Politics Election category, Page 348
Former US Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi dies at 81
JACKSON, Miss. — Former U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, who served seven terms and used seniority to steer billions of dollars to his home state of Mississippi, has died. He was 81. Cochran’s final chief of staff, Brad White, said Cochran died Thursday at a veterans’ nursing home in Oxford. Cochran...
White House wanted USS John S. McCain covered up during Trump’s Japan visit
The White House asked Navy officials to obscure the USS John S. McCain while President Trump was visiting Japan, Pentagon and White House officials said Wednesday night. A senior Navy official confirmed that he was aware someone at the White House sent a message to service officials in the Pacific...
Health care industry resists White House proposal for pricing transparency
WASHINGTON — President Trump is preparing to issue an executive order to foster greater price transparency across a broad swath of the health care industry while consumer concerns about their costs for medical treatment emerge as a major issue in the leadup to next year’s presidential election. The most far-reaching...
Mueller’s public statement fuels calls for Trump impeachmentVideo
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s first — and possibly last — public statement on the Russia investigation is fueling fresh calls on Capitol Hill to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump, a step that Democratic leaders have so far resisted. Surprising Washington with brief remarks Wednesday, Mueller indicated it’s...
Trump urges Roy Moore not to run for U.S. Senate in Alabama
President Donald Trump on Wednesday discouraged Alabama Republican Roy Moore from running for U.S. Senate again in 2020, saying the GOP must regain the once reliably red state and Moore “cannot win.” Moore, who contends establishment Republicans are trying to keep him from running, disputed the assertion saying, “everybody knows...
McConnell says he would fill a Supreme Court vacancy in 2020
When President Barack Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in 2016, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., refused to consider him, blocking the nominee until after the year’s presidential election. But with his party in the White House, McConnell said Tuesday he’d try to push through any...
Robert Mueller says charging president ‘not an option,’ resigns from DOJVideo
WASHINGTON — In his first public statement on the Russia investigation Wednesday, special counsel Robert Mueller said charging a president with a crime was “not an option” his team could consider in the Russia investigation. Mueller said he was bound by longstanding Justice Department opinions that say a president can’t...
Biden campaign says Trump’s attacks are ‘beneath the dignity of the office’Video
Joe Biden’s campaign swung back at President Trump on Tuesday, calling his attacks on the former vice president while traveling in Japan over the Memorial Day weekend “beneath the dignity of the office.” Members of both parties had criticized Trump in recent days after he tweeted that he has “confidence”...
Disaster aid bill blocked in House by GOP conservative Thomas MassieVideo
WASHINGTON — A second conservative Republican on Tuesday blocked another attempt to pass a long-overdue $19 billion disaster aid bill, delaying again a top priority for some of President Trump’s most loyal allies on Capitol Hill. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky said that if Democratic leaders like Speaker Nancy Pelosi...
Utah Judge Michael Kwan suspended for bashing Trump online and in court
The Utah Supreme Court suspended a judge for six months without pay this week over disparaging remarks he made about President Trump online and in his courtroom. The court ruling points to several instances in which Judge Michael Kwan, who has sat on the justice court bench for the city...
White House claims without proof that FBI has ‘outrageous’ corruption Barr will uncoverVideo
WASHINGTON — The White House on Sunday brushed aside congressional Democrats’ concerns about Atty. Gen. William Barr being handed extraordinary powers to declassify sensitive intelligence as part of a probe into the origins of the investigation into Russian efforts to sway the 2016 election. Reflecting his anger over unflattering depictions...
Republican Will Hurd criticizes Trump for sharing heavily edited video of PelosiVideo
A Republican lawmaker said Sunday that he is concerned about President Trump’s sharing of a heavily edited video that spliced together several verbal pauses by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, said that by sharing the video, Trump has escalated the debate over disinformation, which is “something...
