THE NEW YORK POST
"Former top intel chiefs silent after Musk Twitter disclosures"
Story by Jon Levine
3 DECEMBER 2022
America’s top former intelligence officials were silent Saturday after the release of internal Twitter documents detailing how The Post’s bombshell revelations were censored by the social media company.
Leon Panetta, a former CIA director and defense secretary, John Brennan a former CIA director, Mike Hayden, a former CIA director, and Jim Clapper, a former director of national intelligence — who all once said The Post’s reporting had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,” — declined or did not respond to request for comment about whether the latest disclosures had changed their opinion.
A public statement was made in regard to the Hunter Biden emails.
The quartet made their allegations as part of an open letter denigrating The Post’s reporting as Russian misinformation which was signed by dozens of other longtime intelligence hands.
“Our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case,” the letter read.
“If we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this.”
Of the four, only Clapper has ever publicly addressed the letter, offering a vigorous defense to The Post in March.
“Yes, I stand by the statement made AT THE TIME, and would call attention to its 5th paragraph,” he said referring to an area of the letter where the signatories admit they do not have any material evidence of Russian involvement.
“I think sounding such a cautionary note AT THE TIME was appropriate.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 2fd1892eb4
THE DAILY NEWS
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
Deadline
"Twitter Releases Its Internal Communications On Hunter Biden Laptop Story"
Story by Bruce Haring
2 December 2022
Twitter has released a tweetstorm of its internal discussions about its efforts to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story Friday night via journalist Matt Taibbi.
Most shocking revelation in the news, being delivered in a series of separate tweets, is that former CEO Jack Dorsey was not aware of the decisions to hold back.
Instead, Vijaya Gadde, the head of the company’s Trust & Safety – and one of the first executives fired by new owner Elon Musk upon taking control of Twitter – made the call.
The controversial material on Biden’s laptop was discovered when he left the computer at a repair shop.
When he didn’t return to retrieve it, the owner examined its hard drive, leading to a potential political scandal over its contents shortly before the 2020 presidential election.
Earlier, Musk had promised to unveil the internal communications regarding Twitter’s censorship efforts as a way to be transparent and inspire confidence in its new regime.
While ultimately Twitter did suppress the Biden laptop story, the thread shows that many in the company had concerns about the decision.
Eventually, the company said disclosure of the story would violate the company’s “hacked materials” policy.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/t ... 2fd1892eb4
"Twitter Releases Its Internal Communications On Hunter Biden Laptop Story"
Story by Bruce Haring
2 December 2022
Twitter has released a tweetstorm of its internal discussions about its efforts to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story Friday night via journalist Matt Taibbi.
Most shocking revelation in the news, being delivered in a series of separate tweets, is that former CEO Jack Dorsey was not aware of the decisions to hold back.
Instead, Vijaya Gadde, the head of the company’s Trust & Safety – and one of the first executives fired by new owner Elon Musk upon taking control of Twitter – made the call.
The controversial material on Biden’s laptop was discovered when he left the computer at a repair shop.
When he didn’t return to retrieve it, the owner examined its hard drive, leading to a potential political scandal over its contents shortly before the 2020 presidential election.
Earlier, Musk had promised to unveil the internal communications regarding Twitter’s censorship efforts as a way to be transparent and inspire confidence in its new regime.
While ultimately Twitter did suppress the Biden laptop story, the thread shows that many in the company had concerns about the decision.
Eventually, the company said disclosure of the story would violate the company’s “hacked materials” policy.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/t ... 2fd1892eb4
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
THE NEW YORK POST
"Hunter Biden’s former law firm received $10M in forgiven COVID loans while donating $1M to Dems"
Story by Miranda Devine
2 DECEMBER 2022
Hunter Biden’s past employer, law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, received $10 million in forgiven pandemic loans from the federal government — while donating nearly $1 million to Democratic candidates, an independent investigation has found.
Of 300 top law firms investigated by transparency nonprofit Open the Books, Boies took the single-biggest loan, $10.14 million, from the Paycheck Protection Program, established by the Trump administration in 2020 to help mom-and-pop businesses survive the pandemic.
The loan was forgiven in 2021.
Meanwhile, the firm — headed by longtime Joe Biden donor David Boies — billed $480 million to clients in 2020 and 2021, and equity partners each earned $4.5 million.
Boies partners and employees donated nearly $1 million in federal campaign cash during the 2020 and 2022 election cycles, including $213,966 to Biden’s presidential campaign.
First son Hunter Biden became “of counsel” at the Boies firm in 2010, earning $216,000 annually for a “no-show” job that did not require him to keep regular office hours or attend meetings.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 2fd1892eb4
"Hunter Biden’s former law firm received $10M in forgiven COVID loans while donating $1M to Dems"
Story by Miranda Devine
2 DECEMBER 2022
Hunter Biden’s past employer, law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, received $10 million in forgiven pandemic loans from the federal government — while donating nearly $1 million to Democratic candidates, an independent investigation has found.
Of 300 top law firms investigated by transparency nonprofit Open the Books, Boies took the single-biggest loan, $10.14 million, from the Paycheck Protection Program, established by the Trump administration in 2020 to help mom-and-pop businesses survive the pandemic.
The loan was forgiven in 2021.
Meanwhile, the firm — headed by longtime Joe Biden donor David Boies — billed $480 million to clients in 2020 and 2021, and equity partners each earned $4.5 million.
Boies partners and employees donated nearly $1 million in federal campaign cash during the 2020 and 2022 election cycles, including $213,966 to Biden’s presidential campaign.
First son Hunter Biden became “of counsel” at the Boies firm in 2010, earning $216,000 annually for a “no-show” job that did not require him to keep regular office hours or attend meetings.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 2fd1892eb4
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
FOX NEWS
"Pentagon issues warning after Turkish airstrikes threaten American troops in Syria"
Story by Peter Aitken
3 DECEMBER 2022
The Pentagon has urged Turkey to stand down on its plan to invade Syria as the operation could endanger U.S. troops in the country.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin offered his condolences to his counterpart Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar for the loss of life in the Istanbul bombing that occurred last month and prompted military action in Syria.
