Category Archives: Republicans

Trump and Putin discussed Mueller report during phone conversation, says White House – as it happened

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Sarah Sanders says pair had ‘very good’ talk on Friday morning in which Venezuela was also discussed

Here’s an updated recap of today’s political news as we close out the Friday night live politics blog:

The president elaborated his complaints about conservative “censorship” on social media, highlighting his concerns about the treatment of Diamond and Silk, two online commenters who have been championed by Republicans for being black women who support Trump, James Woods, and Paul Watson, a British editor of Infowars, Alex Jones’ conspiracy site.

Trump appeared on Infowars, which has promoted multiple conspiracy theories, including the conspiracy that the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting was a hoax, in 2015, and told host Alex Jones “Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down.”

The wonderful Diamond and Silk have been treated so horribly by Facebook. They work so hard and what has been done to them is very sad - and we’re looking into. It’s getting worse and worse for Conservatives on social media!

So surprised to see Conservative thinkers like James Woods banned from Twitter, and Paul Watson banned from Facebook! https://t.co/eHX3Z5CMXb

He is very very very very very very very very very very very obviously an extremist. https://t.co/4pK2klhbqi

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Democrat mocks absent William Barr with fried chicken – video

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Steve Cohen, a representative from Tennessee, brings a bucket of fried chicken to Thursday morning’s House judiciary committee in a pointed message to the attorney general, who refused to appear for questioning after he testified before the Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday

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Pelosi says Barr lied to Congress: ‘That’s a crime’ – live

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House speaker criticized attorney general’s failure to show up for House hearing during her weekly press conference

President Trump is now touting a number of issues important to evangelical Christians, including ending the Johnson Amendment and saying “Merry Christmas.”

The Johnson Amendment prevented houses of worship with tax exempt status from endorsing political candidates. The Trump administration ended enforcement of that provision.

President Donald Trump is now speaking at the Rose Garden for the National Day of Prayer. Watch live here.

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Republican lawmaker and ally tell rally to arm themselves for civil war – audio

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Recordings obtained by the Guardian show Republican state representative Matt Shea and several associates telling an audience to arm themselves for a looming civil war. The audio was taken in a remote north-eastern religious compound in Washington state last year. In the recordings they can be heard saying 'How many of you have pulled the trigger on your AR-15 in the fight we are in yet?' and 'The war is here – the bad guy is here'

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Joe Biden to announce presidential bid on Thursday – live news

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Former vice-president to officially launch bid for president, while Jared Kushner says Mueller investigation ‘just a big distraction’

Beto O’Rourke, the Texas congressman and presidential candidate, is jumping into the race for big donor $$$ with a New York City fundraiser next month in which hosts are asked to raise $25,000. The New York Times reports:

NEW: Beto O'Rourke will be holding private big $$$ fundraisers (his campaign has not previously held any).

Hosts are asked to raised $25,000 for a New York City event next month on May 13. pic.twitter.com/RbMpNz8DX8

The Guardian can confirm reports that former vice president Joe Biden will launch his 2020 campaign this week.

Sources close to Biden said he will make his announcement in a video to be released on Thursday and plans to hold an event in Pittsburgh on Monday.

Biden was initially expected to kick off his campaign on Wednesday before delaying his launch. Early polling shows Biden in the top tier of the Democratic field but in close competition with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for frontrunner status.

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Giuliani rails against Mueller report as Democrats mull Trump impeachment

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As the White House mounted a furious assault on the Mueller report and critics of a president not found to have conspired with Russia but not cleared of obstruction of justice, the chair of the House judiciary committee said obstruction, if proven, “would be [an] impeachable” offence.

Related: Trump and impeachment: where Democrats stand after Mueller

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Republican discussed violent attacks and surveillance with rightwingers

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Washington state representative Matt Shea exchanged messages with far-right figures, chat records obtained by the Guardian reveal

A Washington state Republican politician took part in private discussions with rightwing figures about carrying out surveillance, “psyops” and even violent attacks on perceived political enemies, according to chat records obtained by the Guardian.

State representative Matt Shea, who represents Spokane Valley in the Washington state house, participated in the chats with three other men. All of the men used screen aliases – Shea’s was “Verum Bellator”, Latin for true warrior. The Guardian confirmed the identity of those in the chat by cross-checking phone numbers attached to the Signal accounts.

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Trump 2020 team spending almost half of Facebook ad budget to target seniors – live

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Trump camp is spending 44% of its Facebook ad budget to target users 65 years and older, Axios reports, while top 12 Democrats have allotted 27%

Cory Booker – US senator from New Jersey, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate

Bodega Boys – the entertainers Desus and Mero, Bronx-bred pop podcasters turned stars of the late-night Showtime show “Desus and Mero”

Bodega Boys made it over to Brick City. And yeah, it was indeed brick city for much of the night, but my floater wasn't half bad. Catch me on @SHODesusandMero this Thursday (11pm ET/PT) -- don't miss this game. pic.twitter.com/r3iZWYmefd

Brave political opinions...[John Kerry?!?]

