Tom Reed

Congressman Tom Reed is one 398 members of the U.S. House of Representatives included in a sanctions list by Russia.

Newsweek reported also included on that list is several Republican representatives who have been accused of making comments sympathetic to Russia, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the list of sanctioned members of Congress was a response to the United States placing sanctions on 328 members of the Russian State Duma, the country’s lower house of parliament, on March 24.

No explanation was given for how Russia chose the names for its list. Last week, Greene and Gaetz were two of only three House representatives who voted against banning the import of Russian oil.

The U.S. sanctions on the State Duma members target their property and assets, as well as banning them from dealings with American citizens. Few details were made available about Moscow’s sanctions against American politicians, aside from that they would “mirror” the U.S. measures and ban those on the list from visiting Russia.

Reed issued a statement saying, “We were proud to be on the list of House Members to be officially sanctioned by Russia. Being put on this permanent ‘stop list’ by a dictator like Putin can only be seen as a badge of honor. Watching the atrocities that Putin is committing on a daily basis against the people of Ukraine is heartbreaking, and it must stop. American leadership must project to Russia that we will achieve peace through strength.”

State Workers Raise Ukrainian flag over State Capitol

Governor Kathy Hochul has announced the launch of a new website containing resources offered by New York State and its partners to help Ukrainian people and other refugees in the state.

This follows the Governor’s announcement warning consumers about scams and cybersecurity threats amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This directive comes amid Governor Hochul’s ongoing efforts to support Ukraine. Recently, the Governor announced an Executive Order to prohibit state agencies and authorities from contracting with entities that continue to do business in Russia. In early March, Governor Hochul announced actions to strengthen the Department of Financial Services‘ enforcement of sanctions against Russia, including the expedited procurement of additional blockchain analytics technology. In February, Governor Hochul ordered all state agencies and authorities to divest public funds from Russia and stop doing business with Russian companies.

Resources available on the website include free support services for immigrants and refugees in New York taste, information on substance abuse and mental health services with support for non-English speakers, and information about humanitarian aid including how to avoid donation scams.

The link to the state’s website is https://www.ny.gov/new-york-state-stands-ukraine-resources-ukrainians-and-how-new-yorkers-can-help

Governor Kathy Hochul announces new executive order further restricting business with Russia

Governor Kathy Hochul has signed a new executive order banning State agencies and public authorities from doing business with companies that have continued to do business in Russia.

Hochul had previously signed an executive order banning state agencies from doing business with Russian companies. She issued this new one Thursday.

New York will also send 100,000 pounds of medical supplies, including masks and gowns, to Ukraine.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its fourth week on Thursday. Several other U.S. states and leaders have taken steps to financially squeeze Russia since the invasion began.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy addresses U.S. Congress

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested a “No Fly Zone” over Ukraine in addition to more sanctions on Russia in a virtual address to the U.S. Congress Wednesday.

Zelenskyy thanked President Joe Biden for the relief aid the U.S. has already provided, and added “I call on you to do more, new packages of sanctions are needed constantly every week until the Russian military machine stops.”

Zelenskyy also called for the U.S. to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, a request the White House has already rejected for fear it would escalate international tension with Russia. In pleading for the no-fly zone, he played a produced video showing dramatic footage of the war’s human toll. The video ended with the words: “close the sky over Ukraine.”

Calling the invasion the worst war since World War Two, Zelenskyy found similarities between what his country has endured during the Russian invasion to the attack on Pearl Harbor and September 11 here in the United States.

Most recently, the Senate passed a resolution on Tuesday night condemning Russian President Putin for committing atrocities and alleged war crimes against the people of Ukraine. Just days ago, Congress approved $14 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and is working on legislation to end normal trade relations with Russia.

President Biden, following the remarks, pledged an additional $800 million in military aid bringing the total of support approved this week for Ukraine to $1 billion. That funding will go toward 800 anti-aircraft systems, 9-thousand anti-armor systems, 7-thousand small arms, as well as drones.

Zelenskyy has been directly appealing to lawmakers around the world for help in stopping the Russian invasion of his country, which started less than a month ago. He spoke to members of Congress over Zoom on March 5, and this month he has also addressed the European, British and Canadian parliaments.

Tom Reed

Congressman Tom Reed, who watched Ukrainian President Zelenskyy‘s address, said while he’s not an outright advocate for a “No Fly Zone,” it needs to be part of the “toolbox” in dealing with Russia.

