occupies and rules Gaza, any aid to Gaza will be used by Hamas to feed its fighters and equip them for their war effort against Israel. There are 2.3 million Palestinians in the 140 square mile Gaza Strip, and their entire economy is based on receiving foreign aid from the outside world. Thousands of Gaza residents have already been killed in the fighting between Israel and Hamas. A refugee camp was bombed on Tuesday, killing Hamas fighters but also civilians who are casualties of the war between Israel and Hamas. In October, the White House said in a press release, “Civilians are not to blame and should not suffer for Hamas’s horrific terrorism. Civilian lives must be protected, and assistance must urgently reach those in need. We will continue to work closely with partners in the region to stress the importance of upholding the law of war, supporting those who are trying to get to safety or provide assistance, and facilitating access to food, water, medical care, and shelter.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the U.S. can track the aid. “The overwhelming majority of assistance so far is getting to people who need it, and we need more,” he said. “The needs are desperate.” Tuberville has represented Alabama in the U.S. Senate since his election in 2020. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Senator Tommy Tuberville believes indictments have made his support for Donald Trump ‘even stronger’
U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville said in a recent interview that his support for President Donald Trump has gotten “even stronger” due to Trump’s recent indictments. Tuberville said that indicting the former President was like something that happens in third-world countries. Tuberville made the comments in response to questioning from Fox Business Channel’s Larry Kudlow, who asked if Sen. Tuberville’s support for Trump had moved at all in light of the indictments. “It makes it even stronger, Larry,” said Sen. Tuberville. “Are we living in a third world country now where the political opponents – basically the one in the White House now (Joe Biden) is going after somebody that he is going to run against in the next election?” Tuberville also referenced Biden’s own mishandling of classified documents as a U.S. Senator. “If you live in a glass house, you don’t throw rocks, and he has opened a can of worms now – the Justice Department has,” Tuberville added. “That’s really ignited the Republican Party, and I think even some of the Democrats. What kind of a world do we live in now?” “Every time I go in to read a classified document, they search you when you leave,” said Tuberville. “You are not allowed to carry classified documents out of what we call the skiff.” “It is just unfortunate that all of this is going on,” Tuberville added. “President Trump will be stronger from this. He can handle it. He knows adversity. He fights through it, but the American people need to see through all of this. Hopefully, this will clear up in a very short period of time, and we can get this behind us.” The bulk of the 37 charges against former President Trump in the 49-page indictment, unsealed last month, relate to allegations of willful retention of national defense information — a violation of the Espionage Act. The charges also include conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in an investigation, scheming to conceal, and false statements. Trump aide Walt Nauta also was indicted. Trump maintains his innocence. Despite his growing legal difficulties, the former President is the frontrunner to be the 2024 Republican nominee for President. Trump will speak in Alabama on August 4 as the featured Speaker at the Alabama Republican Party’s Summer Dinner in Montgomery. Tuberville was the first U.S. Senator to endorse President Trump ahead of the 2024 Republican primary. Tuberville was endorsed for U.S. Senate by Trump in the 2020 Republican primary, and Tuberville has remained steadfast in his support for President Trump. The Alabama Presidential primary will be on March 5. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville asks for DOJ, SEC investigation into crypto firm with ties to China
U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) is asking for an investigation of a Chinese-linked crypto-currency exchange company firm Prometheum, Inc. Senator Tuberville recently discussed Prometheum’s alleged China ties on Fox Business Channel’s Larry Kudlow. “Crypto is here to stay,” Tuberville told Kudlow. “We have got to have regulations, but the thing that we are running into now is we have got what we call crypto exchanges that are coming around all over the country. They have to be approved by the SEC and FINRA, the two regulators.” Tuberville continued, “We all know that they (China) are our number one adversary – the Republicans, the Democrats, people across the country, but somebody needs to tell our financial regulators because what has happened recently. There is a company, Promethium, that has been given the rights to a crypto exchange. Their biggest investor is Wanxiang which is a Communist China Party company. It is their biggest investor. What’s going on with our regulators? There was several dozen companies and people who applied for this, but they went with the Chinese Communist Party company.” Tuberville and five congressional colleagues sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler requesting a review of inconsistencies in congressional testimony given by digital asset firm Prometheum, Inc.’s Co-CEO Aaron Kaplan and the company’s SEC filings. Senator Tuberville announced the letter in an op-ed published by 1819 News. “Lying to Congress is a crime. Providing misleading information to investors in SEC filings constitutes securities fraud,” said Sen. Tuberville. “…If Prometheum ended its tech buildout with its China-based partners in December 2019 as Mr. Kaplan led Congress to believe, that development should have been reflected in the company’s SEC filings. Instead, Prometheum continued to tout its China-tainted tech partnership to regulators and potential investors for nearly two more years.” Prometheum’s largest outside investor is a China-based company – Shanghai Wanxiang Blockchain, Inc. (Wanxiang) and its subsidiary HashKey Digital Asset Group, Ltd. (HashKey)- with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that were documented in a Wall Street Journal op-ed written by Senator Tuberville last month. HashKey holds a seat on Prometheum’s board, and until October 2021, Prometheum benefitted from a formal technology development agreement with its Chinese partners. In written testimony submitted to Congress for a June 13 House