Politics
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Justice Department rebuffs Republican requests for audio of Biden interview with special counsel
The Department of Justice doubled down on its decision to not release the audio files of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur to House Republicans, stating that Republicans have not established a legitimate legislative purpose for demanding these recordings, in a new letter obtained by CNN.
4 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Supreme Court signals further delay in Trump election interference case as it weighs immunity claims
The Supreme Court considers Donald Trump’s assertion of total immunity from criminal charges over his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.
7 min read - PoliticsUSA TODAY
Joe Biden is losing young voters over Israel. Can party progressives win them back?
Progressive lawmakers are warning their support isn't a magic bullet for the president's shaky ground with young voters over Gaza.
7 min read - PoliticsThe New York Times
In immunity case, Trump can lose in ways that amount to a win
WASHINGTON — Most legal experts say that former President Donald Trump will face deep skepticism at the Supreme Court on Thursday, when the justices will hear arguments on his claim that he is absolutely immune from prosecution on charges of plotting to subvert the 2020 election. Trump would prefer to win, of course. But there are, from his perspective, at least two attractive ways to lose. One involves the timing of the court’s decision, which has received substantial attention given the relati
7 min read - PoliticsABC News
Trump held his tongue on Ukraine aid. McConnell says it may have made the difference.
Former President Donald Trump has blown up his fair share of deals on Capitol Hill, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says Trump's decision to hold his tongue on a massive $95 billion foreign aid package -- including critical aid for Ukraine -- may have made all the difference in getting the legislation across the finish line. McConnell had staked his legacy on passage of a national security aid package Tuesday night, securing billions in aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, and to get i
6 min read - WorldThe New York Times
U.S. to withdraw troops from Chad, dealing another blow to Africa policy
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon will withdraw dozens of Special Operations forces from Chad in the next few days, the second major blow in a week to U.S. security and counterterrorism policy in a volatile swath of West and Central Africa, U.S. officials said Thursday. The decision to pull out about 75 Army Special Forces personnel working in Ndjamena, Chad’s capital, comes days after the Biden administration said it would withdraw more than 1,000 U.S. military personnel from Niger in the coming months
4 min read - PoliticsThe Guardian
What would Trump’s Israel-Gaza policy be if he were re-elected?
The ex-president unambiguously favored Israel while in office but recent statements have been inconsistent and evasive
10 min read - PoliticsPolitico
FCC reinstates net neutrality
The 3-2 vote is a victory for Democrats, who have long supported stronger broadband regulation.
3 min read - PoliticsReuters
Zelenskiy thanks Johnson, Schumer for helping get US aid bill passed
Zelenskiy said on X that he had thanked Johnson, a Republican, who had been blocking a vote on the bill, "for his leadership that ensured true bipartisan support for aid to Ukraine". In a conversation with Schumer, he praised the Democratic Party's unwavering support.
1 min read - WorldReuters
Northern Gaza still heading toward famine, says deputy WFP chief
The northern Gaza Strip is still heading toward a famine, the deputy U.N. food chief said on Thursday, appealing for a greater volume and diversity of aid to be allowed into the enclave and for Israel to allow direct access from its Ashdod port through Erez crossing. Israel pledged three weeks ago to improve aid access, including reopening Erez and allowing the use of Ashdod port. The move came after U.S. President Joe Biden demanded steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying t
4 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
Trump's lawyer says presidents could get away with crimes if they aren't discovered until after they leave office
As the saying goes: It's not the crime; it's the cover-up. If former President Donald Trump gets his way, a good cover-up will be enough.
2 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Putin announces plans to visit China in May
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he plans to visit China in May, in what could become the first foreign trip for the Russian leader after he extended his rule by six more years in an election that offered voters little real choice. Putin announced the plans for the visit at a congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in Moscow. Putin's inauguration is scheduled for May 7, Russian lawmakers said earlier this week.
