Evening summary
That’s it from me tonight. Here’s a recap of what we covered:
- Classes had to be canceled at six historically black colleges and universities today after the schools received bomb threats. All have since been found to be safe from the threats by investigators and shelter-in-place orders have been lifted but investigations into the incident are on-going.
The White House calls bomb threats made against at least six HBCUs "disturbing" as police continue investigating the incidents pic.twitter.com/v0wMS8jJEe
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) January 31, 2022
- Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie criticized Anthony Fauci with a quote attributed to Voltaire but actually coined by a white supremacist convicted on child pornography charges.
- Mike Pence’s former chief of staff is cooperating with the committee investigating January 6, a move that suggests more of the former-vice president’s team may come forward.
- Officials inspected the Pittsburgh bridge just months before it collapsed and gave it a poor rating but decided to keep it in-use.
- A federal judge has rejected a plea deal from the justice department that would have allowed the convicted murderers of Ahmaud Arbery to avoid a hate crimes trial.
Thanks for reading! See you next time.
Updated
A federal judge has rejected a plea deal from the justice department that would have allowed the convicted murderers of Ahmaud Arbery to avoid a hate crimes trial.
Travis McMichael and his father Gregory McMichael were found guilty on state murder charges in November and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The agreement would enable the men to plead guilty to committing a hate crime and serve 30 years in a federal prison before returning to the Georgia Department of Corrections to finish out their sentences.
By admitting they were motivated by hate when they hunted & murdered Ahmaud Arbery these men get to transfer to safer, less crowded & more orderly federal detention facilities.
— Lee Merritt (@MerrittForTexas) January 31, 2022
In essence they get to publicly brag about their hatred & then be rewarded by the federal government.
Arbery’s family urged the judge to reject the deal in a hearing held Monday. “Ahmaud didn’t get the option of a plea,” his mother Wanda Cooper-Jones said. “They killed my son because he’s a Black man. I’m asking on behalf of his family, on behalf of his memory, and on the behalf of fairness that you do not grant this plea.”
You can read more about the case here:
Updated
The Pittsburgh bridge that collapsed last week (just hours before Biden’s scheduled speech on the dire need to invest in the country’s infrastructure) had passed inspection in September, Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation said today — but just barely.
The agency reported that there were structural issues found with the bridge but that officials deemed the deterioration to be not bad enough to close it down. They rated the bridge a four (on a zero to nine scale) which is considered to be in poor condition, according to the Associated Press.
“This bridge’s design relies on the quality of frame elements alone without any back-up support (known as redundancy) and reports show deterioration that did not warrant closure, but supported the imposition of a posted weight limit to restrict the weight of loads,” PennDOT spokesperson Alexis Campbell told AP in an email.
No one was killed when the 477 ft-long bridge collapsed but 10 people were injured. One person remains hospitalized.
From the AP:
Tyrone and Velva Perry’s windshield cracked and their airbags deployed, Erin Perry said. When Tyrone Perry saw the bridge buckling, he figured he was about to die.
They watched in terror as another car flew by them and a third landed just feet away.
She said the Pittsburgh couple both suffered fractured vertebrae and were in a lot of pain but good spirits. Tyrone Perry sees the collapse whenever he closes his eyes, and Velva Perry still has a feeling she is falling.
‘It’s so outrageous that this would happen; it was like a scene from an action movie,’ Erin Perry said.”
The collapse occurred around 7am, before the surge in car traffic that typically crossed the bridge. Pittsburgh city council member Corey O’Connor told reporters that 15,000 cars cross each day, adding that “if it was rush hour, we would be looking at a couple hundred cars down in that valley”.
More than $25 million in National Highway Performance Program funds will be spent to rebuild the bridge.
Biden, who was there to promote the new bipartisan $1tn infrastructure package, noted in his formal remarks that there are 45,000 bridges in poor condition across the country and called the issue “unacceptable”.
Pittsburgh has more bridges than any other city. “We’re going to fix them all,” the President said.
Updated
Officials at the Federal Reserve said today that they are reeling in the economy and are expected to incrementally increase interest rates starting in March. The four Fed policymakers who spoke on Monday neglected to share a plan, however, and the policies that will follow those rate hikes remain vague.
