Senior Democrats are keeping up pressure on attorney general William Barr to release the full Mueller report, claiming collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia happened “in plain sight”.
Related: William Barr: attorney general plays Republican spear-catcher again
Continue reading...Democrats in Congress will “never” see Donald Trump’s tax returns, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said on Sunday.
Related: ‘Pete! Pete! Pete!’ Buttigieg fever hits New Hampshire – can he keep up the pace?
Continue reading...Barack Obama warned on Saturday that US progressives risk creating a “circular firing squad” at a time when prospective presidential candidates are competing fiercely against each other to run against Donald Trump.
Related: 'Our mantra is chaos': Republican researchers target 2020 Democrats
Continue reading...The America Rising committee monitors everything the candidates do, hoping the large field will work in Trump’s favor
Democrats are more than a year away from selecting their presidential nominee. Nonetheless, Republicans are already taking aim at the leading contenders.
Related: 'He gave me permission': Joe Biden jokes about touching complaints
Continue reading...The former vice-president joked that a child gave him 'permission to touch him' in his first public appearance since allegations last week by at least seven women that his physical behavior made them uncomfortable. Biden, who is widely expected to enter the 2020 presidential race, was speaking at a gathering of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Washington
Continue reading...In her latest Instagram live, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez takes questions from followers while assembling furniture in her chair-less Washington DC apartment. Covering topics from popcorn flavours to staying focused on the issues that matter, Ocasio-Cortez demonstates her ability to use social media in an authentic way that engages potential young voters
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•FBI director Christopher Wray warned that white nationalism is a “persistent, pervasive threat”, breaking with Donald Trump’s comments in the wake of the New Zealand terror attacks. “The danger. I think, of white supremacists, violent extremism or another kind of extremism is of course significant,” Wray said. Trump played down the threat of white nationalism after a white nationalist murdered 50 people in Christchurch, New Zealand in March.
•Congress has passed a resolution to end US military assistance for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, in an unprecedented attempt to curtail the president’s power. The House voted 247 to 175 to send the resolution to the president’s desk, where it is likely to be met with a veto. The Senate passed the resolution last month, with seven Republicans breaking rank to support the resolution.
Lindsay Graham has joined those calling for Donald Trump to release his tax returns, in an extremely rare act of defiance towards the president.
“I think you should release your tax returns if you’re running for president in 2020,” Graham told reporters on Thursday,
Continue reading...Chairman of ways and means committee says request for six years of returns is ‘within our rights’
House Democrats have formally demanded Donald Trump’s tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service, marking a major bid to obtain information about the president’s finances and business dealings.
Richard Neal, the chairman of the House ways and means committee, issued the request on Wednesday evening, stating: “It is critical to ensure the accountability of our government and elected officials.”
Continue reading...The former vice-president and potential 2020 presidential candidate says it is his ‘responsibility’ to be more careful after several women said his touching made them uncomfortable. Biden used the video to say 'social norms have begun to change. They have shifted, and the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset, and I get it'
Continue reading...The former vice-president issued a video after two more women described interactions that made them feel uncomfortable
Joe Biden doubled down on his defense as he faced fresh allegations from women who said their past physical interactions with him left them uncomfortable, foreshadowing the former vice-president’s perils as he weighs a bid for the Democratic Party’s 2020 nomination.
In a video and statement released to his Twitter feed Biden said that he had always seen politics as about “personal connection” and defended his habit of hugging and touching people he met. But he also added that he would change his habits in the future.
Continue reading...In the past week Joe Biden has been the subject of damaging news reports after two women accused the former US vice-president of inappropriate behaviour. Biden - who has hinted at launching a bid to be the Democratic candidate for the US presidency in 2020 – responded by saying he does not believe he has acted inappropriately during his long public life. The recent developments have underscored some of the challenges he will face if he does make a bid for the White House
President says all island’s politicians do is ‘complain & ask for money’ and that he is ‘the best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico
Donald Trump is tweeting this morning and on a bit of a roll.
Puerto Rico got 91 Billion Dollars for the hurricane, more money than has ever been gotten for a hurricane before, & all their local politicians do is complain & ask for more money. The pols are grossly incompetent, spend the money foolishly or corruptly, & only take from USA....
....The best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico is President Donald J. Trump. So many wonderful people, but with such bad Island leadership and with so much money wasted. Cannot continue to hurt our Farmers and States with these massive payments, and so little appreciation!
In 1998, Rep.Jerry Nadler strongly opposed the release of the Starr Report on Bill Clinton. No information whatsoever would or could be legally released. But with the NO COLLUSION Mueller Report, which the Dems hate, he wants it all. NOTHING WILL EVER SATISFY THEM! @foxandfriends
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Washington and all things politics.
