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"It's all part of an ongoing disinformation campaign to provide cover for a mass atrocity," said one policy expert. "And the Biden and Trump administrations have gone along with it."
A day after Israeli military officials admitted they had never found proof of the Israel Defense Forces' persistent claim that Hamas was stealing the aid that the government allowed into Gaza over the past 20 months, U.S. President Donald Trump and the top Republican in the House showed no signs that they would stop amplifying what one lawmaker called a "big lie" about Israel's assault on Palestinians.
During a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland on Sunday, a reporter asked Trump about images of children in Gaza dying of starvation—images that have been widely available for months as leading human rights groups, progressive U.S. lawmakers, and Palestinians themselves have spoken about the impact of the blockade Israel first imposed in October 2023, but which the U.S. corporate media and political establishment have only begun to condemn in recent days.
Trump immediately pointed the finger at Hamas, saying: "People are stealing the food, they're stealing the money, the're stealing the money for the food. They're stealing weapons, they're stealing everything."
He added that the spiraling, human-caused starvation crisis in Gaza is "not a U.S. problem."
The U.S. is the largest international funder of the IDF and has provided the military with billions of dollars in weapons since Israel began bombarding Gaza in October 2023—claiming it was targeting Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 attacks even as it repeatedly bombed civilian infrastructure and authorized soldiers to fire at any civilians "virtually at will," according to IDF whistleblowers. The aid has continued to flow despite U.S. laws barring the government from providing military support to countries that block humanitarian relief.
"A lot of that food is getting stolen by Hamas," Trump added Sunday. "They're stealing the food, they're stealing a lot of things. You ship it in and they steal it, then they sell it."
Also on Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told NBC News' "Meet the Press" that Hamas has stolen "a huge amount" of food supplied by Israel to Gaza since October 2023.
The two Republican leaders persisted in making the claims as though The New York Times had not reported just a day earlier that IDF officials admitted the military had never found proof that Hamas systematically stole aid from the United Nations, the biggest provider of humanitarian relief in Gaza since 2023.
The officials said there was evidence that Hamas stole from smaller groups that provided a small amount of aid.
Georgios Petropoulos, who led the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza for more than a year during Israel's assault on the enclave, said the U.N. "and other organizations were dragged through the mud by accusations that Hamas steals from us."
Current Affairs editor Nathan Robinson said the "falsehood" that Hamas was routinely stealing U.N. aid "was the entire basis for Israel's destruction of the U.N. aid system, its introduction of the deadly 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,' and its infliction of starvation."
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who on Sunday called on the Trump administration to suspend support for the privatized Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)—which runs aid points where hundreds of Palestinians have been shot by Israeli forces—called the claims of Hamas stealing aid "a big lie."
"This is a big lie, the claim that when the U.N. organizations were delivering food to Palestinians, civilians, that it was being systematically diverted to Hamas," Van Hollen told CBS News' "Face the Nation."
An analysis by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) before it was dissolved in early July also found there was no evidence that Hamas systematically stole aid, the U.S. government said late last week.
As Trump continued to spread the lie despite the IDF's admission, Tom Fletcher, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs at OCHA, warned that airdrops of aid that Israel allowed into Gaza on Sunday were a "drop in the ocean" compared to what is needed in the enclave.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said Saturday that at least 127 Palestinians have starved to death, including 85 children. A near-total blockade has been in effect since March. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification reported earlier this month that 85% of the population in Gaza is now in Phase 5 of starvation, defined as "an extreme deprivation of food."
Hani Mahmoud of Al Jazeera reported that the effect of the aid airdrops is "equivalent to none," considering the impact the monthslong blockade has had. The airdrops in northern Gaza, he said, have taken place near a restricted military area, making the aid difficult to access.
"We're talking about only seven pallets of aid filled with flour and other basic necessities. That's almost the load of one truck, or half of a truck, coming from the crossings into the Gaza Strip," said Mahmoud. Before Israel began bombarding Gaza, an average of 500 aid trucks entered the enclave each day to support the population.
"This is not a solution when we talk about passing the tipping point of this enforced starvation," he said, "and according to medical sources we spoke to earlier today, they confirmed that at this point we're going to see mass-scale starvation mortality."
Trump immediately pointed the finger at Hamas, saying: "People are stealing the food, they're stealing the money, the're stealing the money for the food. They're stealing weapons, they're stealing everything."
He added that the spiraling, human-caused starvation crisis in Gaza is "not a U.S. problem."
The U.S. is the largest international funder of the IDF and has provided the military with billions of dollars in weapons since Israel began bombarding Gaza in October 2023—claiming it was targeting Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 attacks even as it repeatedly bombed civilian infrastructure and authorized soldiers to fire at any civilians "virtually at will," according to IDF whistleblowers. The aid has continued to flow despite U.S. laws barring the government from providing military support to countries that block humanitarian relief.
