Biden in a bind as Netanhayu ready to flout any US attempt to rein in Israel

Israel PM has defied US calls for restraint in Gaza and told domestic audience he will not compromise

US efforts to show it retains significant influence over the Israeli government were dealt a double blow on Thursday when the Israeli defence minister said it would take months to complete the task of rooting out Hamas, and a leaked US intelligence assessment revealed up to 45% of the 29,000 air-to-ground munitions that Israel has dropped on Gaza since 7 October have been unguided “dumb bombs”.

The predictions of a months-long campaign were delivered on camera by Yoav Gallant to a stony-faced Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, who had arrived in Israel to convey a message that its campaign needed to change – and preferably be wrapped up in weeks. They were later reinforced by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Neyanyahu, who said Israel would not stop until complete victory.

Continue reading...

Rudy Giuliani defamation trial: jury deliberating on damages for former election workers – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. You can read our full report here:

Michael Gottlieb, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, said that he will not provide the jury with a number for damages to be paid, Law & Crime’s Brandi Buchman reports.

Instead, he said that they must reach that number by weighing the humiliation, indignity and suffering Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss experienced based on the evidence provided.

Continue reading...

Biden condemns impeachment inquiry: ‘a baseless political stunt’

House Republicans rally behind investigation authorized by party-line vote as Democrats stand united in opposition

The House on Wednesday authorized the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, with every Republican rallying behind the politically charged process despite lingering concerns among some in the party that the investigation has yet to produce evidence of misconduct by the US president.

The 221-212 party-line vote put the entire House Republican conference on record in support of an impeachment process that can lead to the ultimate penalty for a president: punishment for what the constitution describes as “high crimes and misdemeanors”, which can lead to removal from office if convicted in a Senate trial.

Continue reading...

House votes to formally authorize Biden impeachment inquiry

Republicans have failed to produce evidence showing president financially benefitted from family business dealings

The House voted Wednesday to formally authorize the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, even as Republicans have failed to produce evidence showing that the president financially benefitted from his family’s business dealings.

The House voted on partisan lines, 221-212 to launch the inquiry. The vote came hours after the president’s son, Hunter Biden, defied a subpoena to appear for a closed-door deposition with House members. Instead choosing to hold a press conference on Capitol Hill, Hunter Biden reiterated his willingness to testify publicly, an offer that House Republicans have rejected.

This story was amended on 13 December 2023 to accurately reflect the House votes for the inquiry to 221-212.

Continue reading...

Giuliani’s defamatory claims have ‘significant, negative and long-lasting impact’ on election workers, expert witness says – live

Ashlee Humphreys, a Northwestern professor, testifies that Giuliani’s claims against plaintiffs have significant effects on their reputations

Ashlee Humphreys said in court that prior to 3 December, 2020, there was almost no search traffic for “Ruby Freeman”, the Guardian’s Sam Levine reports.

Afterwards, there was an increase, she said.

Continue reading...

Republicans helping Russia by denying Ukraine aid, Biden says

US president announces emergency $200m in aid after Congress continues to deny Volodymyr Zelenskiy

Joe Biden has given his starkest warning yet that Republicans are playing directly into Russian president Vladimir Putin’s hands by threatening to end military aid to Ukraine.

“Russian loyalists in Moscow celebrated when Republicans voted to block Ukraine’s aid last week,” the US president said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Washington on Tuesday. “The host of a Kremlin-run show said: ‘Well-done Republicans, that’s good for us.’”

Continue reading...

Zelenskiy to visit Washington in bid to break Senate deadlock on Ukraine aid

Ukrainian leader invited by Joe Biden, as US president pressures Republican senators to back aid bill

US President Joe Biden has invited his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy to the White House, days after his administration warned it would run out of money for Ukraine aid in weeks unless feuding US lawmakers act.

The meeting on Tuesday is intended “to underscore the United States’ unshakeable commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against Russia’s brutal invasion,” the White House said in a statement Sunday.

Continue reading...

Mitt Romney says his endorsement in 2024 race would be ‘kiss of death’

Republican senator also declines to rule out voting for Biden, and added he wishes Joe Manchin would ‘be the Democratic nominee’

Utah senator Mitt Romney declined to rule out voting for Joe Biden next year and said he hasn’t offered an endorsement in the Republican race because his backing would probably be a “kiss of death”.

“If I endorsed them, it would be the kiss of death – I’m not going to do that,” Romney said during an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press.

Continue reading...

Blow to Biden as poll shows Trump in lead for 2024 presidential election

Trump ahead 47% to 43%, worrying some Democrats as others caution avoiding ‘mad poll disease’

Donald Trump has nudged ahead of Joe Biden in national polling for the 2024 presidential election, a survey published on Saturday revealed, a day after the US president branded his predecessor as “despicable” at an event in California.

The Wall Street Journal poll shows Biden with the lowest approval rating of his presidency, a finding broadly in line with other recent studies that have sparked concern in Democratic circles less than a year before voters go to the polls.

Continue reading...

Why are third party candidates a threat to Biden in 2024? – podcast

This week, Joe Biden admitted that he probably would not be running for re-election if Donald Trump was not likely to be the Republican candidate. The thoughts of a rehashed presidential race in 2024 has many Americans dreading next year, and some are looking to third-party or independent candidates as potential alternatives.

So why hasn’t an outsider been more successful in the past? Is running independently of the Democrat and Republican parties a legitimate offer to voters, or nothing more than an election spoiler? And if the answer is the latter, why should the president be the one to worry?

