Recordings obtained by the Guardian show Republican state representative Matt Shea and several associates telling an audience to arm themselves for a looming civil war. The audio was taken in a remote north-eastern religious compound in Washington state last year. In the recordings they can be heard saying 'How many of you have pulled the trigger on your AR-15 in the fight we are in yet?' and 'The war is here – the bad guy is here'
Continue reading...Category Archives: US Politics
Mueller criticized attorney general’s memo on Russia findings
In letter to Barr, special counsel said attorney general ‘did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance’ of investigation
The special counsel Robert Mueller wrote a letter to US attorney general William Barr expressing frustration with how the attorney general characterized the conclusions of Mueller’s investigation into potential ties between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia, according to multiple reports.
The Washington Post, the New York Times and NBC reported on Tuesday that Mueller penned the letter in late March, after Barr wrote a four-page summary of the special counsel’s work that largely cleared Trump on potential obstruction of justice.
Continue reading...Lies, damned lies and Donald Trump: the pick of the president’s untruths
The White House incumbent has told a staggering 10,000 lies since taking office, some big, some trifling. Here’s a selection
Donald Trump likes to boast about his achievements, imagined and otherwise, that is no secret. The president regularly trumpets the success of the greatest economy ever, and the strongest military, and the most decisive electoral victory and all manner of other superlatives he’s supposed to have delivered. But one that is undeniable is that he has just become one of the most prolific liars in the history of American governance, passing the 10,000th lie of his administration this week – meaning an average of almost 17 lies a day over 604 days.
Related: Trump has made 10,000 untrue claims as president, factcheckers say
Continue reading...Trump’s record on white nationalism under new scrutiny after synagogue shooting
Kellyanne Conway, the president’s counselor, sought to defend Trump’s record during CNN interview: ‘He does think it’s a threat’
The Trump administration faced fresh scrutiny on Sunday over the president’s fraught record on white nationalism in the wake of a suspected hate crime at a synagogue in California on Saturday, which left one woman dead and three injured.
Trump unequivocally condemned the shooting, telling a rally on Saturday evening in Wisconsin: “Our entire nation mourns the loss of life, prays for the wounded, and stands in solidarity with the Jewish community. We forcefully condemn the evil of anti-Semitism and hate, which must be defeated.”
Continue reading...Barr threatens to skip House hearing on Mueller report over format dispute
Attorney general has expressed objections to House judiciary committee’s questioning format, according to Democratic aide
The Department of Justice (DoJ) has informed the powerful House of Representatives judiciary committee that attorney general William Barr may not attend a Thursday hearing to review special counsel Robert Mueller’s report of the Trump-Russia investigation.
Barr has expressed objections over the panel’s questioning format, according to a senior Democratic committee aide.
Continue reading...Trump one chapter of bad fiction in America’s true history, White House correspondents’ dinner told
‘When you chip away at the press, you chip away at our democracy’, Pultitzer-winning historian Ron Chernow tells Trump-free event
As Donald Trump flailed his arms and railed against the media at a raucous campaign rally on Saturday night, a Pulitzer prize-winning historian delivered an elegantly scathing rebuke at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) annual dinner.
America the split screen nation – so evident in polarised reactions to special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian election interference – was on vivid display again in two speeches.
Continue reading...In fighting all oversight, Trump has made his most dictatorial move | Robert Reich
The president is treating Congress with contempt. This cannot stand – and Congress must fight back
“We’re fighting all the subpoenas,” says the person who is supposed to be chief executive of the United States government.
Related: Fox News analyst says Mueller report proves Trump did obstruct justice
Continue reading...‘It’s an outrage’: Putin attacks 18-month prison term for Maria Butina
- Russian president says sentence an attempt by US to ‘save face’
- Butina guilty of conspiring to infiltrate US conservative circles
Vladimir Putin on Saturday described as “an outrage” the sentencing of Russian gun rights activist Maria Butina to 18 months in prison in the US, calling her treatment a travesty of justice.
Related: Trump withdraws from UN arms treaty as NRA crowd cheers in delight
Continue reading...Bernie Sanders is the most feminist 2020 candidate, as far as I’m concerned | Arwa Mahdawi
Sanders is far from perfect, but it is ridiculous to claim that he is beloved purely by arrogant white bros
Sign up for the Week in Patriarchy, a newsletter on feminism and sexism sent every Saturday.
Continue reading...Beto O’Rourke is coming to California. Can the trip redeem his campaign?
