The U.S. at a glance ... NEWS 7
Washington,
D.C.
War inside
the DOJ: The
Senate Judiciary
Committee
and the Justice
Department’s top watchdog opened dual
investigations this week into reports that a
senior Justice Department lawyer plotted
with former President Trump to oust his
acting Attorney General, Jeffrey Rosen,
in the last days of the administration.
The lawyer, Jeffrey Clark, who heads the
civil division, had for days unsuccessfully
lobbied Rosen to announce an investiga-
tion into President Biden’s electoral win
in Georgia—and void the results, there.
On Jan. 3, Trump summoned Clark and
Rosen to the White House to make their
opposing cases in a meeting that two offi-
cials described as an episode of Trump’s
reality show The Apprentice. Ultimately,
Trump was persuaded not to fire Rosen
because the Justice Department’s
remaining leadership had made a
pact to resign en masse should
Trump replace him with Clark.
Clark denied the existence of a
plot and called the Jan. 3 meeting
merely “a candid discussion.”New York
Candid thoughts: Dr. Anthony Fauci,
the nation’s top infectious-disease expert,
described the “liberating feeling” of let-
ting the evidence and science about the
pandemic speak for itself during his first
press briefing last week since President
Biden took office. Fauci said in an inter-
view with The New York Times that
former President Trump called him up “a
couple times” after pessimistic statements
and urged him to be “more positive.”
He said he never considered quitting,
because his absence would have left “a
void.” “Someone’s got to not be afraid to
speak out the truth,” he said. Meanwhile,
Dr. Deborah Birx, Trump’s White House
pandemic response coordinator, defended
her tenure in a CBS interview. Frequently
criticized for letting the Trump admin-
istration minimize the pandemic, Birx
explained that she was “censored” by
other officials and that the president was
given “parallel” data understating the
severity of the crisis.Denver
Post-election lawsuit: Dominion
Voting Systems filed a $1.
billion defamation lawsuit
against former President
Trump’s personal lawyer
Rudy Giuliani this week,
accusing him of orches-
trating “a viral disin-
formation campaign”
about the company.
Giuliani, the company
says, promoted a conspir-
acy theory that the devel-
oper of voting machines
and software was founded in Venezuela
to rig elections for deceased strongman
Hugo Chavez, and later rigged the U.S.
vote to deliver the 2020 presidential elec-
tion to President Biden. The 107-page suit
cites more than 50 instances in which the
former New York City mayor peddled the
theory. Dominion has also sued onetime
Trump attorney Sidney Powell, and sent
cease-and-desist letters to other Trump
associates. Giuliani said the lawsuit would
let him investigate the company more
fully. Dominion CEO John Poulos, who
has not ruled out a suit against Trump
himself, said Giuliani not only damaged
his company but also “undermined trust
in American democratic institutions.”Woodstock, Ohio
and Berryville, Va.
Coordinated attack:
Federal conspiracy charges
filed last week allege
that members of the
far-right Oath Keepers
group planned the Jan. 6
assault on the Capitol in
advance, organizing rioters, stockpiling
weapons, and hinting at killing lawmak-
ers. An FBI investigation shows a previ-
ously undisclosed level of coordination
among members of the mob who traveled
to Washington, D.C. Jessica Watkins, an
Army veteran from Woodstock, Ohio,
and Thomas Edward Caldwell, an Oath
Keeper leader from Virginia, were among
several alleged attackers who stayed in
touch via a two-way radio app. Messages
from Watkins, recovered by the FBI, show
her reminding her team, “We have about
30-40 of us. We are sticking together and
sticking to the plan.” “Get it, Jess,”
a man replied, adding, “This is...
everything we f---ing trained for!”
Another message shows how the
group hunted lawmakers—and
suggests deadly intentions. “All
members are in the tunnels
under capital seal them in.
Turn on gas,” it read.Little Rock, Ark.
Seeking office: Former White House press
secretary Sarah Sanders joined the race for
governor of Arkansas this week, looking
to capitalize on former President Trump’s
enduring popularity in the state. Sanders,
the daughter of former Arkansas Gov.
Mike Huckabee, joined a Republican
primary field that also includes Lt. Gov.
Tim Griffin and state Attorney General
Leslie Rutledge. Asa Hutchinson, the
current governor, cannot seek reelection
in 2022 because of term limits. Sanders,
who repeatedly clashed with the press
she often derided as “fake news,” seeks
to turn her history with Trump into an
asset, telling voters that she took on “the
media, the radical left, and their ‘cancel
culture.’” In 2019, she signaled she was
planning a run for office. “There are two
types of people who run for office,” she
said. “People that are called and people
that just want to be a senator or governor.
I feel like I’ve been called.”Washington, D.C.
First call with Putin: President Joe
Biden confronted Russian President
Vladimir Putin on a series of issues
during their first phone call this week,
including the SolarWinds cyberattack,
reports of Russians placing bounties
on American soldiers in Afghanistan,
and the poisoning of Russian dissident
Alexei Navalny. The call, which came
at Russia’s request, also touched on
Ukrainian sovereignty and Russian
election meddling, representing a hard
shift from prior calls between former
President Donald Trump and the Russian
leader. Biden has been fiercely critical of
Trump’s posture toward Putin, calling
him “Putin’s puppy.” In addition, Biden
and Putin discussed the New START
nuclear arms treaty, which expires on
Feb 5. Both men signaled that they were
willing to extend the pact. A day before
the call, Biden said there was room for
both countries to operate in “mutual self-
interest,” but
he wanted
to “make
it clear to
Russia that
we are very
concerned
about their
AP behavior.”
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Back in courtA last bulwarkWatkinsTense dialogue