Can Biden save the man who inspired 'Hotel Rwanda'?

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Feb 17, 2022 View in browser   By Max Tani and Alex Thompson Presented by PatientRightsAdvocate.org Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.  Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Alex | Email Max PAUL RUSESABAGINA's harrowing real-life story of survival during the Rwandan genocide of 1994 captured the public imagination and inspired the Oscar-winning film Hotel Rwanda in 2004. But long after Hollywood toasted his heroism, Rusesabagina found himself at odds with increasingly autocratic President PAUL KAGAME, which ultimately landed him in jail, sentenced to life in prison for terrorism-related charges. Now his daughters are talking to top foreign policy officials in the Biden administration, including Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN and national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN , hoping the recent dark turn in the East African country will spur the president to act. "We believe the administration and in particular Biden would want to use his leverage between Rwanda and the United States to bring my father back," ANAISE KANIMBA said. In a conversation with West Wing Playbook, Kanimba, one of Rusesabagina's adopted daughters, said the U.S. needs to move with more urgency to save her father, whose actions during the Rwandan genocide are credited with saving over 1,000 Tutsis and Hutus. President GEORGE W. BUSH awarded him a presidential medal of freedom in 2005. Rusesabagina has been held by the Rwandan government since 2020, when he was duped into boarding a chartered flight from Dubai to Rwanda, arrested, and eventually sentenced in 2021. The trial has drawn international condemnation from many human rights activists, who said the charges were largely trumped up, and stem from Rusesabagina's outspoken criticism of the abuses under Kagame. While the Trump administration was mum on Rusesabagina's imprisonment, the case has attracted the attention of the Biden White House. Kanimba and a group of family members of other high-profile figures who have been detained overseas met with Blinken last February to brief him him on the various detainments. They also met with Sullivan in December, where Kanimba and others made the case for the U.S. to pressure the Rwandan government for Rusesabagina's release. Kanimba said the White House has been receptive to their plight: During their meeting, she said Sullivan agreed to a future one-on-one with Kanimba to discuss her father's situation in more detail, though so far no meeting is on the books. Asked for comment, a National Security Council spokesperson referred West Wing Playbook to the State Department. In a statement, a State Department spokesperson reiterated that the U.S. remains concerned by the conviction, saying it continues to engage with the Rwandan government "at the highest levels," but the "lack of fair trial guarantees called into question the fairness of the verdict." The spokesperson also noted that the State Department was keeping an eye on the ongoing appeal of the case, saying the government remains "focused on the fairness of the process," and hopes "all parties will take the opportunity to raise and address concerns related to the case during the current appeal." In addition to its regular contacts with the State Department, the family has also been in touch with the White House about other troubling issues they strongly believe are related to Rusesabagina's imprisonment. The Guardian reported last year that Amnesty International found malware on the phone of one of Rusesabagina's other daughters phone that suggested she had "been the victim of a near-constant surveillance campaign," which she pinned on the Rwandan government (the government denied the allegation). Kanimba said the family promptly informed NSC officials about the incident. Over the past several months, the family has been successfully raising awareness for the issue among top lawmakers in both parties. Earlier this month, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a bipartisan resolution calling on the Rwandan government to release Rusesabagina and urged the U.S. to raise his case in official interactions with the Rwandan government to increase pressure. Despite it's anti-democratic lurch, the U.S. has maintained close ties to Rwanda in recent years. Former President DONALD TRUMP met with Kagame in 2018, and praised the two countries' close economic bonds. Kanimba said she recognizes the challenge of extracting her father, including other looming international conflicts that are occupying much of the Biden administration's current bandwidth on the foreign policy front. While the family's goal remains securing Rusesabagina's return, Kanimba believes there are also incremental concessions the government could lobby for in the interim, including securing better facilities and care for her father, a 67-year-old cancer survivor, and preventing humiliating strip searches of her father's attorney when he visits the jail. She told West Wing Playbook her hope is for Biden to raise the issue during a future call with the Kagame. "We want to encourage the government to do more. We're going in the right direction, but I wish it could happen faster rather than slower," she said. "And it's happening a bit slowly, we don't have time on our side." MEA CULPA — We misspelled PETER DOOCY's name in yesterday's edition of the newsletter. While it's not as rude as some of the other names Doocy has been called lately, we regret the error. TEXT US — Are you ALEX BICK, director for strategic planning at the National Security Council?  Send us an email or text and we will try to include your thoughts in the next day's edition. Can be anonymous, on background, etc.Email us at westwingtips@politico.com or you can text/Signal Alex at 8183240098 or Max at 7143455427. A message from PatientRightsAdvocate.org: New PatientRightsAdvocate.org report shows that only 14% of hospitals are complying with the Price Transparency Rule that has been in place for more than a year. That means 86% are hiding their prices, not letting consumers compare and save. It's time for hospitals to unleash the data and compete. Everyone benefits when we all can compare prices in advance of care.   POTUS PUZZLER From the University of Virginia's Miller Center  Which president's one trip outside of the country during his lifetime was marred by the death of his brother? (Answer at the bottom.) The Oval FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK — HILLARY QUAM has left the White House, where she was special adviser for Western Hemisphere affairs for the vice president, two people familiar with the matter told DANIEL LIPPMAN . Quam, a foreign service officer, has been named U.S.