Over 25,000 Californians donated to his Senate run. Now as O’Rourke visits the state, he’s focused on voters rather than their wallets
For a moment, Beto O’Rourke, fresh faced and with a natural gift for cadence, was America’s great liberal hope – the consensus pick to be the next big thing. The two-time congressman from El Paso raised over $80m in 2018, more than any previous candidate for the US Senate, in his bid to unseat Ted Cruz. And he almost won, too, with whispers of a presidential run coming months before the vote.
But when he arrives in Los Angeles on Saturday, the first stop in a four-day swing through California, O’Rourke will be coming as not just a charismatic underdog, but as someone desperate to show he is still a rising star and not a has-been. Since launching his presidential campaign in March, O’Rourke has discovered that almost becoming a senator, and being slightly too liberal for Texas, have not proved to be standout attributes in a crowded field of contenders for the Democratic nomination.
Continue reading...Trump withdraws from UN arms treaty as NRA crowd cheers in delight
- Democrats condemn Trump’s ‘myopic’ decision to withdraw
- President at NRA summit vows to defend second amendment
Donald Trump has announced that the US will withdraw its support for a United Nations treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar global arms trade.
Addressing the National Rifle Association (NRA) in Indianapolis, the president said he would revoke America’s status as a signatory of the arms trade treaty regulating conventional weapons including small arms, battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships.
Continue reading...Trump tells NRA second amendment rights ‘under assault’ – live
Trump speaks at gun group’s conference in Indianapolis on same day Maria Butina given 18 months for conspiring to infiltrate NRA
•Joe Biden stopped short of apologizing to Anita Hill, in his first interview since announcing his presidential campaign. Told he had an opportunity to “apologize, say you’re sorry” for the way he handled Hill’s testimony during Clarence Thomas’ supreme court confirmation hearing, Biden equivocated. “I’m sorry she was treated the way she was treated. I wish we could have figured out a better way [to handle her testimony],” Biden said.
•Donald Trump claimed the second amendment was “under assault” in a typically free form speech to the National Rifle Association. The president also suggested he was “draining the [DC} swamp”, despite having appointed more than 350 lobbyists to government positions. Trump addressed the NRA at a time when the organization is seriously ailing. Tax filings for the right-wing gun-lobbying organization show it lost nearly $64m in 2016 and 2017.
It seems someone lobbed a phone at/in the general direction of Donald Trump as he came out to address the NRA. The president was unharmed.
whoever threw that phone has terrible aim if he/she was aiming for Trump https://t.co/CsO0IjJJ2B
Continue reading...Why can’t Twitter stop Trump’s hateful tweets about Ilhan Omar?
Congresswoman received death threats following video Trump posted – but he didn’t technically violate the rules
The rules just aren’t the same for Donald Trump as they are for the rest of us. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey apparently admitted as much this week on a phone call with Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar.
As reported by the Washington Post, Dorsey, often criticized for his inaction when it comes removing hateful and threatening content from the platform, was asked by Omar why he hadn’t taken down a video posted by Trump earlier in the month. The video, which spliced together misleading and out of context comments from Omar about the issue of Islamophobia with footage of the 9/11 attacks, was clearly targeted harassment to anyone who saw it.
Continue reading...Anita Hill says she is not satisfied with Biden’s regret over 1991 hearings – live
Hill said ‘I will be satisfied when I know there is real change’ after former vice-president’s campaign said he spoke to her
Charlottesville was a main focus in Joe Biden’s video announcing his run for president. It’s the first word he utters on camera, and the video features footage from the right-wing marches that took place in Charlottesville in 2017.
The core values of this nation… our standing in the world… our very democracy...everything that has made America -- America --is at stake. That’s why today I’m announcing my candidacy for President of the United States. #Joe2020 https://t.co/jzaQbyTEz3
“But I wasn’t surprised,” Bro, co-founder of the Heather Heyer Foundation set up in her daughter’s memory, told The Daily Beast. “Most people do that sort of thing. They capitalize on whatever situation is handy. He didn’t reach out to me, and didn’t mention her by name specifically, and he probably knew we don’t endorse candidates.”
In yet another instance of men telephoning women in performative but ultimately empty gestures, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey reportedly called Congresswoman Ilhan Omar regarding a tweet that President Trump broadcasted to his millions of followers that sparked a spike in death threats to the freshman lawmaker.
The Washington Post is reporting that in the phone call, Dorsey “stood by the company’s decision”:
Omar pressed Dorsey to explain why Twitter didn’t remove Trump’s tweet outright, according to a person familiar with the conversation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the call was private. Dorsey said that the president’s tweet didn’t violate the company’s rules, a second person from Twitter confirmed.
Dorsey also pointed to the fact that the tweet and video already had been viewed and shared far beyond the site, one of the sources said. But the Twitter executive did tell Omar that the tech giant needed to do a better job generally in removing hate and harassment from the site, according to the two people familiar with the call.
