The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, has said Barack Obama should have 'kept his mouth shut' instead of criticising Donald Trump, and called his intervention 'classless'. McConnell was speaking to Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an online fundraiser on Monday night
Continue reading...Category Archives: US Politics
Michael Flynn: judge pauses justice department effort to dismiss case
Order paves way for legal experts to oppose Trump administration motion to exonerate former adviser
A federal judge has put the justice department’s decision to dismiss a criminal case against Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, on hold – opening the door for legal experts and other outside parties to oppose the administration’s motion to exonerate Flynn of lying to the FBI.
Judge Emmet Sullivan’s order is the latest development in the high-profile case, which has led critics, including Barack Obama and hundreds of former FBI and justice department officials, to question whether William Barr, the attorney general, was orchestrating favors for Trump.
Continue reading...Republicans appear on track to win two congressional seats in boost to Trump
Mike Garcia leading in California’s special election while Tom Tiffany easily won a special congressional election in Wisconsin
Republicans appeared on track for a pair of congressional wins on Wednesday, after notching an easy victory in a Wisconsin House seat and appearing poised to take a seat away from the Democrats in California.
The wins would be seen as a boost to the party and President Donald Trump, whose re-election campaign has been battered by outrage over his response to the coronavirus pandemic and whose popularity has been dipping in many recent polls.
Continue reading...Coronavirus US live: Fauci testifies pandemic is not ‘under control’ in America
- Fauci says opening too soon may cause says ‘spikes’ leading to larger outbreaks
- Analysis shows thousands in US getting Covid-19 at work
- Pence will avoid close contact with Trump
- The race for a vaccine: how Trump’s ‘America First’ approach slows the global search
- Coronavirus – latest global updates
- Get a fresh perspective on America – sign up to our First Thing newsletter
California is loosening its stay-at-home order for counties that meet certain criteria in containing the virus, allowing them to reopen some offices, schools and dine-in restaurants, governor Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday.
As of Tuesday morning, only the rural counties of Butte, north of Sacramento, and El Dorado, south of Tahoe National Forest, have gotten state approval to reopen more of their economy, but Newsom predicted that at least two more would receive the go-ahead by the end of the day.
It’s been a busy day in US politics and coronavirus news so far today and there’s more action to come. My colleague Maanvi Singh on the west coast will take over now and bring you the major developments over the next few hours.
Here are the most recent items this afternoon:
Continue reading...Anthony Fauci: ‘serious consequences’ if US exits lockdown too early – video
Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has warned of serious consequences if US states reopen before building capacity to deal with new Covid-19 outbreaks
- Coronavirus US live
- Global report: Anthony Fauci and two other White House Covid-19 taskforce members to self-quarantine
‘It’s all rigged’: Trump foreshadows how he could undermine presidential election
Trump accusations shed light on how he could use the Covid-19 pandemic to undermine the results of the November election
Donald Trump falsely accused Democrats of trying to “steal” Tuesday’s special election in California amid the Covid-19 pandemic by adding a polling place in one of the most diverse sections of a district.
But the county actually added the polling location at the request of the area’s Republican mayor.
Continue reading...US supreme court tackles politics’ most tantalising mystery: Trump’s tax returns
The president’s tax documents have been reported on by various outlets, even winning the New York Times a Pulitzer
The US supreme court is in its second week of working by telephone during the coronavirus pandemic. On Tuesday it will hear the highest-profile arguments so far presented remotely: regarding the release, or not, of Donald Trump’s tax returns.
When Trump ran for president in 2016, he bucked tradition by refusing to release such information. Saying he was under audit, which would not in fact have precluded action, he promised to release his returns in due course. He has not.
Continue reading...Global report: Fauci warns of ‘needless death’ as WHO urges vigilance in lifting lockdowns
Health body says coronavirus restrictions must be eased carefully; Iran to reopens mosques; China reports one new case
The World Health Organization has called on countries to show “extreme vigilance” when loosening Covid-19 restrictions as the top US infectious diseases expert, Anthony Fauci, warned that prematurely reopening the American economy would cause “needless suffering and death”.
