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hunter biden
To Thwart Trump Killing Spree, Biden Urged to Commute Death Penalty Cases
The former president, warned a broad rights coalition, "executed more people than the previous ten administrations combined."
Dec 09, 2024
A large and diverse coalition of broad coalition of rights organizations on Monday sent a letter to U.S. President Biden Monday, urging him to commute the sentences of all 40 individuals who are on federal death row.
The letter adds to a chorus of voices—including prosecutors and law enforcement officials—advocating for Biden to use his clemency powers to issue such commutations before he departs office.
The calls for Biden to issue pardons and commutations have only grown since the president issued a pardon for his son, clearing Hunter Biden of wrongdoing in any federal crimes he committed or may have committed in the last 11 years.
The joint letter to Biden was backed by over 130 organizations, including the ACLU, Brennan Center for Justice, and The Sentencing Project, commends his administration's "actions to repudiate capital punishment, including imposing a moratorium on executions for those sentenced to death, and for publicly calling for an end to the use of the death penalty during your 2020 campaign. In the face of a second Trump administration, more is necessary."
"President Trump executed more people than the previous ten administrations combined. Of those he executed, over half were people of color: six Black men and one Native American. The only irreversible action you can take to prevent President-elect Trump from renewing his execution spree, as he has vowed to do, is commuting the death sentences of those on federal death row now," the letter states.
The letter cites additional reasons that Biden ought to commute the sentences, including that the death penalty "has been rooted in slavery, lynchings, and white vigilantism."
A separate letter to Biden—sent in November by group of attorneys general, law enforcement officials, and others—argues that "condemning people to death by the state does not advance public safety. The death penalty fails as an effective deterrent and does not reduce crime. As an outdated, error-riddled, and racially-biased practice, its continued use—and the potential for its abuse—erodes public trust in the criminal legal system and undermines the legitimacy of the entire criminal legal system."
Matt Bruenig, president of the People's Policy Project think tank, directly tied Biden's inaction on this issue to the pardon he issued for his son in a blog post last week, writing that "if Biden does not act, there is little doubt that Trump will aggressively schedule executions in his next term. Their blood will primarily be on Trump's hands, but, if Biden does not act to prevent it, his hands will be bloody too."
The call for commutations for death row prisoners aligns with a wider push for the President to use his clemency powers before he leaves office.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who has been particularly vocal on this issue, said Sunday on social media that President Biden "must use his clemency power to change lives for the better. And we have some ideas on who he can target: Folks in custody with unjustified sentencing disparities, the elderly and chronically ill, people on death row, women punished for crimes of their abusers, and more."
Pressley was one of over 60 members of Congress who sent a letter to Biden last month, encouraging Biden to intervene to help these groups.
Several lawmakers have specific pardons or commutations in mind, according to Axios. For example, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has urged Biden to pardon Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has called for a pardon of Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, per Axios.
So far, Biden has granted far fewer clemency petitions (161 total) than former President Barrack Obama, according to the Department of Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney, and a few dozen less than President-elect Trump did during his entire first presidency. However, in 2022, Biden did grant full and unconditional pardons to all U.S. citizens convicted of simple federal marijuana possession—a move that was cheered by advocates.
According to The New York Times, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last week that Biden was expected to make more clemency announcements "at the end of his term."
"He's thinking through that process very thoroughly," she said.
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'I Hope Americans Will Understand': Biden Pardons His Son Hunter
"No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases," said the president, "can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong."
Dec 01, 2024
President Joe Biden on Sunday evening issued a full and unconditional pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, saying that he was "selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted" for political purposes and because of his relationship to his father.
The charges in Hunter's criminal cases, said Biden in a White House statement, "came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election."
According to the statement:
No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they've tried to break me – and there's no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.
For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They'll be fair-minded. Here's the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.
In September of this year, the younger Biden was convicted on three felony tax offenses as well as six misdemeanor violations of the tax code. Earlier in the year, he was found guilty on three felony gun-related charges having to do with how he filled out a gun ownership registration.
Hunter has admitted to struggling with addiction and largely taken responsibility for his actions in those criminal cases, though he fought against the criminal convictions in court.
