[JustTheNews] Nearly a year after a toxic train derailment left East Palestine, Ohio, reeling, a lawsuit aimed at helping the city and state recover is still ongoing.
Attorney General Dave Yost continues to wait for answers.
“This anniversary fuels so many emotions, and it’s understandable to want to bring this despairing chapter to a close,” Yost said at a Friday news conference. “But rushing matters would be a disservice to the community, as we still need answers to so many questions. Those answers will help us ensure that tragedies like this don’t happen again in Ohio or elsewhere.”
Yost’s comments come on the eve of the first anniversary of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous chemicals derailing, leading to chemicals released into the soil, water and air, forcing the evacuation of thousands of area residents.
As previously reported by The Center Square, the National Transportation Safety Board blamed the derailment on an overheated wheel bearing. There were no injuries from the crash.
The NTSB has yet to issue complete findings.
In March, Yost filed a 58-count federal lawsuit to hold Norfolk Southern accountable for the derailment.
Surely not when he worked for Hillary! [JustTheNews] The Biden Administration continues to emphasize climate cooperation with China, even as the relationship grows more confrontational. The new climate envoy has a history of favorable negotiations with China and close relationships with a Chinese influence group with longstanding connections to the Chinese Communist Party.
The White House recently appointed John Podesta as Climate Envoy following the exit of John Kerry from the administration. Yet, Podesta’s previous work with a Chinese United Front-linked organization on climate change raises concerns about his ability to negotiate with China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.
Podesta has long been a household name in Democratic politics. He is known for his close association with the Clinton family and for being active in climate policy. Podesta first served as President Bill Clinton’s Chief of Staff and then later as the campaign chairman for Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful bid for president in 2016.
In between his work for the Clintons, he served in the Obama Administration as a counselor to the president responsible for climate policy and before that as a co-chair of President Obama’s 2008 transition team.
Before entering the Obama Administration, Podesta founded and led the liberal think-tank Center for American Progress (CAP), which seeks to advance progressive policies on issues spanning from climate change to the economy.
It was during this period that Podesta worked closely with an entity connected to the Chinese influence apparatus on climate change and other issues.
In late 2009, Podesta led the first delegation from CAP to Beijing. During the trip, the CAP delegation—which included a U.S. Senator and an Ambassador—met with several Chinese officials. Discussions between the two delegations centered on “issues at the forefront U.S.-China relations,” which included climate change.
The Chinese delegation was led by the founder of the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), an entity which played an integral part in organizing the dialogue, according to CAP’s report of the trip. CUSEF and CAP held several meetings from 2009 to 2016, both before and after Podesta began serving at the White House.
The China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) is a Hong Kong-based entity founded by business magnate Tung Chee-hwa, a billionaire who is linked to the Chinese Communist Party. After Hong Kong reverted to British control, Tung was appointed as the Chief Executive of the Special Administrative Region under the communist Chinese government.
Tung also served as the Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference—“a patriotic united front organization of the Chinese people” that is integrated with the Chinese Communist Party government—from 2005 to 2023.
CUSEF is a registered foreign agent in the United States and would later hire none other than John Podesta’s brother, Tony Podesta, to lobby on behalf of the organization in Washington. In 2015, Podesta filed a lobbying disclosure form with the U.S. House of Representatives to advocate on behalf of CUSEF on “U.S.-China Relations.” According to Open Secrets, CUSEF paid Podesta’s firm nearly $900,000 for three years of lobbying work, from 2015 to 2017.
According to Influence Watch, since 2010, CUSEF has organized an annual dialogue between members of the Democratic Party, Republican Party, and leaders of the CCP. In a 2022 Congressional hearing, Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns expressed concern about CUSEF’s covert influence activities in the U.S.
In 2013, John Podesta joined the White House as counselor to the president on climate policy. He, along with a CAP Senior Fellow Tod Stern, was one of the chief officials responsible for the negotiation of the Paris Accords—the climate pact which required signatories to reduce emissions in line with global warming prevention goals.
China’s lead climate negotiator, Xie Zhenhua, has participated in CAP-CUSEF summits in the past, attending in 2016, according to CUSEF’s website. Coincidentally, Xie Zhenhua, who stepped down as the Chinese climate envoy in December, is noted as having a close relationship with John Podesta’s predecessor, John Kerry. The personal diplomacy between the two men was instrumental in achieving the Paris Accords.
[FoxNews] The trial was set to begin on March 4--the day before the Super Tuesday presidential primary contests.
Former President Trump’s trial stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 2020 election interference investigation has been delayed indefinitely, Fox News has learned.
Fascinating.
The trial was set to begin on March 4 — a day before the critical Super Tuesday primary contests, when Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Vermont vote to select a GOP nominee.
Washington, D.C., federal Judge Tanya Chutkan on Friday formally vacated the March 4 trial date, saying the court will "set a new schedule if and when the mandate is returned."
