Former White House communications director was steered away from answering questions 155 times
The Democrat-controlled house judiciary committee has released a 273-page transcript of frustrated efforts to interrogate Hope Hicks, a former top White House adviser, during a closed-door hearing on Wednesday.
The session transcript reveals a seven-hour exercise in prevarication as White House lawyers steered Hicks away from answering questions 155 times.
Continue reading...President says ‘stay tuned for next week’ when asked if he will authorize strike against Tehran in retaliation for attack on US drone
Alabama Republican Roy Moore, whose unsuccessful 2017 campaign for US Senate was marred by allegations he sexually assaulted or pursued teenage girls while in his 30s, is going to try again.
The Democratic candidate, Doug Jones, a former federal prosecutor, defeated Moore by a narrow margin in a special election in December 2017 to fill the seat vacated by Republican Jeff Sessions when he became US attorney general. Jones was the first Democrat in a quarter-century to be elected to the US Senate in Alabama.
AP is reporting that Roy Moore will jump into the Alabama Senate race https://t.co/gsALWyjY5v
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders hold narrow leads in a theoretical showdown with President Trump in North Carolina ahead of the 2020 presidential race, according to a new Public Policy Polling survey released Thursday.
Forty-nine percent of registered voters surveyed said they would back Biden in a match-up against Trump, while 46 percent said they would support the president. Five percent, meanwhile, said they are unsure who they’d back.
In a match-up against Sanders, 48 percent of North Carolina voters said they’d back the Vermont senator, compared with 47 percent who said they would vote for Trump; 5 percent said they were unsure of their pick.
No other candidate leads Trump in the poll.
Continue reading...The threat of war with Iran is terrifying and the behaviour of the US government risks making the danger real. Its categoric claim that Iran was responsible for last week’s attacks on the two tankers in the Straits of Hormuz has been challenged by the Japanese and the German governments. It has served only to make a dangerous situation more serious.
The context to this is Donald Trump’s scrapping of the nuclear deal with Iran last year, which blocked the way to normalising relations and immediately escalated tension. The accompanying sanctions have caused real economic damage and human suffering. In May the Trump administration turned the screw tighter by dropping exemptions for oil exports. These measures are part of the policy of regime change advocated by John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, Trump’s two senior foreign policy officials, both of whom have called for military attacks on Iran.
Continue reading...After the Senate majority leader dismissed the idea of reparations, Coates testified before Congress about ‘campaign of terror’ against black Americans
Closing out live coverage this evening, with an updated summary of today’s news from Amanda Holpuch and me:
Watch some of the key moments from today’s Congressional debate over reparations:
Continue reading...Russia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Iran and the US are also seen as less likely to use their influence for good than they were 10 years ago
The United States has joined Russia, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Iran in a rogue’s gallery of countries perceived as likely to use their influence for bad. All five countries are also seen as less likely to use their influence for good than they were 10 years ago.
Related: ‘Credible evidence’ Saudi crown prince liable for Khashoggi killing – UN report
Continue reading...The secretary of defense has authorized the order to send soldiers to Iran, who has been blamed for attacks on oil tankers last week
The New York Times is reporting that the Justice Department has intervened to keep former Trump adviser Paul Manafort out of the notorious Rikers Island jail complex.
JUST IN: Manafort is not going to Rikers after unusual Justice Dept intervention. https://t.co/zZzlSmvLJ7 https://t.co/zZzlSmvLJ7
Manafort was set to be transferred to Rikers this month to await trial on a separate state case, according to the New York Times. But then Manhattan prosecutors received a letter from Jeffrey Rosen, the top deputy for attorney general William Barr, that indicated that “he was monitoring where Mr. Manafort would be held in New York”.
And then, on Monday, federal prison officials weighed in, telling the Manhattan district attorney’s office that Mr. Manafort, 70, would not be going to Rikers.
Continue reading...Concerns of a confrontation between the two countries have mounted since two oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman
Acting US defense secretary Patrick Shanahan announced on Monday the deployment of about 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East for what he said were “defensive purposes”, citing concerns about a threat from Iran.
“The recent Iranian attacks validate the reliable, credible intelligence we have received on hostile behavior by Iranian forces and their proxy groups that threaten United States personnel and interests across the region,” Shanahan said in a statement.
Continue reading...Plan comes after efforts to persuade US that White House had wrong message on Libya
Libya’s UN-recognised government in Tripoli has sought to break the deadlock in the country’s civil war by launching a peace initiative which will include a national peace forum followed by simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections to be held by the end of the year.
The plan comes after sustained diplomatic efforts by the Tripoli-based government to persuade the US that the White House had got the wrong message on Libya and was in danger of backing anti-democratic forces of Gen Khalifa Haftar, on the false premise that he was leading a fight against terrorists.
Continue reading...Iran’s leaders have shown their intent to defend their interests by damaging those of their foes
For much of this year, two beliefs have held firm in the halls of power in Iran: US attempts to strangle its economy cannot be tolerated and Donald Trump has no intention of going to war.