The WHO’s emergencies chief, Michael Ryan, has hailed the gradual lifting of coronavirus lockdowns in some countries whose death and infection rates were dropping, as a sign of “hope”, but he cautioned that “extreme vigilance is required”.
Continue reading...‘You know what the crime is’: Trump stumped on ‘Obamagate’ details – video
Days after tweeting about 'Obamagate' and accusing his predecessor, Barack Obama, of committing crimes, US president Donald Trump was asked to specify what those exactly were. He replied: 'Obamagate, it's been going on for a long time, it's being going on from even before I got elected and it's a disgrace that it's gone on.' He continued: 'some terrible things happened and it should never be allowed to happen in our country again.' When he is again asked what the crime is, Trump says: 'You know what the crime is.'
Continue reading...Midwesterners were already doubting Trump. Covid could seal his political fate
The genius may think we are suckers, but in Iowa we don’t ruin good corn liquor with Clorox
Drake Custer is a union man who, along with about 30 of his buddies, had an Old English “K” tattooed on their chests about 15 years ago. It stands for “Keokuk”, a deflated Mississippi River manufacturing town of 10,000 tucked into the south-east corner of Iowa that Washington and Des Moines forgot.
“We know who we are,” said Custer.
Continue reading...Trump’s environmental ‘blitzkrieg’ advances under cover of coronavirus
Administration is weakening protections ahead of the election, making changes that could take years for a Democratic president to undo
The Trump administration is diligently weakening US environment protections even amid a global pandemic, continuing its rollback as the November election approaches.
During the Covid-19 lockdown, US federal agencies have eased fuel-efficiency standards for new cars; frozen rules for soot air pollution; proposed to drop review requirements for liquefied natural gas terminals; continued to lease public property to oil and gas companies; sought to speed up permitting for offshore fish farms; and advanced a proposal on mercury pollution from power plants that could make it easier for the government to conclude regulations are too costly to justify their benefits.
Continue reading...Trump charges Obama with ‘biggest political crime in American history’
- Retweet storm after justice department drops Flynn case
- Obama: US ‘rule of law’ is at risk under Trump
- Opinion: Under Trump, American exceptionalism means misery
- For God and Country: Christian case for Trump is a thin read
Donald Trump continued to fume over the Russia investigation on Sunday, more than a year after special counsel Robert Mueller filed his report without recommending charges against the president but only three days after the justice department said it would drop its case against Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser.
Related: Kayleigh McEnany - the 'acceptable' face of Trumpism who infuriates liberals
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: China reports possible new wave of cases; Germany sees infections rise again
Anthony Fauci and top advisers from CDC and FDA to work remotely because of potential exposure to Covid-19; global cases pass 4 million; Russia cases approach 200,000
- Three White House Covid-19 taskforce members to self-quarantine
- New York warns of children’s illness linked to Covid-19
- Coronavirus at a glance
- UK coronavirus updates - live
- US coronavirus updates - live
- See all our coronavirus coverage
While many people in Iran’s capital are taking advantage of loosened COVID-19 controls, some worry about a new spike in infections in what remains the Middle East’s deadliest virus epicentre.
“The line of fools,” muttered shopkeeper Manouchehr, peering disdainfully at a queue of customers outside a foreign currency dealer in the Sadeghieh district of western Tehran.
New clusters of coronavirus infections are igniting concerns about a second wave even as calls grow in some countries to relax restrictions even further.
In Germany, where thousands have protested in recent days against the remaining restrictions, health officials say the number of people each confirmed coronavirus patient infects rose above one again, reflecting a renewed increase in cases. The number must be below one for outbreaks to decline.
Continue reading...Coronavirus US live: death toll nears 80,000 as Trump rages over Russia
- Fauci and two other task force members to self-quarantine
- Coronavirus – latest global updates
- Get a fresh perspective on America – sign up to our First Thing newsletter
Precautions against Covid-19 infection have been stepped up at the White House but are hampered by the cramped and poorly ventilated conditions in the West Wing, Kevin Hassett, a special adviser to Donald Trump on the pandemic response, said on Sunday.
Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has been talking to Fox News Sunday about the Trump administration’s attempts to reopen and restart the stalled US economy, and whether there will be another huge stimulus bill. Democrats who control the House want one of those but the White House doesn’t – that’s the short version.
