Category Archives: Donald Trump

‘Our blood is cheaper than water’: anger in Iraq over Trump pardons

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Joe Biden to be lobbied to reverse decision to pardon security guards jailed over massacre

Iraqis have reacted with outrage to Donald Trump’s move to pardon four security guards from the security firm Blackwater who were jailed for a 2007 massacre that sparked an outcry over the use of mercenaries in war.

The four men were part of a security convoy that fired on civilians at a central Baghdad roundabout, killing 14 people including a nine-year old child and wounding many more.

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Pardons sink Trump further into swamp of his own shamelessness

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Analysis: President sanctions first federal execution of a woman in 67 years – but war criminals, fraudsters and Russia-linked cronies go free

Lisa Montgomery is set to become the first woman put to death by the US federal government in 67 years. On Tuesday senators including Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren wrote to the justice department demanding an investigation into an “unprecedented spree” of federal executions on Donald Trump’s watch.

A few hours later the president announced a slew of 15 pardons. Strikingly they included four military contractors imprisoned for the killing of unarmed men, women and children in Iraq. In short, war criminals.

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Trump pardons Blackwater contractors jailed for massacre of Iraq civilians

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Four guards fired on unarmed crowd in Baghdad in 2007, killing 14 and sparking outrage over use of private security in war zones

President Donald Trump has pardoned four Blackwater security guards who were given lengthy prison sentences for killing 14 civilians in Baghdad in 2007, a massacre that caused international uproar over the use of private contractors in war zones.

The four – Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slatten – were part of an armoured convoy that opened fire indiscriminately with machine-guns and grenade launchers on a crowd of unarmed people in the Iraqi capital. Known as the Nisour Square massacre, the slaughter was seen as a low point in the conflict in Iraq.

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Joe Biden won’t inherit Trump’s millions of Twitter followers

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Move marks a departure from past practice as in 2017 Twitter transferred followers of Obama administration accounts to Trump

Joe Biden will not inherit Donald Trump’s millions of followers on the official president of the United States and White House Twitter accounts when he assumes the presidency, marking a departure from past social media practice, the Democratic president-elect’s team said on Tuesday.

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Trump loyalists aim to block Biden’s goal to rejoin Iran and Paris agreements

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Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham urge Trump to submit Iran nuclear deal and Paris climate agreement to Senate to undercut future attempts to revive them

Two prominent Trump loyalists in the US Senate, Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, are reportedly pressing the president to submit the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate agreement to the chamber for ratification, in a last-minute attempt to scupper Democratic plans to take America back into the accords.

Related: Senior Republican says party’s final election challenge will ‘go down like a shot dog’

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Michael Cohen says he deserves early release from home confinement

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Cohen filed court papers contending he ‘could be eligible for release’ under the First Step Act that Trump signed into law in 2018

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, says he deserves early release from home confinement under Trump’s signature sentencing reform – but federal authorities refuse to credit him for good behavior and hundreds of hours of work and prison courses completed behind bars.

Related: Disloyal review: Michael Cohen's mob hit on Trump entertains – but will it shift votes?

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William Barr: no plans to name special counsel to investigate vote fraud claims

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  • Attorney general at odds with Trump over disputing election
  • Barr also rejects call for special counsel for Hunter Biden

The US attorney general, William Barr, said on Monday he has no plans to appoint a special counsel to investigate claims of fraud around the US election, which have been baselessly made by Donald Trump and many of his political allies.

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US death row prisoner Dustin Higgs petitions Trump for clemency

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In a last-ditch effort to stay alive, Dustin Higgs, a federal death row prisoner set to be put to death next month as part of the Trump administration’s flurry of executions in its final days in office, has petitioned the president for clemency.

Related: Trump administration has executed more Americans than all states combined, report finds

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‘Help is on the way’: Covid relief bill deal agreed, says Mitch McConnell

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Top congressional leaders have announced agreement on a $900bn coronavirus aid package after late-night discussions on Sunday.

“We can finally report what our nation has needed to hear for a very long time: more help is on the way,” said Republican Senate leader Mitch MCConnell. “Moments ago, in consultation with our committees, the four leaders of the Senate and House finalised an agreement for another major rescue package for the American people.”

