//The Wire//2300Z March 5, 2025//
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//BLUF: TRUMP ADDRESS TO CONGRESS CONCLUDES MOSTLY WITHOUT INCIDENT. USA WITHOLDS INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT FROM UKRAINE.//

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-International Events-

Europe: Following Zelenskyy's disastrous visit to the White House, CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that the United States has initiated a halt of all intelligence sharing agreements with Ukraine, in addition to the previously disclosed halting of military and financial aid. AC: As the intelligence support to Ukraine throughout the war has been staggering, it is almost certain that (if these reports are true) Ukraine will not have the intelligence capabilities to conduct most targeting efforts.

-HomeFront-

Washington D.C. - The Supreme Court has ruled against the federal government 5-4, in a case involving a lower federal judge ordering the government to pay out certain USAID contracts.
AC: As noted in the dissenting opinion, the details of this case matter. In short, the Supreme Court has ruled that it's okay for lower federal judges to just make up law as they see fit, regardless of what a contract states, and prevent any appeals of their decisions to a higher court (such as themselves). This is a serious blow to any judicial reform efforts, which has become a concern over the years via one low-ranking federal judge in a random district having the power to halt the entire executive branch of government. As a result of this SCOTUS ruling, many more rulings by rogue judges who make their own law (outside of their jurisdiction) are expected as federal actions continue on a variety of controversial policy changes (such as immigration). However, all of this hinges on whether or not the Supreme Court ruling is to be followed...the precedent of this over the past four years has been dubious at best. This situation unfolding, while largely unnoticed by many, is the first real "Constitutional crisis" that Trump has faced in his second term.

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Analyst Comments: Last night's Presidential address before Congress occurred largely without much issue, with only one Representative being removed from the House floor due to disrupting President Trump's speech. Concerning the content of Trump's speech, no major revelation was revealed as previously announced (possibly due to the recent spat with Zelenskyy), though several policy decisions were re-affirmed as priorities. Oil drilling and energy generation, a national "Golden Dome" missile defense system, and aspirations for Greenland were all highlights of the speech. President Trump also announced that, during the speech, the mastermind for the Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul was apprehended in Pakistan and was inbound for the United States. Though Trump did not name the individual during his speech, the White House leaked the name of Mohammad Sharifullah, an ISIS-K commander colloquially known as "Jaffar". This name was confirmed this afternoon via a White House press conference.

Following this revelation, the years-long discrepancies with the official story of what happened during the Afghanistan withdrawal have reignited. Many are not even convinced of which terror network conducted the attack; some say it was ISIS-K as the official story states. Others state (rightfully so), that by that time in the war, ISIS-K didn't have enough influence or freedom of maneuver in Kabul (or the rest of the country) to bring such an attack to fruition, so another group (such as al Qaeda via the Haqqani Network) may have been to blame. Since the attack, various intelligence agencies have not really been able to agree on which insurgent group carried out the attack, much less a specific person. In short, though the pursuit of the truth regarding this disastrous situation is a worthy goal, the truth is never as simple as it seems.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.