The acting director of national intelligence said he believed both the whistleblower who filed the complaint against Donald Trump and the inspector general who handled it ‘acted in good faith’. Joseph Maguire told members of the House intelligence committee: ‘I have every reason to believe that they have done everything by the book.’ Maguire, who was appointed last month to succeed outgoing director Dan Coats, also said he believed he handled the whistleblower’s complaint ‘in full compliance with the law at all times’ adding that he was committed to doing so
Continue reading...Category Archives: US Politics
‘This is a cover-up’: Nancy Pelosi on Trump whistleblower complaint – video
Nancy Pelosi started her weekly press conference by directly addressing the release of the whistleblower complaint. Recounting the whistleblower’s allegations that the White House tried to keep details of the Ukraine call from becoming public, the House speaker said: ‘This is a cover-up.’ Pelosi also explained her thinking behind deciding to launch a formal impeachment inquiry against Trump: ’Last week we saw something that removed all doubt as to whether we should move forward’
Continue reading...Trump pressed Ukraine leader to investigate Biden, memo reveals
US president asked Volodymyr Zelenskiy for ‘a favor’ and to ‘look into’ Biden as impeachment inquiry launched against Trump
Donald Trump pressed the Ukrainian president to work with the US attorney general to investigate his political rival Joe Biden, a damning White House memo revealed on Wednesday, raising the stakes in an acrimonious and polarising impeachment inquiry.
Democrats said the US president’s conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskiy detailed in the five-page rough “transcript” was a devastating betrayal of his country that merited their investigation, while Republicans claimed it showed no quid pro quo and offered complete vindication.
Continue reading...Zelenskiy meets Trump: sitcom president finds himself trapped in a whodunnit
Sitting down in front of cameras at the UN, Zelenskiy looked miserable and Trump rambled about his achievements
In this new screwball comedy, an American reality show host and a Ukrainian TV comedian somehow find themselves elected president and almost get away with it – until a seemingly routine phone call ends up determining the fate of both their nations.
It is a script that has bypassed the big screen to go straight to reality in 2019, and it was playing on Wednesday in both Washington and New York.
Continue reading...House intelligence chair: whistleblower complaint shows ‘serious wrongdoing’ – live news
President gives rambling press conference as controversy swirls
- Sign up for the US briefing and get a new perspective
- Read the full memorandum of Trump’s call with Ukraine
- Full story: Trump asked Ukraine leader for ‘favor’
Democratic and republican lawmakers are expressing concern after reviewing whistleblower complaint
It appears that members of the Senate intelligence committee have reviewed the Trump-Ukraine whistleblower complaint.
Chuck Schumer after reading whistleblower complaint: “Having read the documents in there, I'm even more worried about what happened than I was when I read the memorandum of the conversation. There are so many facts that have to be examined. It’s very troubling.”
SASSE after reading the whistleblower complaint: “Really troubling things here. Republicans ought not just circle the wagons, and democrats ought not have been using words like impeachment before they knew anything about the actual substance.”
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy has introduced a resolution to get congress to officially avow that it “disapproves” speaker Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment inquiry announcement yesterday.
HAPPENING NOW→ I'm introducing a privileged resolution for the House to vote on.
"The House of Reps disapproves of the actions of Speaker Pelosi to initiate an impeachment inquiry against the duly elected President of the US, @realDonaldTrump."
Read the full resolution↓ pic.twitter.com/9xgYoVAl8P
HAPPENING NOW→ I'm introducing a privileged resolution for the House to vote on.
"The House of Reps disapproves of the actions of Speaker Pelosi to initiate an impeachment inquiry against the duly elected President of the US, @realDonaldTrump."
Read the full resolution↓ pic.twitter.com/9xgYoVAl8P
Favors, dirt, investigations: key takeaways from the Trump-Ukraine memo
The White House released a summary of Trump’s call with Zelenskiy that lies at the heart of the impeachment inquiry
The White House on Wednesday released a five-page summary of a 30-minute call between Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, that lies at the heart of the growing impeachment process.
Here are five key takeaways:
Continue reading...Adam Schiff condemns Donald Trump’s Ukraine call as a ‘mafia shakedown’ – video
Adam Schiff has compared Donald Trump’s communications with Ukraine, as reported in a White House memo, to the actions of a mobster. The House intelligence committee chair said the US president's conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart represented a 'classic, mafia-like shakedown' of a foreign leader. 'This is how a mafia boss talks,' Schiff said. 'And it’s clear that the Ukraine president understands exactly what is expected of him'
Continue reading...‘There was absolutely no pressure’: Trump on Ukraine controversy – video
Donald Trump has said he put ‘absolutely no pressure’ on Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. He told reporters after the White House released notes of the phone call he had with the president of Ukraine that the impeachment inquiry was a 'disgraceful thing’. He added: ‘The way you built up that call it was going to be the call from hell. It turned out to be a nothing call, other than a lot of people said I never knew you could be so nice’
Continue reading...Trump seemed to be untouchable – that may have just changed
Documentation has never before emerged of Trump asking for dirt on his opponents – and there are signs he may be in deeper trouble
For decades there has been a “catch me if you can” quality about Donald Trump, skipping from casino bankruptcies to fraudulent universities to porn actor payoffs. As president, Trump has at times seemed likewise untouchable, even as the number of his discarded former allies piles up and his political capital pays out.
