Former Trump attorney and New York Mayor Rudy GiulianiRudy GiulianiGiuliani again suspended from YouTube over false election claims Sacha Baron Cohen calls out ‘danger of lies, hate and conspiracies’ in Golden Globes speech Biden administration buys 100,000 doses of Lilly antibody drug MORE was recently suspended from posting to YouTube for making unfounded claims about last year’s presidential election.

Giuliani in videos had falsely claimed the race was stolen, Bloomberg News reported on Monday. 

A spokeswoman for YouTube said in a statement to The Hill that the attorney’s channel will be blocked from posting content for two weeks for violating its “election integrity policy.” The platform also said it removed content from the channel for violating its “sale of regulated goods policy.”

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“We removed content from the Rudy W. Giuliani channel for violating our sale of regulated goods policy, which prohibits content facilitating the use of nicotine, and our presidential election integrity policy,” the representative said.

“Additionally, in accordance with our long standing strikes system, we issued a strike against the Rudy W. Giuliani channel, which temporarily restricts uploading or live-streaming,” she continued. 

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Giuliani was suspended from the platform in January after also spreading unsubstantiated claims about the election, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Giuliani was one of a number of Trump allies who backed the former president’s efforts aimed at overturning the results of the November race. He faced a wave of backlash for making false statements in the wake of the violent Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.

Giuliani was accused of inciting violence for telling supporters of the president at a rally ahead of the Capitol breach, “Let’s have trial by combat.” 

Six U.S. utilities under American Electric Power (AEP) have come together to form the Electric Highway Coalition in the Southeast and Midwest to install more charging stations for electric vehicles. 

“With this effort, we are working to help drivers see that EVs fit their lifestyle and their travel plans, wherever the road might take them,” Nicholas Akins, AEP’s chairman, president and chief executive officer said in a press release on Tuesday.

The coalition consists of American Electric Power, Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Entergy Corporation, Southern Company and Tennessee Valley Authority.

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The initiative’s goal is to set up charging stations in the Southeast and Midwest by major highways so those with electric vehicles (EV) will have an easier time with long-distance travel. 

“The companies are each taking steps to provide EV charging solutions within their service territories,” the press release says. “This represents an unprecedented effort to offer convenient EV charging options across different company territories and allow EV travel without interruption.”

Electric vehicles have become more popular due to easy at-home charging and the benefits for the environment. However, some have been hesitant to buy them because of the lack of charging stations for long-distance trips.

Electric vehicles are making their way onto the marketplace, with Volvo saying it wants an all-electric fleet by 2030. General Motors made the same promise by 2035. 

“Across its service territory, AEP is working with regulators to create programs that benefit all customers and support EV adoption, such as off-peak charging programs, incentives for charging station installations, energy efficiency rebates, and consultative services to encourage electrification,” the press release said.

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Authorities will be on high alert Thursday over a QAnon conspiracy theory prediction, but according to experts, chances of violence appear minimal compared to the deadly insurrection on Jan. 6.

Some segments of the convoluted theory’s community have been claiming for months that former President TrumpDonald TrumpSouth Carolina Senate adds firing squad as alternative execution method Ex-Trump aide Pierson won’t run for Dallas-area House seat House Oversight panel reissues subpoena for Trump’s accounting firm MORE will return to the White House on March 4, which was the date of presidential inaugurations up until 1933.

While belief that Thursday would mark the triumphant return of QAnon’s figurehead had been building, some influential figures in the community have recently turned back on that prediction. 

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Influencers backing down from the “real inauguration” theory is especially important, since they have gained more sway in the community after the shadowy “Q” figure stopped posting on image boards in December.

Brian Friedberg, a senior researcher at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center, told The Hill that some QAnon adherents are now “skeptical as to origins or validity of [the] theory.”

“Some believe any public gatherings on the 4th to be a trap set for MAGA folk by the MSM/Deep State to draw them out,” he added in an email, referring to the mainstream media.

Even if some QAnon supporters still think that Trump will reassume office, there’s little to suggest they will act on that belief.

“We haven’t seen anything to suggest that there’s any physical, real world mobilization behind that chatter,” Jared Holt, a visiting research fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab, told The Hill.

A memo from the top security official overseeing the House shared with lawmakers this week echoes that the significance of March 4 has “reportedly declined amongst various groups in recent days.”

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Capitol Police at this time “has no indication that groups will travel to Washington D.C. to protest or commit acts of violence,” acting Sergeant-at-Arms Timothy Blodgett said in the memo.

Authorities are exercising caution regardless given that QAnon supporters were involved in the Jan. 6 riot and the theory has been deemed a national security threat by the FBI.

