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Image of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi projected on the wall of the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C. on October 2, 2020, the second anniversary of his assassination. (Photo: Amnesty International/Twitter)
Human rights activists launched a guerrilla protest on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, projecting the slain Saudi's image on the Saudi Arabian Embassy and other prominent buildings in Washington, D.C. and other cities.
Freedom First, a campaign in partnership with Amnesty International and the Freedom Initiative, said Friday's demonstration was meant "to draw attention to the individuals unfairly detained, prosecuted, and tortured under the leadership of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman."
\u201cLast night, our campaign projected Jamal Khashoggi\u2019s image on the @SaudiEmbassyUSA as a reminder that we have not forgotten.\n\nJamal, MbS tried to silence you but today, we remind the world that your words continue to illuminate the path for freedom for us #FreedomFirst\u201d— Freedom First (@Freedom First) 1601648761
In addition to the nation's capital, activists projected Khashoggi's image on buildings and landmarks in cities including New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami.
"Even when the lights go out and the cameras turn to the next big story, we'll still be here, working tirelessly to get justice for our friend, Jamal," said Mohamed Soltan from the Freedom Initiative in a statement. "[We'll] make sure that the horrendous crime of his assassination doesn't pass with impunity."
Others took to social media to remember the murdered journalist:
\u201cTwo years ago today, journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi crown prince's direction. He deserves justice.\n\nDemocracy activists face enormous challenges in Saudi Arabia and across the region. We honor him by defending their rights and supporting their work.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1601675837
\u201cTwo years ago today, Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in a Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. \n\nIt's still not easy for me to write about Jamal, but I had some thoughts about how the fight for justice is being taken to U.S. courts. \n\nhttps://t.co/CqZk1fmNDL\u201d— Karen Attiah ON MASTODON @karenattiah@journa.host (@Karen Attiah ON MASTODON @karenattiah@journa.host) 1601646428
Philippe Nassif from Amnesty International USA vowed that "on the anniversary of your assassination, we promise you, Jamal, to always tell your story and to fight tirelessly until justice and truth are served. Rest in peace."
Along with the projections, the activists urged people to take the Freedom Pledge, "vowing their dedication to spread awareness of universal human rights and to challenge governments who silence the truth."
\u201cJamal Khashoggi was murdered 2 years ago because he believed in the freedom of expression. We honor his legacy by expressing those same freedoms. Honor him and take the Freedom Pledge at https://t.co/8CYNMzk5LG. #FreedomFirst\u201d— Mark Ruffalo (@Mark Ruffalo) 1601665201
\u201cToday, two years on, in front of #SaudiArabia\u2019s Embassy in Oslo we keep demanding justice for the murdered Saudi journalist #Jamal_Khashoggi. #MBS, please respect the right to life and freedom of expression of all Saudi citizen! @ksaembassyosl\u201d— Amnesty Norge (@Amnesty Norge) 1601646357
The CIA and other intelligence and government agencies around the world concluded that bin Salman personally ordered Saudi agents to kidnap, assassinate, and dismember Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 2, 2018. Despite this, and despite having one of the world's worst overall human rights records, the U.S. remains a steadfast ally of the theocratic monarchy that rules Saudi Arabia with an iron fist.
Last year, President Donald Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill passed by Congress that would have ended U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. More recently, the administration drew bipartisan pushback for its plan to sell more than $8 billion worth of American arms to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan.
\u201c\u201cI saved his ass,\u201d bragged Trump, referring to his Saudi sweetie MBS after Jamal Khashoggi\u2019s assassination. Trump and MBS surely will take pride in big billboards like these going up all over America. Here\u2019s one on the side of a San Francisco building. @freedomfirst @thefreedomi\u201d— Eason Jordan (@Eason Jordan) 1601516301
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Human rights activists launched a guerrilla protest on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, projecting the slain Saudi's image on the Saudi Arabian Embassy and other prominent buildings in Washington, D.C. and other cities.
Freedom First, a campaign in partnership with Amnesty International and the Freedom Initiative, said Friday's demonstration was meant "to draw attention to the individuals unfairly detained, prosecuted, and tortured under the leadership of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman."
