Donald Trump’s campaign failed to produce any evidence of vote-by-mail fraud in Pennsylvania after a federal judge ordered it do so, according to a 524-page court filing obtained by the Guardian.
Related: USPS chief Louis DeJoy says he won't restore mail-sorting machines ahead of election – live
Continue reading...Apart from legal trouble, what Bannon, Manafort, Flynn, Cohen, Stone, Gates and Papadopoulos have in common is the president
To live outside the law, Bob Dylan sang, you must be honest. It also helps, apparently, to stay as clear as possible from Donald Trump, whose inner circle of advisers has suffered steady attrition since 2017, through a series of encounters with the criminal justice system.
Related: Steve Bannon pleads not guilty to fraud after arrest on luxury yacht
Continue reading...Republican pundits accept success of Biden’s convention address as Trump’s bid to portray Democratic rival as radical leftist falls flat
Under pressure on the last day of the Democratic convention, Joe Biden “hit a home run” with an “enormously effective” speech that blew “a big hole” in Donald Trump’s efforts to paint him as a mentally faltering captive of his party’s left wing.
And that was to hear Fox News hosts Dana Perino and Chris Wallace tell it.
Continue reading...
Senator Tom Carper explained his cursing during the hearing with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, which was caught on a hot mic and widely shared on Twitter.
“Those who know me know that there are few things that get me more fired up than protecting the Postal Service!” Carper said in a tweet.
Those who know me know that there are few things that get me more fired up than protecting the Postal Service!#DontMessWithUSPS
2020 mood pic.twitter.com/lKnf23W0jV
Brief Kanye update: Kanye West has not qualified to appear on the ballot in the swing state of Ohio, according to Ohio secretary of state Frank LaRose.
Kanye does not make the ballot in Ohio, according to Secretary LaRose pic.twitter.com/HWp3ORKkJM
Continue reading...A unique Democratic national convention gave countless memorable moments, from Kamala Harris's historic nomination as vice-president, to Michelle Obama's harsh words for Donald Trump. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and former president Barack Obama echoed her words by giving scathing reviews of the Trump administration. Others who showed their support for Harris and Joe Biden's nomination included healthcare activist Ady Barkan, former US congresswoman and shooting survivor Gabby Giffords, comedian Sarah Cooper, actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus and singer Billie Eilish
Continue reading...President said he’s ‘not a big fan of sharks’ at Pennsylvania event while in 2011 Daniels claimed he said ‘I hope all the sharks die’
Donald Trump has reaffirmed his well-known hatred of sharks, telling supporters he is “not a big fan” of the oceanic apex predators.
Related: Fox host blames ‘deep state’ for Bannon arrest – Bannon says that's for 'nut cases'
Continue reading...Actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus brought a great deal of levity while hosting the final night of the Democratic national convention. The comedian and star of Veep roasted Donald Trump and urged Americans to vote this November, joking that not even 'Facebook, Fox News and Vladimir Putin' can stop the democratic process
Continue reading...In a county that flipped dramatically from backing Obama to supporting Trump, there are signs of danger for the president
When Aaron Schatz surveys the wreckage of 2020, he finds himself doing surprisingly well.
Profits on his Iowa dairy farm are up thanks to coronavirus. The pandemic feels a distant threat, and Schatz has yet to wear a mask. Black Lives Matter protests are an annoyance but really someone else’s problem.
Continue reading...Joe Biden has vowed to unite America and lead the country to overcome “this season of darkness”, as he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday evening, a long-sought moment that comes more than 30 years after he first ran for president
Donald Trump says he knows nothing about the fundraising organisation associated with Steve Bannon's arrest on charges he defrauded supporters of the president in a campaign to help build the president's signature wall along the US-Mexico border.
Bannon was arrested on Thursday for allegedly skimming donations from We Build the Wall, an online fundraising campaign for the US president’s border wall with Mexico, officials in New York said
Move clears way for Manhattan’s district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr, to get president’s tax returns
A federal judge on Thursday cleared the way for Manhattan’s top prosecutor to get Donald Trump’s tax returns, rejecting a last-ditch attempt by his lawyers to block a subpoena issued to his accounting firm.
US district judge Victor Marrero’s ruling echoes his prior decision in the case, which was upheld by the US supreme court last month. The high court returned the case to Marrero so Trump’s lawyers could get another chance to challenge the subpoena issued by the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr.
Continue reading...
David Smith in Washington has an analysis piece for us this morning on that blistering Barack Obama speech last night.
