Biden says he’s leaving US stronger in foreign policy farewell

WASHINGTON— President Joe Biden touted his foreign policy accomplishments in a speech aimed at burnishing his legacy before he departs office next week, arguing that his actions over the last four years leave the United States in a stronger position for President-elect Donald Trump.

“Today I can report to the American people — our sources of national power are far stronger than they were when we took office,” Biden said at the State Department on Monday. “We’ve reinvigorated people’s faith in the United States as a true, true partner.”

The speech covered Biden administration policy in the Middle East, toward China and in Europe. So far, the U.S. hasn’t been able to pin down a ceasefire to halt the fighting between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, though Biden said the two sides are “on the brink” of reaching a deal. Earlier Monday, Israel and its mediators, including the U.S., have submitted a proposal to Hamas and are awaiting sign-off.

Trump has said a deal to free hostages in Gaza should get done before his inauguration — and has threatened that if not, “all hell will break loose.”

Biden briefly addressed what critics call one of his biggest foreign policy failures: the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Thirteen U.S. troops were killed amid the withdrawal, and Biden said he grieves for their deaths.

“There is nothing our adversaries and competitors like Russia and China would have liked more than seeing us continue to be tied down in Afghanistan for another decade,” he said. “For all those reasons, ending the war was the right thing to do, and I believe history will reflect that.”

—Bloomberg News

Georgia Senate revives panel investigating Fulton DA Fani Willis

ATLANTA— In a party-line vote Monday, the Georgia Senate revived a committee created to investigate Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

The 33-23 vote was among the first of the legislative session. It will allow the Special Committee on Investigations to continue its work weeks after a Fulton County judge ruled that the GOP-led chamber had the authority to subpoena the veteran prosecutor.

The panel has “uncovered a set of facts that require us to continue our work,” said Sen. Greg Dolezal, R- Cumming, the bill’s lead sponsor and a member of the committee. “We are focused on the potential enactment of new laws on a statewide application or a change in appropriations, and in order to do that we need to continue the work of this and that’s what this resolution does.”

Democrats said the committee was politically motivated and targeted Willis because she charged Donald Trump and 18 of his allies for attempting to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s win in Georgia in 2020.

“This is a fixation on the past. But worse than that, it is driven primarily by the obsessions of one man who’s going to be president in a week,” said Sen. Josh McLaurin, D- Atlanta.

The Senate’s Republican leaders pushed for the formation of the committee a year ago after news emerged of Willis’ romantic relationship with an outside lawyer she hired as a special prosecutor in the Trump case.

The committee held a handful of hearings throughout 2024, which in addition to Willis’ conduct scrutinized how the DA’s office spent public funding and how Fulton County oversees those funds.

—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Idaho bill aims to protect free speech from frivolous lawsuits

BOISE, Idaho — Republican lawmakers introduced legislation to counteract retaliatory lawsuits in Idaho on Monday, with a proposed law already on the books in most states to expedite the dismissal of litigation that lacks merit.

Known as a SLAPPs, or “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” the court actions are widely viewed as an effort by those with power to silence critics, not necessarily by winning in court but by bogging down opponents with costly legal fees, stress and time.

Thirty-five states and Washington, D.C., now have anti-SLAPP laws in place, which generally offer defendants a way to avoid high costs and deter those who might file them early on in litigation, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. But the provisions in each state law vary.

The bill is the second attempt from Sen. Brian Lenney, R-Nampa, at passing anti-SLAPP legislation. A similar bill he brought last year failed by a narrow margin in the Senate.

Lenney told the Idaho Statesman that his legislation is the same as last year’s bill, and is based on one initiated by the Uniform Law Commission, a nonprofit that proposes standard legislative language for state legislatures to adopt. For its anti-SLAPP bill, the commission lists endorsements from the American Civil Liberties Union, Institute for Free Speech, Institute for Justice, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and other groups.

Earlier this month, Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed a similar law, also based on the Uniform Law Commission’s version.

—The Idaho Statesman

Lebanon names International Court of Justice chief as prime minister of distressed nation

Lebanese diplomat Nawaf Salam, a former United Nations envoy and current head of the International Court of Justice, has been named the country’s prime minister with the task of forming a new government.

Newly elected President Joseph Aoun held binding parliamentary consultations Monday to appoint a PM, with a majority of lawmakers voting in favor of Salam, Aoun’s office said. Current Prime Minister Najib Mikati received nine votes.

Aoun, who was seen as having the support of the U.S. and Gulf states, was elected Lebanon’s first president in more than two years last week. Salam’s nomination shows Lebanon is breaking with its old guard and shifting closer to the West, in a sign of Iran’s waning influence in the region.

A lawyer and judge, Salam served as the country’s U.N. envoy for 10 years and has always been popular with Lebanese demanding political and economic reform. He was awarded the French Légion d’honneur at the rank of officer in 2012 and has been a member of the ICJ since 2018. He was named head of the court last year, though is now expected to step down from the position.

Salam will be faced with the daunting task of forming a new government that is expected to implement reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund to unlock a $3 billion package as well as international aid. The incoming Cabinet will also oversee parliamentary elections slated for next year and carry out the implementation of the ceasefire agreement with Israel that ended its two-month war with Hezbollah late last year.

Israel severely weakened Hezbollah during an intense offensive by air and land lasting more than two months, killing the U.S.-designated terrorist group’s longstanding leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and depleting its weapons stockpile. That limited the ability of the organization, which is also a political party that holds significant sway in parliament, from sabotaging the electoral process.

Hezbollah lawmakers refrained from voting for any candidate after Salam secured the majority and said they demanded a government of national consensus.

—Bloomberg News

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