Politics Election category, Page 360
Trump opposes further disaster aid for battered Puerto Rico
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s opposition to further disaster aid for hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico hardened on Tuesday as he told GOP allies at a Capitol Hill meeting that the U.S. island territory has gotten too much rebuilding money compared with mainland states like Florida and Texas. Trump’s ardent opposition to additional...
Deep cuts to Special Olympics student programs are warranted, Betsy DeVos saysVideo
WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday defended deep cuts to programs meant to help students and others, including eliminating $18 million to support Special Olympics, while urging Congress to spend millions more on charter schools. “We are not doing our children any favors when we borrow from their...
Democrats cry foul as Trump calls for striking down ‘Obamacare’Video
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has told a federal appeals court it wants the entire Affordable Care Act struck down, an outcome that could leave millions uninsured and re-ignite a winning political issue for Democrats. The administration, in a terse filing Monday with the court in New Orleans, said it...
Pa. Democrats, Muslim lawmaker decry opening prayer as divisive
HARRISBURG — The first female Muslim member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives said Tuesday she was offended by a colleague’s decision to open a voting session with a prayer a day earlier that “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow.” Democratic Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell of Philadelphia said...
House fails to override Trump veto of his border emergency
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled House fell short Tuesday in its effort to override President Donald Trump’s first veto, handing him a victory in his effort to spend billions more for constructing barriers along the Southwest border than Congress has approved. Lawmakers voted 248-181 in favor of overturning his veto, mostly...
Trump ramps up attacks on media in aftermath of Mueller probe
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday ratcheted up his attacks on the media following the conclusion of a two-year investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller that did not establish coordination between Trump and Russia on election interference. “The Mainstream Media is under fire and being scorned all over the...
Federal appeals court to consider whether Trump can block critics on Twitter
NEW YORK - President Donald Trump’s Twitter habits are up for argument Tuesday morning, as federal judges consider whether he and other elected officials can block critical voices from their social media accounts. Justice Department lawyers, defending the president, say the realDonaldTrump account is Trump’s personal platform to share his...
Buttigieg gains with crowds, TV spots and campaign cash
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg is riding in the back of a rented minivan to his last event of the day in South Carolina, munching on cold french fries and critiquing his stage performance so far. The enthusiastic crowds of hundreds who’ve packed his first two stops...
Trump says investigation abused him, led to ‘evil things’Video
WASHINGTON — House Democrats pressed the Justice Department to provide the full report from special counsel Robert Mueller even as Republicans gleefully called for them to “move on” from the Russia investigation. President Donald Trump accused those responsible for launching Mueller’s probe of “treasonous things against our country” and said...
Democrats ask for Mueller files; GOP exclaims ‘Move on’Video
WASHINGTON — House Democrats pressed the Justice Department on Monday to provide the full report from special counsel Robert Mueller even as Republicans gleefully called for them to “move on” from the Russia investigation. President Trump accused those responsible for launching Mueller’s probe of “treasonous things against our country” and...
Trump declares victory now but legal perils far from over
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump may be reveling in what he sees as “complete and total exoneration” from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, but his legal perils are far from over. Federal and state investigators in New York are deep into investigations of their own into Trump and those...
Mueller finds no Trump collusion, leaves obstruction open
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence President Donald Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election but reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. That brought a hearty claim of vindication from Trump but set the stage for new rounds of...
Pennsylvania’s 2020 Democratic primary could be competitive
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Beto O’Rourke’s splashy campaign event in Pennsylvania last week appeared to herald the start of the state’s presidential primary season. But if Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party faithful are searching for a favorite from among the crowded 2020 primary field, it may be in vain. Early-voting states typically make...
Trump’s allies celebrate ‘no collusion’ findings, while Democrats call for release of full report
The release of the special counsel’s “principal conclusions” Sunday prompted swift reaction from presidential candidates, former national security officials, lawmakers and media pundits who seized on the finding that there was no coordination during the 2016 presidential campaign between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia. Attorney General William Barr sent congressional...
Disaster aid bill facing a tricky path as it heads to Senate
WASHINGTON — A battle over funding for Puerto Rico is complicating the path forward for a long-delayed disaster aid bill that’s a top political priority for some of President Trump’s Republican allies as it heads to the Senate floor this week. At stake is $13.5 billion emergency relief legislation to...
Analysis: Investigations, more division likely to follow Mueller’s report
WASHINGTON — Next, more of the same, but with more entrenched division, a bitter crossfire of allegations and then, finally, a reckoning in the form of the 2020 presidential election. The long-awaited conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election is unlikely to crack...
DOJ: Trump campaign did not coordinate with Russia in 2016
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr told Congress Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller did not find that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign “or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia” in 2016. Barr also wrote in a letter that the evidence collected by Mueller does not conclusively show...
Mueller flashes smile as world awaits his report
WASHINGTON — As the world anxiously awaits the findings of the Russia investigation, special counsel Robert Mueller flashed a smile Sunday after going to church with his wife in Washington. Mueller and his wife, Ann, were at the morning service at St. John’s Episcopal Church near the White House. The...
Star witness: Brawling, scheming spy linked to Trump, Moscow
NEW YORK — The way Felix Sater tells it, his life is a screenplay just waiting to be written, with tales of drunken brawling, Wall Street rip-offs, international spying and a behind-the-scenes role in Donald Trump’s effort to build a skyscraper in Russia. Sater, a Soviet emigre who befriended Trump...
Capitals accept differences of opinion on White House visit
WASHINGTON — The news is constantly on television at the Washington Capitals’ practice facility, and like any workplace, there’s no shortage of opinions. “We’re human beings, and people share different opinions and different political views,” veteran team leader Brooks Orpik said. “It’s no different than anybody else. People that are...
Analysis: Trump’s legal troubles far from over as Mueller probe ends
The conclusion of the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign hardly spells the end of President Donald Trump’s legal woes. Nearly every organization Trump has run over the last decade remains under investigation by state or federal authorities, and he is mired...
Attorney general to release Mueller report’s ‘principal conclusions’ as early as today
Attorney General William Barr is expected to make public as early as today the principal conclusions of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 election, giving the public its first glimpse into the findings of the 22-month probe. Barr...
Schumer meets with Stacey Abrams about possible Senate bid for Georgia seat
Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat who narrowly lost her race for governor in 2018, met Friday with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is trying to recruit her to run for the Senate next year, according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting. Georgia has been a reliably Republican...
Robert Mueller concludes Russia probe, delivers report to AG Barr
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday turned over his long-awaited final report on the contentious Russia investigation that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump’s presidency, entangled Trump’s family and resulted in criminal charges against some of the president’s closest associates. The report, still confidential, marks the...
Pompeo: Perhaps Trump is, like Bible’s Esther, meant to save Jewish people from Iran
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested it is “possible” that President Donald Trump is meant to save the Jewish people, responding to an interview question whether Trump is a new Esther, a biblical character who convinced the king of Persia not to destroy the Jews. The comments came during Purim,...
