Haiti Shake-Up, Ukraine, and a Mysterious Monolith

Hur Testimony

House Judiciary Committee members yesterday interrogated Robert Hur, the special counsel who investigated President Joe Biden’s handling of classified materials found in Biden’s home and office from his time as vice president.

Much of the hearing focused on Hur’s decision not to prosecute Biden—driven in part by Hur's characterization of the president as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Democrats dismissed the phrasing as a smear and sought to draw attention to former President Donald Trump's depositions. Republicans criticized Hur's decision, accusing the DOJ of a "two-tiered system of justice," pointing to former Special Counsel Jack Smith's decision to charge Trump over his handling of classified documents (see overview).

Hur defended his conclusion, saying a jury’s perception of Biden’s memory and mental state would make it difficult to prove his intention to mishandle documents, a prerequisite for conviction. The Justice Department yesterday released a transcript of Hur's interviews with Biden showing the president's struggle with recalling the timing of certain events, including the year of his son Beau’s death and the year Trump was elected.

See testimony highlights here. Read Hur's report here.

Haitian Leader Resigns

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced his resignation yesterday amid the country's escalating gang violence, vowing to dissolve his government once a transitional council is established. The timing of an interim government remains unclear.

A gang alliance, dubbed “the G9 family and allies,” is led by former police officer Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier and controls about 80% of the Caribbean country’s capital. The gang orchestrated a mass jailbreak last week, causing widespread violence amid calls for Henry to resign. Henry, who defied a Feb. 7 deadline to step down and allow for new elections, has been acting prime minister since the assassination of Jovenel Moïse—Henry was accused of having links to participants in the assassination. 

A UN-sponsored international security support mission is expected to assist Haiti in restoring order—Haiti has roughly 10,000 police officers in a country of 11 million. However, the force, which would be led by 1,000 police officers from Kenya, is on hold until a new government is formed. The US said earlier this week it would contribute $300M to support the mission.

Ukrainian Drone Attack

Fires erupted and partially halted production at a major oil refinery in western Russia yesterday after Ukraine reportedly launched at least two dozen drones against the country's energy infrastructure, one of its largest such cross-border attacks of the war. The plant is responsible for 6% of Russian crude oil production. The assault came as the US announced $300M in weapons support to Ukraine, the first American aid package since December.

Separately, a Russian military transport plane carrying 15 passengers reportedly crashed outside Moscow shortly after liftoff yesterday. No reports of casualties have been released. Elsewhere, Russian paramilitary groups reportedly aligned with Ukraine claimed small gains against Russian defenses in regions along the border yesterday. See war updates here. 

The conflict—now in its third year—has seen few major developments in recent months outside of a shake-up in Ukraine's top military leadership in February. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to win his fifth presidential term this weekend amid the Kremlin's tight control of elections.  

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