But Austin stressed that the airstrikes – and the impending ground invasion of Syria – directly threatens the safety of U.S. personnel working in Syria.
"Secretary Austin called for de-escalation, and shared the Department’s strong opposition to a new Turkish military operation in Syria," according to a readout of the call between Austin and Akar.
Turkey launched a series of airstrikes in northern Syria following the bombing on Nov. 13 that killed six people and injured at least 80 other people.
Turkish authorities arrested an Arab Syrian woman whom they linked with Kurdish militias, but the militias denied any involvement.
Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan authorized a military response in Syria, called "Operation Sword-Claw," which aimed to take out the People’s Defense Units (YPG) and the Kurdistan’s Worker’s Party (PKK).
A Kurdish general told Fox News last week that NATO ally Turkey is planning to carry out a massive ground invasion of Syria in an effort to target the same Kurdish groups that partnered with the U.S. military in its campaign against ISIS.
U.S. military officials have also raised concerns that the operation could end up providing an opportunity for some 10,000 ISIS detainees to escape confinement.
Brigadier Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, said Wednesday, "Recent air strikes in Syria directly threatened the safety of U.S. personnel who are working in Syria with local partners to defeat ISIS and maintain custody of more than 10,000 ISIS detainees."
Ryder noted that an "Immediate de-escalation is necessary to maintain focus on the defeat-ISIS mission and ensure the safety and security of personnel on the ground committed to the defeat-ISIS mission."
One military official said that Syria presents ideal conditions for ISIS to continue growing its ranks and regaining its former operating capacity: CENTCOM chief Gen. Erik Kurilla visited the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria and said ISIS has looked to exploit the conditions in the camp as a means of gaining new recruits to its cause.
"The SDF mission to clear ISIS from the camp continues: This is a critical, wide-ranging operation which will make the camp safer for all residents," Kurilla said following his visit.
"We’ve already seen ISIS members holding women and girls enslaved in chains inside the camp, torturing camp residents, and seeking to spread their vile ideology."
Fox News’ Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pe ... 2fd1892eb4
"Pentagon issues warning after Turkish airstrikes threaten American troops in Syria"
Story by Peter Aitken
3 DECEMBER 2022
The Pentagon has urged Turkey to stand down on its plan to invade Syria as the operation could endanger U.S. troops in the country.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin offered his condolences to his counterpart Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar for the loss of life in the Istanbul bombing that occurred last month and prompted military action in Syria.
But Austin stressed that the airstrikes – and the impending ground invasion of Syria – directly threatens the safety of U.S. personnel working in Syria.
"Secretary Austin called for de-escalation, and shared the Department’s strong opposition to a new Turkish military operation in Syria," according to a readout of the call between Austin and Akar.
Turkey launched a series of airstrikes in northern Syria following the bombing on Nov. 13 that killed six people and injured at least 80 other people.
Turkish authorities arrested an Arab Syrian woman whom they linked with Kurdish militias, but the militias denied any involvement.
Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan authorized a military response in Syria, called "Operation Sword-Claw," which aimed to take out the People’s Defense Units (YPG) and the Kurdistan’s Worker’s Party (PKK).
A Kurdish general told Fox News last week that NATO ally Turkey is planning to carry out a massive ground invasion of Syria in an effort to target the same Kurdish groups that partnered with the U.S. military in its campaign against ISIS.
U.S. military officials have also raised concerns that the operation could end up providing an opportunity for some 10,000 ISIS detainees to escape confinement.
Brigadier Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, said Wednesday, "Recent air strikes in Syria directly threatened the safety of U.S. personnel who are working in Syria with local partners to defeat ISIS and maintain custody of more than 10,000 ISIS detainees."
Ryder noted that an "Immediate de-escalation is necessary to maintain focus on the defeat-ISIS mission and ensure the safety and security of personnel on the ground committed to the defeat-ISIS mission."
One military official said that Syria presents ideal conditions for ISIS to continue growing its ranks and regaining its former operating capacity: CENTCOM chief Gen. Erik Kurilla visited the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria and said ISIS has looked to exploit the conditions in the camp as a means of gaining new recruits to its cause.
"The SDF mission to clear ISIS from the camp continues: This is a critical, wide-ranging operation which will make the camp safer for all residents," Kurilla said following his visit.
"We’ve already seen ISIS members holding women and girls enslaved in chains inside the camp, torturing camp residents, and seeking to spread their vile ideology."
Fox News’ Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pe ... 2fd1892eb4
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
Wealth of Geeks
"The Worst of Inflation Might Be Over Says Biden Admin"
Story by Claire Conway
3 DECEMBER 2022
Officials at the Federal Reserve and the Biden Administration have reportedly seen promising signs that the worst of the inflation might be over.
They won't be declaring victory anytime soon.
The Cooling Begins
With import prices dropping and supply chain issues easing up, the price spikes should, in theory, begin cooling off soon.
Retailers are able to stock their back rooms again, so their prices should start to lower.
Regardless of this trend, topline inflation data is still significantly high, and lawmakers are adamant that they can't let up yet.
On top of that, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues made a mistake in 2021.
They expected inflation to cool off and decrease much more than it actually did.
In reality, production and shipping delays lasted far longer than predicted, and the demand for goods kept rising.
Then, after Russia invaded Ukraine, oil prices skyrocketed, and the supply chains became scrambled once again.
"They got burned pretty badly previously, so I can totally understand them being gun shy," said Omair Sharif, president of Inflation Insights.
"You don't want to say there's light at the end of the tunnel until you're certain there's actually light at the end of the tunnel."
Losing Confidence
Because of their prediction error in 2021, the Fed is now hesitant to make any statements about inflation cooling off.
Because of this loss of confidence, they now run the risk of hiking up interest rates far higher than they need to be and causing mass job loss and economic turmoil in the U.S.
Any positive trends will not be obvious until well after the midterm elections have concluded, which will rob the Democrats of a key economic element in their campaigns.
The biggest issue for the Fed is the job market.
Right now, there is a trend of low unemployment and steadily increasing wages.
The result of these conditions is likely that Americans will keep supporting a higher price for goods and services.
