Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
January 12, 2021
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Armed protests across all 50 state capitals planned around Biden inauguration, FBI internal memo says . . . An internal FBI memo is warning of plans for armed protests in all 50 state capital cities ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s Inauguration, Fox News has learned. A federal law enforcement source told Fox News that an internal bureau memo is warning that the protests could be staged before, on, and after Inauguration
Day. Fox News
Many security holes exist at state capitols . . . State capitols around the country remain on high alert following the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and as new threats surface online, but with less than two-thirds of them employing metal detectors, and about 20 statehouses specifically allowing guns inside, there are many security gaps that rioters could exploit. More violence is expected. USA Today
Trump approves emergency declaration for DC ahead of Biden inauguration . . . President Trump on Monday issued an emergency declaration for Washington D.C. to boost security ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20.
The order, which is in effect from Monday to January 24, allows the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency to work with local authorities as needed. New York Post
Going big: US dispensing shots at stadiums and fairgrounds . . . The U.S. is entering the second month of the biggest vaccination drive in history with a major expansion of the campaign, opening football stadiums, major league ballparks, fairgrounds and convention centers to inoculate a larger and more diverse pool of people. After a frustratingly slow rollout involving primarily health care workers and nursing home residents, states are
moving on to the next phase before the first one is complete, making COVID-19 shots available to such groups as senior citizens, teachers, bus drivers, police officers and firefighters. Associated Press
CDC says 9 million Americans now vaccinated as US states scramble . . . Nearly 9 million Americans had been given their first COVID-19 vaccination dose as of Monday, as states scrambled to step up inoculations that have yet to slow the roaring pandemic.
The 8,987,322 people who have been jabbed with the first of two shots, according to the CDC, represent less than one-third of the 25 million total doses distributed to states by the U.S. government. Reuters
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Trump-Pence relationship fractures . . . Pence stood by Trump through numerous controversies. But in the closing days of their time in office together, their relationship has fractured. Trump, enraged that Pence did not reject the election results declaring Joe Biden the winner, did not call the vice president on Wednesday after he was whisked away to safety while the Capitol was under siege from pro-Trump rioters,
some of them reportedly vowing violence against Pence. Trump and Pence spoke for the first time on Monday evening, going five days without communicating even as Pence has come under additional threats. The two met in the Oval Office and reflected on the last four years as well as plans for their final full week in office. The Hill
Trump to travel to Texas, tout border wall . . . President Trump will visit the Texas border on Tuesday in one of his last official acts to make sure Americans remember The Wall. Facing a second impeachment and accusations that he incited last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol, the suddenly reclusive Mr. Trump will travel to the border town of Alamo, named for the site of a pivotal battle in an earlier revolution. With eight days
remaining in office, Mr. Trump will highlight the completion of more than 450 miles of border fencing and walls along the frontier with Mexico, one of the signature promises of his presidency. Washington Times
Black conservatives push back as Biden, Democrats allege racism in Capitol police response . . . President-elect Biden and other Democrats were quick to resurrect the police-racism narrative after the U.S. Capitol riot, drawing a swift rebuke from the right led by prominent Black conservatives. A day after Wednesday’s siege by a largely white crowd of pro-Trump demonstrators, Mr. Biden all but accused the U.S. Capitol Police of
racism, saying that Black Lives Matters protesters would have been treated “very, very differently from the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol. We all know that’s true, and it’s unacceptable.” Conservative radio talk-show host Larry Elder agreed that a double standard was at play, although not the one that Mr. Biden suggested. Washington Times
Biden's Pentagon pick could cash in $1.7 M from leaving current job . . . Retired general Lloyd Austin, Biden's nominee for secretary of defense, could collect up to $1.7 million from leaving his job at a defense contracting giant. Austin's stock holdings as a sitting board member of Raytheon Technologies could range from $800,000 to $1.7 million. To avoid a conflict of interest as the secretary of defense, Austin would need to cash out
his stock options to take the top post at the Pentagon. Austin has also received criticism for his judgment as a general. While leading the U.S. Central Command in Afghanistan and Iraq, two different congressional probes accused the general of suppressing key intelligence regarding the growing threat of ISIS. Washington Free Beacon
Another swamp creature.
Biden inauguration them will be "America United" despite deep divisions in country . . . The theme of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration is "America United," despite deep divisions in the country, and will be focused on a "new national journey" that the Biden team says will "restore the soul of America" and bring the country together. Biden’s inauguration, set for next week, Jan. 20, comes "at a time of unprecedented crisis," according
to the Biden team, and its inaugural theme "reflects the beginning" of a "path to a brighter future." Fox News
Since he was hiding in the bunker during his campaign - probably eating some pricey ice-cream delivered to him from Pelosi's fridge - and will be heading back there, right after the inauguration, Uncle Joe has no idea what's going on in America.
