Closing summary
House Republicans’ long-running effort to impeach Joe Biden was rocked by news of the arrest of a former FBI informant whose claims about Hunter Biden’s business with a Ukrainian gas firm were a key part of the GOP’s case against the president. Alexander Smirnov is accused of lying to the government, and yesterday, prosecutors revealed that he said he received information from Russian intelligence. Republican investigators are pressing on, and today interviewed the president’s brother James Biden, who denied that Joe Biden had ever been involved in his business. Jamie Raskin, a top House Democrat, called on Republicans to end the impeachment amid the Smirnov affair.
Here’s a rundown of what happened:
The US supreme court released two opinions, neither of which dealt with the challenges to Donald Trump’s ballot eligibility, or whether he is immune from prosecution for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
Nikki Haley said she supports an Alabama supreme court decision that could curb access to IVF care.
David Weiss, the special counsel prosecuting Hunter Biden, reportedly asked a judge to detain Smirnov, a day after a different judge allowed him to be released as he awaited trial.
John Avlon, a former CNN anchor and Daily Beast editor, is running as a Democrat for a congressional seat in New York.
House Democrats called on the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, to bring the chamber back into session to vote on Ukraine aid.
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As for Joe Biden, he’s in Los Angeles, and just popped into the Mexican restaurant CJ’s Cafe along with the city’s Democratic mayor, Karen Bass.
According to the reporters accompanying him on the jaunt, the president was taking a picture with a customer, and switched their phone to selfie mode. The person was surprised Biden knew how to do that, to which the president responded: “After the last guy, the bar’s on the floor.”
The last guy, and potentially the next guy.
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Besides the House oversight and judiciary committees’ interview with James Biden, Congress hasn’t been up to much today.
That’s because the House and Senate are both out of session. But a group of House Democrats, including Ohio’s Marcy Kaptur, want the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, to call lawmakers back into session to vote on legislation that will send military aid to Ukraine:
Today @RepMikeQuigley, @RepJimCosta, and I issued a joint statement calling on @SpeakerJohnson to call the House of Representatives back into session to vote on critical aid for Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/W0JC1minET
— Rep. Marcy Kaptur (@RepMarcyKaptur) February 20, 2024
Lawmakers departed the Capitol last week after failing to agree on new aid for Kyiv as well as Israel and Taiwan, despite weeks of negotiating over a proposal that would have paired that aid with hardline immigration policies.
It’s unclear whether, and how, the aid package will now be approved. The Senate returns next Monday, and the House on Wednesday.
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Here’s video from NBC News’s interview with Nikki Haley, in which the former South Carolina governor says she supports the Alabama supreme court ruling that could complicate access to IVF care:
Haley says she supports the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling threatening IVF access for women, made possible by Trump ending Roe: Embryos, to me, are babies pic.twitter.com/w0L2sE35Ch
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) February 21, 2024
Notice it’s being shared on X by Joe Biden’s re-election campaign. Ever since the US supreme court’s conservative majority overturned Roe v Wade in 2022, the president has promised to protect abortion access, and now seems set to make the same vow for IVF.
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Nikki Haley says she agrees with Alabama ruling that could curb IVF care
The Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley announced her support for an Alabama supreme court ruling that could complicate access to in vitro fertilization procedures, telling NBC News in an interview: “Embryos, to me, are babies.
“When you talk about an embryo, you are talking about, to me, that’s a life. And so I do see where that’s coming from when they talk about that,” said the former South Carolina governor, who is the last major challenger to Donald Trump for the GOP’s presidential nomination.
The Alabama supreme court last week ruled that frozen embryos are “children” and allowed two wrongful death suits to proceed against a fertility clinic where several embryos were destroyed in 2021, a decision that could complicate access to IVF treatment more widely.
Here’s more from NBC on what Haley’s comments mean:
Classifying embryos as children under state law raises significant questions about whether the practice, used by families having trouble conceiving, could continue in states like Alabama. Unused embryos are often destroyed, which could open families or clinics up to wrongful death lawsuits under this policy. Storing frozen embryos, meanwhile, is expensive.
Asked if legislation and rulings like the one in Alabama could have a chilling effect on families using IVF to become parents, Haley said, “This is one where we need to be incredibly respectful and sensitive about it.”
“I know that when my doctor came in, we knew what was possible and what wasn’t,” Haley continued, adding: “Every woman needs to know, with her partner, what she’s looking at. And then when you look at that, then you make the decision that’s best for your family.”
Haley has sought to find a rhetorical middle ground on reproductive health policy as a 2024 presidential candidate. She has repeatedly calling for national “consensus” on abortion in debates instead of the bans and restrictions favored by some of her primary opponents.