The Fed's long-term goal is to bring inflation back to 2%, but Charles Calomiris, a professor at Columbia Business School, says that won't be happening anytime soon.
"We're going to be here a year from now with inflation that's substantially above 3 percent," he said.
A Recession Is Imminent, but Necessary
Calomiris says that a mild recession will be necessary to help ease consumer demand.
Unemployment will not have to rise dramatically because wages cannot keep up with the prices.
Federal officials have highlighted a lag between signs of easing pressures and the actual inflation data, which has shown a slower decline than what was anticipated.
The inflation forecasts have the potential to be better than they were last year because there is a better understanding of the supply problems that plagued the economy both domestically and globally during the pandemic.
Researchers at the New York Fed launched a new index earlier this year that collects relevant data on freight prices to delivery times to be able to gauge whether the supply picture is getting better or worse.
The index has been improving steadily since April.
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... 2fd1892eb4
"The Worst of Inflation Might Be Over Says Biden Admin"
Story by Claire Conway
3 DECEMBER 2022
Officials at the Federal Reserve and the Biden Administration have reportedly seen promising signs that the worst of the inflation might be over.
They won't be declaring victory anytime soon.
The Cooling Begins
With import prices dropping and supply chain issues easing up, the price spikes should, in theory, begin cooling off soon.
Retailers are able to stock their back rooms again, so their prices should start to lower.
Regardless of this trend, topline inflation data is still significantly high, and lawmakers are adamant that they can't let up yet.
On top of that, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues made a mistake in 2021.
They expected inflation to cool off and decrease much more than it actually did.
In reality, production and shipping delays lasted far longer than predicted, and the demand for goods kept rising.
Then, after Russia invaded Ukraine, oil prices skyrocketed, and the supply chains became scrambled once again.
"They got burned pretty badly previously, so I can totally understand them being gun shy," said Omair Sharif, president of Inflation Insights.
"You don't want to say there's light at the end of the tunnel until you're certain there's actually light at the end of the tunnel."
Losing Confidence
Because of their prediction error in 2021, the Fed is now hesitant to make any statements about inflation cooling off.
Because of this loss of confidence, they now run the risk of hiking up interest rates far higher than they need to be and causing mass job loss and economic turmoil in the U.S.
Any positive trends will not be obvious until well after the midterm elections have concluded, which will rob the Democrats of a key economic element in their campaigns.
The biggest issue for the Fed is the job market.
Right now, there is a trend of low unemployment and steadily increasing wages.
The result of these conditions is likely that Americans will keep supporting a higher price for goods and services.
The Fed's long-term goal is to bring inflation back to 2%, but Charles Calomiris, a professor at Columbia Business School, says that won't be happening anytime soon.
"We're going to be here a year from now with inflation that's substantially above 3 percent," he said.
A Recession Is Imminent, but Necessary
Calomiris says that a mild recession will be necessary to help ease consumer demand.
Unemployment will not have to rise dramatically because wages cannot keep up with the prices.
Federal officials have highlighted a lag between signs of easing pressures and the actual inflation data, which has shown a slower decline than what was anticipated.
The inflation forecasts have the potential to be better than they were last year because there is a better understanding of the supply problems that plagued the economy both domestically and globally during the pandemic.
Researchers at the New York Fed launched a new index earlier this year that collects relevant data on freight prices to delivery times to be able to gauge whether the supply picture is getting better or worse.
The index has been improving steadily since April.
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... 2fd1892eb4
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
UPI NEWS
"Russia warns it will not sell oil under price cap"
Story by Darryl Coote
5 DECEMBER 2022
Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Russia is warning that it will not sell oil under a price cap, as democratic nations move to limit profits the Kremlin can reap from the sale of its energy commodity amid its war in Ukraine.
Russia Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak made the comment Sunday, a day before a European union embargo on seaborne shipments of Russian crude and a price cap of $60 a barrel goes into effect on Monday.
Novak's comments also come after the Group of 7 nations on Friday announced that they along with Australia will enforce the same price cap on Russian-origin oil from Feb. 5, the same day that the EU's embargo expands to refined petroleum products.
"We will sell oil and oil products to those countries, which will work with us on market conditions, even if we have to somewhat cut production," Novak said, state-run TASS news agency reported.
In response to the ally nations, Russia will look to mechanisms to ban price caps on oil sales, Novak said, stating that they violate World Trade Organization rules.
"We think that such interference may entail further destabilization, shortages of energy resources and reduction of investments," he said.
"It may be applied not only to oil but to other products on the market, and not only to Russia but to other countries as well."
The democratic nations have been working for months to initiate a price cap on Russian oil and petroleum products as they seek to punish Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and limit its financial capabilities to continue with its war of aggression.
While $60 a barrel is where the countries landed on, some had sought to further tighten their financial vices with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stating in his nightly address over the weekend that it will only be a matter of time before stronger restrictions will need to be employed.
"The logic is obvious: If the price limit for Russian oil is $60 instead of, for example, $30, which Poland and the Baltic countries talked about, then the Russian budget will receive about $100 billion a year," he said.
"This money will go not only to the war and not only to Russia's further sponsoring of other terrorist regimes and organizations."
"This money will also be used to further destabilize precisely those countries that are now trying to avoid big decisions."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... 6a58a7058b
"Russia warns it will not sell oil under price cap"
Story by Darryl Coote
5 DECEMBER 2022
Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Russia is warning that it will not sell oil under a price cap, as democratic nations move to limit profits the Kremlin can reap from the sale of its energy commodity amid its war in Ukraine.
Russia Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak made the comment Sunday, a day before a European union embargo on seaborne shipments of Russian crude and a price cap of $60 a barrel goes into effect on Monday.
Novak's comments also come after the Group of 7 nations on Friday announced that they along with Australia will enforce the same price cap on Russian-origin oil from Feb. 5, the same day that the EU's embargo expands to refined petroleum products.
"We will sell oil and oil products to those countries, which will work with us on market conditions, even if we have to somewhat cut production," Novak said, state-run TASS news agency reported.
