Israeli settler violence 'must stop': French FM

AFP
Mon, 5 February 2024 

France's Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne is making his first visit to the region since taking office in January, as part of a shakeup by the Macron administration (GIL COHEN-MAGEN)

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said Monday that Israeli "settler violence must stop" against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Under no circumstances can there be forced displacement of Palestinians, neither out of Gaza nor out of the West Bank," Sejourne said during a Middle East tour aimed at securing a truce between Israel and militant group Hamas in Gaza.

The French minister denounced anti-Palestinian rhetoric and "even calls to commit war crimes" by Israeli officials, after some Netanyahu allies have appeared to endorse Jewish re-settlement of the Gaza Strip after the war.


Sejourne called for supporting the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority of president Mahmud Abbas.

"The future of the Gaza Strip is inseparable from the future of the West Bank, we must prepare for this future by supporting the Palestinian Authority," Sejourne said.

"It must renew itself and redeploy as soon as possible in the Gaza Strip," where Hamas seized power in 2007, he added.

"I repeat: Gaza is Palestinian land," the top French diplomat said on his first tour of the region since taking office in January.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas in 2007 ousted Gaza forces loyal to the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited autonomy in parts of the West Bank.

Israel in 2005 withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza, but in the West Bank there are around 490,000 Israelis living among approximately three million Palestinians in settlements that are considered illegal under international law.

Since the October 7 attack triggered war between Israel and Hamas, at least 381 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops and settlers in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah.

Israeli rights group Yesh Din dubbed 2023 the "most violent" year on record for settler attacks.

Sejourne called for "a comprehensive political solution, with two states living in peace side by side", urging the resumption of the peace process "without delay".

Israel and the Palestinians have not held substantive peace talks in more than a decade.

"Without a political solution, there will be no just and lasting peace in the Middle East," Sejourne said.

Later on Monday, Sejourne met his Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki as well as Abbas in Ramallah.

"I reiterated... the (French) demand of a durable ceasefire (in Gaza) for humanitarian reasons," Sejourne said after the meetings, adding that "the questions of the hostages" still held in Gaza, among them three French nationals, remained "a priority for diplomatic action" by France.

blb-dla/ibz/jd/yad/des

UK

Rishi Sunak suggests Sir Keir Starmer is a ‘terrorist sympathiser’

SLANDER, DEFAMATION

Daniel Martin
Mon, 5 February 2024 

Rishi Sunak says he will let the facts speak for themselves over Labour leader being 'on side' of Islamist group - Piers Morgan Uncensored/TalkTV

Rishi Sunak has said Sir Keir Starmer was “on the side” of a major Islamist group and suggested he was a “terrorist sympathiser”.

Asked whether he thought the Labour leader was a terrorist sympathiser, the Prime Minister said: “I would say let the facts speak for themselves.”

The Labour leader represented the extremist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir in court during his legal career before he became an MP.


In a Talk Radio interview with Piers Morgan, Mr Sunak said his government had been “very clear” that the group should be banned in the UK.

“Again the question for Keir Starmer: he once upon a time represented Hizb ut-Tahrir,” he said.

“Actually he supported them in resisting proscription elsewhere. And that is who he was on the side of. We are trying to ban these people and he was busy trying to represent them…”

Mr Morgan then asked: “Do you think he is a terrorist sympathiser?”

Mr Sunak responded: “Well I would say let the facts speak for themselves, right?

“He was their lawyer when they were trying to resist this. We have just proscribed them because we think that is what they are. And these things speak to people’s values, right?”

NHS ban an option

He later went on to argue that leaders of Hizb ut-Tahrir should not be able to work for the NHS as a doctor.

“From this moment on – remember these things are forward-looking – but there are clearly questions to answer which the NHS are rightly looking at,” he said.

“It’s obviously not right for me to comment on individual people, but let me just be clear, forget about working in a particular place, it is illegal for a proscribed terrorist organisation, for someone to be glorifying that organisation and what they do, is already illegal under our law.

“And the same with these protests, when you see people glorifying what Hamas have done: that is against the law, right? That is not in accordance with the values of our country and those people should be accountable for that.”

