Category Archives: US Politics

Mehmet Oz campaigns at venue that bans same-sex weddings

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Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate has said he supports legislation that would enshrine same-sex marriage in federal law

Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee for the Pennsylvania Senate seat who says he is in favour of same-sex marriage, hosted a campaign event on Wednesday at a venue that bans same-sex marriages.

Oz, who has campaigned on supporting legislation that would enshrine same-sex marriage in federal law, held a campaign event at the Stone Gables Estate, a venue that only holds weddings between a man and a woman, reported the Washington Post.

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Biden addresses nation on threats to democracy ahead of midterms – live

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The president speaks against election deniers running for office, saying they are leading a path to ‘chaos in America’

Donald Trump’s lawyers tailored their petition specifically to supreme court justice Clarence Thomas for reasons both practical and symbolic, Politico reports.

Thomas is well known for his conservative jurisprudence, but Politico notes he is also the justice responsible for handling emergency filings out of Georgia – which means he would get the Trump legal team’s petition about its election conduct, Politico says.

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FBI arrests two alleged far-right Boogaloo Boys group members

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The arrests come amid concerns about the potential for violence around next week’s US midterm elections

The FBI has arrested two alleged members of the far-right anti-government group the Boogaloo Boys, as authorities express increasing concern about the potential for violence around next week’s US midterm elections.

Timothy Teagan was expected to appear on Wednesday in federal court in Detroit, where charges against him would be unsealed, an FBI spokesperson said.

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Trump allies saw Clarence Thomas as key to efforts to challenge 2020 election

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Emails show ex-president’s attorney saying justice was ‘our only chance to get a favorable judicial opinion’ by 6 January

In a last desperate attempt to delay or disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential race, allies of Donald Trump sought to appeal to conservative supreme court Justice Clarence Thomas, new emails show.

The emails, recently obtained by the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, show that members of Trump’s legal team considered Thomas to be “key” to their efforts to overturn Georgia’s election results.

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DoJ mulls immunity deal for Trump ally to secure testimony in Mar-a-Lago case

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Kash Patel’s close relationship with ex-president could provide information on how documents ended up at Trump’s resort

The justice department is weighing whether to grant immunity to the Trump adviser Kash Patel and force his testimony about claims that highly sensitive government documents the FBI seized from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort were declassified, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The status of the documents has emerged as relevant to the criminal investigation surrounding Trump’s mishandling of national security materials since it could strengthen a potential case that the former president was in violation of state secrecy laws.

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Republicans urged to purge extremists after attack on House speaker’s husband – live

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Leading historian warns that assault of Paul Pelosi was not an aberration amid erosion of democratic norms

Supreme court chief justice John Roberts has temporarily stopped the Internal Revenue Service from turning over Donald Trump’s tax returns to a House committee, Reuters reports.

The decision comes after Trump yesterday petitioned the high court to review lower court rulings that allowed the Democratic-led House ways and means committee to receive six years of the former president’s filings. According to the New York Times, Roberts, who handles petitions filed in Washington, wants the House committee to respond by Thursday:

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Rogue employee who hacked New York Post apologizes for ‘utmost betrayal’

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Miguel Gonzalez, 25, blames ‘my own stupidity’ for tantrum that led him to post fake sexist and racist headlines on paper’s website

The New York Post employee who was fired after publishing a slew of phony, sexist and racist headlines on the newspaper’s website and Twitter account has apologized for what he described as a tantrum and the “utmost betrayal”.

“I let my own stupidity get the best of me,” Miguel Gonzalez told the Daily Beast’s Confider newsletter in a piece published late on Monday. “I deserved to get fired for a very volatile, irresponsible and disgusting action and an utmost betrayal of the New York Post.

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US school criticizes Republican Senate candidate for repeating false litter box claim

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Don Bolduc, who is running in New Hampshire against Democrat Maggie Hassan, spreads anti-trans rightwing trope

A New Hampshire school has rebuked the Republican US Senate candidate Don Bolduc for claiming schoolchildren were identifying as “furries and fuzzies” in classrooms, using litter trays and licking themselves and each other.

“I wish I was making it up,” Bolduc, a retired special forces general, said last week.

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Biden accuses oil companies of ‘war profiteering’ and threatens windfall tax

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A week out from US midterm elections, president pleads with energy firms to invest profits in lowering costs for American consumers

President Joe Biden has accused oil companies of “war profiteering” as he raised the possibility of imposing a windfall tax if companies don’t boost domestic production.

In remarks on Monday, just over a week away from the 8 November midterm elections, Biden criticised major oil companies for making record profits while refusing to help lower prices at the pump for American people. The president said he would look to Congress to levy tax penalties on oil companies if they don’t begin to invest some of their profits in lowering costs for American consumers.

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Paul Pelosi attack suspect charged with attempted kidnapping and assault

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Suspect who faces state and federal charges told police he wanted to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and ‘break her kneecaps’

The man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi, the husband of the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, told police he wanted to hold the congresswoman hostage and “break her kneecaps”, authorities in California said on Monday afternoon.

David DePape, 42, confronted a sleeping Paul Pelosi in the couple’s San Francisco townhouse bedroom shortly before 2.30am last Friday morning, according to a federal affidavit filed in court on Monday.

