BIDEN: “The United States and NATO are not a threat to Russia. Ukraine is not threatening Russia. Neither the US nor NATO have missiles in Ukraine. …We’re not targeting the people of Russia. We do not seek to destabilize Russia. To the citizens of Russia, you are not our enemy." pic.twitter.com/qyZIz5sKh7
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) February 15, 2022
Really excellent speech on the Ukraine crisis by President Biden. Clear. Short. Strong deterrent message on NATO power. Glad he spoke directly to the Russian people. Also relieved that Biden did not stay for Q&A which might have muddled issue.
— Barry R McCaffrey (@mccaffreyr3) February 15, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he does not want war in Europe https://t.co/TnG1w5rH1V
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 15, 2022
“The Russian defense minister reported today that some military units are leaving their positions near Ukraine," Pres. Biden says. "That would be good—but we have not yet verified that.” https://t.co/U3OlOTB5FW pic.twitter.com/9vku7qh2mz
— ABC News (@ABC) February 15, 2022
@CBSDavidMartin reporting US can see Russia units moving out of assembly areas toward the Ukraine border; it looks like Russian military uncoiling in preparation for an invasion
— Mary Walsh (@CBSWalsh) February 15, 2022
On Russian statements regarding withdrawal of some forces from the Ukrainian border. We in Ukraine have a rule: we don’t believe what we hear, we believe what we see. If a real withdrawal follows these statements, we will believe in the beginning of a real de-escalation.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 15, 2022
In Ukraine right now, hackers are attacking state-owned Privatbank & Oschadbank, as well as Ministry of Defense. ATMs & banking services interrupted. MOD and Armed Forces websites are down (picture below). Confirmed by gov's Center for Strategic Comms and Info Security of Ukraine pic.twitter.com/BGhPcfhoCM
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) February 15, 2022
Ukraine says only it and NATO should determine membership https://t.co/W8T2Imitwu pic.twitter.com/GRdTM8KAvj
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 15, 2022
It should be no surprise that MAGA cultists have been soft on Russia. Trump spent much of his presidency conducting a propaganda campaign on behalf of Putin. https://t.co/EdXkD3gpJ0
— Jennifer 'pro-voting' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) February 15, 2022
"The officials said Zero Hedge, which has 1.2 million Twitter followers, published articles created by Moscow-controlled media that were then shared by outlets and people unaware of their nexus to Russian intelligence."@AP https://t.co/kVQbpY3JIZ
— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) February 15, 2022
Greg Sargent argues that Democrats can help themselves by banging the drum on their substantial economic accomplishments — and my read of political history says that he's right. A good economy doesn't sell itself 1/ https://t.co/qMONkWzbwH
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) February 15, 2022
Meanwhile…
Satire. Probably. https://t.co/TkpH1PAyDQ
— David Henig 🇺🇦 (@DavidHenigUK) February 15, 2022
Boris Johnson must return £2.3m of Russia-linked cash donated to the Tories, says Starmer https://t.co/9MHwRtGTEa
— Rachel Wearmouth (@REWearmouth) February 15, 2022
If only there was some way of knowing why Boris Johnson’s Government tried to suppress the Russia report, misrepresented its findings and ignored all of its recommendations pic.twitter.com/qcA94AAcUs
— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) February 15, 2022
This looks an obvious case for the government's anti-corruption champion, John Penrose, to investigate.
— George Monbiot (@GeorgeMonbiot) February 15, 2022
Otherwise known as Dido Harding's husband.
Oh.https://t.co/ARBHACzRuU
BREAKING: Turns out Dido Harding and Mike Coupe cost Britain 4 times more money than the Iraq war. I'm struggling to comprehend how this was even possible x
— Laura Kuenssberg Translator (@BBCLauraKT) February 15, 2022
The First Commissioner plays a vital role in maintaining standards and upholding the independence of our civil service.
— Angela Rayner (@AngelaRayner) February 15, 2022
This is not the right choice for such a job.https://t.co/kHoYqt8W5d
NEW: Boris Johnson’s allies claim he has a “good chance” of avoiding a fine over Partygate. Growing confidence in his inner circle that PM’s justification they were work events may hold
— Sebastian Payne (@SebastianEPayne) February 15, 2022
“Legally the situation is not as black and white as it might seem.” https://t.co/oSngqNfmGm
The UK tax take under Boris Johnson is set to rise from 33.5 per cent of GDP before his election to 36.2 per cent by the mid-2020s. That will be the highest share of national income taken by the state since the early 1950s https://t.co/bb7HfHK8pj
— Rory Stewart (@RoryStewartUK) February 15, 2022
Boris Johnson is about as committed to Net Zero as he is to upholding the law. https://t.co/4oo7u8fJQs
— Jo Maugham (@JolyonMaugham) February 15, 2022
Oh, and…
Prince Andrew has settled the claim by Virginia Guiffre that he sexually assaulted her – to avoid a trial
— nazir afzal (@nazirafzal) February 15, 2022
He is willing to pay her large sums of money to her for something he denies
Make of that what you will
🔴EXCLUSIVE: The Duke of York will pay his accuser more than £12 million using money from the Queen
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) February 15, 2022
A huge sum of what is effectively *our* money.
