Santa Barbara County News and Events

La Casa Blanca reescribe la historia del asalto al Capitolio y culpa a la policía por el ataque en su quinto aniversario

Kraig Pakulski 0 36 Article rating: No rating

Por Marshall Cohen y Kit Maher, CNN

La Casa Blanca lanzó este martes un nuevo sitio web con una reconstrucción total del registro histórico del 6 de enero de 2021, elogiando a la multitud a favor de Trump que asaltó el Capitolio de Estados Unidos hace cinco años como “manifestantes pacíficos” que fueron provocados por las fuerzas de seguridad.

El nuevo sitio afirma sin fundamento que la violencia del 6 de enero de 2021 fue instigada por las fuerzas de seguridad y por la entonces presidenta de la Cámara de Representantes, Nancy Pelosi. Reinterpreta a los manifestantes como víctimas de ese día y presenta al presidente Donald Trump como un héroe por conceder indultos generales a casi 1.600 personas acusadas en relación con el ataque mortal.

Durante años, Trump ha blanqueado la historia del 6 de enero, cuando miles de sus seguidores asaltaron violentamente el Capitolio con la esperanza de impedir que el Congreso certificara la victoria del presidente electo Joe Biden. Pero el nuevo sitio va más allá de la retórica pasada de Trump y le da una plataforma oficial del Gobierno a sus afirmaciones desacreditadas.

Un tema dominante en el nuevo sitio es la afirmación de Trump, sostenida durante mucho tiempo, pero completamente falsa, de que la elección de 2020 fue robada. Sus mentiras repetidas sobre fraude electoral masivo fueron la razón por la que él y sus seguidores quisieron impedir que el Congreso certificara los resultados el 6 de enero.

El director de comunicaciones de la Casa Blanca, Steven Cheung, sugirió en una publicación en X que la página web era una “trampa” para provocar la indignación de los medios de comunicación. CNN ha informado previamente sobre cómo el Gobierno de Trump está usando el sitio web oficial de la Casa Blanca para provocar a sus opositores.

Una “cronología” selectiva en el sitio web caracteriza el discurso de Trump el 6 de enero en el Ellipse como “detallando pruebas de fraude electoral” y alentando a la multitud a marchar hacia el Capitolio para protestar pacíficamente y mostrar “fuerza y determinación”. Sus afirmaciones de fraude fueron desmentidas semanas antes del 6 de enero, y la cronología omite las partes del discurso de Trump en las que dijo dos veces que sus seguidores debían “luchar con todo”.

La cronología pasa por alto detalles de los manifestantes rompiendo ventanas para irrumpir en el Capitolio y agrediendo a la policía. En cambio, la cronología afirma que el mitin ese día fue “ordenado y animado, con banderas, carteles y cánticos a favor del presidente Trump”.

El sitio web acusó sin fundamento a la Policía del Capitolio de Estados Unidos de “escalar deliberadamente las tensiones” ese día cuando multitudes de simpatizantes de Trump se agolparon en el complejo. Dijo que las “tácticas provocativas” de los agentes, como lanzar gas lacrimógeno a la m

Notorious CIA spy whose treachery caused the deaths of countless sources has died in federal prison

Kraig Pakulski 0 48 Article rating: No rating

By Josh Campbell, CNN

(CNN) — One of the most notorious spies in United States history, responsible for the arrest and eventual execution of numerous Soviet and Russian officials secretly working on behalf of the US intelligence community, has died at the age of 84.

Aldrich Ames, a former CIA case officer arrested by the FBI in 1994 and sentenced to life in prison for espionage, died in custody on Monday, according to a spokesperson for the US Bureau of Prisons.

The official said a Maryland medical examiner will determine his cause of death.

Ames joined CIA in 1962 as a low-level document analyst, eventually working his way up through the ranks as a case officer and specializing in targeting the Soviet Union.

In 1985, Ames went to the Soviet Embassy in Washington, DC, and volunteered to spy against the United States, according to his guilty plea agreement. Later that decade, alarm bells started going off within the CIA and FBI over the arrest and execution of numerous double agents feeding secrets to the United States.

“Aldrich Ames put some of those names to death by sharing them with his KGB case officer,” said CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali, in the CNN Original Series program “Secrets & Spies.”

It is estimated that Ames received approximately $2.5 million from Russia and the Soviet Union for his years of spying.

Ames eventually fell under the suspicion of a joint interagency team responsible for investigating “the losses” as they were known among a small group of counterintelligence officials, and by 1993, was the subject of a full FBI investigation utilizing physical and electronic surveillance to track his moves.

“Not only were the CIA and its intelligence sources in the Soviet Union completely compromised, he also was in a compromised position,” said Bianna Golodryga, CNN anchor and senior global affairs analyst.

In the aftermath of Ames’ arrest, congressional investigators slammed the agency for its inability to deal with Ames’ suitability problems, including “drunkenness, disregard for security regulations, and sloppiness towards administrative requirements.”

“The Ames case reveals glaring weaknesses in the CIA’s procedures for dealing with the career assignments of employees who are under suspicion for compromising intelligence operations,” the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence wrote in its 1994 report.

After the Ames case, and the later arrest of Read more

Coastal Commission demands 30-day review period over emergency federal permits issued to restart oil production in Santa Barbara County

Kraig Pakulski 0 54 Article rating: No rating

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – The California Coastal Commission has cited federal laws and a court agreement to demand that the Trump Administration's recent approval of restarting oil production locally be subject to a 30-day review before oil begins to flow to market.

In a Dec. 23, 2025, letter to Linda Daugherty, the Acting Associate Administrator for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the state regulator noted that it has not waived its right under the Coastal Zone Management Act to review the federal regulator's decision to reclassify pipelines and assume authority over restart plans.

"The [California Coastal] Commission did not receive notice of Sable’s Project application prior to PHMSA’s [Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration] stated approval of the Project and, thus, the Commission has not waived its right, under the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), to review this activity as an unlisted federal license or permit activity subject to the procedures in section 930.54 of title 15 of the Federal Code of Regulations."

"State agencies shall notify Federal agencies, applicants, and the Director of unlisted activities affecting any coastal use or resource which require State agency review within 30 days from notice of the license or permit application, that has been submitted to the approving Federal agency, otherwise the State agency waives its right to review the unlisted activity," states section 930.54 of title 15 of the Federal Code of Regulations. "The waiver does not apply in cases where the State agency does not receive notice of the federal license or permit application."

The Coastal Commission also noted that special permits submitted by Sable and granted by the federal government are also subject to a 30-day period that starts when materials are received.

None of the requested materials have been received by the Coastal Commission and the 30-day review period for neither request has started shared the state regulator with Your News Channel Tuesday.

"PHMSA’s stated approval of the [restart] Project should be considered to be stayed pending the Commission’s review of the Project application," added the Coastal Commission in the Dec. 23 letter.

The shoreline-focused state authority further noted that the federal government's expedited approval is also subject to review of compliance with Subpart E of the Coastal Zone Management Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, as well as Appendix D of the Consent Decree in U.S. et al v. Plains All American Pipeline, LP and Plains Pipeline, a court decision agreed to after the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill.

"All outstanding corrective actions in PHMSA’s closed Corrective Action Order, as amended, are hereby merged into this Consent Decree, as outlined below, and subject to the sole regulatory oversight of the OSFM [California Offi

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