The president’s primetime speech named Trump and ‘Maga Republicans’ as a threat facing American democracy
Joe Biden’s journey from idealist to realist continues. But it is not quite complete.
After 36 years in the Senate, he stepped into the US presidency in 2021 as an apostle of bipartisanship, convinced that his authoritarian-minded predecessor Donald Trump would fade away and the Republican party would rediscover its bearings.
Continue reading...The president called out Maga forces as a threat ‘to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the very soul of this country’
Protesters outside Independence Hall were shouting “Let’s go, Brandon,” which Biden was able to brush off.
Biden addressed them, saying: “They’re entitled to be outrageous. This is a democracy.”
Continue reading...In overnight court filing, DoJ says it was ‘likely’ efforts had been made to move and hide documents
Donald Trump’s former White House counselor, Kellyanne Conway, does not think Republicans should move on from her former boss, despite signs his control of the party could cost it the chance to take Congress in November.
Speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, Conway said: “Those who want to move on from Trump: You go first.”
Continue reading...President details his Safer America Plan in Pennsylvania speech and says funding police provides ‘peace of mind’
The White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is holding a gaggle aboard Air Force One, as Joe Biden heads to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to talk about gun safety.
The first topic in the gaggle is the flooding in Mississippi and the failure of the Jackson area water treatment services, which has caused a crisis over clean drinking water.
US Secret Service official Tony Ornato, a figure of intense interest to the congressional committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack, has retired from the agency. He was an eyewitness to some of the most critical incidents involving Donald Trump in the hours leading up to the deadly assault on the US Capitol.
NBC News reported that Trump has hired a criminal attorney who was once Florida’s solicitor to his legal team. Chris Kise is expected to make his first appearance in federal court in West Palm Beach on Thursday when district judge Aileen Cannon mulls Trump’s request for a special master to oversee the justice department’s review of classified materials seized by the FBI at his home.
We’re awaiting at any moment the justice department’s legal response to Trump’s request, which will be a lengthy filing running up to 40 pages after Cannon waived a 20-page limit imposed by the court.
Incumbent Democratic Arizona senator Mark Kelly leads Republican challenger Blake Masters by more than three points in a poll released today, appearing to confirm a growing belief within the party that pro-choice messaging on abortion will be vote-winner in November’s midterms.
Continue reading...Justice department faces deadline for detailed inventory of files while ex-president’s team must argue for review by special master
More from Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe on the legal case around the FBI search and seizure of classified documents from former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club-resort and home.
Tribe v Oz
Continue reading...Heavily redacted document also says several documents contained what appears to be Trump’s handwritten notes
Three new sealed filings have appeared online in the federal court system related to the Mar-a-Lago case, Politico reports:
Since they are not public, it’s unclear what they are, but a federal magistrate judge gave the justice department until noon eastern time today to make the redacted affidavit justifying the search public.
Continue reading...Bruce Reinhart gives US government until noon ET Friday to make the redacted document public
As midterm election campaigns hit the home stretch over the next two months, voters may start seeing a familiar Democratic face: Barack Obama.
Axios reports that the former president is scheduled to appear at two upcoming fundraisers for the party, one of which is focused on Democrats’ campaign to maintain their majority in the Senate, which they seem slightly favored to do.
The submission by the Justice Department is a significant legal milepost in an investigation that has swiftly emerged as a major threat to Mr. Trump, whose lawyers have offered a confused and at times stumbling response. But it is also an inflection point for Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, who is trying to balance protecting the prosecutorial process by keeping secret details of the investigation, and providing enough information to defend his decision to request a search unlike any other in history.
“There are clearly opposed poles here,” said Daniel C. Richman, a former federal prosecutor and a law professor at Columbia University, who said it might be difficult, even impossible, for Mr. Garland to strike the right balance.
Continue reading...Aimee Harris stole items from Ashley Biden’s room and conspired Robert Kurlander to sell them to activist group, prosecutors say
Two people have pleaded guilty in a scheme to peddle a diary and other items belonging to Joe Biden’s daughter to the conservative group Project Veritas for $40,000, prosecutors said Thursday.
The two, both from Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, Manhattan US attorney Damian Williams’s office said.
Continue reading...Power line restored after plant occupied by Russian troops taken off national grid for several hours; toll confirmed after Russian forces attack train station
The head of the Kyiv regional military administration has issued an update regarding the series of explosions reported near the city earlier this morning.
Oleksiy Kuleba said Russia launched a rocket attack on the Vyshgorod district north of the city centre.