2 min read - USThe Guardian
House speaker condemned for remarks on pro-Palestine student protests
Republican Mike Johnson accused of ‘wilfully spreading misinformation’ and ‘inciting violence’ after CNN interview
3 min read - USAssociated Press
Planned Parenthood announces $10 million voter campaign in North Carolina for 2024 election
Abortion continues to be a key part of Democrats' election playbook in North Carolina, which for 2024 will include what abortion-rights advocates call an unprecedented investment in get-out-the-vote efforts. Planned Parenthood affiliated groups in North Carolina announced on Thursday a $10 million campaign in the state that largely focuses on persuading people concerned about narrowing abortion access to vote in November. The spend, according to representatives for Planned Parenthood Votes and
3 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Frustrated with Brazil's Lula, Indigenous peoples march to demand land recognition
Thousands of Indigenous people marched on Thursday in Brazil's capital, calling on the government to officially recognize lands they have lived on for centuries and to protect territories from criminal activities like illegal mining. With posters bearing messages like, “The future is Indigenous,” they walked towards Three Powers Square, where Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Planalto presidential palace are located in Brasilia. Indigenous leaders from the Kayapo, Panará and Munduruku tribe
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Net neutrality restored as FCC votes to regulate internet providers
The FCC on Thursday restored “net neutrality” rules that prevent broadband internet providers such as Comcast and AT&T from favoring some sites and apps over others. The move effectively reinstates a net neutrality order the commission first issued in 2015 during the Obama administration; under then-President Donald Trump, the FCC subsequently repealed those rules in 2017. Net neutrality is the principle that providers of internet service should treat all traffic equally.
1 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
GOP mulls next move after Kansas governor vetoes effort to help Texas in border security fight
Kansas' governor is blocking an attempt by Republican legislators to give the state's National Guard a “border mission" of helping Texas in its partisan fight with the Biden administration over illegal immigration. Top Republicans in the Kansas House were considering Thursday whether their chamber can muster the two-thirds majority necessary to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of immigration provisions in the next state budget. Kelly on Wednesday vetoed a budget provision that would
2 min read - PoliticsReuters
Nothing off the table in US response to China overcapacity, Yellen says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration is not taking any options off the table to respond to China's excess industrial capacity, which is a top concern for the U.S. and its allies, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Reuters on Thursday. China exporting its way to full employment is not acceptable to the rest of the world, Yellen said in a Reuters Next interview in Washington. Yellen said that during her trip to China earlier this month, she was "successful" in raising U.S. conce
2 min read - BusinessReuters
Yellen says U.S. economy not likely weakening, all options open on China's overcapacity
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Reuters on Thursday that U.S. economic growth was likely stronger than suggested by weaker-than-expected data on first-quarter output and said the Biden administration was keeping all options open to respond to threats from China's excess industrial capacity. In a wide-ranging Reuters Next interview, Yellen also said that a U.S. proposal for using the interest earnings from $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine coul
5 min read - USNBC News
Trump presidential immunity claim and protest arrests at UT-Austin and USC: Morning Rundown
Supreme Court hears Donald Trump immunity claim. Protestors arrested in pro-Palestinian encampments at UT-Austin and USC. Venice institutes entry fee.
8 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
Legal experts say the TikTok divest-or-ban bill could stand up in court despite being a free-speech disaster
TikTok has a strong First-Amendment argument to challenge Congress' divest-or-ban bill. It may still lose in the courts anyway.
5 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Hungary's Orbán urges European conservatives, and Trump, toward election victories at CPAC event
Hungary's nationalist prime minister, addressing a conservative conference in Budapest on Thursday, said upcoming European and U.S. elections were a chance for right-wing forces to defeat the “progressive world spirit,” and encouraged former U.S. President Donald Trump to defend “his own truth” in his ongoing criminal trial. Viktor Orbán, a right-wing populist and the European Union's longest-serving leader, told supporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference Hungary that conservati
3 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
The Supreme Court is about to hear Trump's 'absolute immunity' arguments in a case that could kill his January 6 indictment
Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to recognize that he had total legal immunity as president.
