Maduro claims election victory, leaving Venezuela with three Congresses amid fraud claims

Antonio Maria Delgado

The Nicolás Maduro regime claimed to garner 67 percent of the votes in Sunday’s parliamentary election, declaring it had control of Venezuela’s National Assembly while many throughout the world alleged the voting was fraudulent.

The election creates the strange scenario where Venezuela, which already has two competing Congresses, will now have three. The National Assembly under control of opposition leader Juan Guaidó has announced it will continue operating as the country’s legitimate legislative body even after the new regime-controlled legislators are sworn in in January.

Questions over how many voted

According to the regime, at least 31 percent of the country’s registered voters participated in the election, but the number contrasted with the empty voting stations the international press reported throughout the day. Independent poll takers said the actual voting was much lower, amounting to less than 20 percent of those registered.

The Maduro regime already had its own parallel legislative body before the election in the controversial Constituent National Assembly (ANC), which Maduro set up in an irregular election in 2017 to bypass the legitimate legislative body controlled by the opposition.

No plans have been announced for the future of the ANC, but Maduro would probably move to dismantle it once his new congress settles in, analysts said.

The election, which was boycotted by the main opposition parties, led to a new round of international criticism, with the United States, Great Britain, Canada and Germany saying they won’t recognize its results.

Other nations followed suit, including neighbors like Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Santa Lucía.

“On December 6, the illegitimate Maduro regime in Venezuela staged a political farce intended to look like legislative elections. Fortunately, few were fooled. The United States, along with numerous other democracies around the world, condemns this charade which failed to meet any minimum standard of credibility,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a press release.

“Maduro brazenly rigged these elections in his favor through the illegal seizure of political parties’ names and ballot logos, manipulation of the process by his loyalist electoral council, violence and intimidation, and other undemocratic tactics,” he said, adding that Washington will continue backing Guaidó, considering him to be the legitimate president of the South American nation.

The regime had announced hours before that its coalition, Great Patriotic Pole, had obtained 67.6 percent of the votes cast on Sunday. The rest of the vote went to four other coalitions. They say they are independent, but the main opposition parties say they have ties to Maduro so he could say that his candidates ran against opponents.

If those votes add up to two-thirds of the 277 seats in play, Maduro can claim he has a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. That, in theory, would grant him special powers the Constitution denies to the simple majority of 50 percent plus one vote in Congress.

Opposition leaders, however, downplayed the distinction, saying that Maduro has for years been ignoring the Constitution and the laws and has been ruling by decrees as if he already had absolute powers.

Access to foreign credit at stake

That said, Maduro wanted to have control of the National Assembly, not the Constituent National Assembly, because he had been having difficulties in obtaining foreign credit without it, explained José Vicente Carrasquero, political science professor at the Simón Bolívar University in Caracas.

“When they lost the National Assembly in 2015, they automatically lost access to the international credit because they could not get the National Assembly to back the issuance of new foreign debt,” Carrasquero said. “That’s when they went to invent the ANC, to see if people abroad would buy it.

“But since that didn’t work, they are now going ahead to take over the National Assembly by force, hoping that now they’d be able to issue new debt.”

The 2015 elected National Assembly, however, has no plans to step aside.

“We are not going to stop; we will stand firm and keep functioning to fulfill our constitutional mandate,” Guaidó, who is also president of the assembly, said Sunday night in a video transmitted by Twitter.

“The Legitimate National Assembly, and myself as interim president, will stay here next to you, assuming not only the principle of constitutional continuity, but also the responsibility of the parliament, defending the legitimate mandate entrusted to us by the Venezuelan people,” he said.

Latest Stories

  • A suspected Chinese spy slept with at least 2 mayors and got close to Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell in a yearslong intelligence campaign, report says

    According to Axios, Fang Fang (aka Christine Fang) went to China in mid-2015 amid an FBI investigation into her, and has not returned since.

