But Russia is still a big concern too

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It's a new week, and it's a new era for NATO. At the summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization today, President Biden convinced some holdouts that the alliance should expand its security operations beyond its traditional defense against Russia. That means taking a stronger approach against China. The G-7 largely agreed with taking a more bold stand against China as well, pointedly calling out its human rights abuses and agreeing on an economic plan to compete with the communist nation. Next up is Biden's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which the world—and we—will be watching closely. We're also keeping an eye on the DOJ data seizure scandal. Watch this space for more details as Congress and the inspector general work to get to the bottom of it. Have a good week! —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor

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** Hello, NATO
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President Biden attended his first in-person North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit today, vowing to reaffirm the U.S.'s commitment to the military alliance. And while fellow NATO members were relieved by the presence of Biden—who is outspoken in his belief that NATO is a cornerstone of global stability and a crucial player in confronting threats—not all were happy with his pivot to China. Some of NATO's smallest members, many in Eastern Europe, believe the alliance should focus on deterring Russian aggression, while Biden rallied behind a security policy that confronts both Russia and China. The president got his wish. —CNBC ([link removed])
* — Corruption. The NATO summit comes on the heels of the G-7 summit, at which the leaders committed to fighting corruption by tackling the abuse of shell companies and money laundering. "We know that corruption undermines trust in government, siphons off public resources, makes economies much less competitive, and constitutes a threat to our security," Biden said yesterday. The White House previously issued its own anti-corruption memo, defining it as a core national security interest. —The Washington Post ([link removed])
*
* — China. Biden pushed world leaders to call out China over allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang, as the G-7 agreed to a global infrastructure plan. The group's final communiqué contains a call to China to respect human rights, along with plans to compete with Beijing through the "Build Back Better World" program. It also details plans for addressing COVID-19 concerns worldwide, including continued investigation of the origins of the virus in China. —Newsweek ([link removed])
*
* — Cybersecurity. The G-7 countries also agreed on the need for greater cybersecurity defenses. Recently, Russia, the U.S., and 23 other countries reaffirmed that states should not hack each other's critical infrastructure in peacetime or shelter cyber criminals. Biden said yesterday that Russian President Vladimir Putin's openness to swap cyber criminals with the U.S. is "potentially a good sign of progress." —USA Today ([link removed])

MORE: America's image abroad rebounds with transition from Trump to Biden —Pew Research Center ([link removed])


** Shama: Biden must up the ante with Russia
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"This is no time to play nice with Putin. The soft attitude and sanctions of the past have not stopped Russia's cyberspace attacks on the U.S. It's time for Biden to up the ante. A Biden success in Geneva would not only be good for the U.S.; it would improve our standing among our allies, especially among the Baltic states, which fear that Russia may interfere with their independence the way it has been doing with Ukraine. Biden must not let this opportunity to defend the U.S. get away. He must stand his ground." —Avraham Shama on ([link removed]) The Hill ([link removed])

Avraham Shama is a professor at the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico and the author of the forthcoming book "The Dawn of Cyberwars."

MORE: Putin: U.S.-Russia relationship at 'its lowest point' in years —Al Jazeera ([link removed])


** DOJ, Congress to probe data seizures
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Democrats are demanding sworn testimony from former attorneys general Bill Barr and Jeff Sessions in an expanding scandal over secret seizures of communications records from top lawmakers and news organizations by the Trump Administration. On Friday, the Justice Department inspector general announced an investigation of the Trump DOJ's seizure from Apple of the phone metadata of Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell as well as their family members and aides. News broke yesterday that former White House counsel Don McGahn and his wife also had their data seized in 2018. Meanwhile, media executives from CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times are meeting today with Attorney General Merrick Garland to ask for safeguards to ensure the future freedom of the press. Stay tuned. —CNN ([link removed])

MORE: Justice official resigning amid uproar over Dems' subpoena —Associated Press ([link removed])


** 'She clarified, we thanked her, end of subject'
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just wants the Ilhan Omar controversy to go away. A week ago, Rep. Omar tweeted that "we have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban." Two days later, a group of Jewish House Democrats criticized her for equating the U.S. and Israel with the Taliban and Hamas. Omar countered somewhat disingenuously that she was "in no way equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries." Pelosi and House leadership accepted her clarification, and she was not rebuked for her initial comments. However, they also warned, "Drawing false equivalencies between democracies like the U.S. and Israel and groups that engage in terrorism like Hamas and the Taliban foments prejudice and undermines progress toward a future of peace and security for all." —CNN ([link removed])

MORE: Malliotakis wants 'liability' Omar booted from congressional committee —New York Post ([link removed])
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** Rauch: It's not an audit. It's propaganda
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"The best way to think of the Arizona audit is as an example of what Russian intelligence operatives—masters of the dark arts of disinformation—call 'active measures.' Their goal is to manipulate the social and media environments and thereby divide, disorient, and demoralize a target population." —Jonathan Rauch in ([link removed]) The Arizona Republic ([link removed])

Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author of "The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth."

