‘RELEASE THE DOCUMENTS NOW!’: In a statement issued last night, former President Donald Trump called for the immediate release of documents related to the search of his Mar-a-Lago estate, which he labeled an “Un-American, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home.”
“Not only will I not oppose the release of documents,” Trump wrote on his social media platform and in an email release. “I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents, even though they have been drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents, who have a strong and powerful vested interest in attacking me.”
Trump called the search of his Palm Beach, Florida, home, an “unprecedented political weaponization of law enforcement is inappropriate and highly unethical,” and he touted his political strength. “My poll numbers are the strongest they have ever been, fundraising by the Republican Party is breaking all records, and midterm elections are fast approaching.”
FBI AGENTS IN TRUMP MAR-A-LAGO RAID SOUGHT NUCLEAR WEAPONS DOCUMENTS: REPORT
NUCLEAR SECRETS SOUGHT: The Washington Post, citing “people familiar with the investigation,” reported that among the items FBI agents were looking for were “classified documents relating to nuclear weapons.”
The sources “did not offer additional details about what type of information the agents were seeking, including whether it involved weapons belonging to the United States or some other nation,” the Post reported. “Nor did they say if such documents were recovered as part of the search.”
The New York Times reported that “a person briefed on the matter” said the search was an effort to recover documents relating to “some of the most highly classified programs run by the United States.”
DOJ SOUGHT DOCUMENTS FROM MAR-A-LAGO LABELED 'SPECIAL ACCESS,' MORE CLASSIFIED THAN 'TOP SECRET': REPORT
GARLAND: SEARCH WAS LAST RESORT: Attorney General Merrick Garland, in a rare public statement about an ongoing investigation, said he personally approved the application for the warrant, which was “authorized by a federal court upon the required finding of probable cause,” and only after other “less-intrusive means” failed to produce the documents.
“The department does not take such a decision lightly. Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less-intrusive means as an alternative to a search, and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken,” Garland said, insisting he was “applying the law evenly without fear or favor.”
“All Americans are entitled to the evenhanded application of the law, to due process of the law, and to the presumption of innocence,” he said, in announcing the department was asking a federal judge to unseal the warrant and property receipt provided to Trump’s attorneys during the Monday search in “light of the former president's public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances and the substantial public interest in this matter.”
Garland also decried what he called “unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors.”
“The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants. Every day, they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism, and other threats to their safety, while safeguarding our civil rights,” he said. “They do so at great personal sacrifice and risk to themselves.”
SUSPECT IN FBI BUILDING ATTACK KILLED IN STANDOFF, IDENTIFIED AS JAN. 6 PARTICIPANT
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HAPPENING TODAY: Vice President Kamala Harris is in Oakland, California, where she will hear from commercial space companies at the Chabot Space and Science Center about their latest innovations before delivering remarks at 1:35 p.m. about how the Biden-Harris administration will support the commercial space sector. The event will be streamed at https://www.whitehouse.gov/live
US, G-7 COUNTRIES DEMAND RUSSIA RETURN NUKE PLANT TO UKRAINE: Fearing a nuclear disaster that could affect all of Europe, the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan are calling on Russia to return the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power to Ukrainian control.
“Ukrainian staff operating the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant must be able to carry out their duties without threats or pressure,” said a statement from the G-7 foreign ministers. “Russia’s continued control of the plant that endangers the region.”
“In that context, we demand that Russia immediately hand back full control to its rightful sovereign owner, Ukraine, of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant as well as of all nuclear facilities within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders to ensure their safe and secure operations,” the statement said.
MORE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT: The British Defense Ministry is weighing in with battle damage assessment following a series of explosions Tuesday at the Saki air base in Crimea, which appears to be the result of a Ukrainian commando attack.
“The original cause of the blasts is unclear, but the large mushroom clouds visible in eyewitness video were almost certainly from the detonation of up to four uncovered munition storage areas,” the ministry says in its daily Twitter update.
“At least five Su-24 FENCER fighter-bombers and three Su-30 FLANKER H multi-role jets were almost certainly destroyed or seriously damaged in the blasts. Saky’s central dispersal area has suffered serious damage, but the airfield probably remains serviceable,” the assessment says.
British intelligence says the loss of eight combat jets “represents a minor proportion” of Russia's total inventory of combat jets but that the planes were part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, and as a result, the “fleet’s naval aviation capability is now significantly degraded.”
FORMER VCJCS CAN BE SUED FOR ALLEGED SEXUAL ASSAULT: A federal appeals court has ruled that retired Army Col. Kathryn Spletstoser’s civil suit against former Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Gen. John Hyten can proceed, finding that the “Feres doctrine” which generally bars lawsuits from military members injured while on active duty, does not apply. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that sexual assault could not be considered “incident to military service,” as the doctrine requires.
“The ruling … could represent a dramatic shift in how the Feres doctrine has been applied to military sexual assault cases,” said the victim’s advocacy group Protect Our Defenders, which filed an amicus brief in support of Spletstoser, who brought her civil suit after the Air Force refused to file charges or discipline Hyten, citing insufficient evidence.
“Today’s decision has the potential to open the door for thousands of military sexual assault survivors to fight back and seek the compensation they are rightfully owed,” said retired Air Force Col. Don Christensen, president of Protect Our Defenders.
“For years, the federal government and the military have used the Feres doctrine to shield themselves from survivors seeking justice,” Christensen said. “The fact that they have unabashedly classified sexual assault as ‘incident to service’ is an embarrassment and speaks to the deep-rooted and widespread culture of sexual assault in the armed forces.”
