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Post by Webster on Jan 4, 2024 14:19:31 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Here’s more from the Guardian and Reuters on what we learned from the 156-page report on foreign spending at Donald Trump’s businesses during his presidency just released by House Democrats: Businesses tied to Donald Trump received at least $7.8m in foreign payments from 20 countries during his four years in the White House, Democratic congressional investigators said on Thursday.
House oversight committee Democrats said those payments detailed in the 156-page report are likely a fraction of the foreign payments made to the former Republican president and his family during his 2017-2021, single term administration.
These countries spent – “often lavishly” – on apartments and hotel stays at properties owned by Trump’s family business empire, “personally enriching President Trump while he made foreign policy decisions connected to their policy agendas with far-reaching ramifications for the United States”, the report said.
The countries included China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malaysia.
Trump’s re-election campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment. He is the frontrunner for the GOP nomination for the 2024 election, despite facing 91 criminal indictments in four trials across the US.
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Post by Webster on Jan 4, 2024 14:20:34 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Donald Trump is meanwhile fighting against efforts to remove him from the ballot in states where judges or officials have disqualified him due to his involvement in the January 6 insurrection. Yesterday, he asked the US supreme court to overturn a decision that will keep him off the ballot in Colorado, the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly and Sam Levine report: Donald Trump appealed to the US supreme court on Wednesday to undo the Colorado ruling that removed him from the ballot in the western state under the 14th amendment to the US constitution, for inciting an insurrection.
“In our system of ‘government of the people, by the people, [and] for the people,’ Colorado’s ruling is not and cannot be correct,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in their Wednesday filing. They also said the Colorado supreme court’s decision “if allowed to stand, will mark the first time in the history of the United States that the judiciary has prevented voters from casting ballots for the leading major-party presidential candidate”.
They went on to lay out several reasons why the supreme court should restore Trump to the ballot. Only Congress, not the courts, had the authority to evaluate a dispute over the eligibility of a presidential candidate, they wrote. As president, his lawyers argued, Trump was not an “officer” of the United States – relevant language in the constitution bars anyone from serving if they have “engaged in insurrection” as an officer of the United States.
They also argued that Trump’s conduct did not amount to an insurrection and that the Colorado supreme court’s decision ran afoul of a provision of the constitution that empowers state legislatures to decide how to appoint presidential electors.
Trump’s appeal came after both the Colorado Republican party and the challengers who brought the case both asked the justices to take the case. They are widely expected to do so.
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Post by Webster on Jan 4, 2024 14:23:29 GMT -5
(The Guardian) According to the report from the House oversight committee’s Democrats, Donald Trump’s properties received money from China during his presidency from the country’s communist government, as well as from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Hainan Airlines Holding Company, both state-owned enterprises. The report also finds Trump’s properties received spending from Huawei and Hongkong Huaxin Petroleum Unlimited, which is a subsidiary of CEFC China Energy, one of the country’s largest energy companies. Beijing has been linked to both firms but the extent of its involvement is unclear (though Huawei is seen as a security threat by the US government). “Former President Trump violated the Constitution when the businesses he owned accepted these emoluments paid by the P.R.C. without the consent of Congress,” the report reads, while also saying the payments made by Huawei and Hongkong Huaxin Petroleum Unlimited “created conflicts of interest”.
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Post by Webster on Jan 4, 2024 20:32:15 GMT -5
(American Family News) Restoring legal order in America's election process is in question, says an election expert, because it is now clear Democrats are willing to burn down the country to hold onto power. The ongoing effort to marginalize former President Donald Trump, the subject of multiple criminal investigations, has reached the point of Trump being removed from GOP primary ballots in individual states. Colorado tested the water first with its state supreme court ruling, a 4-3 decision that cited the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause. After that ruling, Maine jumped on board when Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, made the call all by her lonesome. Bellows also cited the insurrection clause in her decision. Both cases are pending a U.S. Supreme Court decision where some scholars predict the right-leaning court will rule against the states and on behalf of Trump. In Colorado, Trump will be included on the ballot unless the Supreme Court declines to hear the case or otherwise affirms the Colorado court’s ruling before Friday, the deadline for ballot certification in that state. Jeff Clark, a senior fellow and director of litigation for the Center for Renewing America, said on the "Washington Watch" program Tuesday that other states will follow the lead of Maine and Colorado. “I think that this is all a plan that was plotted out long ago," Clark said, citing the second impeachment against Trump when he out of office. "That sole article of impeachment was that he had engaged in an insurrection or given aid or comfort to it. That failed," Clark told show host Tony Perkins. "They brought the charge, the House approved it without any hearings, but it failed in the trial in the Senate." Trump was already out of office when he was impeached for the second time on Jan. 13, 2021. Ten U.S. House Republicans joined all Democrats to vote in favor of impeachment creating two firsts: the most "yes" votes ever from a president’s own party and the first time the majority party voted unanimously for impeachment. The only article of impeachment was Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 demonstrations at the U.S. Capitol. He was acquitted in his Senate trial on Feb. 13.