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'Playing Political Games,' GOP Tees Up Vote on Biden Impeachment Probe
The House Rules Committee ranking member said that "Americans will see that this impeachment sham is a national disgrace, designed by extreme Republicans to distract from their incompetence and help Donald Trump."
Dec 12, 2023
Republicans on the U.S. House Rules Committee voted 9-4 Tuesday to advance a resolution that would formalize the GOP's ongoing impeachment inquiry into Democratic President Joe Biden.
House Resolution 918, introduced last week by Congressman Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), directs the chamber's Oversight and Accountability, Ways and Means, and Judiciary committees to continue ongoing probes of alleged misconduct by the president related to his son Hunter Biden's business dealings and legal issues.
Although the GOP has failed to uncover any proof of presdential misconduct—which some Republican lawmakers are openly admitting—party leadership is plowing ahead. According to The Hill, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said that a floor vote on the resolution is expected Wednesday.
"Rather than tackling the real issues facing the American people, Republicans are playing political games with our nation's most serious checks and balances."
"Let's be clear: This impeachment inquiry is nothing more than a political stunt, and it sets a terrible precedent for our democracy," Sean Eldridge, founder and president of the progressive group Stand Up America, said in a statement after the committee vote.
"Despite months of posturing, House Republicans haven't provided a shred of evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden," he stressed. "Rather than tackling the real issues facing the American people, Republicans are playing political games with our nation's most serious checks and balances."
Eldridge added that "members of the House of Representatives still have a chance to do the right thing and vote against this sham inquiry when it hits the House floor. Voters will be watching to see if their representatives put political stunts ahead of the American people."
The president is seeking reelection next year. The GOP's current 2024 front-runner is former President Donald Trump, who after the 2020 election led an unsuccessful effort to prevent the peaceful transfer of power despite his loss to Biden.
House Rules Committee Ranking Member Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) declared Tuesday that "Americans will see that this impeachment sham is a national disgrace, designed by extreme Republicans to distract from their incompetence and help Donald Trump. This is about vengeance, retaliation, distraction, and denial."
After Armstrong unveiled his resolution last week, House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) similarly charged that "everyone knows that the floundering Biden impeachment probe is designed to give Donald Trump something to say when it's pointed out he has been twice impeached and is a proven fraudster, sexual assailant, and defamer of women who now faces 91 felony charges in federal and state court."
NBC News reported Tuesday that Michael Tyler, the Biden campaign's communications director, also pushed back against the impeachment inquiry in a new memo, pointing to Trump's remark last week that he would be a dictator only on "day one."
"The only branch of government MAGA Republicans control is following through on Donald Trump's promise to use the levers of government to enact political retribution on his enemies," Tyler said. "You know, like the followers of a dictator."
"Instead of trying to deliver results for the American people," he added, "Trump's MAGA followers in the House are using their power to pursue an evidence-free impeachment sham all to help Trump's 2024 campaign."
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'Do-Nothing' GOP Unveils 'Sham' Biden Impeachment Resolution
One critic said the GOP aims "to give Donald Trump something to say when it's pointed out he has been twice impeached and is a proven fraudster, sexual assailant, and defamer of women who now faces 91 felony charges."
Dec 07, 2023
As a Republican congressman on Thursday introduced an impeachment inquiry resolution targeting U.S. President Joe Biden, leading House Democrats called out the GOP for serving former President Donald Trump and not the American people.
House Resolution 918, led by Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), formally directs the House Oversight and Accountability, Ways and Means, and Judiciary committees to continue ongoing investigations into whether sufficient grounds exist to impeach Biden. A markup is scheduled for next Tuesday, so a vote may be held as soon as Wednesday.
"This impeachment inquiry is a complete political stunt with zero evidence. What a joke,"
responded Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), president of the House Democratic freshman class.
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) declared that "this MAGA-extremist Biden impeachment resolution is a giant fishing expedition and a continued example of this GOP do-nothing Congress."
House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)—a constitutional scholar who was the lead manager for Trump's historic second impeachment after the January 6, 2021 insurrection—
released a lengthy statement blasting the panel's chair, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), for the "sham" impeachment inquiry.
"Voting to launch an impeachment inquiry will not change the fact that, following many months of endless investigation by House Republicans this Congress and by Senate Republicans in 2020, the evidence plainly shows no evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden, much less an impeachable offense," he said. "Chairman Comer cannot even identify what crime he thinks President Biden has committed."