Financial Services Committee hearing on the future of digital assets, Mr. Kaplan indicated Prometheum began developing its technology platform without influence from Wanxiang or HashKey in December 2019. Tuberville claims that SEC filings submitted by Prometheum throughout 2020 and for most of 2021 indicate the technology development partnership was still in force until October 2021. The letter sent to the Attorney General and the SEC Chair by Sen. Tuberville and his congressional colleagues requests a review of these inconsistencies. Last month, Senator Tuberville sent an oversight letter to the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), objecting to those agencies’ approval of Prometheum Ember Capital, LLC – a subsidiary of Prometheum, Inc. – as a special purpose broker-dealer to custody digital asset securities. Tuberville has requested an investigation. Tuberville said that he and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand introduced legislation last week that will keep companies partly owned by the Chinese Communist Party from being able to invest in financial exchanges. “That will keep out Chinese Communist Party investors out of crypto, out of our exchanges, but these regulators are asleep at the wheel,” Tuberville said. “It is just another thing that the Biden Administration has let the Chinese do and get by with, and we need to put a stop to it.” Tuberville was elected to the Senate in 2020. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
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Donald Trump says ‘let Russia back in’ as he heads for G-7 summit
President Donald Trump injected fresh drama into an already tense meeting of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations Friday, calling for Russia, ousted for its the annexation of Crimea, to be reinstated. Trump made the comment at the White House Friday after hours of further escalating his rhetoric against longtime allies over U.S. trade practices. “Why are we having a meeting without Russia in the meeting? Trump said. “They should let Russia come back in because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.“ Solidifying his solo status on the world stage, Trump also lashed out at longtime allies over their criticism of his trade policies. He plans an early exit from the G-7 meeting. Russia was ousted from the elite group in 2014 as punishment for President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea and its support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. In the U.S., special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia in a bid to sway the 2016 presidential election in his favor. Trump will arrive Friday at the annual gathering, held this year at a Quebec resort, but will leave Saturday morning before the event is over, heading to Singapore for his highly anticipated summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The White House announced his travel plans after French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signaled they would use the G7 event to take a stance against new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. “Looking forward to straightening out unfair Trade Deals with the G-7 countries,” Trump tweeted early Friday. “If it doesn’t happen, we come out even better.” Trump also singled out tariffs on U.S. dairy products in yet another scathing tweet directed at Canada just before the G-7. At a joint press conference on Thursday, Macron said: “A trade war doesn’t spare anyone. It will start first of all to hurt U.S. workers.” Trudeau said: “We are going to defend our industries and our workers.” Trudeau, for his part, said Trump’s action would hurt American workers as well as Canadians. “If I can get the president to actually realize that what he’s doing is counterproductive for his own goals as well, perhaps we can move forward in a smarter way,” Trudeau said. As tempers frayed, Trump had a ready retort, via tweet: “Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers. The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.” Later Thursday, Trump tweeted: “Prime Minister Trudeau is being so indignant, bringing up the relationship that the U.S. and Canada had over the many years and all sorts of other things…but he doesn’t bring up the fact that they charge us up to 300% on dairy — hurting our Farmers, killing our Agriculture!” A few hours later, he added, “Take down your tariffs & barriers or we will more than match you!” With a cool reception all but assured, Trump has complained to aides about even having to attend the meeting, especially since his summit with Kim is just days away. Late Thursday, the White House announced that Trump would be leaving the G-7 late Saturday morning to head to Singapore ahead of his summit with Kim, though the G-7 meeting was scheduled to last until later that day. Trump will skip out on G-7 meetings about climate change, clean energy and ocean protection. This marks Trump’s second summit of the G-7, an informal gathering that meets every year under a rotating chairmanship. The member countries are Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, the United States and Britain. The European Union also attends. Trump is set to hold a series of group and one-on-one meetings, including with Trudeau and Macron. Under Trump, the United States has abandoned its traditional role in the G-7. His predecessors pressed for freer global trade and championed a trading system that required countries to follow World Trade Organization rules. Trump’s policies have been more protectionist and confrontational, driven by a perception that the U.S. has been the victim of poorly conceived trade deals. Relations have hit such a low that a key question now is whether the seven countries can agree on a joint statement of priorities at the conclusion of the meeting. A gathering of G-7 finance ministers days earlier concluded last week with a message of “concern and disappointment” for Trump from the other six countries. France’s finance minister described the group as “far more a G-6 plus one than a G-7.” Macron made clear Thursday that the other six countries wouldn’t hesitate to go it alone. On Twitter, he said: “The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be.” Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, was vague Wednesday on the outcome of the summit, saying: “For these kind of decisions, let them meet first. Let them meet; let them discuss. And then we’ll see what happens.” Tension has been building over a year of policymaking that has distanced the U.S. from traditional allies, including by Trump’s decisions to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear agreement. The new tariffs — 25 percent on imported steel, 10 percent on aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union — threaten to drive up prices for American consumers and companies and heighten uncertainty for businesses and investors around the globe. Canada and other U.S. allies are retaliating with tariffs on U.S. exports. Canada is waiting until the end of the month to apply them with the hope the Trump administration will reconsider. Meanwhile, talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement that eliminated most tariffs and duties between the U.S., Canada and Mexico appear to have ground to a halt. Trump injected further uncertainty recently when he floated the idea of replacing NAFTA with two separate
