After Kamala Harris pulled out of a South Carolina criminal justice forum because its organizer gave Donald Trump an award, the president duly lashed out.
Related: Springing the 'rat' trap: how Baltimore fought back against Trump's insults
Continue reading...A hearing room is invaded, the president’s enemies are ‘scum’. A bare-knuckle scrap has begun – but will it be enough?
Donald Trump has shown little taste for military adventure. He avoided the draft in Vietnam. He fell out with his once-beloved generals. He stunned the world by pulling troops out of Syria and abandoning America’s Kurdish allies.
Related: Blow to Trump as DoJ ordered to turn over evidence from Mueller grand jury
Continue reading...Democrat sent cease-and-desist as lawsuit suggests publication defamed her by claiming she has a Nazi-inspired tattoo
A member of Congress from California has threatened to sue the Daily Mail over nude photographs and claims posted online by the newspaper.
Lawyers for Katie Hill, 32, a Democratic, first-term representative from a suburban Los Angeles district, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Mail demanding that “you remove these photos from publication at once”.
Continue reading...Former vice-president is attracting support of 34% of voters compared to Elizabeth Warren’s 19% and Bernie Sanders’ 16%
Trump announced in a tweet that he would deliver a statement from the White House at 11 a.m. E.T. on the situation in Syria.
Big success on the Turkey/Syria Border. Safe Zone created! Ceasefire has held and combat missions have ended. Kurds are safe and have worked very nicely with us. Captured ISIS prisoners secured. I will be making a statement at 11:00 A.M. from the White House. Thank you!
Tuesday’s developments more concretely define the size and scope of the area that Turkish soldiers will occupy, adding to pockets of northern Syria that Turkey seized from Islamic State and Kurdish fighters in operations in 2016 and 2018.
The deal was widely perceived as good news for Ankara and a poor result for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), building as it does on the US’ agreement last week that Turkey has a right to a buffer zone on its border at their expense. Most of all, it cements Moscow’s new role as prime powerbroker in the Middle East as US influence in the region wanes.
Laura Cooper – the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia – has arrived to testify in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.
Cooper may be able to shed more light on the delaying of military aid to Ukraine, but her appearance feels a bit anticlimactic after Bill Taylor testified yesterday that he was told Trump specifically wanted a public announcement of investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election before releasing the aid.
Continue reading...Laura Cooper’s testimony for House Democrats underway after protest delayed her appearance by more than five hours
Here’s a recap of this evening’s developments:
Trump and his supporters have said that there couldn’t have been a quid pro quo because Ukrainians weren’t aware that aid was being witheld.
Neither he (Taylor) or any other witness has provided testimony that the Ukrainians were aware that military aid was being withheld. You can’t have a quid pro quo with no quo.” Congressman John Ratcliffe @foxandfriends Where is the Whistleblower? The Do Nothing Dems case is DEAD!
Word of the aid freeze had gotten to high-level Ukrainian officials by the first week in August, according to interviews and documents obtained by The New York Times.
The problem was not a bureaucratic snag, the Ukrainians were told then. To address it, they were advised, they should reach out to Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, according to the interviews and records.
Continue reading...Facebook discloses it has taken down a new foreign interference operation that appears to be linked to a Russian troll agency – follow the latest
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren responded to a report that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has quietly recommended potential hires to Pete Buttigieg’s campaign.
Warren said that she believed Facebook has “too much political power” and echoed her proposal to break up major tech companies but avoided criticizing Buttigieg by name.
Warren was asked in gaggle about the news that Zuckerberg recommended hires to Buttigieg, and while she declined to criticize Buttigieg, she did say FB already has "way too much influence in Washington" pic.twitter.com/eO41EKL9EH
Earlier this year, Zuckerberg sent multiple emails to Mike Schmuhl, Buttigieg’s campaign manager, with names of individuals that he might consider hiring, campaign spokesman Chris Meagher confirmed. Priscilla Chan, Zuckerberg’s wife, also sent multiple emails to Schmuhl with staff recommendations. Ultimately, two of the people recommended were hired.
The emails between Zuckerberg and Buttigieg have come to light as Zuckerberg faces unrelenting attacks from politicians from both parties over such issues as misinformation, privacy, election meddling and bias. Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee on Facebook’s impact on the financial services and housing sectors.
Facebook on Monday disclosed that it had taken down a new foreign interference operation targeting the US 2020 presidential elections that appears to be linked to the Russian troll agency, the Internet Research Agency (IRA).
Continue reading...Former Democratic nominee trolls president by mocking missive sent to Turkish president over Syria invasion
Donald Trump is known to many opponents as the troll in the Oval Office, but the woman he beat for the most powerful seat in the world seems to have learned something from his willingness to tweet provocative pictures and memes.
Related: Mick Mulvaney seeks Trump damage control over impeachment and more
Continue reading...The presidential hopeful and Mark Zuckerberg are facing off over big tech and its influence over our lives
More than two hours into the Democratic debate in Ohio on Tuesday night, after discussions on healthcare, gun control and foreign policy, the moderators turned to another issue that sharply divided the candidates: is it time to break up Facebook?
The question was framed slightly differently: is Elizabeth Warren right?
Continue reading...Bernie Sanders addressed a rally in New York City on Saturday, his first since he paused his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination due to health concerns.
Related: Will Ocasio-Cortez's Sanders endorsement shake up the 2020 race?
Continue reading...Former secretary of state indicated in a podcast that the Hawaii congresswoman ‘is a favorite of the Russians’
Hillary Clinton has said Russia, which interfered in the US election she lost in 2016, is “grooming” a Democratic candidate for a third-party run next year, signalling she believes congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard could fill the role.