Joe Biden/Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden/John Kerry will be a good ticket.
Warren, Kamala Harris, Beto are completely useless and time wasters.

Trump's logo looks like the Tesco cheap range logo. (Says it all I reckon, except that Trump is a leech on society, and definitely not cheap or value for money) I wonder if Tesco will sue for the misuse of their logo.

As a European, I am deeply envious of what is going on in US politics. Yes, there is a powerful right wing side, but there is also a vibrant and powerful emerging left too.

German voters and politicians are so stuck in 90s politics. They are sleep walking. No urgency on the climate or to how an erstwhile social democrat party could have lost its roots so badly. There is nothing going on here. And about the only party that hasn't sold out to neoliberalism, the Linke, are also not supported.

Old white people. What IS their problem?

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Ilhan Omar: congresswoman receives death threats after Trump 9/11 tweet – video report

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The Muslim American congresswoman Ilhan Omar says she has received an increased number of death threats since a video was tweeted by Donald Trump featuring footage from 9/11 and a clip from a speech she made in March this year, with the president accusing her of downplaying the attacks. Omar said in a statement on Sunday: 'Since the president’s tweet on Friday evening, I have experienced an increase in direct threats on my life – many directly referencing or replying to the president’s video'

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Ilhan Omar has had spike in death threats since Trump attack over 9/11 comment

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Congresswoman said many threats referenced the president’s tweet as Sarah Sanders praises Trump for ‘calling Omar out’

Muslim American congresswoman Ilhan Omar has said she has received an increased number of death threats after Donald Trump repeatedly tweeted video footage of September 11 and accused Omar of downplaying the terror attacks.

Omar issued a statement on Sunday night saying: “Since the president’s tweet Friday evening, I have experienced an increase in direct threats on my life – many directly referencing or replying to the president’s video.”

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Buttigieg v Pence: Indiana politicians put faith on the election front line

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The vice-president and the Democratic hopeful are both Christian and have worked together but in the age of Trump, they and their fellow Hoosiers sense a looming battle

Both are from modestly sized cities in Indiana. Both were baptised Catholic but came to embrace other branches of Christianity. Both found inspiration in former president John F Kennedy as they launched political careers of their own.

The parallels between Mike Pence and Pete Buttigieg stop there.

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‘I won’t be silent’: Ilhan Omar answers Trump 9/11 attack

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Congresswoman says rightwing vitriol cannot threaten her ‘unwavering love for America’ as president pushes video

In the face of attacks from Donald Trump, Republicans and rightwing media outlets, the Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar said on Saturday no one could “threaten” her “unwavering love for America”.

Related: Yemeni bodegas boycott New York Post over attacks on Ilhan Omar

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William Barr claims Trump campaign was ‘spied’ on under Obama – live

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Attorney general tells Senate subcommittee he intends to release reacted version of Mueller’s Trump-Russia report itself

Washington Gov. and presidential candidate Jay Inslee has been writing and illustrating children’s books for his grandkids for the last decade, CNN reports.

And they’re very on brand, with several of the books focusing on the warming climate and its effect on the environment.

Senator Elizabeth Warren raised $6 million for her presidential campaign in the first three months of the year.

She got 213,000 contributions from more than 135,000 donors, with an average donation of $28, according to the New York Times.

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Trump removes Secret Service director after ousting Kirstjen Nielsen – live

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Trump ordered firing of Randolph Alles, White House confirms, a day after forcing out Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen

CNN reports Trump tried to order the border closed at El Paso late in March.

Trump eventually talked off of the decision, which would shut down a major port of entry into the United States.

Jerry Nadler, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has agreed to have special counsel Robert Mueller appear before the committee.

Today, Ranking Member Collins called for Special Counsel Mueller to appear before @HouseJudiciary. I fully agree. Special Counsel Mueller should come before the Committee to answer questions in public about his 22 month investigation into President Trump and his associates. 1/2

In order to ask Special Counsel Mueller the right questions, the Committee must receive the Special Counsel’s full report and hear from Attorney General Barr about that report on May 2. We look forward to hearing from Mr. Mueller at the appropriate time. 2/2

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Trump: Mueller report a ‘total waste of time’ – but it proves no collusion

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Donald Trump said on Saturday he has not read Robert Mueller’s report about contacts between his 2016 campaign and Russia, which his Democratic opponents say should be released in full.

Related: Barack Obama warns progressives to avoid 'circular firing squad'

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‘Our mantra is chaos’: Republican researchers target 2020 Democrats

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The America Rising committee monitors everything the candidates do, hoping the large field will work in Trump’s favor

Democrats are more than a year away from selecting their presidential nominee. Nonetheless, Republicans are already taking aim at the leading contenders.