  • German prosecutors 'have evidence' suspect killed Madeleine McCann

    There is compelling evidence the German prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann killed her but it cannot be shared with the public, German prosecutors said on Tuesday. “If you knew the evidence we had you would come to the same conclusion as I do,” Hans Christian Wolters, the prosecutor in charge of the case told the BBC. “But I can't give you details because we don't want the accused to know what we have on him — these are tactical considerations.” Christian Brückner, a 43-year-old convicted paedophile and rapist, was named as a suspect in the toddler’s disappearance in June. But German prosecutors have yet to charge him in connection with the case and say that while they have evidence it is not yet enough to secure a conviction. “I can't promise, I can't guarantee that we have enough to bring a charge but I'm very confident because what we have so far doesn't allow any other conclusion at all,” Mr Wolters told the BBC.

  • Pfizer and Moderna reportedly reject invitations to Trump's vaccine 'PR stunt'

    It seems the executives leading COVID-19 vaccine development know better than to attend a big gathering right about now.On Tuesday, the White House will be hosting a "vaccine summit" apparently meant to bring vaccine developers, scientists, and government leaders together ahead of distribution of the coronavirus vaccine. But drug industry leaders have decided the event is more of a "public relations stunt," and some big names aren't even planning to attend, Stat News reports.Pfizer and Moderna are currently at the top of the COVID-19 vaccine world, having produced vaccine candidates that are more than 90 percent effective at stopping transmission of the disease. But despite the fact that both of the companies' CEOs had been invited to the vaccine summit, neither plans to attend, two sources tell Stat. The summit comes just days before the Food and Drug Administration is set to examine Pfizer's vaccine data, and a week before it will look at Moderna's. Both reviews will likely result in emergency use authorizations for the two vaccines.Many other companies involved in the vaccine distribution process — FedEx, UPS, Walgreens, and CVS among them — are expected to send representatives to the event. But they "are likely to send lower-ranking executives as opposed to their CEOs," sources familiar with the event's planning tell Stat. And despite an apparent conflict of interest, Peter Marks, the FDA official who heads vaccine approvals, may end up attending the summit, Stat reports.More stories from theweek.com Fox's Lou Dobbs berates Stephen Miller for the White House not jumping on Ted Cruz's Supreme Court offer Operation Warp Speed chief can't explain Trump's new executive order on COVID-19 vaccines The post-Mitch McConnell GOP is going to be a carnival of madness

  • Schumer: Biden ‘Considering’ Forgiving $50,000 in Student Loan Debt via Executive Action

    President-elect Joe Biden is “considering” forgiving $50,000 in federal student loan debt for low-income and middle class students, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said Monday.Schumer held a press conference alongside Democratic Congressmen-elect Ritchie Torres, Mondaire Jones and Jamaal Bowman of New York, during which the group announced they have “come to the conclusion” that Biden can “forgive $50,000 of debt the first day he becomes president.”“You don’t need Congress, all you need is the flick of a pen and President-elect Biden — then President Biden — can make this happen,” Schumer said.> JUST IN: Sen. Chuck Schumer: President-elect Joe Biden is "considering" forgiving $50,000 in federal student loan debt for all borrowers. pic.twitter.com/KS4WNgAb79> > -- The Hill (@thehill) December 7, 2020He added that the group is urging Biden to choose a secretary of education who will support student loan forgiveness because “it’s up to the secretary of education officially, but if President Biden wants it, I’m sure it will happen.”“This debt is a huge burden on the backs of our students standing in the way of them and their economy and it stays with them for a very long time,” he said.He said they are calling on Biden to take executive action to administratively cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt for federal student loan borrowers with an income below $125,000, and to do so in a way that the borrowers would have no tax liability when they receive the forgiveness.Schumer said he has spoken to Biden about "how important" the loan forgiveness is and that he is "considering" it.Asked if Biden will have the executive authority to forgive the debt, the New York Senator said the president-elect is researching that and "I believe when he does his research, he will find that he does."When asked what the forgiveness would mean for families who have “made sacrifices to pay off student loans” Schumer said it would be “good for everybody.”“Lots of students paid off student loans but it’s such a burden it’s good for everybody to make sure that this debt is vanquished,” he said. “It’s never been this high.”He added that when he finished college it cost $1,700 but “people can’t afford it now.”

  • Former Florida health official posts video of state police entering her home, drawing their weapons

    Rebekah Jones, a former Florida Health Department official, tweeted a video in which it appears state police entered her home to confiscate her computer and other devices. The video appears to show police drawing their weapons.

