STATE/NATION
A8 Monday, January 17, 2022 — DAILY REPUBLIC
Biden aide stops short of blaming Russia for cyberattack a “disturbing” outcome. “There are some WASHINGTON — The understandings between U.S. is working us,” Peskov said in to determine an interview with who carried out “Fareed Zakaria a cyberattack on GPS” aired Ukrainian govSunday. “But in ernment websites general, in prinand it wouldn’t ciple, we can now be surprissay that we are ing if Russia was staying on difbehind it, Presi- SULLIVAN ferent tracks, on dent Joe Biden’s totally different national security adviser tracks, and this is not good, said Sunday. and this is disturbing.” Ukrainian officials The Biden adminissay “all evidence” points tration said Friday that to Russia, while Russia Russian actors are predenies it was behind paring potential sabotage the hacks. It’s the latest operations against their source of tension after own forces and fabriPresident Vladimir Putin cating provocations in massed 100,000 troops on social media to justify an the Ukrainian border for invasion into Ukraine if what the U.S. says is a pos- diplomacy fails. sible invasion. Russia says it wants “We’re working hard NATO to bar Ukraine on attribution,” national and other ex-Soviet states security adviser Jake Sul- from membership and to livan said on CBS’ “Face roll back its forces to posithe Nation” on Sunday. tions they held in 1997. “This is part of the Sullivan reiterated that Russian playbook, so it the U.S. and its allies have would not surprise me one warned Russia it will face bit if it ended being attrib- “severe economic conuted to Russia.” sequences and a price to “And yes, of course, if pay” if its troops move it turns out that Russia is into Ukraine. pummeling Ukraine with Republican lawmakers cyberattacks and if that called for more forcecontinues over the period ful action now, such as ahead, we will work with a permanent halt to the our allies on the appropri- Nord Stream 2 natural ate response,” he said. gas pipeline from Russia Kremlin spokesman to Germany. Dmitry Peskov told CNN The U.S. should let that last week’s inconclu- Putin know “that Nord sive diplomacy by the U.S. Stream 2 pipeline is not and Europe to head off a going to operate,” Sen. possible Russian military Mitt Romney said on move against Ukraine was NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
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Casey Christie/The Bakersfield Californian/Zuma Press/TNS
Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, shakes hands with a campaign volunteer who is helping him in his race for the 21st Congressional District. Since regaining the seat in
Congress in 2020, and then voting to impeach Donald Trump, he has lost the support of many constituents in his home city of Hanford.
Many Hanford residents feel let down by their GOP leader Tribune Content Agency HANFORD — It’s been a year now, but in this Central Valley farm town, like the nation, the divide has only grown. Todd Cotta was working in his gun shop when a customer came in with the news about David Valadao, the Republican congressman for whom Cotta had campaigned across Kings County and beyond just months before. Bewildered, Cotta turned to his phone and tapped in a text message to a man he considered a friend. “Hey David. Somebody’s spreading a nasty (rumor) that you voted to impeach Trump,” Cotta wrote. “I certainly hope that’s not true.” Within seconds, Valadao responded. “It’s true.” The two haven’t talked since. And, really, neither have the two sides of the country. A year after President Donald Trump was impeached for a historic second time, few places better illustrate America’s lost middle ground.
Historians will look back to Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, as a day of infamy. But in Valadao’s hometown of Hanford, they point to Jan. 13, 2021, when, as local mechanic Joe Flower puts it, the local congressman “not only stabbed the president but stabbed us all in the back.” Valadao was one of just 10 Republican House members – and the only one in California – who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the insurrection. That decision put the 44-year-old dairy farmer and the other reviled Republicans in the crosshairs of Trump himself, who gloated after two of them announced last fall they would not seek re-election: “2 down, 8 to go!” Indeed, a third – Rep. John Katko of New York – announced Friday he too was done with Congress. For Valadao, vilification over the vote – and a redrawn congressional district that cuts out some of his conservative base and adds more Democratic voters – has left him in a political no man’s land. On the nation’s political map, the backlash
in California’s cattle country could also cost the GOP a precious seat as Republicans hope to flip the Democrat-controlled House during the November midterm elections. “Those angry Trump supporters aren’t going to vote for a Democrat in November, but it’s entirely possible that they simply don’t vote at all,” said GOP political consultant Dan Schnur. “This could end up being the greatest challenge to congressional Republicans regaining their majorities.” While Democrats called Valadao’s impeachment vote courageous, there’s no chance they’re crossing party lines to give him their vote. For Republicans, there is no getting past his egregious lapse in loyalty. A year later, who remembers that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, whose district nuzzles against Valadao’s, said at the time “the president bears responsibility for (Jan. 6’s) attack on Congress by mob rioters”? They only remember the impeachment votes. For a moment there, in the days after the Capitol breach, it seemed safe, maybe even smart, for a Republican to condemn Trump.
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