| | | President Biden spoke to the nation yesterday concerning the Russia-Ukraine border crisis. The House committee investigating Jan. 6 called another round of Trump associates to testify. Britain’s Prince Andrew reached a settlement in his civil sexual assault case. And Sandy Hook families also reached a settlement with the gun maker they say is responsible for their family members’ deaths. All this and more in today’s PDB. | | |
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| IMPORTANT | 1 - Words of Warning Biden Addresses Nation, Paints Grim Picture If Russia Invades President Joe Biden was direct in his remarks yesterday, saying that if Russia invades Ukraine it would likely mean significant hardship for the U.S. economy. He assured Americans that his administration is working with energy producers to preemptively address any supply chain issues that might arise. But he was adamant on managing the public’s expectations, saying, “I will not pretend this will be painless.” While Russia recently said it’s withdrawing some of its forces, Biden said the U.S. has yet to verify that claim, adding, “Our analysts indicate that they remain very much in a threatening position.” (Sources: AP, NYT) |
| 2 - Another Round House Select Committee Subpoenas 6 More Trump Affiliates The committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack has subpoenaed a long list of former President Donald Trump’s campaign staffers and Republican operatives who challenged the 2020 election results in battleground states. The list now includes Kelli Ward, Arizona’s GOP party chair, and former Michigan chair Laura Cox, both of whom supported Trump’s challenge in their states. There’s also Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who sent buses to Washington on Jan. 6 and worked with Trump to overturn his state’s results. Michael Roman, Michael Brown and Mark Finchem round out the list, all of whom worked on Trump’s 2020 Election Day operations. (Source: ABC News) |
| | | 3 - Prince Pays Up Britain’s Prince Andrew Settles US Civil Sexual Assault Suit The Duke of York has reached an out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed amount with his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, who sued the royal for allegedly sexually assaulting her on three separate occasions when she was 17. Now 38, Giuffre claimed the incidents occurred at the homes of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. The prince has repeatedly denied the allegations, but he pledged to “demonstrate his regret for his association” with Epstein, the deceased convicted sex offender. Buckingham Palace has not commented on the settlement, although the royal family announced last month that Andrew would lose his military titles and royal patronages. (Source: BBC) |
| 4 - Shooting Settlement Sandy Hook Families Reach $73M Settlement With Remington Families of nine of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that killed 20 first graders and six teachers in 2012 reached a multimillion dollar settlement yesterday with Remington, the gun manufacturer that made the rifle used in the attack. The families sued in 2015, arguing that Remington should never have sold such a dangerous weapon to consumers in the first place. They also took issue with how the company marketed the weapon, targeting at-risk young men and sensationalizing violence. As part of the deal, Remington will allow the families to release documents obtained during the lawsuit. (Source: AP) |
| 5 - Briefly Here are some things you should know about today: U.S. intelligence officials accuse Zero Hedge of spreading Russian disinformation and propaganda. The conservative financial news site allegedly published articles created by Moscow-controlled media. (Source: ABC News) The Food and Drug Administration has a new permanent leader for first time in over a year. Robert Califf was confirmed 50-46 in the Senate Tuesday. (Source: The Hill) Ottawa police chief resigns over trucker protests. Peter Sloly came under fire for his lenient treatment of the Canadian truckers and their supporters blockading the capital to protest the country’s COVID restrictions. (Source: Al Jazeera) |
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| | | Watch Georgia’s Brad Raffensperger
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| INTRIGUING | | | 1 - Crude Concerns Ukraine’s Border Crisis Could Spell Bad News for US Inflation While tensions between Russia and Ukraine have eased slightly in the past few days, there’s no easy end in sight. That’s concerning for many reasons, but one overlooked effect has to do with oil prices stateside: They’ve been bubbling up in recent weeks as the world braces for potential disruption to supplies from Russia, the world’s second-largest producer of oil and natural gas. Crude prices gushed above $95 a barrel on Monday, and if this trend continues and oil reaches $110 a barrel, it would push the U.S. past 10% yearly inflation for the first time since October 1981. (Source: CNN) |
| 2 - How High? As Legal Weed Expands, Police Struggle to ID Impaired Drivers All 18 states that have legalized recreational marijuana also prohibit driving under its influence, which can impair reaction times and spatial perception. But unlike alcohol, there’s no breathalyzer to prove if someone’s cannabis intoxication has reached dangerous levels. Enter Cognivue, a device developed to help detect neurodegenerative diseases. Through a series of rapid-fire tasks testing memory, concentration and reaction speed, Cognivue can determine whether a driver is fit to be behind the wheel. A clinical trial last year offered promising results, and Cognivue is now in talks with the Colorado Department of Transportation to help the state weed out stoned driving. (Source: Wired) |
| 3 - Anti-Vax, Not 'Anti-Vax' Novak Djokovic Would Rather Miss Tournaments Than Get Vaccinated The Serbian tennis star turned heads when he missed last month’s Australian Open after he was deported for ignoring Australia’s strict vaccination requirements. He now says he’s ready to miss future tournaments over his unvaccinated status, but insists he’s not a part of the anti-vax movement. Instead, Djokovic says he supports “the freedom to choose what you put in your body.” When pressed on why he won’t get vaccinated, the 20-time Grand Slam winner explained, “I’m trying to be in tune with my body,” but he said he’ll keep an open mind about getting vaccinated in the future. (Source: BBC) |
| 4 - Closer to Cure Woman Cured of HIV Through Promising New Transplant Method The unidentified mixed-race woman is now the third person ever to be cured of HIV. The first two men were cured through highly invasive and expensive bone marrow transplants and they suffered severe side effects. But this woman was cured with treatments of umbilical cord blood, which is more widely available and easier to match, and her recovery was much easier. This treatment is particularly promising because people of color have a much smaller chance of matching stem cell donors. It’s also an important step for women, who make up only 11% of cure trial participants, but over half of the world’s HIV cases. (Sources: NYT, Axios) |
| 5 - Oxy in the MLB Angels Teammates Testify on Pitcher’s Overdose Death Major League Baseball players Matt Harvey, Mike Morin, Cam Bedrosian and C.J. Cron took the stand against former Los Angeles Angels employee Eric Kay, who is accused of giving Tyler Skaggs the drugs that led to his death in July 2019. A coroner’s report revealed that Skaggs had alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone in his system — and the four players all said they received oxycodone pills from Kay. Harvey, who is a free agent, was subpoenaed for his testimony, but he worries that admitting to being an active cocaine user before and during his 2019 season with the Angels will hurt his career. (Source: ESPN) |
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