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Classified documents found at former US Vice President Pence’s home

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2023

Documents marked as classified were discovered at former US Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home last week, and he has turned those classified records over to the FBI, his attorney said in letters seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

The attorney, Greg Jacob, sent a letter to the National Archives on Jan. 18 notifying them of the documents and in a separate letter on Jan. 22 notified the Archives that the FBI came to the former vice president’s home to collect them.

The discovery puts Pence in the company of his former boss, former President Donald Trump, and President Joe Biden after documents with classified markings were found at their residences.

Jacob said in the letter dated Jan. 18 to the National Archives that “out of an abundance of caution” Pence had engaged outside counsel to review records stored in his home after reports about the materials found at Biden’s residence.

“Counsel identified a small number of documents that could potentially contain sensitive or classified information interspersed throughout the records,” Jacob wrote in the letter.

“Vice President Pence immediately secured those documents in a locked safe pending further direction on proper handling from the National Archives,” he said. Pence’s counsel did not review the contents of the documents once they were determined to be marked classified, the letter said.

In a separate letter dated Jan. 22, Jacob said the Justice Department “bypassed the standard procedures and requested direct possession” of the documents at Pence’s residence.

With agreement by the former vice president, FBI agents came to his Indiana home at 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 19 to collect the documents stored in the safe, Jacob said.

Biden, whose documents dated from his time as vice president, and Trump, who resisted turning over the items, leading to an FBI raid, are both facing special counsel investigations by the Justice Department over improper handling of classified materials.

During a presidential transition period, the records from each administration are supposed to be turned over to the legal custody of the US National Archives. It is unlawful to knowingly or willfully remove or retain classified material. Failure to properly store and secure classified material poses risks to national security if it should fall into the wrong hands.

Reuters

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US poised to approve sending Abrams tanks to Ukraine

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2023

The United States, in a reversal, is poised to start a process that would eventually send dozens of M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine, two US officials told Reuters on Tuesday.

Such a decision by the United States would come just days after Washington argued against sending the Abrams, despite demands from Kyiv and public pressure from Berlin as it faced calls to send German-made Leopard battle tanks.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an announcement could come as early as Wednesday. A third source familiar with the matter said the US commitment could total about 30 Abrams tanks to be delivered over the coming months.

The two officials said the Abrams would likely be procured through a fund known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows President Joe Biden’s administration to get weapons from industry rather than from existing US weapons stocks.

One of the officials said it was possible the Biden administration could use the USAI process to buy the Abrams from allies who have them, refurbish them, and then send them to Ukraine.

The process can take months and even years.

The United States and its allies failed during talks in Germany last week to convince Berlin to provide its Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, a key demand from Kyiv as it tries to breathe new momentum into its fight against Russian forces.

Ukraine says heavily armoured Western battle tanks would give its troops more mobility and protection ahead of a new Russian offensive that Kyiv expects in the near future. They could also help Ukraine retake some of the territories that have fallen to Russia.

US officials had said that the Abrams were tough to maintain, hard to train Ukrainians to operate, and ran on jet fuel — making it a poor choice for this phase of the war.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon declined to say whether Washington would provide tanks to Ukraine but reiterated the challenges the Abrams posed.

While eventually backtracking, Berlin had said it would only send the Leopard tanks to Ukraine if the United States agreed to send its own tanks.

The disclosure about the softening US position came the same day sources said that Germany would send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine to help fight Russia’s invasion and allow other countries such as Poland to do the same.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz‘s Social Democrat party had been holding back, wary of moves that could cause Moscow to escalate further.

Reuters

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Chris Hipkins sworn in as New Zealand’s Prime Minister

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2023

Labour leader Chris Hipkins was sworn in as New Zealand’s prime minister in a formal ceremony on Wednesday, following the resignation of outgoing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last week.

Hipkins, 44, and his deputy Carmel Sepuloni – the first person of Pacific Islander descent to hold the role – were sworn in by New Zealand Governor-General Cindy Kiro, in a ceremony lasting a few minutes.

Before the ceremony, outgoing New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern left parliament for the last time as prime minister of the nation on Wednesday amidst applause and hugs from those waiting to say farewell.

Ardern walked out of the New Zealand parliament building, affectionately known as the Beehive, with partner Clarke Gayford.

When asked by local media how he felt, Gayford replied “relieved.”

The Labour party elected former Covid-19 Response, Police, education and public service minister as well as the leader of the House to lead the party and the country on Sunday (January 22). This comes after the surprise resignation of Ardern, 42, who said she had “no more in the tank” to lead the country.

Hipkins, who has so far refused to comment on his policies since being elected leader, will hold his first cabinet meeting later on Wednesday.

First elected to parliament for the Labour Party in 2008, the 44-year-old Hipkins became a household name fronting the government’s response to the pandemic after being appointed minister for Covid-19 in November 2020.

A general election will be held on Oct. 14, with some opinion polls showing Labour will struggle to hold on to power.

Abroad, Ardern was a global icon for left-leaning politics and women in leadership, but domestically she has struggled to connect with rural New Zealand resulting in her and her party’s popularity plummeting after five and a half years marked by upheavals such as Covid, a massacre of Muslims by a white supremacist and a deadly volcano.

The government has pursued a number of new legislations aimed at improving environmental outcomes including bills to reduce animal waste and fertilizer polluting waterways, changes to the leases farmers have for High Country stations and an overhaul of water infrastructure across the country and most recently the announcement that New Zealand farmers will have to pay for agricultural emissions from 2025.

“This emissions tax, you know, the ‘fart tax’ it’s going to mean, like all these cattle here, it’s going to be three hundred and thirty dollars per head. So on a farm like this, it’s about a hundred and thirty, hundred and forty thousand a year extra tax farmers are going to have to find,” said farmer and Auckland representative of Groundswell NZ, Scotty Bright on Saturday (January 21)

“It appeared that they (Labour) are in their own bubble and they didn’t really know the facts of what the farmers deal with on a daily basis,” added Bright.

Farm lobby group Groundswell NZ was founded by two rural farmers, aiming to empower rural voices, stand up against unworkable regulations and policies and seek solutions to environmental concerns.

New Zealand farmers are some of the most efficient in the world. They receive minimal agricultural subsidies but continue to be able to compete with farmers in the likes of the United States due to good farming practices, good farmland and a climate that allows for all-year pastoral farming.