Reed, in his weekly media call, said the video shared by Zelenskyy of what Ukraine is enduring is heartbreaking and powerful. He said when it comes to military fly zone restrictions, he prefers it be done along with our allies, “That we provide resources to the Ukraine for military defensive purposes and that we use our united front of our NATO allies as well as other allies to send a message to Russia, ‘Time for this to de-escalate. Time for this to come to an end. And when you’re killing women and children, you’re not going to be on the right end of history and Putin, you should stop.'”

Reed said the U.S. and Congress can work to tighten up sanctions even further on Russia, especially on oligarchs and people who are part of the support structure for Russian President Vladimir Putin, “When it comes to his supports and his circle of influencers and people who are making billions of dollars, millions of dollars in regards to how they support Putin and the policies coming out of Russia, so that is something to consider. I also agree with potentially some of the additional military aid when it comes to javelins (missiles) and other type of military war fighting capabilities being a resource to partner with our allies to provide those resources.”

Reed emphasized again he’s open to all the “tools in the toolbox” and that if Putin continues on this path and doesn’t take a path to stand down that he needs to understand it’s not going to get better.

Joe Biden

President Joe Biden announced Tuesday the U.S. will ban all Russian oil imports.

The Associated Press reports Biden acknowledged it will bring costs to Americans, particularly at the gas pump, while toughening the toll on Russia’s economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine.

The action follows pleas by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to U.S. and Western officials to cut off the imports, which had been a glaring omission in the massive sanctions put in place on Russia over the invasion. Energy exports have kept a steady stream of cash flowing to Russia despite otherwise severe restrictions on its financial sector.

Biden said the U.S. was acting in close consultation with European allies, who are more dependent on Russian energy supplies and who he acknowledged may not be able to join in immediately. The announcement marked the latest Biden attempt at cutting off Russia from much of the global economy and ensuring that the Ukraine invasion is a strategic loss for President Vladimir Putin, even if he manages to seize territory.

The European Union this week will commit to phasing out its reliance on Russia for energy needs as soon as possible, but filling the void without crippling EU economies will likely take some time. The U.K., which is no longer part of the EU, announced Tuesday that oil and oil products from Russia will be phased out by the end of the year.

Unlike the US, which is a major oil and gas producer, Europe relies on imports for 90% of its gas and 97% of its oil products. Russia supplies 40% of Europe’s gas and a quarter of its oil. The U.S. does not import Russian natural gas.

The issue of oil sanctions has created a conflict for the president between political interests at home and efforts to impose costs on Russia. Though Russian oil makes up only a small part of U.S. imports, Biden has said he was reluctant to ban it, cutting into supplies here and pushing gasoline prices higher.

Inflation is at a 40-year peak, fueled in large part by gas prices, and that could hurt Biden heading into the November midterm elections.

Gas prices have been rising for weeks due to the conflict and in anticipation of potential sanctions on the Russian energy sector. AAA said the average price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. hit a record $4.17 Tuesday, rising by 10 cents in one day, and up 55 cents since last week.

Even before the U.S. ban, many Western energy companies including ExxonMobil and BP moved to cut ties with Russia and limit imports. Shell, which purchased a shipment of Russian oil this weekend, apologized for the move on Tuesday amid international criticism and pledged to halt further purchases of Russian energy supplies. Preliminary data from the U.S. Energy Department shows imports of Russian crude dropped to zero in the last week in February.

In 2021, the U.S. imported roughly 245 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia — a one-year increase of 24%, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Viewsridge, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

NPR reports that the number of refugees fleeing across the borders of Ukraine has reached 1 million people.

The U.N.’s top refugee official said the total of refugee from Ukraine amounts to a little more than 2% of the country’s total population of 44 million. Around half of the refugees are in Poland, with Hungary, Moldova and Slovakia being the other top destinations, while others have fled to various other European countries.

News of the refugee milestone came as Russian forces have seized their first major city almost a week after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. A spokesperson for the mayor of Kherson, a strategic port city near the Black Sea said, “occupiers are moving through the streets in heavy machinery.” The mayor met with Russian forces and asked the Russians “not to shoot at houses and civilians, because we already have several hundred dead.”