Raskin highlighted the abundance of evidence collected regarding unfounded allegations of the president's misconduct related to his son Hunter Biden's business dealings and legal issues:
This is what we have assembled from House Republicans' 10-month investigation: more than 37,000 pages of subpoenaed private bank records, more than 2,000 pages of suspicious activity reports (SARs) made available by Treasury, more than 20,000 pages of emails regarding Hunter Biden released by the National Archives, with more than 62,000 additional pages being produced in the next few days, and dozens of hours of witness testimony from Hunter Biden's business associates, then-Vice President Biden's former financial adviser, and nine witnesses from agencies across the administration... All of it shows no misconduct by President Biden.
We also know that Hunter Biden has offered to testify and answer the committee's questions, under oath and in public, for as long as the committee seeks to go. But, embarrassingly, Chairman Comer refuses to take yes for an answer. He has insisted Hunter Biden must be deposed by lawyers in secret, behind closed doors. There is no reason for a secret deposition because the committee can adopt any format it chooses for a public hearing, including having lawyers questioning Hunter Biden. Obviously Chairman Comer does not want the American people hearing Hunter Biden's testimony or seeing the evidence free from GOP spin, editing, and manipulation.
"Everyone knows that the floundering Biden impeachment probe is designed to give Donald Trump something to say when it's pointed out he has been twice impeached and is a proven fraudster, sexual assailant, and defamer of women who now faces 91 felony charges in federal and state court," Raskin added. "But the price of this stupidity is huge constitutional damage as Republicans try to turn the extraordinary device of impeachment into a meaningless political event, plunging the nation into further lawlessness and nihilism."
Ian Sams, the White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, said in a statement that "this baseless stunt is not rooted in facts or reality, but in extreme House Republicans' shameless desire to abuse their power to smear President Biden. Fox News already reported that the only reason they're having this vote is to 'put a GOP win on the table for the base,' which is sad, pathetic, and a waste of everyone's time."
Biden is seeking reelection in 2024 and Trump—despite his performance during his first term, four criminal cases, and arguments that inciting the insurrection constitutionally disqualifies him from holding office again—remains the front-runner for the Republican nomination.
On the campaign trail in recent weeks, Trump has pledged to be a dictator only on " day one" to "close the border and... drill, drill, drill" as well as to "root out" what he called "radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country," fascistic language that drew comparisons to Nazi rhetoric.
This post has been updated with comment from the White House.
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'Epic Humiliation': GOP Mocked for Rejecting Hunter Biden Testimony Offer
"Chairman Comer's insistence that Hunter Biden's interview should happen behind closed doors proves it once again. What the Republicans fear most is sunlight and the truth," said Rep. Jamie Raskin.
Nov 28, 2023
Democratic U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin on Tuesday issued a scathing statement mocking Republicans on the House Oversight Committee after the GOP chair of the panel rejected Hunter Biden's offer to testify publicly next month as part of an ongoing impeachment probe into his father, President Joe Biden.
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who leads the oversight committee, accused Hunter Biden of "trying to play by his own rules instead of following the rules required of everyone else."
"Our lawfully issued subpoena to Hunter Biden requires him to appear for a deposition on December 13," Comer said in a statement, adding that the president's son could get a chance to testify publicly at an unspecified "future date."
Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in response that "after wailing and moaning for ten months about Hunter Biden and alluding to some vast unproven family conspiracy, after sending Hunter Biden a subpoena to appear and testify, Chairman Comer and the oversight Republicans now reject his offer to appear before the full committee and the eyes of the world and to answer any questions that they pose?"
"What an epic humiliation for our colleagues and what a frank confession that they are simply not interested in the facts and have no confidence in their own case or the ability of their own members to pursue it," said Raskin. "After the miserable failure of their impeachment hearing in September, Chairman Comer has now apparently decided to avoid all committee hearings where the public can actually see for itself the logical, rhetorical, and factual contortions they have tied themselves up in."
"The evidence has shown time and again President Biden has committed no wrongdoing, much less an impeachable offense," Raskin added. "Chairman Comer's insistence that Hunter Biden's interview should happen behind closed doors proves it once again. What the Republicans fear most is sunlight and the truth."
