Politics Election category, Page 335
Trump administration blocks ‘urgent’ whistleblower disclosure
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration plunged into an extraordinary showdown with Congress over access to a whistleblower’s complaint about reported incidents including a private conversation between President Donald Trump and a foreign leader. The blocked complaint is “serious” and “urgent,” the government’s intelligence watchdog said. The administration is keeping Congress...
House chairman Adam Schiff: Whistleblower complaint may involve TrumpVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence is refusing to turn over to Congress a whistleblower complaint that reportedly concerns Trump making an unspecified promise to a foreign leader. It’s a matter of urgent concern, the intelligence community’s inspector general said. Trump, though giving no details about any...
House OKs measure to prevent possible end-of-month shutdown
WASHINGTON — The House has passed a short-term ending bill to prevent a federal shutdown when the budget year ends Sept. 30. The bipartisan measure, approved by a 301-123 vote, would give lawmakers until the Thanksgiving break to negotiate and pass $1.4 trillion worth of annual agency spending bills. The...
Trump sues Manhattan DA seeking to block tax return subpoena
NEW YORK — President Trump asked a federal court Thursday to block an effort by New York prosecutors to obtain his tax returns as part of a criminal investigation, opening another front in the president’s efforts to keep his financial information private. Trump’s attorneys filed a lawsuit against Manhattan District...
Southwestern Pennsylvania mayors endorse Pete Buttigieg
Mayors from two Monongahela River communities in Southwestern Pennsylvania signed on to a letter this week endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind. Mayor Matt Shorraw, of Monessen in Westmoreland County, and Mayor Ross Swords Jr., of Brownsville in Fayette County, were among the over...
Key Senate panel approves $250 million for election security
WASHINGTON — A key Senate panel on Thursday approved $250 million to help states beef up their election systems, freeing up the money after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell came under criticism from Democrats for impeding separate election security legislation. The Kentucky Republican announced in a floor speech in advance...
Sen. Bob Casey cites Tree of Life massacre as he calls for gun bills voteVideo
Calling gun violence a uniquely American problem and citing last year’s massacre of worshippers inside a Pittsburgh synagogue, U.S. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, took to the floor of the Senate in an emotional 25 minute speech, imploring Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to call for a vote on a federal gun...
Acting intelligence director Joseph Maguire balks at House subpoena
WASHINGTON — The acting director of national intelligence is balking at demands from the House intelligence committee to turn over a secret whistleblower complaint or appear at a hearing this week, escalating a weeklong standoff. Committee Chairman Adam Schiff subpoenaed Joseph Maguire last week, saying he was withholding a whistleblower...
Trump, in California, says cities ‘destroy themselves’ with homelessnessVideo
PALO ALTO, Calif. — President Donald Trump arrived in California late Tuesday morning amid growing questions over his administration’s plans to get involved in the state’s homelessness crisis. After a visit to the San Francisco Bay Area, the president landed at Los Angeles International Airport. Trump is in the state...
Corey Lewandowski rebuffs questions at House impeachment hearing
WASHINGTON — Democrats’ first hearing in what they are calling an impeachment investigation quickly turned sour Tuesday as their sole witness, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, refused to answer most of their questions. Lewandowski was following White House orders not to discuss confidential conversations with the president beyond what...
Protest likely to greet Trump fundraising trip in California
RIO RANCHO, N.M. — President Donald Trump is making a rare visit to California, a Democratic stronghold where he is expected to rake in millions of dollars during a series of fundraisers for his reelection effort that are almost certain to be met with jeering protests. Trump has routinely mocked...
White House orders 2 former aides to defy House subpoenas
WASHINGTON — The White House has instructed two former aides to President Donald Trump not to appear at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, saying Rick Dearborn and Rob Porter are “absolutely immune” from testifying at what the panel is calling its first impeachment hearing. In a letter sent to...
House panel investigates Elaine Chao for possible conflicts
WASHINGTON — The House Oversight Committee said Monday it is investigating whether Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao acted improperly to benefit herself or her family’s shipping company. Two Democratic leaders sent Chao a letter asking her to turn over documents and communications related to the New York-based company, Foremost Group. Chao’s...