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AOC vows to champion LGBTQ+ rights after hecklers storm New York event

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Hecklers were attacking a policy providing affordable housing for LGBTQ+ people

The progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said she will stand up for LGBTQ+ rights after an attack by hecklers caused chaos during a recent speaking event in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, New York.

The Democrat from New York met the heckles at the back of the Boys and Girls Club with dancing, the video of which has gone viral on social media.

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Pence blames Trump for events leading to January 6 in new memoir

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Former vice-president says meeting at which advisers led by Giuliani urged Trump to not accept election defeat was ‘a new low’

A post-election meeting at which advisers led by Rudy Giuliani attacked campaign lawyers and urged Donald Trump not to accept his election defeat was “a new low” for a president “well acquainted with rough-and-tumble debates”, Mike Pence writes in a forthcoming memoir.

Of the meeting in November 2020, the former vice-president writes: “In the end, that day the president made the fateful decision to put Giuliani and [attorney] Sidney Powell in charge of the legal strategy … The seeds were being sown for a tragic day in January.”

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Georgia governor debate: Kemp silent on question over harsher abortion restrictions

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Republican Brian Kemp and Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams spar in final gubernatorial debate before midterms

In the final televised debate with Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams before their November election, Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, refused to say whether he would support harsher abortion restrictions if re-elected to a second term and if fellow Republicans dominating the state legislature sent them to his desk.

At WSB-TV’s Channel 2 Action debate Sunday, Kemp, a Republican, said it was not his “desire to go move the needle any further” on abortion restrictions in Georgia, adding that he would look into additional restrictions passed by state lawmakers “when the time comes.” Kemp at a previous debate had said he “would not” support new abortion limits.

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Musk posts baseless conspiracy theory about Paul Pelosi attack on Twitter

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Post comes days after Musk takes over social media platform amid concern that hate speech will run rampant under his leadership

Elon Musk was criticized on Sunday after posting a baseless conspiracy theory about the assault of Paul Pelosi to Twitter – the social media giant he took over several days ago with a promise to impose less restrictions on its content.

Paul Pelosi, husband of US House speaker Nancy Pelosi, was attacked with a hammer at their California home on Friday. The attacker, identified by authorities as David DePape, allegedly said “Where is Nancy?” during the attack; president Joe Biden said that she appeared to be the intended target.

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‘Somebody’s going to die’: Democrats warn of political violence after Paul Pelosi attack

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Dire warnings after hammer assault on speaker’s husband and amid concern that security does not adequately reflect threats

Democratic politicians have ramped up their warnings about the threat of political violence in America after a man bludgeoned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 82-year-old husband with a hammer in their California home on Friday.

The dire warnings come amid longstanding concern that security services provided do not adequately reflect ongoing threats, especially as midterm elections loom. The Associated Press reported on Sunday that Paul Pelosi’s assailant had been carrying zip ties when he broke in.

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Nancy Pelosi: family ‘heartbroken and traumatized’ by brutal attack on her husband

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Speaker’s husband underwent surgery after hammer assault that comes amid rising warnings of political violence in the US

House speaker Nancy Pelosi said her family is “heartbroken and traumatized” after a brutal and bloody hammer assault on her husband that has shocked the US as it stands on the brink of tense and crucial midterm elections.

An intruder smashed his way through a rear door into the Pelosi’s house in San Francisco on Friday. The man confronted Paul Pelosi and shouted, “Where is Nancy.”

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Biden says it appears attack on Paul Pelosi intended for House Speaker

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Speaker’s husband underwent surgery for skull fracture as political figures unite in condemnation of violence

A man accused of clubbing the husband of the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, over the head with a hammer and threatening his life while demanding “Where is Nancy?” now faces charges of attempted murder and other felonies a day after the violent break-in at the couple’s San Francisco home.

Paul Pelosi, 82, underwent surgery for a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm and hands, though doctors expect a full recovery. The 82-year-old House speaker herself was in Washington with her protective detail at the time of the assault, but she flew back to San Francisco on Friday afternoon and went to the hospital.

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Attack on Pelosi’s husband heightens fears of increasing US political violence

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Hammer assault on Paul Pelosi is latest in series of violent and threatening acts as midterm elections loom

The bloody hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has sparked increased fears over political violence in America just weeks before the country’s crucial midterm elections.

The assault – by someone who reportedly entered the Democratic leader’s home specifically in search of her – comes amid an alarming rise in violent rhetoric and threats targeting US lawmakers.

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Man who attacked speaker’s husband Paul Pelosi facing attempted homicide charge – as it happened

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Paul Pelosi was attacked at San Francisco home while House speaker was in Washington

The Guardian’s Joan E Greve has taken a close look at Democrats’ chances ahead of the 8 November midterms, and finds things are not looking good for Joe Biden’s party:

With less than two weeks to go until election day, Democrats’ hopes of defying political history and keeping their narrow majorities in the House and Senate appear to be fading, as many of the party’s candidates go on the defensive in the final days of campaigning.

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Senator Tom Cotton brags about ignoring Trump impeachment evidence

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New book by Arkansas senator, a Republican presidential hopeful, also suggests president did not understand military procedures

In January 2020, the rightwing Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton said he would vote to acquit Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial because despite senators having “heard from 17 witnesses … and received more than 28,000 pages of documents”, Democrats had not presented their case correctly.

According to Cotton, the senators who sat through so much evidence would “perform the role intended for us by the founders, of providing the ‘cool and deliberate sense of the community’, as it says in Federalist 63”.

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