Hunter Biden's offer to appear publicly before the House Oversight Committee came in a letter that his attorney, Abbe Lowell, wrote to Comer. The push for a public appearance stems from concerns that Republicans would selectively leak any closed-door testimony.
"Your empty investigation has gone on too long wasting too many better-used resources. It should come to an end," the letter reads. "Consequently, Mr. Biden will appear at such a public hearing on the date you noticed, December 13, or any date in December that we can arrange."
"If, as you claim, your efforts are important and involve issues that Americans should know about," the letter adds, "then let the light shine on these proceedings."
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Will Rubbish Biden Impeachment Inquiry Boomerang on McCarthy?
House Republicans have put forth zero evidence showing that Biden benefited from his son’s business dealings.
Sep 13, 2023
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — caving to pressure from hard-right members of the Republican caucus, as well as Donald Trump — is directing House committees to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. It will center on whether Biden benefited from his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings, among other issues. As McCarthy said:
“These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption and warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives. That’s why today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. … We will go wherever the evidence takes us.”
Rubbish. House Republicans have put forth zero evidence showing that Biden benefited from his son’s business dealings. They have only aired allegations that the Justice Department stymied an investigation into Hunter Biden’s financial dealings along with testimony about his penchant for touting the family brand to attract clients.
The impeachment proceedings are starting without a vote on the House floor, because McCarthy lacks a majority to go forward. This, despite McCarthy’s explicit pledges as recently as this month that he would not move without a floor vote. As you may recall, in 2019, McCarthy condemned then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi for moving to impeach Donald Trump without a floor vote.
It’s far from clear that the impeachment inquiry will appease the extremists, stop them from staging a showdown over funding to keep the government open after October 1, or even save McCarthy’s speakership. He must know that his job is far more imperiled than Biden’s. Any of the extremists could call a vote at any time to remove McCarthy.
An attempt to impeach Biden may make Biden more vulnerable politically by putting Hunter front and center. It will surely hurt some swing-seat Republican incumbents in the 2024 elections.
So why are McCarthy and the extremist House Republicans so intent on impeaching Biden? Because Trump is demanding it.
And Trump is demanding it because he knows he can count on the media’s penchant for “bothsidesism” and false equivalences to use the Biden impeachment to deflect attention from Trump’s criminal trials.
So here's the question: Do you think McCarthy’s strategy will work? Or will it stir a backlash among independent voters, who outnumber Trump Republicans and who will see this for what it is — a waste of taxpayer funds and a deflection from the job of dealing with the nation’s real problems?
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'Reeks of Political Desperation': McCarthy Orders Biden Impeachment Probe
"This is a bald-faced attempt to distract voters from Donald Trump's 91 criminal counts and hurt President Biden's reelection chances," said the head of Stand Up America.
Sep 12, 2023
As the U.S. House of Representatives reconvened on Tuesday, GOP Speaker Kevin McCarthy directed committees to open an impeachment inquiry into Democratic President Joe Biden—and quickly came under fire from congressional Democrats and progressive groups.
The California Republican's move comes as Congress has about two weeks to avert a government shutdown, and amid threats that far-right members of the House, such as U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), would try to oust the speaker—whose election to the post required 15 rounds of voting—if he did not act swiftly on impeachment.
While GOP lawmakers have not yet presented concrete proof of the president's alleged misconduct related to his son Hunter Biden's business dealings and legal issues, McCarthy claimed Tuesday that "House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden's conduct. Taken together, these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption."
The speaker explained that the impeachment effort will be led by Republican Congressmen James Comer (Ky.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), and Jason Smith (Mo.), who respectively chair the House Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees. McCarthy encouraged Biden's team to "fully cooperate" and said that "we will go wherever the evidence takes us."
Ian Sams, the White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, said on social media that "House Republicans have been investigating the president for nine months, and they've turned up no evidence of wrongdoing."
McCarthy's "own GOP members have said so," and "he vowed to hold a vote to open impeachment, now he flip flopped because he doesn't have support," Sams continued, calling the stunt "extreme politics at its worst."
Other critics of the decision highlighted that Biden is seeking reelection next year and is expected to face the Republican nominee. Former President Donald Trump is the GOP front-runner, despite four ongoing criminal cases and arguments that he is constitutionally disqualified from holding office again after inciting the January 6, 2021 insurrection.
