Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Secretary of state signals he will not comply with demands to hear depositions but witness are still set to give evidence, House says
Donald Trump’s administration has sought to defy congressional demands to hear depositions from senior officials, in the first major battle of a rapidly growing impeachment inquiry.
On Tuesday, the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, dismissed summonses from Democratic committee chairmen in the House of Representatives for five current and former state department officials to testify on the president’s attempts to push Ukraine to dig up dirt on his leading political rival.
Leaked recordings published by the Verge show Zuckerberg fears ‘existential threat’ if Democratic contender becomes president
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said his company will “go to the mat” if Elizabeth Warren is elected president and seeks to fulfil her promise to break up America’s tech giants.
In non-impeachment news, representative Chris Collins, a Republican of New York, has reportedly sent a letter of resignation to Nancy Pelosi a day before he was expected to plead guilty to insider trading charges.
Collins, 69, allegedly tipped off his son to confidential information about an Australian biotechnology company, Innate Immunotherapeutics, that he learned as a member of its board. Collins and several others used the information to avoid more than $700,000 in losses, according to prosecutors.
He is scheduled to change his plea Tuesday afternoon in a Manhattan federal court. ...
In addition to calling Trump a “corrupt human tornado,” Hillary Clinton also reacted to reports that the State Department is still investigating the email practices of her employees while she was secretary of state.
As many as 130 officials have been contacted in recent weeks by State Department investigators — a list that includes senior officials who reported directly to Clinton as well as others in lower-level jobs whose emails were at some point relayed to her inbox, said current and former State Department officials. Those targeted were notified that emails they sent years ago have been retroactively classified and now constitute potential security violations, according to letters reviewed by The Washington Post.
In virtually all of the cases, potentially sensitive information, now recategorized as ‘classified,’ was sent to Clinton’s unsecure inbox.
Donald Trump, already facing impeachment, has provoked fresh outrage by suggesting one of his main political adversaries should be arrested for “treason”.
Senator Lindsey Graham, once among Donald Trump’s harshest critics, is set to lead the charge to defend him in the court of public opinion as Democrats make the case for impeachment.
Members of the House intelligence committee intend to continue their consideration of impeachment during the upcoming two-week recess, with the hope of wrapping up the inquiry this fall.
Expect a busy recess for House Intel. Members of the House Intelligence have been told to be prepared to potentially return to Washington during the upcoming two-week recess as Democrats try to wrap up the impeachment inquiry this fall, per sources
The Kremlin has a request to make of the White House: please don’t release any conversations between Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Asked if Moscow is worried that the White House could similarly publish transcripts of Trump’s calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that ‘we would like to hope that it wouldn’t come to that in our relations, which are already troubled by a lot of problems.’
Speaking in a conference call with reporters, he emphasized that the publication of the Trump-Zelenskiy call is an internal U.S. issue, but added that it was ‘quite unusual’ to release a confidential call between leaders.
Earlier today, CNBC reported that democratic Wall Street donors are threatening to vote for Donald Trump if Elizabeth Warren, an outspoken critic of big business, won the democratic nomination.
I'm fighting for an economy and a government that works for all of us, not just the wealthy and well-connected. I'm not afraid of anonymous quotes, and wealthy donors don't get to buy this process. I won't back down from fighting for the big, structural change we need. https://t.co/nx7GczQhHl
Since Donald Trump took office, his administration has been accepting fewer and fewer refugees. In fiscal year 2018, the administration capped the number of asylum seekers it would admit at 45,000 and this year the cap was 30,000.
“The President is using people seeking safety as an opportunity to rile up hostility and create a climate of fear. Though the vast majority of people support welcoming refugees, this administration seeks to strip away long-standing protections and values for its own interests.”
The acting director of national intelligence said he believed both the whistleblower who filed the complaint against Donald Trump and the inspector general who handled it ‘acted in good faith’. Joseph Maguire told members of the House intelligence committee: ‘I have every reason to believe that they have done everything by the book.’ Maguire, who was appointed last month to succeed outgoing director Dan Coats, also said he believed he handled the whistleblower’s complaint ‘in full compliance with the law at all times’ adding that he was committed to doing so
Nancy Pelosi started her weekly press conference by directly addressing the release of the whistleblower complaint. Recounting the whistleblower’s allegations that the White House tried to keep details of the Ukraine call from becoming public, the House speaker said: ‘This is a cover-up.’ Pelosi also explained her thinking behind deciding to launch a formal impeachment inquiry against Trump: ’Last week we saw something that removed all doubt as to whether we should move forward’
The president repeated his debunked claims that the former vice-president and his son are corrupt
That is it from me for the night. Here are the top stories to note from this afternoon:
Officials in Ames, Iowa say the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has requested the city remove inclusive multi-colored crosswalk art in a letter sent this month.