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Post by Webster on Jan 5, 2024 17:23:26 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Biden knocks Trump as new data confirms strong hiring throughout 2023After the release of government data that showed employment grew steadily in the United States throughout last year, Joe Biden released a statement that took both credit for the healthy labor market and a swipe at Donald Trump. “This morning’s report confirms that 2023 was a great year for American workers. The economy created 2.7 million new jobs in 2023 – a year when the unemployment rate was consistently below 4 percent – more jobs than during any year of the prior Administration,” the president said. He also went after Trump’s Republican allies in Congress: I won’t stop fighting for American workers and American families. I know that some prices are still too high for too many Americans, and I am doing everything in my power to lower everyday costs for hard-working Americans – from bringing down the price of insulin, prescription drugs, and energy, to addressing hidden junk fees companies use to rip you off, to calling on large corporations to pass on savings to consumers as their costs moderate. And I will continue opposing efforts by Congressional Republicans to shower massive giveaways on the wealthy and big corporations, cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, and block us from lowering costs for American families.
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Post by Webster on Jan 5, 2024 17:25:34 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Jan 5, 2024 19:15:03 GMT -5
(The Guardian) In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was told her home state of South Carolina is “Trump country”, according to polls. Haley disagrees. “If you want to say Trump is going to win South Carolina, I’m fighting to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Asked if she thinks she will survive this race if she loses, Haley responds confidently: “I will survive and win this race.” Haley made it clear that she doesn’t want Trump removed from ballots and wants to beat him “fair and square”. So far, Trump has been removed from GOP primary ballots in two states – Colorado and Maine. “I want to beat him because I don’t think he’s the right person to go forward.”
Historically a fervent supporter of the former president, it’s a sharp turn from Haley’s position in recent years. - In 2021, Haley said she would not run against Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Haley said she had “a great working relationship” with Trump when she was his envoy to the UN. But today, the story is different. This week, Haley told an Iowa audience that Trump would bring “four more years of chaos” and that the US “won’t survive” another Trump term.
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Post by Webster on Jan 6, 2024 18:07:57 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Trump tells Iowans to ‘get over’ school shooting at campaign event-Donald Trump told an audience at a campaign event on Friday in Iowa to “get over” a deadly shooting at a high school in the state a day earlier. After offering sympathy and emotional support for the victims of the shooting in Perry, Iowa, and their families, Trump said at the event in Sioux Center: “It’s just horrible – so surprising to see it here. But we have to get over it. We have to move forward.” Trump’s comments on the shooting that occurred about 36 hours earlier were the first he had made addressing the violence. Friday’s remarks were not the first time in the last year that Trump has apparently tried to deflect from having a substantial conversation about gun violence in the US. During a speech in April 2023 to the National Rifle Association, Trump argued that the long history of deadly school shootings in the US is “not a gun problem”. He instead blamed the issue on Democrats, mental health issues, marijuana and the transgender community. Trump’s recent comment on the Perry shooting was criticized by the Democratic Super Pac American Bridge. “We knew Trump lacked empathy for others, but no one thought he could go this low and tell Iowans to simply ‘get over it’ as they grieve from a situation communities across the country know all too well,” American Bridge presidential campaigns communication director Brandon Weathersby said in a statement on Trump’s comments. “This is beyond the pale, even for Trump.” Trump has made several campaign stops in Iowa ahead of the Republican presidential primary caucuses on 15 January. He is seeking a second presidency despite facing 91 criminal charges for trying to subvert his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 election, illegally retaining government secrets after he left the Oval Office and illicit hush-money payments to the adult film actor Stormy Daniels, who has reported having a sexual encounter with Trump during an earlier time in his marriage to Melania Trump. The former president has also grappled with civil litigation over his business practices and a rape allegation deemed “substantially true” by a judge. Nonetheless, Trump dominates polling for the Republican presidential nomination this year. The shooting in Perry killed one sixth grader and wounded seven others. Police identified the shooter as a 17-year-old student who attended high school at the targeted campus. The teen attacker died from a self-inflicted bullet wound, police said.
