Category Archives: Democrats

John Kelly says working for Trump was his ‘least enjoyable job’ – live

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Here’s our man! Trump offers a stout defense of his repeated payments to Michael Cohen, made after the latter paid two women “hush” money to not talk about alleged affairs with Trump.

Cohen has already been convicted of violating campaign finance laws by paying off actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

It was not a campaign contribution, and there were no violations of the campaign finance laws by me. Fake News!

So Michael Cohen could have talked himself into trouble with that very definite “no pardon” statement to the House oversight committee last week.

During the hearing Cohen was asked if he had requested a pardon from Donald Trump.

I have never asked for, nor would I accept, a pardon from Mr Trump.

During that time period, he directed his attorney to explore possibilities of a pardon at one point with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani as well as other lawyers advising President Trump.

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Democrats bar Fox News from 2020 debates over ‘inappropriate’ Trump ties

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DNC chairman says New Yorker exposé on Trump ties to Fox News cast doubt on network’s ability to hold ‘fair and neutral’ debates

The Democratic party’s governing body has announced it will not ask Fox News to host any of its televised primary debates during the 2020 US presidential race, citing a recent report detailing the conservative network’s close rapport with Donald Trump.

Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez said a New Yorker exposé on the depth of the Trump administration’s ties to Fox News cast doubt on the network’s capacity to hold a “fair and neutral” debate on the Democratic primaries. The decision was first reported by the Washington Post.

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Antisemitism debate exposes new fault lines in US politics

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The fallout from comments by Ilhan Omar spans identity politics, party politics, geopolitics and a generational divide

An Israeli prime minister who has embraced Donald Trump and taken rightwing populism from his playbook. And a group of fiery young Democrats unafraid to question their elders or challenge the status quo. Put together, the elements were bound to be explosive.

Democrats were expected to offer a resolution condemning antisemitism on the floor of the US House of Representatives on Thursday following the latest provocative comments by Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who in January became one of the first two Muslim women in Congress.

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Democrats reject Fox News for 2020 debates over Trump relationship – as it happened

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DNC chairman Tom Perez cited New Yorker exposé on depth of administration’s ‘inappropriate’ ties to news network

That’s all for today, folks. Thanks for sticking with us.

Leaked documents show that the US government established a secret database of advocates, attorneys, and journalists who were connected to or covered the caravan of immigrants from Central America who made their way north through Mexico to the United States southern border in 2018, NBC7 is reporting.

In some cases, those who were secretly tracked had alerts placed on their passports.

As the migrant caravan reached the San Ysidro Port of Entry in south San Diego County, so did journalists, attorneys, and advocates who were there to work and witness the events unfolding.

But in the months that followed, journalists who covered the caravan, as well as those who offered assistance to caravan members, said they felt they had become targets of intense inspections and scrutiny by border officials.

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Michael Cohen’s lawyer reportedly sought pardon from Trump – live

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An attorney for the president’s former fixer allegedly raised the possibility after FBI raided Cohen’s properties, Wall Street Journal report

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer told Fox News that he will cooperate with the House investigation into Trump’s ties with Russia.

“There’s nothing that I have to hide,” he said in the interview.

Spicer: "There is nothing that I have to hide" pic.twitter.com/dXZsfyHw3z

California congressman Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has hired veteran prosecutor Daniel Goldman to join his panel’s investigation of the Trump Administration.

The New Yorker reported that Goldman, who served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 2007 to 2017, joined the committee’s staff as a senior adviser and the director of investigations. The committee is leading the House’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 Presidential campaign.

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Clintons accused of nepotism in book on US-Ireland relations

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Exclusive: Policy adviser claims couple tried to gain grant for Chelsea’s boyfriend

A veteran Democratic foreign policy adviser has accused Bill and Hillary Clinton of nepotism, dishonesty and vindictiveness in an assault on a previously untouched part of the Clinton political legacy – Ireland.

Trina Vargo, who was a behind-the-scenes Washington player in Northern Ireland’s peace process, claims the couple tried to obtain a scholarship to Ireland for a boyfriend of their daughter, Chelsea, and later cut funding for the scholarship to punish Vargo for backing Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination race.

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Trump sons among 81 figures hit with document requests from Democrats – live

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Roger Stone, the longtime Trump confidante with an obsession with Richard Nixon, may have violated the terms of his expanded gag order with yet another Instagram post this weekend.