"In a stunning display of hypocrisy, Speaker McCarthy has caved to Marjorie Taylor Greene and the MAGA caucus by launching an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden without a full House vote," said Sean Eldridge, founder and president of the progressive advocacy Stand Up America, referencing Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.
"This is a bald-faced attempt to distract voters from Donald Trump's 91 criminal counts and hurt President Biden's reelection chances," he charged. "The American people won't be fooled by this political stunt. McCarthy's impeachment inquiry against President Biden does not pass the smell test. In fact, it reeks of political desperation."
Eldridge concluded by accusing the speaker of "undermining our democracy and our Constitution by playing political games with our nation's separation of powers and most serious checks and balances."
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.)—who was a manager for the first of Trump's two historic impeachments—was also critical of McCarthy's decision on Tuesday.
"In 2019, House Democrats moved on impeachment only after developing overwhelming evidence that Donald Trump had attempted to extort the government of Ukraine," Nadler recalled. "In 2021, we needed very little time to determine who was responsible for the attack of January 6."
"Today's House Republicans failed to articulate any specific charge against President Biden—because they have no basis whatsoever to launch this so-called inquiry. They have no evidence of misconduct," he stressed. "Their whistleblowers have been discredited time and time again. They have not even begun to approach the high bar of high crimes and misdemeanors. And they have done none of the work necessary to convince the American people that this stunt is a good idea—a political reality that I suspect will set in for them sooner, rather than later."
"Let me be very, very clear: President Biden has done nothing wrong, and House Republicans have not found a shred of evidence to suggest otherwise," the congressman added. "Speaker McCarthy may get to keep his job for another day, but he has once again caved to the most extreme elements of the Republican Party."
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)—a frequent target of McCarthy and other far-right Republicans for her progressive political views and identity as a Black Muslim woman and refugee—declared that "this is a new low in House Republicans' failure to govern."
"Instead of doing anything to address rising housing costs, raise the minimum wage, tackle child poverty, or address the opioid crisis, Republicans have threatened to plunge the nation into default and are now once again pushing the government to the brink of a shutdown," Omar said. "They have turned the United States House of Representatives into a vindictive political campaign arm of Donald Trump."
"And the hypocrisy almost takes your breath away. Kevin McCarthy has repeatedly said you cannot start an impeachment inquiry without a full vote of the House—and even introduced a resolution that condemns an impeachment inquiry without a House vote as an 'abuse of power' that 'brings discredit to the House' and 'undermines the voting privileges afforded to each member and the constituents they represent,'" she noted. "Yet that is exactly what Kevin McCarthy is doing today."
Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for Biden's reelection campaign, similarly said Tuesday that "as Donald Trump ramped up his demands for a baseless impeachment inquiry, Kevin McCarthy cemented his role as the Trump campaign's super-surrogate by turning the House of Representatives into an arm of his presidential campaign."
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Hunter Biden Reaches Tentative Plea Deal on Tax, Gun Charges
Under the agreement, the president's son will plead guilty to a pair of tax misdemeanors and enter probation for a gun felony in order to avoid incarceration.
Jun 20, 2023
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged Hunter Biden with the illegal possession of a handgun in 2018 and failure to pay roughly $1.2 million in federal taxes in 2017 and 2018.
However, President Joe Biden's son has reached a tentative deal with federal prosecutors to avoid jail time, according to a letter filed Tuesday with the U.S. District Court in Delaware.
Under the terms of the agreement, Hunter Biden will plead guilty to the pair of tax misdemeanors (his representatives say he has already paid the IRS the money he owed). He will also enter a two-year period of probation for the gun felony that, if violated, would result in prosecution for unlawfully possessing a firearm while being a user of illegal drugs.
Citing people familiar with the plea deal, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe details of the agreement that are not yet public, The Washington Post reported that "if Biden successfully meets the conditions of the diversion program, the gun charge would be removed from his record at the end of that period."
As the Post observed: "The agreement caps an investigation that was opened in 2018 during the Trump administration, and has generated intense interest and criticism since 2020 from Republican politicians who accused the Biden administration of reluctance to pursue the case. The terms of the proposed deal—negotiated with Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, a holdover from President Donald Trump's administration—are likely to face similar scrutiny."