In response to the ally nations, Russia will look to mechanisms to ban price caps on oil sales, Novak said, stating that they violate World Trade Organization rules.
"We think that such interference may entail further destabilization, shortages of energy resources and reduction of investments," he said.
"It may be applied not only to oil but to other products on the market, and not only to Russia but to other countries as well."
The democratic nations have been working for months to initiate a price cap on Russian oil and petroleum products as they seek to punish Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and limit its financial capabilities to continue with its war of aggression.
While $60 a barrel is where the countries landed on, some had sought to further tighten their financial vices with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stating in his nightly address over the weekend that it will only be a matter of time before stronger restrictions will need to be employed.
"The logic is obvious: If the price limit for Russian oil is $60 instead of, for example, $30, which Poland and the Baltic countries talked about, then the Russian budget will receive about $100 billion a year," he said.
"This money will go not only to the war and not only to Russia's further sponsoring of other terrorist regimes and organizations."
"This money will also be used to further destabilize precisely those countries that are now trying to avoid big decisions."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... 6a58a7058b
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
THE NEW YORK POST
"FBI warned Twitter during ‘weekly’ meetings of Hunter Biden ‘hack-and-leak operation’ before censoring The Post"
Story by Miranda Devine
4 DECEMBER 2022
The FBI warned Twitter during “weekly” meetings before the 2020 election to expect “hack-and-leak operations’’ by “state actors” involving Hunter Biden, and “likely” in October, according to a sworn declaration by Twitter’s former head of site integrity, Yoel Roth.
The warnings were so specific that Twitter immediately censored The Post’s scoop about Hunter Biden’s laptop on Oct. 14, 2020, citing its “hacked materials” policy, a move described on Saturday as “election interference” by Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk.
The extraordinary revelation for the first time lays bare how the FBI was involved in pre-bunking the story of the laptop, which had been in the bureau’s possession for almost a year.
“I was told in these meetings that the intelligence community expected that individuals associated with political campaigns would be subject to hacking attacks and that material obtained through those hacking attacks would likely be disseminated over social media platforms, including Twitter,” said Roth in a Dec. 21, 2020 declaration to the Federal Election Commission.
“I also learned in these meetings that there were rumors that a hack-and-leak operation would involve Hunter Biden.”
Roth’s signed declaration formed part of Twitter’s defense against a complaint by the Tea Party Patriots Foundation that its censorship of The Post was an “in kind” campaign contribution to then-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s campaign.
Feds’ social gatherings
The FBI also warned Facebook to be on “high alert” for a “dump” of “Russian propaganda” before the 2020 election, in terms specific enough that it “fit the pattern” of The Post’s story, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told podcast host Joe Rogan in August.
Facebook also censored The Post ahead of Twitter’s throttling the story in October, pending “fact checks” that never appear to have been done.
Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of site integrity, said in a Dec. 21, 2020 declaration to the Federal Election Commission that the company was told hacked materials would likely be disseminated over social media platforms.
The FBI agent who organized those weekly meetings with Big Tech was Supervisory Special Agent Elvis Chan, whose postgraduate thesis claimed that Russia interfered with the 2016 election to help former President Donald Trump.
Chan testified by Zoom Tuesday in a lawsuit against the Biden administration that he organized the meetings in San Francisco for as many as seven DC-based FBI agents in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.
Chan also organized weekly meetings with Facebook.
The lawsuit brought by the Republican attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, alleges that White House officials and federal agencies acted with Big Tech to censor “disfavored speakers, viewpoints and content on social-media platforms.”
Under questioning by Missouri Solicitor General John Sauer Tuesday, Chan said that the FBI warned Twitter to be on guard for a “hack and leak” operation but could not recall whether Hunter Biden was mentioned.
This is a crucial inconsistency with Roth’s sworn declaration saying the FBI specifically mentioned Hunter.
The FBI used the meetings to lobby the social media platforms to change their terms of service in order to be able to quickly take down “hacked material,” says a source with access to a transcript of Chan’s testimony.
It looks very much as if the FBI pre-bunked a story they knew was coming about Hunter Biden.
But how would they know The Post was going to publish the story in October 2020?
What’s missing from the Twitter files: The truth about the FBI
Well, the FBI was spying on Trump’s then-lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s online cloud, under the pretext of an investigation into alleged foreign-agent registration violations, a probe which conveniently was dropped this year.
The covert surveillance warrant on Giuliani gave the FBI access to emails in August 2020 from Delaware computer repair store owner John Paul Mac Isaac disclosing information damaging to Joe Biden from the laptop Hunter Biden had abandoned at his store in April 2019.
The FBI also had access to my messages with Giuliani in October discussing when The Post would publish the story.
The FBI knew that Mac Isaac was a legitimate whistleblower because he had come to them in the fall of 2019 to express national-security concerns about evidence on the laptop of payments to the Biden family from Ukraine and China.
On Dec. 9, 2019, two agents arrived at his store with a subpoena and took the laptop and a hard-drive copy.
We know from FBI whistleblowers who have come forward to Republican members of Congress that rogue FBI employees within the Washington Field Office buried the laptop and other information detrimental to Joe Biden before the 2020 election.
Now, thanks to Elon Musk, we know more about Twitter’s role in this apparent interference.
During a live Q&A session on Twitter Saturday afternoon, Musk said: “If Twitter is doing one team’s bidding before an election, shutting down dissenting voices on a pivotal election, that is the very definition of election interference. . . ."
"Frankly Twitter was acting like an arm of the Democratic National Committee."
"It was absurd.”
But, despite promises to reveal all about the censorship of The Post, Musk’s Friday night dump of what he calls the “Twitter Files” left out one crucial element: the FBI.
Journalist Matt Taibbi, deputized by Musk to release the information, tweeted that “there’s no evidence — that I’ve seen — of any government involvement in the laptop story.”
This contradicts Roth’s sworn declaration that the FBI warned of a “hack and leak” operation involving Hunter Biden, as well as Twitter’s lawyers’ response to the FEC in December 2020.
Law firm Covington & Burling told the FEC that Twitter “had been warned throughout 2020 by federal law enforcement agencies to be on the alert for expected ‘hack-and-leak operations’ undertaken by malign state actors, in which those state actors might hack electronic communications of individuals associated with political campaigns and seek to disseminate the leaked materials. . . ."