OH boy. The government has notified Judge Amy Berman Jackson of Roger Stone's Instagram story from yesterday, where he shared an image that claimed he was framed. pic.twitter.com/gg7OwhQEpA

Felix Sater, the Russia-born businessman with ties to President Donald Trump, is being sued by Mariah Carey’s former manager for allegedly creating an electronic backdoor to hack into the manager’s electronics and access confidential information about her celebrity clients, the Associated Press is reporting.

Stella Bulochnikov Stolper filed a lawsuit against Sater and his personal assistant, Kalsom Kam, in New York on Friday, seeking at least $1 million in damages and and for the pair to turn over any stolen material.

Stolper and Sater grew up together in Brooklyn and reconnected at a funeral in November 2017, eventually getting so close that she allowed him and Kam, to stay over at her Los Angeles home, according to the lawsuit.

Sater wanted Stolper’s help pitching his life story to Hollywood and took advantage of her “delicate emotional state” at the time and their shared history to spend more time with her, the lawsuit said.

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Democrats target Trump Jr, Weisselberg and more as investigations grow

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Democrats in the House of Representatives are stepping up investigations into Donald Trump’s potentially impeachable acts of corruption, obstruction of justice and abuse of power.

Related: Democratic oversight is 'bullshit': Trump goes off-script at CPAC

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Bernie Sanders’ Chicago 2020 speech to focus on fight against racism

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The Vermont senator will conclude a two-part launch in the Windy City, harking back to his student days in the civil rights era

With the Chicago skyline around him, Bernie Sanders will on Sunday conclude his two-part presidential campaign launch by emphasizing the role of race and racial discrimination in American society.

Related: Bernie Sanders draws on personal history in 2020 campaign launch

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Bernie Sanders draws on personal history in 2020 campaign launch

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The Vermont senator has never forgotten growing up poor and Jewish in Brooklyn in his 40-year career in politics

Four years ago, Bernie Sanders formally announced his candidacy for the White House on the shores of Lake Champlain in Vermont, with a 35-minute, lectern-pounding preview of nearly every stump speech he would deliver.

Related: Candace Owens woos the right as provocative face of Trump youth

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Ex-campaign staffer says Trump kissed her without consent – live updates

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Alva Johnson files lawsuit alleging Trump kissed her in August 2016 outside rally in Tampa, and says ‘I immediately felt violated’

Donald Trump has complained about a “racist hit” he said Spike Lee carried out on him at the Oscars.

The film-maker, 61, won his first competitive Academy Award, best adapted screenplay, for his film BlacKkKlansman, which was also nominated for best picture. Lee received an honorary Oscar in 2015.

A former staff member of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has filed a federal lawsuit against the president, claiming he kissed her without consent.

Alva Johnson, who served as Trump’s campaign’s director of outreach and coalitions in Alabama in 2016, told the Washington Post that Trump “grabbed her hand and leaned in to kiss her on the lips”, as the then-candidate exited an RV at a rally in Tampa on August 24 2016.

Johnson said she turned her head and the unwanted kiss landed on the side of her mouth, which she called “super-creepy and inappropriate.”

“I immediately felt violated because I wasn’t expecting it or wanting it,” she said. “I can still see his lips coming straight for my face.”

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Schiff threatens to call Mueller to testify if Trump-Russia report not made public

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A top Democrat threatened on Sunday to call special counsel Robert Mueller to testify on Capitol Hill, subpoena documents and take the Trump administration to court if necessary, if the full report on the Russia investigation is not made public.

Related: Trump faces a legal reckoning – but are his worst troubles yet to come?

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Trump ally Roger Stone in court over Instagram post targeting judge – live

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Longtime Trump confidante is back in court over photo that showed the judge with what appeared to be crosshairs near her head

Judge Amy Berman Jackson, presiding over the Roger Stone hearing, has taken a break before ruling on Stone’s fate.

David Smith is reporting that Stone claimed one of his “many” volunteers who operate out of his house could have posted the photo. Stone was unable to identify which volunteer posted it, however.

Kravis: The defendant continued to give interviews to amplify the coverage. "That conduct amounts to... a desire to manipulate media coverage to gain favourable attention." That increased the "risk to the jury pool".

Jackson to Rogow: "After he apologised, he continued talking every single day. What will get him to stop talking other than a court order... How would you craft a court order that he will find clear enough to follow?"

Guardian reporter David Smith is tweeting from inside the DC court where Roger Stone is appearing.

