The president called out Maga forces as a threat ‘to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the very soul of this country’
Protesters outside Independence Hall were shouting “Let’s go, Brandon,” which Biden was able to brush off.
Biden addressed them, saying: “They’re entitled to be outrageous. This is a democracy.”
Continue reading...Peltola’s victory in the state’s first ranked choice voting election makes her the first Alaska Native to serve in the House
The Democrat Mary Peltola has won the special election for Alaska’s only US House seat, besting a field that included the Republican Sarah Palin, who was seeking a political comeback in the state where she was once governor.
Peltola, who is Yup’ik and turned 49 on Wednesday, will become the first Alaska Native to serve in the House and the first woman to hold the seat. She will serve the remaining months of the late Republican US Representative Don Young’s term. Young held the seat for 49 years before his death in March.
Continue reading...In overnight court filing, DoJ says it was ‘likely’ efforts had been made to move and hide documents
Donald Trump’s former White House counselor, Kellyanne Conway, does not think Republicans should move on from her former boss, despite signs his control of the party could cost it the chance to take Congress in November.
Speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, Conway said: “Those who want to move on from Trump: You go first.”
Continue reading...President details his Safer America Plan in Pennsylvania speech and says funding police provides ‘peace of mind’
The White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is holding a gaggle aboard Air Force One, as Joe Biden heads to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to talk about gun safety.
The first topic in the gaggle is the flooding in Mississippi and the failure of the Jackson area water treatment services, which has caused a crisis over clean drinking water.
US Secret Service official Tony Ornato, a figure of intense interest to the congressional committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack, has retired from the agency. He was an eyewitness to some of the most critical incidents involving Donald Trump in the hours leading up to the deadly assault on the US Capitol.
NBC News reported that Trump has hired a criminal attorney who was once Florida’s solicitor to his legal team. Chris Kise is expected to make his first appearance in federal court in West Palm Beach on Thursday when district judge Aileen Cannon mulls Trump’s request for a special master to oversee the justice department’s review of classified materials seized by the FBI at his home.
We’re awaiting at any moment the justice department’s legal response to Trump’s request, which will be a lengthy filing running up to 40 pages after Cannon waived a 20-page limit imposed by the court.
Incumbent Democratic Arizona senator Mark Kelly leads Republican challenger Blake Masters by more than three points in a poll released today, appearing to confirm a growing belief within the party that pro-choice messaging on abortion will be vote-winner in November’s midterms.
Continue reading...Justice department faces deadline for detailed inventory of files while ex-president’s team must argue for review by special master
More from Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe on the legal case around the FBI search and seizure of classified documents from former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club-resort and home.
Tribe v Oz
Continue reading...Heavily redacted document also says several documents contained what appears to be Trump’s handwritten notes
Three new sealed filings have appeared online in the federal court system related to the Mar-a-Lago case, Politico reports:
Since they are not public, it’s unclear what they are, but a federal magistrate judge gave the justice department until noon eastern time today to make the redacted affidavit justifying the search public.
Continue reading...President had campaigned on promise of loan forgiveness of up to $10,000 for those struggling with student debt
• Trump appears to concede he illegally retained official documents in filing
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The GOP is teeing up their counter-attack to Biden’s impending announcement on student debt relief, decrying it as a “bribe” that will be paid for by American taxpayers.
Here’s what the Senate Republicans said on Twitter:
Continue reading...Democrat Pat Ryan made abortion central to his campaign, and defeated Republican Mark Molinaro in contested House election
After months of bracing for staggering losses, Democrats are suddenly filled with a sense of optimism that the 2022 midterm elections could defy historical precedent and see them perform strongly, especially by highlighting the Republican threat to abortion rights.
On Tuesday night, Democrat Pat Ryan defeated Republican Mark Molinaro in a fiercely contested special House election in New York’s Hudson Valley, in a contest that was seen as a barometer of impact of the US supreme court’s decision to end the constitutional right to an abortion.
Continue reading...Former Republican governor who became a Democratic congressman edges out Nikki Fried to face the Donald Trump protégé in November
Charlie Crist will challenge Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, in November after trouncing Nikki Fried, the state agriculture commissioner, in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.
Crist, a former Republican governor of Florida who switched parties and became a Democratic congressman, fought a campaign touting his experience in office and opposition to the 15-week abortion ban signed by DeSantis.
Continue reading...The Republican candidate’s aide said John Fetterman would not have suffered had he ‘ever eaten a vegetable in his life’
John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Pennsylvania, might not have had a stroke if he “had ever eaten a vegetable in his life”, an aide to the Republican candidate, Mehmet Oz, said on Tuesday in a strikingly nasty moment in an already bitter contest.