\u201cLast night, our campaign projected Jamal Khashoggi\u2019s image on the @SaudiEmbassyUSA as a reminder that we have not forgotten.\n\nJamal, MbS tried to silence you but today, we remind the world that your words continue to illuminate the path for freedom for us #FreedomFirst\u201d— Freedom First (@Freedom First) 1601648761
In addition to the nation's capital, activists projected Khashoggi's image on buildings and landmarks in cities including New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami.
"Even when the lights go out and the cameras turn to the next big story, we'll still be here, working tirelessly to get justice for our friend, Jamal," said Mohamed Soltan from the Freedom Initiative in a statement. "[We'll] make sure that the horrendous crime of his assassination doesn't pass with impunity."
Others took to social media to remember the murdered journalist:
\u201cTwo years ago today, journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi crown prince's direction. He deserves justice.\n\nDemocracy activists face enormous challenges in Saudi Arabia and across the region. We honor him by defending their rights and supporting their work.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1601675837
\u201cTwo years ago today, Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in a Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. \n\nIt's still not easy for me to write about Jamal, but I had some thoughts about how the fight for justice is being taken to U.S. courts. \n\nhttps://t.co/CqZk1fmNDL\u201d— Karen Attiah ON MASTODON @karenattiah@journa.host (@Karen Attiah ON MASTODON @karenattiah@journa.host) 1601646428
Philippe Nassif from Amnesty International USA vowed that "on the anniversary of your assassination, we promise you, Jamal, to always tell your story and to fight tirelessly until justice and truth are served. Rest in peace."
Along with the projections, the activists urged people to take the Freedom Pledge, "vowing their dedication to spread awareness of universal human rights and to challenge governments who silence the truth."
\u201cJamal Khashoggi was murdered 2 years ago because he believed in the freedom of expression. We honor his legacy by expressing those same freedoms. Honor him and take the Freedom Pledge at https://t.co/8CYNMzk5LG. #FreedomFirst\u201d— Mark Ruffalo (@Mark Ruffalo) 1601665201
\u201cToday, two years on, in front of #SaudiArabia\u2019s Embassy in Oslo we keep demanding justice for the murdered Saudi journalist #Jamal_Khashoggi. #MBS, please respect the right to life and freedom of expression of all Saudi citizen! @ksaembassyosl\u201d— Amnesty Norge (@Amnesty Norge) 1601646357
The CIA and other intelligence and government agencies around the world concluded that bin Salman personally ordered Saudi agents to kidnap, assassinate, and dismember Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 2, 2018. Despite this, and despite having one of the world's worst overall human rights records, the U.S. remains a steadfast ally of the theocratic monarchy that rules Saudi Arabia with an iron fist.
Last year, President Donald Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill passed by Congress that would have ended U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. More recently, the administration drew bipartisan pushback for its plan to sell more than $8 billion worth of American arms to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan.
\u201c\u201cI saved his ass,\u201d bragged Trump, referring to his Saudi sweetie MBS after Jamal Khashoggi\u2019s assassination. Trump and MBS surely will take pride in big billboards like these going up all over America. Here\u2019s one on the side of a San Francisco building. @freedomfirst @thefreedomi\u201d— Eason Jordan (@Eason Jordan) 1601516301
Human rights activists launched a guerrilla protest on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, projecting the slain Saudi's image on the Saudi Arabian Embassy and other prominent buildings in Washington, D.C. and other cities.
Freedom First, a campaign in partnership with Amnesty International and the Freedom Initiative, said Friday's demonstration was meant "to draw attention to the individuals unfairly detained, prosecuted, and tortured under the leadership of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman."
\u201cLast night, our campaign projected Jamal Khashoggi\u2019s image on the @SaudiEmbassyUSA as a reminder that we have not forgotten.\n\nJamal, MbS tried to silence you but today, we remind the world that your words continue to illuminate the path for freedom for us #FreedomFirst\u201d— Freedom First (@Freedom First) 1601648761
In addition to the nation's capital, activists projected Khashoggi's image on buildings and landmarks in cities including New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami.
"Even when the lights go out and the cameras turn to the next big story, we'll still be here, working tirelessly to get justice for our friend, Jamal," said Mohamed Soltan from the Freedom Initiative in a statement. "[We'll] make sure that the horrendous crime of his assassination doesn't pass with impunity."