  • Trump suggests Rudy Giuliani's crusade to overturn the election results is 'more important' than when Giuliani led New York's 9/11 response

    Giuliani was lauded for his 9/11 response, but his public image has cratered as he spins a web of increasingly incoherent conspiracy theories.

  • Hundreds pay respects at funeral of Chechen refugee who beheaded French teacher

    Several hundred people paid their respects last week at a funeral in Russia for the Chechnyan teenager who beheaded a teacher in France over cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad. Samuel Paty, a 47-year old history teacher, became the target of a hostile online campaign after discussing the cartoons in a class on freedom of speech and was eventually attacked and murdered by Abdoulakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old Chechen refugee, in October. Anzorov was shot dead by police shortly after the attack on October 16. His body was repatriated to Russia last week to allow his family to bury him in his ancestral village in the predominantly Muslim region of Chechnya. Several hundred people attended the funeral on Friday in the village of Shalazhi, chanting prayers on their way to the cemetery, a video released by several media outlets showed. Salman Magamadov, the village chief, insisted in an interview with the Podyem media outlet on Monday that Anzorov received an ordinary burial without “any special honours”. Prominent Muslim clerics in Russia have used the attack to condemn French authorities for mocking their religion. Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman leader of Chechnya, said French President Emmanuel Macron was to blame for allegedly encouraging insults against Muslims. Mr Kadyrov later sought to distance his region from the attack, insisting that the teenager, an ethnic Chechen, was born in Moscow and moved to France when he was a small child.

  • The Taliban are megarich – here's where they get the money they use to wage war in Afghanistan

    The Taliban militants of Afghanistan have grown richer and more powerful since their fundamentalist Islamic regime was toppled by U.S. forces in 2001. In the fiscal year that ended in March 2020, the Taliban reportedly brought in US$1.6 billion, according to Mullah Yaqoob, son of the late Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who revealed the Taliban’s income sources in a confidential report commissioned by NATO and later obtained by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.In comparison, the Afghan government brought in $5.55 billion during the same period. The government is now in peace talks with the Taliban, seeking to end their 19-year insurgency.I study the Taliban’s finances as an economic policy analyst at the Center for Afghanistan Studies. Here’s where their money comes from. 1\. Drugs – $416 millionAfghanistan accounted for approximately 84% of global opium production over the past five years, according to the United Nation’s World Drug Report 2020. Much of those illicit drug profits go to the Taliban, which manage opium in areas under their control. The group imposes a 10% tax on every link in the drug production chain, according to a 2008 report from the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, an independent research organization in Kabul. That includes the Afghan farmers who cultivate poppy, the main ingredient in opium, the labs that convert it into a drug and the traders who move the final product out of country. 2\. Mining – $400 million to $464 millionMining iron ore, marble, copper, gold, zinc and other metals and rare-earth minerals in mountainous Afghanistan is an increasingly lucrative business for the Taliban. Both small-scale mineral-extraction operations and big Afghan mining companies pay Taliban militants to allow them to keep their businesses running. Those who don’t pay have faced death threats.According to the Taliban’s Stones and Mines Commission, or Da Dabaro Comisyoon, the group earns $400 million a year from mining. NATO estimates that figure higher, at $464 million – up from just $35 million in 2016. 3\. Extortion and taxes – $160 millionLike a government, the Taliban tax people and industries in the growing swath of Afghanistan under their control. They even issue official receipts of tax payment.“Taxed” industries include mining operations, media, telecommunications and development projects funded by international aid. Drivers are also charged for using highways in Taliban-controlled regions, and shopkeepers pay the Taliban for the right to do business. The group also imposes a traditional Islamic form of taxation called “ushr” – which is a 10% tax on a farmer’s harvest – and “zakat,” a 2.5% wealth tax. According to Mullah Yaqoob, tax revenues – which may also be considered extortion – bring in around $160 million annually. Since some of those taxed are poppy growers, there could be some financial overlap between tax revenue and drug revenue. 4\. Charitable donations – $240 millionThe Taliban receive covert financial contributions from private donors and international institutions across the globe. Many Taliban donations are from charities and private trusts located in Persian Gulf countries, a region historically sympathetic to the group’s religious insurgency. Those donations add up to about $150 million to $200 million each year, according to the Afghanistan Center for Research and Policy Studies. These charities are on the U.S. Treasurey Department’s list of groups that finance terrorism. Private citizens from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran and some Persian Gulf nations also help finance the Taliban, contributing another $60 million annually to the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network, according to American counterterrorism agencies. 5\. Exports – $240 millionIn part to launder illicit money, the Taliban import and export various everyday consumer goods, according to the United Nations Security Council. Known business affiliates include the multinational Noorzai Brothers Limited, which imports auto parts and sells reassembled vehicles and spare automobile parts.The Taliban’s net income from exports is thought to be around $240 million a year. This figure includes the export of poppy and looted minerals, so there may be financial overlap with drug revenue and mining revenue. 6\. Real estate – $80 millionThe Taliban own real estate in Afghanistan, Pakistan and potentially other countries, according to Mullah Yaqoob and the Pakistani TV Channel SAMAA. Yaqoob told NATO annual real estate revenue is around $80 million. 7\. Specific countriesAccording to BBC reporting, a classified CIA report estimated in 2008 that the Taliban had received $106 million from foreign sources, in particular from the Gulf states.Today, the governments of Russia, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are all believed to bankroll the Taliban, according to numerous U.S. and international sources. Experts say these funds could amount to as much as $500 million a year, but it is difficult to put an exact figure on this income stream. Building a peacetime budgetFor nearly 20 years, the Taliban’s great wealth has financed mayhem, destruction and death in Afghanistan. To battle its insurgency, the Afghan government also spends heavily on war, often at the expense of basic public services and economic development.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]A peace agreement in Afghanistan would allow the government to redirect its scarce resources. The government might also see substantial new revenue flow in from legal sectors now dominated by the Taliban, such as mining. Stability is additionally expected to attract foreign investment in the country, helping the government end its dependence on donors like the United States and the European Union.There are many reasons to root for peace in war-scarred Afghanistan. Its financial health is one of them.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Hanif Sufizada, University of Nebraska Omaha.Read more: * How a troop drawdown in Afghanistan signals American weakness and could send Afghan allies into the Taliban’s arms * After US and Taliban sign accord, Afghanistan must prepare for peaceHanif Sufizada does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

