List of All Articles with Tag 'us politics'

The letter Donald Trump said he had received from special counsel Jack Smith reportedly listed three federal statutes that could constitute charges against him over the Jan 6 riots. The three federal statutes mentioned in the letter by Mr Smith, according to several reports, are conspiracy to commit offence or to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under colour of law and tampering with a witness, victim or informant. Mr Trump is the sole individual mentioned in the letter and there are no other names mentioned, according to a source with knowledge of the matter cited by Rolling Stone magazine. Mr Trump had earlier on Tuesday confirmed he had received a letter from Mr Smith in a Truth Social post. “On Sunday night, while I was with my family...HORRIFYING NEWS for our country was given to me by my attorneys,” he wrote. “Deranged Jack Smith...sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.” Meanwhile, Florida representative Matt Gaetz revealed on his podcast that he planned to introduce a bill in the near future to defund Mr Smith’s investigation into the former president. Mr Gaetz’s announcement came just hours after Mr Trump gave confirmation of him receiving Mr Smith’s letter. “In the coming hours, the coming days, I will be introducing legislation under my name, in the House of Representatives, as a freestanding bill, to defund the Jack Smith investigation,” Mr Gaetz said on Tuesday. “And one reason why is the election interference feature. Another reason why: the lack of transparency.” CNN reported that the former president has reached out to House of Representatives speaker Kevin McCarthy and House GOP Conference chair Elise Stefanik for political assistance with the fallout from the probe. Should Mr Trump face criminal charges related to his efforts to stop Joe Biden’s lawful assumption of power following his own failure to prove his countless conspiratorial allegations of election fraud, it would be the third criminal indictment to come down on the ex-president’s shoulders this year. A source familiar with the special counsel’s probe and Department of Justice operating procedures told The Independent that the earliest an indictment could be handed down is late Thursday or Friday, after the deadline for Mr Trump to avail himself of the invitation to testify before the grand jury has passed. Read More DeSantis fights to reset his stagnant campaign as Trump dominates the 2024 conversation Trump's target letter suggests the sprawling US probe into the 2020 election is zeroing in on him Trump fumes about ‘crooked’ DOJ after losing immunity in E Jean Carroll case Voting fraud claims spread ahead of Spanish election IRS whistleblowers to testify to Congress as they claim 'slow-walking' of Hunter Biden case A key part of Biden's strategy to control immigration at the US-Mexico border gets a court hearing

The Biden administration has suspended funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology following a monthslong review that determined that the Chinese research institute "is not compliant with federal regulations and is not presently responsible," according to a memo from the Department of Health and Human Services.

A super PAC supporting Sen. Tim Scott's presidential run is placing a $40 million TV and digital ad reservation -- the largest amount booked for any presidential candidate so far in the 2024 race.

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger met in Beijing with Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, according to the Chinese Ministry of Defense.

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, ordinarily a strong supporter of Israeli policy, referred to the country’s “apartheid wall” during an address in the US House of Representatives. Israel has again been in the headlines in Washington this week after Rep Pramila Jayapal of Washington called Israel a “racist state” before walking her comments back over the weekend. The House overwhelmingly voted in favour on Tuesday of a resolution backing Israel that did not name Ms Jayapal but appeared to be crafted in response to her comments. Israeli President Isaac Herzog, meanwhile, is set to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday that several progressive lawmakers have announced they will boycott. On Tuesday, Ms Greene waded into the fray. In a speech on the importance of borders, Ms Greene quoted from an article that referred to the giant wall Israel has constructed between its territory and the Palestinian West Bank as an “apartheid” wall. “Walls are very important for most countries,” Ms Greene began. “There’s many countries with walls. I have one article here that comes from earlier this month that says, talking about 65 countries that have erected fences on their borders, also talking about walls, talking about security fears, widespread refusals to help refugees have fueled a new spate of wall-building around the world. “They include Israel’s apartheid — “apartheid” — wall, India’s 2,500-mile fence around Bangladesh, and Morocco’s huge sand berm,” Ms Greene continued. “So many countries around the world agree that walls are important in protecting the people within the country.” It was not immediately clear which article Ms Greene was citing, but if the second-term lawmaker from Georgia chooses to stand by her characterisation of Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians as apartheid, she will be in good company. Two years ago, Human Rights Watch said Israel is guilty of crimes against humanity in the West Bank and Gaza including apartheid. Public opinion in the Democratic Party, meanwhile, has shifted to the point where more Democrats now say their sympathies primarily lie with the Palestinians rather than Israel. That change in opinion has not, however, been reflected in Congress. Only nine members of the House opposed Tuesday’s resolution on support for Israel, all progressives. With just a pair of exceptions, the rest of the Democratic caucus and all voting Republicans supported the resolution. Mr Herzog, the Israeli president, serves as head of state while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu serves as head of government. Mr Herzog visited President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday. Read More AOC and other progressives to boycott Israeli president’s joint address to Congress Republicans under fire for hosting Robert F Kennedy Jr on the Hill in wake of antisemitism claims

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state's historic move to ban cash bail is constitutional, overturning a lower court decision.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday defended his Pentagon plan in an exclusive interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, which would address recruiting woes by stripping the military of so-called "woke" policy.

Navy veteran Hung Cao, a Republican who lost a closer-than-expected race for a US House seat in Virginia last year, formally announced a challenge to Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine on Tuesday.

Louisiana's legislature utilized its Republican supermajority Tuesday to enact a ban on gender-affirming care for most minors, overriding its Democratic governor who had vetoed the bill.

The Senate voted Tuesday evening to advance a critical national defense bill nearer to a final passage vote, moving one step closer to a showdown with the House over the must-pass legislation.

State prosecutors in Michigan announced criminal charges Tuesday against the 16 Republicans who served as fake electors in 2020, a watershed moment in the still-ongoing federal and state investigations into the 2020 election aftermath.

Donald Trump has claimed that he has “effectively” been indicted on charges for a third time – this time over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The former president took to Truth Social on Tuesday morning to claim that he had been informed that he is the “target” of a grand jury investigation by special prosecutor Jack Smith. “On Sunday night, while I was with my family...HORRIFYING NEWS for our country was given to me by my attorneys,” said Mr Trump. “Deranged Jack Smith...sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.” His announcement came on the same day Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced criminal charges against 16 people who signed certificates falsely declaring that Mr Trump won the 2020 presidential election, part of a nationwide scheme to upend the results in states that the former president lost to Joe Biden. In addition, the first hearing took place in the federal classified documents case. A trial date is still to be set. Read More Donald Trump brands US a ‘third-world hellhole’ run by ‘perverts’ and ‘thugs’ Ron DeSantis campaign fires staff as Florida governor trails Trump in the polls Fundraising takeaways: Trump and DeSantis in their own tier as Pence and other Republicans struggle RFK Jr revives antisemitic conspiracy theory that Covid-19 was ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Jewish people