Politics Election category, Page 370
Judge orders Stone to explain imminent release of book that may violate gag order
Republican operative and longtime Donald Trump friend Roger Stone faced fresh legal trouble Friday after a federal judge ordered his attorneys to explain why they failed to tell her before now about the imminent publication of a book that could violate his gag order by potentially criticizing the judge or...
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee joins Democratic presidential field
SEATTLE — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee will seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, mixing calls for combating climate change and highlights of his liberal record with an aggressive critique of President Donald Trump. The 68-year-old governor is launching his bid Friday in Seattle, following recent visits to the first primary...
In America, talk turns to something unspoken for 150 years: Civil war
At a moment when the country has never seemed angrier, two political commentators from opposite sides of the divide concurred last week on one point, nearly unthinkable until recently: The country is on the verge of “civil war.” First came former U.S. attorney Joseph diGenova, a Fox News regular and...
President ordered top clearance for Jared Kushner despite concerns of John Kelly, intel officials
WASHINGTON — President Trump early last year directed his then-chief of staff, John Kelly, to give presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner a top-secret security clearance — a move that made Kelly so uncomfortable that he documented the request in writing, according to current and former administration officials. After Kushner, a senior...
Former governor Paul LePage: Dissolving Electoral College would hurt whites
BANGOR, Maine — Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage says any elimination of the Electoral College would hurt white people. LePage told WVOM radio that allowing the popular vote to choose the president would give minorities more power and that “white people will not have anything to say.” Proposals to eliminate...
Andrew Wheeler, former energy lobbyist, confirmed as nation’s top environmental official
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday approved former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to head the Environmental Protection Agency by a vote of 52 to 47, elevating a veteran of Washington political and industry circles who has advanced President Trump’s push to roll back Obama-era environmental regulations. Wheeler, who began his...
Cohen returns to Capitol Hill after slamming Trump as liar
WASHINGTON — In a damning depiction of Donald Trump, the president’s former lawyer cast him as a racist and a con man who used his inner circle to cover up politically damaging allegations about sex and who lied throughout the 2016 election campaign about his business interests in Russia. A...
Some conservatives are rejecting star-studded CPAC to talk about the national debt
WASHINGTON — Heath Mayo had had enough of CPAC, and now his idea of getting a few friends together to talk conservative issues as an alternative to the star-studded, high-priced event has mushroomed into a national movement to skip the Conservative Political Action Conference altogether. CPAC, the year’s biggest gathering...
Michael Cohen describes a culture of criminality around Trump
WASHINGTON — Michael Cohen, once among President Trump’s most ardent defenders, turned on him in a combative congressional hearing Wednesday, describing a culture of nonstop lying around Trump involving his alleged mistresses, inflated personal wealth and secret efforts to build Europe’s tallest skyscraper in Moscow. Cohen, who worked at Trump’s...
Rep. Matt Gaetz under investigation by Florida Bar over Cohen tweet
WASHINGTON — The Florida Bar has opened an investigation into a tweet sent by Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz on Tuesday that appeared to try to intimidate former President Donald Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen the day before he was to testify against his old boss. The Florida Bar...
Political operative Leslie McCrae Dowless arrested in North Carolina scandal
RALEIGH — The political operative at the center of an election fraud scandal that has engulfed a North Carolina congressional race was arrested Wednesday on charges of illegal ballot handling and conspiracy. Four people working for him were also charged. Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr., 63, was accused of directing workers...
House approves bill to expand gun-sale background checks
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled House on Wednesday approved a measure requiring federal background checks for all firearms sales and transfers, the first major gun control legislation considered by Congress in nearly 25 years. Democrats called the 240-190 vote a major step to end the gun lobby’s grip on Washington and...
Cohen sticks to Trump accusations, shaking off GOP criticism
WASHINGTON — Shaking off criticism from House Republicans, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer declared under oath Wednesday that Trump knew ahead of time and embraced the news when told that WikiLeaks had emails damaging to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Michael Cohen also testified that Trump is a “racist,” a...
