Trump adviser said a woman approached her in a Mexican restaurant ‘screaming her head off’ in October 2018
Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to Donald Trump, has given an account of an alleged assault she suffered and her teenage daughter witnessed when she was grabbed by an angry woman in a restaurant last year.
Related: Rosenstein did not want to write memo justifying Comey firing – new book
Continue reading...Hopes raised for potential deal, reports suggest, to avert another government shutdown when bill expires on 15 February
The NAACP is urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject judicial nominees who refused to say that Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court case that ended segregation in schools, was rightly decided.
A number of Trump judicial nominees considered by Senate Judiciary Committee today refused to say Brown v. Board of Education was correctly decided. For us, that is disqualifying. We urge the Senate to vote NO.
Georgia Rep. Rob Woodall will not seek re-election, per the Atlanta Journal Constitution. It’s a seat likely to be targeted by Democrats.
Breaking: #GA07 Rep. Rob Woodall (R), who won by just 419 votes last fall, to retire. Doesn't change @CookPolitical's Toss Up rating, but does vault #GA07 to the very top of Dems' list of pickup opportunities. https://t.co/XS4PeDhFrA
Continue reading...Plea deal, involving attorney who became Trump’s labor secretary, saw financier avoid severe penalty for abusing girls
The justice department has opened an investigation into federal prosecutors’ handling of a plea deal in which a wealthy, politically connected Florida financier avoided potentially severe penalties for sexually abusing teenage girls in favor of a relatively light state conviction.
The department’s Office of Professional Responsibility wrote in a letter Wednesday to the Republican senator Ben Sasse, of Nebraska, that it would examine whether professional misconduct occurred in the highly publicized case of Jeffrey Epstein. The letter cited a series of recent articles by the Miami Herald that focused new attention on how the deal came about.
Continue reading...Donald Trump has delivered his second State of the Union address, calling for bipartisan unity before taking aim at ‘ridiculous partisan investigations’, while continuing his demand for a US-Mexico border wall. Female Democrat members attended the speech dressed in white, in a tribute to the women's suffrage movement
Continue reading...Exhibit shows a Trump lookalike pushing a vacuum cleaner and invites spectators to throw crumbs for her to clean up
A new art exhibit at a Washington DC museum shows an Ivanka Trump lookalike pushing a vacuum cleaner and invites spectators to toss crumbs for her to clean up.
The art piece by Jennifer Rubell, Ivanka Vacuuming, opened on 1 February and continues through 17 February at the Flashpoint Gallery. The public is encouraged to “throw crumbs on to the carpet, watching as Ivanka elegantly vacuums up the mess, her smile never wavering”.
Continue reading...Trump will tout economic strength and border security as he faces an audience with an unprecedented number of women and high degree of skepticism
Donald Trump will attempt to reboot his presidency on Tuesday with a State of the Union address that will tout economic strength and border security – but he will face an audience with an unprecedented number of women and a high degree of scepticism.
Halfway into his term, having just endured a drubbing in November’s congressional elections and after prompting the longest government shutdown in US history, Trump will seek to regain momentum by calling on Congress to come together on infrastructure projects and his trade deal with Canada and Mexico.
Continue reading...We are 11 days away from another potential government shutdown and three days into the political crisis in Virginia
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is hitting the fundraising circuit for the Ohio Republican Party.
New: @CLewandowski_ will be raising money for the Ohio Republican Party in Youngstown, Cleveland, and Sandusky, Ohio, later this month.
Axios obtained President Donald Trump’s private schedules on Sunday which show that a majority of his day is left in unstructured “executive time.”
The unprecedented leak shows Trump’s unique governing style. In contrast to past presidents who had tightly regimented schedules, Trump has much of the day open for freewheeling phone conversations, private meetings and, of course, time watching cable news.
What a disgraceful breach of trust to leak schedules. What these don’t show are the hundreds of calls and meetings @realDonaldTrump takes everyday. This POTUS is working harder for the American people than anyone in recent history. https://t.co/n1HrxmCsiB
Continue reading...In interview with reporter, embattled president gives two messages. In the first, he tells Donald Trump he will leave the White House ‘stained with blood’ if he pursues a military intervention in Venezuela. In the second, after the reporter calls Juan Guaidó’s phone and it goes to voicemail, Maduro tells his challenger he ‘should stop this coup-mongering strategy’
Continue reading...Trump said he wanted to maintain a military presence, despite saying the invasion of Iraq was ‘one of the greatest mistakes’
Donald Trump wants to keep US troops in Iraq, in order to “watch” Iran.
Related: Super Bowl: Donald Trump would have 'hard time' letting son play football
Continue reading...Pentagon is still investigating misconduct claims that scuppered rear admiral’s attempt to head Veterans Affairs
President Donald Trump has appointed his former doctor to be his assistant and chief medical adviser.