Continue reading...Joe Biden: Anita Hill not satisfied with former vice-president’s apology
Biden, who handled her testimony before the Senate in 1991, contacted Hill to express ‘regret for what she endured’
Former vice-president Joe Biden, who launched his third campaign for president on Thursday, told Anita Hill he regretted the way he handled her testimony against Clarence Thomas at the 1991 supreme court hearings but she was not “satisfied” by the conversation.
Biden contacted her earlier this month to express his “regret for what she endured” during the hearing, an attempt to reckon with a defining moment from his past that looms over his present bid for the White House.
Continue reading...Trump claims ‘I did nothing wrong’ as Democrats talk impeachment – live
The president has already been tweeting about the Mueller report this morning, ahead of two Democratic town halls today
This is also not true.
“Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson accuses United Kingdom Intelligence of helping Obama Administration Spy on the 2016 Trump Presidential Campaign.” @OANN WOW! It is now just a question of time before the truth comes out, and when it does, it will be a beauty!
GCHQ on Trump tweet: "As we have previously stated, the allegations that GCHQ was asked to conduct 'wire tapping' against the then President Elect are nonsense. They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored."
While railing against the Mueller report this morning on Twitter, Trump said the 448-page document was crafted by “angry Democrats” and had unlimited money/$35m behind it - one lie and one maybe truth.
Not to mention, his suggestion that the Supreme Court could intervene in impeachment is something the Supreme Court ruled it wouldn’t do in 1993.
The Mueller Report, despite being written by Angry Democrats and Trump Haters, and with unlimited money behind it ($35,000,000), didn’t lay a glove on me. I DID NOTHING WRONG. If the partisan Dems ever tried to Impeach, I would first head to the U.S. Supreme Court. Not only......
.....are there no “High Crimes and Misdemeanors,” there are no Crimes by me at all. All of the Crimes were committed by Crooked Hillary, the Dems, the DNC and Dirty Cops - and we caught them in the act! We waited for Mueller and WON, so now the Dems look to Congress as last hope!
Related: Trump says aides need not testify to Congress amid growing power struggle
Continue reading...Joe Biden to announce presidential bid on Thursday – live news
Former vice-president to officially launch bid for president, while Jared Kushner says Mueller investigation ‘just a big distraction’
Beto O’Rourke, the Texas congressman and presidential candidate, is jumping into the race for big donor $$$ with a New York City fundraiser next month in which hosts are asked to raise $25,000. The New York Times reports:
NEW: Beto O'Rourke will be holding private big $$$ fundraisers (his campaign has not previously held any).
Hosts are asked to raised $25,000 for a New York City event next month on May 13. pic.twitter.com/RbMpNz8DX8
The Guardian can confirm reports that former vice president Joe Biden will launch his 2020 campaign this week.
Sources close to Biden said he will make his announcement in a video to be released on Thursday and plans to hold an event in Pittsburgh on Monday.
Biden was initially expected to kick off his campaign on Wednesday before delaying his launch. Early polling shows Biden in the top tier of the Democratic field but in close competition with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for frontrunner status.
Jared Kushner dubs Trump-Russia investigation ‘a big distraction’
President’s son-in-law and senior adviser dismissed concerns about Russian spying operations at Time 100 summit
Jared Kushner has played down Russian interference in the 2016 US election, describing Moscow’s attack as “a bunch of Facebook ads” and calling Robert Mueller’s two-year special counsel investigation “a big distraction”.
Speaking at the Time 100 summit in New York City on Tuesday, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser dismissed concerns about Russian spying operations laid out in alarming detail over 199 pages of the Mueller report released last week.
Continue reading...Don McGahn, ex-White House counsel, subpoenaed over Mueller report
House judiciary committee chair demands McGahn testify before Congress as Democrats escalate investigation of Trump
The Democratic chairman of the House judiciary committee has issued a subpoena ordering that the former White House counsel Don McGahn testify before Congress. The move came as the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, vowed to hold Donald Trump to account following the release of Robert Mueller’s report on Russian influence on the 2016 US election.
Related: Giuliani rails against Mueller report as Democrats mull Trump impeachment
Continue reading...US toughens stance on Iran, ending exemptions from oil sanctions
Mike Pompeo says any nation interacting with Iran should do its diligence and err on the side of caution
The US has announced it will no longer exempt countries from sanctions that aim to impose a complete oil embargo on Iran.
Officials said the Trump administration would not renew any of the sanctions waivers granted to a handful of countries, including China, India, Turkey, Japan and South Korea, when those waivers expire on 2 May.
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