Amy Coney Barrett confirmed to supreme court in major victory for US conservatives

Senate’s confirmation of Barrett, 48, cements rightwing domination of court for years to come

The US Senate has confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court, delivering Donald Trump a huge but partisan victory just eight days before the election and locking in rightwing domination of the nation’s highest court for years to come.

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‘Power grab’: how Republican hardball gave us Amy Coney Barrett

Confirmation of a sixth conservative on the nine-member court is due on Monday, the result of ruthless Republican politics

The almost certain confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court on Monday represents a “power grab” by Republicans facing possible wipeout at the ballot box, activists and analysts say.

Related: Revealed: ex-members of Amy Coney Barrett faith group tell of trauma and sexual abuse

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US justice department sues Google over accusation of illegal monopoly

Lawsuit accuse tech company of abusing its position to dominate search and search advertising

The US justice department filed a lawsuit against Google on Tuesday, accusing the tech company of abusing its position to maintain an illegal monopoly over search and search advertising.

“Two decades ago, Google became the darling of Silicon Valley as a scrappy startup with an innovative way to search the emerging internet. That Google is long gone,” the suit alleged.

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Top Senate Republican says he has the votes to confirm Amy Coney Barrett

Judiciary committee expected to confirm supreme court justice nomination on 22 October before advancing to full Senate ballot

The Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said he has the votes to confirm the nomination of conservative Amy Coney Barrett as a supreme court justice as the upper chamber’s judiciary committee scheduled a vote for 22 October to advance the nomination towards a full Senate ballot shortly after.

Barrett’s progression towards taking up the seat vacated by the death of the liberal favorite Ruth Bader Ginsburg now appears virtually assured, but the unprecedented nomination of a new justice so close to a presidential election – and one who will shift the balance of the court rightward – has been contentious.

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Amy Coney Barrett hearing: top Republican praises judge for being ‘unashamedly pro-life’ – live

Harris took up questioning Barrett on climate change.

Harris: Do you think COVID-19 is infectious?

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

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Kamala Harris pushes Amy Coney Barrett on Trump’s plan to dismantle Obamacare – video

Supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett was questioned by Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris over the Affordable Care Act, known popularly as Obamacare, during day two of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing. Barrett made the claim that she was not aware of Donald Trump’s campaign promise to appoint justices who would dismantle Obamacare. Harris also tackled Barrett’s views on abortion, making a carefully laid-out case that despite Barrett’s equivocation and insistence that she is unbiased on the issue of reproductive rights, she is far from it. Republicans want to have Barrett confirmed before election day

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Amy Coney Barrett dodges abortion, healthcare and election law questions

  • Democrats press supreme court nominee with little success
  • Barrett argues she is not a pundit, on second day of hearings
  • US politics – live coverage

On the second day of hearings before the Senate judiciary committee, Democrats pressed supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on healthcare, election law and abortion rights – and met with little success.

Related: 'Slayer Pete': Buttigieg emerges as Biden's unlikely Fox News fighter

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Senators stir ghosts of Scalia and Ginsburg for Amy Coney Barrett hearing

Amid talk of originalism, harking to a time when only white men with property could vote, Republican ears pricked up

Depending on your point of view, the woman seated before the Senate judiciary committee for her first day of questioning was either the female Scalia or the anti-RBG. Or maybe, of course, both.

Related: Amy Coney Barrett dodges abortion, healthcare and election law questions

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Amy Coney Barrett faces questions on legal record as nomination hearings continue – live

One other extraordinary dodge today: Barrett said that while she has “read things about climate change”, she does not have “firm views on it”.

Amy Coney Barrett tells Sen. Kennedy: “I have read things about climate change. I would not say I have firm views on it.” pic.twitter.com/kG3cv8XN5Q

The day was characterized by Barrett dodging questions on abortion, voting rights, the Affordable Care Act, and the presidential transfer of power.

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US election 2020: why are so many Americans being denied a vote? – podcast

Millions of American voters will be unable to cast their ballot in this year’s presidential election and those affected will be disproportionately first-time voters and from minority groups, reports Sam Levine

As the November election approaches, Donald Trump is continuing to make stark claims about voter fraud, particularly focused on postal voting. Despite a lack of evidence, many are interpreting the president’s claims as a prelude to his challenging the result should he be defeated. Fears of fraud are also being used by many states to place more hurdles in the way of voters trying to cast their ballots.

The Guardian’s Sam Levine tells Anushka Asthana about the bureaucratic steps required to cast a legal vote in some states and how research shows that they mean the discounting of votes from disproportionately younger and minority voters. He also describes how millions of former prisoners are being denied votes decades after release due to bureaucratic errors or minuscule unpaid fines. He met Alfonzo Tucker, a resident in Alabama, who was struck from the register over a $4 fine and whose son of the same name was also prevented from voting. Meanwhile, there are growing fears of intimidation at the polls, not least following Trump’s performance at the presidential debate in which he failed to denounce white supremacists, telling the rightwing Proud Boys group to “stand back and stand by”.