This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Nitish Pahwa of Slate about why Democrats are worried that Biden could suffer the same fate as Hilary Clinton in 2016

Archive: CNN, CSPAN, CBS News, AP News

Continue reading...

Hunter Biden indicted on tax charges in California in new criminal case

Charges come in addition to federal firearms charges and intensify pressure on president’s son ahead of 2024 election

Hunter Biden has been indicted on nine tax charges in California, becoming the second indictment against the president’s son, adding fuel to a scandal that Republicans have been seizing on in the lead-up to the 2024 election.

The state charges on Thursday follow federal firearms charges in Delaware alleging Biden unlawfully obtained a revolver in October 2018 after he falsely stated he was not using narcotic drugs.

Continue reading...

Jamaal Bowman on his censure: ‘This Republican House is unserious and unproductive’ – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. You can read our full report here:

Here is the moment House speaker Mike Johnson announced the votes on the censure of New York’s Democratic representative Jamaal Bowman:

The House has voted to censure Jamaal Bowman with 214 yeas and 191 nays.

Continue reading...

Kevin McCarthy, ousted House speaker, says he will leave Congress at end of the year – US politics live

McCarthy, who was ousted from the House weeks ago, said in his announcement, ‘I’m leaving the House but not the fight’

Former speaker Kevin McCarthy has announced that he will resign from the House at the end of the year.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published on Wednesday and titled “I’m leaving the House but not the fight,” McCarthy said that he had decided to depart the House at the end of this year and “serve America in new ways”.

I know my work is only getting started. I will continue to recruit our country’s best and brightest to run for elected office. The Republican Party is expanding every day, and I am committed to lending my experience to support the next generation of leaders.”

“I never could have imagined the journey when I first threw my hat into the ring. I go knowing I left it all on the field—as always, with a smile on my face. And looking back, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Only in America.”

“Common sense should dictate that we need to secure our own border in addition to helping Ukraine and Israel secure theirs. In the greatest country on Earth, we do not have to choose between protecting our homeland and defending our allies.

My support for Israel and Ukraine is unwavering but it does not supersede my commitment to my own country. We need major, structural reforms to limit the number of illegal crossings at our southern border and regain operational control.

Continue reading...

The White House is changing its tune on Israel – but does it matter in practice?

Biden’s rhetoric toward the Netanyahu government is toughening. But critics say his words aren’t backed up by the threat of action

A soaring civilian death toll and a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza has jolted the Biden administration into a stark change of rhetoric towards the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Out has gone cavalier White House disavowals against “drawing red lines” for Israel in Gaza; in have come blunt invocations of international law and the need to limit civilian casualties to a minimum.

Continue reading...

Biden ‘not sure he’d be running’ in 2024 if Trump wasn’t: ‘We cannot let him win’

President spoke about risks Trump poses to democracy at event amid fears a second term would be far more autocratic

The US president, Joe Biden, said on Tuesday that he is not sure he would be seeking re-election in next year’s election if he were not likely facing Republican Donald Trump.

“If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running,” Biden said at a fundraising event for his 2024 campaign outside Boston. “We cannot let him win.”

Continue reading...

White House condemns protest targeting Philadelphia Jewish restaurant as ‘completely unjustifiable’ – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. You can read our full report below:

Back in Philadelphia, Brendan Boyle, a Democratic congressman representing the city, condemned the protest outside Jewish restaurant Goldie as “despicable”.

From his account on X:

Continue reading...

US House close to vote on Biden impeachment inquiry, speaker says

After months of Republican investigations, Mike Johnson told Fox he believed GOP conference has enough votes to launch

The US House speaker Mike Johnson signaled on Saturday that Republicans are nearing holding a formal vote to launch an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.

“I think it’s something we have to do at this juncture,” Johnson said during a Saturday appearance on Fox and Friends Weekend.

Continue reading...

Kamala Harris addresses Cop28 amid mixed reaction to US climate pledges

US vice-president, deputising for Joe Biden, tells summit that world faces a ‘pivotal moment’ in the climate crisis

The world is facing a “pivotal moment” in the climate crisis, Kamala Harris has told the Cop28 summit after the US vowed to phase out coal plants and slash methane emissions, but also came under attack for meagre assistance to developing countries and for its own booming oil and gas extraction industry.

The US vice-president, deputising for Joe Biden – who skipped the UN climate talks – said Biden’s administration had made the “largest climate investment in the history of our country, and some have said the world” via the Inflation Reduction Act.

Continue reading...

Copping out? Biden skips UN climate conference – podcast

The UN’s Cop28 climate conference has kicked off in Dubai this week – but one notable absence will be the US president. Joe Biden pledged to make the fight against climate breakdown one of his top priorities when he took office, and news of his absence from this year’s gathering has frustrated activists.

Jonathan Freedland speaks to one such activist, Jerome Foster, who in 2021 became the youngest adviser to the White House when he was asked to sit on its environmental justice advisory council

Continue reading...

Pence’s son reportedly convinced him to stand up to Trump over January 6

Former vice-president had planned to skip process to certify Joe Biden’s election victory but changed mind after son’s plea

Mike Pence reportedly decided to skip the congressional certification process for Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, because to preside over it as required by the constitution would be “too hurtful” to his “friend”, Donald Trump. He was then shamed into standing up to Trump by his son, a US marine.

“Dad, you took the same oath I took,” the then vice-president’s son Michael Pence said, according to ABC News, adding that it was “an oath to support and defend the constitution”.

Continue reading...