Category Archives: US Politics

Katie Hill, rising Democratic star, resigns amid claims of relationship with staffer

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Congresswoman blames estranged husband and ‘hateful political operatives’ for smear campaign against her

California congresswoman Katie Hill, a freshman Democrat and a rising star in the party, announced her resignation on Sunday amid allegations that she had a sexual relationship with a member of her congressional staff.

“It is with a broken heart that today I announce my resignation from Congress,” Hill, 32, wrote in a resignation letter. “This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I believe it is the best thing for my constituents, my community, and our country.”

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Pelosi slams Trump for cutting Democrats out of loop on Baghdadi raid

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Top Democrats reacted with anger to Donald Trump’s decision to go ahead with the Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi raid without giving them advance notice, on grounds that they were not to be trusted with such highly sensitive information.

Related: Trump impeachment: Schiff expects battle over key witness John Bolton

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‘I took a stand’: the centrist Democrat navigating impeachment in a divided district

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Abigail Spanberger caught in delicate balance of advancing policy agenda and ensuring Trump is held accountable

At a middle school auditorium three hours south of the capital, where an intensifying impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump consumes all aspects of political life, the Virginia congresswoman Abigail Spanberger greeted a restive crowd of constituents with a PowerPoint presentation on the American system of government.

Related: Make no mistake: Medicare for All would cut taxes for most Americans | Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman

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Trump lashes out at Kamala Harris after senator protests criminal justice award

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After Kamala Harris pulled out of a South Carolina criminal justice forum because its organizer gave Donald Trump an award, the president duly lashed out.

Related: Springing the 'rat' trap: how Baltimore fought back against Trump's insults

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Mitt Romney: Trump’s best staff decision was ‘not choosing me’

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Utah senator and Trump critic tells the New York Times he wouldn’t have lasted as long as Rex Tillerson

The best personnel decision Donald Trump has made, Mitt Romney said in an interview published on Saturday, “was not choosing me”.

After winning the White House in 2016. Trump toyed with the idea – and in doing so rather cruelly toyed with the man – of appointing Romney secretary of state.

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‘Disorder and chaos’: Trump and Republicans mount furious impeachment fight

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A hearing room is invaded, the president’s enemies are ‘scum’. A bare-knuckle scrap has begun – but will it be enough?

Donald Trump has shown little taste for military adventure. He avoided the draft in Vietnam. He fell out with his once-beloved generals. He stunned the world by pulling troops out of Syria and abandoning America’s Kurdish allies.

Related: Blow to Trump as DoJ ordered to turn over evidence from Mueller grand jury

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Springing the ‘rat’ trap: how Baltimore fought back against Trump’s insults

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In July the president called the Maryland city a ‘rat and rodent-infested mess’ and moved on. But for residents striving to build a brighter future, the hard work continues

A visitor was heading to the exit of the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum. “Thank you for coming to Baltimore,” said Shauntee Daniels, a local heritage official, “with our rats and all.”

Turning in the doorway, the visitor, a middle-aged woman, replied: “I know better than that. I know too many good people here.”

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Blow to Trump as DoJ ordered to turn over evidence from Mueller grand jury

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  • Democrats must be given access to testimony, judge rules
  • Committees subpoena Trump officials who refused to testify

A judge on Friday ordered the justice department to give the House unredacted portions of grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, handing a victory to Democrats who want the material for the impeachment investigation of Donald Trump.

Related: Judge grants Democrats access to unredacted Mueller report – live

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Elijah Cummings: Obama, Clinton and Pelosi remember the late congressman at funeral – video

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Congressman and civil rights leader Elijah Cummings was remembered on Friday as a 'fierce champion of truth, justice and kindness' at a funeral that brought Washington politicians and ordinary people alike to the Baltimore church where he worshipped for nearly four decades.

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Elijah Cummings: congressman remembered at Baltimore funeral – in pictures

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Congressman and civil rights leader Elijah Cummings was remembered at a funeral that brought Washington politicians and ordinary people alike to the Baltimore church where he worshipped for nearly four decades

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US congresswoman Katie Hill threatens to sue Daily Mail over nude photos

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Democrat sent cease-and-desist as lawsuit suggests publication defamed her by claiming she has a Nazi-inspired tattoo

A member of Congress from California has threatened to sue the Daily Mail over nude photographs and claims posted online by the newspaper.

Lawyers for Katie Hill, 32, a Democratic, first-term representative from a suburban Los Angeles district, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Mail demanding that “you remove these photos from publication at once”.

