Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene defends voting to oppose trade sanctions on Russia over Ukraine invasion
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., defended her vote on Friday against harsh trade measures on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, a stance that is sure to please strongman Vladimir Putin.
One of just three far-right wing lawmakers to oppose the measure, Greene claimed that punishing Russia would only hurt Americans.
“(These) two bills that will do nothing to stop the war in Ukraine, but WILL continue to drive up inflation, cause food famines,” Greene said in a lengthy Twitter thread. “Sanctions aren’t working, they only cause people to suffer.”
Greene recently attended a white nationalist convention where the crowd chanted support for Putin, and falsely asserted that sanctions against Russia “will do nothing to stop the war in Ukraine.”
The bill to suspend normal trade relations and ban imports of oil from Russia passed by a lopsided 420-3 margin with Greene joined only by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Tom Massie, R-Ky. All 100 senators voted to enact the measures.
—New York Daily News
DeSantis touting video by Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman draws election complaint
TAMPA, Fla. — TV ads by political candidates are nothing new. But how about a music video?
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ reelection campaign recently released an original song and accompanying video by Johnny Van Zant, frontman of Jacksonville Southern rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd, and his brother, Donnie, called “Sweet Florida.” The lyrics praise the governor for “callin’ out Dr. (Anthony) Fauci” and “fighting for the right to keep our state free.”
But this unusual campaign production is also now the subject of a Florida Elections Commission complaint, filed this week by the Democratic opposition research group American Bridge 21st Century.
In two separate complaints, the group accuses DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody of violating state law by promoting the song at an April 1 bill-signing event where they were serving in their official capacities. Florida law prohibits elected officials from using their “official authority or influence” for the purpose of “influencing another person’s vote or affecting the result.”
A disclaimer on the bottom of the video states that it was paid for by DeSantis’ reelection campaign. The campaign declined to say how much it cost.
—Tampa Bay Times
SC man on death row has execution date, now must pick method: firing squad or electric chair
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday issued an execution notice for Richard Moore that set his execution date for four weeks from April 7.
If Moore, 57, is executed in a month on April 29, he will be the first person executed by the state of South Carolina since 2011.
How he would die is still uncertain. By state law, Moore must choose his method of execution 14 days before his execution date.
The state no longer has the drugs needed to kill people with lethal injection, which was the primary execution method when Moore was sentenced to death after he was convicted of murder, assault with intent to kill, armed robbery and a firearms violation in 2001 in Spartanburg County.
The state can currently kill people with the state's 110-year-old electric chair or the firing squad, a method that the South Carolina Department of Corrections announced was ready March 18.
—The State (Columbia, S.C.)
Japan to ban Russian coal imports in surprise policy shift
Japan will ban imports of Russian coal, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, in a bold policy shift that adds pressure on Moscow after the European Union announced its own embargo on the fuel.
“Russia’s cruel and inhumane actions are coming to light one after another all over Ukraine,” Kishida told reporters in Tokyo on Friday, adding Moscow must be made to take responsibility. “We will ban imports of Russian coal.”
Japan will secure alternative sources quickly and cut imports in stages, reducing reliance on Russia for energy, he added, declining to give a time frame for the move.
The coal plan signals a policy reversal for Japan, which had previously drawn a line at cutting energy ties to Russia because of its heavy dependence on fuel imports. Russian coal imports make up about 13% of Japan’s power-generating supply and are also used in steel production and the cement industry.
—Bloomberg News
