Tag: Ethics and Official Misconduct

Trump Received Millions From Foreign Governments as President, Report Finds

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Donald J. Trump’s businesses received at least $7.8 million from 20 foreign governments during his presidency, according to new documents released by House Democrats on Thursday that show how much he received from overseas transactions while he was in the White House, most of it from China. The transactions, detailed in a 156-page report called “White House For Sale” that was produced by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, offer concrete evidence that the former president engaged in the kind of conduct that House Republicans have labored, so far unsuccessfully,…

Hunter Biden Offers to Testify in House Inquiry, but Only in Public

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Hunter Biden, the president’s son, who is the subject of an investigation by House Republicans into his family, told Congress on Tuesday that he was willing to testify — but only publicly so that Republicans cannot twist or selectively leak what he says. In a letter to Congress, Abbe D. Lowell, Mr. Biden’s lawyer, criticized the Republican inquiry as a “partisan crusade,” and said he has watched as Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky and the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has used “closed-door sessions to manipulate, even…

A.I. Killer Drones Are Becoming Reality. Nations Disagree on Limits.

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It seems like something out of science fiction: swarms of killer robots that hunt down targets on their own and are capable of flying in for the kill without any human signing off. But it is approaching reality as the United States, China and a handful of other nations make rapid progress in developing and deploying new technology that has the potential to reshape the nature of warfare by turning life and death decisions over to autonomous drones equipped with artificial intelligence programs. That prospect is so worrying to many…

Gifts, Gadgets and Greece: Inside a Huawei Lobbying Campaign

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In November 2020, executives at Huawei, the Chinese telecom-equipment maker, exchanged messages about holding a meeting with a “friend” and an “adviser” in Greece. The contacts, identified as Greek government advisers, were set to provide Huawei with something valuable: a document outlining government contracts and “first priority projects” that the company might want to work on in the country. Huawei managers discussed giving the advisers a Huawei Mate XS smartphone, the company’s GT 2 smartwatch and wine, according to internal text messages and other documents reviewed by The New York…

Trump Condemns Hunter Biden’s Foreign Business. He’s Quiet on His Own.

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After his fourth indictment, bringing his total count of felony charges to 91, former President Donald J. Trump last week posted a video online accusing President Biden and his family of being criminals. “The Biden crime family,” he claimed, had received millions of dollars from foreign countries. “I believe we have a compromised president,” Mr. Trump said, adding: “He’s a Manchurian candidate. That’s why Crooked Joe is letting other countries walk all over the United States.” For Mr. Trump, outrage is a selective commodity when it comes to presidential families…

Turmoil in China’s Military Leads Xi to Redouble Quest for Control

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As Xi Jinping has entrenched his hold on power in China, he has likened himself to a physician, eradicating the toxins of corruption and disloyalty that threaten the rule of the Communist Party. And his signature project for over a decade has been bringing to heel the once extravagantly corrupt military leadership. But recent upheavals at high levels of the People’s Liberation Army forces suggest that Mr. Xi’s cure has not endured. Last week, he abruptly replaced two top generals in the Rocket Force, an unexplained shake-up that suggests suspicions…

‘Make People Better’ Review: Clear Science, Confusing Storytelling

Chin@Strategy

When the Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced in 2018 that he had successfully taken human embryos with genetically edited DNA and implanted them in a woman’s uterus, it sparked international controversy among scientists and stoked deep-seated fears of normalizing “designer babies,” which would allow the wealthy to buy the ability to choose the genetic characteristics of their offspring. In the documentary “Make People Better,” the director Cody Sheehy dives into this complex story of genomic discovery, biomedical ethics and the covert dealings of the Chinese government. The film chooses its…

Australia’s Costs for Its Harder Line on China

Chin@Strategy

CANBERRA, Australia — Four years after declaring that it would “stand up” to China, Australia is wrestling with the economic and political consequences of a sharp turn in policy and tone that has helped send relations with Beijing into their deepest chill in decades. Allies have applauded Australia for showing how the world’s smaller powers can redefine ties with China — a trailblazing push that deepened this month with Australia’s decision to acquire American nuclear-powered submarines. But to increasingly vocal critics, Australia also offers warnings about the risks of losing…

I.M.F. Chief Kristalina Georgieva Denies Claims She Inflated China Data

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — In remarks to staff on Friday, Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, denied allegations that she pressured staff to manipulate a report to placate China when she was a top World Bank official and said she cares deeply about the integrity of data and analysis, according to people familiar with the meeting. “I disagree with the implications for my role, and let me put it very simply to you: Not true,” she said, according to a transcript of her remarks. A day earlier, an…

Inquiry finds World Bank officials, including now-I.M.F. chief, pushed staff to inflate China data.

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — An investigation into manipulation of an annual World Bank report has found that Kristalina Georgieva, the bank’s former chief executive, who now leads the International Monetary Fund, directed staff to alter data to placate China. The findings of the investigation, which was conducted by the law firm WilmerHale at the request of the bank’s ethics committee, raised questions about the judgment of Ms. Georgieva during her time at the World Bank and underscored the pressure that the bank has been under to accommodate China, its third-largest shareholder after…