Facebook says it's now removing content containing the phrase 'Stop the Steal' . . . Facebook Inc. announced on Monday that it is taking down content on its platforms that contain the phrase “Stop the Steal” in the wake of the Capitol riot last week. “We are now removing content containing the phrase ‘stop the steal’ under our Coordinating Harm policy from Facebook and Instagram,” the company said in a blog post on Monday. The move, the
company noted in the message, comes two months after it removed a group called "Stop the Steal" that had gathered a following of over 300,000 members and would spread misinformation about the election. The Hill
The virtue-signaling policies of "do-gooders" - like FB's "Coordinating Harm" policy and the "Best Practices" rules under which our e-mail services provider delayed Cut to the News yesterday - are simply blatant, albeit disguised, attempts to silence conservative voices.
Parler hacked, exfiltrated data analyzed to determine platform's role in attack on Capitol . . . As thousands of President Donald Trump's supporters swarmed Washington last week, one hacker archived their posts on Parler to help reconstruct the role the social media platform played in the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol. The hacker, who goes by @donk_enby on Twitter, said her goal was to preserve every post from Wednesday's
Capitol breach before the Parler platform was taken down, like "a bunch of people running into a burning building trying to grab as many things as we can." USA Today
Hacker + Leftist Activist = Bad news for America. Watch innocent Americans who may have said something stupid on Parler that they didn't mean get rounded up in a dragnet of investigations of one sort or another.
Parler sues Amazon for suspending app from cloud service, claims antitrust violation, breach of contract . . . Alternative social media platform Parler filed a lawsuit against Amazon on Monday following Amazon Web Services' decision to suspend Parler from its cloud hosting service following last week's deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. Parler is seeking a temporary restraining order to keep Amazon Web Services (AWS) from blackballing
Parler and claims Amazon Web Services is violating the Sherman Antitrust Act in the filing. "AWS’s decision to effectively terminate Parler’s account is apparently motivated by political animus," Parler claims in its filing. Fox News
Parler finds refuge with right-leaning webhosting service . . . A handful of Big Tech companies moved to take down social media platform Parler over the weekend, but it appears to have found a new company to help try to keep its website running. On Monday, Parler registered its domain and server to be hosted by Epik, an internet webhosting company known for working with right-leaning websites. Gab, another social media platform popular
with conservatives, also uses Epik. A web domain search shows that Parler is now registered with Epik. Epik put out a statement on Monday claiming it had no discussion of providing future services to Parler. Epik did acknowledge, however, that Parler was "working on satisfying the requested terms placed upon them." Washington Examiner
Amazon partner GoDaddy boots gun site from its servers . . . Web hosting service GoDaddy has booted gun site Arfcom from its servers. “ARFCOM IS DOWN. We've been booted from GoDaddy and are looking for an alternative solution,” the site announced in a Facebook post. The post encourages users to bookmark a backup URL, noting that their main URL will soon be offline. The news comes as Big Tech companies have created controversy
over their banning of the social media network Parler, which bills itself as a platform more open to free speech. Washington Examiner
Twitter suspends over 70k accounts for sharing QAnon content . . . Twitter said on Monday night it has permanently suspended over 70,000 accounts that were mainly in operation to share QAnon content. The social media giant said enforcement of the accounts began Friday — one of several safety measures the company has implemented in the wake of the deadly Capitol riot.
Of the more than 70,000 suspensions, Twitter said many of the accounts were operated by a single user. “These accounts were engaged in sharing harmful QAnon-associated content at scale and were primarily dedicated to the propagation of this conspiracy theory across the service,” Twitter said in a company blog post. New York Post
Trump dropped by biggest lender Deutsche Bank for future business . . . Deutsche Bank will not do business in the future with U.S. President Donald Trump or his companies in the wake of his supporters’ assault on the U.S. Capitol. Deutsche Bank is Trump’s biggest lender, with about $340 million in loans outstanding to the Trump Organization, the president’s umbrella group that is currently overseen by his two sons, according to Trump’s
disclosures with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics dated July 31 last year, plus banking sources. The move, reported by the NYT and citing a person familiar with the bank’s thinking, comes as Signature Bank - where Trump’s ethics disclosures show he has checking and money-market accounts - called for him to step down. Reuters
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Chinese military-linked entities serve as cash cows for American colleges . . . Organizations linked to Chinese military, including those behind extensive cyber attacks and espionage, funneled at least $88 million into U.S. universities over the course of six years.