Continue reading...US to send anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, counter-drone defences and radar equipment as Zelenskiy praises ‘unwavering support’
Joe Biden has announced nearly $3bn in new military assistance to Ukraine, including anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, counter-drone defences and radar equipment.
It is the biggest tranche of US military aid to date, bringing to over $13bn the total the US has supplied or pledged to Kyiv under the Biden administration. The new equipment, however, will have to be ordered by defence manufacturers and will not be delivered for months or years. US officials said it represented a longer-term investment in Ukrainian security.
Continue reading...President had campaigned on promise of loan forgiveness of up to $10,000 for those struggling with student debt
• Trump appears to concede he illegally retained official documents in filing
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The GOP is teeing up their counter-attack to Biden’s impending announcement on student debt relief, decrying it as a “bribe” that will be paid for by American taxpayers.
Here’s what the Senate Republicans said on Twitter:
Continue reading...President delivers on campaign promise and outlines debt relief measures for those on lower incomes in White House speech
Millions of Americans received welcome news on Wednesday when Joe Biden delivered on a campaign promise to provide $10,000 in student debt forgiveness.
Borrowers who earn less than $125,000 a year will be eligible for loan forgiveness, with those whose low incomes qualified them for federal Pell Grants receiving up to $20,000 in relief. About a third of US undergraduate students receive Pell Grants.
Continue reading...Rule requires companies that sell unassembled firearm kits to add serial numbers to parts and conduct background checks
A new Biden administration rule that puts kits used to build ghost guns in the same legal category as traditional firearms went into effect on Wednesday.
The new rule was announced by the White House in early April and requires companies that sell unassembled firearm kits to add serial numbers to their parts and conduct a background check on prospective buyers. It also requires federally licensed gun dealers to keep records on ghost gun kit sales until they go out of business.
Continue reading...Wall Street Journal suggests Russian and Chinese leaders could hold discussions in Uzbek city
Xi Jinping could meet Vladimir Putin in mid-September at a regional summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, it has been reported.
According to the Wall Street Journal, preparations are being made for the Chinese president to travel to Samarkand on 15 September for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Continue reading...Ron Klain argues president has made a historic impact and that focus shouldn’t be on inflation or Afghanistan withdrawal
Democratic leaders went on the attack against Mike Pence, as the former vice-president under Donald Trump heads to Iowa today amid increased speculation of a potential 2024 campaign.
Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, sharply criticized Pence’s repeated calls for a national abortion ban in the wake of the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade.
Continue reading...Ron Klain compares Biden’s achievements to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F Kennedy and Lyndon B Johnson in interview
In a bullish interview, the White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, compared Joe Biden’s achievements in his first two years in office to historic successes under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F Kennedy and Lyndon B Johnson.
Speaking to Politico, Klain said: “The president has delivered the largest economic recovery plan since Roosevelt, the largest infrastructure plan since [Dwight D] Eisenhower, the most judges confirmed since Kennedy, the second-largest healthcare bill since Johnson, and the largest climate change bill in history.”
Continue reading...Liz Cheney was praised on MSNBC this morning by, of all people, White House chief of staff Ron Klain.
“I don’t think there was anything we agree on,” said Klain, who was tasked by Joe Biden with getting his legislative proposals through Congress. “But, I respect enormously her commitment to democracy.”
Continue reading...Party leaders hope approval of Inflation Reduction Act will boost their prospects in the midterm elections this November
Joe Biden signed Democrats’ healthcare, climate and tax package on Tuesday, putting the final seal of approval on a landmark bill that party leaders hope will boost their prospects in the midterm elections this November.
During a bill-signing ceremony at the White House, the US president celebrated the bill as a historic piece of legislation that would reduce healthcare costs for millions of Americans and help address the climate crisis.
Continue reading...White House hopes climate and healthcare plan will mark turning point for Biden’s presidency and boost Democrats in the midterms
Meanwhile in Kansas, abortion foes have apparently not given up on the state’s ballot initiative to allow lawmakers to restrict the procedure, which voters resoundingly rejected earlier this month.
The Associated Press reports that an anti-abortion activist and an election conspiracy promoter have teamed up to coordinate a recount of the ballots in nine of the state’s counties, which accounted for more than half of the votes cast on the initiative and all but one of which rejected it. According to the report, the abortion foe, Mark Gietzen put almost all of the $120,000 cost on his credit card to pay for the recount.
Continue reading...The suicide of a man who crashed his car into barricades outside the US Capitol over the weekend underscores the tense atmosphere the search of Mar-a-Lago created, Maya Yang reports:
A man drove into a barricade near the US Capitol in Washington DC on early Sunday morning, fired several shots into the air after his vehicle ignited, and then shot himself to death, according to police.
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