State abortion bans may hand Democrats a political weapon
WASHINGTON — A flood of laws banning abortions in Republican-run states has handed Democrats a political weapon heading into next year’s elections, helping them paint the GOP as extreme and court centrist voters who could decide congressional races in swing states, members of both parties say. The Alabama law outlawing...
Judge blocks Trump from building sections of border wall
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge blocked on Friday President Donald Trump from building sections of his long-sought border wall with money secured under his declaration of a national emergency. U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam, Jr., on Friday immediately halted the administration’s efforts to redirect military-designated funds for wall construction....
WWII Code Talker and longtime NM lawmaker dies at 94
SANTA FE, N.M. — John Pinto, a Navajo Code Talker in World War II who became one of the nation’s longest serving Native American elected officials as a New Mexico state senator, has died. He was 94. Senate colleague Michael Padilla confirmed Pinto’s death in Gallup on Friday after years...
Barr could expose secrets, politicize intelligence with review of Russia probe, current and former officials fear
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump’s new executive order giving the attorney general broad authority to declassify government secrets threatens to expose U.S. intelligence sources and could distort the FBI and CIA’s roles in investigating Russian interference in the 2016 elections, current and former U.S. officials said. On Thursday, Trump allowed...
Students’ pro-Trump hats blurred from Pa. high school yearbookVideo
Someone assembling the yearbook at an Adams County high school wiped the MAGA slogan from students’ hats. Two students at Littlestown High School wore caps with “Trump: Make America Great Again” across the front during spirit week in October, reports FOX43. A photo of the pair made it into the...
$19.1B in disaster aid stalls in House after single Republican objects
WASHINGTON — A House Republican lawmaker blocked a $19.1 billion disaster aid package on Friday, delaying a bill that would send federal funding to disaster affected areas across the country. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, voted to block the legislation, which has the support of President Donald Trump and passed the...
Trump orders declassification of information related to origins of Russia probe
WASHINGTON — President Trump directed the U.S. intelligence community on Thursday to “quickly and fully cooperate” with Attorney General William Barr’s investigation of the origins of the multi-year probe of whether his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. The move marked an escalation in Trump’s efforts to “investigate the investigators,” as...
Senate approves deal on disaster aid, leaves out border money Trump demandedVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a $19.1 billion disaster aid package, advancing legislation that would break a months-long impasse over federal funding for stretches of the country afflicted by natural disasters. A top Senate Republican said the White House has signed off on the bipartisan compromise. House...
Senate backs bill to stem flood of robocalls plaguing cellphones
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are fed up with the barrage of scam and nuisance calls plaguing them and their constituents and on Thursday, the Senate passed a bipartisan measure to combat robocalls. Senators voted, 97-1, to pass a bill designed to authenticate and block robocalls and enforce penalties on scammers who...
Faked Nancy Pelosi videos, slowed to make her appear drunk, spread on social media
Distorted videos of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., altered to make her sound as if she’s drunkenly slurring her words, are spreading rapidly across social media, highlighting how political disinformation that clouds public understanding can now spread at the speed of the web. The video of Pelosi’s onstage speech Wednesday...
Donna Brazile: Biden would beat Trump in Pennsylvania despite president’s 2016 win
Joe Biden can take back a key battleground state that President Donald Trump won in 2016, according to ex-DNC Interim Chairwoman Donna Brazile. The former vice president can make up the less than one percentage point Trump won by in Pennsylvania over Hillary Clinton, Brazile claimed. “Look, I think it’s...
Pelosi questions Trump’s fitness; time for ‘intervention’?
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi openly questioned President Donald Trump’s fitness for office Thursday, suggesting a family or staff “intervention” after a dramatic blow-up at a White House meeting the previous day. Both the Republican president and Democratic leaders dug in a day after Trump stalked out of the...
Trump’s campaign centered on fighting Democrats, not policy
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump dropped the pretense of working with congressional Democrats on Wednesday and sent a clear message that his re-election campaign will be centered on condemning overzealous investigations rather than advancing a robust domestic policy agenda. Both sides may have feigned surprise at Trump’s angry outburst, in...