A spokesman for Sir Keir said: “Keir oversaw the first-ever prosecution of senior members of al-Qaeda, the jailing of the airline liquid bomb plotters and the deportation of countless terrorists. The Prime Minister can only dream of having such a record of serving his country.”

Mr Sunak has previously attacked Sir Keir for advising Hizb-ut Tahrir, saying: “I ban them, he invoices them.”

UN chief names independent panel to assess UNRWA agency in Gaza


AFP
Mon, 5 February 2024 

An Israeli border guard stands by during a protest by Israeli right-wing activists (not in frame) outside the West Bank field office of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Jerusalem (AHMAD GHARABLI)

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres announced Monday the creation of an independent panel to assess UNRWA, its embattled agency tasked with helping Palestinian refugees.

UNRWA is under fire over accusations by Israel that 12 staff members were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.

More than a dozen countries, including the United States, Germany, Britain and Sweden, have suspended funding to the agency.


The new independent panel will be led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, who will work with three European research organizations, the UN said in a statement.

The goal of the probe is to "assess whether the agency is doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious breaches when they are made."

The panel is due to submit an interim report to Guterres, the UN secretary-general, in late March, and then a final one in late April, with, if necessary, recommendations for "improvement and strengthening" of the agency's mechanisms.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz congratulated the UN for forming this panel.

"We will submit all evidence highlighting @UNRWA's ties to terrorism and its harmful effects on regional stability," Katz wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"It is imperative that this committee brings the truth to light," he added.

However, this new panel is not charged with probing the specific allegations Israel has made against the UNRWA employees it says were involved in the Hamas attack.

Rather, this is being done in an internal probe that the United Nations itself launched last month after the accusations were first made against them.

"We hope that donors have taken clear notice of the swift action taken by the secretary general... to address head on issues that may exist," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The October 7 attack by Hamas resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that the UN agency had been "totally infiltrated" by the group, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.

Vowing to eliminate Hamas, Israel launched a massive military offensive that has killed at least 27,478 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-ruled territory's health ministry.

The European groups helping in this independent assessment of UNRWA are the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

UNRWA stands for United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

abd/dw/bfm

Bristol University professor sacked for anti-Zionist views wins discrimination case

Louisa Clarence-Smith
Mon, 5 February 2024 

Prof David Miller was employed by the university in 2018, and then dismissed in 2021 - PA 

A Bristol University professor sacked for his anti-Zionist views was unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has found.

Professor David Miller successfully claimed discrimination based on his philosophical belief that Zionism is inherently racist, imperialist and colonial.

Lawyers representing Prof Miller said the judgment established for the first time that anti-Zionist beliefs are protected in the workplace.

Prof Miller was employed by the University of Bristol as a professor of political sociology in 2018, until he was dismissed in 2021.

He sparked anger among Jewish students in 2019 when a slideshow for one of his lectures described parts of the “Zionist movement” as one of the “five pillars” of Islamophobia.
A philosophical belief

The professor claimed that he was subject to an organised campaign by groups and individuals opposed to his anti-Zionist views, which was aimed at getting him sacked.

He also alleged that the university failed to support him and unfairly dismissed him.

In a judgment handed down on Monday by Judge Rohan Pirani, the Bristol employment tribunal ruled that the professor’s anti-Zionist beliefs qualified as a philosophical belief and as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

It found that he was subject to direct discrimination because of his anti-Zionist belief in relation to the university’s decision to sack him.

However, it dismissed further claims of indirect and direct discrimination.

Zillur Rahman, partner at law firm Rahman Lowe, who represented Prof Miller, said: “This is a landmark case and marks a pivotal moment in the history of our country for those who believe in upholding the rights of Palestinians.”

Prof Miller said: “I am extremely pleased that the tribunal has concluded that I was unfairly and wrongfully dismissed by the University of Bristol. I am also very proud that we have managed to establish that anti-Zionist views qualify as a protected belief under the UK Equality Act.

“This was the most important reason for taking the case and I hope it will become a touchstone precedent in all the future battles that we face with the racist and genocidal ideology of Zionism and the movement to which it is attached.”
‘Disappointment’ with ruling

Responding to the judgment, the Union of Jewish Students said it was “disappointed” by the decision which could set a “dangerous precedent” about what can be said on campus about Jewish students and societies.