Others took to social media to remember the murdered journalist:
\u201cTwo years ago today, journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi crown prince's direction. He deserves justice.\n\nDemocracy activists face enormous challenges in Saudi Arabia and across the region. We honor him by defending their rights and supporting their work.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1601675837
\u201cTwo years ago today, Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in a Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. \n\nIt's still not easy for me to write about Jamal, but I had some thoughts about how the fight for justice is being taken to U.S. courts. \n\nhttps://t.co/CqZk1fmNDL\u201d— Karen Attiah ON MASTODON @karenattiah@journa.host (@Karen Attiah ON MASTODON @karenattiah@journa.host) 1601646428
Philippe Nassif from Amnesty International USA vowed that "on the anniversary of your assassination, we promise you, Jamal, to always tell your story and to fight tirelessly until justice and truth are served. Rest in peace."
Along with the projections, the activists urged people to take the Freedom Pledge, "vowing their dedication to spread awareness of universal human rights and to challenge governments who silence the truth."
\u201cJamal Khashoggi was murdered 2 years ago because he believed in the freedom of expression. We honor his legacy by expressing those same freedoms. Honor him and take the Freedom Pledge at https://t.co/8CYNMzk5LG. #FreedomFirst\u201d— Mark Ruffalo (@Mark Ruffalo) 1601665201
\u201cToday, two years on, in front of #SaudiArabia\u2019s Embassy in Oslo we keep demanding justice for the murdered Saudi journalist #Jamal_Khashoggi. #MBS, please respect the right to life and freedom of expression of all Saudi citizen! @ksaembassyosl\u201d— Amnesty Norge (@Amnesty Norge) 1601646357
The CIA and other intelligence and government agencies around the world concluded that bin Salman personally ordered Saudi agents to kidnap, assassinate, and dismember Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 2, 2018. Despite this, and despite having one of the world's worst overall human rights records, the U.S. remains a steadfast ally of the theocratic monarchy that rules Saudi Arabia with an iron fist.
Last year, President Donald Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill passed by Congress that would have ended U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. More recently, the administration drew bipartisan pushback for its plan to sell more than $8 billion worth of American arms to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan.
\u201c\u201cI saved his ass,\u201d bragged Trump, referring to his Saudi sweetie MBS after Jamal Khashoggi\u2019s assassination. Trump and MBS surely will take pride in big billboards like these going up all over America. Here\u2019s one on the side of a San Francisco building. @freedomfirst @thefreedomi\u201d— Eason Jordan (@Eason Jordan) 1601516301
"Conversations on Capitol Hill about federal tax policy were dominated by those representing corporate and wealthy interests," said one leader at Public Citizen.
As the GOP forges ahead with a tax plan that would primarily benefit the wealthy, the watchdog Public Citizen published a report Thursday which found that the vast majority of tax lobbyists' work in 2024 was done on behalf of corporate clients.
Although the Republican tax and spending bill is taking shape in 2025, not 2024, Public Citizen's report suggests that the general thrust of the tax bill—tax cuts that largely benefit the rich and could lead to a massive slashing of programs including Medicaid—can be explained in part due to the power of corporate lobbying.
"Conversations on Capitol Hill about federal tax policy were dominated by those representing corporate and wealthy interests," said Susan Harley, managing director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch division, in a statement Thursday. "The Trump-Republican tax proposal is a policy of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich."
Republicans are aiming to extend expiring provisions of President Donald Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts (TCJA), and also enact additional cuts. On Thursday, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a budget blueprint that gets the GOP one step closer to securing the spending and cuts sought by Trump.
According to Public Citizen's report, most of the corporations and corporate trade associations that were the largest hirers of tax lobbyists in 2024 lobbied specifically on the TCJA.
Most of the TCJA's provisions that impact businesses, like cutting the top corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, do not expire—though Trump has said that he would like to see the corporate tax rate further cut, to 15%.
In its analysis, Public Citizen also highlighted that a deduction for "pass-through" businesses—whose owners report their share of profits as taxable income under the individual income tax—is set to expire, though pass-through businesses on average tend to be smaller businesses than their counterparts who pay corporate income tax. Pass-through businesses include sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability companies, and S-corporations.
To compile its report, Public Citizen searched all federal lobbying disclosures for 2024 to compile a list of all lobbyists who indicated that they lobbied on "tax issues" (the report notes how they define lobbying on "tax issues").
More than 6,000 lobbyists swarmed Capitol Hill in 2024 to lobby on tax issues, the group found, which amounts to nearly half of all federal lobbyists. Public Citizen highlighted that by comparison, there are only 535 members of Congress.