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Capitol Police will have additional personnel deployed around the Capitol Thursday, according to Blodgett’s memo, and the National Guard will continue supporting local officers.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam SmithDavid (Adam) Adam SmithOvernight Defense: Tim Kaine moves to claw back war powers authority | Study on sexual harassment and assault in the military Commissioners tasked with scrubbing Confederate base names sworn-in at first meeting Biden seeks to walk fine line with Syria strike MORE (D-Wash.) suggested during a hearing last month that 4,900 members of the National Guard are extending their stay in D.C. that began ahead of the inauguration in part because of chatter in QAnon communities.

“Some of these people have figured out that apparently 75 years ago the president used to be inaugurated on March 4. OK, now why that’s relevant, God knows. At any rate, now they are thinking maybe we should gather again and storm the Capitol on March 4 … that is circulating online,” Smith said.

The fencing that was put up around the Capitol after the insurrection also remains in place.

The Metropolitan Police Department has not issued any permits for planned events on Thursday, a spokesperson told The Hill Tuesday.

The cooling interest hasn’t stopped the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., from jacking up prices around March 4, a tactic also employed around the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Several rooms were still available at the hotel as of Tuesday evening

Although the QAnon community has consistently moved the goalposts on big predictions without too much attrition, another failed prediction could push more believers away from the theory.

QAnon followers had built up Jan. 20 as the day of the “Great Awakening,” where Trump would remain in office and arrest top Democrats for their alleged complicity in child sex trafficking rings. 

While many supporters shared dissatisfaction with the failed prediction, others quickly moved on to the next date. 

Happy Tuesday and welcome to Overnight Defense. I’m Ellen Mitchell, and here’s your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. CLICK HERE to subscribe to the newsletter.

THE TOPLINE: Rocket attack in Iraq

U.S. coalition forces said a rocket attack Monday on a military air base in northern Iraq killed a civilian contractor and injured a U.S. service member.

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The rockets, which hit the base at Erbil International Airport and the surrounding area, injured nine people, eight of them civilian contractors.

The contractor who was killed was not an American, Col. Wayne Marotto, a spokesperson for coalition forces, tweeted early Tuesday.

The little we know: A U.S. official told Reuters the injured service member had a concussion.

Kurdistan Regional Government is leading an investigation on the attack, with further information to be released as it becomes available, Marotto said.

Lawmaker response: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob MenendezRobert (Bob) MenendezIt’s time for Biden’s Cuba Five things to know about Biden’s Yemen move Senate panel advances Biden’s pick for United Nations ambassador MORE (D-N.J) condemned the attack and called for an investigation by Iraq’s prime minister. 

“This latest attack demonstrates the importance of robust security cooperation between the Iraqi Security Forces and those of Iraqi Kurdistan; and I encourage the United States to continue to support security coordination efforts,” Menendez said in a statement. “The Iraqi people have suffered for too long under these kinds of brazen acts of violence, which only serve to undermine the sovereignty and stability of their nation.”

State Department condemns: Secretary of State Antony BlinkenAntony BlinkenOvernight Defense: Rocket attack in Iraq | Pentagon, FEMA to set up vaccination teams in Texas, NYC | Biden’s move on Yemen sparks new questions Blinken says he gets ‘occasional dig’ from other countries about US democracy Iran has role in resolving Yemen conflict, US special envoy says MORE also said the U.S. was “outraged” by the attack.

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“I have reached out to Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to discuss the incident and to pledge our support for all efforts to investigate and hold accountable those responsible,” Blinken said in a statement.

Who claimed credit: The militant Shia group Saraya Awliya al-Dam claimed credit for the attack, saying the target was American forces. It comes after a series of attacks in recent weeks by groups with links to Iran in both Iraq and Yemen, most of which resulted in no casualties.

Some context: President BidenJoe BidenBiden balks at K student loan forgiveness plan Biden offers to help woman in obtaining vaccine for son with preexisting condition Biden optimistic US will be in ‘very different circumstance’ with pandemic by Christmas MORE took office amid high tension between Washington and Tehran and has said he will explore a return to the 2015 nuclear deal, which the Trump administration withdrew from in 2018. Iran has said any such return to the deal will depend on the removal of heavy U.S. sanctions. 

 

ROLLOUT UPDATE: Pentagon, FEMA to set up vaccination teams in Texas, NYC

Up to 3,700 active duty troops are on standby to administer COVID-19 vaccines at Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sites, with an eye on locations in Texas, New York and the Virgin Islands.

Several hundred service members have already been sent to FEMA sites in Los Angeles and Oakland, Calif., with more sites to be set up in Texas and New York in roughly a week, followed by the Virgin Islands in early March, U.S. Northern Command head Air Force Gen. Glen Vanherck told reporters on Tuesday.

Up to 3,700 troops “are allocated to prepare to deploy,” Vanherck said. “They haven’t been given a tasking to deploy at this time.”

