Monday, Feb. 28

· Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States closed its embassy in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, and allowed non-emergency employees and family members to leave from the U.S. embassy in Moscow, Russia. “We took these steps due to security and safety issues stemming from the unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces in Ukraine,” Blinken said.

· The Treasury Department announced that it officially placed sanctions on Russia’s central bank and sovereign wealth funds, as threatened by President Joe Biden the previous week. “The unprecedented action we are taking today will significantly limit Russia’s ability to use assets to finance its destabilizing activities, and target the funds [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and his inner circle depend on to enable his invasion of Ukraine,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

• The Supreme Court heard arguments in a challenge from 19 Republican-led coal-producing states, as well as coal companies, claiming that the Environmental Protection Agency does not have the legal power to issue new rules governing power plants by placing restrictions on carbon emissions.

· The first trial among the hundreds of Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection defendants, began with the case against a man named Guy Wesley Reffitt. Over 750 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot, about 200 of whom have already pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors. Former federal prosecutor Gregg Sofer said Reffitt is “truly is the canary in the coal mine” for insurrection defendants.

· The U.S. announced its intention to expel 12 Russian diplomats from Russia’s mission to the United Nations in New York City, describing the diplomats as “intelligence operatives” and accused them of “engaging in espionage activities that are adverse to our national security.”

Tuesday, March 1

• Biden delivered his first state of the union address. The speech generally covered the president’s goals, finding unity against Russia in the conflict in Ukraine, describing how COVID-19 “need no longer control our lives,” addressing U.S. economic concerns like fighting inflation, investing in U.S. infrastructure and law enforcement, promoting job growth, and touching on ways to curb domestic gun violence.
• Against urging from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the U.S. ruled out enforcing a “no-fly zone” on Russian aircraft over Ukraine. White House spokesperson explained that enforcement would “require deploying U.S. military” and that “would be a direct conflict, a potentially direct conflict, and potentially war with Russia, which is something we are not planning to be a part of.”

· A delegation of former senior U.S. defense and security officials appointed by Biden visited Taipei for a show of “the importance both of the Taiwan-U.S. relationship and Taiwan’s position” as well as staunch U.S. support for the island, according to Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang.

Wednesday, March 2

· The Biden administration laid out an updated National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan that lays out a blueprint for how to address future outbreaks of new variants without shutting down schools and businesses. The plan, which requires congressional approval, requests additional funding from Congress to pay for coronavirus treatment and testing.

· The Justice Department announced the creation of “KleptCapture,” a task force ensuring that sanctions and other economic curbs against Russian oligarchs are being enforced amid Russia’s ongoing military assault on Ukraine.

· The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol said it has evidence suggesting former President Donald Trump may have engaged in a “criminal conspiracy” in his bid to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. “Evidence and information available to the Committee establishes a good-faith belief that Mr. Trump and others may have engaged in criminal and/or fraudulent acts,” the committee said in a court filing.

Thursday, March 3

· The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in favor of allowing Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to pursue an appeal of a lower court ruling against a restrictive state abortion law after the state’s Democratic governor Andy Beshear dropped the case, which was instigated by his Republican predecessor.

· The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to block two former CIA contractors, James Elmer Mitchell and John Bruce Jessen, from being questioned in a criminal investigation in Poland over their role in interrogating a suspected al-Qaeda leader who was repeatedly subjected to waterboarding, saying information from the contractors is protected by the “state secrets privilege.”

· The White House announced additional sanctions, including visa restrictions and seizure of assets, on Russian oligarchs and close allies of Putin, including his press secretary, Dmitry Peskov.

· Timothy Zúñiga-Brown, the chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, announced that the embassy will increase its staffing and resume some visa processing, years after the Trump administration slashed personnel numbers following reports of a mysterious set of symptoms dubbed “Havana Syndrome” occurring among U.S. officials. It was later proved extremely unlikely that the syndrome was caused by an organized attack from a foreign power, as had been feared by some.

· The Department of Homeland Security extended temporary protected status to Ukrainians living in the U.S. for 18 months because of the “ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions” in Ukraine. “Russia’s premeditated and unprovoked attack on Ukraine has resulted in an ongoing war, senseless violence, and Ukrainians forced to seek refuge in other countries,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.

· Per a U.S. request, the Nigerian government began the extradition process for Abba Kyari, a Nigerian police officer who is wanted in the U.S. in connection to fraud and identity theft.

Friday, March 4

· In a 6-3 decision in line with the federal government’s view of the issue, the Supreme Court reinstated convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence for his role in the 2013 attack that killed three people and wounded more than 260 others. A 2020 appeals court ruling upheld Tsarnaev’s conviction but overturned his death sentence.

· The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the FBI against three Muslim men from California who accused the federal agency of conducting illegal surveillance of them after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. “The Supreme Court just ruled in our case, FBI v. Fazaga, that the FBI can seek to hide its discriminatory and harmful surveillance of Muslim American communities under the guise of ‘state secrets,’” the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement. “This is a dangerous sign for religious freedom and government accountability.”

· A federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. can continue to expel asylum seeker and migrant families caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, largely upholding the Trump administration’s border policy, but said the U.S. cannot remove migrants to a country where their “life or freedom would be threatened” on account of “race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion” or “to a country where they will likely be tortured.”

Saturday, March 5

· Secretary of State Blinken met with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on Ukraine’s border with Poland to discuss how to support Ukraine and isolate Russia in the global theater as the Russian invasion entered its 10th day. “The entire world stands with Ukraine, just as I am standing here in Ukraine with my friend, my colleague,” Blinken said.

Sunday, March 6

• No news to report.