Bernie Sanders accuses ex-Starbucks chief of unprecedented union-busting

Howard Schultz defends company’s practices before Senate committee, while Republicans condemn Sanders’ ‘witch-hunt’

Starbucks’ former chief executive Howard Schultz was accused at a Senate hearing on Wednesday of running “the most aggressive and illegal union-busting campaign in the modern history of our country”.

The hearing, “No Company is Above the Law: The Need to End Illegal Union Busting at Starbucks,” was chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders, a longtime critic of Starbucks’ anti-union activities.

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Republicans accused of hypocrisy over gun safety after Nashville shooting – as it happened

School shooting that left three children and three adults dead brought condolences from conservatives who oppose gun control

Joe Biden has commented on his ability to get gun control passed following Monday’s massacre at a Nashville elementary school, noting that he can only “plead with Congress” for action.

Biden spoke to reporters while on his way to Durham, North Carolina.

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Republican congressman says ‘we’re not going to fix’ school shootings

Tim Burchett says he doesn’t see a role for Congress in preventing tragedies ‘other than mess things up’ after Nashville shooting

After the latest massacre of schoolchildren in the United States, the Republican congressman Tim Burchett answered the question Americans have all but given up asking of their elected officials by telling reporters: “We’re not going to fix it.”

The three-term congressman from Tennessee, the state where an intruder fatally shot three nine-year-old students and three adults at a small Christian school on Monday, appeared to compare the expectation of safety for American schoolchildren with that of soldiers fighting Japanese suicide attackers during the second world war.

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Grand jury reconvenes in Trump hush money case – live

Steven van Zandt, the musician and actor who starred as Silvio Dante in The Sopranos and plays guitar as Little Steven in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, called Jamie Raskin his “brother from another mother” today, in a message of support for the Maryland Democrat’s fight against cancer.

Raskin, 60, is undergoing chemotherapy for large B-cell lymphoma, a process which causes hair loss, and has taken to wearing bandannas. Van Zandt is known for wearing such headgear on stage.

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Trump says he’s not upset over possible indictment while attacking ‘fake’ case

Ex-president insisted he wasn’t afraid of the investigation into hush money payments even as he lashed out at the case

Donald Trump repeatedly insisted on Saturday night he was not upset by expected criminal charges that might arise from the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into his role in paying hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels as he returned from a campaign rally in Waco, Texas.

But the manner of Trump’s responses to questions suggested worries about potential damage to his image, and he came across as someone angry that his good vibrations with his “Make American great again” base in Texas could be interrupted by the reality of a possible indictment as soon as this week.

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Trump describes 2024 election as ‘the final battle’ from podium in Waco

Former president honours January 6 rioters and delivers violent rhetoric in rally at Texas city during anniversary of Branch Davidian massacre

Donald Trump, the former US president, continued to invoke retribution and violence on Saturday when he used the first rally of his 2024 election campaign to rail against prosecutors weighing a criminal charge against him.

Efforts by Trump’s team to steer a more conventional, disciplined candidacy have wilted in recent days as the 76-year-old unleashed words and images that – even by his provocative standards – are unusually dehumanising, menacing and dangerous.

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Manhattan prosecutor says Trump created ‘false expectation’ of imminent arrest – as it happened

In an excerpt from her forthcoming book, CNN supreme court analyst Joan Biskupic reveals a body where the conservative majority fortified by Donald Trump is driving forward with decisions to change America – even as some of its members try to appear conciliatory in public.

She also describes chief justice John Robert’s decision to quickly move Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s papers from her office after she died in 2020, which offended some of her aides used to more relaxed transitions between justices.

Within days of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s memorial service in late September 2020, boxes of her files and other office possessions were moved down to a dark, windowless theater on the Supreme Court’s ground floor, where – before the ongoing pandemic – tourists could watch a film about court operations.

Grieving aides to the justice who’d served 27 years and become a cultural icon known as the “Notorious RBG” sorted through the chambers’ contents there.

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DeSantis hits Republican poll low as Trump tightens grip on primary

Florida governor repeats criticism of Trump in Fox Nation interview as he attempts delicate balancing act

Donald Trump may be in legal trouble over his alleged weakness for vice, but his predicament is increasingly placing Ron DeSantis – his chief rival for the Republican presidential nomination – in a political vise.

The Florida governor must join Republican attacks on Alvin Bragg, the Democratic Manhattan district attorney whose indictment of Trump over a hush money payment to a porn star is reportedly imminent, while trying not to lose ground in a primary he has not formally entered.

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‘Significant increase’ in online threats as potential Trump indictment looms – as it happened

Most threats are directed at law enforcement and government officials, report says, after ex-president urged supporters to protest

Lindsey Graham is one of Donald Trump’s allies in the Senate, so it was little surprise that he predicted dire consequences if the former president is indicted, CNN reports:

He also criticized Florida governor and Trump’s chief rival for the Republican presidential nomination next year Ron DeSantis for his comments yesterday about the potential charges. “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I just, I can’t speak to that,” DeSantis said.

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Missouri emergency rule would limit gender-affirming care for minors

Directive sidesteps Republican-controlled state legislature, which wasn’t able to pass similar legislation before recess

Missouri’s Republican attorney general on Monday said he will limit access to gender-affirming care for minors, sidestepping the GOP-led state senate as it struggles to pass a law banning the practice for children completely.