Out of the top 100 entities hiring the most lobbyists to work on tax issues in 2024, all but two represented corporate interests, according to the report.
The corporate trade group the U.S. Chamber of Commerce topped the list with 99 lobbyists. Other top hirers of tax lobbyists included the telecommunications company Verizon and the global financial technology platform Intuit.
However, according to Public Citizen, counting the number of unique lobbyists does not reveal the "true scope" of lobbying taking place. For example, five new corporations could start lobbying on the same tax issue, but if they hired a lobbyist who had already been working on that tax issue, looking at the individual number of lobbyists would not register this increase in lobbying activity, per the report.
That means that counting the number of "unique lobbyist client relationships" reveals a more accurate picture of lobbying activity.
According to the report, clients sent more than 10,500 lobbyists to influence tax issues on average for each quarter in 2024, and more than 85% of those lobbyists represented corporate interests each quarter.
The report notes that "many of the 15% of entities categorized as not representing corporate interests are likely not lobbying against such interests. Our methodology is conservative. Many nonprofit hospital systems, for example, operate similarly to for-profit entities."
"Congressional Republicans' anti-voting legislation is a power grab to silence the voices of American citizens—full stop," said one advocate.
The U.S. House's passage of a bill on Thursday that would require Americans to prove their citizenship with documentation when they register to vote was the Republican Party's response to the fact, said one progressive critic, that "every day more people are catching on to their big grift."
"H.R. 22 is how they plan to keep themselves in power," said Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, of the so-called Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. "Not by making life easier for working people, but by making voting harder."
The bill, proposed by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), would require all Americans to present a passport or an original copy of their birth certificate in person when they register to vote and update their voter registration—purporting to combat what Republicans have falsely claimed is a "problem that affects voters in nearly all 50 states": that of noncitizens voting in federal elections.
With noncitizens already barred from voting in federal elections, numerous analyses have found that very few ballots have ever been cast by people who aren't U.S. citizens. The Brennan Center for Justice found that noncitizens were suspected of casting just 30 votes out of 23.5 million in 2016—or 0.0001% of all votes cast.
But the Brennan Center was among many rights advocacy groups warning Thursday that more than 21 million Americans don't have easy access to their birth certificates or a passport, and could be disenfranchised by the SAVE Act.
"The House has just passed one of the worst pieces of voting legislation in American history," said Michael Waldman, the group's president and CEO. "The Senate must stop it. The SAVE Act would put voting out of reach for millions of American citizens. It should not become law."
According to Public Citizen, the SAVE Act has the potential to stop tens of millions of Americans from voting.
About 146 million citizens don't have a passport—nearly as many as the 153 million people who voted in the 2014 presidential election, Public Citizen noted.
The bill could also disenfranchise up to 69 million women and 4 million men who have changed their names after marrying, as they wouldn't be able to use their birth certificates showing their names at birth to prove their citizenship.
Voters in states including West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Oklahoma, where less than one-third of citizens have a valid passport, could be most impacted by the SAVE Act's requirements.
"The SAVE Act is an assault on a fundamental American freedom—our ability to vote," said Gilbert. "A set of eligible voters who were able to participate in past elections—some who have been registered for decades—will now be unable to cast their ballots."
Along with making voting harder for people in rural areas, naturalized citizens, low-income voters, Native Americans, first-time voters, and people of color—many of whom lack easy access to citizenship documents—the SAVE Act would end voter registration drives, upend online voter registration systems that are used in 42 states, and make it harder for voters to register by mail. States would also be required to establish programs to purge existing voter rolls.
President Donald Trump and the Republicans, said Mitchell, "want to weaken the opposition to their pro-billionaire agenda, even if that means taking away our freedom to vote. But we refuse to be silenced, and we will do everything in our power to stop their shameless power grab."
Four Democratic House members—Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), and Ed Case (D-Hawaii)—joined the Republicans in supporting the legislation.
Common Cause denounced the four Democrats for their vote "to suppress the vote of millions of Americans."
Common Cause president and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón said the SAVE Act should be called "what it is: a modern-day poll tax."
"If this bill becomes law, millions of hardworking Americans will have to either shell out money getting the right papers to prove their citizenship or have no say in the next election for Congress and president," said Kase Solomón.
The point of the bill, she said, is "to make it so difficult to vote that many people will give up on voting all together."
