‘We needed more senators with spines,’ said Stacey Plaskett after vote to convict fell short of two-thirds majority needed
Democrats defended their prosecution of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Sunday and hinted at the possibility of criminal charges, after failing to convince enough senators the former president was guilty of inciting the deadly Capitol attack.
Related: Boris Johnson calls Trump impeachment over Capitol attack 'kerfuffle'
Continue reading...Former president celebrates second impeachment acquittal as supporters and moderates prepare to contest party direction
Donald Trump emerged from his second impeachment trial almost completely politically intact. But amid widespread laments (or celebrations, depending on the affiliation of the speaker) about the former president’s grip on the Republican party, some prominent voices suggested a changing of the guard may still be due.
Related: Mitch McConnell's impeachment speech was just a hostage video | Lloyd Green
Continue reading...The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, said on Saturday that Donald Trump was 'practically and morally responsible' for the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January – minutes after voting to acquit the former president in his impeachment trial for that very same act.
The House majority leader, Nancy Pelosi, criticised McConnell’s remarks in a press conference on Saturday and said the issue of timing 'was not the reason that he voted the way he did; it was the excuse that he used'
Continue reading...Critics say the impeachment process no longer presents a threat or deterrent to bad behavior by the most powerful figure in the land
Former president Donald Trump has repeatedly been called “Teflon Don” during his presidency – a moniker used for the late mob boss John Gotti to describe how consequences for his bad actions apparently don’t stick to him.
Related: Senate Republicans stand by their man and Trump wins his second acquittal | David Smith's sketch
Continue reading...President says the substance of the charge against Donald Trump over the January attack on US Capitol is not in dispute
US president Joe Biden has urged Americans to defend democracy following the acquittal of Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial, saying: “This sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile.”
In a statement on Saturday night, Biden said the substance of the charge against his predecessor over the Capitol riot on 6 January in which five people died was not in dispute, and noted the seven Republicans who voted guilty.
Continue reading...In first departure from Biden administration, Ducklo says he has ‘embarrassed and disappointed’ colleagues
White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo has resigned, the day after he was suspended for issuing a sexist and profane threat to a journalist inquiring about his relationship with another reporter.
In a statement on Saturday, Ducklo said he was “devastated to have embarrassed and disappointed my White House colleagues and President Biden”.
Continue reading...The Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, decried the decision to acquit Donald Trump of inciting a riot at the US Capitol on 6 January. House Democrats, who voted a month ago to charge Trump with ‘incitement of insurrection’, needed two thirds of the Senate, or 67 votes, to convict him. Only seven Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in voting to convict Trump.
The Democrats argued in the short trial that Trump caused the violent attack by repeating for months the false claims that the election was stolen from him, and then telling his supporters gathered near the White House that morning to ‘fight like hell’ to overturn his defeat. Five people died when they then laid siege to the Capitol.
Continue reading...Calls of ‘guilty’ and ‘not guilty’ pinged back and forth in the chamber but once McConnell said no the die was cast
If the denouement of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial had been a Hollywood film, stirring music would have struck up around the time Congressman Joe Neguse explained why he thinks the floor of the US Senate is “sacred”.
Related: Trump’s acquittal seals his grasp on the Republican party
Continue reading...The former president and his supporters are likely to claim victory as they did after his first impeachment trial a year ago
Donald Trump’s highly anticipated acquittal at his US Senate impeachment trial is the least surprising twist in American politics since … well, his acquittal at his first US Senate impeachment trial a year ago.
Related: Democrats fail to secure enough votes to convict Trump in historic second impeachment trial - live
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Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin has taken the floor again to push back against some of the comments from Michael Van der Veen.
Raskin noted that the arguments from Donald Trump’s team have been very inconsistent.
Michael Van der Veen, one of Donald Trump’s lawyers, leveled a series of serious accusations (without evidence) against the House impeachment managers.
Van der Veen accused the managers of having “fabricated evidence” and committed “fraud” in its presentations during the impeachment trial.
Continue reading...Five Senate Republicans voted with the Democrats on Saturday, that the Senate should call witnesses in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump.
Before the 55-45 vote, Trump’s impeachment lawyer Michael van der Veen warned senators that if Democrats wished to call a witness, he would ask for at least 100 witnesses and insist they give depositions in person in his office in Philadelphia – a threat that prompted laughter from the chamber.