The details: The goal is to administer millions of vaccines to areas hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

Vanherck said that by Feb. 24, an Air Force team will be sent to Houston; an Army and Marine Corps team to Dallas; a Navy team to Queens, N.Y.; and an Air Force team to Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Pentagon is still finalizing plans with FEMA for two vaccination sites in the Virgin Islands, one in St. Thomas and one in St. Croix, to be set up “about the 1st or 2nd of March,” Vanherck added.

Background: FEMA in late January asked the Defense Department to help with President Biden’s goal of vaccinating 100 million people in the first 100 days of his presidency.

The Pentagon has so far authorized 25 military teams, a combined total of 4,700 active-duty service members, to help FEMA at state vaccination sites.

United States Northern Command has requested up to 100 teams in total, meaning roughly 18,000 troops could potentially administer 400,000 doses a day if all teams were used.

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FROM THE WEEKEND: Biden’s move on Yemen sparks new questions

Advocates cheered when President Biden announced an end to U.S. support for offensive military operations in Yemen, but questions are now being raised about what will actually change.

The Pentagon has said it halted intelligence sharing related to offensive operations, but that it is also reviewing how best to implement the new policy. The Biden administration has also pointed to its suspension of two precision-guided bomb sales to Saudi Arabia approved late in the Trump administration.

But the administration has also made clear it will continue defending Saudi Arabia from attacks, including after one this past week at an airport near the kingdom’s border with Yemen that singed a civilian plane. And the Pentagon has previously characterized U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia, including intelligence sharing, as largely defensive.

The question at hand now is what the administration will consider offensive support versus defensive.

Read the rest here.

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ON TAP FOR TOMORROW

The House Armed Services Committee will hear from defense officials on the Defense Department’s evolving roles and mission in response to the COVID-19 pandemic at 11 a.m. in Rayburn House Office Building, room 2118. 

U.S. Space Command head Army Gen. James Dickinson will speak at a Washington Space Business Roundtable webinar on “U.S. Space Command: Successes, Challenges and How the Commercial Space Industry Can Play its Part in Advancing its Critical Mission,” at 12 p.m. 

Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville will speak at the Heritage Foundation’s webinar on “Building an Army Ready for Great Power Competition,” at 1:30 p.m. 

Brookings Institution will hold a webinar on “Women in Afghanistan and the Role of U.S. Support,” with State Department Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko, at 2 p.m. 

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown will hold a conversation with media as part of the George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group at 4 p.m.

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Woodrow Wilson Center Asia Program will hold a webinar on “Assessing the Alliance: What Lies Ahead for the Korean Peninsula?” with former Republic of Korea Ambassador to the United States Ahn Ho-Young, at 7:30 p.m. 

 

ICYMI

— The Hill: New rule shakes up Senate Armed Services subcommittees

— The Hill: 3 sailors on USS Theodore Roosevelt test positive for coronavirus

— The Hill: Sullivan is Biden’s national security ‘listener’

— The Hill: Iran has role in resolving Yemen conflict, US special envoy says

— The Hill: Iran says it will block snap nuclear inspections if 2015 deal terms are not met

— The Hill: Appearance of military vehicles in Myanmar’s major cities sparks warning from US Embassy

— The Hill: North Korean hackers targeted Pfizer coronavirus vaccine: report 

— The Hill: British military to restore medals to veterans stripped of them due to sexuality

— The Washington Post: He became one of the Navy’s first Black four-star admirals. The military has work to do on diversity, he says.

— The New York Times: The Taliban Close In on Afghan Cities, Pushing the Country to the Brink

— Defense News: Biden admin wants new ‘tone’ with NATO, but the old challenges remain

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Three title matches were announced Tuesday for March 13th’s Sacrifice on Impact Plus.

A match for the Tag Team titles was announced as The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) will defend against New Japan Pro Wrestling’s David Finlay and Juice Robinson, aka FinJuice.

The two teams have traded exchanges in the last few weeks. On this week’s Impact, the two teams defeated XXXL (Larry D and Acey Romero) and Reno Scum (Luster The Legend and Adam Thornstowe) in an eight-man tag. The winners all had a staredown afterward.

The X-Division title will be on the line as TJP will defend against former champion Ace Austin. Austin defeated Black Taurus and Chris Bey in a number one contenders three way Tuesday. Austin later confronted TJP backstage, which then led to Chris Bey appearing and challenging Austin for a match on next week’s Impact.

Finally, ODB will challenge Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo. Tuesday’s show ended with ODB attacking the champion for her attack on ODB backstage last week. The Impact veteran made it clear as the show was going off the air that she wanted a title match.

Here is the current card for Sacrifice:

Impact World Champion Rich Swann vs. TNA Champion Moose
Knockouts Tag Team Champions Fire ‘N Flava vs. Jordynne Grace and Jazz
Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo vs. ODB
Impact Tag Team Champions Good Brothers vs. David Finlay and Juice Robinson
X-Divison Champion TJP vs. Ace Austin