Category Archives: US Politics

Democrats and Republicans agree on plan to suspend trade relations with Russia and Belarus – live

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Federal prosecutors were expected to make closing arguments today in the first jury trial of someone charged with joining in the 6 January attack of the US Capitol.

Guy Reffitt of Texas, the first of some 750 people charged with joining the riot to face trial in Washington, has been charged with carrying a semi-automatic handgun while on Capitol grounds and obstructing justice by threatening his children with harm if they reported him to authorities.

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Texas man could become first Capitol rioter convicted by jury as trial ends

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Department of Justice lawyers make closing arguments against Guy Reffitt, first of 750 people charged with joining riot to face trial

Federal prosecutors on Monday finished presenting testimony against a Texas man who is the first person to be tried on charges related to the riot at the US Capitol on 6 January last year.

Guy Reffitt told US district judge Dabney Friedrich he would not be testifying at his trial on charges that he stormed the Capitol armed with a holstered handgun and interfered with police.

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William Barr: Trump is full of bull – but I’ll vote for him

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Barr’s book reveals he told Trump he was ‘like a bull in a bull ring’ – in return, Trump calls his former attorney general a ‘horse’

Donald Trump’s second attorney general, William Barr, told the former US president he was “like a bull in a bull ring” and “someone’s going to come and put a sword through your head”.

In return, Trump called Barr a “horse” who had been “broken” by the radical left.

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‘We must march forward’: Kamala Harris commemorates Bloody Sunday anniversary in Selma

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US vice president takes to Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama as congressional efforts to restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act falter

US vice president Kamala Harris visited Selma, Alabama on Sunday to commemorate a defining moment in the fight for the right to vote, making her trip as congressional efforts to restore the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act have faltered.

Under a blazing blue sky, Harris took the stage at the foot of the bridge where in 1965 white state troopers attacked Black voting rights marchers attempting to cross.

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Truck convoy loops around Washington DC to protest Covid restrictions

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The ‘people’s convoy’ of around 1,000 vehicles threaten a week of traffic disruptions around US capital

A long line of huge semi-articulated trucks, recreational vehicles and cars was circling Washington DC, on Sunday, in preparation for what their protesting drivers have pledged will be a week of traffic disruption around the US capital aligned around a loose collection of demands, including the end to all coronavirus pandemic-related restrictions.

From its temporary base at a speedway vehicle racing site in Hagerstown, 80 miles north-west in Maryland, organizers of what they term the “People’s Convoy” of around 1,000 vehicles have said they plan to welcome the new work week by driving slowly around Washington on the already notoriously-congested Beltway, or ring road, at the minimum legal speed in an attempt to get their message across to national politicians.

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Blinken vows to escalate sanctions on Russia but warns war could last ‘some time’

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Speaking from Moldova, US secretary of state warns Russia holds military advantage that western allies are finding hard to counter

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a pledge on Sunday to increase pressure on Russia through sanctions and provide more aid to Ukraine, but warned that Russia held a military advantage that western allies are finding hard to counter and the war was set to last “some time”.

“Vladimir Putin has, unfortunately, the capacity with the sheer manpower he has in Ukraine and overmatch he has, the ability to keep grinding things down against incredibly resilient and courageous Ukrainians. I think we have to be prepared for this to last for some time,” Blinken told CNN.

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This time McConnell holds few cards to stop Biden’s supreme court pick

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Ketanji Brown Jackson can expect little support from across the aisle but Republicans are wary of overreach before midterms

The photograph is a study in contrasts. On the left, standing stiffly and staring glumly, is Mitch McConnell, 80, the Republican minority leader in the Senate accused of committing professional fouls when confronting judicial confirmations.

On the right, at a slightly awkward distance from McConnell, is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, chosen by a Democratic president to be the first Black woman on the US supreme court, smiling warmly at the camera, her posture more relaxed than the senator’s.

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Trump’s private schedule reveals no plans for him to join 6 January march

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Ex-president said he would join crowd to US Capitol but his schedule indicates he deliberately lied to his supporters

Donald Trump was aware long before he took the stage at the “Save America” rally on 6 January that he would not march to the Capitol to protest the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s election win, according to his White House private schedule from that day.

The former president started his nearly 75-minute long speech at the Ellipse by saying he would go with the crowd to the Capitol, and then repeated that promise when he said he would walk with them down Pennsylvania Avenue towards the Capitol.

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White House announces new sanctions on Russian oligarchs and Putin’s ‘cronies’ – live

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Leaders of the Quad grouping of countries - the US, India, Australia and Japan - agreed today that what is happening to Ukraine should not be allowed to happen in the Indo-Pacific, Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida said.

Reuters reports:

A virtual meeting of the four-country grouping was held at a time of increased concern about Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by China, which has stepped up its alert level, wary of China taking advantage of a distracted west to move against it.