Continue reading...Robert D Kaplan’s outstanding book makes a strong case for US engagement based on human rights and helping refugees
What adjective should describe “the American” active in foreign policy? Graham Greene chose “quiet”, as his character harmed a country he did not understand. Eugene Burdick and William Lederer used “ugly”.
Robert D Kaplan, one of America’s most thoughtful chroniclers of foreign affairs, proposes “good” to describe Bob Gersony, who in “a frugal monastic existence that has been both obscure and extraordinary” has devoted his life to using the power and treasure of the US to serve others through humanitarian action.
Continue reading...Lawyers claim Trump’s ‘fight like hell’ rhetoric on 6 January was no different than the language politicians frequently use
Impeachment lawyers for Donald Trump accused the prosecution of waging a “politically motivated witch-hunt” against the former president, vehemently denying the charge that his words and actions incited the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol as they concluded their sharply partisan defense and prepared for a swift conclusion to the trial.
Confident that Trump’s unprecedented second impeachment trial would again result in acquittal, the defense lawyers channeled the former president’s bombastic style – and his loose relationship with the facts – to denounce the case against him as an “unconstitutional act of political vengeance” fueled by Democrats’ longstanding “hatred” of their client. They claimed the House managers had grievously mischaracterized Trump’s remarks to his followers at a rally on 6 January, when he exhorted them to “fight like hell” during a rally just before they marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington and attacked the US Capitol.
Continue reading...TJ Ducklo is sorry for ‘heated conversation’, says White House press secretary, but punishment appears to fall short of Biden’s threat to fire uncivil aides
The White House has suspended a press aide over allegations he threatened a reporter who was working on a story about his romantic relationship with another journalist.
Vanity Fair alleged on Friday that White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo had made threats – including saying “I will destroy you” – to a Politico correspondent who was reporting on Ducklo’s recently disclosed relationship with an Axios reporter, Alexi McCammond.
Continue reading...Justice department confirms Joe Biden intends to have WikiLeak’s co-founder stand trial in US
The US government has appealed a UK judge’s ruling against the extradition of the WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, according to a justice department official.
The appeal made clear that Joe Biden intends to have Assange stand trial on espionage- and hacking-related charges over WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of US military and diplomatic documents.
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As we gear up for Trump’s lawyers to present their defense, here’s a handy clip of congressman Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager, making the case that Trump incited his supporters on January 6.
Yesterday Raskin wrapped up the House’s case against the president, asking senators:
Rep. Raskin: Trump HAS incited violence before. Roll the tape pic.twitter.com/tpavGBooXG
Some people online are getting very excited about events at the White House, where Jill Biden has installed some heart-shaped signs ahead of Valentine’s Day.
Overnight, the First Lady’s surprise Valentine messages to the country were installed on the north lawn of the White House for the weekend! Happy Valentines, America...from @FLOTUS pic.twitter.com/HPHjFbDfhD
President Biden: "#ValentinesDay is a big. Jill's favorite day. For real."
Q: "What inspired you to do this?"@FLOTUS: "I just wanted some joy. With the pandemic, just everybody's feeling a little down. So, it's just a little joy. A little hope. That's all." pic.twitter.com/JW0S1cclNO
House impeachment managers concluded their case against Donald Trump on Thursday by saying that the deadly Capitol assault he stands accused of inciting was the culmination of a presidency beset by lies and violent rhetoric. They also said he would remain a threat to US democracy if not convicted and barred from holding future office
Continue reading...Republicans Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and others unabashedly endorsed the former president’s assault on democracy
A desk in the US Senate was notably empty for chunks of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial on Wednesday.
Continue reading...House impeachment managers rested their case against Donald Trump on Thursday, concluding that the deadly Capitol assault he stands accused of inciting was the culmination of a presidency beset by lies and violent rhetoric, and warning gravely that he would remain a threat to American democracy if not convicted and barred from holding future office.
Continue reading...Joe Biden has criticised Donald Trump’s handling of the US Covid vaccination program after confirming the country had ordered an additional 200m vaccine doses to be delivered by the end of July. Speaking at the National Institutes of Health on Thursday, the president spoke of the efforts his team had gone through to ensure high vaccination numbers and criticised Trump’s strategy for distributing vaccines. ‘My predecessor, to be very blunt about it, did not do his job,’ Biden said. ‘He didn’t order enough vaccines. He didn’t mobilise enough people to administer the shots’
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