Monday, June 13

• The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol held its second hearing. It alleged that former President Donald Trump knew that claims of widespread voter fraud were false and pushed such claims to raise money; revealed that former Attorney General Bill Barr said Trump was “detached from reality” and had no interest in facts; and were told Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani was intoxicated while advising Trump on election night. Upcoming hearings will focus on Trump’s push to “corrupt” the Justice Department, the committee said.
• The Supreme Court’s ruled 6-3 — not on partisan lines — that Native Americans prosecuted in certain tribal courts can also be prosecuted for the same incident in federal court, which can result in longer sentences, without double jeopardy applying, “because the Tribe and the Federal Government are distinct sovereigns,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority opinion.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced visa restrictions on 93 Nicaraguan officials — including judges, prosecutors, interior ministry officials and members of Nicaragua’s national assembly — accusing them of having “undermined democracy” in the aftermath of President Daniel Ortega’s re-election last year.
• The Supreme Court ruled against immigrants in two separate cases. One, the court ruled that immigrants subject to potential persecution if sent back to their native countries have no right under federal law to a bond hearing at which they could argue for their freedom. Two, the court ruled to limit immigrants’ ability to band together in court, an outcome that Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent, wrote “will leave many vulnerable noncitizens unable to protect their rights.”
• National security advisor Jake Sullivan met with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Luxembourg to discuss China’s veto of a United States-led push at the United Nations to impose more sanctions on North Korea. An official said, “Each side laid out their positions and the way we see the situation, and certainly Jake made very clear that we believe this is an area where the United States and China should be able to work together.”

Tuesday, June 14

• The White House confirmed that President Joe Biden would travel to the Middle East that week, including a stop in Saudi Arabia and an expected meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Biden also visited Israel and the occupied West Bank.
• Biden, in coordination with leaders of other 20 nations in the Western Hemisphere, released a declaration intended to guide a coordinated response to the growing migration crisis in the region. It is called the Los Angeles Declaration and was first announced the previous Friday at the end of the ninth Summit of the Americas.
• The House gave final approval to legislation that would allow around-the-clock security protection for families of Supreme Court justices by an overwhelming margin of 396-27.
• A new trial for former CIA coder Joshua Schulte, who is alleged to have shared classified information with the website WikiLeaks, began in a federal court in Manhattan. Schulte said he is being framed. His first trial, which was held in 2020, came to an end with a deadlocked jury.

Wednesday, June 15

• Federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint with 26 hate crime charges against the suspect alleged to have killed 10 Black people in an attack at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The charges could carry the death penalty against the suspect, Payton Gendron.
• Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the U.S. is releasing $1 billion in new security assistance for the ongoing war against Russia. The funds provide support “including additional artillery and coastal defense weapons, as well as ammunition for the artillery and advanced rocket systems that the Ukrainians need to support their defensive operations in the Donbas,” Biden said.
• Biden appealed to oil refiners, including Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell, and British Petroleum, to reduce costs and produce more petrol and diesel, saying their high profit margins are hurting consumers. “Your companies need to work with my administration to bring forward concrete, near-term solutions that address the crisis,” Biden said.
• Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical advisor, tested positive for COVID-19. The National Institutes of Health said he continued to work from home as he recovered from mild symptoms.

Thursday, June 16

• The House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol last year held its third hearing. It focused on Trump’s pressure on former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election. Several witnesses testified that Pence had no constitutional authority to overturn the election and suggested that Trump’s team knew the campaign to overturn the election was illegal. The panel also said that Pence’s life was in danger during the insurrection and that Trump hurled insults at Pence in a phone call before it began. A conservative ex-judge named J. Michael Luttig testified Trump is still a danger to democracy.
• The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Chinese and Emirati companies, as well as a network of Iranian petrochemical producers, accusing them of helping Iran to evade sanctions by supporting the sale of Iran’s petrochemical products abroad. Penalties were placed on two companies based in Hong Kong, three in Iran, and four in the United Arab Emirates.
• The Senate approved an expansion of health care and disability benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans in response to concerns about their exposure to toxic burn pits. The bill is projected to increase federal spending by about $283 billion over 10 years. If signed into law, the bill would benefit nearly 3.5 million veterans who developed cancer and other illnesses after being exposed to fumes from the pits where soldiers incinerated their garbage.
• Homeland Security announced that it would overhaul the disciplinary process for its employees after The New York Times reported that “the agency’s inspector general removed damaging findings from investigative reports about domestic violence and sexual misconduct committed by employees.”

Friday, June 17

• British Home Secretary Priti Patel approved the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the U.S. to face criminal charges. Assange is wanted by U.S. authorities on 18 counts, including a spying charge, relating to WikiLeaks’ release of vast troves of confidential military records and diplomatic cables which the White House claims put lives in danger.
• Biden participated in the third Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate. He urged world leaders to ramp up efforts to combat climate change. “We cannot afford to let the critical goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius slip out of our reach and the science tells us that the window for action is rapidly narrowing,” Biden said.
• The Food and Drug Administration authorized two COVID-19 vaccines — Pfizer and Moderna — for children under five and over six months old. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the vaccines as well the next day.
• The Treasury Department lifted sanctions against Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, a relative of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, that were placed on him in 2017, weeks after the U.S. said it would take steps to encourage dialogue between Maduro’s government and the US-backed Venezuelan opposition.

Saturday, June 18

• Biden fell off his bike while trying to dismount in front of a small crowd. He caught his foot in a toe clip. He recovered quickly, saying “I’m good” before answering questions from reporters.

Sunday, June 19

• No news to report.