-Mexico border affairs coordinator at the State Department. TONY HALL has been named director for border security at the National Security Council, Daniel also learned. He is a career CBP official and most recently was port director for a port of entry in New Mexico. TALKING POINT DU JOUR : Reporters have been pressing the Biden team for more evidence on their pronouncements about Russia and Ukraine — sometimes citing incorrect intelligence in the lead up to the Iraq War as a reason they need more information. Parts of Biden's national security team appear to have settled on their talking point to deflect such questions. Jake Sullivan last Friday in the briefing: "In the situation in Iraq, intelligence was used and deployed from this very podium to start a war. We are trying to stop a war, to prevent a war, to avert a war." Sullivan on CNN Sunday: "We're not putting forward this intelligence to start a war, which has happened in the past, Jake. We are putting forward this intelligence to stop a war. And I think that fundamentally gives it, at the outset, a different level of credibility." Tony Blinken to reporters today: "I'm mindful that some have called into question our information, recalling previous instances where intelligence ultimately did not bear out...But let me be clear: I am here today not to start a war, but to prevent one." RUSSIA-UKRAINE LATEST: The president and some of his top aides said Thursday that a Russian invasion into Ukraine appears to be imminent, with signs pointing toward Moscow using a false pretext to send in troops amid alleged shelling in a contested region, NAHAL TOOSI and MACKENZIE WILKES write. The administration's warnings were the most dire to date in a conflict that has reached a fever pitch since Russian leader VLADIMIR PUTIN began amassing troops along the border with Ukraine last fall. Also read ALEXANDER WARD's rundown in POLITICO's NatSec Daily. SPLIT SCREEN: Fox News didn't carry Biden's remarks live today on infrastructure in Ohio but they did carry HILLARY CLINTON's speech at the New York State Democratic Convention.   BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER:  The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we've got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don't miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now.     Advise and Consent MORE SCOTUS JOCKEYING — Leaders associated with a well-known Florida-based group that represents Cuban-American attorneys are urging the president to nominate Judge KETANJI BROWN JACKSON for the upcoming vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, GARY FINEOUT reports. Agenda Setting CALIFF TWEET THREAD — Newly confirmed FDA Director ROBERT CALIFF posted a Twitter thread today outlining some of his core goals atop the important health and food safety agency. Among them: "countering misinformation about science and the FDA that has become increasingly prevalent," he wrote. "These kinds of distortions and half-truths that find their way into the public domain do enormous harm, both by leading people to behavior that is detrimental to their health and by causing them to eschew interventions that would improve their health."   A message from PatientRightsAdvocate.org:   What We're Reading In leaked audio, CDC's Walensky privately confirms she won't relax school mask guidance (Reason's Robby Soave) All members of Congress but no guests invited to Biden's first State of the Union address (WaPo's Amy Wang) U.S. will 'surge' vaccine support to 11 African countries (WaPo's Dan Diamond and Emily Rauhala) Michelle Childs sentenced a man to 12 years for selling eight ounces of weed (The American Prospect's Alexander Sammon) White House economists push back against pressure to blame corporate power for inflation (WaPo's Jeff Stein) What We're Watching U.N. Ambassador LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD will be on NBC Nightly News tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET. Thomas-Greenfield is also going to be on Erin Burnett OutFront at 7pm ET on CNN. Dr. ANTHONY FAUCI will be on the NewsHour tonight towards the top of the hour.   DON'T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE.     Where's Joe Biden received the President's Daily Brief in the morning. He left the White House, traveling to Ohio to deliver remarks about the bipartisan infrastructure law at The Shipyards in Lorain, Ohio. He returned back to the White House this afternoon. Where's Kamala Harris flew from Washington, D.C. to Munich, Germany today, ahead of the Munich Security Conference. Staff traveling with her included: chief of staff TINA FLOURNOY, deputy chief of staff MIKE FUCHS, national security adviser NANCY MCELDOWNEY and deputy national security adviser PHIL GORDON. The Oppo Book Interior Secretary DEB HAALAND is an avid runner, and she confessed that one of her favorite running routes in Washington, D.C. is — you guessed it — the National Mall. That's not the only place she likes to run, though. "The Anacostia River Trail is easy to get to from my home in D.C.," she told the Washington Post in Oct. 2021. "There are no stop lights or cross streets. On my longer runs, I have enjoyed being in nature, and I have shared the trail with wild turkeys, deer and bald eagles." POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER GEORGE WASHINGTON, who accompanied his half-brother LAWRENCE to Barbados in the hopes the latter would overcome an aggressive strain of tuberculosis. George, then 19 years of age, contracted smallpox but was able to recover and return to Virginia in early 1752. By July, Lawrence had died. For information on Washington and the other presidents, visit millercenter.org. A CALL OUT — Do you have a better trivia question? Send us your hardest trivia question on the presidents and we may feature it on Wednesdays. Edited by Emily Cadei A message from PatientRightsAdvocate.org: It took scientists less than a year to create a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, hospital execs have had more than a year to comply with the Hospital Price Transparency Rule and 86% of them are still hiding their prices from consumers. This isn't brain surgery. It's a no-brainer. It's time to enforce the rule and tell the rich hospital executives to show the American people their prices, unleash competition, and allow us to shop for the best quality of care at prices we can afford.     Follow us on Twitter Alex Thompson @AlexThomp Maxwell Tani @maxwelltani Allie Bice @alliebice   Follow us

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