Bristol University said it was “disappointed” with the ruling and was reviewing the tribunal’s findings.

A spokesperson said: “After a full investigation and careful deliberation, the University concluded that Dr Miller did not meet the standards of behaviour we expect from our staff in relation to comments he made in February 2021 about students and student societies linked to the University.

“As a result and considering our responsibilities to our students and the wider University community, his employment was terminated.

“We recognise that these matters have caused deep concern for many, and that members of our community hold very different views from one another. We would, therefore, encourage everyone to respond in a responsible and sensitive way in the current climate.

“The University of Bristol remains committed to fostering a positive working and learning environment that enriches lives and where the essential principles of academic freedom are preserved.”

UK

Electric van maker once valued at £10bn collapses into administration


James Titcomb
Mon, 5 February 2024 

Arrival previously signed agreements to supply numerous companies with vehicles but ultimately failed to sell any finished models

A British electric van maker once valued at $13bn (£10bn) has gone into administration after burning through $1.5bn without having sold a vehicle.

Oxfordshire-based Arrival has appointed administrators at EY to find a buyer for the business, blaming “challenging market and macroeconomic conditions”.

Arrival’s Nasdaq flotation in 2021 was the biggest ever for a British company but shares have fallen by 99.98pc as it became clear that the company was unable to service its debts.

“The group’s liquidity position has been impacted by challenging market and macroeconomic conditions resulting in delays in getting the group’s products to market,” the administrators said.

“As such, the Joint Administrators are now exploring options for the sale of the business and assets of the Companies, including its electric vehicle platforms, software, intellectual property and R&D assets, for the benefit of creditors.”

Last week, Arrival said it would be delisted from the Nasdaq after failing to release financial updates or hold an annual meeting. The company has defaulted on its debts despite seeking to cut costs with repeated job losses.

Arrival secured hundreds of millions of investment from the likes of BlackRock, BNP Paribas and Hyundai before going public. Denis Sverdlov, a Russian businessman who founded the company, stepped down as chief executive in 2022.

Denis Sverdlov stepped down as Arrival chief executive less than two years after having taken the company pubilc

The company had been seeking a potential sale or investment but EY were appointed administrators of its two UK entities, which own its key assets, on Monday.

Arrival had planned to make electric vans and buses at small, robot-led “microfactories” that would be cheaper to set up than traditional car plants.

It had signed agreements with the delivery giant UPS to deliver as many as 10,000 vehicles as well as a deal with Uber to produce cars purpose-built for taxi apps.

The company last year switched its plans to manufacturing in America in an attempt to benefit from Biden administration subsidies, although production never began.

The company had more than $300m in debt as of last June.

A series of other electric vehicle companies that pursued high-stakes US listings during a market boom in 2020 and 2021, such as Lordstown Motors and Nikola, have also struggled.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Ex-NFL quarterback Favre must finish repaying misspent welfare money, Mississippi auditor says

EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Mon, February 5, 2024 

Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre speaks with reporters prior to his induction to the Mississippi Hall of Fame in Jackson, Miss., Aug. 1, 2015. Mississippi's state auditor filed court papers Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, renewing his call for Favre to repay the state for welfare money that the auditor says was improperly spent on projects backed by the retired NFL quarterback. 

(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)More


JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi's state auditor filed court papers Monday renewing his call for Brett Favre to repay the state for welfare money that the auditor says was improperly spent on projects backed by the retired NFL quarterback.

Auditor Shad White's demand of nearly $730,000 from Favre is the latest twist in a long-running legal battle over money that was supposed to help some of the poorest people in one of the poorest states in the nation.

Favre, a Pro Football Hall of Fame member who lives in Mississippi, filed lawsuits in February 2023 accusing White and two national sportscasters of defaming him in public discussions about welfare misspending.

White said in 2020 that Favre had improperly received $1.1 million in speaking fees from a nonprofit organization that spent welfare with approval from the Mississippi Department of Human Services. The money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program was to go toward a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre agreed to lead fundraising efforts for the facility at his alma mater, where his daughter started playing on the volleyball team in 2017.