The statement, to Business Insider, came in response to Fetterman’s mockery of a video in which Oz complains about the price of crudités while mangling the names of two Pennsylvania grocery stores.
Continue reading...Florida and New York go to the polls as Democrats seek to defend their congressional majority in November
In other Florida news, voters are casting primary ballots as Democrats look ahead to November, where they’ll mount a challenge to governor and potential Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. Joan E Greve has the latest on what to expect from today’s polls:
Florida voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to determine which candidates will have the chance to face off in this November’s general election. Voters will cast ballots in races for the governorship and Congress, all the way down to circuit courts and local school boards.
Continue reading...In letter announcing defection, state senator Kevin Priola cites political and environmental threat from his erstwhile party
Announcing his switch to the Democrats, a Colorado state senator said Republican attacks on democracy were not the only “existential threat” posed by his former party.
“I have become increasingly worried about our planet and the climate crisis we are facing,” Kevin Priola said, in a letter posted to social media on Monday.
Continue reading...Ron Klain argues president has made a historic impact and that focus shouldn’t be on inflation or Afghanistan withdrawal
Democratic leaders went on the attack against Mike Pence, as the former vice-president under Donald Trump heads to Iowa today amid increased speculation of a potential 2024 campaign.
Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, sharply criticized Pence’s repeated calls for a national abortion ban in the wake of the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade.
Continue reading...Justice department says release of document showing probable cause would jeopardize ongoing investigation
First lady Jill Biden appears to be on the mend following her positive Covid-19 test earlier this week, the White House has told reporters:
The Trump organization’s finance chief just pleaded guilty to tax charges and will soon testify against his former employer, Dominic Rushe reports:
Continue reading...White House hopes climate and healthcare plan will mark turning point for Biden’s presidency and boost Democrats in the midterms
Meanwhile in Kansas, abortion foes have apparently not given up on the state’s ballot initiative to allow lawmakers to restrict the procedure, which voters resoundingly rejected earlier this month.
The Associated Press reports that an anti-abortion activist and an election conspiracy promoter have teamed up to coordinate a recount of the ballots in nine of the state’s counties, which accounted for more than half of the votes cast on the initiative and all but one of which rejected it. According to the report, the abortion foe, Mark Gietzen put almost all of the $120,000 cost on his credit card to pay for the recount.
Continue reading...FBI was seeking evidence about whether the mishandling of documents violated three criminal statutes, search warrant shows
Further evidence that things are looking up for Democrats: Joe Biden’s approval rating is above 40 percent for the first time since early June, per RealClearPolitics’ polling average:
Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned attacks by Donald Trump and other Republicans on the FBI following their search this week of the former president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
Continue reading...Democrats select progressive Becca Balint for Vermont House seat while Trump-backed candidate nominated for Wisconsin governor
Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a member of the select progressive group in the House of Representative dubbed the Squad, eked out a closer-than-expected Democratic primary victory on Tuesday night against a centrist challenger who questioned the incumbent’s support for the “defund the police” movement.
The evening went far smoother for another progressive, Becca Balint, who won the Democratic House primary in Vermont – positioning her to become the first woman representing the state in Congress.
Continue reading...Bipartisan group calls for new hearing over lack of evidence in case of Richard Glossip, 59, as state rushes to speed up executions
A letter signed by 61 Oklahoma lawmakers – most of them pro-death penalty Republicans – has been sent to the state’s attorney general calling for a new hearing in the case of Richard Glossip, a death row inmate scheduled to be executed next month.
Forty-four Republican and 17 Democratic legislators, amounting to more than a third of the state assembly, have written to John O’Connor pleading for the new hearing.
Continue reading...Bill makes concessions to the fossil fuel industry as frontline community groups call on Biden to declare climate emergency
The landmark climate legislation passed by the Senate after months of wrangling and weakening by fossil-fuel friendly Democrats will lead to more harm than good, according to frontline community groups who are calling on Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency.
If signed into law, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) would allocate $369bn to reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions and invest in renewable energy sources – a historic amount that scientists estimate will lead to net reductions of 40% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.
Continue reading...On Joe Biden’s visit to flood-ravaged eastern Kentucky today he is not just viewing the effects through the lens of a disaster needing federal assistance but also through the lens of the climate crisis that is making events like this more intense, more common and more deadly, in America and around the world.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the issue in her media briefing aboard Air Force One en route to Lexington with the US president and first lady Jill Biden a little earlier.
Continue reading...