Stone has told the court that he is “heartfully sorry” and admitted abusing the court order that originally allowed him out on bail.

Stone: I believe there was "a media distortion" of my intent. "I did not have a malicious intent, your honour... I'm not seeking to justify it. It was just an error."

Stone: "I felt the media was falsely saying that I was posing a danger, which was not my intention. This was not a crosshair, in my opinion, and I did not wish to be blamed for something that was not my intention."

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Trump-Russia: FBI had ‘backup plan’ to save investigation evidence – live

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Plan created after Comey firing to ensure information would survive firings or reassignments of top officials

Attorneys for the Kentucky student filmed in an apparent confrontation with a Native American elder at the Lincoln Memorial filed a lawsuit against the Washington Post on Tuesday, accusing the news organization of engaging “in a modern-day form of McCarthyism.”

Here is the Complaint filed today against The Washington Post on behalf of Nick Sandmann. All members of the mainstream & social media mob of bullies who recklessly & viciously attacked Nick would be well-served to read it carefully. https://t.co/P3H4x0srlX

CNN hired a longtime Republican operative as the political editor charged with coordinating 2020 campaign coverage, Vox is reporting.

According to a CNN spokesperson, Isgur, who most recently worked as the Department of Justice’s main spokesperson under then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, will coordinate the network’s political coverage for the 2020 election cycle on TV and on CNN’s website. Isgur starts work next month, and will not be involved in coverage of DOJ. She will occasionally appear on TV.

Isgur’s LinkedIn page indicates she has no journalism experience. She has, however, worked for a variety of right-wing organizations and campaigns, including the Carly Fiorina and Mitt Romney presidential bids, the Republican National Committee, and a Ted Cruz US Senate campaign.

I've received a lot of partisan fundraising emails from Sarah Isgur Flores, who will reportedly "coordinate political coverage for the 2020 campaign at" CNN (https://t.co/WrQRFBZZFV), over the years. Here's one in Oct. 2014 in which she said Obama's policies would be "DOOMSDAY." pic.twitter.com/xUhXYYJMZf

CNN's new political editor, ex-flack for Carly Fiorina's campaign and the Sessions DOJ "has no experience in news but a long history as a political operative"

Lots and lots of experienced journos have lots their jobs in the last few months, just sayin'https://t.co/M5OymJoWgl

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Bernie Sanders announces run for presidency in 2020: ‘We’re gonna win’

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Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont whose 2016 presidential campaign helped energize the progressive movement and reshaped the Democratic party, has entered the 2020 race for the White House.

Related: Can Bernie Sanders repeat his surprising success this time around? | Robert Reich

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Bernie Sanders 2020: where the presidential candidate stands on key issues – video profile

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Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who ran against Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination, has announced his run for the presidency in 2020. Sanders, 77, running as a Democrat, will be up against a more crowded and diverse field this time round   

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Trump ally Graham will subpoena McCabe and Rosenstein over ‘coup’

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Trump ally Lindsey Graham has promised a Senate investigation into claims senior justice department officials discussed invoking the 25th amendment and removing the president from power.

Related: Andrew McCabe says officials discussed removing Trump after Comey firing

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Trump declares national emergency to bypass Congress over border wall funds – live news

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Trump announces emergency to bypass Congress and free up billions for long-promised border wall

Here’s Trump earlier, performing what is being referred to as both a “ditty” and a “sing-song”. The sound of the summer?

"We'll end up in the Supreme Court and hopefully get a fair shake and win in the Supreme Court just like the ban," said Trump, acknowledging his administration may get sued over the national emergency. https://t.co/rPePQTU8uT pic.twitter.com/QneaGmvvLv

A gag order for attorneys and witnesses has been issued in the case of Roger Stone by a federal judge in Washington DC.

Stone, a longtime friend and adviser to Donald Trump, was indicted last month on charges of lying to investigators, obstructing justice and witness tampering. He denies wrongdoing.

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National emergency: Trump’s ‘clear abuse of power’ faces torrent of lawsuits

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Declaration prompts dire warnings but fallout could be contained by successful legal challenge or resolution in Congress

As state attorneys general across the country threaten to sue the White House over Donald Trump’s declaration of a national immigration emergency on Friday, Democrats and Republicans insisted Trump was overstepping his powers, while legal analysts warned of a dangerous new phase of the Trump presidency.

Related: Trump declares national emergency to bypass Congress over border wall funds – live news

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