The White House is “absolutely pushing for a payroll tax cut”, Mnuchin says. Most observers think that is a non-starter, because Democrats won’t let it. Payroll taxes, meaning deductions from regular paychecks, include funds for Social Security and Medicare, vital social benefits.
Related: US job losses have reached Great Depression levels. Did it have to be that way?
Continue reading...Veep impact: battle to be Joe Biden’s running mate plays out in public
The presumptive Democratic nominee has said his No2 will be a woman and Warren, Abrams, Harris, Whitmer and Klobuchar lead the contenders
Traditionally, American presidential candidates pick vice-presidential running mates largely in secret, outside the view of the public or even members of their own party so as to maximize news value – and not offend those passed over for the job.
But in 2020 – during a campaign already driven mostly online due to the coronavirus pandemic – Joe Biden’s quest to make a vice-presidential pick has been an unusually open, vocal and public audition, both within the campaign and outside it.
Continue reading...Biden’s lead over Trump widens – but strain on his virtual campaign grows
Coronavirus has robbed the Democrat of his typical back-slapping approach as he faces growing scrutiny and a third-party challenge
The Tampa, Florida, rally for Joe Biden on Thursday evening began as it normally might have, before a once-in-a-century pandemic transformed all aspects of American life, including the presidential campaign. A local high school student recited the pledge of allegiance, a campaign organizer pleaded with supporters to volunteer and a local DJ spun R&B music between speakers.
But in a sign of how profoundly the coronavirus crisis has reshaped American politics, that was where the similarities ended.
Continue reading...‘It happened all at once’: Tara Reade details assault claim against Joe Biden in Megyn Kelly interview
Former staffer discusses allegation in in-depth interview with the former Fox News and NBC host
Tara Reade repeated her allegations of sexual assault against Joe Biden in an in-depth interview with Megyn Kelly released on Friday evening, answering questions on who she shared her story with and why she supported the former vice-president publicly in the past.
Related: Gretchen Whitmer backs Joe Biden on alleged assault: 'not every claim is equal'
Continue reading...Mike Pence’s press secretary is second White House staffer to test positive for Covid-19 this week
Katie Miller has not been in contact with Donald Trump, who said he’s ‘not worried’ about the virus spreading among staff
Vice-president Mike Pence’s press secretary tested positive for the coronavirus, the White House said Friday, making her the second person who works at the White House complex known to test positive for the virus this week.
Katie Miller is married to Stephen Miller, a top Trump advisor. She has been in recent contact with Pence but not with the president. The White House had no immediate comment on whether Stephen Miller had been tested or if he was still working out of the White House.
Continue reading...Revealed: major anti-lockdown group’s links to America’s far right
American Revolution 2.0, which presents itself as bipartisan, has been assisted by far-right individuals – some with extremist links
Leaked audio recordings and online materials obtained by the Guardian reveal that one of the most prominent anti-lockdown protest groups, American Revolution 2.0 (AR2), has received extensive assistance from well-established far-right actors, some with extremist connections.
Related: Armed protesters demonstrate against Covid-19 lockdown at Michigan capitol
Continue reading...Coronavirus US live: press secretary defends Trump over blocking Fauci’s testimony – as it happened
- Pelosi attacks Trump’s focus on reopening
- President reportedly questions accuracy of death toll
- Trump reverses course and says coronavirus taskforce will stay
- US begins to reopen but businesses and customers in no rush to get back
- Live global updates
- See all our coronavirus coverage
- Get a fresh perspective on America – sign up to our First Thing newsletter
A migrant detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in California has died from Covid-19, according to the ACLU.
“This is a terrible tragedy, and it was entirely predictable and preventable. For months, public health experts and corrections officials have warned that detention centers would be Petri dishes for the spread of Covid-19 — and a death trap for thousands of people in civil detention,” said Andrea Flores, the ACLU deputy director of immigration policy. “Unless ICE acts quickly to release far more people from detention, they will keep getting sick and many more will die,” she added.
Related: Coronavirus inevitable in prison-like US immigration centers, doctors say
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