Before we dive in, let’s take a moment to recognize Equal Pay Day – the day into the year that women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year, according to the National Committee on Pay Equity. It’s 2 April.
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The Oklahoma Democratic Party’s headquarters were vandalized with anti-semitic graffiti early on Thursday morning, KFOR.com is reporting.
“Employees of the building on NW 37th and Classen Blvd reported Swastika drawings, neo-Nazi messages, and death threats spray painted in the parking lot and on the door of the property,” KFOR said.
It’s upsetting to the extent that our culture now and our country, it drives people to this type of expression [...] It encourages people to speak out violently. It’s clearly a crime. It’s clearly a hate crime.
Kirsten Gillibrand, senator for New York and Democratic presidential hopeful, released her tax returns yesterday – the first candidate for president to do so.
The return showed that she earned about $218,000 in 2018: $167,634 from her salary and $50,000 from book sales. The New York Times reported that Gillibrand paid $29,170 in federal taxes.
Continue reading...Meanwhile, key Republican reportedly tells Trump renewed plan to scrap Affordable Care Act ‘makes no sense’
Gabrielle Canon here, taking over for Jessica Glenza
Former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe is getting closer to a decision on whether or not to enter the already heavily-saturated Democratic race for the white house in 2020, CNN reports.
While McAuliffe has spent the last week on a spring break vacation with his family, he has also been making calls to donors and longtime friends as he comes closer to making a final decision. One friend described him as ‘almost ready to jump in — he sees no reason not to’”.
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Potential 2020 contender regrets not giving Hill ‘the hearing she deserved’ during Clarence Thomas confirmation process
The former vice-president Joe Biden condemned “a white man’s culture” on Tuesday night as he lashed out against violence against women and, more specifically, lamented his role in the supreme court confirmation hearings that undermined Anita Hill’s credibility nearly three decades ago.
Biden, a Democratic presidential prospect who often highlights his white working-class roots, said Hill, who is African American, should not have been forced to face a panel of “a bunch of white guys”.
Continue reading...Findings play into the president’s narrative of ‘no collusion’ as he embraces the role of victim
Donald Trump is set to weaponise the special counsel’s finding of no collusion with Russia in his bid for re-election, turning vindication into vengeance with an assault on Democrats and the media.
Robert Mueller found no evidence Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Russia to influence the 2016 election and reached no conclusion on whether the president obstructed justice, according to a four-page summary of his findings by the attorney general, William Barr.
Continue reading...Washington and America waited with bated breath on Saturday for the next stage in the Trump-Russia drama: the communication to Congress of the “principal conclusions” of special counsel Robert Mueller.
Related: Mueller report: Trump camp celebrates but danger is not past yet
Continue reading...Weekend of rallies highlight how state’s diverse electorate and new early spot on primary calendar make it a prize for Democratic candidates
Bernie Sanders brought his anti-establishment message and calls for progressive reform to California, no longer as a long-shot presidential candidate but as a frontrunner with a good chance to win it all.
On Friday evening, Sanders kicked off a rally in sunny San Diego by thanking the thousands of supporters who had gathered, alongside a handful of right-wing protesters, for joining his “political revolution”.
Continue reading...President insisted ‘there’s no collusion’ in interview with Fox as Washington braces for release of Trump-Russia investigation findings
Former Vice President Joe Biden may wait until the end of April to announce a run for president, CNN reports.
Biden is expected to make a decision about whether to run in the next week or so, but if he decides to run, his team may take another three weeks to plan a launch.
Iowa Rep. Steve King criticized the victims of Hurricane Katrina at a town hall Thursday, suggesting they sat around waiting for government help.
King has a history of controversial remarks and was stripped of his committee assignments for comments about white supremacy.
These comments are disgusting and disheartening. When communities are affected by disasters, we come together to help each other, not tear each other down. https://t.co/APpg8a82hW
Continue reading...Brazilian president met with Donald Trump at the White House Tuesday, and the two men reveled in their similarities
President Trump has named former Delta Air Lines executive Steve Dickson as his pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration, the Hill is reporting.
The nomination comes amid criticism over the FAA’s handling of the Boeing’s 737 Max 8 aircraft in the aftermath of the Ethiopian Airlines crash this month that killed 157 people, and the Lion Air crash in Indonesia in October that killed 189.
Hey all, Vivian Ho taking over for Ben Jacobs.
In his lawsuit, California Congressman Devin Nunes claims to be a victim of Twitter trolls like “Devin Nunes’ Mom” and “Devin Nunes’ Cow,” but in taking legal action, he’s actually fallen victim to the Streisand Effect.
Related: Goats, cows and Devin Nunes' mom: how a Republican's Twitter lawsuit backfired
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