James Comer, chair of the United States House of Representatives Oversight and Accountability Committee, has threatened Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler with a subpoena. He wrote in the letter dated Oct. 12, that the committee will have “no choice” but to use compulsory measures to obtain documents if the SEC does not start cooperating with it.
Comer also expressed concern about SEC “actions taken to circumvent Congress to further an agenda that harms American taxpayers.” Cryptocurrency proponents in Congress have often complained about Gensler in similar terms, but this letter is not about crypto. Rather, Comer was writing about coordination with the European Union (EU) on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and climate-related issues, as well as SEC stonewalling.
Gensler is before the SEC’s oversight committee. The Chairman opened by threatening him with a subpoena as they haven’t been responding to requests from this committee Chairman McHenry is going after him hard Also this… pic.twitter.com/uYLhyCyLRG
Comer and Senator Tim Scott, who is now running in the Republican presidential primary, wrote to Gensler in June asking for information about United States’ cooperation with the EU on climate legislation that could impact U.S. companies. They sent a similar letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. In his latest letter, Comer said:
“To date, the SEC has not produced documents that are substantively responsive, and to date the overwhelming majority of documents produced have been publicly available on the SEC’s website, […] or documents that were already released pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.”
These words practically mirror Patrick McHenry’s letter of April 12, where he wrote, “The 232 pages of documents provided by your staff after the briefing are publicly available and not responsive to the request.” McHenry was writing about his information request relating to the prosecution of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. McHenry also threatened Gensler with a “compulsory process.” McHenry repeated that threat in person in a House Financial Services Committee hearing.
Crypto supporters will also hear echoes of themselves in Comer’s phrase “it is not clear that the law provides such authority and we must determine whether legislation is necessary.” In his first letter, Comer reminded Gensler of the Supreme Court’s West Virginia v. EPA ruling, which pertained to the major questions doctrine and could have an impact on the SEC’s activities in the crypto sphere as well.
The US ambassador to Israel has called cabinet minister Bridget Phillipson “delusional” after she told Sky News the UK played a key role in the Gaza peace deal.
The education secretary told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that Sir Keir Starmer’s presence at a signing ceremony for the ceasefire deal in Egypt on Monday “demonstrates the key role that we have played”.
She did not say exactly what the UK’s role in the ceasefire, largely attributed to Donald Trump, is or was.
But she added: “We have played a key role behind the scenes in shaping this.
“It’s right that we do so because it’s in all of our interest, including our own national interest, that we move to a lasting peace in the region.
“These are complex matters of diplomacy that we are involved in. But we do welcome and recognise the critical role that the American government played in moving us to this point.”
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However, the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, reposted the Sky News clip of Ms Phillipson’s comments and said: “I assure you she’s delusional.
“She can thank Donald Trump anytime just to set the record straight.”
Mr Huckabee was part of the negotiating team for the peace deal, with Mr Trump calling the former Arkansas governor “AMAZING” as he said he “worked so hard, and did so much, to bring about peace in the Middle East”.
In August, Mr Huckabee said the UK and other European nations who said they would declare a Palestinian state were “having the counterproductive effect that they probably think that they want”.
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Israel’s deputy foreign affairs minister, Sharren Haskell, told Sky News the UK played “the opposite” of a key role in the peace deal after the Palestinian state declaration, which eventually happened in September.
She accused the PM’s initial threat “at a very sensitive time” in July of having “pushed Hamas to embolden their position and to refuse a ceasefire two months ago”.
“I think that right now, the quiet that was given during the negotiation, and to President Trump, had probably played a bigger role than what the government had done two months ago,” she said.
“The message that the UK government has sent Hamas was the message that: the longer they continue this war, they will be rewarded.
“I mean, you must understand that when a terrorist organisation is thanking you. You are on the wrong side of history.”
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2:59
Final preparations for hostages in Israeli hospital
Ms Phillipson stood by the decision to declare a Palestinian state, saying it was “the right thing to do”.
Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, told Sky News it was a “moment of leadership” for the UK to declare a Palestinian state, and a “responsibility to begin to correct a century of the gravest historic injustices committed against our people”.
He added: “That moment three weeks ago, when the UK did recognise, is a moment when we can say that the wheels of history are turning in a different direction.”
No plans for British troops on the ground
The education secretary also told Sky News the government has “no plans” to put British troops into Israel or Gaza as part of a stabilisation force after the ceasefire.
The US military will help establish a multinational force in Israel, known as a civil-military coordination centre, which is likely to include troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE.
Image: Tens of thousands of Palestinians have walked back to Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Pic: AP
On Friday, US officials said up to 200 US troops already based in the Middle East will be moved to Israel to help monitor the ceasefire in Gaza.
The day before, President Trump announced Israel and Hamas had “signed off on the first phase” of a peace plan he unveiled last week.
Image: Pic: Reuters
Aid trucks have been gathering in Egypt to cross into Gaza after months of warnings by aid groups of famine in parts of the territory.
In Israel, the remaining hostages are due to be returned from Gaza by Hamas on Monday under the first phase of the peace plan. Twenty are believed to still be alive, 26 have been declared dead, while the fate of two is unknown.
The ceasefire agreement has been made two years after Hamas stormed Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which the UN deems reliable.
A man has been charged with stalking and possession of a flick knife after allegedly targeting Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey and his family.
Inigo Rowland, 58, of Surbiton, south London, was arrested last Monday, but it was only made public on Sunday.
He appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday and was remanded in custody, the Met Police said.
The offences are alleged to have taken place between June and October.
Sir Ed, the MP for Kingston and Surbiton, lives in southwest London with his wife, Emily, their 17-year-old son John, and his younger sister Ellie.
A spokesperson for the Met Police said: “Inigo Rowland, 58, of Surbiton has been charged with stalking and possession of a flick knife.
“He appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 7 October and was remanded into custody. He will next appear at the same court on Tuesday, 14 October.
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“He was arrested on Monday, 6 October in relation to the offences, which are alleged to have taken place between June and October.”
A Lib Dem spokesperson said: “We cannot provide any details at this time, Ed’s number one priority is the safety of his family.”