"Reports from the law enforcement agencies even suggested there were rumors that such a hack-and-leak operation would be related to Hunter Biden.”
Then there is the curious role of Twitter deputy general counsel James Baker, who is former general counsel at the FBI where he was involved in Russia-collusion plots against Trump.
According to Taibbi, Baker advised that The Post’s story should be censored because “the materials may have been hacked [and] caution is warranted. “
Before he was parachuted into Twitter, in June 2020, conveniently just five months before the election, Baker was a personal acquaintance of FBI agent Chan.
Rooting for Biden
Chan testified Tuesday that he knew Baker from when they worked together in 2016 with FBI “lovebirds” agent Peter Strzok and lawyer Lisa Page on an investigation of a hack on Yahoo.
He said he remains in touch with Page, who, with Strzok, was forced out of the bureau after their virulently anti-Trump text messages were revealed.
Baker also is connected to some of the 51 intelligence officials who signed the Oct. 19, 2020 letter, published five days after The Post’s laptop bombshell, falsely alleging that Hunter’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
Three days after the letter, candidate Biden used the letter to get off the hook in his final debate against Trump: “There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what [Trump is] accusing me of is a Russian plant . . . what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage.”
Between leaving the FBI in 2018 and joining Twitter, Baker worked for the Brookings Institution, writing for the Lawfare Blog, which is published by David Priess, an ex-CIA agent who signed the “Dirty 51” letter and is the chief operating officer of the Lawfare Institute and publisher of the blog.
Six more signatories of the letter are linked to the Lawfare Blog.
It’s a cozy network where everyone was rooting for Biden to beat Trump in 2020 — and Twitter was a useful fellow traveler.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 6a58a7058b
"FBI warned Twitter during ‘weekly’ meetings of Hunter Biden ‘hack-and-leak operation’ before censoring The Post"
Story by Miranda Devine
4 DECEMBER 2022
The FBI warned Twitter during “weekly” meetings before the 2020 election to expect “hack-and-leak operations’’ by “state actors” involving Hunter Biden, and “likely” in October, according to a sworn declaration by Twitter’s former head of site integrity, Yoel Roth.
The warnings were so specific that Twitter immediately censored The Post’s scoop about Hunter Biden’s laptop on Oct. 14, 2020, citing its “hacked materials” policy, a move described on Saturday as “election interference” by Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk.
The extraordinary revelation for the first time lays bare how the FBI was involved in pre-bunking the story of the laptop, which had been in the bureau’s possession for almost a year.
“I was told in these meetings that the intelligence community expected that individuals associated with political campaigns would be subject to hacking attacks and that material obtained through those hacking attacks would likely be disseminated over social media platforms, including Twitter,” said Roth in a Dec. 21, 2020 declaration to the Federal Election Commission.
“I also learned in these meetings that there were rumors that a hack-and-leak operation would involve Hunter Biden.”
Roth’s signed declaration formed part of Twitter’s defense against a complaint by the Tea Party Patriots Foundation that its censorship of The Post was an “in kind” campaign contribution to then-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s campaign.
Feds’ social gatherings
The FBI also warned Facebook to be on “high alert” for a “dump” of “Russian propaganda” before the 2020 election, in terms specific enough that it “fit the pattern” of The Post’s story, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told podcast host Joe Rogan in August.
Facebook also censored The Post ahead of Twitter’s throttling the story in October, pending “fact checks” that never appear to have been done.
Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of site integrity, said in a Dec. 21, 2020 declaration to the Federal Election Commission that the company was told hacked materials would likely be disseminated over social media platforms.
The FBI agent who organized those weekly meetings with Big Tech was Supervisory Special Agent Elvis Chan, whose postgraduate thesis claimed that Russia interfered with the 2016 election to help former President Donald Trump.
Chan testified by Zoom Tuesday in a lawsuit against the Biden administration that he organized the meetings in San Francisco for as many as seven DC-based FBI agents in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.
Chan also organized weekly meetings with Facebook.
The lawsuit brought by the Republican attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, alleges that White House officials and federal agencies acted with Big Tech to censor “disfavored speakers, viewpoints and content on social-media platforms.”
Under questioning by Missouri Solicitor General John Sauer Tuesday, Chan said that the FBI warned Twitter to be on guard for a “hack and leak” operation but could not recall whether Hunter Biden was mentioned.
This is a crucial inconsistency with Roth’s sworn declaration saying the FBI specifically mentioned Hunter.
The FBI used the meetings to lobby the social media platforms to change their terms of service in order to be able to quickly take down “hacked material,” says a source with access to a transcript of Chan’s testimony.
It looks very much as if the FBI pre-bunked a story they knew was coming about Hunter Biden.
But how would they know The Post was going to publish the story in October 2020?
What’s missing from the Twitter files: The truth about the FBI
Well, the FBI was spying on Trump’s then-lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s online cloud, under the pretext of an investigation into alleged foreign-agent registration violations, a probe which conveniently was dropped this year.
The covert surveillance warrant on Giuliani gave the FBI access to emails in August 2020 from Delaware computer repair store owner John Paul Mac Isaac disclosing information damaging to Joe Biden from the laptop Hunter Biden had abandoned at his store in April 2019.
The FBI also had access to my messages with Giuliani in October discussing when The Post would publish the story.
The FBI knew that Mac Isaac was a legitimate whistleblower because he had come to them in the fall of 2019 to express national-security concerns about evidence on the laptop of payments to the Biden family from Ukraine and China.
On Dec. 9, 2019, two agents arrived at his store with a subpoena and took the laptop and a hard-drive copy.
We know from FBI whistleblowers who have come forward to Republican members of Congress that rogue FBI employees within the Washington Field Office buried the laptop and other information detrimental to Joe Biden before the 2020 election.
Now, thanks to Elon Musk, we know more about Twitter’s role in this apparent interference.
During a live Q&A session on Twitter Saturday afternoon, Musk said: “If Twitter is doing one team’s bidding before an election, shutting down dissenting voices on a pivotal election, that is the very definition of election interference. . . ."