US PUBLIC SUPPORT TAIWAN — POLL: A new poll from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs finds that U.S. opinion in favor of assisting Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion has never been higher.
The polls found that Americans generally support providing the same level of aid to Taiwan as the U.S. currently provides to Ukraine, which stops short at sending US troops.
CHINESE DIPLOMAT SAYS UKRAINE WAR PORTENDS BEIJING'S VICTORY OVER TAIWAN
BOLTON NEEDS TO RE-READ HIS OWN BOOK: In an interview with CNN’s Brianna Keilar yesterday, former national security adviser John Bolton was asked about a passage in his book, The Room Where It Happened, in which he advised against demanding the release of freelance American journalist Austin Tice.
“You wrote in your book about how you, and I believe Secretary Pompeo, would try to dissuade — and were able to dissuade President Trump from just calling up [Syrian leader Bashar] Assad and asking for Tice's release,” Keilar said.
“You know, I've heard that that's written in my book. I've looked for it, and I can't find it,” Bolton replied. “And I can tell you at least one reporter looked for it and couldn't find it either.”
The following passage appears on page 193: “All these negotiations about our role in Syria were complicated by Trump’s constant desire to call Assad on U.S. hostages, which Pompeo and I thought undesirable. Fortunately, Syria saved Trump from himself, refusing even to talk to Pompeo about them. When we reported this, Trump responded angrily: ‘You tell [them] he will get hit hard if they don’t give us our hostages back, so fucking hard. You tell him that. We want them back within one week of today, or they will never forget how hard we’ll hit them.’ That at least took the Trump-Assad call off the table. We didn’t act on the talk about striking Syria.”
SEEDS OF SURRENDER: TRUMP’S DOHA AGREEMENT PUT BIDEN IN A BOX HE COULDN’T THINK OUTSIDE OF
Washington Examiner: FBI agents in Trump Mar-a-Lago raid sought nuclear weapons documents: Report
Washington Examiner: DOJ sought documents from Mar-a-Lago labeled 'special access,' more classified than 'top secret': Report
Washington Examiner: Trump says he will not oppose release of Mar-a-Lago search warrant documents
Washington Examiner: White House says 'it would not be appropriate' to comment on FBI search for nuclear documents
Washington Examiner: DOJ moves to unseal FBI's Trump raid warrant, AG Garland announces
Washington Examiner: Garland personally approved Trump Mar-a-Lago FBI search warrant
Washington Examiner: Suspect in FBI building attack killed in standoff, identified as Jan. 6 participant
Washington Examiner: US military says it killed four al Shabaab terrorists in Somalia in three drone strikes
Washington Examiner: Chinese diplomat says Ukraine war portends Beijing's victory over Taiwan
Washington Examiner: US military 'furiously' reevaluating deterrence strategy with China and Russia
Washington Examiner: Trump says he will not oppose release of Mar-a-Lago search warrant documents
Washington Examiner: Seeds of surrender: Trump’s Doha Agreement put Biden in a box he couldn’t think outside of
Washington Examiner: Opinion: America can no longer afford our comforting lies about Taiwan
New York Times: China’s Vow to Hold More Drills Cements Taiwan’s Measured Response
Wall Street Journal: Xi Cautioned Biden To Avoid A Crisis
Reuters: Taiwan Says China's Threat Remains, Though Military Drills Ease
Washington Post: On the Kherson front lines, little sign of a Ukrainian offensive
New York Times: Heavy Casualties Leave Russia Short Of Its Goal Of Seizing A Key Region
AP: Western nations pledge more military support for Ukraine
AP: UN demands end to military activity at Ukraine nuke plant
Washington Post: Russia confirms prisoner swap talks as U.S. hopes for Griner, Whelan release
Washington Post: Ex-Va. police officer gets more than 7 years for role in Jan. 6 riot
Space.com: Pentagon Space Chief Condemns ‘Irresponsible' Launch of Russian Inspector Satellite
Washington Post: Chinese navy ship near Sri Lanka sparks diplomatic standoff
Air Force Magazine: More USAF ‘Operational Imperatives’ Likely Coming
Air Force Magazine: Air Force PEO Looks to Speed Up Program Start, Testing for Wedgetail
Air Force Magazine: Richardson: Digital Design Is Making Old Review Processes Obsolete
Breaking Defense: Long-Range Missile Defense Radar Ready to ‘Plug In’ at NORTHCOM Within ‘Months’
Marine Corps Times: As Ukraine Highlights Value Of Killer Drones, Marine Corps Wants More
Washington Post: The Army is making its first uniform bra. Vets say it’s long overdue.
1 p.m. — Defense News discussion after the 2022 Space and Missile Defense Symposium, with Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm. Jon Hill; and Tay Fitzgerald, president, Strategic Missile Defense, Raytheon Missiles and Defense https://events.defensenews.com/smd-debrief/
4 p.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. — American Enterprise Institute in-person book forum event: “A New Approach to US-China Relations,” with Aaron Friedberg, nonresident senior fellow, AEI and author of Getting China Wrong; and Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy studies, AEI https://www.aei.org/events/a-new-approach-to-us-china
1:00 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual and in-person event: “The Future of Army Vertical Lift,” with Maj. Gen. Walter Rugen, director, Future Vertical Lift Cross Functional Team, U.S. Army Futures Command; and Cynthia Cook, director, Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group and senior fellow, International Security Program https://www.csis.org/events/future-army-vertical-lift
“Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy. Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly without fear or favor. Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland, defending the unprecedented FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.