After the state supreme court’s decision, Alabama’s largest healthcare provider paused IVF treatments:
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The governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, has announced that he is proposing the elimination of medical debt across the state.
In a statement on Wednesday, Pritzker, a Democrat, said that he proposes that the state eliminate $4m of medical debt for more than 1 million Illinoisans over the next four years.
The term "medical debt" shouldn't exist.
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) February 21, 2024
A sign of the broken system of the past, it's become one of the leading causes of bankruptcy.
But here in Illinois, I'm proposing we eliminate it, starting by erasing nearly $1B in medical debt for more than 340,000 Illinoisans.
He also said that he intends to “break down bureaucratic barriers in state government” by increasing coordination across agencies to improve reproductive healthcare services.
Pritzker added that the Illinois department of human services will invest $1m in a pilot program to ensure new moms and babies have clean diapers, as well as an additional $5m into home visiting for the state’s most vulnerable families.
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Donald Trump has compared the $350m fine he received in his New York financial fraud case to “a form of Navalny”.
Speaking at a Fox News town hall on Tuesday night, Trump hit back at the New York judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling. He also compared his case to that of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny whose death last week at a Russian penal colony has been largely blamed on the Kremlin.
The ex president said:
“It is a form of Navalny. It is a form of communism or fascism. The guy [Arthur Engoron] is a nut job, I’ve known this for a long time and I’ve said it openly.”
“It is a form of Navalny.”
— The Recount (@therecount) February 21, 2024
— Donald Trump, at a Fox News town hall Tuesday night, talking about his $400M+ fine in his New York civil fraud trial pic.twitter.com/y6VD78hBrw
Also on Tuesday evening, the New York attorney general, Letitia James, said that she will seize Trump’s assets if he does not pay the fine.
If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” James said.
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In the political reproductive rights war, with its real life repercussions, another new and consequential twist.
Less than a week after the unprecedented decision from the Alabama supreme court that frozen embryos are “children”, a key medical school in the state has paused in vitro fertilization procedures.
The court decision has been widely seen as one that would have serious implications for people seeking in vitro fertilization (IVF) or other assisted reproductive technology treatments.
On Wednesday, AL.com reported, a spokesperson, Hannah Echols, said on behalf of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a research university and academic medical center that is also the largest healthcare provider in the state, that the institution is “saddened” for patients who hope to have babies through IVF.
“We must evaluate the potential that our patients and our physicians could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standard of care for IVF treatments,” Echols wrote in the email, obtained by AL.com.
In the decision released on Friday, two wrongful death suits were allowed to proceed against a Mobile fertility clinic, effectively ruling that fertilized eggs and embryos are “children”.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham health system suspended in vitro fertilization procedures because of the risk of criminal prosecution and lawsuits, a spokeswoman told AL.com.
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The day so far
House Republicans’ long-running effort to impeach Joe Biden has been rocked by news of the arrest of a former FBI informant whose claims about Hunter Biden’s business with a Ukrainian gas firm were a key part of the GOP’s case against the president. Alexander Smirnov is accused of lying to the government, and yesterday, prosecutors revealed that he said he received information from Russian intelligence. Republican investigators are pressing on, and today interviewed the president’s brother James Biden, who denied that Joe Biden had ever been involved in his business. Jamie Raskin, a top House Democrat, called on Republicans to end the impeachment amid the Smirnov affair.
Here’s what else happened today:
The US supreme court released two opinions, neither of which dealt with the challenges to Donald Trump’s ballot eligibility, or whether he is immune from prosecution for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
David Weiss, the special counsel prosecuting Hunter Biden, reportedly asked a judge to detain Smirnov, a day after a different judge allowed him to be released as he awaited trial.
John Avlon, a former CNN anchor and Daily Beast editor, is running as a Democrat for a congressional seat in New York.
Updated
Top House Democrat demands GOP end Biden impeachment after prosecutors accuse informant of lying
Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, which is leading the push to impeach Joe Biden, called on Republicans to drop their investigation after prosecutors accused a former FBI informant of lying about Hunter Biden’s ties to a Ukrainian energy company.
“I’m restating to chairman Comer, to speaker Johnson, to fold up the tent to this circus show. It’s really over at this point,” Raskin said, referring to the oversight committee chair, James Comer, and the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, both Republicans:
.@RepRaskin: "The impeachment investigation essentially ended yesterday...with the explosive revelation that Mr. Smirnov's allegations about Ukrainian Burisma payments to Joe Biden were concocted along with Russian intelligence agents." pic.twitter.com/YLCyPxp11e
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 21, 2024
Raskin’s demand came after Alexander Smirnov was arrested last week and accused of lying to the government about the president’s son’s work with Ukrainian firm Burisma, which has formed the basis for the GOP’s unproven allegations that Joe Biden is corrupt. Yesterday, prosecutors revealed that Smirnov told investigators that Russian intelligence had passed him “a story” about Hunter Biden, but it’s unclear what that was.
