In interviews, 22 current and former vice presidential aides, administration officials and associates of Harris and Biden described a tense and at times dour office atmosphere. Aides and allies said Flournoy, in an apparent effort to protect Harris, has instead created an insular environment where ideas are ignored or met with harsh dismissals and decisions are dragged out. Often, they said, she refuses to take responsibility for delicate issues and blames staffers for the negative results that ensue.
While much of the ire is aimed at Harris’ chief, two administration officials said the VP herself also bears responsibility for the way her office is run. “It all starts at the top,” said one of the administration officials, who like others requested anonymity to be able to speak candidly about a sensitive matter.
“People are thrown under the bus from the very top, there are short fuses and it’s an abusive environment,” said another person with direct knowledge of how Harris’ office is run. “It’s not a healthy environment and people often feel mistreated. It’s not a place where people feel supported but a place where people feel treated like s—.”
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Fresh “Notable” from “Over There”…
Australian MPs To Biden: Free Julian Assange
In a new video, a cross-party group of 11 Australian members of Parliament tell the U.S. president that the Australian publisher of WikiLeaks should not be punished for his work and that all charges against him should be dropped.
https://youtu.be/1ZaU-QkHSNw
In a one minute, 30 second video message to U.S. President Joe Biden, 11 Australian politicians from across the political spectrum have appealed to the U.S. Government to drop its Espionage Act and computer intrusion charges against Australian citizen, Julian Assange.
The MPs and Senators have urged President Biden to take the “opportunity for urgent reconsideration,” following a U.K. court’s decision to deny the U.S. extradition request, rendered earlier this year.
Assange is currently held in HMP Belmarsh, a high security London prison, pending a High Court ruling on whether the U.S. may appeal against the U.K. refusal to extradite. He is detained for publishing activity that won him Australia’s highest journalistic honor, the Walkley Award for most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism.
The Australian politicians warn that Assange’s prosecution threatens journalists worldwide.
Susan Templeman, MP, Australian Labor Party (ALP) said: “Citizens expect us to protect journalists and publishers, not to imprison them for their work.”
Senator Carol Brown ALP added: “The world’s leading human rights and press freedom groups are unequivocally denouncing the charges against [Julian Assange]. And we join them.”
Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, Australian Greens, told Biden: “Australian citizens want Julian Assange to be free.”
Peter Khalil MP, ALP, noted: “Indeed, one of the largest petitions in Australia’s history, with over 600,000 signatures, has been tabled in the Australian Parliament, calling on the US to free Assange.”
Julian Hill MP, ALP, who has spoken in parliament about Assange, appeals to the UK: “We are imploring the British government to release him from prison, and send him home.”
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/06/30/australian-mps-to-biden-free-julian-assange/
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