Christopher Wray says ‘that attack, that siege, was criminal behavior, plain and simple … and has no place is our democracy’
The FBI director, Chris Wray, has condemned the 6 January riot at the US Capitol as an instance of “domestic terrorism”, while defending the bureau’s handling of intelligence indicating that violence was likely.
Related: Seditionaries: FBI net closes on Maga mob that stormed the Capitol
Continue reading...FBI director Christopher Wray has said the bureau views the Capitol insurrection as a clear act of domestic terrorism. Speaking during a Senate hearing on the 6 January riots, Wray said: ‘That attack, that siege, was criminal behaviour, plain and simple, and it’s behaviour that we, the FBI, view as domestic terrorism’
Continue reading...Twice-impeached ex-president used speech at rightwing event to propagate the lie of a ‘rigged’ 2020 election and hinted at 2024 run
An embittered Donald Trump has used his first post-presidential speech to propagate the lie of a “rigged” election in 2020 and hint that he might try to beat Democrats “for a third time” in 2024.
Grasping for continued relevance, Trump returned to his political comfort zone by fearmongering about immigrants and unleashing angry tirades against Joe Biden, his Republican critics and the media.
Continue reading...Ex-president repeats false claims that he won 2020 election and floats possible run in 2024 in speech
Donald Trump on Sunday launched his attempted political comeback, teasing a possible run for the presidency in 2024 and denouncing Joe Biden for “the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history”.
The former president made his first speech since leaving the White House at the rightwing Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, to an effusive reception.
Continue reading...Conference seeks to shore up Trump’s position as Republican standard bearer even after he lost the presidency and Congress
Donald Trump returns to the political stage on Sunday determined to show that he is still a major force in America and ready to purge his critics within the Republican party.
Continue reading...Senator Bill Cassidy points to seats lost in House and Senate during Trump presidency and says ‘if we idolize one person, we will lose’
Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican senator, predicted on Sunday morning that Donald Trump will not be the party’s nominee for president in 2024, pointing to the number of seats lost by Republicans in the House and Senate over the four years Trump was in office.
Cassidy was asked on CNN’s State of the Union show whether he would support Trump if the former president runs for another term in 2024, or if he would support him if he did run and won the Republican nomination to challenge Joe Biden.
Continue reading...Move prompts New York governor to request independent investigation into allegations
A second woman has come forward to accuse New York governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment in a move that has prompted the under-fire Democrat to launch an independent investigation into the allegations.
Charlotte Bennett, who was an executive assistant and health policy adviser in the Cuomo administration until November, told The New York Times that he had harassed her last spring, during the height of New York’s fight against the coronavirus – which Cuomo led and which at the time gave him an international reputation for good leadership.
Continue reading...Artist Tommy Zegan reveals figure was constructed in country the former president has assailed and demonized
A golden statue of Donald Trump that has caused a stir at the annual US gathering of conservatives was made in Mexico – a country the former president frequently demonized.
Related: Mitch McConnell says he'd 'absolutely' support Trump as 2024 nominee
Continue reading...A Senate official has ruled that the plan for a $15 minimum cannot be passed with only a simple majority but the fight is far from over
It was a major plank of the Democratic plan to “build back better” – raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour as a way of boosting the economy during the pandemic and tackling poverty and income inequality. But on Thursday the much-vaunted plan hit a roadblock in the US Senate, which has knocked the proposal sideways.
Related: 'We need $15': US minimum wage ruling a personal blow for millions of workers
Continue reading...Relief bill represents Biden first big legislative win but wage hike proposal to be removed from Senate version
The US House of Representatives has passed Joe Biden’s $1.9tn coronavirus aid bill in his first major legislative victory.
Related: Criticism builds over Biden's failure to lift Trump sanctions on ICC prosecutors
Continue reading...Vaccine, along with those from Pfizer and Moderna, should provide US with more than enough supply to vaccinate every person
The battle against Covid-19 took a major step forward on Friday as the US moved closer to distributing its first one-shot Covid-19 vaccine, after an independent expert advisory panel recommended drug regulators authorize the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for emergency use.
The authorization would be a significant boost to the Biden administration’s vaccination plans, making Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine the third available to the public. Janssen, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine subsidiary, told a congressional hearing this week that it expects to deliver 20m doses by March and a total of 100m doses before the end of June.
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As Biden tours a food bank in Houston, Republicans are taking turns railing against his administration at the annual CPAC conference. David Smith sends another virtual report from the gathering.
Speakers at CPAC continue to pledge fealty to former president Donald Trump. Matt Gaetz, a congressman from Florida, told the audience: “My fellow patriots, don’t be shy and don’t be sorry, join me as we proudly represent the pro-Trump America first wing of the conservative movement.
“We’re not really a wing; we’re the whole body. We’re the main attraction in the greatest show on earth.”
Gaetz, a self-proclaimed “Florida man” wearing blue jacket and purple tie, lashed out at “cancel culture” and “lockdown governors” including Democrat Andrew Cuomo of New York. He also defended Republican senator of Ted Cruz of Texas.
