It's Thursday morning, what do we know?
Britain is roiled and John Eastman loses in court
What do we know?
U.S. District Court Judge David Carter, who’s been something of a bête noir for Trumpland, struck again on Wednesday. In an 18-page opinion, Judge Carter ruled that four emails John Eastman had been refusing to turn over to the January 6th Committee are not protected by attorney-client privilege. Carter said, “these four documents are sufficiently related to and in furtherance of the obstruction crime,” The emails involve information that Eastman included in court filings on behalf of Donald Trump that both he and Trump knew were false. Documents which Trump signed, verifying their accuracy. The documents relate to a case Trump and his attorneys attempted to bring in a Georgia court and could also be relevant to the investigation being conducted by Fani Willis, the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia
British Prime Minister Liz Truss’s dramatic tenure continues to reverberate. Truss, who has only been British P.M. for a few weeks, shocked British markets and lawmakers shortly after taking up residence in No. 10, with a radical economic plan that included a combination of stimulus and tax cuts. The plan, which tanked the British pound and sent government borrowing costs soaring into the stratosphere, forced Truss to reverse course almost immediately and fire her close ally, longtime friend and co-architect of the suicide pact masquerading as an economic plan, Kwasi Kwarteng, as Chancellor of the Exchequer. A post he held for the second shortest amount of time in British history. Truss’s first few weeks have been described as ‘disastrous’, and ‘cataclysmic’ and pushed Britain into an economic crisis that has led officials in the U.S. to ask whether a similar financial meltdown is possible here
Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi returned home on Wednesday. The Iranian athlete gave an interview on state television upon landing in Tehran, where she said competing without her hijab had been an unintentional act. As Rekabi gave her interview inside Imam Khomeini International Airport, thousands of protesters, including women without head coverings, chanted “Elnaz the Champion!” outside. Rekabi’s ultimate fate remains unknown and activists and Iranian dissidents outside the country fear that she will be arrested and jailed
In a reassuring move, Italy’s next likely Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, told Putin-loving former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, to shut the hell up in his praise for the Russian despot. Berlusconi leads Italy’s far-right Forza Italia party and will likely be part of Meloni’s majority coalition when she forms her new government. Meloni reassured other Western leaders, saying, “Italy, with its head high, is part of Europe and the NATO Atlantic alliance,” adding, “Italy will never be the weak link of the West with us in government”
What do we know in Ukraine?
Vladimir Putin declared martial law on Wednesday in the four provinces Russia “annexed” in its sham referenda this past September. The declaration is the latest example of Moscow’s failure to control an area it wrongfully claims as Russian territory. The latest declaration comes as Russian officials in Kherson have begun evacuating residents of the city across the Dnipro River, deeper into Russian-held territory. Putin’s decree authorized the creation of civil defense forces, the potential imposition of curfews, restrictions on travel and public gatherings, further censorship and broader law enforcement powers in Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia. The declaration would also allow Russian officials in Kherson to enforce their evacuation order and forcibly remove city residents. State Department official, Vedant Patel, said of the declaration, "It should be no surprise to anybody that Russia is resorting to desperate tactics to try and enforce control in these areas,"
Ukrainian Air Defense officials said they shot down four Russian cruise missiles and 10 Iranian-made drones on Wednesday. The failed attacks were part of Russian efforts to destroy Ukrainian infrastructure ahead of winter. The goal of Russian attacks is to so thoroughly demolish Ukrainian power and water systems that they will need to be entirely rebuilt, leaving Ukrainians without basic services for extended periods during the winter