List of All Articles with Tag 'us politics'

Federal prosecutors under supervision of Special Counsel Jack Smith have reportedly spoken with top election officials in Pennsylvania and New Mexico as part of the Justice Department probe into Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. According to CNN, Mr Smith’s team has in recent months conducted interviews of Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt and New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, with both officials providing information on “matters related to the 2020 election”. Mr Schmidt, who spoke with prosecutors in March, is a Republican who served as a Philadelphia City Commissioner during the 2020 election. He was named to his current post by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. CNN reported that prosecutors questioned Mr Schmidt about issues he encountered during the post-election period in 2020, including how he was impacted by misinformation about alleged voter fraud spread by Mr Trump and his allies. Last June, he told the now-defunct House January 6 select committee that he became the target of a slew of death threats from the then-president’s supporters after Mr Trump began attacking him in a series of tweets “became much more specific, much more graphic” after the then-president called him a “RINO” and a “disaster on the massive election fraud and irregularities which took place in Philadelphia”. The special counsel’s team has been speaking with election officials in swing states won by President Joe Biden in his 2020 contest with Mr Trump as part of their probe into the twice-impeached, now twice-indicted ex-president’s effort to remain in office against the will of voters. CNN also reported that Mr Smith’s team has sent subpoenas to officials in all seven of the states — Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada, Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — that were targeted by Mr Trump as he sought to reverse his losses to Mr Biden in each jurisdiction. Mr Smith and his team has also met with the top election officials from Michigan and Georgia, Jocelyn Benson and Brad Raffensperger. In an interview with the network, Ms Benson said prosecutors she spoke to appeared to be focused on how misinformation spread by Mr Trump’s allies affected election workers, as well as the “threats that emerged from that from various sources”. Read More Special counsel issues criminal warning to Trump Organization employee over alleged obstruction, report says Prosecutors say there is ‘no reason’ to delay Trump documents trial until after 2024 election Jared Kushner and Hope Hicks have testified in front of grand jury investigating Jan 6, reports say

Rep. George Santos' campaign paid $85,000 to the New York Republican in May, using donor money for a loan repayment, according to a Friday filing with federal election regulators.

The special counsel investigating former president Donald Trump threatened potential criminal charges against a Trump Organization employee suspected of lying to investigators, according to sources of ABC News. Jack Smith transmitted a letter to a staffer that indicated that he might have perjured himself in an appearance before the federal grand jury that ultimately indicted Mr Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents, the sources said to ABC. The letter appears to signal Mr Smith’s interest in the Trump Organization’s handling of surveillance footage and efforts of the organization to avoid sharing footage with investigators.

Federal prosecutors have interviewed the secretaries of state for both Pennsylvania and New Mexico in recent months as part of the ongoing investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to two sources familiar with the probe.

President Joe Biden raised $72 million for his reelection effort and for the Democratic Party in his first quarter of fundraising since launching his reelection bid in April, his campaign announced Friday.

White House director of legislative affairs Louisa Terrell, one of President Joe Biden's longest serving aides, is planning to leave the White House at the end of this month, CNN has learned.

Republican presidential contenders aiming to position themselves as the party's top alternative to former President Donald Trump will try to impress evangelicals in Iowa -- a crucial voting bloc in the state that kicks off the GOP nominating process -- at a major gathering Friday in Des Moines.

A Republican representative from Arizona triggered an angry response in the House of Representatives after using the term “coloured people” to refer to Black Americans during a floor debate. Eli Crane’s proposed amendment to an annual defence policy bill was met with a strong rebuke by the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus over his usage of the outdated phrase to refer to people of colour. Joyce Beatty, the Democratic representative from Ohio, demanded the phrase be struck from the record through the unanimous consent of the House. “My amendment has nothing to do with whether or not coloured people or Black people or anybody can serve. It has nothing to do with any of that stuff,” Mr Crane said during the debate on the GOP-backed amendments to the National Defence Authorisation Act. “The military was never intended to be, you know, inclusive. Its strength is not its diversity. Its strength is its standards,” he said. “I am going to tell you guys this right now you can: You can keep playing around these games with diversity, equity and inclusion. But there are some real threats out there. And if we keep messing around and we keep lowering our standards, it’s not going to be good,” said the 43-year-old Republican. “I find it offensive and very inappropriate. I am asking for unanimous consent to take down the words of referring to me or any of my colleagues as coloured people,” the 73-year-old Ms Beatty said soon after Mr Crane’s remarks. At this point, Mr Crane interrupted and requested his statement be revised to use the phrase “people of colour” instead. The words were eventually struck from the record through unanimous consent. “In a heated floor debate on my amendment that would prohibit discrimination on the colour of one’s skin in the Armed Forces, I misspoke,” Mr Crane said in a statement. “Every one of us is made in the image of God and created equal.” On Thursday night, the House approved Mr Crane’s amendment with a vote of 214-210. “This just happened on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. A House Republican just referred to Black Americans serving in our military as ‘colored people.’ In 2023,” tweeted representative Don Beyer. “This is a shameful moment on the House floor,” tweeted the Black Caucus. “Rep Eli Crane referring to Black service members who risk their lives for our country as ‘colored people’ is unconscionable. The GOP fights against diversity, equity and inclusion training and prove everyday why it’s necessary.” Ms Beatty also took to social media after the debate to offer her response to the incident. “I am still in utter shock and disbelief that a Republican uttered the words ‘colored people’ in reference to African-American service members who sacrifice their lives for our freedom,” she tweeted. “I will not tolerate such racist and repugnant words in the House Chamber or anywhere in the Congress. That’s why I asked that those words be stricken from the record, which was done so by unanimous consent.” Read More Long-serving Ohio Democrat Kaptur heads back to Congress From AOC to Joe Manchin, the Democratic divide is becoming more severe Joe Biden signs law making lynching a federal hate crime: ‘Hate never goes away, it only hides’ Disney is asking a judge to toss a lawsuit from DeSantis appointees Democratic lawmaker screams at ‘exhausting’ Matt Gaetz on House floor Iowa's restrictive abortion measure faces legal challenge as governor prepares to sign it into law

