Whether or not Nancy Pelosi is the “absolute worst Speaker of the House in US history”, as Donald Trump insists, the Democrat said on Sunday her caucus will meet on Tuesday to decide when to transmit two articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial.
Related: John Bolton impeachment testimony will be blocked, Donald Trump says
Continue reading...Andrea Bernstein delivers the goods on the bad business which propelled two New York families to Washington
America’s cold civil war rages, impeachment inches ahead and Donald Trump remains a focal point of conflict. As for Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, he is markedly more unpopular than his wife, her father or her gun-toting brother. Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump are rated among the top Republican contenders for 2024.
Related: Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump ‘knew they were lying’ over ploy to sell condos, book claims
Continue reading...Susan Collins and other Republicans open to allowing witnesses in impeachment trial, a key sticking point in impasse between House and Senate
Kari Paul here, logging off for the weekend! Here is a summary of the key events of the last few hours:
Two parents whose children were separated from them as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” border policies are suing the federal government for $12m, claiming the children were subject to abuse and neglect while in federal custody.
“The United States government tore these families apart pursuant to a cruel and unconstitutional policy: The government intended to inflict terror and harm on these small children and their fathers, as a means of deterring others from seeking to enter the United States”, said the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in U.S. District Court of Arizona.
According to the lawsuit, the fathers were separated from their children for more than two months, and the federal government gave little, if any, information regarding the location and safety of the children.
The families “suffered, and continue to suffer, physical, mental, and emotional harm,” the lawsuit states. More than a year after they were reunited, the lawsuit says the children exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Continue reading...Mark Esper says memo on US troops’ ‘onward movement’ from Iraq is not accurate and ‘there’s been no decision’
Kari Paul here, logging off for the night. Here are today’s top events to make note of:
Pete Buttigieg is heading back to Iowa on Jan. 12 to do more campaigning ahead of the upcoming caucus there, his team announced on Monday.
According to the announcement, Buttigieg has now visited Iowa 21 times, with visits to 49 counties to hold 100 events across the state.
Continue reading...Killing of Suleimani will help Trump among his supporters, but it could hurt him at the ballot box after promises of ‘America first’
“We have God on our side.” They have long been some of the most chilling words in the English language. Perhaps never more so than when uttered by Donald Trump in a re-election campaign.
The president made the claim at an Evangelicals for Trump rally at a megachurch in Miami on Friday night, a day after taking America to the brink of war with the killing in Baghdad of Qassem Suleimani, Iran’s top general and potential future leader.
Continue reading...Friday’s rally recognized Trump’s need to retain the loyalty of the evangelical voting bloc that propelled him to victory in 2016
They came to pray with their president, though in truth many came just to worship him. Donald Trump’s Friday launch of his so-called “coalition of evangelicals”, an attempt to shore up the support of the religious right ahead of November’s election, had the feel of any other campaign rally, except this time with gospel music.
An estimated 7,000 “supporters of faith” packed the King Jesus international ministry megachurch in Miami to hear the word of the president, and decided that it was good. The Maga hat-wearing faithful cheered Trump’s comments on issues calculated to resonate with his churchgoing audience, including abortion, freedoms of speech and religion, and what he claimed was a “crusade” from Democrats against religious tolerance.
Continue reading...The president delivered a truck load of red meat to his base – but has he considered what follows the immediate sugar rush?
The only predictable thing about Donald Trump is his unpredictability. Two days into the month of an impeachment trial and an election year, he gave the kaleidoscope a mighty shake with arguably the most consequential decision of his presidency.
Related: Iran crisis: McConnell lauds death of 'master terrorist' as Democrats question Trump strategy – live
Continue reading...Key Democrats and election analysts say more needs to be done to ensure safe elections free from ‘foreign malicious actors’
Potential electronic voting equipment failures and cyber attacks from Russia and other countries pose persistent threats to the 2020 elections, election security analysts and key Democrats warn.
Related: Embassy protesters in Iraq deal symbolic blow to US prestige
Continue reading...Republican senator unhappy with Senate leader saying he was working in ‘total coordination’ with White House
Republican US Senator Lisa Murkowski has said she was “disturbed” by the Senate leader’s approach to working with White House counsel on the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, saying there should be distance between the two.
The comments by the Alaska lawmaker come after Mitch McConnell, majority leader of the Republican-led Senate, said during a Fox News interview earlier this month that he was working in “total coordination” with the White House on the upcoming trial.
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That’s all from me. Thanks for sticking around for the tail end of this momentous week.
Here’s a summary of the day’s major stories:
Bernie Sanders spoke with my colleague Sam Levin this morning, and reiterated his critique of Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden and billionaires:
They will tell you, ‘It doesn’t impact me. It really doesn’t mean anything to me.’ That is clearly nonsensical. Why would billionaires and wealthy people be making large contributions if it didn’t mean something to them?
The United Kingdom, last I heard, is not the United States. Brexit is not a major part of what this campaign is about. The issues that I am campaigning on, in fact, are precisely the issues the American people support. Talk about raising the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour. Four years ago when I introduced that concept, it was a radical idea. Not radical anymore.