New York prosecutors subpoena Trump’s tax returns in hush-money probe
NEW YORK — New York City prosecutors have subpoenaed President Donald Trump’s tax returns, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Monday. Manhattan District Attorney’s Cyrus Vance Jr.’s office recently sent a subpoena to Trump’s accounting firm seeking the last eight years of state and federal...
Presidential hopeful Amy Klobuchar to visit Pittsburgh
Sen. Amy Klobuchar is scheduled to visit Pittsburgh on Wednesday as she kicks off her “Blue Wall Tour,” visits to states President Donald Trump flipped from blue to red in 2016. Klobuchar, of Minnesota, is one of 20 hopefuls vying for the Democratic presidential nomination. She’ll host a meet-and-greet in...
Elizabeth Warren offers anti-corruption plan central to her campaign
NEW YORK — Elizabeth Warren has released a proposal aimed at government corruption, providing a detailed policy roadmap for a fight she says is at the core of her presidential campaign. The Democratic senator from Massachusetts is announcing the plan Monday in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park, near the site of...
Trump targets border state with rally amid defiant Democrats
SANTA FE, N.M. — Donald Trump lost New Mexico by 8 percentage points in 2016. Last year, his party lost a House seat and the governor’s mansion. Last week, a congressional candidate went viral by taunting the president by name in an ad. Still, Trump is headed to New Mexico...
Woman arrested after throwing liquid on California Senate
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California police have arrested a woman who threw a feminine hygiene device containing “what appeared to be blood” onto the floor of the state Senate, splashing onto lawmakers and forcing them to finish their work in a committee room on the final day of the legislative session....
Fact check: Dems draw link between Trump, El Paso murders
WASHINGTON — Ten Democrats seeking the presidency tripped over some details Thursday night as they sparred in a debate thick with policy and personal stories. Several made provocative accusations that President Donald Trump inspired the deadly shooting in El Paso, Texas, last month. On the policy front, Bernie Sanders claimed...
‘Rat-infested’ Baltimore greets Trump with giant inflated rodent in his likeness
Remember when President Trump referred to Baltimore as a “rat and rodent infested mess” in July? Plenty of Baltimoreans do. In advance of the president’s arrival there Thursday, protesters erected a giant, inflated rat balloon with a Trump-like head on President Street. View this post on Instagram BALTIMORE DO NOT...
Former Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell slams Elizabeth Warren over campaign ‘hypocrisy’
A former Pennsylvania governor has an odd way of showing support for a fellow Democrat. Ed Rendell on Wednesday had a piece in The Washington Post where he claimed to like Elizabeth Warren “a lot” and vowed to “campaign for you with all my heart” if she got the Democratic...
Trump administration drops Obama-era water protection ruleVideo
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The Trump administration Thursday revoked an Obama-era regulation that shielded many U.S. wetlands and streams from pollution but was opposed by developers and farmers who said it hurt economic development and infringed on property rights. Environmental groups criticized the administration’s action, the latest in a series...
Judge blocks Tennessee voter signup penalties, citing harm
NASHVILLE — A federal judge has blocked Tennessee’s new restrictions for registering voters from taking effect on Oct. 1, saying Thursday that any benefit of the law won’t likely outweigh its potential harm. The ruling, for now, sets aside a law that goes beyond other states by fining groups that...
GOP sides with Trump on wall; Dems now threaten filibuster
WASHINGTON — A Republican-controlled Senate committee Thursday rejected Democratic attempts to cut President Donald Trump’s border wall request and his moves to pay for the project without congressional approval. Democrats threatened to filibuster a Pentagon spending bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee lined up behind Trump in party-line votes approving an...
House committee approves guidelines for impeachment hearings
WASHINGTON — House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler says there’s no confusion about what his committee is doing: It’s an impeachment investigation, no matter how you want to phrase it. Nadler tried to clear up any misconceptions Thursday as the committee approved guidelines for impeachment hearings on President Donald Trump...