“Favre had no legal right to the possession or control of this $1.1 Million,” White's attorneys wrote in the court filing Monday.

Favre repaid $500,000 to the state in May 2020 and $600,000 in October 2021, but the new court filing said he still owes $729,790 because interest caused growth in the original amount he owed.

“It boggles the mind that Mr. Favre could imagine he is entitled to the equivalent of an interest-free loan of $1.1 million in taxpayer money, especially money intended for the benefit of the poor," White said in a statement Monday.

The Associated Press left voicemail messages for two of Favre's attorneys Monday, and they did not immediately respond.

In October, a federal judge dismissed Favre's defamation lawsuit against Shannon Sharpe, a former NFL player who's now a broadcaster. In May, Favre ended his lawsuit against sportscaster Pat McAfee, who is a former NFL punter, after McAfee apologized for on-air statements that Favre had been “stealing from poor people in Mississippi.”

Favre's defamation lawsuit against White is still pending, and White's filing Monday was a counterclaim in that suit.

Mississippi prosecutors have said millions of federal welfare dollars for low-income residents were squandered on projects supported by wealthy or well-connected people from 2016 to 2019.

A lawsuit filed by the Department of Human Services in 2022 said TANF money was improperly spent, including on projects Favre supported: $5 million for the volleyball arena and $1.7 million toward development of a concussion treatment drug.

No criminal charges have been brought against Favre, although a former department director and other people have pleaded guilty to their part in the misspending.

MS Auditor Shad White counter-sues Brett Favre. See why

Grant McLaughlin, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
Mon, February 5, 2024 

State Auditor Shad White has filed a countersuit against former NFL quarterback Brett Favre to repay interest and principal money from $1.1 million he previously received in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds.

Favre had sued White last February for defamation.

White was previously represented in that case, filed with the Hinds County Circuit Court last year, by Attorney General Lynn Fitch, but she dropped White as a client after she became aware that a book White was writing would contain information that called her office’s authority into question.

“Mississippi’s Constitution and laws require that the State Auditor act to protect the taxpayers and fully collect all public funds which Mr. Favre received from Nancy New and John Davis. Mr. Favre’s meritless defamation suit provides the opportunity for the recovery of the principal and interest which Mr. Favre failed to repay,” White said Monday in a press release.

More on Fitch dropping White MS Attorney General Lynn Fitch no longer representing Shad White in Brett Favre suit

Shad White's 2024 agenda: White eyes education as part of his 2024 agenda

Shad White announced a lawsuit against former NFL star Brett Favre on Monday.

The counter claim that was filed Monday asks the court to require Favre to repay $729,790 in principal and interest he could owe on $1.1 million in welfare funds.

According to White in the press release, his office discovered “illegal” transfers to Favre during an earlier investigation and demanded Favre repay the amount in 2021. Favre admitted fault but failed to pay the entire amount due.

Favre, a former Southern Miss and star NFL football player, filed a lawsuit in February of 2023 for comments made on social media by White regarding Favre’s character and the state’s civil case against him.

In 2023, the state also named Favre as one of 38 defendants in a civil case filed by the Mississippi Department of Human Service aiming to reclaim about $77 million in misspent Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds, $5 million of which paid for a new volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Two other defendants in the case, Nancy and Zachary New, pled guilty in 2022 on several charges, including bribing a public official, fraud against the government and wire fraud, among others.

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

Two other defendants in the case, Nancy and Zachary New, pled guilty in 2022 on several charges, including bribing a public official, fraud against the government and wire fraud, among others.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Shad White sues Brett Favre related to Mississippi welfare scandal

Swedish prosecutor plans Nord Stream blast decision this week

Reuters
Mon, February 5, 2024

A satellite image shows gas leaks from Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -The prosecutor leading Sweden's probe into the Nord Stream gas pipeline blasts in the Baltic Sea in 2022 plans to announce a decision this week on whether to drop the case, press charges or request that someone is detained, his office said on Monday.

The statement confirmed an earlier report by Swedish daily Expressen. It was not immediately clear which day an announcement would be made, a spokesperson for the prosecutor's office said.