"Frankly Twitter was acting like an arm of the Democratic National Committee."
"It was absurd.”
But, despite promises to reveal all about the censorship of The Post, Musk’s Friday night dump of what he calls the “Twitter Files” left out one crucial element: the FBI.
Journalist Matt Taibbi, deputized by Musk to release the information, tweeted that “there’s no evidence — that I’ve seen — of any government involvement in the laptop story.”
This contradicts Roth’s sworn declaration that the FBI warned of a “hack and leak” operation involving Hunter Biden, as well as Twitter’s lawyers’ response to the FEC in December 2020.
Law firm Covington & Burling told the FEC that Twitter “had been warned throughout 2020 by federal law enforcement agencies to be on the alert for expected ‘hack-and-leak operations’ undertaken by malign state actors, in which those state actors might hack electronic communications of individuals associated with political campaigns and seek to disseminate the leaked materials. . . ."
"Reports from the law enforcement agencies even suggested there were rumors that such a hack-and-leak operation would be related to Hunter Biden.”
Then there is the curious role of Twitter deputy general counsel James Baker, who is former general counsel at the FBI where he was involved in Russia-collusion plots against Trump.
According to Taibbi, Baker advised that The Post’s story should be censored because “the materials may have been hacked [and] caution is warranted. “
Before he was parachuted into Twitter, in June 2020, conveniently just five months before the election, Baker was a personal acquaintance of FBI agent Chan.
Rooting for Biden
Chan testified Tuesday that he knew Baker from when they worked together in 2016 with FBI “lovebirds” agent Peter Strzok and lawyer Lisa Page on an investigation of a hack on Yahoo.
He said he remains in touch with Page, who, with Strzok, was forced out of the bureau after their virulently anti-Trump text messages were revealed.
Baker also is connected to some of the 51 intelligence officials who signed the Oct. 19, 2020 letter, published five days after The Post’s laptop bombshell, falsely alleging that Hunter’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
Three days after the letter, candidate Biden used the letter to get off the hook in his final debate against Trump: “There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what [Trump is] accusing me of is a Russian plant . . . what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage.”
Between leaving the FBI in 2018 and joining Twitter, Baker worked for the Brookings Institution, writing for the Lawfare Blog, which is published by David Priess, an ex-CIA agent who signed the “Dirty 51” letter and is the chief operating officer of the Lawfare Institute and publisher of the blog.
Six more signatories of the letter are linked to the Lawfare Blog.
It’s a cozy network where everyone was rooting for Biden to beat Trump in 2020 — and Twitter was a useful fellow traveler.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 6a58a7058b
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
FOX BUSINESS NEWS
"Debt ceiling bomb nears as government spending balloons"
Story by Peter Kasperowicz
5 DECEMBER 2022
The federal government is within spitting distance of the congressionally mandated limit on how much money it can borrow.
And it will soon be forced to undertake a series of money managing techniques to avoid exceeding the debt ceiling until Congress raises it.
Under federal law passed in late 2021, the most the federal government can borrow is $31.381 trillion. Total national debt has already ventured slightly above that level, but a small portion of the debt is exempt from the debt ceiling – technically, the unamortized discount on Treasury bills.
As of last week, total debt subject to the debt limit got as close as $31.345 trillion.
That leaves the government very close to its borrowing limit at a time when congressional Democrats are considering a wave of new spending before they give up control of the House to Republicans in January.
In the past, the government has been able to last for months once it hit the debt ceiling as it waited for Congress to either raise the ceiling or suspend it entirely, a move that would allow the government to borrow whatever it needs.
But hitting the debt ceiling does send a warning that Congress will need to act in the near future.
And approving an extension this time around could prove to be more politically difficult now that Republicans will control the House in the next Congress.
Democrats would prefer to raise the debt ceiling in the lame-duck session of Congress, since they worry Republicans will have more leverage to press for spending cuts as part of a debt ceiling deal once the GOP takes over the House in January.
But last week, outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., indicated a debt ceiling increase might have to wait.
"I hope that we could do the debt ceiling this year, but we are striving to do it in a bipartisan way," she said.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has indicated Republicans will push for a commitment to slow the growth of federal spending or find spending cuts as a condition of approving a debt ceiling increase.
Republicans and many economists have said excessive federal spending has ramped up demand in the economy and caused inflation, which the Federal Reserve has been trying to tamp down by raising interest rates.
"We can’t continue down this path," McCarthy said in October when asked about high levels of federal spending.
Even though the U.S. is approaching its debt ceiling, President Biden continues to boast about how the annual budget deficit has fallen under his watch, from $2.8 trillion in fiscal 2021 to about $1.4 trillion in fiscal 2022.
That smaller deficit mostly reflects rising federal revenues and far less emergency spending on the COVID pandemic compared to 2020 and 2021.
Overall spending levels remain high, and budget watchers say it will be hard to reduce the budget deficit much further in light of Biden's expanded spending priorities.
The government spent $4.4 trillion in 2019, the year before the pandemic, but spent $6.5 trillion in 2020, $6.8 trillion in 2021, and $6.3 trillion in 2022.
And it is likely to keep spending more than $6 trillion per year barring significant spending cuts.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will likely inform Congress in the coming days that the debt ceiling has been reached and indicate how long the government can continue to run without breaching the ceiling.
Staying under that limit will be done through what Treasury calls "extraordinary measures."
In the past, those measures have included halting the issuance of state and local government securities and temporarily halting investments in federal employees’ retirement and disability plans.
Treasury can also suspend other routine investments and the issuance of other securities and cash in securities it owns earlier than anticipated to raise money.
Treasury's target is to keep the total national debt at least $25 million under the debt ceiling.
Treasury’s stated position is that raising the debt ceiling does not authorize new spending commitments and instead allows the government to finance current obligations already approved by Congress.
But a higher debt ceiling does give the government room to take on new commitments that were not anticipated by Congress.
For example, Biden approved a student loan handout in the summer that cost the government more than $400 billion, months after the debt ceiling was increased.