  • 10 Indoor Plant Stands That Seriously Stand Out

    Take your home garden to the next level this winterOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Tuesday's 'safe harbor' deadline essentially ends Trump's doomed election challenges

    President Trump's janky legal and political campaign to overturn his loss to President-elect Joe Biden through the courts and state legislatures effectively dies Tuesday, when the "safe harbor" deadline presumptively locks in certified vote counts. As of Monday night, 47 states and the District of Columbia have certified their results, giving Biden electoral votes to spare, according to Reuters' tally. When the Electoral College formally casts ballots on Dec. 14, Biden should have 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232.Under the 1887 Electoral Count Act, each state's slate of electors chosen by the "safe harbor" date " is final and presumptively cannot be challenged in court or in Congress," CNN's Elie Honig explains. "The states are not required to finalize their electoral votes by the safe harbor date — but if they do, those determinations are protected by federal law," so this "should effectively extinguish any dying embers of hope even for the last few remaining election denialists.""Trump's legal team publicly says the safe harbor deadline is meaningless and they'll simply disregard it," since it isn't enshrined in the Constitution, Politico reports. "But the campaign's legal filings tell another story," and "as Trump attempts to bludgeon his way to a second term, judges and lawyers for both sides have also treated the safe-harbor deadline as a cause for urgency." There will still be a bit of drama as Trump allies in Congress challenge the final results Jan. 6, and Trump may have other reasons for publicly keeping up his losing fight.> Per its FEC report yesterday, Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the election have cost his campaign about $8.8 million so far, including about $2.3 million on lawyers. > > But they've helped him raise $207 million. https://t.co/lYZ63XODg8 https://t.co/3eR3uB1WYJ> > — Brad Heath (@bradheath) December 4, 2020But "Trump's allies have increasingly acknowledged their losing legal hand," Politico reports, and the accumulating losses "have all underscored a reality that seems to be sinking in inside Trump's orbit: It's over."More stories from theweek.com Fox's Lou Dobbs berates Stephen Miller for the White House not jumping on Ted Cruz's Supreme Court offer Operation Warp Speed chief can't explain Trump's new executive order on COVID-19 vaccines The post-Mitch McConnell GOP is going to be a carnival of madness

  • Mohammed bin Salman rejected claims he sent an elite hit squad to kill a Saudi spy chief exiled in Canada, arguing he's immune from prosecution anyway

    Saad al-Jabri sued Crown Prince Mohammed in Washington, DC, in August, claiming he was targeted because he knew damning secrets about the royal court.