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Post by Webster on Jan 7, 2024 0:54:27 GMT -5
(American Family News) A recently formed multinational security operation in the Middle East appears to be a manifestation of the weakness that a retired Marine officer contends has plagued the Biden administration since its inception. Formed just before Christmas last month, Operation Prosperity Guardian was developed as a multinational maritime task force led by the United States to respond to Houthi-led attacks against ships in the Red Sea. A Pentagon spokesman described the goal of the partnership as a step towards "furthering our shared goals of security and stability throughout the Middle East." Col. Grant Newsham (USMC-Ret.), who once served as the first Marine liaison officer to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, tells American Family News "the fact a protective military operation is even necessary reveals the United States has problems that go far beyond the Red Sea." Newsham, how a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy, contends the broader takeaway is that America's enemies "are not afraid of the United States or Team Biden." He points out that "the Red Sea troubles are directly tied to the Gaza war that began on October 7, and Iran both supported Hamas and gave the go-ahead for the attack on Israel." According to Newsham, this signals that "Tehran was apparently unafraid of a U.S. response to this aggression." The Houthi insurgents who are attacking shipping and U.S. warships in the Red Sea, while also launching missiles at Israel, are proxies of Iran, he explains. "[They] are presumably acting on Iran's orders and with Iranian guidance and support." Newsham is appalled at the action, pointing out that Iran is threatening to close off a major international trade artery, and has in fact partially closed it. "And they're apparently unconcerned with what the United States might do in response," he adds. Newsham admits being shocked by Iran's audacity, but not surprised. "The Biden administration's Iran policy seems to be based on appeasement," he explains. "It has provided Iran with billions of dollars and ignored sanctions to allow Tehran to earn tens of billions more." And while Iran is a legitimate concern for the United States, Newsham argues that America's "biggest threat" is China. Interestingly, he points out, "China buys Iranian oil – providing Iran with funds – despite U.S. sanctions prohibiting such transactions." Without risk of punishment, Nesham says, "It's business as usual with China as Washington sees it, [so] no wonder the People's Republic of China (PRC) is unafraid of Team Biden." This, he says, is more than simply being afraid of American displeasure. "It's as much a lack of respect for the United States and the Biden administration," he explains, thus allowing Iran to support terrorism, including operations conducted by Hamas.
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Post by Webster on Jan 8, 2024 19:32:39 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Despite their willingness to cooperate with Democrats on funding the government, many top House Republicans continue to believe in Donald Trump’s false claims that fraud played a role in his 2020 election loss. Case in point, Elise Stefanik, the fourth-highest-ranking Republican in the House. Here’s the Guardian’s Ramon Antonio Vargas on her latest bout of election denialism: Leading US House Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik on Sunday declined to commit to certifying the results of the 2024 White House race no matter the outcome, three years and a day after a mob of Donald Trump supporters staged the January 6 Capitol attack while refusing to recognize that he had lost the presidency to Joe Biden.
Stefanik – a New York representative who serves as the House’s Republican conference chairwoman – was asked by Kristen Welker of NBC’s Meet the Press whether she would “vote to certify the results of the 2024 election, no matter what they show”.
The congresswoman replied: “We will see if this is a legal and valid election.”
Stefanik went on to criticize the Colorado legal ruling that removed Trump from the state’s ballot under the 14th amendment to the US constitution – which bars insurrectionists from taking office – and urged the federal supreme court to unanimously overturn that decision to let voters determine the former president’s electoral fate.
Welker said: “Just to be very clear, I don’t hear you committed to certifying the election results. Will you only commit to certifying the results if former president Trump wins?”