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Justice department opens criminal inquiry into origins of Russia investigation – report

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Trump has complained that his campaign was improperly targeted, but critics say department is being used to chase conspiracy theories

The US justice department has reportedly opened a criminal inquiry into the origins of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, a move that would raise concerns that Donald Trump and his allies may be using the powers of the government to go after their opponents.

The development, first reported by the New York Times, comes as Trump is already facing an impeachment inquiry examining whether he withheld military aid to pressure the president of Ukraine to launch an investigation of former vice-president Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

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Republicans who staged the sit-in are taking obstruction literally

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The charade may seem desperate, but it’s a strategy straight out of Trump’s playbook when he faced Mueller

In addition to an abuse-of-power allegation, Democrats leading the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump are said to be building a case against the president for alleged obstruction of justice.

But it had not occurred to anyone that the obstruction in question might literally amount to the physical obstruction by Republican lawmakers of impeachment proceedings.

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Top Democrats and Republicans pay tribute to Elijah Cummings at ceremony – live

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Tim Ryan failed to gain much traction since entering the presidential race in April, but during his campaign, he helped to cast a spotlight on gun violence.

Ryan represents Youngstown and suburbs of Akron in the House. When a gunman opened fire on the nearby Ohio city of Dayton, Ryan lambasted Trump and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell for inaction on gun legislation.

Tim Ryan’s exit from the presidential race means that there are now 18 contenders seeking the Democratic nomination.

AND THEN THERE WERE 18: @RepTimRyan announces he's dropping out of the Democratic presidential race and will seek re-election to Congress. pic.twitter.com/oZIOIG6coX

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Donald Trump falsely claims he’s building a wall in Colorado – video

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Donald Trump on Wednesday talked about the construction of a wall in states that border Mexico, but included Colorado, which is 400 miles away from the frontier. The US president later said on Twitter he had been kidding and added that he had been referring to people in states that weren't on the border, saying they would still benefit from the wall

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Republicans disrupt closed-door Trump impeachment inquiry hearing – video

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Political tensions over an intensifying impeachment inquiry reached fever pitch on Wednesday as Republicans ‘stormed’ a closed-door committee hearing on Capitol Hill disrupting a crucial deposition related to the Ukraine controversy. 

The chaos and confusion temporarily shut down the proceedings before the three House committees leading the impeachment inquiry where Laura Cooper, a top Pentagon official who oversees Ukraine policy, was preparing to testify

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‘So you won’t take down lies?’: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez challenges Facebook CEO – video

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Mark Zuckerberg faced a gruelling examination from the Democratic lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday, with questions over the Cambridge Analytica scandal and Facebook’s reluctance to police political advertising.

The Facebook CEO declined to disclose when he found out the company was harvesting and selling user data to influence elections. She also asked Zuckerberg about his 'dinner parties with far-right figures' and if at those meetings he addressed the popular rightwing theory that Facebook cracks down on conservative speech, a question Zuckerberg also dodged

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How AOC turned boring congressional hearings into electrifying moments

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The Democrat made waves by challenging Zuckerberg. It wasn’t even her first viral moment that day

It isn’t often that you hear someone rave about a great congressional hearing they’ve seen online. Heck, outside of big national events, I’m going to bet you have never willingly watched C-Span.

But less than one year since she entered Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has represented New York’s 14th congressional district since January, has changed that.

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Chaos erupts as Republicans barge into Trump impeachment inquiry hearing

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Group chanting ‘Let us in’ enter closed-door meeting where top Pentagon official who oversees Ukraine policy was to testify

Political tensions over an intensifying impeachment inquiry reached fever pitch on Wednesday as Republicans “stormed” a closed-door committee hearing on Capitol Hill disrupting a crucial deposition related to the Ukraine controversy was appearing – a day after devastating testimony from a key diplomat.

Related: Republicans are finally realising Trump is his own worst enemy – and theirs | Richard Wolffe

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Will loyalists turn against Trump after Bill Taylor’s game-changing testimony?

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Diplomat added significant ballast to the allegation Trump was trying to extort Ukraine into ginning up bad news about Biden

The impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump has heard some extraordinary testimony over the last month. From the first mention of Trump’s desired “deliverable” from Ukraine, successive layers of witnesses and documents have added to an indictment of the president’s conduct that only gets heavier, as Trump howls his defenses to the wind.

Related: Trump impeachment catch-up: where we are right now

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