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Biden, Democrats face trouble with independents . . . President Biden and fellow Democrats head into a congressional election year seriously “out of step” with Americans on dozens of key issues, according to a Republican-leaning polling outfit, which has a year’s worth of data to prove it. OnMessage Inc. says that on 50 questions, culled from polling done from February to September and covering everything from how Americans view systemic racism to election integrity to border security, the country is trending away from stances that Mr. Biden defends. Washington Times

 

 

 

 

Omicron variant causes Christmas flight cancellations and holiday travel headaches . . . Travelers are going to have a rough Christmas Eve at the airport due in part to the coronavirus omicron variant. According to Flight Aware, United Airlines has canceled 168 flights scheduled for Friday, about 8% of its planned schedule, and about 28 that were slated for Saturday. FOX Business has identified 21 instances where United Airlines cancellations on Christmas Eve are directly attributed to the coronavirus, stating that staffing issues have caused the cancellation. Fox Business

 

Merck’s New COVID-19 Pill Could Accidentally Trigger A New Variant, Experts Warn . . . Discussion surrounding Merck’s newly-authorized COVID-19 pill, molnupiravir, has mostly concerned the risk it might pose to pregnant women. But some experts worry it could also lead to the outbreak of a new variant of the virus it’s designed to treat. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization to two antiviral pills to treat COVID-19 this week, one from Pfizer (paxlovid) and another from Merck (molnupiravir). The Pfizer EUA was generally lacking in controversy, but the authorization of molnupiravir was far more contentious. The FDA’s Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee (ADAC) voted at the end of November to recommend authorization of molnupiravir, but it was by a narrow 13-10 margin. Even the members who voted in favor did so with qualifiers: some said the pill shouldn’t be given to pregnant women, and others were skeptical of its efficacy. Daily Caller

 

Sen. Paul Details $52 Billion Federal ‘Waste’ in Annual ‘Festivus Report’ . . . Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has unveiled his annual “Festivus Report,” which tracks what he sees as “waste” spending by the federal government. According to the libertarian-leaning Kentuckian, that waste topped over $52 billion in 2021. Since arriving in the Senate amid the Tea Party wave of 2010, Paul had made the federal budget one of his foremost concerns. Like his father, 2008 and 2012 presidential candidate and former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), the younger Paul has decried U.S. military adventurism, the excesses of the post-9/11 surveillance state, and the perpetually unbalanced budget of the federal government. The Festivus Report has been a staple for Paul since 2015, when he released his first edition of the report. Epoch Times

 

 

Russian buildup near Ukraine gains steam, new satellite images show . . . A senior administration official, speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity, said if Russian forces move into Ukraine, the U.S. and its allies “are prepared to impose severe costs that will damage Russia's economy and bring about exactly what [Russia] says it does not want — more NATO capabilities, not less, closer to Russia, not further away.” The Biden administration is considering moving troops and equipment around Europe to defend its easternmost NATO allies. During his annual year-end press conference Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin continued to build on the rhetoric he and his advisers used earlier in the week in a series of speeches at the Ministry of Defense headquarters. Walking away from Ukraine and shuttering bases in NATO countries close to Russia are proposals “we will never agree to,” the administration official said. Politico

 

Putin has already made the decision to attack Ukraine. He is just waiting for a window off opportunity to do it while achieving tactical surprise. We are in the highest period of threat from today through January 14.

 

Putin blames West for tension with Ukraine, experts divided on invasion threat . . . Tensions between Washington and the Kremlin have reached a boiling point not seen since the Cold War as over 100,000 Russian soldiers have amassed along the border over the last several months. Former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) intelligence officer for Russian doctrine and strategy, Rebekah Koffler, told Fox News that she believes the threat of invasion remains the highest through mid-January, explaining that security agencies in Ukraine could be operating at reduced capacities as the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on Jan. 7, according to the old Julian calendar. "They want to create a tactical prize, they want to keep us guessing, they want to keep us on edge," Koffler, who authored "Putin's Playbook: Russia's Secret Plan to Defeat America," said.

 

Koffler warned that Putin’s recent language echoes comments made in the lead up to the 2014 invasion of Ukraine and said she believes there could be an invasion as soon as Christmas Eve. But another defense expert pointed documents obtained by intelligence officials earlier this month that suggested the threat may actually be highest from late January to February, explained American Enterprise Institute senior fellow and director of the Critical Threats Project, Fred Kagan. "Putin is clearly setting conditions to be able to invade, to conduct a full-scale invasion of Ukraine this winter," Kagan said.   Fox News

 

China locks down 13m to contain Covid outbreak ahead of Winter Olympics . . . China has locked down 13m people in the central city of Xi’an, as the country battles to contain increasingly frequent coronavirus outbreaks that threaten its economic recovery in the run-up to the 2022 Winter Olympics. The Xi’an city government ordered all residents to stay at home and designate one person per household to collect essential supplies once every other day. Non-essential travel outside the city has been banned, China’s official news agency Xinhua reported. The lockdown is one of the most severe imposed in China since authorities restricted movement in Wuhan in early 2020 at the start of the global pandemic. It comes just months before the Beijing Winter Olympics, a politically sensitive event at which the government has banned visitors from overseas. Financial Times

 

Special counsel John Durham has spent $3.8M on Trump-Russia FBI probe . . . Special counsel John Durham’s probe into the FBI’s actions in the early days of its Russia collusion probe has cost U.S. taxpayers roughly $3.8 million since October 2020, according to data released by the Justice Department. The report made public late Wednesday revealed that Mr. Durham spent $2.8 million on travel, salaries, benefits, computer services and litigative support since October 2020. Over that same period, the Justice Department spent more than $1 million to support Mr. Durham’s office. The $3.8 million price tag for Mr. Durham’s first year as special counsel is eclipsed by the $16.7 million spent by special counsel Robert Mueller during the first year of his probe into alleged ties between former President Donald Trump and Russians who interfered in the 2016 election, allegations that have since been debunked. Washington Times

 

 

 

Rebekah Koffler

Editor, White House Dossier and Cut to the News

Author of Putin's Playbook: Russia's Secret Plan to Defeat America, out now

 

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