In the Senate, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced a companion bill earlier this year. The GOP, which holds 53 Senate seats while the Democrats hold 47, would need Democrats to join them to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold in order to pass the bill.
"Every U.S. senator who cares about protecting our right to the ballot must vote down this poll tax in any form," said Kase Solomón. "Common Cause and our 1.5 million members will make sure every senator hears from the people that this bill is dead on arrival."
Tony Carrk, executive director of the government watchdog group Accountable.US, said the SAVE Act also "paves the way to toss out legal votes and undermine election results that [the Republicans] don't like."
"Congressional Republicans' anti-voting legislation is a power grab to silence the voices of American citizens—full stop," said Carrk. “Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their allies in Congress are attacking voting by threatening Americans' ability to vote by mail, allowing Musk's [Department of Government Efficiency] to access sensitive personal information, and kneecapping states' ability to run free and fair elections."
"It should send a chill down the spine of every American," he said.
"Republicans want to give away trillions of dollars to the richest people in our country," said Rep. Rashida Tlaib, "and they want to pay for it by taking food away from hungry children and letting people die from a lack of healthcare coverage."
In a party-line vote, House Republicans on Thursday approved a budget blueprint that sets the stage for the GOP to pass another round of tax cuts for the rich, paid for in part by slashing Medicaid, federal nutrition assistance, and other critical programs.
The final vote was 216 to 214, with two Republicans—Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Victoria Spartz of Indiana—and every Democrat opposing the measure, which now must be converted into legislation.
The budget reconciliation process that Republicans are using for their sweeping bill means it can pass with a simple majority in both chambers of Congress.
"Republicans are ramming through a budget that includes $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid and at least $230 billion in cuts to food assistance to pay for tax breaks for billionaires," Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said in a statement Thursday. "These are the largest Medicaid and food assistance cuts in American history."
“Make no mistake: Republicans want to give away trillions of dollars to the richest people in our country like Elon Musk, and they want to pay for it by taking food away from hungry children and letting people die from a lack of healthcare coverage," Tlaib continued. "We must raise our voices and defeat this dangerous Republican budget."
"In unifying behind this budget resolution, congressional Republicans are telling us they are serious about their agenda to rob everyday Americans in order to deliver a big payout to the ultra-wealthy in tax cuts."
Passage of the blueprint came hours after Republican congressional leaders and President Donald Trump managed to win the support of GOP holdouts concerned that the forthcoming legislative package won't reduce spending enough to offset the massive cost of fresh tax cuts, which would largely benefit the rich.
During a press conference Thursday following the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) signaled that they are unified behind the goal of cutting at least $1.5 trillion in federal spending over the next decade—an objective that Trump has endorsed.
"We have a lot of United States senators who believe that is a minimum," Thune said of the $1.5 trillion figure.
Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said in a statement that "in this budget framework, there is no way to cut $1.5 trillion in spending while protecting health coverage through Medicaid and food assistance through [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program]."
"This budget architecture was terrible a couple of months ago," Parrott added. "It is a far worse plan at a moment when the president's tariffs, chaotically crafted and applied, have caused business uncertainty to soar and raised the risk of a recession, higher unemployment, and surging prices."
In a post on his social media site, Trump congratulated House Republicans for approving the measure and claimed it would deliver "the Largest Tax and Regulation Cuts ever even contemplated."
An analysis released last week by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that renewing soon-to-expire provisions of the 2017 Trump-GOP tax law would cost $5.5 trillion over the next decade. Republican lawmakers have also called for an additional $1.5 trillion in tax cuts, which would push the overall cost of the tax package to $7 trillion.
David Kass, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, said in a statement Thursday that "the country is rapidly undergoing an intensifying economic crisis created by Trump and congressional Republicans, and the only legislative solution they've put forward is to double down on tax cuts for billionaires while eliminating healthcare access and food assistance for millions of Americans."
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, echoed that message, saying that "in unifying behind this budget resolution, congressional Republicans are telling us they are serious about their agenda to rob everyday Americans in order to deliver a big payout to the ultra-wealthy in tax cuts."
"As they now work to actually write the bill that they intend to push through via the reconciliation process, which will deplete funding for healthcare, nutrition, and other critical human needs in order to line the pockets of CEOs and billionaires, they should know we are also serious in our efforts to fight back," Gilbert added.