The pipelines transporting Russian gas to Germany were ruptured by a series of explosions in Swedish and Danish economic zones.

Sweden shortly after the incident said its investigation in the Swedish economic zone found traces of explosives on site, showing that sabotage had taken place. It has not publicly identified any suspects.

Danish police, who are conducting their own investigation, declined to comment on Monday.

Moscow has accused Britain and the United States of involvement in the blasts and has called for a "transparent international investigation".

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 put Europe's reliance on Russian natural gas in the political spotlight, and the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines hastened the region's switch to other energy suppliers.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm, additional reporting by Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen, editing by Terje Solsvik)

Philippines ready to use 'forces' to quell any secession attempt- official

Reuters
Updated Sun, February 4, 2024 

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine government is ready to use "authority and forces" against attempts to divide the nation, a security official said Sunday, after former President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to separate some southern islands from the rest of the archipelago.

Duterte has called for the independence of his hometown Mindanao from the Philippines as his alliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr disintegrated this week over disagreements around efforts to amend the constitution.

Marcos said amending the 1987 constitution was meant to ease foreign investments, but Duterte accused him of using constitutional change to stay in power.


National security adviser Eduardo Ano said in a statement any attempt to secede "will be met by the government with resolute force", citing "recent calls to separate Mindanao" but without specifically naming Duterte.

"The national government will not hesitate to use its authority and forces to quell and stop any and all attempts to dismember the Republic," Ano said.

Ano said calls for secession could reverse the gains of government's peace deal with former separatist groups.

Violence and conflict had plagued Mindanao for decades as the government battled insurgents and extremists, which has discouraged investments and left many villages in poverty.

The region's largest rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), had signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government in 2014, withdrawing their fight for independence in exchange for enhanced autonomy in a Muslim region called the Bangsamoro.

Bangsamoro chief minister Ahod Ebrahim said in a statement on Friday he remains committed to the peace agreement while government peace process adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. called on Filipinos to "turn away from any call...to destabilize" the country.

Philippine armed forces chief Romeo Brawner told soldiers on Saturday "to remain united and loyal to the constitution and the chain of command".

(Reporting by Mikhail Flores; editing by Miral Fahmy)


Defense Chief Vows to Secure Philippines Amid Secession Threat
Cliff Venzon
Mon, February 5, 2024 at 12:48 AM MST·1 min read
2




(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines’ top defense official on Monday vowed to protect the country’s territory after former President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to split his native Mindanao island from the rest of the Southeast Asian nation.

“The mandate of the Department of National Defense is to secure the sovereignty of the State and integrity of the national territory as enshrined in the Constitution,” Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said in a terse statement. “We will strictly enforce this mandate whether externally or internally,” he added.

Teodoro is the latest official in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s government to push back against Duterte’s warning last week that Mindanao would become independent if Marcos goes ahead with plans to amend the 1987 Constitution.

National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano on Sunday said the national government “will not hesitate to use its authority and forces to quell and stop any and all attempts to dismember the Republic.”

Marcos has backed efforts to revise the economic provisions of the constitution to spur the economy, but Duterte — father of incumbent Vice President Sara Duterte — has accused him of seeking to amend the charter to prolong his stay in office that is currently limited to a single, six-year term.


Philippines to Use ‘Forces’ to Quell Secession Attempts, Official Says

Manolo Serapio Jr.
Sun, February 4, 2024 


(Bloomberg) -- The Philippine government will use its “authority and forces” to stamp out any attempt to separate the country, its national security adviser said following a threat by former leader Rodrigo Duterte to split his native Mindanao from the rest of the nation.

“The national government will not hesitate to use its authority and forces to quell and stop any and all attempts to dismember the Republic,” Eduardo Ano, the security official in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s government, said in a statement on Sunday.

His comments, which didn’t name Duterte, came after the former president warned last week that the Mindanao region will become independent if his successor goes ahead with plans to amend the constitution. Marcos has backed efforts to revise the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution to spur the economy, but the 78-year-old ex-leader has accused him of seeking to amend the charter to cement his power.

The remarks underscore the deepening cracks in the alliance of the Philippines’ two most powerful political families that won the 2022 election ahead of midterm polls next year.