Ames, a college town with a population of around 67,000 people, installed painted sidewalks earlier this month. The new art includes gender non-binary pride colors, rainbow colors for LGBTQ rights, and colors representing support of transgender equality.
Emily England Clyburn, the wife House majority Jim Clyburn, has died at the age of 80. They met after he was jailed in a civil rights protest and were married for nearly 60 years.
“Emily Clyburn was a champion of equality and opportunity who made a difference for countless young people in her beloved South Carolina,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “As a librarian, she intimately understood the power of learning to transform lives, and dedicated decades to ensuring that every child, servicemember, veteran and worker could access a good education that would allow him or her to climb the ladders of opportunity in America. Her extraordinary leadership, together with Jim, to increase learning opportunities at their beloved alma mater South Carolina State will stand always as an enduring tribute to her beautiful life and legacy.”
Emily England Clyburn, known to most as Ms. Emily and a driving force behind some of her husband, @WhipClyburn's, biggest moments in his political and personal life, has died at the age of 80: https://t.co/tRQj48fwO1
.@WhipClyburn’s wife Dr. Emily England Clyburn passed away this morning. The couple, married for 58 years, met in jail after he was arrested in a civil-rights protest. The House won’t be in session on Monday so members can attend her funeral, per @heatherscope
As expected, the Trump administration said on Thursday that it would revoke California’s authority to set its own vehicle emissions standards and bar states from establishing their own regulations.
The decision is likely to set off a furious legal battle.
Our message to those who claim to support states' rights is: don't trample on ours. Doing so would be an attempt to undo the progress we've made over decades. cc @EPAAWheeler#CleanerCars
Hi, @realDonaldTrump. Let me break it down in simple terms for you...
Reducing emissions: -Protects our air & health -Is good for the economy -Allows families to pay less at the pump
We’re here in the 21st century. Let us know when you decide to join us. https://t.co/gZzUjXeFxo
Kari Paul signing out for the night, thank you for sticking with me. Here’s the top news of the afternoon:
The White House counsel sent letters to the House Judiciary saying ex White House Aids Rob Porter and Rick Dearborn “may not be compelled” to testify about the Mueller report, according to Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs.
Trump is reportedly advising former advisers not to appear before the committee despite subpoenas.
WH says Corey Lewandowski can’t talk about conversations with the president not contained in Mueller report. Lewandowski was never a WH employee. pic.twitter.com/mBC4xEc5th
New York Times details new claims against supreme court judge
Harris, Castro and Sanders lead calls for constitutional action
Donald Trump came storming to the defence of Brett Kavanaugh on Sunday, after the publication of new allegations about the supreme court justice’s behaviour while he was a student at Yale led to renewed calls for his impeachment.
The candidates gathered in Houston, Texas, for the latest Democratic debate represented the top tier of the large field campaigning for the party’s 2020 nomination. But how did each of them fare during a night of policy cut and thrust, some mutual admiration and also some caustic attacks – on each other and Donald Trump
Klobuchar, Booker, Buttigieg, Sanders, Biden, Warren, Harris, Yang, O’Rourke and Castro – all 10 hopefuls rated
The candidates gathered in Houston, Texas, for the latest Democratic debate represented the top tier of the large field campaigning for the party’s 2020 nomination. But how did each of them fare during a night of policy cut and thrust, some mutual admiration and also some caustic attacks – on each other and on Donald Trump.
Presidential contender Beto O'Rourke does not shy away from saying he would require citizens to turn in their military-style weapons when asked about gun control during Thursday night's Democratic debate. 'Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,' O’Rourke said in one of the biggest lines of the night. O'Rourke added: 'We're not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans any more.' He said some people at a gun show accepted the weapons were not needed for hunting.
In one of the sharpest skirmishes of the evening, former housing and urban development secretary Julián Castro alluded to voter concerns about former vice-president Joe Biden's age. If elected, Biden would be the oldest first-term president at 78
Biden was Biden but despite a smaller field sparks failed to fly with Warren, while O’Rourke had a good night – as did Obama
The Democratic debate in Houston was a mix of smackdown, backslapping and policy gab-fest as the 10 top-tier candidates faced off against each other while at least 10 others were only able to watch from the sidelines, having failed to qualify.
The 10 candidates on stage in Houston offered competing visions based on Obamacare and Medicare for All
Joe Biden is taking a question on gun control and once again arguing he has the best (and certainly the longest) record on the issue. “I’m the only up here who’s ever beat the NRA,” the former vice president and senator said.
Biden then similarly applauded Beto O’Rourke for his efforts to help his hometown of El Paso heal from the mass shooting that killed 22. Biden originally referred to the former congressman as “Beto.” He then apologized and O’Rourke interjected, “Beto is good.”
In the midst of a discussion on race and criminal justice, Ari Berman, author of Give Us the Ballot, has made this important point:
You know what else is racist? Preventing people from voting. There have been 29 presidential debates in 2020 & 2016 and no questions about voting rights