"Any proposed plea deal would have to be approved by a federal judge," the newspaper noted. "Both the prosecutors and the defense counsel have requested a court hearing at which Hunter Biden, 53, can enter his plea."
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DC March for Palestine Demands Biden and Congress 'Hold Israel Accountable for Its War Crimes in Gaza'
"We just want the world to recognize that we are human beings," said a participant of Palestinian origin who now lives in Virginia.
May 30, 2021
Members of more than 100 Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim groups joined other critics of Israel's recent bombardment of Gaza in Washington, D.C. on Saturday to hold a March for Palestine urging U.S. President Joe Biden and Congress to hold the Israeli government "accountable for its war crimes."
"We just want the world to recognize that we are human beings. We are not terrorists," Lama Alahmad, a march participant, told Voice of America.
Alahmad, a 43-year-old stay-at-home mother, is of Palestinian origin but grew up in the United Arab Emirates. She moved to the United States about two decades ago and now lives in Virginia. She said that "there is a huge change" happening in the U.S. now regarding support for Palestinian sovereignty.
Over 200 Palestinians, including scores of children, were killed earlier this month as Israel carried out airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip. Though most of rockets that Palestinian militants fired from Gaza were stopped by Israeli air defenses, over a dozen people were also killed in Israel.
A cease-fire ended 11 days of violence, but calls for consequences have persisted. The United Nations human rights chief said that Israel's airstrikes--which affected governmental buildings, homes, media offices, medical facilities, and other essential infrastructure--"may constitute war crimes."
"In the past three weeks, people from across the world have shown unprecedented solidarity and support for the rights of the Palestinian people," said Dr. Mohsin Ansari, president of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and United States Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) chair, in a statement.
"This unwavering support from just individuals across the globe has sent a clear message to the governments of Israel and the United States that the atrocities and the killing of innocent civilians, including children, is absolutely unacceptable," he added.
The #March4 Palestine was a part of the new national #SanctionIsrael campaign urging the Biden administration and members of Congress to sanction Israel and stop providing the country with billions in U.S. tax dollars and military hardware.
"Millions of Americans around the country are joining to say there must be an end to this ugly, immoral, and illegal status quo," Osama Abuirshaid, executive director of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), told Arab News.
Organizers of the march--which began at the Lincoln Memorial Saturday afternoon--included USCMO, AMP, and various partner organizations such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
"We are seeing increasing progress in raising awareness for Congress to better support solutions to protect the legal and human rights of Palestinians," CAIR National executive director Nihad Awad said in a statement. "At the same time we have witnessed a continued reluctance in the Biden administration to hold Israel accountable for its war crimes in Gaza or uphold American values by demanding an end to evictions of Palestinians in Jerusalem."
After visiting Israel this week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Axios that he warned Israeli leaders that forcing more Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem or future confrontations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound could fuel further "tension, conflict, and war."
The Associated Press reports that "Egypt and Israel held high-level talks in both countries Sunday to shore up a fragile truce between Israel and the Hamas militant group and rebuild the Gaza Strip after a punishing 11-day war that left parts of the seaside enclave in ruins."
Meanwhile, according to the AP, "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opponents on Sunday appeared to be moving closer toward a coalition deal that could end the 12-year rule of the longtime Israeli leader."
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'We Know She'll Continue the Fight Alongside Us': Progressive Chorus for Warren to Join Forces With Sanders Intensifies
Sanders, for his part, said that "I know that she'll stay in this fight and we are grateful that she will."
Mar 04, 2020
After Sen. Elizabeth Warren formally ended her presidential campaign Thursday, progressives nationwide highlighted the Massachusetts Democrat's contributions to the 2020 primary race and elevated the call for her to join with Sen. Bernie Sanders to defeat the corporate establishment that has now coalesced around former Vice President Joe Biden.
"There is no sense pretending that for Warren... to simply withdraw from the race without endorsing anyone would amount to anything more than a boost for Joe Biden."
--D.D. Guttenplan,
The Nation
Although Warren declined to endorse either Sanders or Biden Thursday--telling reporters, "let's take a deep breath and spend a little time on that"--Sanders supporters and surrogates wasted no time applauding her abundance of detailed plans for the country and regarding her as a crucial champion in the national progressive movement.