"A lot of that food is getting stolen by Hamas," Trump added Sunday. "They're stealing the food, they're stealing a lot of things. You ship it in and they steal it, then they sell it."
Also on Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told NBC News' "Meet the Press" that Hamas has stolen "a huge amount" of food supplied by Israel to Gaza since October 2023.
The two Republican leaders persisted in making the claims as though The New York Times had not reported just a day earlier that IDF officials admitted the military had never found proof that Hamas systematically stole aid from the United Nations, the biggest provider of humanitarian relief in Gaza since 2023.
The officials said there was evidence that Hamas stole from smaller groups that provided a small amount of aid.
Georgios Petropoulos, who led the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza for more than a year during Israel's assault on the enclave, said the U.N. "and other organizations were dragged through the mud by accusations that Hamas steals from us."
Current Affairs editor Nathan Robinson said the "falsehood" that Hamas was routinely stealing U.N. aid "was the entire basis for Israel's destruction of the U.N. aid system, its introduction of the deadly 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,' and its infliction of starvation."
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who on Sunday called on the Trump administration to suspend support for the privatized Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)—which runs aid points where hundreds of Palestinians have been shot by Israeli forces—called the claims of Hamas stealing aid "a big lie."
"This is a big lie, the claim that when the U.N. organizations were delivering food to Palestinians, civilians, that it was being systematically diverted to Hamas," Van Hollen told CBS News' "Face the Nation."
An analysis by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) before it was dissolved in early July also found there was no evidence that Hamas systematically stole aid, the U.S. government said late last week.
As Trump continued to spread the lie despite the IDF's admission, Tom Fletcher, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs at OCHA, warned that airdrops of aid that Israel allowed into Gaza on Sunday were a "drop in the ocean" compared to what is needed in the enclave.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said Saturday that at least 127 Palestinians have starved to death, including 85 children. A near-total blockade has been in effect since March. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification reported earlier this month that 85% of the population in Gaza is now in Phase 5 of starvation, defined as "an extreme deprivation of food."
Hani Mahmoud of Al Jazeera reported that the effect of the aid airdrops is "equivalent to none," considering the impact the monthslong blockade has had. The airdrops in northern Gaza, he said, have taken place near a restricted military area, making the aid difficult to access.
"We're talking about only seven pallets of aid filled with flour and other basic necessities. That's almost the load of one truck, or half of a truck, coming from the crossings into the Gaza Strip," said Mahmoud. Before Israel began bombarding Gaza, an average of 500 aid trucks entered the enclave each day to support the population.
"This is not a solution when we talk about passing the tipping point of this enforced starvation," he said, "and according to medical sources we spoke to earlier today, they confirmed that at this point we're going to see mass-scale starvation mortality."
Imagine Johnson, a lawyer, took an oath to uphold the Constitution yet has no interest in safeguarding the independence of the congressional branch of our government.
The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Johnson—probably the worst speaker in American history—shut down the House early this week before its five-week vacation. He wants to avoid holding votes on releasing the Epstein files that reportedly include, among other notables, President Donald J. Trump.
This is the latest valet service provided by a spineless Johnson, a Trump toady, whose groveling has no known boundaries. Imagine Johnson, a lawyer, took an oath to uphold the Constitution yet has no interest in safeguarding the independence of the congressional branch of our government.
Like Trump, he falsely characterizes what is in the Trump corporate giveaway tax-budget bill that shattered the country’s social safety net for American families. No one has ever even dared to promote such a draconian tax bill. Our country’s safety net has had the support of both parties until the wrecking crew of Trump, Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) showed up.
Johnson declined to protect his own party members who were raising serious questions about Trump’s big, destructive bill. He allowed the Trumpsters to physically threaten these dissenters to get them back in line.
No matter who is in control, the GOP or the Democrats, the crass obeisance to the executive branch remains the surrendering norm.
Most seriously, he has further crumpled the Founders’ system of checks and balances by turning the House of Representatives into an automatic rubber stamp for Trump. Johnson even refuses to allow his committee chairs to hold hearings on legislation Trump wants to ram through Congress. Johnson and his cronies do no oversight of the executive branch despite Trump’s vast violations and vicious cruelties, such as firing tens of thousands of key federal civil servants and further debilitating the resources of the Internal Revenue Service to collect taxes from the evasive super-rich and big companies. And the list goes on.
As The New York Times elaborated further with this description:
Mr. Johnson’s decision to shut down the House early was the latest example of how the speaker has in many ways ceded the chamber’s independence in order to please or avoid angering Mr. Trump. He has deferred to the president on matters large and small, including when it comes to Congress’ spending power. He quietly maneuvered this year to yield the House’s ability to weigh in on Mr. Trump’s tariffs, in order to spare Republicans from having to cast politically tricky votes on whether to end them.
The larger decline of Congress providing countervailing checks and balances reflecting the interests of the people, whose sovereign power under the Constitution has been delegated to it as a public trust, and has been eroded for decades. (See, “Congressional Surrender and Presidential Overreach” by Bruce Fein).
