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Biden Admin Shoots Down $24 Billion Pay Raise For Enlisted Troops — After Spending Seven Times More On Ukraine

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The Biden administration “strongly opposes” a proposal to raise the pay of junior enlisted service members in the military — even after nearly spending seven times the proposed amount on Ukraine and the broader region’s security.

The House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) draft of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would give all junior troops a pay raise, representing a rough total of $24.4 billion over five years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Biden administration said in a statement on Tuesday that it does not support the proposed “significant, permanent” pay hike until it has had a chance to conduct a compensation review.

“The Administration is strongly committed to taking care of our Servicemembers and their families, and appreciates the Committee’s concern for the needs of the most junior enlisted members, but strongly opposes making a significant, permanent change to the basic pay schedule before the completion of the Fourteenth Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation,” the White House budget office said.

The Biden administration has spent over $175 billion on aid to Ukraine and European security since 2022 — roughly one-seventh of the proposed pay hike for the junior troops, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The $175 billion amount is broken into several packages over the course of two years, including the most recent aid package of $61 billion in April.

“When accounting for inflation, the average American makes less today than when Joe Biden took office. The White House wants to block Republicans from giving our troops the raise they need to make ends meet in the Biden economy,” Republican Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, a HASC member, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Meanwhile, they’ve sent the Ukrainian government $11,500 per Ukrainian household. It’s shameful.”

(Read more from “Biden Admin Shoots Down $24 Billion Pay Raise For Enlisted Troops — After Spending Seven Times More On Ukraine” HERE)

Hunter Biden’s Infamous Laptop — Which the Post Exposed and He Denied — Will Be Used as Evidence in Gun Case

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So much for having “all the hallmarks” of Russian disinformation. So much for “it could be that I was hacked.”

Almost four full years after Big Tech suppressed The Post’s bombshell reporting on Hunter Biden’s abandoned “laptop from hell” with its evidence of influence-peddling, drug use, and other lurid activity, the device will take center stage in the first son’s federal trial on gun charges next month.

Special counsel David Weiss’ team made clear that it intends to use data from the notorious hard drive as evidence against the now-54-year-old.

“The defendant’s laptop is real (it will be introduced as a trial exhibit) and it contains significant evidence of the defendant’s guilt,” prosecutor Derek Hines wrote in a scathing filing Wednesday.

Hines underscored that the laptop data the special counsel will reference is “self-authenticating” and will be “introduced with corroborating evidence at trial.” (Read more from “Hunter Biden’s Infamous Laptop — Which the Post Exposed and He Denied — Will Be Used as Evidence in Gun Case” HERE)

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Mike Johnson Backs Allowing Ukraine to Strike Russia With U.S.-Provided Weapons

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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Wednesday appeared to back allowing Ukraine to use American-provided weapons to strike Russia or Russian-controlled territory.

One reporter asked Johnson about a House Intelligence Committee letter calling on the Biden administration to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with American-supplied weapons.

The letter stipulates that this would allow Ukraine to strike “Russian-controlled territory” as well as Russian territory and represents a significant escalation in America’s seemingly endless proxy war against Russia.

When asked about the letter and if Ukraine should be allowed to strike Russia with American-provided weapons, he said, “I think we need to allow Ukraine to prosecute the war the way they see fit. They need to be able to fight back. And I think us trying to micromanage the effort there – it’s not a good policy for us.” . . .

Johnson has pushed, and passed, the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act (REPO Act), which Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) has said would hamstring a future Donald Trump presidency and potentially drive allies toward competing financial systems that Russia and China control. (Read more from “Mike Johnson Backs Allowing Ukraine to Strike Russia With U.S.-Provided Weapons” HERE)

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U.S. Offers $10 Million Reward for Arrest of Russian Who Allegedly Developed Software That Siphoned $500 Million

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Federal prosecutors charged a Russian national in absentia with creating, developing and administering one of the world’s most prolific ransomware attacks since 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday. The DOJ also announced a $10 million reward for the Russian’s arrest.

“Today, we are announcing that Dmitry [Yuryevich] Khoroshev, a Russian national, is charged in a 26-count indictment with committing and conspiring to commit LockBit attacks,” Nicole Argentieri, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Criminal Division, announced Tuesday.

Khoroshev, 31, of Voronezh, Russia allegedly created, developed and administered LockBit. “[T]his malicious cyber scheme … has targeted over 2,000 victims and stolen more than $100 million in ransomware payments,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, according to the DOJ’s statement.