In an interview with a local broadcaster last month, Marcos expressed concern over the Southeast Asian nation’s restrictive economic provisions and kept the door open to changes in politicians’ term limits. Duterte warned Marcos that if he pushes ahead, he would be ousted like his father who ruled for two decades by revising the constitution.

The late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown by a popular revolt in 1986. A new constitution ratified a year later limits the country’s leader to a single, six-year term to prevent future abuse of power.

Other politicians, including Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, say changing the charter is ill-timed, as the nation is still grappling with high food prices, crimes and other pressing problems. Sara Duterte is an early favorite to succeed Marcos in the 2028 presidential election.

Ano said calls for secession threaten to undo efforts to end decades of armed conflict in Mindanao, the second-largest island in the Philippines. The government in 2014 reached a peace agreement with the largest Muslim rebel group in the region after decades of insurgency that killed as many as 200,000 people and hurt the development of its rich resources.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

MAGAPUBLICAN

"She's a joke": Nancy Mace's ex-aides spill the beans after entire staff bails in just 3 months

Gabriella Ferrigine
Mon, February 5, 2024 

Nancy Mace 

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

The entirety of Rep. Nancy Mace's, R-S.C., Washington, D.C. staff has reportedly turned over since November 1, 2023, three sources close to the situation told The Daily Beast.

Former employees alleged a "toxic" workplace, with one former senior employee noting to the Daily Beast that Mace was "abusive" in her methods of using workplace software to excessively communicate with staffers. The source claimed that Mace's correspondence was "constant," adding that she would “micromanage the office all day and into the night and early morning.”

“If she needed us, we had to answer within eight minutes,” another former staffer alleged in describing how Mace had reportedly called employees late at night on Christmas Eve. “Nancy is delusional as a boss,” they continued. “She says nothing publicly without her consultants or senior staffers telling her to, but takes credit for everything. She’s a walking teleprompter.”

The ex-employee also told the Daily Beast that Mace "has no idea what it actually means to be a member of Congress and is too scared and self-conscious to deal with other people, so she accomplished nothing.”

“All this is why pretty much every staffer and fellow member on the Hill thinks she’s a joke. Also a big reason why she’s only able to hire former George Santos staffers right now," the former staffer said.

Other former workers described a “demoralizing environment for staff," and a control-hungry Mace who "didn’t see the staff as people but as property.”

Lori Khatod, Mace's new chief of staff, did not seem concerned by the total turnover, calling it a “non-issue" and writing in a text, “​​New coach, new team in the DC office."

The Daily Beast's report also described an incident in December in which Khatod called the Capitol Police on Mace's former chief of staff, Dan Hanlon, who was fired days earlier. Khatod had attempted to send other employees home early, but some ultimately stayed behind.

“At that moment, I felt the most unsafe I ever had on the Hill, when I realized she was using the Capitol Police to intimidate staff,” one staffer said.

Khatod in a statement related to the accusations surrounding Mace and Hanlon said, “Like most offices, we do not discuss internal processes. We adhere and accommodate employees whose sincerely held religious beliefs, practices or observances conflict with regular work requirements.”

Opinion

Goofy 'God's Army' convoy on Texas border shows Trump's MAGA movement is just one long con

Rex Huppke, USA TODAY
Updated Mon, February 5, 2024

It’s time for non-brainwashed Americans and the media at large to accept something: Former President Donald Trump’s “MAGA movement” is a tissue-paper tiger.

This was on vivid display in Texas over the weekend. A much-ballyhooed convoy of MAGA patriots descended on a town near the southern border, ostensibly ready to protect America from what right-wing politicians like Gov. Greg Abbott cynically, dangerously and falsely call “an invasion.”

The “God’s Army” convoy was supposed to be a mighty force of 700,000 or more people from every corner of America. It wound up being maybe a couple hundred vehicles parked at a rural ranch in Quemado, Texas – basically a Trump rally without a Trump, but with plenty of hucksters selling MAGA merch and grifting the easily grifted.
MAGA was promised a Texas border 'invasion,' but it wasn't there

Some actually visited the border in nearby Eagle Pass, Texas, and were surprised to not witness the invasion they had been promised.