“We definitely are poised for a March increase,” San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly told Reuters. “But after that, I want to see what the data brings us.”
Inflation is the highest its been in four decades and the central bank’s $9tn portfolio, which doubled in size as the Fed attempted to stave off pandemic-related economic collapse. Now the officials feel confident the economy is growing again and this level of support is no longer needed.
Still, officials are relying on a wait and see approach.
“We are going to need to be thinking very carefully about how things are going, how the economy responds to our first moves,” Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told Yahoo Finance. “We are not set on any particular trajectory. The data will tell us what is happening.”
Updated
Marc Short, who served as chief of staff to former vice-president Mike Pence, sat before the House select committee investigating the attack on the capitol last week, a signal that Pence’s people aren’t shying away from speaking.
New via CNN: Former VP Pence chief of staff Marc Short testified before the Jan. 6 select committee in-person last Wednesday pursuant to a subpoena
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) January 31, 2022
CNN, which was the first to note that the deposition took place, reported that the session was lengthy and that Short supplied documents to committee.
Short attended a meeting two days before the attempted insurrection, was with Pence on 6 January, and is seen as a critical source of information on what transpired behind the scenes. It’s still unclear whether Pence himself will testify, but unnamed sources reportedly told CNN that the former Vice President hopes to avoid having to make a formal appearance, preferring Short and other aides to serve as his proxies.
From CNN:
The prospect of Pence appearing before the January 6 committee underscores the dilemma facing the former vice president, whose political ambitions are intertwined with his strained relationship with Trump. The former President still blames Pence for not trying to overturn the election results in Congress -- and Pence has faced a backlash from Trump’s base for his role on January 6.
Former President Trump has criticized Pence for not overturning the election, issuing a statement this weekend where he admonished the former Vice President for certifying the results. You can read more about that here:
Updated
The Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie – of the gun-heavy Christmas card and other provocations – is under fire for criticizing Anthony Fauci with a quote attributed to Voltaire but actually coined by a white supremacist convicted on child pornography charges.
“To learn who rules over you,” the quote says, “simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”
Massie posted it to Twitter on Sunday, saying: “You mustn’t question Fauci, for he is science.”
You mustn’t question Fauci, for he is science. pic.twitter.com/KnqCcPXWSe
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 30, 2022
Fauci, Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, is the target of rightwing criticism, hate and death threats, for his role in the US government’s response to Covid-19.
Massie is an energetic rightwing gadfly – and not the first person to apparently be fooled by the supposed Voltaire quote.
The neo-Nazi who coined the quote, Kevin Strom, was convicted in 2008. He has said attributions of his quote to Voltaire are “kind of flattering”.
Massie has not commented or taken his post down. On Monday morning, he did tweet to praise the “intellectual honesty” of Joe Rogan, a podcast host under fire over Covid misinformation.
Here’s more from David Smith, on Massie:
Updated
Hello! Gabrielle Canon here, taking over from the west coast.
Classes had to be canceled at six historically black colleges and universities today after the schools received bomb threats, CNN reports. The list includes: Southern University and A&M, Howard University, Bethune-Cookman University, Albany State University, Bowie State University and Delaware State University. All have since been found to be safe from the threats by investigators and shelter-in-place orders have been lifted.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the president has been made aware of the threats, which she called “disturbing”. The FBI and other federal agencies have been called in to work with local law enforcement to investigate the incident.
The White House calls bomb threats made against at least six HBCUs "disturbing" as police continue investigating the incidents pic.twitter.com/v0wMS8jJEe
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) January 31, 2022
From CNN:
Classes were canceled and students are to remain in their dorm rooms until an all-clear is issued. University operations were also suspended until further notice. A Washington Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson confirmed to CNN that at Howard University the “scene has been cleared with no hazardous materials found.”
It’s the second time this month that a number of HBCUs received bomb threats that in some cases led schools to relocate students, faculty and staff while searches were performed.
So is it just me or do I feel like we’re not talking enough about the fact that several HBCUs nationwide have been subjected to anonymous bomb threats, including THIS morning at my home institution!? This is the second time this semester… pic.twitter.com/FBE2roI77h
— Jorge Burmicky, Ph.D. (@JorgeBurmicky) January 31, 2022
Updated
Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Gabrielle Canon, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- The UN security council held a meeting to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, as Russia continues to build up its troop presence along the country’s border. The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said at the meeting, “We seek the path of peace. We seek the path of dialogue. We do not want confrontation. But we will be decisive, swift and united should Russia further invade Ukraine.”