But documentation has never before emerged, as it did on Wednesday, of Trump as US president asking a foreign leader for dirt on his political opponents. And there’s reason to believe that much more, and worse, is about to come out.
Continue reading...‘It’s a witch-hunt’: Donald Trump lashes out as impeachment calls grow – video
Donald Trump says growing calls for his impeachment are 'nonsense' after it emerged he withheld nearly $400m in aid to Ukraine.
The US president ordered staff to withhold the aid before demanding Ukraine’s president investigate Joe Biden and his son, it emerged on Tuesday. Trump said the controversial phone call, with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, had been 'perfect'
Continue reading...Trump allies pounce on impeachment inquiry to bolster president
Republicans were ready to weaponise Pelosi’s announcement against her, Biden and other Democrats
When, with six American flags at her back, Nancy Pelosi stood in the hallway at the Capitol and, at 5pm on Tuesday, announced an official impeachment inquiry, it was the moment many Democrats had been waiting for.
It was also the moment many allies of Donald Trump had been waiting for.
Continue reading...Pelosi announces impeachment inquiry into Trump over Ukraine scandal
Investigation will cast a dark cloud over Trump’s already norm-shattering presidency as he faces re-election
Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the US House of Representatives would begin a formal impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, setting the stage for an extraordinary constitutional clash over allegations that the president sought the help of a foreign country to harm a political rival.
“The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the constitution,” Pelosi said in a formal address in Washington on Tuesday evening. “The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law.”
Continue reading...Nancy Pelosi accuses Trump of ‘betrayal’ as she announces impeachment inquiry – video
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said Donald Trump’s actions represented a 'betrayal of his oath of office, a betrayal of our national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections' as she said the House of Representatives will launch a formal inquiry into whether the president should be impeached, declaring that no one is above the law. The Democratic-controlled House will examine whether Trump sought Ukraine's help to smear former vice-president Joe Biden, the front-runner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination
Continue reading...Impeachment calls grow amid revelation Trump ordered block on Ukraine aid
President ordered his staff to withhold nearly $400m in aid days before he pressured Ukraine’s president to investigate Biden
Donald Trump ordered his staff to withhold nearly $400m in aid to Ukraine days before he repeatedly pressured the country’s president to investigate a political rival, it emerged on Monday night.
Related: Why is the Trump-Ukraine whistleblower scandal so serious?
Continue reading...Robert O’Brien attended ‘routinely racist’ university in apartheid South Africa
Donald Trump’s new national security adviser studied at the segregated University of the Orange Free State
Donald Trump’s new national security adviser attended a segregated university in South Africa, described by one of its former vice-chancellors as “routinely racist”.
Robert O’Brien, a relatively junior official appointed to the top White House post on Wednesday, went to the University of the Orange Free State under the South African apartheid system. O’Brien’s LinkedIn page says he was there in 1987, while still an undergraduate. He received a scholarship from Rotary International and according to its records he was there from 1986. The first black undergraduate was admitted in 1988.
Continue reading...‘No, you’re corrupt!’: why there’s method in Trump’s playground taunts
The president’s tactic of redirecting accusations of misconduct back at his accuser is childish, petty … and surprisingly effective
“No, you are.”
Since he first emerged from the primordial muck of reality TV, Donald Trump has responded to attacks from political opponents with some version of that playground phrase. When accused of this, or revealed to have done that, Trump simply blurts “she did it” or “he’s guilty”, whatever the charge may be.
Continue reading...Trump claims that if Biden were a Republican he’d get the ‘electric chair’ – as it happened
The president repeated his debunked claims that the former vice-president and his son are corrupt
That is it from me for the night. Here are the top stories to note from this afternoon:
Officials in Ames, Iowa say the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has requested the city remove inclusive multi-colored crosswalk art in a letter sent this month.
Ames, a college town with a population of around 67,000 people, installed painted sidewalks earlier this month. The new art includes gender non-binary pride colors, rainbow colors for LGBTQ rights, and colors representing support of transgender equality.
Continue reading...Leaked letter suggests US is rallying UN member states to oppose abortion
Attempt to ‘roll back the clock’ condemned as governments are urged to oppose UN support for reproductive rights
The US is understood to have written to UN member states urging them to join a “growing coalition” of countries rallying against abortion, in what seems to be the latest attempt by the Trump administration to rollback women’s rights.
A letter, seen by the Guardian, is believed to have been sent to governments deemed sympathetic to the administration’s view on reproductive health.
Continue reading...Trump goes on offensive over Biden and Ukraine as Schiff ponders impeachment
- Whistleblower scandal swirls over Washington
- Q&A: What is the Trump-Ukraine scandal about?
Donald Trump, his aides and allies went on the offensive on Sunday, over what the president claims is un-investigated corruption involving Joe Biden and his son in Ukraine.
Related: Ukraine furore confirms Giuliani as Trump's most off-kilter advocate
Continue reading...Elizabeth Warren overtakes Joe Biden in new Iowa poll
- Massachusetts senator takes support from Bernie Sanders
- Booker will exit race if $1.7m not raised by end of month
Elizabeth Warren leads Joe Biden in Iowa for the first time, according to a new poll in the early voting state.
Related: How Trump could lose the popular vote again – and hold the White House
Continue reading...