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Republicans have fixated on financial records showing Joe Biden received money from his relatives, including a payment of $200,000 from his brother James Biden.
In his behind-closed-doors testimony today, James Biden said he would occasionally borrow money from his brother when necessary to pay the bills, and then repay him, the Washington Post reports.
Here’s more:
James Biden, on a $200k loan from Joe Biden: "I repaid them within weeks. He had no information at all about the source of the funds I used to repay him. The complete explanation is that Joe lent me money, and I repaid him as soon as I had the funds to do so." pic.twitter.com/vHGoAg0xSy
— Matt Viser (@mviser) February 21, 2024
James Biden says his brother was never involved in his business ventures - report
In his opening statement to the House lawmakers leading the impeachment charge against Joe Biden, his brother James Biden said the president has never been involved in his business dealings, the Washington Post reports.
The testimony rebuts Republican claims that Joe Biden has used his official positions to assist his relatives and profit corruptly from their business dealings.
“I have had a 50-year career in a variety of business ventures,” James Biden told the House oversight committee at his behind-closed-doors deposition today. “Joe Biden has never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest in those activities. None.”
Here’s more, from the Washington Post:
NEW: In James Biden's opening statement, he claims:
— Matt Viser (@mviser) February 21, 2024
"Joe Biden has never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest in those activities."
"I never asked my brother to take any official action on behalf of me, my business associates, or anyone else." pic.twitter.com/C5kxhWNW8s
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Special counsel in Hunter Biden case asks judge to detain former FBI informant - report
The New York Times reports that David Weiss, the justice department special prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden, has asked a federal judge in California to detain the former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov.
Smirnov was arrested last week in Las Vegas on charges related to lying to the government, but a different judge yesterday allowed him to be released ahead of his trial. The Times reports that Weiss now wants him back behind bars:
NEWS: Special Counsel David Weiss is asking a federal judge in California to reconsider the release of Alexander Smirnov -- the former FBI informant accused of fabricated claims about the Bidens -- after a judge in Las Vegas freed him on Tuesday.
— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) February 21, 2024
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Republicans have used their control of the House to launch investigations of the Biden administration, but in November, Democrats have the opportunity to change that.
The GOP controls Congress’s lower chamber by a measly margin, and Joe Biden’s allies hope they can flip enough seats to win back control. New York is home to several swing districts, and today, the former CNN anchor and Daily Beast editor John Avlon announced he would run for the Long Island seat currently held by the Republican Nick LaLota:
It's official: I'm running for Congress in #NY01 because there's too much at stake for the country & community I love. Long Island families deserve someone who fights for their values, not Trump's. It's time for us all to get off the sidelines. Join Me. https://t.co/fMu8RdLyBL pic.twitter.com/RHWAam8yif
— John Avlon (@JohnAvlon) February 21, 2024
New York’s first district leans Republican, but the Democratic-led state government is redrawing its congressional maps, meaning that could change.
The contest for control of the House will, of course, be strongly influenced by voters’ views of the presidential race, where Biden is expected to face a rematch against Donald Trump.
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The House GOP’s impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden has moved forward at the same time that a justice department special counsel brought charges against the president’s son for allegedly evading taxes and lying while buying a gun. But as the Guardian’s Edward Helmore reports, lawyers for Hunter Biden argue evidence in his case has been misinterpreted by prosecutors:
Lawyers for Hunter Biden have claimed that a picture government prosecutors are using to support a tax fraud case against him shows neatly arranged lines of sawdust from a carpentry shop – and not cocaine as the government contends.
Joe Biden’s son is facing tax evasion charges for failing to disclose millions in foreign income and a charge for failing to disclose he was a drug addict on gun licensing forms. He claims that use of the picture shows that prosecutors’ evidence against him should not be taken at face value.
The potential mix-up “sounds more like a storyline from one of the 1980’s Police Academy comedies than what should be expected in a high-profile prosecution”, Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell wrote in a court filing.
Lowell said that the government was “flat-out wrong” to claim that Biden took the photograph or that it showed cocaine.
Instead, Lowell said, “this is actually a photo of sawdust from an expert carpenter and it was sent to Mr Biden, not vice versa”. The photo was from a master carpenter and “coke addict” that Biden’s psychiatrist had sent to his patient to “convey that Mr Biden, too, could overcome any addiction”.
'It is what it is,' Republican impeachment leader says of Russian intelligence revelation
The Republican House judiciary committee chair, Jim Jordan, downplayed revelations from the former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov that Russian intelligence had passed him “a story” about Hunter Biden.