House panel to subpoena Trump administration officials for records on child separation policy
WASHINGTON — The House Oversight Committee will subpoena three Trump administration officials for records on the government’s “zero tolerance” policy of separating migrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. The move comes as the administration is facing fierce criticism after acknowledging that many more children may have been...
House OKs Democrats’ bill blocking Trump emergency on wall
WASHINGTON — Democrats ignored a veto threat and rammed legislation through the House Tuesday that would stymie President Trump’s bid for billions of extra dollars for his border wall, escalating a clash over whether he was abusing his powers to advance his paramount campaign pledge. The House’s 245-182 vote to...
GOP congressman Matt Gaetz taunts Michael Cohen ahead of public hearing
WASHINGTON — A House Republican taunted former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen ahead of a congressional hearing, suggesting in a tweet that the public appearance will expose damaging personal information about Cohen. Florida Republican Matt Gaetz tweeted, without offering any evidence Tuesday, that the world is “about to learn a lot”...
In Vietnam, Trump, Kim confront North Korea’s nuke plans
HANOI, Vietnam — With nervous world capitals looking on, President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un are beginning their second nuclear summit with a one-on-one discussion and an intimate dinner as hard questions swirl about what the American president will demand and Pyongyang might be willing to give up....
Mark Harris, GOP candidate in N.C. race tainted by fraud, will not run in new election
Mark Harris, the Republican nominee in a North Carolina congressional race that was tainted by ballot fraud, announced Tuesday that he will not run in the new election for the seat. Harris said in a statement that he has decided not to seek the state’s 9th District seat due to...
Cohen expected to claim lying, racism, cheating by Trump
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, is expected to give a behind-the-scenes account of what he will claim is Trump’s lying, racism and cheating, and possibly even criminal conduct, when he testifies publicly before a House committee on Wednesday, according to a person with knowledge of the...
U.S. keeps air pollution standard established under Obama
BILLINGS, Mont. — U.S. environmental regulators Tuesday announced they are leaving intact an air quality standard for power plant pollution that can worsen asthma in children, despite calls by health advocates for a tougher standard. The move keeps in place a threshold for sulfur dioxide pollution established in 2010 by...
The precarious perch of a potential Pentagon chief
WASHINGTON — Patrick Shanahan, the former Boeing executive, was in a familiar place — aboard an airplane — when he got word of a bolt-from-the-blue political shot across his bow, an apparent blow to his chances of being nominated as the next secretary of defense. Sen. James Inhofe, the White...
Senators draw on own experiences to chastise drug companies
WASHINGTON — Drawing from their personal experiences, senators on Tuesday chastised drug company executives over the high cost of prescription drugs, as the company officials cautioned that heavy-handed congressional action could jeopardize medical breakthroughs going forward. Tuesday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing marked the first time lawmakers have called the industry’s...
House to vote on measure revoking Trump’s emergency order
WASHINGTON — Democrats are moving quickly to try to roll back President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to siphon billions of dollars from the military to fund construction of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. Tuesday’s vote in the Democratic-controlled House comes on legislation to revoke Trump’s executive...
Michael Cohen to be publicly questioned on hush payments and Trump’s truthfulnessVideo
WASHINGTON — House Democrats plan to publicly question Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal attorney, on issues including Trump’s business interests and compliance with tax laws, as well as hush-money payments to women during the 2016 election. The scope of the widely anticipated hearing planned for Wednesday by the House...
Trump Organization asks House panel to stop probes, citing alleged conflict of interest
WASHINGTON — A lawyer for the Trump Organization has asked the House Judiciary Committee to cease any investigations related to it, claiming that the panel’s work has been tainted by its hiring of an outside lawyer whose firm has represented Trump’s company. In a letter Monday to House Judiciary Committee...