People listen at the Take Our Border Back Convoy rally at One Shot Distillery and Brewery in Dripping Springs on Thursday February 1, 2024.

Convoy-goer Misty Gregory told MSNBC: “It’s not what I expected, but then again I don’t know what I expected. I can tell you it’s not as bad as what I thought, so that’s kind of eye-opening in itself.”

Abbott and about a dozen other pro-razor-wire GOP governors were in Eagle Pass on Sunday, hollering and whatnot. Some residents said the recent invasion of Trump supporters from the convoy had been downright scary.

“We are constantly being told that we’re being invaded, and that never felt true until today, when the convoy came to town in anticipation of the governors’ event,” Jessie F. Fuentes told WOAI NBC News Channel 4. “This is political theater by outsiders. The reality is that it has brought dangerous, violent groups into our beautiful, peaceful city. Eagle Pass is safer than most cities in America if you look at crime statistics. This is just a fact. We don’t appreciate these staged events that dramatically misrepresent our reality on the border and that invite extremist groups that pose a real danger to people in our community.”

In Texas, the MAGA movement again reveals its impotence

So God’s Army's foot soldiers came, in underwhelming numbers, and accomplished little beyond showing everyone how tragically gullible they are and making the locals twitchy. That’s MAGA in a nutshell: loud, threatening and, in the end, impotent.

A Border Patrol vehicle exits Shelby Park on Jan. 26, 2024 in Eagle Pass, Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the Texas National Guard to defy a Supreme Court ruling allowing federal Border Patrol agents complete access into the area.

Trump won the presidency in 2016, and he hasn’t won a thing since. He’s the face of this supposedly forceful political movement, but the movement mirrors its creator, a loudmouth con artist who overpromises and rarely delivers a thing.

The wall? Mexico paying for the wall? The border crisis fixed? Nope, nope and nope.

Why politicians take action: Fixing the border crisis is bad for Trump and good for Biden. That's the problem.
The 'God's Army' convoy, like all things MAGA, was a grift

MAGA is and always has been a con to line the pockets of Trump and others who saw a swath of Americans waiting to be fleeced. The fact that our border is not now lined with big, strong, gun-toting patriots willing to defend America at all costs is not surprising.

MAGA says: “WE ARE COMING BY THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS!” Then MAGA delivers a crowd that resembles a small county fair on a slow day, populated by a mix of conspiracy theorists, angry xenophobes and slightly befuddled hangers-on who didn’t get what they were promised.

Bipartisan border bill shows actual attempt to address crisis

On Sunday in Washington, D.C., a bipartisan Senate bill to address the border crisis was released. It’s a serious piece of legislation that includes about $20 billion in border funds. It deserves strong consideration, but the Trump loyalists in the House have already declared it dead on arrival.

January 9, 2024: U.S. National Guard soldiers stop to talk while patrolling the Rio Grande at the U.S.-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas. Immigrant crossings in the area have dipped dramatically since a major surge in the last months of 2023.

After the Senate bill was released, President Joe Biden said: “The United States Senate has done the hard work it takes to reach a bipartisan agreement. Now, House Republicans have to decide. Do they want to solve the problem? Or do they want to keep playing politics with the border?”

Oh, they’ll definitely want to keep playing politics with the border. Because that’s what Trump – the MAGA king – has told them to do.
People treat MAGA like an unstoppable force, but it's not

But they are being cowed by a weenie movement that’s all smoke and mirrors. There are loud influencers who puff up the strength of MAGA, and there are, sadly, many in the political press who buy in and amplify that belief.

But MAGA, at least since Trump first took office, has been a losing movement. It’s not unstoppable. It’s not a 700,000-person convoy of devoted citizen soldiers descending on Texas in a show of force.

Biden's woke economy: True MAGA patriots must remove themselves from Biden’s booming economy, cash out 401(k)s

It’s a comically disorganized and useless parade of con artists and the conned, drifting from one apocalyptic grievance to the next.

The border is a serious issue. But God’s Army and Trump and his slavish enablers in the House are not serious people.

MAGA, for all its bluster, is a joke without a punchline. The sooner people recognize that the better.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Senate border bill is bipartisan fix, but Trump's GOP doesn't care