- Joe Biden reiterated his warning that Russia would suffer “swift and severe consequences” if Vladimir Putin approves an invasion of Ukraine. “If Russia is sincere about addressing our respective security concerns through dialogue, the United States and our Allies and partners will continue to engage in good faith,” Biden said in a statement. “If instead Russia chooses to walk away from diplomacy and attack Ukraine, Russia will bear the responsibility, and it will face swift and severe consequences.”
- Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Biden emphasized that the US was prepared for all possibilities in Ukraine. “We continue to urge diplomacy as the best way forward,” Biden said. “But with Russia continuing its buildup of its forces around Ukraine, we are ready no matter what happens.”
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken will speak by phone tomorrow with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. The conversation marks the first time the two men have talked since the US delivered a written response to Russian demands on Ukraine last week.
Gabrielle will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Updated
A reporter pressed the US state department spokesperson, Ned Price, on what exactly the UN security council meeting this morning had accomplished in connection to the Ukraine crisis.
“This was the first time that the security council took up this question in an open session, and we thought that was important. We thought it was important that they do so in that venue,” Price said.
The spokesperson argued the meeting had allowed for an open “exposition of the facts” regarding the build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine’s border, as the US and its allies continue to push for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
“If the criticism is that we are engaging too robustly in diplomacy, that we’re being too transparent, that we’re being too consistent in what we’re saying, that is criticism that we will accept,” Price said.
Updated
The US State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, said the UN security council meeting today allowed America and its allies to “continue to shine a spotlight on what we are seeing” in Ukraine.
“The world is united in the viewpoint that aggression — violations of core tenets of the rules-based international order — that these elements must not be allowed to to be conducted with impunity,” Price said.
Price added that there was “a good deal of consensus from the security council” regarding the preference for Russia to pursue diplomatic avenues to eliminate the threat of a potential invasion of Ukraine.
“That is the point that we have been emphasizing all along: diplomacy and dialogue remains our preferred course,” Price said. “But there was a resounding call from the Security Council this morning, that Russia should avail itself of that course.”
Updated
The anti-corruption campaigner Bill Browder has called on Britain to target Russian oligarchs close to president Vladimir Putin with economic sanctions to halt any invasion of Ukraine when new legislation is unveiled on Monday.
The US-born financier believes the most effective means of getting the Russian president’s attention is to target his finances and the finances of those closest to him, and that there should be no need for the UK to wait and see if a war ensues.
“They should sanction five oligarchs tomorrow. That would show there is political will to do this. Then should sanction another five if they don’t pull back in the 10 days and the top 50 if they invade,” Browder told the Guardian.
Liz Truss, the British foreign secretary, has said Russian oligarchs and key supporters of Vladimir Putin will be targeted by UK sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine, but left Britain’s existing much-criticised anti-corruption laws largely untouched.
Insisting that the Russian president’s allies would have nowhere to hide their assets if an invasion went ahead, the Foreign Office, clearly working in lockstep with the US, threatened to seize the wealth of Putin’s inner political circle and business backers.
Truss, giving a statement to MPs on Monday, refused to name any individual Russians at risk of being sanctioned, saying the aim was to create the maximum anxiety among Putin’s allies.
Truss said the new legislation, which will be in place by 10 February, would be the “toughest sanction regime against Russia we have ever had”, and would give the UK “the power to sanction a broader range of individuals and businesses”.
'We are ready no matter what happens' in Ukraine, Biden says
Over at the White House, Joe Biden is now meeting with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, in the Oval Office.
Reporters were allowed in to the Oval Office for the start of the meeting, and the president addressed the latest developments in connection to the crisis in Ukraine.
Biden noted that he spoke to the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, last Thursday, and the two nations are engaged in “nonstop diplomacy” as they monitor the threat of a potential Russian invasion.
The president applauded officials from the US and allied countries for outlining the threat of escalating Russian aggression at the UN Security Council meeting earlier today.