The youth-led Sunrise Movement, which threw its support behind Sanders in January, said the United States "is a better place" because of Warren's candidacy. The climate action group added, "We know she'll continue the fight alongside us, until we win."
Even before Warren exited the race, she faced pressure to bow out and partner with Sanders to "help build a progressive front against a moneyed and well-organized moderate force." After Warren struggled to win delegates in the Super Tuesday primaries earlier this week, supporters of both senators issued such calls on social media with the hashtag #BuildTogether.
Warren told her staffers Thursday that "our work continues, the fight goes on, and big dreams never die." Sanders, for his part, commended Warren for running "an extraordinary campaign of ideas" and said that "I know that she'll stay in this fight and we are grateful that she will."
Progressives expressed hope that Warren would indeed fight to help advance a progressive agenda--specifically by endorsing Sanders and helping him get to the White House by urging her supporters to rally behind him and provide the votes he needs to win the nomination over Biden and defeat Trump in November.
"While I write very much as an admirer, there is no point papering over the choice Warren and her supporters now face," D.D. Guttenplan, editor of The Nation, wrote Thursday. "I'm hoping that Elizabeth Warren does the right thing, and remains in the fight, on our side, rather than on the sidelines."
The Nation endorsed "Sanders and his movement" Monday. Guttenplan, who published his piece amid reports of Warren ending her campaign Thursday, added that "there is no sense pretending that for Warren... to simply withdraw from the race without endorsing anyone would amount to anything more than a boost for Joe Biden."
Nathan Robinson argued for Current Affairs: "We need Warren urgently to endorse and campaign for Sanders (and should welcome her supporters with open arms). But Elizabeth Warren's endorsement alone won't change things enough. We also need to take the gloves off when it comes to Joe Biden."
In op-ed for Common Dreams, Norman Solomon wrote that "Warren basically has two choices: While Bernie Sanders and Biden go toe to toe, she can maintain neutrality and avoid the ire of the Democratic Party's corporate establishment. Or she can form a united front with Sanders, taking a principled stand on behalf of progressive ideals."
Meagan Day, a staff writer at the socialist magazine Jacobin, pointed out on Twitter Thursday that many of Warren's plans remain popular among progressives and there's a lot of common ground between the Warren and Sanders bases.
"All Warren's greatest hits--a wealth tax, breaking up the banks, getting big money out of politics, guaranteeing universal healthcare/college/childcare, tackling the climate crisis--are still playing in the Bernie campaign," Day wrote. "Warren supporters, let's make the world good together."
Rep. Pramila Japayal (D-Wash.), Sanders' national health policy chair, thanked Warren for fighting for "racial justice, disability rights, LGBTQ equality, and so much more" in response to a tweet from Warren sharing the transcript of the former candidate's official announcement to campaign staffers.
Jayapal, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, also told Warren: "I'm proud to be in this movement with you."
The three members of "the Squad" who have endorsed Sanders--Democratics Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.)--tweeted kind words for Warren and her supporters:
"So many of my friends are devastated and I know this hits hard," tweeted Tlaib. "It is very personal for so many of Warren's supporters. I hope we are graceful and loving as they decide what is needed next."
Their comments came as part of a broader wave of gratitude for the issues that Warren addressed with her campaign, from the existential threat of the climate crisis to the importance of safeguarding reproductive freedom from an onslaught of anti-choice Republican attacks:
As Justice Democrats executive director Alexandra Rojas said in a statement Thursday:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has always been a powerful progressive voice, and her candidacy made this primary stronger. We are grateful for Sen. Warren for bringing in new people into the progressive movement and advancing major causes like a wealth tax, universal child care, and holding Wall Street accountable. Her work at the CFPB, her laser sharp debate skills, and tireless advocacy for big structural change has made our movement and our party better.
Rojas--whose group hadn't endorsed in the race but was part of a coalition that called for unity among the two candidates and their supporters in January--added that "Warren is one of the fiercest fighters for working families our movement has ever seen and we look forward to continuing the fight alongside her."
As for Biden, he also recognized Warren as a fierce fighter in a tweet Thursday. However, as The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill noted, the former vice president's full statement sounded to some like: "Thanks for participating. Now go back to the Senate."
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