— Prof Paul Bernal (@PaulbernalUK) February 15, 2022
Video: Virginia Roberts Giuffre sued Prince Andrew in a New York court for allegedly having unwanted sexual encounters with her when she was a teenager. Giuffre says she was trafficked to him by Jeffrey Epstein. The amount of the settlement is not known. https://t.co/UeYsLSOuqU
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 15, 2022
I assume the Daily Telegraph will be apologising for its attacks on Virginia Guiffre's character now Prince Andrew says they were unfair. pic.twitter.com/IOvCMUHI1H
— Mic Wright (@brokenbottleboy) February 15, 2022
Congratulations to Prince Andrew, who was found not guilty by a jury of a few million pictures of his mum in neatly bound bundles.
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) February 15, 2022
Hmm pic.twitter.com/eRRWDhR2XL
— Ava-Santina (@AvaSantina) February 15, 2022
***
Trump’s week goes from bad to worse
Mazar's may well be turning state's evidence against the whole Trump org. This is so much worse for DFG than folks realize yet me thinks. There is a huge fissure under Donald's feet, and it's on the move.
— Maggie (@maggiesjones89) February 15, 2022
Mazar's has represented the Trump family biz since Fred ran it. They stuck with Donald thru fraud charges & audits.
— Brooke Harrington (@EBHarrington) February 14, 2022
For them to dump Trump now, explicitly to get clear of the legal & reputational liability he represents, is a BFD.
My guess: NY AG abt to open a can of whoopass. https://t.co/7ndqj8iWum
Folks around Trump recognize the Mazar letter is significant. @TimOBrien explores https://t.co/nqa3bnqZbw
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 15, 2022
Big news: The judge added the Trump Org in NY back into our lawsuit against the Presidential Inaugural Committee. Our lawsuit is moving forward fully intact & full steam ahead. We sued the inaugural committee for misusing funds to enrich the Trump family. Now we’re going to trial
— AG Karl A. Racine (@AGKarlRacine) February 15, 2022
Trump is facing a world of hurt in his family business, with his longtime accounting firm abandoning him and quite possibly becoming a witness for the prosecution … but what is Trump's primary concern?
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) February 16, 2022
Keeping alive the ludicrous fiction that he's worth TEN BILLION DOLLARS. pic.twitter.com/BtvAnOG6Y3
How Rudy Giuliani could blow the Jan. 6 investigation wide open https://t.co/8hw4fXKFYK
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 15, 2022
Big news, IF Giuliani can deliver & corroborate his story. Giuliani would be an important witness to Trump's mens rea, what he knew & intended, as well as what he did. If he cooperates, it could have implications for criminal investigation as well as @January6thCmte's work. https://t.co/8CMSGwDtkn
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) February 15, 2022
BREAKING: The Jan. 6 committee is subpoenaing PA's Doug MASTRIANO and AZ's Mark FINCHEM for their efforts to aid Trump's attempt to subvert the 2020 election.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 15, 2022
Other subpoenas to:
-Kelli Ward
-Michael Roman
-Gary Michael Brown
-Laura Cox
Story TK w/ @nicholaswu12 @woodruffbets
A key Oath Keepers leader makes clear what many of us expected all along – that main players on Jan. 6 expected Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, the prelude to a coup. The big question now: What more evidence does Merrick Garland need?
— Will Bunch (@Will_Bunch) February 15, 2022
My new column https://t.co/o0tYIUPZVO
While lies about Clinton"infiltrating" Trump servers have been mentioned at least 47 times this week on Fox News/Business, Trump's longtime accounting firm dumping him and citing the NY investigation of his business has been brought up once. Once!
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 15, 2022
(This chyron is a total lie) pic.twitter.com/YvTKXeYjKs
News outlets that turned Hillary Clinton's email usage into an omnipresent scandal need to devote *at least* as much coverage to Donald Trump's flagrant violation of laws protecting government records. Unlike the #emails, Trump's document scandal is real! https://t.co/lbWUn6j7CO
— Craig Harrington (@Craigipedia) February 15, 2022
Oh
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) February 15, 2022
<Contrary to reports, nowhere in Durham's filing does he state that lawyers for the Clinton campaign paid a tech company to "infiltrate" servers belonging to Trump Tower and later the White House.> https://t.co/V6MO0CAE0t
Trump tore up official records.
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) February 15, 2022
That's illegal.
The DOJ needs to investigate him. https://t.co/vlN0SOj2cs
Finally… RIP
P.J. O'Rourke, 1947-2022
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) February 15, 2022
I was very lucky to have lively and witty colleagues at The Weekly Standard. But P.J. was special. When he came by the office, the fun and wit went up a notch, sparks were in the air, and we all felt a certain joie de vivre. I cherish the memories. pic.twitter.com/cGZtmWQW2d
Most well known people try to be nicer than they are in public than they are in private life.
— Peter Sagal (@petersagal) February 15, 2022
PJ was the only man I knew to be the opposite. He was a deeply kind and generous man who pretended to be a curmudgeon for public consumption.
I know that ever suggesting some right wingers are more acceptable than others on this website is tantamount to taping a sign to your own back reading "kick me", but if that sort if right still dominated we'd be a lot less fucked than we are.
— Jonn Elledge (@JonnElledge) February 15, 2022
The Overnight Note 