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Amy Coney Barrett’s hearing kicks off with hypocrisy and healthcare | David Smith

Republicans sought to normalise her rushed nomination while Democrats maintained a laser-like focus on the future of Obamacare

That was rich. Senate Republicans, otherwise known as Donald Trump’s Praetorian Guard, lined up on Monday to pay pious homage to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the separation of powers and the halcyon days of political bipartisanship.

Related: What Amy Coney Barrett's likely confirmation means for America

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What Amy Coney Barrett’s likely confirmation means for America

Barrett’s expected elevation will give conservatives a bulletproof court majority, and many progressive causes are under threat

Senate Republicans have begun hearings to confirm Amy Coney Barrett as a supreme court justice. If confirmed as expected, Barrett would become the third justice on the court to be appointed by Donald Trump.

Here’s what it means:

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Amy Coney Barrett delivers statement on first day of supreme court nomination hearings – live

Senator Gary Peters of Michigan shared his family’s personal abortion story, with Amy Coney Barrett hearings underway.

Peters, a moderate Democrat locked in a tight reelection race, shared with Elle Magazine that in the 1980s, his first wife Heidi, had her water break when she was only four months pregnant, leaving the fetus without amniotic fluid.

My story is one that’s tragically shared by so many Americans.

It’s a story of gut-wrenching and complicated decisions — but it’s important for folks to understand families face these situations every day.https://t.co/VA3VDbjWrO

The significance is hard to overstate. Barrett represents the culmination of a decades-long project by conservatives to control the high court. Her confirmation would extend the conservative reach into every corner of American life, well beyond the size of their shrinking electorate.

Related: What Amy Coney Barrett's likely confirmation means for America

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Amy Coney Barrett supreme court hearing sets stage for partisan clash

Four days of hearings are scheduled before the Senate judiciary committee, beginning with opening statements on Monday

Judge Amy Coney Barrett will appear on Capitol Hill for the opening of her supreme court confirmation hearings on Monday, setting the stage for an extraordinary partisan clash three weeks before election day.

Four days of hearings are scheduled before the Senate judiciary committee, beginning with opening statements on Monday, followed by two days of questioning. Thursday, the Senate panel will hear from outside experts.

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Who is Clare Bronfman, the Seagram’s heiress who financed Nxivm?

Bronfman was the first sentenced in connection with the group led by Keith Raniere – but while she was part of Nxivm, she used her wealth ‘as a means of intimidation’

Clare Bronfman, daughter of a billionaire Canadian father and a British mother, was making a name for herself as a showjumper in Europe in 2002.

Riding a 12-year-old gelding called Charlton, Bronfman – the heir to the Seagram’s liquor fortune – won the Rome Grand Prix equestrian tournament, and later placed second in a show in Bremen.

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Revealed: Amy Coney Barrett lived in home of secretive Christian group’s co-founder

Details of link to Kevin Ranaghan raise fresh questions about supreme court nominee’s involvement with People of Praise

Amy Coney Barrett lived in the home of one of the founders of the People of Praise while she was a law student, raising new questions about the supreme court nominee’s involvement with the secretive Christian faith group that has been criticized for dominating the lives of its members and subjugating women.

Related: Amy Coney Barrett: quick confirmation under threat as three senators infected

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Breonna Taylor: grand jury testimony reveals police did not search her home

Hours of private proceeding were made public, with an officer telling the grand jury police announced their presence before shooting

In grand jury testimony made public on Friday, a law enforcement officer said police in Kentucky did not end up searching Breonna Taylor’s apartment on the day she was shot and killed by police who had arrived with a search warrant.

Police were carrying a narcotics warrant for Taylor’s Louisville apartment on 13 March. In a botched raid, they shot her after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired at them on the assumption that they were intruders.

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Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein facing six new sexual assault charges

The disgraced film mogul, who is serving a 23-year prison sentence for rape, is accused of alleged LA attacks between 2004 and 2010

Harvey Weinstein, the convicted rapist and imprisoned film mogul, is facing six new sexual assault charges, prosecutors in Los Angeles announced on Friday.

Weinstein, 68, was charged with three additional forcible rape felonies and three forcible oral copulation charges stemming from alleged attacks between 2004 and 2010 in Beverly Hills. The new criminal complaint expands the LA case to a total of five victims, authorities said.

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Democrats on the attack after Trump tax return revelations – live

Trump said back in 2011 that even low-income Americans should have to pay some taxes and that he pays “a lot of tax,” a new CNN report reveals.

The tax information obtained by the New York Times indicates Trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes the year that he won the presidency.

Related: Trump reels from taxes bombshell as he gets set for crunch debate with Biden

Florida police have released body camera footage from officers’ interaction with Brad Parscale, the president’s former campaign manager who was involuntarily hospitalized yesterday.

In the video, Parscale’s wife, Candice, can be heard saying he brandished a gun and has multiple firearms in the home.

New: Police just released body camera footage of the incident involving Brad Parscale https://t.co/QBpA7jIjEg

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Trump nominates Amy Coney Barrett to US supreme court – video

Donald Trump has nominated appeals court judge Amy Coney Barrett to take the place of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the US supreme court, saying he expected the appointment to be confirmed before the 3 November presidential election. Barrett is a devout pro-life Catholic and would tip the supreme court 6-3 in favour of conservatives.

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