The goal of this would essentially be to divide the US electorate and help Donald Trump win re-election, Clinton said. In the interview, Clinton also said she believes Russia had compromising information, or kompromat, on Trump.
Continue reading...Turkish president said he would respond to Trump’s letter telling him not to be a ‘tough guy’ or fool ‘when the time comes’
Jane Fonda is holding another protest in Washington as part of her “Fire Drill Fridays” campaign, which is meant to bring more attention to the climate crisis. Watch the Guardian’s live feed below.
Today is a quieter day in the impeachment inquiry, with no closed-door interviews scheduled on Capitol Hill.
The schedule will pick up again starting Tuesday, with acting US ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor speaking to the House committees leading the investigation.
Next week’s impeachment depositions, per official working on inquiry:
Tuesday: Amb William Taylor
Wednesday: Amb Philip Reeker + OMB Associate Director for Nat’l Security Michael Duffey
Thursday: Deputy Assistant Sec of Defense Laura Cooper + Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman
The Democratic congressman Elijah Cummings died suddenly on Thursday at the age of 68, robbing Capitol Hill of a passionate lawmaker respected on both sides of the political aisle. A sharecropper’s son, Cummings became the powerful chairman of the House oversight committee, one of the three panels leading the investigation into Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. He died in the early hours due to complications from longstanding health problems, his congressional office said on Thursday
Continue reading...Nancy Pelosi said senior lawmakers witnessed Trump having a 'meltdown' after nearly two-thirds of the House GOP caucus voted to condemn his decision to withdraw US troops from northern Syria. Leaving a White House meeting on the situation in Syria, Senator Chuck Schumer said that Trump was disrespectful to Pelosi, calling her a 'third-rate politician', and alleged Trump had no plan on how to contain Isis now
Continue reading...Twelve Democrats targeted Warren over healthcare, taxes and big tech in first debate since Trump impeachment inquiry
Elizabeth Warren came under sustained attack from her Democratic rivals during Tuesday night’s presidential debate, a reflection of the threat her ascendant candidacy poses to the crowded field of hopefuls competing to take on Donald Trump in the 2020 US election.
Twelve Democratic candidates took to the stage in Westerville, Ohio, for the largest presidential primary debate in modern US history, and the first since the launch of an impeachment inquiry into the president’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate his leading rival, Joe Biden.
Continue reading...Twelve Democratic 2020 presidential candidates will share the stage in the perpetual swing state on Tuesday
The Democratic 2020 presidential candidates will gather once again on Tuesday night to face off in their fourth debate, this time in the perpetual swing state of Ohio.
Twelve of the candidates have qualified to participate, and they will all share one stage – marking the most crowded debate stage of this election cycle so far. But the dynamics of the race have changed since the candidates last met in September, and some of the contenders face the prospect of this being their last debate.
Continue reading...Dunn was killed in UK collision involving diplomat’s wife Anne Sacoolas, who then flew back to US under apparent diplomatic immunity
Democratic front-runner Elizabeth Warren is on an absolute tweet storm today, linking America’s big dollar election donation system corrupt, calling out pay-for-play - and taking full advantage of comedy actor Kate McKinnon’s most recent depiction of her on Saturday Night Live.
I don't spend call time asking rich donors to throw big dollar fundraisers or underwrite my campaign. My call time is spent with grassroots donors, thanking them for chipping in whatever they can. Mind if I make just a few more? pic.twitter.com/TDo9EkNpA1
Action in the Trump-Ukraine impeachment inquiry is taking place behind closed doors today, so we’ll wait breathlessly for any revelations via participating lawmakers on Capitol Hill committees taking testimony from state department official George Kent.
Meanwhile, there is plenty else afoot in US politics.
Continue reading...Donald Trump’s secretary of defense said on Sunday the Pentagon would cooperate with the House’s impeachment inquiry, while cautioning that Trump may try to restrict his disclosure of information.
Related: Trump calls Rudy Giuliani a 'great guy' as impeachment pressure mounts
Continue reading...Louisiana’s governor, John Bel Edwards, is fighting to hang on to a rare Democratic governorship in the deep south, against a national Republican offensive aimed at forcing him into a run-off after Saturday’s election.
Republicans are trying to hold Edwards under the 50% benchmark the region’s only Democratic governor needs to win outright over five other candidates. On Friday night, Donald Trump made a last-minute appeal to Louisiana voters.
Continue reading...President says official is departing to ‘spend more time with his family and go to the private sector’
Here’s McAleenan’s statement:
I want to thank the President for the opportunity to serve alongside the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security. With his support, over the last 6 months, we have made tremendous progress mitigating the border security and humanitarian crisis we faced this year... pic.twitter.com/A4rTcZgJKF
Kevin McAleenan has resigned as acting secretary of homeland security.
McAleenan had only been in the position since April, when he was appointed acting secretary to replace Kirstjen Nielsen. Nielsen succeeded John Kelly in the job when Kelly was tapped to be Trump’s White House chief of staff. (Update to clarify: Elaine Duke served as acting secretary for six months between Kelly and Nielsen.)
Continue reading...In the latest instalment of our series on the counties in which voters swung from Obama to Trump, Chris McGreal reports from Howard county, Iowa, where Trump voters have plenty to dislike – but many would vote for him again
Donald Trump hasn’t made life easier for Aaron Schatz. He may even have made the Iowa dairy and grain farmer a little poorer. But Schatz can live with that, for now.
“This trade war with China, it’s dropped prices of our corn and beans but it’s something that needed to be done because China was unfair to us. I know we’re going to take a hit. Some of us are getting a little frustrated but we’re happy something’s being done,” he said.
Continue reading...