Far from wilting under the barrel of a global superpower’s guns, Iran’s leaders have signalled an intent to defend their interests, by damaging those of their foes. Iran’s anger at the US, and its alleged role in the attacks on six tankers in Gulf waters over the past five weeks did not emerge from a vacuum. US-imposed sanctions have taken a huge toll on its economy, and diminished its ability to service long-lasting commitments across the region – in Syria and Lebanon, in particular.
Continue reading...Sanders helped to roll back women’s rights while allowing the Trump administration to boast about ‘empowering women’
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Continue reading...Trio drawn together for split NBC debate on 26-27 June, while Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke to meet in other group
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting read about how after launching an atypical presidential election bid, Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign team is taking a more traditional path:
The campaign aims to build a political infrastructure that can operate regardless of what Mr. Trump says on stage or on social media. Mr. Trump’s Twitter feed is spoken of as his own brand, separate from the campaign.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders has only a few weeks left of her tenure as White House press secretary and the rumor mill is churning with possible replacements.
Four possible replacements, according to Reuters, are: Stephanie Grisham, Melania Trump’s communications director; Heather Nauert, the former State Department spokeswoman; Tony Sayegh, the outgoing Treasury department spokesman and Hogan Gidley, deputy White House secretary.
Once, after watching Gidley on his screen in the residence, the President walked over to the communications office to tell the staff he thought they were handling the shutdown well.
In the days afterward, Trump confused several officials when he directed them to, “Get me Tidley.”
Continue reading...The White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, whose tenure was marked by a breakdown in regular press briefings and questions about the administration's credibility, as well as her own, will leave her post at the end of the month, Donald Trump has announced. Sanders is one of the US president's closest and most trusted White House aides and one of the few remaining staff who worked on his campaign
Continue reading...The US military has released video footage it says shows an Iranian military patrol boat approach one of two tankers attacked in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, to support the Trump administration’s claims that Iran was responsible.
The blurry black and white footage, taken from the air, shows a small military boat alongside a tanker and someone stand up on the prow of the boat to remove an object from the tanker’s hull. The small boat then pulls away from the tanker. US officials were quoted as saying the boat was an Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol boat approaching the tanker after it was attacked, and the object removed was an unexploded limpet mine.
Continue reading...Analysis: the departing White House spokeswoman, who has not held a press briefing in months, spun a web of deceit in her role
“You’re fired!”
Donald Trump was joking when he barked these words at his press secretary, Sarah Sanders, during a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in April – on a night when both were snubbing the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
Continue reading...Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, has become the latest official to leave Donald Trump’s volatile administration, but in an emotional farewell she insisted: “I love the president.”
Related: Sarah Sanders to stand down as Trump's press secretary – live
Continue reading...White House spokesman says the agency’s report that the counselor had violated the Hatch Act was ‘deeply flawed’
A US federal watchdog is recommending that Donald Trump fire one of his most ardent and high-profile defenders, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, for repeatedly violating a law that limits political activity by government workers.
Conway should be removed from federal office, the US Office of Special Counsel (OSC) announced on Thursday.
Continue reading...
Richard Nixon’s former White House counsel John Dean testified before the House judiciary committee today, bringing the fire by stating that “Robert Mueller has provided this committee with a road map” to impeachment.
It appears Dean’s superfans were also there.
John Dean superfans asking him to sign Watergate paraphernalia is a very 2019 thing pic.twitter.com/3ZUDars4Lf
Here’s something fun: Lissandra Villa, a Time magazine reporter, has the walk-out song playlist for the 2020 candidates at the Iowa Democrats Hall of Fame campaign event yesterday.
It’s a good list. We’ve got Dolly Parton for Elizabeth Warren, Lizzo for Kirsten Gillibrand, Marvin Gaye for Tulsi Gabbard, the Clash for Beto O’Rourke, John Lennon for Bernie Sanders, Mary J. Blige for Kamala Harris.
Here is the walk-out song playlist for the candidates at the Iowa Democrats Hall of Fame campaign yesterday. The songs were chosen by the campaigns. pic.twitter.com/Aphykxt322
Continue reading...Overseas investment flowed to Cadre while Trump’s son-in-law works as US envoy, raising conflict of interest questions
A real estate company part-owned by Jared Kushner has received $90m in foreign funding from an opaque offshore vehicle since he entered the White House as a senior adviser to his father-in-law Donald Trump.
Investment has flowed from overseas to the company, Cadre, while Kushner works as an international envoy for the US, according to corporate filings and interviews. The money came through a vehicle run by Goldman Sachs in the Cayman Islands, a tax haven that guarantees corporate secrecy.
Continue reading...The Trump administration’s acting budget chief is asking for a delay in restrictions against Huawei products, according to a letter to Vice-President Mike Pence and nine members of Congress.
Related: ‘All I have done, no credit!’ Enraged Trump defends US-Mexico migrant deal
Continue reading...President tweets ire at New York Times and opponents as agreement to avoid tariffs comes under scrutiny
The Trump administration was forced to defend its immigration agreement with Mexico on Sunday, amid reports that key provisions in the deal, forged under the threat of trade tariffs, were mostly old commitments agreed to months ago.
Related: Mexican president leads 'celebration' rally after US tariffs dropped
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