Some of America's most prestigious universities have cashed lucrative checks from Chinese institutions that directly threatened national security. Institutions controlled by the Chinese government—state-owned enterprises, state-controlled public universities, government-controlled nonprofits, and other sources—collectively donated at least $315 million to American colleges between 2014 and 2019. More than a quarter of the contributions—27 percent—came from either state-owned defense
contractors or public universities that closely partner with the Chinese military to conduct defense research. Washington Free Beacon
Pentagon presses ahead with Afghanistan troop drawdown despite law barring it . . . The U.S. military has not halted a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, despite a new law prohibiting further reductions without the Pentagon sending Congress an assessment of the risks. “Currently, no new orders have been issued which impact the progression of the conditions-based drawdown expected to reach 2,500 (troops) by Jan. 15, 2021,” Department
of Defense announced in a statement. Reuters
Trump Admin sanctions seven people linked to Russia's attempts to influence US election . . . The U.S. on Monday announced that it is imposing sanctions on seven people linked to Russia’s efforts to influence the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The Trump administration also announced sanctions on four entities that are associated with Andrii Derkach, a member of the Ukranian parliament and Russian agent who was sanctioned by the Trump
administration in September for his attempt to influence the election. Washington Times
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China demands WHO conduct coronavirus 'origin-tracing' in other countries . . . World Health Organization experts are scheduled to arrive in China this week to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. A senior diplomat from the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry insisted that that origin-tracing should involve many countries and localities, and "WHO will need to pay similar visits to
other countries and regions.” Washington Times
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Leftist billionaires funnel cash to activists through for-profit corporations . . . Liberal billionaire donors are exploiting a new way of funneling millions of dollars to left-wing political groups. In 2015, Facebook founder and Democratic donor Mark Zuckerberg set up a limited liability corporation and moved millions of untraceable dollars to leftist groups. Under the LLC format, he may legally spend unlimited sums in
support of Democratic politicians, lobbying groups pushing for radical policies, and far-left activists who advocate for "reforms" that hurt election integrity. Washington Free Beacon
More blue-chip companies halt political donations to GOP after Capitol riot . . . A growing wave of big businesses are deciding to suspend or review their campaign donations in the wake of last week’s riot at the Capitol, with many saying they would stop donating to Republicans who objected to the election’s certification. AT&T Inc., ConocoPhillips, Dow Inc., Facebook Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc. were among companies
announcing Monday that they are halting or reviewing campaign donations from their political-action committees to lawmakers and political candidates. Wall Street Journal
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WSJ Op-Ed: The President did not incite violence . . . This is from an opinion article by Jeffrey Scott Shapiro in the Wall Street Journal. Shapiro served as an assistant attorney general of the District of Columbia, 2007-09. He is a White House appointed official at the U.S. Agency for Global Media. The piece notes that making people emotional is not a crime. White House Dossier
President-elect Joe Biden promises to defeat the NRA . . . Joe Biden vowed to defeat the National Rifle Association in a statement marking 10 years since the assassination attempt of former Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords in Tucson that left six people dead. “Your perseverance and immeasurable courage continue to inspire me and millions of others,” Mr. Biden tweeted to Ms. Giffords Friday. “I pledge to continue to work with you —
and with survivors, families, and advocates across the country — to defeat the NRA and end our epidemic of gun violence.” Washington Times
Who Are Biden's Cabinet Picks? . . . Joe Biden’s choices for top jobs include many former members of the Obama administration. The full list is here . . . Wall Street Journal
What is the Insurrection Act and how could Trump use it? Here's what to know . . . False social media posts swirled late Sunday that President Trump in the wake of the U.S. Capitol riots had invoked the Insurrection Act, a law that allows the president to deploy the military to quell rebellion. Tweets sharing images of military personnel in Washington continued to spread Monday morning and became a trending term on Twitter. The
Insurrection Act gives the president authority to call on military and National Guard forces to suppress an insurrection if a state requests it, if there is an insurrection that makes it impossible to enforce federal law, or if there is an insurrection or domestic violence that deprives others of their Constitutional rights. POTUS has not invoked the law, however. USA Today
Fox News announces big programming changes . . . Fox News announced a new daytime lineup Monday, including a new interim opinion program. The network noted in October that it planned to “launch new formats as appropriate after the election.” See details in Daily Caller
CNN pulls Jim Acosta from the White House . . . CNN says that a series of changes to its Washington, D.C., lineup on Monday, with Jake Tapper’s The Lead expanding to two hours and Tapper taking on the role as lead anchor for all major Washington events. White House
Dossier
It doesn’t matter. CNN will just be replacing one group of liberals for another. None of them will be asking Joe Biden the kinds of questions they asked President Trump. In part, because they’re never going to see Biden, and Trump gave a press conference every day.
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Son helps Mom turn Christmas gifts into $1 M lottery jackpot . . . A Missouri woman who won some small amounts on scratch-off lottery tickets her son gave her as a Christmas present said she asked him to cash them in for new tickets -- and won $1 million. Trisha Miller of Sedalia told Missouri Lottery officials she won some small prizes from scratch-off lottery tickets that were given to her as Christmas presents by
members of her family, including her son. Miller said she gave the tickets to her son and asked him to use the winnings to buy her more tickets to hopefully continue her lucky streak. The tickets he brought back to her included a $10 MAX-A-MILLION scratch-off that earned her a $1 million top prize. UPI
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Rebekah Koffler
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