On Wednesday, the United Nations General Assembly approved a non-binding resolution condemning Russia for invading Ukraine and demanding that it withdraw its military forces.

The resolution passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 141-5 with 35 abstentions. The five countries that voted against it were Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea.

In the U.S., President Joe Biden joined the European Union and Canada in banning Russian planes.

The Putin regime is expected to reciprocate and prohibit U.S. aircraft from entering Russian airspace. That could mean longer flights as jets are rerouted around closed airspace, but aviation industry experts say Russians will likely feel the greater impact.

And Kyiv Independent is reporting that Ukraine and Russia are to hold a new round of peace talks. According to Vladimir Medinsky, assistant to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the second round of negotiations will take place today in Belarus.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the public to remain calm while declaring martial law.

NPR reports The strikes drew quick international condemnation of Russia, from capitals across Europe to Asia. The invasion also shook financial markets around the world; global oil and gold prices soared, U.S. stock futures tumbled and indices across Asia recorded significant losses while European markets opened with a downward reaction.

Zelenskyy said in his morning public address that he had been in touch with U.S. President Joe Biden following the Russian invasion.

Biden called Putin’s actions an “unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine” and warned of “a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering.

Biden is to make an address to the U.S. public on Thursday after a meeting with G7 leaders.

Congressman Tom Reed, in his weekly media call Wednesday, said the United States needs to send a message of strength firmly, loudly, and directly to Russia.

While Reed criticized Biden for “conflicting statements” in the previous week that he says were not helpful, that needs to be put behind us, “And send a message of ‘You know what President Putin, your actions are going to have severe consequences and those consequences range from sanctions to a partnership with our Allies that could potentially involve military response.’ And hopefully by sending that message, and putting the past behind us, we will tamper this aggressiveness down and peace will again reign in the region.”

NPR reports the U.S., the E.U. and their allies are hitting Russia with sanctions in response to Putin’s decision to recognize two Ukrainian territories as independent republics — and send troops there.
Biden ordered new sanctions Wednesday on the Russian-owned company that is building the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany as well as its officers. The American president vowed more sanctions to punish Russia. Likewise, EU leaders are considering additional sanctions against Russia.

Reed said while the House isn’t in session, there has been dialogue between members of Congress, “About how we can become united on these sanctions and stop the in-fighting that’s causing them not to be successfully navigated through the waters, but as this aggressiveness rises and you see the invasions and you see the physical actions being taken by Putin, I am sensing that the differences [in Congress] are becoming less and less and that a united level of support for sanctions can be achieved here.”

Reed added that if a humanitarian crisis develops as a result of the invasion, that refugees would be welcomed from the Ukraine to America and that the 23rd district would be ready to assist.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY-23) continued his support of President Donald Trump Wednesday when it comes to the Mueller Report.

Last Thursday a redacted version of special investigator Robert Mueller’s report was made public. The bottom line of the report largely tracked the findings revealed in Attorney General William Barr’s four-page memo released last month. It said there was no collusion with Russia in that country’s meddling of the 2016 Presidential Election and no clear verdict on obstruction, although several examples of the administration not cooperating with investigators was also outlined.

But while Mueller stopped short of saying definitively that obstruction charges should be brought forward, he also indicated that such charges could be brought forward by Congress, not the Justice Department.

Last week Reed – who’s in the minority of the House since Democrats took over following the 2018 midterm elections – put out a statement upon the release of the report, saying it clearly showed there was no collusion and it’s now time to move on.

“Today the Mueller report was released, but the result remains the same — no Russian collusion. This should be celebrated,” Reed’s statement read on Thursday.  “Now it is time for our country to heal because all politics all the time is tearing our country apart and hurting real people. We must end this culture of division and work together on policies to help people.”

Reed’s statement made no mention of obstruction.

During a Conference call Wednesday with regional media, WRFA asked Reed his thoughts about the issues of obstruction that were found within the report and whether or not congress had an obligation to investigate.

“I understand my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, who are more interested in political motivations and overturning the election of 2016 with an impeachment proceeding, they’re going to continue this narrative on the obstruction charge.  That’s their prerogative and their right do so. But I don’t believe that’s going to be productive. I think the report was very clearly given Mueller’s conclusion and Attorney General Barr’s conclusion that obstruction and collusion is just not there. If you’re going to focus on this obstruction and impeachment as your priority in Congress, the American people are going to reject that,”  Reed responded.