When Congress does address the issue, it will have the option of either setting a new debt ceiling or suspending it, or – theoretically – drastically cutting back spending to stay under the current ceiling.
When asked in mid-October if he would support eliminating the debt ceiling altogether, President Biden said, "No, that'd be irresponsible."
In early October, the national debt hit $31 trillion for the first time ever.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 6a58a7058b
"Debt ceiling bomb nears as government spending balloons"
Story by Peter Kasperowicz
5 DECEMBER 2022
The federal government is within spitting distance of the congressionally mandated limit on how much money it can borrow.
And it will soon be forced to undertake a series of money managing techniques to avoid exceeding the debt ceiling until Congress raises it.
Under federal law passed in late 2021, the most the federal government can borrow is $31.381 trillion. Total national debt has already ventured slightly above that level, but a small portion of the debt is exempt from the debt ceiling – technically, the unamortized discount on Treasury bills.
As of last week, total debt subject to the debt limit got as close as $31.345 trillion.
That leaves the government very close to its borrowing limit at a time when congressional Democrats are considering a wave of new spending before they give up control of the House to Republicans in January.
In the past, the government has been able to last for months once it hit the debt ceiling as it waited for Congress to either raise the ceiling or suspend it entirely, a move that would allow the government to borrow whatever it needs.
But hitting the debt ceiling does send a warning that Congress will need to act in the near future.
And approving an extension this time around could prove to be more politically difficult now that Republicans will control the House in the next Congress.
Democrats would prefer to raise the debt ceiling in the lame-duck session of Congress, since they worry Republicans will have more leverage to press for spending cuts as part of a debt ceiling deal once the GOP takes over the House in January.
But last week, outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., indicated a debt ceiling increase might have to wait.
"I hope that we could do the debt ceiling this year, but we are striving to do it in a bipartisan way," she said.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has indicated Republicans will push for a commitment to slow the growth of federal spending or find spending cuts as a condition of approving a debt ceiling increase.
Republicans and many economists have said excessive federal spending has ramped up demand in the economy and caused inflation, which the Federal Reserve has been trying to tamp down by raising interest rates.
"We can’t continue down this path," McCarthy said in October when asked about high levels of federal spending.
Even though the U.S. is approaching its debt ceiling, President Biden continues to boast about how the annual budget deficit has fallen under his watch, from $2.8 trillion in fiscal 2021 to about $1.4 trillion in fiscal 2022.
That smaller deficit mostly reflects rising federal revenues and far less emergency spending on the COVID pandemic compared to 2020 and 2021.
Overall spending levels remain high, and budget watchers say it will be hard to reduce the budget deficit much further in light of Biden's expanded spending priorities.
The government spent $4.4 trillion in 2019, the year before the pandemic, but spent $6.5 trillion in 2020, $6.8 trillion in 2021, and $6.3 trillion in 2022.
And it is likely to keep spending more than $6 trillion per year barring significant spending cuts.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will likely inform Congress in the coming days that the debt ceiling has been reached and indicate how long the government can continue to run without breaching the ceiling.
Staying under that limit will be done through what Treasury calls "extraordinary measures."
In the past, those measures have included halting the issuance of state and local government securities and temporarily halting investments in federal employees’ retirement and disability plans.
Treasury can also suspend other routine investments and the issuance of other securities and cash in securities it owns earlier than anticipated to raise money.
Treasury's target is to keep the total national debt at least $25 million under the debt ceiling.
Treasury’s stated position is that raising the debt ceiling does not authorize new spending commitments and instead allows the government to finance current obligations already approved by Congress.
But a higher debt ceiling does give the government room to take on new commitments that were not anticipated by Congress.
For example, Biden approved a student loan handout in the summer that cost the government more than $400 billion, months after the debt ceiling was increased.
When Congress does address the issue, it will have the option of either setting a new debt ceiling or suspending it, or – theoretically – drastically cutting back spending to stay under the current ceiling.
When asked in mid-October if he would support eliminating the debt ceiling altogether, President Biden said, "No, that'd be irresponsible."
In early October, the national debt hit $31 trillion for the first time ever.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 6a58a7058b
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
"The Biden administration wants taxpayers to fund gender transitions for children"
Opinion by Zachary Faria
4 DECEMBER 2022
In a move that would surprise absolutely no one, the Biden administration is preparing to argue that gender transitions for children should be taxpayer funded.
In response to a question submitted by Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) about whether “taxpayers should pay for chemical castration and sex-change operations,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra wrote that “all children and adults should be afforded life-saving, medically necessary care” and that “payers, both public and private, should cover treatments which medical experts have determined to be medically necessary.”
In translation, the Biden administration, which has argued that it is morally wrong not to allow doctors to transition gender-confused children, now wants taxpayers to foot the bill for the chemical and physical mutilations being pushed on them by “medical experts.”
Other countries have moved away from gender transitions for children because, unsurprisingly, puberty blockers and hormone treatments can have permanent effects on bones and the brain, and gender transition surgeries are obviously irreversible.
But the Biden administration is recklessly pushing forward, threatening to bring down the might of the federal government on any state that wants to protect children from being rushed down this path.
Now, along with abortion on demand at any week of pregnancy and the student loan debt of privileged, wealthy professionals, the Biden administration wants taxpayers to be on the hook for the chemical castration and surgical mutilation of children.
It is not enough that it be allowed to happen and that you be called a hateful bigot for daring to oppose it.
Now, the irreversible damage being promoted to children must be funded by your paycheck.
The damage being done to children in the name of acceptance is despicable, and there will be a national reckoning for it in the future once the consequences are made more clear.
But the damage to children suffering from gender dysphoria, and to children who have been pushed down this path by social media, will have already been done.
But the sacrifice of the health and futures of children in the name of inclusion and acceptance will continue so long as people like President Joe Biden and Becerra are in power.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-b ... 6a58a7058b
"The Biden administration wants taxpayers to fund gender transitions for children"
Opinion by Zachary Faria
4 DECEMBER 2022
In a move that would surprise absolutely no one, the Biden administration is preparing to argue that gender transitions for children should be taxpayer funded.