“We continue to urge diplomacy as the best way forward,” Biden said. “But with Russia continuing its buildup of its forces around Ukraine, we are ready no matter what happens.”
Blinken to speak with Russian foreign minister tomorrow
The US State Department has just confirmed that Secretary of State Tony Blinken will talk by phone tomorrow with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.
It will be the first time they have talked since the US delivered a written response to Russian demands.
Meanwhile, at the UN Security Council meeting this morning, Ukraine’s representative, Sergiy Kyslytsya, said there are now 130,000 Russian military personnel on Ukraine borders.
“The question is, ‘why are all these Russian forces there?” he asked.
The State Department will soon hold another press briefing to provide an update on the Ukraine crisis, so stay tuned.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about Donald Trump’s comments on the Capitol attack over the weekend, when the former president defended the insurrectionists who carried out the violence.
At a rally in Texas on Saturday, Trump promised potential pardons for the insurrectionists if he becomes president again, and he continued to endorse the “Big Lie” of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.
In a statement on Sunday, Trump also criticized his vice-president, Mike Pence, for refusing to attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election as he presided over the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
Psaki described Trump’s actions on January 6 as a “a unique and existential threat to our democracy,” and she said his latest remarks underscore the danger of his lies about the election.
“It’s just a reminder of how unfit he is for office, and it’s telling that even some of his closest allies have rejected those remarks as inappropriate in the days since,” Psaki said.
Biden to meet with Senate judiciary committee leaders to discuss supreme court nomination
Joe Biden will meet tomorrow with the Senate judiciary committee’s Democratic chairman, Dick Durbin, and Republican ranking member, Chuck Grassley, to discuss the supreme court nomination process.
“As you have heard the president say, he will do his duty to select a justice not only with the Senate’s consent but with its advice,” Psaki said.
.@PressSec Jen Psaki on #SCOTUS nomination process: "Tomorrow the president is going to host Chairman Durbin and Ranking Member Grassley at the White House to consult with them and hear their advice about this vacancy." pic.twitter.com/v4QNAIDl6R
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 31, 2022
She noted that Biden “looks forward to advice from members of both parties on the Hill, as well as top legal experts and scholars across the country” as he searches for his nominee.
“And I think you will see those consultations start this week. So tomorrow, the president is going to host Chairman Durbin and Ranking Member Grassley at the White House to consult with them and hear their advice about this vacancy,” Psaki said. “I expect we’ll have more details to confirm as the week proceeds.”
The meeting comes a week after reports first emerged that Stephen Breyer, one of the three liberal justices on the supreme court, would retire after more than 27 years of service.
Updated
The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, is now holding her daily briefing with reporters, and she was asked about the Biden administration’s response to the crisis in Ukraine.
A reporter asked Psaki whether the White House is concerned that talking up the threat of a potential Russian invasion is weakening the Ukrainian government.
“I can only speak for our intention and our responsibility, and we feel it’s important to be open and candid about threat from Russia,” the press secretary said.
Psaki noted that Russia has continued to build up its troop presence near Ukraine and has laid the groundwork for a potential false flag operation in the neighboring country.
“It’s dangerous. We’ve been saying for more than a week that Russia could invade at any time,” Psaki said.
“I would note though that our effort is to ensure we’re informing the American public and the global community of the seriousness of this threat, even as we work with the Ukrainians, with the Europeans to ensure we are not only preparing them and providing them supplies that they need, but standing up and making clear to the Russians what the consequences will be.”
Georgia DA in Trump investigation asks FBI for security help
Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor investigating whether Donald Trump and others broke the law by trying to pressure officials to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory has asked the FBI for security help, after the former president railed against prosecutors investigating him during a rally in Texas on Saturday, and called on his supporters to protest “radical, vicious, racist prosecutors”.
The Associated Press reports that Willis, the Fulton county district attorney, “on Sunday wrote to the FBI office in Atlanta asking for a risk assessment of the county courthouse and government center. She also asked the FBI to provide protective resources ‘to include intelligence and federal agents’.”
A special grand jury is set to be seated on 2 May in Willis’s investigation. She asked the FBI to take the steps requested before then.
