Coronavirus US live: Trump says he’s signed order restricting immigration – as it happened

America’s addiction to mass incarceration could almost double its number of deaths from coronavirus, with jails acting as incubators of the disease and spreading a further 100,000 fatalities across the US.

The startling warning comes from groundbreaking modeling by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and academic researchers, released on Wednesday.

Related: Mass incarceration could add 100,000 deaths to US coronavirus toll, study finds

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Trump is ‘decapitating’ intelligence leadership amid crisis, senior Democrat says

Adam Schiff calls Trump ‘vindictive president’ after president fired the inspector general of the US intelligence community

Donald Trump is “decapitating the leadership of the intelligence community in the middle of a national crisis”, senior Democrat Adam Schiff has charged, after the president fired the inspector general of the US intelligence community late on Friday night.

Related: Donald Trump fires intelligence watchdog who sparked impeachment process

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The great escape: how Donald Trump survived impeachment

How did Trump and his team pull off his successful defense? Here’s a look at key factors

Will historians find Donald Trump’s impeachment remarkable because Republican politicians turned a blind eye to such egregious wrongdoing and acquitted him? Or will they find it remarkable because it was the last time a cadre of Republican officials publicly turned against Trump?

While most of the career civil servants who defied the president by testifying in the impeachment inquiry do not publicly identify as Republican, many were Trump appointees with strong Republican ties, while other key figures such as former national security adviser John Bolton are wizened party warriors.

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Trump impeachment: Republican Senate ‘coverup’ prompts backlash

Outraged by what they see as a coverup in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, grassroots activists are planning a massive “payback project” designed to punish Republican senators at the ballot box.

Related: By denying witnesses, Republicans made clear even a smoking gun would not be enough

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Democrats focus on Ukraine ‘cover-up’ as marathon impeachment case wraps

White House tried to hide records of Trump’s call with Ukrainian president and block whistleblower complaint, say Democrats

Democrats concluded the presentation of their case against Donald Trump at his impeachment trial on Friday, with the lead prosecutor Adam Schiff calling on Republicans to exercise “moral courage” and vote in favor of calling witnesses at the trial next week.

“Give America a fair trial,” Schiff concluded after three marathon days of argument. “She’s worth it.”

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Democrats say impeachment case ‘has been proved’ as they make final pitch – live

  • On recording Trump calls for ousting of Marie Yovanovitch
  • Impeachment managers will finish presenting opening arguments today
  • Next Trump’s lawyers will be given up to 24 hours to begin their defense
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“Give America a fair trial,” impeachment manager Adam Schiff said, wrapping up the Democrats’ opening statements. “She’s worth it.”

And just like that, Senate has adjourned for the night. The impeachment trial continues tomorrow morning.

As impeachment manager Adam Schiff continues to talk, Donald Trump has gone on a retweeting frenzy. He reposted a tweet of his from earlier today, as well as one from the Senate Republicans account, and one each from Republican senators John Barrasso and Marsha Blackburn.

This obsession with impeachment* is out of hand.

Tennesseans have their priorities straight: trade, border security, and creating jobs. pic.twitter.com/vNFjPBA2MQ

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Impeachment trial against Trump begins: the key moments of day one – video

Donald Trump’s impeachment trial began in the US Senate, with Democrats pushing back against the rules set out by the Republican-held senate. Democrats accused Republicans of covering up for the president as their amendments to trial proceedings were voted down repeatedly

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Impeachment: Trump wants Senate trial over before State of the Union address

Donald Trump wants his impeachment trial to end before his state of the union address in just two weeks’ time, Lindsey Graham said on Sunday.

Related: Alan Dershowitz: Trump impeachment acquittal would make me unhappy

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Trump legal team calls impeachment ‘brazen’ attempt to overturn 2016 election

Donald Trump’s legal team has delivered a fiery response to impeachment summons from the Senate, calling the two articles passed by the House “a dangerous attack on the right of the American people to freely choose their president”.

Related: Impeachment: is Trump set to survive and win a second term?

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Impeachment: is Trump set to survive and win a second term?

As Democrats marched the articles to the Senate, the president basked in policy success. Many think re-election is coming

It was, the White House tweeted on Friday, “an incredible week” for Donald Trump. On that, no one could disagree. But what kind of incredible depended on which end of Pennsylvania Avenue you were standing.

Related: How to dump Trump: Rick Wilson on Running Against the Devil

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Impeachment trial opens as watchdog says Trump broke law on Ukraine

Government Accountability Office finds suspension of of military aid at president’s direction violated law

As the Senate opened an impeachment trial in which Donald Trump will stand charged with abusing the power of his office, the president was hit with new allegations of wrongdoing by an agency within Trump’s own administration.

The Government Accountability Office released a finding on Thursday morning that the suspension last year of military aid for Ukraine at Trump’s direction violated laws governing the disbursement of congressionally appropriated funds.