  • Ohio law enforcement alleges that Casey Goodson, a 23-year-old Black man, was shot and killed after waving a gun. His family say he was only holding a sandwich.

    A Franklin County sheriff's deputy identified as Jason Meade shot Casey Goodson while he was at his home's front door on December 4.

  • Giant continental dormice spotted in England as conservationists warn they could harm native species

    To a passer-by, the fluffy, cartoonish creature on the floor could have been a cuddly toy dropped by a child on a trip to the New Forest National Park. However, to those with a knowledge of rodents, the animal which has been sighted in the park for the first time is a European dormouse which could be breeding in Britain. This year, wildlife experts have spotted the Garden Dormouse in Derbyshire and the New Forest, sparking concerns that it has been deliberately released. They are usually found in France, Spain and Italy. Unlike our native hazel dormice, this species is extremely hardy and carnivorous. While our small, honey-coloured native species prefers to feast on nuts and berries, the continental invader is predatory, eating the young of other rodents and small birds. There are fears if the species started breeding in large numbers, they could pose a threat to our native animals. Government sources say they are risk assessing the rodent, but it is not known to be rapidly breeding in the UK and is not thought to be a significant risk at this time.

  • Fox's Lou Dobbs berates Stephen Miller for the White House not jumping on Ted Cruz's Supreme Court offer

    Things don't appear to be going well for President Trump's increasingly desperate attempt to erase his loss to President-elect Joe Biden. Trump currently trails by 7.1 million votes and 4.4 percentage points, the Electoral College will meet Dec. 14 to cement Biden's 306-232 electoral victory, Trump's team keeps losing recounts and court challenges, and Rudy Giuliani, the attorney leading his fringe legal effort, is in the hospital with COVID-19.And on Monday night, Trump-aligned Fox Business host Lou Dobbs yelled at Trump's immigration czar, Stephen Miller, because the White House wasn't jumping on Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) offer to argue a Pennsylvania case before the Supreme Court, should the high court decide to hear the challenge.Trump is "fighting all alone," Dobbs told Miller. "And Ted Cruz has stepped up to say he'll argue before the Supreme Court. Why on God's green Earth wouldn't the White House jump on it?" Miller tried to argue that GOP state legislatures should overturn Biden's victories, but Dobbs cut him off. "No, no, Stephen. I'm not going to let you do this!" he said. "You and I, we're reasonably smart and decent fellows. Why don't you answer me? That's all I'm asking here, Stephen. Why don't you guys jump and salute Ted Cruz and say, 'Yes, we want you on the team' now? My God, this is not a time for internecine nonsense on the part of the Republican Party, which is watching its blood drain into the streets because they're gutless!"> If you enjoy Lou Dobbs’s and Stephen Miller’s tears you’ll like this clip pic.twitter.com/NqN2YwlXvI> > — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 8, 2020Dobbs also suggested Trump's campaign hire Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias for $500 million, to "get him out of your way," Elias noted on Twitter.> Did Lou Dobbs just tell Stephen Miller that Republicans should hire me for $500,000,000 (yes, 1/2 billion dollars) so they can start winning in court? pic.twitter.com/2s9uM1hOAY> > — Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) December 8, 2020There's ample reason to believe the Supreme Court will not grant certiorari in this or any other of the rejected legal challenges. But Cruz explained Monday why he thinks the justices should take the case. "The bitter division and acrimony we see across the nation needs resolution," Cruz tweeted, without irony, and the Supreme Court "has a responsibility to the American people to ensure, within its powers, that we are following the law and following the Constitution."More stories from theweek.com Operation Warp Speed chief can't explain Trump's new executive order on COVID-19 vaccines The post-Mitch McConnell GOP is going to be a carnival of madness Tuesday's 'safe harbor' deadline essentially ends Trump's doomed election challenges

  • Army to fire, suspend Fort Hood troops over violence at base

    U.S. Army leaders are expected to fire or suspend a “significant number” of officers and enlisted soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, in a dramatic purge to correct a command culture they believe failed to address leadership failures and a pattern of violence that included murders, sexual assaults and suicides, U.S. officials said Monday. According to officials familiar with the matter, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy will take administrative action that will remove soldiers from their jobs, and likely trigger investigations that could lead to a wide range of punishments. McCarthy and other senior Army leaders are expected to announce the results of the review on Tuesday.