A federal appeals court is considering Trump’s claim of presidential immunity from prosecution for his actions in office. A ruling from that court is expected, and the Supreme Court may eventually review the issue.
As predicted by numerous oracles.
The delay comes after Smith in December asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether Trump can be prosecuted on charges relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Additionally, lawyers for Trump filed a motion urging Chutkan to pause proceedings against Trump in the Jan. 6 case while his appeal is pending.
Chutkan said in December that she does not have jurisdiction over the matter while it is pending before the Supreme Court, and she put a pause on the case against the Republican 2024 front-runner until the high court determines its involvement.
Smith charged the former president with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Those charges stemmed from Smith’s investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in August 2023.
#3
There is no downside to shutting this guy down on day one of the new administration. Trump need not worry about reelection. An impeachment threat is like a butter knife at this point.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/03/2024 10:00 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I sense a "Hey. Uh. This was, uh, just a little misunderstanding! No, uh, hard feelings, OK?" moment.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/03/2024 10:02 Comments ||
Top||
#5
So first question is how much is this costing the tax payer . second is what does Smith have up his sleeve? He will not walk away. What is plan B? I assume it has something to do with the Supreme court ruling expected this month.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/03/2024 10:29 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Speedy trial is a Constitutional right of the defendant. The purpose of the charges is election interference. Trump would like to see dropped charges best or a trial date after the election worst. The right of the American people to see Trump tried immediately without a preparation of a defense is a BS Dem talking point.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/03/2024 11:30 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Didn't get a poll bump as expected, so drag it out and hope to smear as the election comes up.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/03/2024 13:18 Comments ||
Top||
Sure, East Palestine Ohio is on the list.
[RedState] On Friday, the White House announced that during Joe Biden's planned visit to Southern Nevada on Sunday, an event will be held in the Historic Westside neighborhood of Las Vegas. "During the event, the president will speak directly to voters about the stakes of this election," a White House spokesperson wrote.
The campaign stop is ahead of the "First in the West" 2024 Presidential Preference Primary in Nevada on Tuesday, February 6. It comes at the end of the early voting period, when voters have already been casting ballots. Details on the exact location of the event have not been released, but the event is scheduled for 3 p.m. Pacific time.
Located northwest of the strip, local media and pro-Biden pundits have noted that the Historic Westside is a highly concentrated black neighborhood.
Perhaps Biden should sanction the NGOs supporting the migration.
[Breitbart] A top Democrat is complaining that some GOP Senators oppose President Joe Biden’s demand for at least $15 billion in emergency funds to house and hide his migration wave in Americans’ cities and towns.
“I’m increasingly worried that Republicans aren’t committed to funding the deal on the appropriations side as a way to potentially undermine it,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), told reporters, adding: He says it like it’s a bad thing.
If you support this deal, then you need to support the funding necessary to get it done….
Precisely.
if you want to stand up a new emergency power at the border, you have to fund it. That doesn’t happen for free.
Murphy has been the top Democratic senator in the migration talks with the White House, Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), and the GOP leadership.
The Senate’s Majority Leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), announced Thursday that he would force a vote on the border bill by Wednesday, February 7. The bill — and the associated check for migration spending — may be released on February 2.
The current dispute over migration rules began in August when Biden’s deputies asked for $14 billion extra to help bus and fly migrants into shelters and workplaces throughout the United States. The migration funding request is tied to extra funding for Ukraine’s war with Russia.
The funding is a top issue for Biden and his D.C. Democrats, and also for the many Democratic governors and mayors whose budgets are being drained by the migrants’ rational use of their “sanctuary city” laws.
“If the Democrats don’t get their funding, they’re going to continue to have the optics at the southern border because they’re not going to be able to hide [migrants] quickly,” said Chris Chmielenski, president of the Immigration Accountability Project.
If there is no additional funding in 2024, local TV stations will spend much time showing the impact of Biden’s migration on voters’ local schools, housing, shelters, budgets, and crime. The TV coverage will amplify local debates over migration — and likely damage Democrat candidates in the November election.
But a large block of funds, said Chmielenski, would help Biden’s deputies quickly disperse migrants from the border and also “get the Democratic big city Mayors off of Biden’s back,” he told Breitbart News.
A January poll of swing states showed that 53 percent of respondents said they see “much more” or “somewhat more” migration into their community. The January 16-22 poll of 4,956 registered voters was conducted by Morning Consult for Bloomberg. The same poll shows that 61 percent of voters blame Biden for the disaster.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[JustTheNews] Nearly a year after a toxic train derailment left 
[JustTheNews] The Biden Administration continues to emphasize climate cooperation with China, even as the relationship grows more confrontational. The new climate envoy has a history of favorable negotiations with China and close relationships with a Chinese influence group with longstanding connections to the Chinese Communist Party.
[FoxNews] The trial was set to begin on March 4--the day before the Super Tuesday presidential primary contests.
Additionally, lawyers for Trump filed a motion urging Chutkan to pause proceedings against Trump in the Jan. 6 case while his appeal is pending. 