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces a challenge Friday morning: A razor thin margin to get a must-pass defense policy bill over the finish line with a majority of Democrats signaling they cannot support the version of the legislation crafted by conservative Republicans.

A Democratic lawmaker lost his cool with Matt Gaetz on the House floor on Thursday night, screaming that the far-right Republican is “exhausting”. Rep Steven Horsford, of Nevada, singled out Mr Gaetz while giving an impassioned speech in defence of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the military and calling out shocking racially-charged comments made by multiple members of the Republican party in recent days. On Thursday, House Republicans introduced an amendment to a military spending bill pushing to ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the Department of Defense (DOD). Mr Horsford slammed the move warning it would hamper efforts to improve diversity in the military. “This amendment does nothing to address the recruitment shortfalls that our services are facing and instead it will only make it more difficult to recruit Americans of diverse backgrounds representing the true makeup of our nation,” he said. At this point, he turned and addressed Mr Gaetz directly, his voice rising. “What are you so afraid of? Why do you keep bringing these divisive issues to the body of this floor?” he asked, before shouting: “You are out of order! You are exhausting, Mr Gaetz!” Mr Gaetz – who is currently the focus of a revived House Ethics Committee investigation into his alleged misconduct – complained about Mr Horsford’s actions. “Mr Speaker, the childish antics that we just observed indicate that we’ve got a lot of work to do, both in this House and the military, not to have radical racial ideology governing our discourse and governing the policy choices that we make in these bills,” he said. During the heated debate, Mr Horsford, who is Black, also condemned comments made by Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville – who has repeatedly defended white nationalists – and Republican Rep Eli Crane – who used the term “coloured people” earlier on the House floor. “Just this week, the sponsor of this amendment called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the military a, quote, ‘failed experiment.’ He has called it ‘cancerous’,” said Mr Horsford. “Just this week a senator from Alabama stated that it was his opinion that White nationalists are not necessarily racist and refused to denounce white nationalists serving in the military.” He continued: “Just an hour ago, on this very floor, one of the members on the other side of this body said his amendment, quote, ‘had nothing to do whether coloured people or Black people can serve.’” Mr Horsford said such comments by lawmakers “show exactly why we need diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives” in place. Mr Crane faced an instant backlash on Thursday night when he defended the bill amendment by using the offensive term for people of colour. “My amendment has nothing to do with whether or not coloured people or Black people or anybody can serve. It has nothing to do with any of that stuff,” Mr Crane said. The comment was widely condemned and ultimately struck from the record. Meanwhile, for the past couple of months, Mr Tuberville – who has been blocking the confirmation of senior military officials in protest of the DOD’s abortion policy – has repeatedly refused to condemn white nationalists as racist. “I call them Americans,” he said in May. This week, he then claimed that he can’t possibly be racist because he worked with many people of colour during his time as a football coach. On Tuesday, he finally walked back his defence of white nationalists, now admitting that they “are racists”. Following Thursday’s heated debate, House members voted on the amendment. The Republican-majority House passed the amendment by just one vote of 214 to 213, striking down diversity initiatives in the military. Read More Anger in House as Republican uses ‘racist and repugnant’ term to refer to Black Americans Biden calls out GOP senator’s ‘ridiculous’ block on military promotions: ‘It jeopardises US security’ GOP senator says he can’t be racist because he’s a football coach – after white nationalist comments House Ethics Committee revives ‘misconduct’ probe into rep Matt Gaetz Christopher Wray hits back at Gaetz after Republican presses him on trust in the FBI ‘Rage-baiting’ leftist Twitter account is probably fake, expert says

Facing a long summer of running from behind former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is for now resisting calls to dramatically change course in his presidential campaign, instead targeting the first debate in late August as his opportunity to alter the trajectory of the race.

If you forgot to file your taxes during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, you have until Monday to do so. The 2019 return must be filed on paper, rather than electronically, and be postmarked by July 17.