Saturday’s announcement by the White House follows Trump’s decision to re-nominate Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson for a second star due to inaction by the previous Congress.
Continue reading...‘Remain in Mexico’ policy is also a human rights violation that is ‘throwing the entire system into chaos’, said Margaret Huang
The Trump administration’s “remain in Mexico” policy aimed at deterring asylum seekers, especially at the southern border, is illegal and a human rights violation, the head of Amnesty International in the United States has said.
Related: Ice force-feeds immigrants inside Texas detention center
Continue reading...As the president offers a sympathetic ear – and policies to match – critics see a de facto advisory committee, violating federal law
The US health secretary sat for an interview with a man experts say is the leader of a hate group known for “defaming gays and lesbians”, just two days after Karen Pence, the US second lady, was criticized for teaching at a Christian school that bans homosexuality.
Alex Azar, secretary of health and human services, was interviewed by the Family Research Council President, Tony Perkins, at an anti-abortion event called ProLifeCon in mid-January.
Continue reading...Embattled president warns Donald Trump he risks turning country into new Vietnam
Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, has accused Donald Trump and a “group of extremists around him” of plotting to topple him in order to seize Venezuela’s oil, and warned he risked transforming the South American country into a new Vietnam.
In a four-minute Facebook video – published as Venezuela prepared on Wednesday for a day of fresh pro-opposition protests – Maduro said the leaders of the US “empire” were conspiring “to get their hands on our oil – just like they did in Iraq and in Libya”.
Continue reading...Government employees – especially in science, research and technology – could find higher pay and more stability
The longest government shutdown in US history has come to an end, but experts fear its long-term consequences will include a brain drain among professionals who won’t want to work for a federal government they can’t count on to stay open.
The pain of the shutdown and fear of another one may drive away current and would-be government employees – especially those in highly skilled fields such as science, research and technology who can often command bigger paychecks in the private sector.
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George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign aide who served a brief prison stint for lying to FBI agents in the Russia investigation, has a new job at a medical marijuana company.
Papadopoulos joins a medical marijuana startup https://t.co/oIAw6Jzcqs
Coffee magnate Howard Schultz will take his time to decide to pursue a third party presidential bid. The former Starbucks CEO has become a lightning rod on the left in recent days with his public musing about running as an independent.
New: @HowardSchultz may not decide on a presidential run until "summer or fall," his political adviser Bill Burton tells me.https://t.co/0nYekuZNUD
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Thanks for staying with us through another eventful day. We’ll see you tomorrow.
The Guardian’s Erin Durkin is at former Starbucks CEO and possible independent 2020 presidential candidate Howard Schultz’s first stop of his book tour, which has turned into a town hall of sorts.
Speaking at a New York Barnes and Noble, he ruled out any possibility that he would run as a Democrat, despite his life-long affiliation with the party.
In 2020, the great likelihood is that an independent would just split the anti-Trump vote and end up re-electing the President. That's a risk I refused to run in 2016 and we can't afford to run it now. https://t.co/SmHM6cYUg7 pic.twitter.com/iQ2CK5o2k6
Howard Schultz doesn’t have the “guts” to run for President! Watched him on @60Minutes last night and I agree with him that he is not the “smartest person.” Besides, America already has that! I only hope that Starbucks is still paying me their rent in Trump Tower!
Continue reading...Christoph Flügge warns over ‘shocking’ moves by Trump administration and Turkey
A senior judge has resigned from one of the UN’s international courts in The Hague citing “shocking” political interference from the White House and Turkey.
Christoph Flügge, a German judge, claimed the US had threatened judges after moves were made to examine the conduct of US soldiers in Afghanistan.
Continue reading...The Trump administration has lifted sanctions on three companies, including the aluminum giant Rusal, linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Democrats had led a push in Congress to continue the restrictions.
Related: 'Sex trainer' who said she could prove Russia meddled in US election freed
Continue reading...Beginning with Richard Nixon in the early 1970s, the former adviser for Donald Trump has made a career of ruthless campaigning
The raid happened before dawn, a Swat team of heavily-armed FBI agents in camouflage uniforms rushing between Florida palm trees to confront their target. The spectacle was laden with melodrama, surprisingly so given who had ordered it: Robert Mueller, the special counsel in the Russia investigation who has turned understatement into an art form.
Related: Roger Stone says he won't testify against Trump after Mueller indictment
Continue reading...Roger Stone, a longtime ally of the US president, says he has been falsely accused of lying to the House intelligence committee and will plead not guilty to the charges filed against him. Stone told reporters outside Fort Lauderdale courthouse in Florida: 'There is no circumstance whatsoever under which I will bear false witness against the president, nor will I make up lies to ease the pressure on myself'
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