“My staff and I will not be influenced or intimidated by anyone as this investigation moves forward,” Willis wrote, adding that her office has already taken steps to address security concerns “considering the communications we have received from persons unhappy with our commitment to fulfill our duties”.
Willis said security concerns were “escalated” when Trump focused on prosecutors in Georgia, New York and Washington, calling them “vicious, horrible people”.
Willis wrote: “We must work together to keep the public safe and ensure that we do not have a tragedy in Atlanta similar to what happened at the United States Capitol on 6 January 2021.”
Willis has confirmed to the AP that her investigation includes but is not limited to:
- a 2 January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger
- a November 2020 phone call between Senator Lindsey Graham and Raffensperger;
- the abrupt resignation of the US attorney in Atlanta on 4 January 2021;
- comments made during December 2020 Georgia legislative committee hearings on the election.
Trump denies wrongdoing. So does Graham, who said on Sunday he would co-operate with Willis. More:
New York Democrats unveil congressional map
New York Democrats have unveiled their proposal for new congressional maps that would give the party a hold on three additional seats in Congress.
The proposal amounts to one of the most aggressive efforts by Democrats this cycle to gerrymander district lines in their favor.
While Democrats have complete control of the redistricting process in a handful of other states, including Illinois and Maryland, New York’s 26 congressional seats offers them the biggest opportunity to pick up seats as they seek to maintain control of the US House of Representatives.
Democrats will have complete control over drawing 75 congressional districts, compared with 187 for Republicans.
Democrats currently control 19 of New York’s 27 congressional districts. The new proposal would favor them in 22 of the state’s 26 new districts. (New York is set to lose a seat in congress following the 2020 census.)
Democrats took aim at New York’s 11th congressional district, currently represented by a Republican, by redrawing it to include liberal parts of Brooklyn - making it favorable to a Democrat in future elections.
They also redrew a Long Island district to include more Democrat favorable areas. And in upstate New York, Democrats redrew a Syracuse-area seat to be much more Democratic.
The move shows the extent to which Democrats are willing to use gerrymandering to their advantage where they have the power to do so. A vote is expected on the maps this week.
J Michelle Childs, a South Carolina judge among contenders to be nominated to the supreme court by Joe Biden, has received strong support from an unlikely source: Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator and leading ally of Donald Trump.
“I can’t think of a better person for President Biden to consider for the supreme court than Michelle Childs,” Graham, a member of the Senate judiciary committee that will consider Biden’s pick, told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday.
“She has wide support in our state. She’s considered to be a fair-minded, highly gifted jurist. She’s one of the most decent people I’ve ever met.”
Graham is also from South Carolina and so is James Clyburn, the congressman whose endorsement both secured Biden’s promise to install a Black woman and boosted him to the Democratic nomination. Clyburn told CBS he spoke to Biden about Childs “several months ago”.
The nomination of any Black woman, Clyburn said, would send a message “to every little child growing up under moderate circumstances, needing the entire community to help raise [her], getting scholarships to go up to school because she couldn’t afford to go otherwise, going to public schools because you didn’t get an offer from one of the big private schools”.
A full story on Graham’s comments, including his rejection of Republican complaints that Biden’s promise to nominate a Black woman is an example of affirmative action, is here.
Meanwhile, here is our contributor Sidney Blumenthal, from last year, about the long, strange political career of Lindsey Olin Graham:
Donald Trump is being widely accused of “saying the quiet part loud”, when protesting that Mike Pence could have “overturned” his boss’s election defeat by Joe Biden.
Though he has appeared to admit Biden won before, Trump usually insists he won and his opponent stole the election through voter fraud – the “big lie” which animates rallies like one in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday.
At that rally, Trump promised pardons for 6 January rioters if re-elected and exhorted followers to protest against investigations of his business and political affairs in New York and Georgia.
The next day, he attempted to seize on moves by a bipartisan group of senators to reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which Trump tried to use to have Pence refuse to certify Biden’s victory.
In a statement, Trump claimed “fraud and many other irregularities” in the 2020 election, which is untrue, and asked: “How come the Democrats and … Republicans, like Wacky Susan Collins, are desperately trying to pass legislation that will not allow the vice-president to change the results of the election?
“Actually, what they are saying, is that Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away. Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power. He could have overturned the election!”