In 2020, Obama was back in the city where the US constitution was drafted and signed. But this time he stood alone at a lectern in the Museum of the American Revolution. Usually presidents go into bat for their own legacy, but the message was that the legacy of George Washington and other founding fathers is now at stake.
Obama’s speeches are often lauded for their poetry but this time his language was cold and muscular, using the word “democracy” 18 times. The man who made famous the slogan “Hope and change” had found that the first of those is not always enough. “I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously,” he said. For a long time the 44th president has declined to use Trump’s name. No more.
Related: Obama's stark message: America must save itself from Trump | Analysis
Associated Press are reporting that the New Mexico city of Las Cruces has agreed to pay $6.5 million to the family of Mexican American man who was choked to death by a police officer.
The settlement calls for the city, 46 miles (74 kilometers) north of the US-Mexico border, to pay the family of Antonio Valenzuela within 30 days and promises the local government will embark on various police reforms. Financial terms of the settlement were not previously disclosed.
Continue reading...Analysis: The former president issued an unprecedented attack on his successor as he urged voters to rescue their democracy
Just four years ago, amid balloons, confetti, dry ice smoke and giant TV screens, Donald Trump struck an authoritarian tone as he accepted the nomination at the Republican national convention before a frenzied crowd. It prompted warnings of the impending death of democracy, and the end of America’s gloriously chequered 244-year journey. But no one really believed it.
However, Barack Obama is now clearly taking the fall of Rome theory seriously. No former US president has criticised his successor at a party convention as he did on Wednesday night, and none has warned that his successor “will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win”.
Continue reading...President says followers of movement, which claims Trump is fighting ‘deep state’ paedophiles, ‘love our country’
Donald Trump has tacitly endorsed QAnon, a baseless rightwing conspiracy theory identified as a potential domestic terrorism threat by the FBI, claiming its followers “love our country” and “like me very much”.
Followers of the QAnon movement believe without evidence that Trump is fighting a Satanic “deep state” of global elites involved in paedophilia, human trafficking and the harvesting of a supposedly life-extending chemical from the blood of abused children.
Yet asked about the theory at Wednesday’s White House press briefing, the US president failed to condemn it. “I don’t know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate,” he said. “I have heard that it is gaining in popularity.”
Islamophobe claims RNC chairwoman called her ‘rock star,’ ‘change agent’ for the party
This is Lois Beckett, taking over our politics live blog from our West Coast office.
Anti-Muslim extremist Laura Loomer claims RNC chairwoman called her to congratulate her on her Republican primary win in Florida and to tell her she was a "political rock star" and a "change agent for the Republican Party." The RNC did not offer comment.https://t.co/ONpC9mfOKz
That’s it from me for now. I will be back tonight to cover the third night of the Democratic convention.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Continue reading...Bipartisan intelligence panel says that Russian who worked on Trump’s 2016 bid was career spy, amid a stunning range of contacts
A report by the Senate intelligence committee provides a treasure trove of new details about Donald Trump’s relationship with Moscow, and says that a Russian national who worked closely with Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 was a career intelligence officer.
The bipartisan report runs to nearly 1,000 pages and goes further than last year’s investigation into Russian election interference by special prosecutor Robert Mueller. It lays out a stunning web of contacts between Trump, his top election aides and Russian government officials, in the months leading up to the 2016 election.
Continue reading...Donald Trump has responded to the scathing speech Michelle Obama delivered at the virtual Democratic National Convention on Monday, in which the former first lady said that Trump is 'clearly in over his head'. In turn, the US president said it was Obama who was in over her head and also criticised her for not delivering her speech live
Continue reading...At the first day of a Democratic national convention unlike any other in history, Michelle Obama urged voters to head to the polls 'like their lives depend on it'. She was joined by many other speakers attacking Donald Trump's presidency. Speaking online because of coronavirus restrictions, the former first lady's words were echoed by Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who likened Trump to tyrannical Roman emperor Nero. The first day of the convention was hosted by actor Eva Longoria and featured contributions by George Floyd's family, voters and politicians from across the country and even a former Republican governor
In his convention remarks, the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders strongly urged his supporters to vote for Joe Biden in the November election, warning that Trump represents a severe threat to US democracy. “Our great nation is now living in an unprecedented moment,” Sanders said, describing this election as the “most important in the modern history of this country”
Continue reading...Urquiza, whose father died from coronavirus, addressed the Democratic convention to condemn Trump’s efforts to downplay the threat posed by the virus.
Urquiza said her father, Mark Anthony Urquiza, voted for Trump in 2016, and he listened to the president when it came to coronavirus
Continue reading...