Some 2,500 victims — from individuals and small businesses to multinationals, law enforcement, and governments — in at least 120 countries paid at least $500 million in ransom after LockBit intruded into and disrupted their systems, seizing troves of data since Sept. 2019. Some 1,800 of the victims are in the United States, the DOJ’s statement revealed.

Khoroshev — alias LockBitSupp, LockBit, and putinkrab — pocketed $100 million of the proceeds, the DOJ alleged. He kept the data of victims who paid the ransom, reneging on his promise to delete their data after receiving the payments, and threatened to leak the data of those who did not pay, the DOJ further alleged. LockBit’s victims also reportedly lost revenue and spent money trying to recover their hijacked systems to the tune of billions of dollars.

(Read more from “U.S. Offers $10 Million Reward for Arrest of Russian Who Allegedly Developed Software That Siphoned $500 Million” HERE)

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Biden DHS Shuts Down ‘Experts’ Panel Featuring Signatories of Infamous Hunter Biden Laptop Letter

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The Biden administration agreed Friday to shut down a panel of “experts” that included multiple signatories of a letter that dismissed a laptop abandoned by Hunter Biden as Russian disinformation.

The Department of Homeland Security agreed to “wind down” the Homeland Intelligence Experts Group in 30 days following litigation from America First Legal, according to court documents. The experts in the group included former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who signed an October 2020 letter that claimed a bombshell New York Post report about emails from the laptop supposedly abandoned by Hunter Biden “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

“The Experts Group shall be wound down within thirty (30) days of the entry of the Order, it will not hold any future meetings, and the Department will not reconstitute the Experts Group inconsistent with the FACA or the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The Department will also provide the Experts Group meeting agendas and meeting minutes with participant identifying information redacted within fifteen (15) days of the entry of the Order,” the order submitted to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia reads. “Based on these representations, Plaintiffs have agreed to dismiss their lawsuit with prejudice.”

Twitter locked multiple accounts, including the New York Post’s and the personal account of then-White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany for sharing the story, citing its “hacked materials” policy. (Read more from “Biden DHS Shuts Down ‘Experts’ Panel Featuring Signatories of Infamous Hunter Biden Laptop Letter” HERE)

The US Spent So Much Time Fighting Insurgents That It Forgot ‘What It Means to Actually Fight a War,’ a US Vet in Ukraine Says

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An American veteran who fought in Ukraine said the US military spent so long focused on fighting insurgents that it forgot “what it means to actually fight a war.”

“We have neglected a lot of the training” on “how to fight and survive in a peer-on-peer adversary war,” the veteran, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Business Insider.

He said that “in the US military, we mostly have been focusing on a guerilla war” and battling insurgents, with places with Iraq and Afghanistan in mind. The US military invested decades, billions of dollars, and thousands of lives into fights in these places.

The former soldier spoke about how his training with the US military a number of years ago compared to what he saw in Ukraine, where he started fighting when Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022 and left last December. . .

In the US military, he explained, “I believe that a lot of the training that we have is tailored more to fighting in a guerilla warfare nowadays than it is to actually fighting a near-peer adversary like it would be with Russia or China.” He said that it is an issue that many NATO members face. (Read more from “The US Spent So Much Time Fighting Insurgents That It Forgot ‘What It Means to Actually Fight a War,’ a US Vet in Ukraine Says” HERE)

Ukraine Faces Defeat Against Russia in 2024, Warns Former UK Commander

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Amidst the prolonged conflict between Ukraine and Russia, General Sir Richard Barrons, former commander of the UK’s Joint Forces Command, has issued a stark warning regarding Ukraine’s precarious position. In an interview with the BBC, Barrons expressed concerns over Ukraine’s ability to withstand the Russian onslaught, stating that there is a “serious risk” of Ukraine succumbing to defeat this year.

The Ukrainian forces, vastly outnumbered and outgunned by their Russian counterparts, are grappling with the daunting prospect of conceding to Russian advances. Barrons highlighted the potential for pessimism to permeate Ukrainian society as the conflict drags on, raising questions about the sustainability of their defense efforts.

Reflecting on the failed Ukrainian counteroffensive of the previous year, Barrons noted the strategic setbacks suffered by Ukraine despite concerted efforts to reclaim occupied territories. There are mounting apprehensions that Russia utilized this period to consolidate its position and prepare for further incursions into Ukrainian territory.