Pundits seized on Trump’s latest apparent blunder into the truth. Bill Kristol, a conservative writer, said: “Talk about saying the quiet part loud. Trump here admits or rather boasts [about] what he wanted Mike Pence to do.”
In Congress, Liz Cheney, one of only two Republicans on the House committee investigating Trump’s attempt to overturn the election, said: “Trump uses language he knows caused the January 6 violence; suggests he’d pardon the January 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy; threatens prosecutors; and admits he was attempting to overturn the election.
“He’d do it all again if given the chance.”
Addressing the National Governors Association, Joe Biden applauded the state leaders for their efforts to address the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden also touted the American Rescue Plan, which he signed into law last year, for helping provide states and cities with the funds to respond to the pandemic and address other needs.
“I made it clear we should use these funds to combat violent crime as well, including hiring additional police officers and investing in community violence interventions,” Biden said.
The president will travel to New York on Thursday to meet with the city’s new mayor, Eric Adams, and discuss his administration’s efforts to combat gun violence.
As Biden shifted to the question-and-answer portion of the meeting, reporters were escorted out of the room. Biden did not respond to any of reporters’ shouted questions as they left.
Biden hosts National Governors Association at White House
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are now hosting the National Governors Association at the White House for a meeting.
Harris spoke first at the meeting, and the vice-president, who serves as the Biden administration’s point person on voting rights, delivered a pitch for ensuring equal access to the ballot box.
“I believe that, regardless of who we voted for in the last election, we all as leaders of our nation understand the importance of ensuring that all people who are eligible to vote have an ability, and a meaningful ability, to vote and access to the ballot,” Harris said.
“So I would ask that, in this coming year, we work together to ensure that all Americans who are eligible to vote actually have meaningful access to the ballot.”
Harris’ comments come as 19 states have enacted voting restrictions over the past year, and congressional Democrats have failed to pass national voting rights legislation because of Republican filibustering.
The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, similarly threatened severe repercussions for Russia if Vladimir Putin authorizes an invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at the UN Security Council meeting this morning, Thomas-Greenfield said, “We seek the path of peace. We seek the path of dialogue. We do not want confrontation. But we will be decisive, swift and united should Russia further invade Ukraine.”
The Guardian’s Julian Borger reports:
Thomas-Greenfield had some new figures. She said that there were 10,000 Russian troops already in Belarus with heavy armaments, and there are expected to be 30,000 there by early February, ie in the coming days.
The Ukrainian UN representative will be speaking towards the end of the session. It will be interesting to see if their permanent representative echoes the Kyiv line, playing down the threat.
Biden threatens 'swift and severe consequences' if Russia invades Ukraine
Joe Biden reiterated his threat that Russia would suffer “swift and severe consequences” if Vladimir Putin approves an invasion of Ukraine.
The president released a statement as the UN Security Council holds a meeting to discuss the crisis at Ukraine’s border, where Putin has built up Russia’s troop presence.
“If Russia is sincere about addressing our respective security concerns through dialogue, the United States and our Allies and partners will continue to engage in good faith,” Biden said in his statement.
“If instead Russia chooses to walk away from diplomacy and attack Ukraine, Russia will bear the responsibility, and it will face swift and severe consequences.”
Biden argued the world must be “clear-eyed about the actions Russia is threatening” and prepared to respond if Putin follows through with an invasion.
“Today’s Security Council meeting is a critical step in rallying the world to speak out in one voice: rejecting the use of force, calling for military de-escalation, supporting diplomacy as the best path forward, and demanding accountability from every member state to refrain from military aggression against its neighbors,” Biden said.
Kamala Harris, then vice-president elect, drove within yards of a pipe bomb left outside the Democratic National Committee on 6 January 2021 and remained inside for nearly two hours before the bomb was found, it was reported on Monday.
Harris’s proximity to the bomb was known previously, but not how close or for how long. CNN reported the new details in the case, part of alarming events in Washington on the day Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s election victory over Donald Trump.
A pipe bomb was also left near the Republican National Committee. More than a year later, no suspect has been named or apprehended.
Citing “multiple sources”, CNN said Harris “pulled into DNC headquarters in Washington at around 11.30am ET with her motorcade through the garage leading to the parking deck near where law enforcement discovered the pipe bomb”.