  • Former Alabama state senator dies of Covid, warns in his last words, 'We messed up'

    "We let our guards down. Please tell everybody to be careful. This is real, and if you get diagnosed, get help immediately," former Sen. Larry Dixon said.

  • Emirati royal buys 50 per cent stake in Israeli football club

    A member of the Emirati royal family has bought a 50 per cent stake in an Israeli premier league club, the latest major deal to emerge from a normalisation treaty struck by the Jewish state and the United Arab Emirates earlier this year. Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan signed the deal with Beitar Jerusalem, a controversial club which has never signed an Arab player and has battled with a reputation for anti-Muslim racism. "I am thrilled to be a partner in such a glorious club that I have heard so much of and in such a great city, the capital of Israel and one of the holiest cities in the world,” Sheikh Hamad said in a statement on the club's website. The reference to Jerusalem as the "capital" of Israel is noteworthy as the city is claimed by both the Israelis and the Palestinians as their own, and is one of the biggest sources of tension in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A spokesman for the club said that Beitar would set up a new board of directors and that Sheikh Hamad’s son would represent him on it. Sheikh Hamad has also pledged to invest 300m shekels (£69m) in the club over the next ten years. The purchase is the latest in a string of lucrative deals made possible by the Abraham Accords, an agreement to end hostilities between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain.

  • We just got our best look yet at the side effects of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. Here's what you should expect if you get the shot.

    New detailed data released Tuesday indicated Pfizer's vaccine had no major safety concerns but could cause temporary and minor side effects.

  • Arizona's Republican Party asks followers if they're willing to die to 'Stop the Steal'

    Arizona's Republican Party has a disturbing call to action for its followers.Ever since the typically red state flipped for President-elect Joe Biden, some supporters of President Trump, including a legal team for his campaign, have been spreading baseless claims that voter fraud cost Trump the election. Those "Stop the Steal" backers got a big boost Tuesday, as Arizona's Republican Party retweeted a call for followers to be ready to "give [their] life for this fight."> He is. Are you? https://t.co/OY8qxNMPxm> > — Arizona Republican Party (@AZGOP) December 8, 2020Shortly after, the Arizona GOP Twitter shared a clip of the fourth Rambo movie, where Sylvester Stallone's character tells his posse to "live for nothing, or die for something."> “This is what we do, who we are. Live for nothing, or die for something.” pic.twitter.com/U830SiXf4N> > — Arizona Republican Party (@AZGOP) December 8, 2020Despite all the "Stop the Steal" campaign's memes and press conferences, Trump's backers have failed to win any meaningful court cases aimed at throwing out votes they claimed were fraudulent. Most states have certified their election results to give Biden the win, and the Electoral College will confirm it next week.More stories from theweek.com Fox's Lou Dobbs berates Stephen Miller for the White House not jumping on Ted Cruz's Supreme Court offer Operation Warp Speed chief can't explain Trump's new executive order on COVID-19 vaccines The post-Mitch McConnell GOP is going to be a carnival of madness

  • Iran says US 'got the message' on tense exchanges in Gulf

    Iran said Monday it was glad the United States “got the message” and modified its behavior in the Persian Gulf, after the top U.S. Navy official in the region said his forces had reached a state of deterrence with Iran after months of regional attacks and seizures at sea. “Unfortunately, the U.S. has often had an unprofessional approach toward Iran’s navy,” he said. Paparo, who oversees the Navy's 5th Fleet based in Bahrain, said the two sides had reached a state of “uneasy deterrence” and that he had a “healthy respect” for Iran's regular navy and the naval forces of its Revolutionary Guard.