Anticipating a significant Russian offensive in the coming months, Barrons cautioned against the possibility of Russian forces breaching Ukrainian defenses and advancing into key strategic areas. He singled out Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city and a symbolic bastion of Ukrainian identity, as a potential target for Russian encroachment, emphasizing the demoralizing impact such a loss would have on the Ukrainian populace.

Barrons painted a grim picture of the ongoing conflict, describing the relentless pounding of Ukrainian positions by Russian forces wielding superior firepower and weaponry. The disparity in artillery, ammunition, and manpower poses a formidable challenge to Ukrainian resistance, compounded by the introduction of technologically enhanced munitions by the Russians.

One such innovation highlighted by Barrons is the retrofitting of Soviet-era “dumb bombs” with guidance systems, enabling precision strikes on Ukrainian targets while minimizing the risk to Russian aircraft. The deployment of these munitions, coupled with Russia’s overwhelming numerical advantage, has placed significant strain on Ukraine’s defense capabilities.

Recent statements from Ukraine’s top military brass corroborate Barrons’ assessment of the deteriorating situation on the Eastern Front. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi acknowledged the escalation of hostilities following Vladimir Putin’s consolidation of power and the onset of warmer weather.

Top U.S. General in Europe Issues Stark Warning About Russian Military (VIDEO)

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General Christopher Cavoli, the head of U.S. European Command, warned this week that Russia’s military has grown stronger and has recovered faster from its war in Ukraine than the U.S. thought was possible.

Cavoli, who is also the supreme allied commander of Europe at the Western security alliance NATO, made the remarks Wednesday during a House Armed Services hearing on National Security Challenges in Europe.

“With the help of the United States, and invaluable help from other allies and partners, Ukraine has inflicted significant damage upon the Russian military,” he said in his opening remarks. “However, Russia relies on the mass and quantity available to a large country, and despite its military’s evident deficiencies and dysfunctions, continues to pose an existential threat to Ukraine.”

Cavoli said that Russia has increased its production of long range precision munitions and has started to buy “ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and long-range drones from third countries who were previously outside this fight.”

“In fact, it is mainly only in the land forces that Russia has suffered, losing over 2,000 tanks and 315,000 soldiers wounded or dead,” he said. “However, Russia is reconstituting that force far faster than our initial estimates suggested. The army is actually now larger – by 15 percent – than it was when it invaded Ukraine. Over the past year, Russia increased its front line troop strength from 360,000 to 470,000. Russia’s army increased the upper age limit for conscription from 27 to 30, which increases the pool of available military conscripts by 2 million for years to come.”

(Read more from “Top U.S. General in Europe Issues Stark Warning About Russian Military (VIDEO)” HERE)

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Ukraine Recklessly Detonates Drone Against Reactor Dome at Russian-Occupied Nuclear Power Plant

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Ukrainian forces detonated a drone against the dome covering a shut-down nuclear reactor at the massive Russian-occupied power plant in southeast Ukraine on Sunday, according to Kremlin and international energy officials.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said the unmanned device exploded against the dome above one of six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is the largest in all of Europe.

The damage was reported by the Russian-installed administration, which was placed on site after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The Russian staff claimed there was no serious damage to the reactor, with radiation levels remaining normal.

The Russian-run plant said the Ukrainian strike “attacked the dome” of the building housing Reactor No. 6, which is currently in cold shutdown along with three other reactors. (Read more from “Ukraine Recklessly Detonates Drone Against Reactor Dome at Russian-Occupied Nuclear Power Plant” HERE)

Zelensky Warns USA: Give Ukraine the Money or Russia Wins!

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Kyiv will lose the war against Russia if the U.S. fails to approve military aid to battle Moscow’s invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday.

Tens of billions of dollars in military assistance for Kyiv has been blocked for months in Congress. The package faces resistance from House Republicans.

“It is necessary to specifically tell Congress that if Congress does not help Ukraine, Ukraine will lose the war,” Zelensky said during a video meeting of Kyiv-organised fundraising platform United24, per AFP.

Zelensky said it would be “difficult” for Ukraine to “stay” (survive) without the latest aid on top of an estimated $113 billion already sent to Kyiv at the cost of $900 per American household.

He said that “if Ukraine loses the war, other states will be attacked.” (Read more from “Zelensky Warns USA: Give Ukraine the Money or Russia Wins!” HERE)