Related: 'He gave me permission': Joe Biden jokes about touching complaints

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White nationalism a ‘persistent, pervasive threat’, says FBI chief – live

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•FBI director Christopher Wray warned that white nationalism is a “persistent, pervasive threat”, breaking with Donald Trump’s comments in the wake of the New Zealand terror attacks. “The danger. I think, of white supremacists, violent extremism or another kind of extremism is of course significant,” Wray said. Trump played down the threat of white nationalism after a white nationalist murdered 50 people in Christchurch, New Zealand in March.

•Congress has passed a resolution to end US military assistance for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, in an unprecedented attempt to curtail the president’s power. The House voted 247 to 175 to send the resolution to the president’s desk, where it is likely to be met with a veto. The Senate passed the resolution last month, with seven Republicans breaking rank to support the resolution.

Lindsay Graham has joined those calling for Donald Trump to release his tax returns, in an extremely rare act of defiance towards the president.

“I think you should release your tax returns if you’re running for president in 2020,” Graham told reporters on Thursday,

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Trump’s taxes: Democrats request president’s returns from IRS – as it happened

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Committee chairman seeks six years of personal returns and some business returns, calling for ‘accountability’

That’s it for me tonight! Here’s what happened Wednesday evening in politics:

Related: Trump’s Federal Reserve pick owes $75,000 in taxes, US government alleges

The President’s son-in-law has been identified as the “Senior White House Official” who appeared in reports to the House Oversight Committee, the Washington Post reports. The documents were released this week after whistleblower Tricia Newbold shared concerns with the committee, over Trump overriding career intelligence officers to grant clearances despite “significant disqualifying factors”.

Kushner was flagged for significant issues raised during his background investigation, including his potential to be swayed by foreign influence, his personal conduct, and business conflicts of interest.

The new details about the internal debate over Kushner’s clearance revives questions about the severity of the issues flagged in his background investigation and Kushner’s access to government secrets.

Last year, President Trump directed his then-chief of staff, John F. Kelly, to give Kushner a top-secret security clearance, despite concerns expressed by career intelligence officers”.

Related: Trump ordered officials to give Kushner top-secret security clearance – report

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Donald Trump gripes about Puerto Rico hurricane aid – live updates

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President says all island’s politicians do is ‘complain & ask for money’ and that he is ‘the best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico

Donald Trump is tweeting this morning and on a bit of a roll.

Puerto Rico got 91 Billion Dollars for the hurricane, more money than has ever been gotten for a hurricane before, & all their local politicians do is complain & ask for more money. The pols are grossly incompetent, spend the money foolishly or corruptly, & only take from USA....

....The best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico is President Donald J. Trump. So many wonderful people, but with such bad Island leadership and with so much money wasted. Cannot continue to hurt our Farmers and States with these massive payments, and so little appreciation!

In 1998, Rep.Jerry Nadler strongly opposed the release of the Starr Report on Bill Clinton. No information whatsoever would or could be legally released. But with the NO COLLUSION Mueller Report, which the Dems hate, he wants it all. NOTHING WILL EVER SATISFY THEM! @foxandfriends

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Washington and all things politics.

Before we dive in, let’s take a moment to recognize Equal Pay Day – the day into the year that women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year, according to the National Committee on Pay Equity. It’s 2 April.

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White House reversed more than 25 security clearance denials, says whistleblower – live

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A fight between Donald Trump and Democrats over hurricane relief for Puerto Rico is imperiling a widely backed disaster aid bill that’s a top priority for some of the president’s southern Republican allies, the Associated Press reports.

More from the AP:

Democrats should stop fighting Sen. David Perdue’s disaster relief bill. They are blocking funding and relief for our great farmers and rural America!

From my colleague Lauren Gambino, an update on progressive superstar and perhaps the only member of Congress known by her initials, AOC:

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has raised more than $90,000 for progressive, swing-district Democrats less than 24 hours after she urged supporters to donate to their re-election campaigns.

Last night @AOC helped raise 3 candidates in tough districts more than 30k each in a few hours. Corporate PACs can give candidates 5K - & it comes with strings. Grassroots $$ lets us stay accountable to the people. That’s the power of this movement — let’s keep building, together

Can’t thank my friend @AOC enough for helping me to reach my Q1 goal. We rise by lifting others. Onward!! https://t.co/AoI7PM2vC0

The @DCCC’s new rule to blacklist+boycott anyone who does business w/ primary challengers is extremely divisive & harmful to the party.

My recommendation, if you’re a small-dollar donor: pause your donations to DCCC & give directly to swing candidates instead.

Some great ones:

The fact that I challenged an incumbent meant a lot of folks were told not to come anywhere near my campaign. But I was lucky to build a dynamic, innovative team of staff & consultants who understood the challenges our campaign faced, and who were willing to take a risk (4/x)

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