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Trump impeachment trial set to begin amid damaging new Ukraine revelations – live

House prosecutors to arrive at Senate to formally open trial as Lev Parnas tells reporters president was fully aware of efforts to pressure Ukraine

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An independent government watchdog, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), said the White House budget office violated the law when it froze US military aid to Ukraine.

“Faithful execution of the law does not permit the president to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law,” the report said.

Yesterday, the House voted to send articles of impeachment to the Senate, setting in motion the third impeachment Senate trial in US history.

Here’s how that looks today:

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Trump impeachment: how the day unfolded as House sends articles to Senate – video

Donald Trump faces a trial after the House of Representatives voted to send articles of impeachment against him to the Senate. Here’s how a frantic day on Capitol Hill unfolded

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Impeachment: Trump fumes as Pelosi prepares to send articles to the Senate

Whether or not Nancy Pelosi is the “absolute worst Speaker of the House in US history”, as Donald Trump insists, the Democrat said on Sunday her caucus will meet on Tuesday to decide when to transmit two articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial.

Related: John Bolton impeachment testimony will be blocked, Donald Trump says

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Trump impeachment: Senator Collins working to allow witnesses at trial – as it happened

Susan Collins and other Republicans open to allowing witnesses in impeachment trial, a key sticking point in impasse between House and Senate

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Kari Paul here, logging off for the weekend! Here is a summary of the key events of the last few hours:

Two parents whose children were separated from them as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” border policies are suing the federal government for $12m, claiming the children were subject to abuse and neglect while in federal custody.

“The United States government tore these families apart pursuant to a cruel and unconstitutional policy: The government intended to inflict terror and harm on these small children and their fathers, as a means of deterring others from seeking to enter the United States”, said the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in U.S. District Court of Arizona.

According to the lawsuit, the fathers were separated from their children for more than two months, and the federal government gave little, if any, information regarding the location and safety of the children.

The families “suffered, and continue to suffer, physical, mental, and emotional harm,” the lawsuit states. More than a year after they were reunited, the lawsuit says the children exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Why is Pelosi waiting to send Trump articles of impeachment to the Senate?

Speculation and political parlor-gaming about Nancy Pelosi’s strategy have filled the informational vacuum

What is Nancy Pelosi thinking?

Related: Trump ex-adviser Michael Flynn should face up to six months in prison, say prosecutors – live

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Pelosi delays sending articles of impeachment against Trump – live

House to convene for the first time of the new year and a first true signal of when speaker might advance impeachment issue

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Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell reportedly plans to advance a set of rules for the looming impeachment trial without Democratic support.

Politico reports:

McConnell is on the verge of having sufficient backing in his 53-member caucus to pass a blueprint for the trial that leaves the question of seeking witnesses and documents until after opening arguments are made, according to multiple senators. That framework would mirror the contours of President Bill Clinton’s trial and ignore Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s demands for witnesses and new evidence.

No final decision has been made, but in a brief interview, McConnell said he would address the possibility of spurning Democrats on Tuesday afternoon.

Appearing at the US Capitol for the first time in 2020, House speaker Nancy Pelosi deflected reporters’ repeated questions about when she might transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

Entering the Capitol for the first time in 2020, ⁦@SpeakerPelosi⁩ is still mum on when she’ll send articles of impeachment to the Senate —> pic.twitter.com/8WlaSiCwvg

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Nancy Pelosi on Trump: ‘He’ll be impeached for ever’ – live

  • ‘No matter what the Senate does – he’s impeached for ever’
  • Trump to sign spending deal today including $738bn defense bill
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That’s all from me. Thanks for sticking around for the tail end of this momentous week.

Here’s a summary of the day’s major stories:

Bernie Sanders spoke with my colleague Sam Levin this morning, and reiterated his critique of Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden and billionaires:

They will tell you, ‘It doesn’t impact me. It really doesn’t mean anything to me.’ That is clearly nonsensical. Why would billionaires and wealthy people be making large contributions if it didn’t mean something to them?

The United Kingdom, last I heard, is not the United States. Brexit is not a major part of what this campaign is about. The issues that I am campaigning on, in fact, are precisely the issues the American people support. Talk about raising the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour. Four years ago when I introduced that concept, it was a radical idea. Not radical anymore.

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McConnell and Pelosi set for showdown over next steps of Trump impeachment

  • Not clear when articles of impeachment will reach Senate
  • Pelosi threatens delay until she receives assurances of fair trial

As Washington awoke on Thursday to the realisation that it had impeached the third US president in American history, the capital remained racked with uncertainty about what will come next in an impeachment process defined by almost total partisanship and rancor.

Related: Trump impeachment charges 'absolutely made up', says Putin

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A divided America: the moment Trump was impeached – in pictures

Donald Trump became the third president in US history to be impeached on Wednesday 18 December. The moment offered a surreal split screen. In the House of Representatives, lawmakers voted solemnly, mostly along party lines, in favor of two articles of impeachment. Meanwhile in Michigan, Trump railed against the Democrats at a defiant rally. ‘They’re the ones that should be impeached, every one of them’, he told the crowd

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