It also cited a US Capitol police document that showed “an unnamed ‘protectee’ was removed from the DNC building at approximately 1.14pm ET – seven minutes after Capitol Police began investigating the bomb”.
That protectee was known to be Harris when Politico first reported the story, but it was not known how long she was in the building.
Updated
Rob Portman, a Republican member of the Senate foreign relations committee, argued that the Ukraine crisis had helped to fortify the relationship between the US and its allies.
“One thing Vladimir Putin has done successfully is he has strengthened the transatlantic alliance,” Portman told NBC News yesterday.
“For the first time in nearly 80 years since World War II, we could have a major conflict and a very bloody conflict in Europe unless we stand up together and push back, and so far so good.”
Spoke with @ChuckTodd on @MeetthePress this morning about the escalating crisis in Ukraine.
— Rob Portman (@senrobportman) January 30, 2022
It is imperative that our allies remains united with us in support of the Ukrainian people as they face continued Russian aggression. pic.twitter.com/8PFkYE9hVJ
Echoing the message from Senate foreign relations committee chairman Bob Menendez, Portman expressed confidence that the panel would be able to advance a bill with sanctions against Russia.
“We’re looking at putting together a strong package, which I hope we can pass next week, which would include sanctions, which would include more military assistance,” Portman said.
The Ohio senator added that Ukraine is “where the cause of freedom is being waged in our generation”.
“And we need to stand up and be unified with our allies and as Democrats and Republicans,” Portman said.
The Guardian’s Dan Sabbagh and Andrew Roth report:
Washington and its allies have prepared a list of Russian elites in or near Vladimir Putin’s inner circle who would be hit with economic sanctions if the Kremlin were to order an invasion of Ukraine, according to a US briefing.
The language in the briefing by a US official to Reuters is notably similar to that used on Sunday by the UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, who said Britain would introduce legislation to allow banks, energy companies and “oligarchs close to the Kremlin” to be targeted by London, and makes clear the targeting is coordinated internationally.
Names were not made available but the official said the sanctions list would consist of elite figures – or oligarchs – plus their family members.
“There is a broad list of individuals we can pull from,” the official told Reuters, noting that some would be from a classified list of senior Russian political figures and oligarchs outlined in section 241 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act in a report sent to the US Congress in 2018.
The United Nations security council is scheduled to meet later today for what is expected to be a testy confrontation between US and Russian diplomats over Moscow’s troop build-up on the Ukraine border.
It will be the first time the global body will discuss recent threats of a Russian invasion, which has left world governments on edge.
Washington called for the meeting last week. US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has described it in stark terms as a talk on “Russian aggression”.
“We’re going to go into the council prepared to listen to Russia’s security concerns, but we’re not going to be distracted by their propaganda,” she tweeted.
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky has been no less assertive, calling the meeting a “clear PR stunt shameful for the reputation of UN security council”.
Under council rules – and adding to tensions – Ukraine will also speak.
Follow the Guardian’s live blog for more updates on the UN meeting:
US close to Putin sanctions as Biden mulls options on Ukraine crisis
Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.
The Biden administration appears to be moving closer toward issuing sanctions against Russia, as Vladimir Putin eyes a potential invasion of Ukraine.
Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, said his panel is working on bipartisan legislation that would be the “mother of all sanctions” against Russia.
Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez on bipartisan negotiations on economic sanctions on Russia: "There is an incredible bipartisan resolve for support of Ukraine and an incredibly strong bipartisan resolve to have severe consequences for Russia if it invades Ukraine." #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/JJlOmRz2aQ
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) January 30, 2022
“It’s to include a variety of elements, massive sanctions against the most significant Russian banks, crippling to their economy, meaningful in terms of consequences to the average Russian in their accounts and pensions, more lethal assistance to Ukraine,” Menendez told CNN yesterday. “These are sanctions beyond any that we have ever levied before.”
John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, echoed that message, saying yesterday that the White House is considering “sanctions and economic consequences the likes of which we have not looked at before or even considered even as far back as 2014”.
In an interview with Fox News, Kirby still expressed hope that conflict could be avoided. “We still believe there’s room and space for diplomacy, and we’d like to see that be the solution here,” Kirby said.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