“It is what it is,” Jordan told reporters, when asked about Smirnov’s statement to the FBI following his arrest in Las Vegas earlier this month. Jordan, whose committee is leading the impeachment investigation into the president, then went on to insist that evidence shows corruption by Joe Biden and his son, though none of what Republican investigators have turned up actually proves that.
Here’s more from Jordan:
Rep. @Jim_Jordan on the indictment of ex-FBI informant Alexander Smirnov: "It is what it is. It doesn't change the fundamental facts." pic.twitter.com/fobfw5SWyj
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 21, 2024
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The president’s brother James Biden has arrived for his interview with the Republican-led House oversight and judiciary committees, which are spearheading the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, NBC News reports:
President Joe Biden’s brother, James Biden, arrived for a closed-door transcribed interview with the House Oversight and Judiciary committees.
— Kyle Stewart (@KyleAlexStewart) February 21, 2024
Asked by @ryanobles what he plans to tell the committees, Biden said: “The truth.” pic.twitter.com/N5mmmGsk0X
The oversight committee chair, James Comer, subpoenaed James Biden in November, saying he may be able to offer further details of what Comer claims was the Biden family’s “influence peddling”. However, Republicans have yet to turn up any evidence of corruption by the president.
James Biden’s interview will take place behind closed doors, but don’t be surprised if the committee’s lawmakers later give their own versions of what he said.
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The supreme court just released two opinions – neither of which deal with the major Donald Trump-related issues pending before the justices.
We’re still waiting to hear from the conservative-dominated body on whether they will uphold a Colorado supreme court decision excluding the former president from the ballot on the grounds that he committed an insurrection. All indications point to most, if not all, of the nine justices overturning the ruling and allowing him to remain on ballots nationwide.
There also has not been any word on what they will do with Trump’s challenge to an appeals court ruling that found he is not immune from prosecution over his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. That matter has frozen his federal trial in Washington DC on the charges, which were brought by the special counsel Jack Smith.
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In an interview with CNN, the House Democrat Dan Goldman called on the GOP to drop its impeachment investigation against Joe Biden after the involvement of Russian intelligence in spreading stories about Hunter Biden was revealed:
The Comer/Jordan impeachment sham appears to have been a Russian intelligence operation from the start.
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) February 21, 2024
The only remaining question is whether Rs were witting or unwitting agents of Putin in their desperate quest to get Trump reelected.
Will the GOP continue to work for Putin? pic.twitter.com/erzG7b54sU
Goldman serves on the oversight committee, whose Republican chair, James Comer, has been a leader in the impeachment push.
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Russian intelligence link to Hunter Biden allegations emerged after prosecutors' attempted to keep Smirnov in jail
Federal prosecutors revealed the connection between Russian intelligence and the former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov yesterday, when they argued that Smirnov should be detained while he awaited trial on charges related to lying to the FBI.
In a court document, prosecutors said that Smirnov revealed Russian intelligence’s involvement during a 14 February interview, when he was arrested in Las Vegas after returning to the United States from overseas. However, the line is vague – it does not specify exactly what information Moscow spread about Hunter Biden.
“During his custodial interview on February 14, Smirnov admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story about” Biden, the filing says, without elaborating.
The Associated Press reports that a judge allowed Smirnov to be released on bail while awaiting trial, and is being monitored by an electronic GPS device.
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Informant's connection to Russian intelligence tangles House GOP's push to impeach Biden
Good morning, US politics blog readers. For months, Republicans in the House of Representatives have been inching forward with an effort to impeach Joe Biden for alleged corruption. They have been particularly fixated on his son Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings, but the case against the president was dealt a major blow in recent days, after federal prosecutors brought charges against the former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov. The GOP fixated on Smirnov’s claims that both Bidens received bribes from a Ukrainian energy company, but prosecutors say those were fabricated. In another filing yesterday, the plot unraveled further: Smirnov allegedly had contacts with Russian intelligence, the government said.
What does all this mean for Republicans? The Biden impeachment effort hasn’t exactly been a top priority in recent months, and isn’t going to get the president out of office – Democrats control the Senate, and are sure to reject the charges. Congress is out, but Biden’s Republican antagonists in the House such as the oversight committee chair, James Comer, and the judiciary committee chair, Jim Jordan, will be pressed to react to the Smirnov affair – we’ll let you know if we hear from them today.
Here’s what else is going on:
Biden speaks at 3.45pm from Culver City, California. He traveled to the Golden State yesterday, mostly for campaign events.
James Biden is taking part in a behind-closed-doors deposition as part of the House impeachment inquiry into the president.
The New York attorney general, Letitia James, told ABC News she would seize Donald Trump’s properties if he can’t pay the big civil fraud judgment against him.
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