Politics Election category, Page 334
Jindal gone, but not forgotten in Louisiana governor’s race
BATON ROUGE, La. — Bobby Jindal left the Louisiana governor’s office nearly four years ago and evaporated from the state political scene after a failed presidential bid. Still, he’s a permanent fixture in Louisiana’s current governor’s race. Democratic incumbent John Bel Edwards keeps his Republican predecessor front and center in...
A year after Khashoggi’s slaying, Saudi clampdown persists
NEW YORK — Nearly one year has passed since a team of 15 Saudi government agents flew to Turkey and killed Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. His body has still not been found, no one has been convicted and questions linger over the crown prince’s culpability. The Oct. 2 slaying brought...
Joe Biden to visit Pittsburgh in November
Former Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Pittsburgh on Election Day, Nov. 5, according to a statement from his campaign. No additional details about the visit were immediately available. Biden last brought his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination to Pittsburgh in April. He visited the Teamsters Local 249...
U.S. ambassador pressed Ukraine corruption fight before ouster
WASHINGTON — Months before the call that set off an impeachment inquiry, many in the diplomatic community were alarmed by the Trump administration’s abrupt removal of a career diplomat from her post as ambassador to Ukraine. The ambassador’s ouster, and the campaign against her that preceded it, are now emerging...
Subpoenas mark first concrete steps for Trump impeachment
WASHINGTON — House Democrats took their first concrete steps in the impeachment investigation of President Trump on Friday, issuing subpoenas demanding documents from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and scheduling legal depositions for other State Department officials. At the end of a stormy week of revelation and recrimination, House Speaker...
House rebukes Trump on border wall, but he plans veto
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled House made a second attempt Friday to overturn President Trump’s use of emergency powers to raid military base projects such as schools and target ranges to pay for his long-promised border fence. The 236-174 vote sent the legislation to Trump, who is sure to veto it...
North Korea to Trump: Make ‘bold decision’ to revive diplomacy
UNITED NATIONS — North Korea accused the United States on Friday of doing nothing to implement issues agreed on at summits between President Donald Trump and the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, but said it is placing hope in Trump’s “wise option and bold decision.” A statement from Foreign Ministry...
Trump calls on Schiff to ‘immediately resign’ over his portrayal of Trump’s call with ZelenskyVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday called for House Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff to resign over his portrayal of Trump’s message to Ukraine’s president in their phone call that the president called an attempt to “defraud the American public.” Rep. Adam Schiff totally made up my conversation with...
U.S. deploys air defense systems, troops to Saudi Arabia
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is sending one Patriot missile battery and four ground-based radar systems to Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said Thursday, in what officials describe as the first steps to help the kingdom protect itself against Iranian attacks. Two more Patriot batteries and a THAAD missile defense system will...
Whistleblower: White House tried to ‘lock down’ details of Ukraine call
WASHINGTON — A secret whistleblower complaint at the center of an impeachment inquiry alleges that President Donald Trump abused the power of his office to “solicit interference from a foreign country” in next year’s U.S. election. The White House then tried to “lock down” the information to cover it up,...
Washington plunges into Trump impeachment investigation
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pressed the leader of Ukraine to “look into” Joe Biden, Trump’s potential 2020 reelection rival, as well as the president’s lingering grievances from the 2016 election, according to a rough transcript of a summer phone call that is now at the center of Democrats’ impeachment...
How Trump’s Ukraine call could violate campaign finance laws
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s repeated prodding of the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden and his son could amount to an illegal request for a campaign contribution from a foreign citizen. Federal law states it is illegal to “knowingly solicit, accept, or receive from a foreign national any contribution...
Lindsey Graham launches campaign to defend Donald Trump amid threat of impeachment
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham spent Wednesday spreading words of unequivocal support for Donald Trump as the president embarked on the first 24 hours of life under official threat of impeachment. Shortly after the White House released the rough transcript of a phone call congressional Democrats say could be...
Sen. Bob Casey labels Trump call ‘a textbook abuse of power’
Calling President Trump’s request that the Ukrainian president investigate former Vice President Joe Biden “a textbook case of abuse of power,” Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, on Wednesday called on his colleagues to hold the president accountable and came out firmly in support of a formal House impeachment inquiry. Speaking to...
Trump rebuked on military base project cuts, but veto looms
WASHINGTON — The Senate has passed a measure that blocks President Donald Trump from using emergency powers to raid the budget for construction projects on military bases as a way to pay for building his fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. Eleven Republicans voted to rebuke the president on a 54-41...
Why now? How House Democrats shifted to favor starting impeachment proceedings
WASHINGTON — For months, House Democrats who represent swing congressional districts had largely resisted calls from party activists to begin impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. But in a matter of four days, the news that Trump had spoken with the leader of Ukraine and asked him to investigate a...
Nancy Pelosi orders impeachment probe: ‘No one is above the law’Video
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched a formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump on Tuesday, acquiescing to mounting pressure from fellow Democrats and plunging a deeply divided nation into an election year clash between Congress and the commander in chief. The probe centers on whether Trump abused his...
Trump says transcript of Ukraine conversation to be released
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he has directed the release on Wednesday of the “unredacted” transcript of his July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Trump has acknowledged that he discussed former Vice President Joe Biden in the call. Trump tweets Tuesday that “You will see it was...
‘Way too extreme’: Some Democrats warn against moving left
BEAVER — The Democrats of Beaver County crowded onto the steps of a local courthouse, dozens of union men protesting a looming power plant closure that would put their livelihoods at risk. The crowd was overwhelmingly white and male, and few had college degrees. Left unsaid, at least from the...
Senate Republicans to look into whistleblower complaint about Trump pressuring UkraineVideo
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday the Senate Intelligence Committee will look into a whistleblower’s complaint that reportedly alleges President Donald Trump pressured the Ukrainian leader to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a possible Trump opponent in the 2020 presidential race. But only a handful of...
Trump finds himself caught in Khan-Modi crossfire over KashmirVideo
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump found himself drawn deeper into a decadeslong dispute between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region on Monday, as Pakistan’s prime minister expressed frustration about a rally his Indian counterpart staged with the U.S. president a day earlier. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that he...
Beto O’Rourke set to campaign in Pittsburgh
Beto O’Rourke will bring his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination to Western Pennsylvania this week, with stops scheduled for Pittsburgh and Erie. O’Rourke, a former U.S. congressman from Texas, will hold a town hall event Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 11:30 a.m. at Schenley Plaza in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood before...
Democrats blast latest Trump crisis. But what will they do?
WASHINGTON — A whistleblower’s complaint over President Donald Trump’s interactions with a foreign leader is testing the political and practical power Democrats can use against a Republican in the White House who so brazenly ignores protocol and presidential norms. Democrats were unanimous in their condemnation of Trump for going to...
UAW strike puts Trump, GOP in political bind in key states
LANSING, Mich. — Democrats were quick to back working-class United Auto Workers in their strike against General Motors, delivering doughnuts and holding picket signs outside factories to show solidarity. It’s a union they long have aligned with politically. There were no doughnuts from Republicans. Led by President Donald Trump, GOP...
Trump heads to UN with long list of deals he’s yet to close
WASHINGTON — President Trump, a self-described deal-maker, is saddled with a long list of unresolved foreign policy deals he has yet to close heading into his U.N. visit this coming week. There are challenges with Iran, North Korea, the Afghan Taliban, Israel and the Palestinians — not to mention a...
