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...The charade may seem desperate, but it’s a strategy straight out of Trump’s playbook when he faced Mueller
In addition to an abuse-of-power allegation, Democrats leading the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump are said to be building a case against the president for alleged obstruction of justice.
But it had not occurred to anyone that the obstruction in question might literally amount to the physical obstruction by Republican lawmakers of impeachment proceedings.
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Tim Ryan failed to gain much traction since entering the presidential race in April, but during his campaign, he helped to cast a spotlight on gun violence.
Ryan represents Youngstown and suburbs of Akron in the House. When a gunman opened fire on the nearby Ohio city of Dayton, Ryan lambasted Trump and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell for inaction on gun legislation.
Tim Ryan’s exit from the presidential race means that there are now 18 contenders seeking the Democratic nomination.
AND THEN THERE WERE 18: @RepTimRyan announces he's dropping out of the Democratic presidential race and will seek re-election to Congress. pic.twitter.com/oZIOIG6coX
Continue reading...Political tensions over an intensifying impeachment inquiry reached fever pitch on Wednesday as Republicans ‘stormed’ a closed-door committee hearing on Capitol Hill disrupting a crucial deposition related to the Ukraine controversy.
The chaos and confusion temporarily shut down the proceedings before the three House committees leading the impeachment inquiry where Laura Cooper, a top Pentagon official who oversees Ukraine policy, was preparing to testify
Group chanting ‘Let us in’ enter closed-door meeting where top Pentagon official who oversees Ukraine policy was to testify
Political tensions over an intensifying impeachment inquiry reached fever pitch on Wednesday as Republicans “stormed” a closed-door committee hearing on Capitol Hill disrupting a crucial deposition related to the Ukraine controversy was appearing – a day after devastating testimony from a key diplomat.
Related: Republicans are finally realising Trump is his own worst enemy – and theirs | Richard Wolffe
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...Bill Taylor, acting US ambassador to Ukraine, says he was told Trump made aid conditional until Ukraine publicly announced investigations into Biden and the 2016 election
Bill Taylor does not respond to questions as he leaves Capitol Hill following a deposition that lasted 9+ hours pic.twitter.com/FtQYNrNpo4
Here’s what Trump has done *just this week*:
- He called the constitutional ban on profiting from the presidency “phony.”
- His Administration has defied lawful subpoenas and document requests.
- He stood by his shakedown of a foreign government and called it “perfect.”
Even as House Republicans rally behind Trump and seek to discredit the impeachment inquiry, Pelosi is promoting a public petition to condemn Trump.
Continue reading...They’ve backed him through scandal after scandal. But concerns over Ukraine, Syria and the G7 summit are proving too much for some
No call summary has yet emerged of a phone chat Donald Trump held with Republican members of Congress on a retreat at Camp David last Saturday.
But hours after the call, the president announced that he had done a most un-Trumpian thing: reversed a decision to host next year’s G7 summit at one of his own properties, “based on both Media & Democrat Crazed and Irrational Hostility”.
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...Senior Trump administration officials were on Sunday scrambling to defend the president from escalating domestic and foreign policy scandals, ranging from impeachment proceedings in Washington to the US troop withdrawal in northern Syria.
Related: 'Meltdown': Donald Trump's week of intense political peril
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
Documents seen by Guardian show fresh attack on university debate under the guise of prohibiting antisemitism
Rightwing activists are attempting to spread new laws across Republican-controlled states that would ban criticism on public university campuses of Israel and its occupation of Palestinian territory.
Related: Resigning MP claims Corbyn has failed to tackle Labour antisemitism
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...Donald Trump came to the defence of Rudy Giuliani on Saturday, only a day after he said he didn’t know if the former New York mayor was still his personal attorney and it was reported that Giuliani is under federal investigation in Manhattan.
Related: 'He has faults, but don't we all?': Trump supporters say he will defeat impeachment
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.
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Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren weighed in on the arrest of two Republican donors connected to Rudy Giuliani, arguing that their campaign-finance charges indicate the depth of corruption in Trump’s political world.
In addition to abusing and manipulating our diplomatic relationships for Trump's political gain, we can add corruption and campaign finance violations to the list. https://t.co/b57uGfVl3l
Here’s a midday summary of today’s news, which is slightly belated given the many developments the blog is tracking:
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