MORE: Exodus of election officials raises concerns of partisanship —The Washington Post ([link removed])


** Focus on the GOP
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The news isn't all bad regarding the Republican Party. There are members at the state level trying to forge a new, post-Donald Trump path against overwhelming odds—and others are being held accountable. Even in Arizona, where a GOP state senator threatened to imprison the attorney general after the Justice Department announced it would scrutinize the state's sham election audit, other Republicans are being honest about what's really going on in Maricopa County. "I'm just aghast at what is happening in the coliseum," said Benny White, a GOP election analyst who has been involved in multiple audits. "They're trying to create a completely new record. Then I suppose they [are] going to present that and say, 'Here is the truth, don't believe what was published in November.'"—Newsweek ([link removed])
* — Oregon. For the first time in state history, the Oregon House of Representatives expelled a sitting congressman—Republican state Rep. Mike Nearman—last week. Nearman was removed for disorderly behavior by allowing rioters into the closed state Capitol building during a special legislative session on Dec. 21, 2020. His actions led to dozens of people, some of them armed, gaining access to the Capitol, causing thousands of dollars in damage, and injuring six state and local police officers. —Statesman Journal ([link removed])
*
* — Pennsylvania. State Sen. Dan Laughlin is exploring a run for governor, positioning himself as a center-right conservative who can appeal to swing voters and avoid divisive cultural feuds—and drawing a contrast with other Republican hopefuls who are touting their ties to Trump. "If Republicans are to restore commonsense conservatism to the governor's office," the party needs "a candidate capable of reaching across party lines with an agenda focused on practical solutions and fiscal sanity," Laughlin says. —The Philadelphia Inquirer ([link removed])
*
* — South Carolina. Rep. Tom Rice faces a tough road to re-election in 2022, even though he's been a reliable conservative for five terms and was a strong supporter of Trump. Jan. 6 changed everything for Rice, and he voted to impeach Trump a week after the insurrection. Though that surprising vote now threatens his political future, he says he wouldn't change it. "I took an oath to defend the Constitution. I didn't take an oath to defend Donald Trump. What he did was a frontal assault on the Constitution," Rice says. "If you want a congressman who's going to choose a personality over the Constitution, I'm not your guy." —The Washington Post ([link removed])

MORE: House GOP prays Trump can kick his habit of 2020 grievances —Politico ([link removed])


** Hiatt: The war on election officials
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"It's bad enough that most Republicans continue to defend Trump's slander on American democracy and use it as a pretext to suppress the vote, instead of looking for ways to appeal to more voters. It's even scarier that they are trying to write themselves an insurance policy so that, if their vote suppression strategy fails in 2024, they can nonetheless reclaim power. That should be unacceptable to every patriotic American." —Fred Hiatt in ([link removed]) The Washington Post ([link removed])

Fred Hiatt is the editorial page editor and a columnist at
The Washington Post.

MORE: Justice Department will review restrictive GOP voting laws —MarketWatch ([link removed])

I'm fed up hearing about how the investigation into the insurrection on Jan. 6 needs to be bipartisan. It's a BS excuse for doing NOTHING. Think about it. When any other investigation of any event (crime, tax audit, etc.) takes place, does it stop until it is bipartisan? Are prosecutors sitting around at the DOJ right now, while dealing with the 500 or so people who have been charged so far for Jan. 6, stopping what they are doing to ensure it is bipartisan? After 9/11, did folks sit back and wait until there was bipartisanship in order to investigate and prosecute al-Qaeda and the Taliban? Did the GOP wait for bipartisanship to investigate Benghazi and Hillary Clinton's emails over five years?

No!

It's not hyperbolic nor rhetoric. We are losing our country and our democracy in front of our eyes. So Democrats who pretend to be leaders, get over yourselves and pull your heads out of your backsides. There's a saying I first recall hearing in the military years ago about leaders and leadership: you either lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way. Rep. Pelosi and Sen. Schumer, you were elected to be leaders. If you won't lead, then get the hell out of the way. The same goes for Sens. Manchin and Sinema. You are being played, and it's not rocket science. Stop talking and start acting to protect this country and our democracy, because if you don't, you are complicit. Live up to the oath you all took; the oath does not expire. You have power, USE IT, and stop bending over to the party of seditionists! —Bill T., Arizona
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** The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.
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