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Trump risked a nuclear security crisis with how his administration left office: report
January 20, 2021
Donald Trump's refusal to concede he lost the 2020 presidential election and failure to work with the incoming Biden administration could have resulted in a nuclear crisis, according to a national security reporter.
"Officials at the Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration were briefly leaderless today bc outgoing Secretary didn't put anyone in charge even temporarily—frustrated officials there said that could've hindered response to a national emergency," Politico's Natasha Bertrand reported Wednesday.
<p>The National Nuclear Security Administration is the part of the Department of Energy that is "responsible for ensuring the integrity and safety of the nation's nuclear weapons, advancing nuclear nonproliferation and promoting international nuclear safety."</p><p>"Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science," the agency's <a href="https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nuclear-security-nonproliferation#:~:text=In%20support%20of%20this%20presidential,and%20promoting%20international%20nuclear%20safety." target="_blank">website</a> explains. "NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear explosive testing; works to reduce the global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad."</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="67e31c614a586ca17e5c5ed838cb7c07" id="11140"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1351989760475222019"><div style="margin:1em 0">Officials at the Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration were briefly leaderless today bc ou… https://t.co/jiSJdRo3ZL</div> — Natasha Bertrand (@Natasha Bertrand)<a href="https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/statuses/1351989760475222019">1611174452.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Pro-insurrection deputy arrested for 'absolutely frightening' threat to 'make the streets of DC run red with blood'
January 20, 2021
Yet another member of law enforcement is facing charges for supporting the failed January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
"Words matter, the sheriff said, and the threatening statements a Polk County deputy allegedly made related to violence at the U.S. Capitol were enough to put him behind bars. A visibly upset Sheriff Grady Judd called the text messages of 29-year-old Peter Heneen, a deputy of six years, "absolutely frightening."
<p> Heneen faces a second-degree felony charge of written threats to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism," WTSP-TV <a href="https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/crime/polk-county-florida-deputy-arrested-us-capitol-threat/67-687b9f29-8ff1-4f3a-b0e1-bda405bb8c16" target="_blank">reports</a>.</p><p>"Heneen was arrested Tuesday and has been suspended from duties pending termination procedures, the sheriff's office said. Following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, the sheriff said Heneen spent some time texting a fellow deputy that evening. Judd considers that law enforcement officer a "hero" because, following the two's conversation, he reported it to superiors," the station reported. </p><p>The sheriff unveiled the text messages during a press conference.</p><p>"Any cop or military who stands in the way is the enemy," Heneen allegedly wrote about those trying to stop the insurrection. "We all swore an oath. And if you violate it you are the same."</p><p>"Should have drug those tyrants out into the streets and executed them," he continued. "F*ck the federal government. FBI are corrupt they are all corrupt."</p><p>"I'll f*cking kill them all," he threatened.</p><p>"And you are giving your plans on a traceable app on your phone?" the other deputy asked.<br/></p><p>"Yep they are listening, come and get me!!!" he taunted, with three raised middle-finger emojis.</p><p>Watch:</p><p><br/></p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://wtsp.com/embeds/video/67-4ddc20fe-728b-49ef-b15a-22494845e9b9/iframe" style="border:1px solid #e6e6e6" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="640"></iframe></div><p><br/></p>
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'Defeated, disgraced and twice impeached': Conservative perfectly sums up Trump's downfall
January 20, 2021
During former President Donald Trump's four years in the White House, conservative pundit Charlies Sykes was among his most consistently outspoken critics on the right. Sykes bluntly expressed his views on the end of Trump's presidency in an Inauguration Day column for the conservative website The Bulwark, declaring, "Goodbye and good riddance."
Sykes' column was published not long before Trump departed the White House, Joe Biden was sworn in as president and former Sen. Kamala Harris became the United States' first female vice president and its first Black vice president. Sykes, who was glad to see Biden defeat Trump in 2020, noted some of the ways in which Trump's presidency came to a terrible conclusion.
<p>"This is it," Sykes wrote. "Trump's presidency ends at noon today, and he leaves defeated, disgraced and twice impeached. Let the pariah ex-presidency begin."</p><p>Trump, according to Sykes, did nothing to redeem himself during his final weeks in office. January 6, Sykes wrote, will be remembered for pro-Trump insurrectionists violently storming the U.S. Capitol Building. And Trump, Sykes pointed out, decided to leave the White House "in the swampiest way possible" by pardoning former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon — who was facing criminal fraud charges — on Tuesday.</p><p><br/></p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="84ed09253009490c0725d1945418f161" id="7889e"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1351859484327600128"><div style="margin:1em 0">It’s too perfect https://t.co/tANvEUlJc7</div> — Charlie Sykes (@Charlie Sykes)<a href="https://twitter.com/SykesCharlie/statuses/1351859484327600128">1611143392.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><br/></p><p>Sykes included some biting humor in his column, noting that while President Bill Clinton "was ushered into office" by poet Maya Angelou in January 1993 and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt used the pop standard "Happy Days Are Here Again" for his 1932 campaign, a poem that should be associated with Trump is "The Snake."</p><p>Trump used the poem as a racist attack on immigrants, sending the message that they were inherently untrustworthy and dangerous. But the poem also always seemed to have a double-meaning as a warning about his own character.</p><p>And for Trump, who is not known for an interest in literature or the arts, the poem is all the more fitting.</p><p>"It's probably the only poem he knows by heart," Sykes wrote.</p>
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