As hundreds of activists rallied at the state capitol to pressure lawmakers to act on the bill, Andrew Bailey announced plans to file an emergency rule.

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Biden vetoes Republican effort to overturn socially conscious retirement rule

President rejects legislation to overturn a labor department rule Republicans have denounced as ‘woke capitalism’

Joe Biden issued the first veto of his presidency on Monday, rejecting legislation to overturn a labor department rule related to an investment strategy for Americans’ retirement plans that Republicans have derided as “woke capitalism”.

“The legislation passed by the Congress would put at risk the retirement savings of individuals across the country. They couldn’t take into consideration investments that would be impacted by climate, impacted by overpaying executives,” Biden said in an Oval Office video released by the White House. “And that’s why I decided to veto it.”

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House Republicans rally to Trump’s defense with call for DA Alvin Bragg to testify – as it happened

Chairs of three committees demand testimony from district attorney, who is overseeing Stormy Daniels hush money case

In messages viewed by the Guardian, a Trump campaign insider predicts that the former president will not attempt to avoid appearing for arraignment in New York City, if or when an expected indictment over his hush money payment to Stormy Daniels is handed down.

“He will go to NYC for sure,” the insider wrote, adding: “No video arraignments.”

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Trump in panic mode as he braces for likely charges in Stormy Daniels case

Manhattan district attorney expected to file criminal charges against ex-president for payment to adult film star in 2016

Donald Trump is bracing for his most legally perilous week since he left the White House, with the Manhattan district attorney likely to bring criminal charges against him over his role in paying hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels, as he huddled this weekend to strategize his legal and political responses.

The former US president has posted in all-caps on his Truth Social platform that he expected to be “ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK” and called for his supporters to engage in protests – an ominous echo of his tweets urging protests in the lead-up to the January 6 US Capitol attack.

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Police reportedly preparing for possible Trump indictment in New York– live

Manhattan grand jury has been investigating former president’s alleged hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels

A more serious concern for Congress and the White House is TikTok, the wildly popular video-sharing app that many in Washington fear is in cahoots with the Chinese Communist Party. Here’s what we know about the growing feud between the US and China over the app:

TikTok is once again fending off claims that its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, would share user data from its popular video-sharing app with the Chinese government, or push propaganda and misinformation on its behalf.

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More than a quarter of Republicans approve of Capitol attack, poll shows

Survey also reveals more than half of Republicans think January 6 was a form of legitimate political discourse

More than a quarter of Republicans approve of the January 6 Capitol attack, according to a new poll. More than half think the deadly riot was a form of legitimate political discourse.

The Economist and YouGov survey said 27% of Republicans either strongly or somewhat approved of the riot on 6 January 2021, which Donald Trump incited in an attempt to overturn his election defeat by Joe Biden.

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Trump-appointed judge seems open to arguments against abortion pill – live

Federal judge in Texas holds hearing on status of mifepristone, which a far-right group claims is unsafe despite FDA approval

The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly reports that a federal prosecutor has unveiled an indictment against a Chinese tycoon tied to Steve Bannon and other top allies of Donald Trump. Here’s what we know so far about the charges:

Ho Wan Kwok, a Chinese tycoon with close links to prominent Trumpist Republicans including Steve Bannon, has been indicted on 12 counts relating to an alleged $1bn fraud.

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DeSantis opposes US aid to Ukraine as Republican presidential race intensifies – live

Likely contender’s statement read on air by Fox News host Tucker Carlson aligns him with rival Donald Trump

Here’s Ron DeSantis’s full statement outlining his position on Ukraine, as posted by Tucker Carlson:

Other big Republican names responded to the Fox News commentator’s questionnaire, including Texas governor Greg Abbott, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, former vice president Mike Pence and, of course, Donald Trump.

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Mitch McConnell released from hospital after treatment for concussion

Senate Republican leader fell and was injured last week, and will now receive physical therapy at inpatient rehabilitation facility

Mitch McConnell was released from the hospital on Monday after the Republican leader of the Senate received treatment for a concussion, and he will continue to recover in an inpatient rehabilitation facility, a spokesman said.

McConnell’s office said his doctors discovered over the weekend that he had also suffered a “minor rib fracture” after he tripped and fell at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington on Wednesday evening.

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Republican response to the January 6 Capitol attack divides party

Line are drawn between the extremist wing and those who distance themselves from portraying the rioters as ‘sightseers’

Some Republicans have rebuked efforts by Donald Trump and Fox News host Tucker Carlson to whitewash the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, underscoring a significant split in the party over attempts to downplay the events of the day.

Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House, turned over more than 40,000 hours of security footage from the Capitol to Carlson earlier this year. This week, Carlson aired selectively edited portions of that footage, falsely claiming the rioters were “sightseers” and “not insurrectionists”. At least 1,000 people have been arrested for their role in the January 6 attack. Five people died as a result of it.

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Trump should quit 2024 race if indicted in New York, Republican rival says

Ex-Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson: man facing charge over porn star payment should ‘respect institution of the presidency’

Donald Trump should quit the race for the Republican nomination in 2024 if he is indicted in New York over a hush money payment to a porn star during his victorious run in 2016, a prospective rival said.

“It doesn’t mean that he’s guilty of it or he should be charged,” said Asa Hutchinson, a former governor of Arkansas. “But it’s just such a distraction that would be unnecessary for somebody who’s seeking the highest office in the land.”

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