“We’ve agreed that unilateral changes to the status quo with force like this should not be allowed in the Indo-Pacific region,” Kishida said, referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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January 6 panel subpoenas Kimberly Guilfoyle, fiancee of Donald Trump Jr

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House select committee issues subpoena after Guilfoyle abruptly cut short interview with panel last week

The House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack has subpoenaed Kimberly Guilfoyle, the fiancée of Donald Trump’s eldest son. House investigators issued the subpoena Thursday, after she had abruptly ended a voluntary interview with the panel last week.

The committee is investigating the events surrounding the insurrection at the Capitol last year, when a mob of Trump supporters violently attacked the building in a failed attempt to halt the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

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Trump violated federal laws in bid to overturn election, Capitol attack panel claims

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In a major filing, the House committee says it believes the former president was obstructing Congress and defrauding the United States

The House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack said in a major filing on Wednesday that it believed that Donald Trump violated multiple federal laws to overturn the 2020 election, including obstructing Congress and defrauding the United States.

The revelations came as part of a filing that intended to force John Eastman, Trump’s former lawyer, to turn over thousands of emails and records since his participation in potential crimes destroyed his arguments for attorney-client privilege protections.

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Biden announces ‘test to treat’ plan with Covid antiviral pills after positive tests – live

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The Guardian’s health reporter Jessica Glenza on the White House’s new Covid-19 plan:

The White House announcement and State of the Union address also came with a new look and feel. At the State of the Union, Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris and the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, were all mask-free. So, too, were White House officials when they announced the new Covid-19 plan, notably in-person rather than through a group video call.

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Widely criticized Wisconsin report repeats falsehoods in argument to ‘decertify’ 2020 election

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Document offers clear example of how Republicans are embracing efforts to overturn results of validly executed elections

A long anticipated and widely criticized review of Wisconsin’s 2020 election has embraced fringe conspiracy theories and argued there were grounds for the legislature to “decertify” the results of the 2020 election, something legal experts have said is impossible.

A report released on Tuesday was the result of months of work by Michael Gableman, a former state supreme court justice hired by the state assembly to review the election. Gableman’s efforts, backed by $676,000 in public funds, have been widely criticized as partisan, sloppy and unnecessary.

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Biden under pressure on Ukraine, inflation and more as State of the Union looms – live

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The Republican governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, has come under fire for saying he needs the support of a far-right state senator who told a white nationalist event in Florida she fantasises about building gallows on which to hang her enemies.

State progressive groups said Ducey should “stop catering to hate”.

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Trump ignores Farage – and risks midterm elections farrago – with insistence on big lie

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Analysis: His British friend tried to help but the former president did not want to forget his voter fraud obsession and focus on the future. CPAC loved it but Republicans hoping to take Congress know they are courting disaster

The sagest advice given to Donald Trump all week came from a man who is neither a Republican nor an American.

Nigel Farage, the British politician, broadcaster and demagogue whose Brexit campaign coincided with Trump’s rise to power, warned his old pal against endlessly fixating on the 2020 election.

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Republican Tom Cotton refuses four times to condemn Trump on Ukraine

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The Republican senator Tom Cotton refused four times on Sunday to condemn or even comment on Donald Trump’s repeated praise for Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

“If you want to know what Donald Trump thinks about Vladimir Putin or any other topic,” Cotton told ABC’s This Week, “I’d encourage you to invite him on your show. I don’t speak on behalf of other politicians. They can speak for themselves.”

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Truth Social: will Trump’s ‘free speech haven’ overcome its rocky start?

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Technical snags, criticisms of its terms of service and questions about copyright infringement plague the app’s kickoff

Donald Trump last week launched his long-awaited social media app, Truth Social, luring users with the promises of a platform free from “discrimination against political ideology”.

But with tech glitches plaguing the platform and early criticisms of its content policies the rollout is already raising questions about its future.

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Toni Morrison novel The Bluest Eye off banned list in St Louis schools

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Nobel laureate’s classic debut was removed from libraries but backlash and lawsuits prompted vote to restore

A banned book by the Nobel laureate Toni Morrison will be available again to high school students in a district in St Louis, Missouri, after the Wentzville school board reversed its decision to ban The Bluest Eye, in the face of criticism and a class-action lawsuit.

The board made national news last month when it voted 4-3 to removed the book from school libraries, citing themes of racism, incest and child molestation.

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Donald Trump defends calling Putin ‘smart’, hints at 2024 presidential bid

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Ex-president tells CPAC he could have stopped ‘appalling’ Russian invasion of Ukraine before giving strongest indication he will run again

Donald Trump, the former US president, has defended his description of Russia’s Vladimir Putin as “smart” while seeking to blunt accusations that he admires the invasion of Ukraine.

Trump reiterated his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen by voter fraud as he argued that the invasion of Ukraine would never have happened if he was still in the White House.

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Poll: US majority believes no Russian invasion with Trump as president

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Caps-Harris poll shows 62% of respondents believe Putin would not have ordered troops into Ukraine with Trump in White House

A clear majority of Americans think Vladimir Putin would not have ordered the Russian invasion of Ukraine had Donald Trump still been in the White House, according to a new poll.

The poll, by the Harvard Center for American Political Studies (Caps)-Harris, found that 62% of those surveyed believed Putin would not have sent troops into Ukraine with Trump in the White House.

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