Later in the interview Reed was pressed about the Mueller report actually finding ten examples of obstruction and that it was Congress, not the justice department, that should investigate.

“Congress doing oversight in regards to make sure the executive branch is held responsible, I have no objection with that, but to bring impeachment charges and overturn the will of the people that many of the folks in Congress want to do with the obstruction situation is just, to me, not prioritizing what the American people want us to focus on, and that’s problems their facing on a day-to-day basis,” Reed said.

Reed’s comments come as his Democratic colleagues in the house, who currently hold the majority, have pushed to further investigate the obstruction issue with some even say it’s time to begin impeach proceedings, although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stopped short on calling for those proceedings to begin.

President Donald Trump on Feb. 5 during his 2019 State of the Union address before Congress (Image Courtesy of White House)

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump sought the removal of special counsel Robert Mueller, discouraged witnesses from cooperating with prosecutors and prodded aides to mislead the public on his behalf. That’s according to the redacted report from Mueller that details multiple efforts the president made to curtail an investigation into Russia meddling and possible collusion by the Trump Campaign that he feared would cripple his administration.

According to the Associated Press, Trump’s attempts to seize control of the investigation, and his effort to direct others on how to influence it, “were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests,” Mueller wrote.

The report’s bottom line largely tracked the findings revealed in Attorney General William Barr’s four-page memo released last month — no collusion with Russia but no clear verdict on obstruction. But in addition, it added new layers of detail about Trump’s efforts to thwart the investigation.

• READ THE REDACTED REPORT

Trump himself was never questioned in person, but the report’s appendix includes 12 pages of his written responses to queries from Mueller’s team.

Mueller deemed Trump’s written answers — rife with iterations of “I don’t recall” — to be “inadequate.” He considered issuing a subpoena to force the president to appear in person but decided against it after weighing the likelihood of a long legal battle.

The report also indicated that members of the presidents staff admitted to lying to the public, including press secretary Sarah Sanders – who had told the press in May 2017 that she had heard from “countless members of the FBI” who supported the firing of James Comey. She later admitted that was a “slip of the tongue,” investigators wrote in the document.

Sanders also recalled that her statement in a separate press interview that rank-and-file FBI agents had lost confidence in Comey was a comment she made “in the heat of the moment” that was not founded on anything.

As predicted by many, supporters and opponents of the President are now using the report to amplify well-rehearsed arguments about Trump’s conduct – Republicans casting him as a victim of harassment and Democrats depicting the president as stepping far over the line to derail the investigation.

A defiant Trump pronounced it “a good day” and tweeted “Game Over” in a typeface mimicking the “Game of Thrones” logo.

Top Republicans in Congress saw vindication, too.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) said it was time to move on from Democrats’ effort to “vilify a political opponent.”

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23), who represents Chautauqua County in the house, released a statement saying that the report should be celebrated.

“Today the Mueller report was released, but the result remains the same — no Russian collusion. This should be celebrated,” Reed’s statement read. “Now it is time for our country to heal because all politics all the time is tearing our country apart and hurting real people. We must end this culture of division and work together on policies to help people.”

Reed’s statement had no mention of the obstruction charges that were left primarily unanswered.

.Democrats, meanwhile, say the report revealed troubling details about Trump’s conduct in the White House. Noting that while Mueller stopped short of saying definitively that obstruction charges should be brought forward, he also indicated that such charges could be brought forward by Congress, not the Justice Department.

“The evidence we obtained about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that would need to be resolved if we were making a traditional prosecutorial judgement,” the report said. “At the same time, if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgement. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) issued a joint statement on Thursday accusing Attorney General Barr of “deliberately distorting” special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report.

“Special Counsel Mueller’s report paints a disturbing picture of a president who has been weaving a web of deceit, lies and improper behavior and acting as if the law doesn’t apply to him,” the Democratic leaders said. “But if you hadn’t read the report and listened only to Mr. Barr, you wouldn’t have known any of that because Mr. Barr has been so misleading.”

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) added that the report “outlines disturbing evidence that President Trump engaged in obstruction of justice and other misconduct.” He sent a letter to the Justice Department requesting that Mueller himself testify before his panel “no later than May 23″ and said he’d be issuing a subpoena for the full special counsel report and the underlying materials.