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Biden mulls punishments for Russia over suspected role in government hack

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As president-elect Joe Biden weighed options to punish Russia for its suspected hacking of US government agencies and companies, one leading Republican accused Moscow of “acting with impunity” and others called for retaliatory strikes.

Related: Trump attempt to overturn election is 'nutty and loopy', Romney says

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Trump attempt to overturn election is ‘nutty and loopy’, Romney says

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Donald Trump’s flirtation with declaring martial law in battleground states and appointing a conspiracy theorist as special counsel to help his attempt to overturn defeat by Joe Biden are “really sad” and “nutty and loopy”, Mitt Romney said on Sunday.

Related: Biden mulls punishments for Russia over suspected role in government hack

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Trump’s flurry of dodgy deals will not bring the Middle East any peace

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The outgoing US president has his eyes on a Saudi Arabia-Israel accord – no matter who gets hurt

Peace deals that entrench injustice, punish the weak and are propelled by greed, blackmail and weapons sales have precious little to do with peace – and are unlikely to endure. Yet the Middle East has witnessed a recent spate of such dodgy deals. All concern Israel and all were hastily cobbled together by the White House. As his curtailed presidency grinds to an unlamented close, Donald Trump appears engaged in a frantic foreign policy fire sale.

Peace is always a welcome prospect – but never at any price. Trump’s horse-trading on Israel’s behalf has made a cruel mockery of Palestinian rights. By agreeing to normalise relations with Israel, the UAE and Bahrain broke with the 2002 Arab peace plan that makes recognition conditional on the creation of a viable, independent Palestinian state. The deal was sweetened with offers of advanced US weapons and money-spinning business and trade opportunities.

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Trickle-down economics doesn’t work but build-up does – is Biden listening? | Robert Reich

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A new study confirms tax cuts for the rich do not benefit the rest. Recovery from the pandemic is a chance to change course

How should the huge financial costs of the pandemic be paid for, as well as the other deferred needs of society after this annus horribilis?

Related: Jeff Bezos became even richer thanks to Covid-19. But he still won't protect Amazon workers | Robert Reich

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Trump wanted conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell as special counsel on voter fraud – report

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Rudy Giuliani and other advisers opposed president’s suggestion, according to New York Times

Donald Trump pushed to have the lawyer and “kraken” conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell named as a special counsel to investigate supposed electoral fraud, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

Related: Trump downplays government hack after Pompeo blames it on Russia

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‘I took a trip to the North Pole’: Anthony Fauci tells children he vaccinated Santa

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Top US infectious diseases expert tells Sesame Street event Father Christmas is ‘good to go’ for present-delivery duty

Children around the world should not worry about the logistics of Christmas present delivery while the coronavirus pandemic rages, Dr Anthony Fauci said – because he vaccinated Santa himself.

Related: US sets new record for daily Covid cases as Moderna vaccine approved

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Congress passes spending bill to fund government through Sunday – live

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The Food and Drug Administration approved Moderna’s vaccine for emergency use. This is the second coronavirus vaccine to gain approval in the US.

The government can now begin to distribute 5.9m doses of the Moderna vaccine across the US.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle said they were optimistic they could reach a deal on a coronavirus stimulus bill this weekend.

The $900bn proposal currently on the table has been held up over an attempt by Republicans to curtail the Federal Reserve’s lending power - limiting its emergency lending efforts amid a deep economic crisis. Democrats said the provision would tie president-elect Joe Biden’s hands as he tries to rein in the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus crisis.

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US surpasses 17m coronavirus cases just a day after setting record death toll – as it happened

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From me and Joan E Greve:

More members of Biden’s climate team:

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Mar-a-Lago neighbors say Trump can’t live there after White House

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President signed 1993 agreement with town that says he cannot live at the club for more than three nonconsecutive weeks in a year

Neighbors of Donald Trump’s infamous Mar-a-Lago golf club in Palm Beach, Florida are warning the president that he cannot live at the club after he leaves the White House, following an agreement he made with the town in 1993.

In a letter to the town of Palm Beach and the US Secret Service sent this week, a lawyer representing a family that lives next to Mar-a-Lago reiterated that “Mar-a-Lago is a social club, and no one may reside on the property.”

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