“It was awful the way the media treated Ted Cruz,” he said. “I mean, the left and the media were more worried about Ted Cruz going to Mexico to spend his own money than about the caravans coming through Mexico to take ours.”
If Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who voted for Trump’s impeachment after the 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol, were on the CPAC stage she would be booed, he predicted. The party’s true leadership was not in Washington, Gaetz said.
He also described the biggest threats to freedom as big government and big business, in particular big tech. “There are no checks and balances when they can control-alt-delete anyone for any reason,” the congressman warned.
NEWS: Several Republicans in the House have skipped Friday's votes and enlisted their colleagues to vote on their behalf, signing letters saying they couldn't attend "due to the ongoing public health emergency."
But those members are scheduled to be at CPAC
US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen has announced sanctions on former Saudi intelligence deputy chief Ahmad Hassan Mohammed al Asiri and the Rapid Intervention Force (RIF), known as the ‘Tiger Squad’ which supplied much of the hit team that killed Jamal Khashoggi, the US-based dissident who was murdered by Saudi operatives in Turkey in 2018.
US Treasury announces sanctions on former Saudi intel deputy chief Ahmad Hassan Mohammed al Asiri and the Rapid Intervention Force (RIF), known as the 'Tiger Squad' which supplied much of the hit team that killed Khashoggi https://t.co/pjXruJhUxv
It hasn't been out long but so far seems like view is a mix of relief and frustration: the US calls MBS a murderer, but stops far short of taking actions against him that would in effect change the line of succession.
But that is the snap judgement. Will this report stop business leaders like Steve Schwarzman from meeting with MBS in Riyadh? Will it stop MBS from stepping foot in the US? TBD
Related: Saudi crown prince approved killing of Jamal Khashoggi, US report says
Continue reading...Lineup at annual gathering features former president’s allies – and Trump himself – suggesting his dominance is undiminished by his election loss
Ronald Solomon spent five days making the 2,300-mile drive from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Orlando, Florida, where he will sell about 75 different hat designs, 15 types of flag, 10 T-shirt designs and a range of eight face masks.
Solomon is the president of the Maga Mall, a retailer of Donald Trump and “Make America great again” merchandise. Undeterred by the former president’s 2020 election defeat and disgrace, he expects to do brisk business when the biggest annual gathering of grassroots conservatives opens on Thursday.
Continue reading...Move undoes actions that blocked many immigrants from entering the US and sought to cut funding to cities Trump deemed ‘lawless’
Joe Biden has formally reversed a series of executive actions taken by Donald Trump, including a proclamation that blocked many green card applicants from entering the United States.
Continue reading...Alex García from Honduras sought sanctuary in Missouri church in 2017 under threat of removal from US by Trump administration
After three and a half years living inside a Missouri church to avoid deportation, a Honduran man has finally stepped outside, following a promise from Joe Biden’s administration to let him be.
Alex García, a married father of five, was slated for removal from the US in 2017, the first year of Donald Trump’s administration. Days before he would have been deported, Christ Church United Church of Christ in the St Louis suburb of Maplewood offered sanctuary.
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Joe Biden is meeting with a bipartisan group of Congress members to discuss improving US supply chains to better prepare for future crises.
“The last year has shown some of the vulnerability we have with some of the supply chains, including the PPE we needed badly but had to go abroad to get,” Biden told reporters at the start of the meeting.
Biden, meeting in Oval with members of Congress about supply chain problems, including a shortage of computer chips for the autos industry, says it’s causing some production lines to slow down and “people might be laid off.” pic.twitter.com/nHNN2CofN5
Congresswoman Deb Haaland, Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the interior department, faced more pointed questions from Republicans during her second confirmation hearing today.
Republican Senator John Barrasso pressed Haaland, who would be the first Native American cabinet secretary if confirmed, on her past statements against fracking on public lands.
Continue reading...Rightly, a digital platform for conservatives, goes down awkwardly in Qatari-funded news organisation
Al Jazeera’s surprise decision to launch a digital platform for conservatives in the US has left many within the Qatar-based news organisation dumbfounded and confused, staff have told the Guardian.
The network has announced the launch of Rightly, a platform that will host programmes and produce online content aimed at “audiences currently underrepresented in today’s media environment”, in this case right-of-centre Americans.
Continue reading...A senior adviser to Democrat Joe Biden in his campaign for president believed “Covid is the best thing that ever happened to him”, a new book reports.
Related: Ruling on Trump tax records could be costliest defeat of his losing streak
Continue reading...True scope of the breach, which affected 100 companies and several federal agencies, is still unknown
Tech executives revealed that a historic cybersecurity breach that affected about 100 US companies and nine federal agencies was larger and more sophisticated than previously known.
Continue reading...The former Capitol police chief, Steven Sund, said during a joint hearing on security failures that the insurrectionists during the 6 January attack 'came prepared for war'.
Senators investigating the attack on the US Capitol last month heard testimony on training and equipping the Capitol police as the former police chief of that department and other security officials testified publicly for the first time Tuesday.
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