In response to a question submitted by Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) about whether “taxpayers should pay for chemical castration and sex-change operations,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra wrote that “all children and adults should be afforded life-saving, medically necessary care” and that “payers, both public and private, should cover treatments which medical experts have determined to be medically necessary.”
In translation, the Biden administration, which has argued that it is morally wrong not to allow doctors to transition gender-confused children, now wants taxpayers to foot the bill for the chemical and physical mutilations being pushed on them by “medical experts.”
Other countries have moved away from gender transitions for children because, unsurprisingly, puberty blockers and hormone treatments can have permanent effects on bones and the brain, and gender transition surgeries are obviously irreversible.
But the Biden administration is recklessly pushing forward, threatening to bring down the might of the federal government on any state that wants to protect children from being rushed down this path.
Now, along with abortion on demand at any week of pregnancy and the student loan debt of privileged, wealthy professionals, the Biden administration wants taxpayers to be on the hook for the chemical castration and surgical mutilation of children.
It is not enough that it be allowed to happen and that you be called a hateful bigot for daring to oppose it.
Now, the irreversible damage being promoted to children must be funded by your paycheck.
The damage being done to children in the name of acceptance is despicable, and there will be a national reckoning for it in the future once the consequences are made more clear.
But the damage to children suffering from gender dysphoria, and to children who have been pushed down this path by social media, will have already been done.
But the sacrifice of the health and futures of children in the name of inclusion and acceptance will continue so long as people like President Joe Biden and Becerra are in power.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-b ... 6a58a7058b
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
THE TELEGRAPH
"Opec cartel warns of immediate action on oil output ahead of Russia sanctions"
Story by Hannah Boland
4 DECEMBER 2022
The Opec cartel has warned it could take immediate action on adjusting oil output as the group of producing nations braces for the fallout of fresh Western sanctions on Russia.
Opec, which comprises 23 nations including Saudi Arabia, said it was maintaining its policy of reducing production by two million barrels per day which came into force last month and will run to the end of next year.
However, the group said it was ready to “meet at any time” and could “take immediate additional measures”.
It comes as oil markets prepare for renewed volatility, with fresh price caps set to come into force on Russian oil on Monday.
The EU, G7 nations and Australia have all agreed to set a cap of $60 a barrel in a bid to stop Moscow from profiteering from oil exports in the wake of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The caps, which were agreed last week and will come into force on Monday, coincide with an EU ban on seaborne crude imports from Russia.
Bill Farren-Price, head of macro oil and gas research at Enverus, said: “Faced with a raft of uncertainties on Russian sanctions and the price cap, Opec has held back for now."
"But the threat of further cuts is real."
"The group is in supply management mode.”
Russia’s deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday that it would not sell Russian oil under a price cap and warned that the move would destabilise global energy markets by triggering a shortage of supply.
He said: “We will sell oil and petroleum products only to those countries that will work with us under market conditions, even if we have to reduce production a little.”
Russia is one of the world's largest oil producers, behind Saudi Arabia.
Opec’s decision follows accusations that Saudi Arabia had sided with Russia to maintain a stranglehold on oil exports and prevent prices from falling further.
When Opec announced the production cut in October, it argued that it was because of the poorer economic outlook.
However, the White House said it “was clear” that Opec was aligning with Russia by cutting output.
Oil prices have fallen in the past few weeks amid strict Covid lockdowns in China and higher global interest rates.
Brent crude prices hit a low of around $80 late last month, although have since ticked slightly higher to reach $89 as of Friday.
However, prices are still significantly below the $139 they were trading at earlier this year in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a 14-year high.
Ahead of the meeting, analysts had warned that a further cut to output was needed to ensure prices did not fall any more.
Helima Croft, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said: “While proponents of the price caps maintain that it will avert a major oil disruption, we are waiting to see if Moscow has other plans come Monday.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/o ... 6a58a7058b
"Opec cartel warns of immediate action on oil output ahead of Russia sanctions"
Story by Hannah Boland
4 DECEMBER 2022
The Opec cartel has warned it could take immediate action on adjusting oil output as the group of producing nations braces for the fallout of fresh Western sanctions on Russia.
Opec, which comprises 23 nations including Saudi Arabia, said it was maintaining its policy of reducing production by two million barrels per day which came into force last month and will run to the end of next year.
However, the group said it was ready to “meet at any time” and could “take immediate additional measures”.
It comes as oil markets prepare for renewed volatility, with fresh price caps set to come into force on Russian oil on Monday.
The EU, G7 nations and Australia have all agreed to set a cap of $60 a barrel in a bid to stop Moscow from profiteering from oil exports in the wake of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The caps, which were agreed last week and will come into force on Monday, coincide with an EU ban on seaborne crude imports from Russia.
Bill Farren-Price, head of macro oil and gas research at Enverus, said: “Faced with a raft of uncertainties on Russian sanctions and the price cap, Opec has held back for now."
"But the threat of further cuts is real."
"The group is in supply management mode.”
Russia’s deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday that it would not sell Russian oil under a price cap and warned that the move would destabilise global energy markets by triggering a shortage of supply.
He said: “We will sell oil and petroleum products only to those countries that will work with us under market conditions, even if we have to reduce production a little.”
Russia is one of the world's largest oil producers, behind Saudi Arabia.
Opec’s decision follows accusations that Saudi Arabia had sided with Russia to maintain a stranglehold on oil exports and prevent prices from falling further.
When Opec announced the production cut in October, it argued that it was because of the poorer economic outlook.
However, the White House said it “was clear” that Opec was aligning with Russia by cutting output.
Oil prices have fallen in the past few weeks amid strict Covid lockdowns in China and higher global interest rates.
Brent crude prices hit a low of around $80 late last month, although have since ticked slightly higher to reach $89 as of Friday.
However, prices are still significantly below the $139 they were trading at earlier this year in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a 14-year high.
Ahead of the meeting, analysts had warned that a further cut to output was needed to ensure prices did not fall any more.
Helima Croft, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said: “While proponents of the price caps maintain that it will avert a major oil disruption, we are waiting to see if Moscow has other plans come Monday.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/o ... 6a58a7058b