Donald Trump complains about trade with China
President Donald Trump on Monday complained yet again about “STUPID TRADE” with China, doing little to calm investors anxious about the escalating trade conflict between the two economic superpowers. In a tweet on Monday morning Trump said that when a Chinese-made vehicle is sent to the U.S., the tariff is only 2.5 percent, while American cars exported to China are slapped with a 25 percent tariff. Trump asked, “Does that sound like free or fair trade.” Then answered, “No, it sounds like STUPID TRADE.” China charges total duties of 25 percent on most imported cars — a 10 percent customs tariff plus a 15 percent auto tax. Since December 2016, Beijing also has charged an additional 10 percent on “super-luxury” vehicles priced above 1.3 million yuan ($200,000). Trump’s top economic advisers have offered mixed messages as to the best approach with China. Beijing has threatened to retaliate if Washington follows through with its proposed tariffs, even as Trump emphasized his bond with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “President Xi and I will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade,” Trump tweeted Sunday. “China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do. Taxes will become Reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries!” But Trump did not explain why, amid a week of economic saber-rattling between the two countries that shook global markets, he felt confident a deal could be made. The president made fixing the trade imbalance with China a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, where he frequently used incendiary language to describe how Beijing would “rape” the U.S. economically. But even as Trump cozied up to Xi and pressed China for help with derailing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, he has ratcheted up the economic pressure and threatened tariffs, a move opposed by many fellow Republicans. The Trump administration has said it is taking action as a crackdown on China’s theft of U.S. intellectual property. The U.S. bought more than $500 billion in goods from China last year and now is planning or considering penalties on some $150 billion of those imports. The U.S. sold about $130 billion in goods to China in 2017 and faces a potentially devastating hit to its market there if China responds in kind. China has pledged to “counterattack with great strength” if Trump decides to follow through on his latest threat to impose tariffs on an additional $100 billion in Chinese goods — after an earlier announcement that targeted $50 billion. Beijing also declared that the current rhetoric made negotiations impossible, even as the White House suggested that the tariff talk was a way to spur China to the bargaining table. The new White House economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said Sunday that a “coalition of the willing” — including Canada, much of Europe and Australia — was being formed to pressure China and that the U.S. would demand that the World Trade Organization, an arbiter of trade disputes, be stricter on Beijing. And he said that although the U.S. hoped to avoid taking action, Trump “was not bluffing.” “This is a problem caused by China, not a problem caused by President Trump,” Kudlow said on “Fox News Sunday.” But he also downplayed the tariff threat as “part of the process,” suggesting on CNN that the impact would be “benign” and said he was hopeful that China would enter negotiations. Kudlow, who started his job a week ago after his predecessor, Gary Cohn, quit over the tariff plan, brushed aside the possibility of economic repercussions. “I don’t think there’s any trade war in sight,” Kudlow told Fox. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he didn’t expect the tariffs to have a “meaningful impact on the economy” even as he left the door open for disruption. He allowed that there “could be” a trade war but said he didn’t anticipate one. Another top White House economic adviser, Peter Navarro, took a tougher tack, declaring that China’s behavior was “a wakeup call to Americans.” “They are in competition with us over economic prosperity and national defense,” Navarro said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” ″Every day of the week China comes into our homes, our business and our government agencies. … This country is losing its strength even as China has grown its economy.” Trump’s latest proposal intensified what was already shaping up to be the biggest trade battle in more than a half century. Trump told advisers last week that he was unhappy with China’s decision to tax $50 billion in American products, including soybeans and small aircraft, in response to a U.S. move to impose tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods. Rather than waiting weeks for the U.S. tariffs to be implemented, Trump backed a plan by Robert Lighthizer, his trade representative, to seek the enhanced tariffs. The rising economic tensions pose a test to what has become Trump’s frequent dual-track foreign policy strategy: to establish close personal ties with another head of state even as his administration takes a harder line. The president has long talked up his friendship with Xi, whom he has praised for consolidating power in China despite its limits on democratic reforms. Further escalation could be in the offing. The U.S. Treasury Department is working on plans to restrict Chinese technology investments in the U.S. And there is talk that the U.S. could also put limits on visas for Chinese who want to visit or study in this country. For Trump, the dispute runs the risk of blunting the economic benefits of his tax overhaul, which is at the center of congressional Republicans’ case for voters to keep them in power in the 2018 elections. China’s retaliation so far has targeted Midwest farmers, many of whom were bedrock Trump supporters. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