Stefanik said: “No, it means if they are constitutional,” before expressing her claim that the 2020 presidential race “was not a fair election” despite multiple legal reviews solicited by Trump and his allies confirming that it was.
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Post by Webster on Jan 8, 2024 20:06:29 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Biden’s speech at Mother Emanuel church indicates his desire to appeal to Black voters – a crucial voting bloc that helped secure his 2020 win. A Biden-Harris 2024 campaign ad said as much. “Joe Biden is putting in the work for Black America,” the ad’s narrator said. But Biden is struggling to gain the support of these and other minority voters. A USA Today/Suffolk University poll found “one in 5 Black voters now say they’ll support a third-party candidate in November.” Biden is now traveling to Dallas, Texas to attend the wake of US house representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, a trailblazing US political figure. Johnson was the first registered nurse in Congress and the first Black woman to head the House science committee. Johnson died last week at the age of 89.
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Post by Webster on Jan 9, 2024 15:09:33 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Democrats in Maine have voted down a Republican effort to impeach Shenna Bellows, the top election official who removed Donald Trump from the state’s presidential ballot. A House vote along party lines defeated the move 80-60, the Associated Press reports. Bellows called the impeachment measure “political theater” and has promised to abide by any legal ruling on her decision to keep Trump off Maine’s 5 March primary ballot. Maine’s supreme court is set to hear an appeal. Republicans say her decision disenfranchised more than 300,000 voters in Maine who chose Trump in the last election. “She is not a judge. She is not a jury. And I believe that the people feel absolutely disenfranchised,” state House representative Katrina Smith said.
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Post by Webster on Jan 10, 2024 17:58:31 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Poll shows improvement for Biden in swing state PennsylvaniaAfter months of worrying poll numbers, Joe Biden has received some tentatively good news in the form of a just-released Quinnipiac University survey showing the president ahead of Donald Trump in must-win state Pennsylvania. Biden garnered 49% support against Trump’s 46% in what Quinnipiac said was the first time that the president led in their surveys of the swing state. Trump was ahead of Biden in two previous polls the university commissioned, though the university noted the race remained “too close to call”. Biden carried Pennsylvania when he was first elected in 2020, while Trump had won it in 2016.
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Post by Webster on Jan 12, 2024 16:39:45 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Oregon’s supreme court has, for now, turned down a petition to disqualify Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot. The former president’s appearance on ballots nationwide has been challenged by individuals and groups who argue that he is ineligible to run because of his involvement in the January 6 insurrection. The supreme court has agreed to hear a case stemming from Colorado that could decide the fate of these challenges nationwide, and the Oregon supreme court cited that to say it will not intervene. “Today, the Oregon supreme court declined to hear, for now, a challenge by five Oregon voters (relators) seeking to preclude Donald J Trump from appearing on the Oregon 2024 Republican primary and general election ballots,” it said in a statement. “Because a decision by the United States supreme court regarding the fourteenth amendment issue may resolve one or more contentions that relators make in the Oregon proceeding, the Oregon supreme court denied their petition for mandamus, by order, but without prejudice to their ability to file a new petition seeking resolution of any issue that may remain following a decision by the United States supreme court.”
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Post by Webster on Jan 15, 2024 16:14:17 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Biden and the Democrats raise $97m to close out 2023US president, Joe Biden, and the Democratic National Committee have said they raised more than $97m (£76m) in the final three months of last year. The Biden campaign said it took in $235m (£185m) from its launch last April until the end of 2023 and finished the year with $117m (£92m) in cash on hand – which it said was the highest total amassed by any Democratic candidate at this point in the cycle. It added that over 520,000 donors made 926,000-plus contributions in the last quarter of 2023. Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign manager, said: This historic haul- proudly powered by strong and growing grassroots enthusiasm – sends a clear message: the team Biden-Harris coalition knows the stakes of this election and is ready to win this November.
Across our coalition, we are seeing early, sustained support that is helping us scale our growing operation across the country and take our message to the communities that will determine this election.
Our democracy and hard-fought basic rights and freedoms are on the line in 2024, and these numbers prove that the American people know the stakes and are taking action early to help defeat the extreme Maga Republican agenda again.
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