No matter who is in control, the GOP or the Democrats, the crass obeisance to the executive branch remains the surrendering norm.
The consensus by the two parties extends to the minimal days that Congress is actually in session. The members take numerous vacations (they call them “recesses”). They see the weeks they work as starting on Tuesday and ending on Thursday. In between even those days, they are busy in fundraising offices dialing for campaign dollars.
With such limited workdays for a full-time, well-paying job, members of Congress have less time for hearings to investigate wrongdoing, waste, and neglect of actions in the executive branch or the dubious ethical practices in the federal judiciary and federal prosecutors’ offices.
Increasingly, it is nearly impossible for informed citizens to secure congressional hearings and be invited as witnesses, as was the case in the 60s and 70s. Congress is, however, “open for business” if you represent big corporations. Congress has built a cocoon around itself with a sign reading: Business Lobbyists Only. People are bitterly complaining about their inability to get through to their senators or representatives if they are not big campaign contributors or from big business. (See, The Incommunicados by Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein).
The solution is obvious. The people back home must organize Congress Watch Groups—call it a crucial civic hobby (See: The Day the Rats Vetoed Congress)—and establish a tradition of formally summoning their wayward lawmakers to the people’s Town Meetings with the people’s agendas on the table (See, Breaking Through Power: It’s Easier Than We Think, City Lights Books).
There are many overdue changes and reforms backed by large majorities of liberal and conservative voters to make Watchdog Groups a formidable force. One percent of the voters can change Congress, especially because the necessities of the People are widely and strongly supported by millions of voters.
"The public deserves to know who was complicit in Epstein's heinous crimes, including people with immense power in our government," said the top House Oversight Committee Democrat.
A congressional subcommittee voted Wednesday to subpoena the U.S. Department of Justice to hand over files related to deceased convicted child sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, thwarting an apparent effort by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to delay further action on the matter until after summer recess.
The House Oversight Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement voted 8-2 on a motion by Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) to subpoena the DOJ for all records related to the investigation into Epstein. The longtime former friend of President Donald Trump was convicted of procuring a child for prostitution in 2008 and faced federal child sex trafficking charges at the time of his suspicious 2019 jailhouse death, which was officially ruled a suicide.
"Numerous members of this committee and this subcommittee have called for answers and transparency," said Lee, the top Democrat on the subcommittee. "So let's do something about it."
In addition to Lee, the motion was backed by Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Reps. Wesley Bell (D-Mo.), Brian Jack (R-Ga.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.).
"Today, Oversight Democrats fought for transparency and accountability on the Epstein files and won," Garcia said in a statement. "House Republicans didn't make it easy, but the motion was finally passed to force the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files."
"Let's be clear: This is a huge win for the American people," he added. "The public deserves to know who was complicit in Epstein's heinous crimes, including people with immense power in our government. Today's vote was just the first step toward accountability, and we will continue pushing for the truth."
Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) must now sign the subpoena so it may be officially issued to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Comer agreed to subpoena Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell—who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking and other crimes as part of Epstein's alleged operation—following a separate Oversight subcommittee's vote on Tuesday.
Johnson (La.) on Tuesday said the lower chamber would adjourn on Wednesday, one day earlier than scheduled. Critics called the move a blatant attempt to thwart a vote on the Epstein documents, pointing to other recent moves, including the House Rules Committee blocking an amendment that would have forced the DOJ to release the full files to the public, as proof of GOP stonewalling.
Epstein allegedly ran a sex trafficking network involving underage girls, whom he is accused of flying aboard his personal jet—dubbed the "Lolita Express"—to his private island, Little St. James in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the billionaire financier and his guests abused the children.
Trump partied with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s and flew on the "Lolita Express" numerous times—although there is no evidence that he ever visited Little St. James or was involved in any of Epstein's crimes. Still, the president has appeared eager to move on from the issue after he and key members of his administration repeatedly advocated for the release of the Epstein files. Trump has accused Democrats of amplifying the Epstein "hoax" and has derided his supporters demanding full disclosure of all related documents as "weaklings."
Apparently confirming what estranged Trump adviser Elon Musk and others have asserted, Bondi informed the president in May that his name appears in the Epstein files, according to Wall Street Journal reporting published Wednesday. Trump is suing the paper and two reporters, as well as parent company News Corp and its founder Rupert Murdoch, over reporting about a bawdily illustrated letter Trump allegedly wrote for Epstein.
Asked by CNN Wednesday whether her constituents care about the Epstein case, Lee replied, "Yes, I think the American people want transparency."
"At the end of the day, we have to send a message that whether you are the littlest guy or you are the most powerful person in this nation, that if you commit a crime, if you do things that we aren't supposed to do, that there will be some accountability," she added. "Right now, if we don't vote on this, or if we don't release these files, we're sending a message that if you are a powerful abuser... you'll be covered."