Yesterday’s historic vote was covered on conservative sites in the same way as any other news event of the last three years
If you thought that the impeachment of the leader of the Republican party would be a tough sell for conservative media, you haven’t been paying attention. Yesterday’s historic vote has been used in much the same way as almost any other news event during the last three years: as an opportunity to attack perceived enemies, and to explain why this is actually good for Trump.
The main line of attack was accusations of insufficient seriousness on the part of Democrats and members of the hated mainstream media (“MSM”). After the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, repeatedly said that impeachment was a “solemn occasion”, outlets went looking for any sign that someone might be enjoying themselves.
Continue reading...Trump will be wounded, seething, hellbent on revenge – and turn the weight of impeachment against his foes in 2020
After Donald Trump’s inaugural address, George W Bush turned to Hillary Clinton and said: “Well, that was some weird shit,” the former secretary of state confirmed earlier this month.
For nearly three years since that chilly day here at the US Capitol in Washington, Democrats (and many others) have accused of Trump using and abusing the United States like his personal punchbag. On Wednesday, that slice of America finally punched back via impeachment.
Continue reading...President sends six-page letter to House speaker Nancy Pelosi condemning inquiry as ‘unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power’
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Here’s a recap of today:
Related: Trump impeachment inquiry: a timeline of key events so far
Continue reading...Letter is a thinly veiled attempt to redirect back impeachment inquiry’s findings he abused power and obstructed Congress
Donald Trump has accused Democratic leaders in the House of declaring “open war on American democracy”, on the eve of a historic vote that is likely to make him only the third president in US history to be impeached.
Trump issued the incendiary accusation in an intemperately-worded letter sent to the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Judiciary committee approved two articles on party lines, setting up vote for full House next week
There’s a workers’ strike at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, the location of next week’s Democratic debate - which has prompted, at this point, six of the seven candidates who’ve qualified to participate, to threaten to boycott the event.
They say they’ll refuse to cross the picket line. Out of Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Tom Steyer, Andrew Yang and Amy Klobuchar, who are the seven who’ve qualified for the debate, all but Klobuchar are saying this afternoon that they stand in solidarity with the workers and won’t cross their picket line. Warren was first to announce her decision.
.@UniteHere11 is fighting for better wages and benefits—and I stand with them. The DNC should find a solution that lives up to our party's commitment to fight for working people. I will not cross the union's picket line even if it means missing the debate.
I take the debate stage to stand up for workers’ rights, not to undermine them.
I stand in solidarity with the workers of @UNITEHERE11 at Loyola Marymount University and I will not cross their picket line.
Representative Ilhan Omar is out campaigning with Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire today, per her Twitter account. They’re doing a town hall together.
In New Hampshire today with the one and only @BernieSanders!
Follow along on my Instagram story (@ilhanmn). pic.twitter.com/JsglilSDWn
A Green New Deal is the only plan bold enough to confront the climate crisis.
The political establishment may not understand that, but the young people of the @sunrisemvmt do.
Their leadership is going to save the planet. pic.twitter.com/88RJxxBDiB
Judiciary committee voted on Friday morning to approve two articles on a straight party-line vote
On a straight party-line vote, the House judiciary committee voted on Friday morning to move two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump to the House floor, in a crucial final stage before impeachment itself.
A full House vote on whether to impeach the president was expected to be taken as early as Wednesday. Trump would be the third president in American history to be impeached.
Continue reading...The Democratic chairman of the House judiciary committee, Jerry Nadler, has not ruled out including evidence from the Mueller report in articles of impeachment against Donald Trump that could be published as early as next week.
On Sunday, Nadler told CNN’s State of the Union evidence showed the president’s conduct in the Ukraine scandal was part of “a pattern”, indicating “that the president put himself above this country several times”.
Continue reading...The House judiciary committee released a report on the constitutional grounds for impeachment on Saturday. Shortly after that, Donald Trump once again insisted the whole thing was a “witch hunt” and “a total hoax”.
Related: White House dismisses invitation to take part in key impeachment hearing
Continue reading...President’s allies expected to launch procedural objections during judiciary committee hearings
As round two of public impeachment hearings was set to begin on Wednesday, Republicans were expected to resort to procedural objections and high-temperature harangues in an effort to protect Donald Trump.
With the party-line 13-9 approval on Tuesday night by the House intelligence committee of a 300-page report by congressional Democrats describing how Trump abused the power of his office for personal and political gain, the impeachment inquiry has now moved into the hands of the judiciary committee, the last stop in the process before lawmakers would vote on impeaching Trump.
Continue reading...Republicans’ witness offered opposing view, saying that the impeachment process was being rushed
Impeachment experts testified before the House judiciary committee on Wednesday that Donald Trump’s misconduct offered a textbook case of impeachable offenses as prescribed by the constitution and applied over the course of US history.
Related: What's next for the Trump impeachment inquiry?
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