9 min read - PoliticsReuters
Net neutrality rules restored by US agency, reversing Trump
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 on Thursday to reinstate landmark net neutrality rules and reassume regulatory oversight of broadband internet rescinded under former President Donald Trump. FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said the agency "believes every consumer deserves internet access that is fast, open, and fair." "The last FCC threw this authority away and decided broadband needed no supervision," she said.
3 min read - PoliticsReuters
How Trump's immunity claim stalled the 2020 election subversion case
The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on Thursday on Donald Trump’s claim that he enjoys sweeping immunity from criminal prosecution for actions he took as president, a claim that has delayed by months a case accusing him of trying to overturn his 2020 defeat. The federal case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith charging Trump with trying to overturn his election defeat -- one of four criminal cases the Republican presidential candidate faces -- has been paused since December while the immun
4 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Strict new EPA rules would force coal-fired power plants to capture emissions or shut down
Coal-fired power plants would be forced to capture smokestack emissions or shut down under a rule issued Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency. New limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired electric plants are the Biden administration's most ambitious effort yet to roll back planet-warming pollution from the power sector, the nation’s second-largest contributor to climate change. The rules are a key part of President Joe Biden's pledge to eliminate carbon pollution fr
7 min read - BusinessReuters
Biden announces preliminary deal with Micron for up to $6.14 billion in chip grants
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden traveled to Syracuse, New York, on Thursday and announced a preliminary agreement with memory chip maker Micron Technology for up to $6.14 billion in subsidies for two chip factories. The agreement signed by the U.S. Commerce Department will fund facilities in New York and Idaho under the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, which aims to boost domestic manufacturing of chips and reduce reliance on supplies from China and Taiwan. Biden said the United Stat
2 min read - PoliticsReuters
Biden administration sets landmark rules to clean up US power sector
President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday announced final rules targeting carbon, air and water pollution from power plants that it says could cut over 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2047. The Environmental Protection Agency rules form a crucial part of Biden’s broader agenda to fight climate change. "EPA is cutting pollution while ensuring that power companies can make smart investments and continue to deliver reliable electricity for all Americans," EPA Administr
4 min read - WorldReuters
India's poll panel seeks responses to complaints against Modi, Rahul Gandhi
India's Election Commission said on Thursday it has sought responses from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress on alleged violations of poll rules by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi. India is holding the world's largest election over seven phases, with votes due to be counted on June 4. In their complaints to the commission, the BJP accused Gandhi and Congress accused Modi of making divisive speeches on religion, caste and linguist
1 min read - PoliticsReuters
US Supreme Court justices in Trump case lean toward some level of immunity
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Supreme Court's conservative justices signaled support on Thursday for U.S. presidents having some level of protection from criminal charges for certain acts taken in office as it tackled Donald Trump's claim of immunity from prosecution for trying to undo his 2020 election loss. During about 2-1/2 hours of arguments in the case, most of the justices seemed unlikely to embrace Trump's most far-reaching argument that presidents have "absolute immunity" for official acts
6 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Trump is among 'unindicted co-conspirators' in effort to overturn 2020 election in Michigan, investigator says
Former President Donald Trump, his former chief of staff Mark Meadows and his former attorney Rudy Giuliani are uncharged co-conspirators in a Michigan "false electors" scheme tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, a state investigator testified Wednesday.
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Supreme Court seems skeptical of Trump's claim of absolute immunity but decision's timing is unclear
The Supreme Court on Thursday appeared likely to reject former President Donald Trump’s claim of absolute immunity from prosecution over election interference, but several justices signaled reservations about the charges that could cause a lengthy delay, possibly beyond November’s election. A majority of the justices did not appear to embrace the claim of absolute immunity that would stop special counsel Jack Smith's prosecution of Trump on charges he conspired to overturn his 2020 election los
7 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani and Arizona 'fake electors' charged with state crimes
A state grand jury in Arizona on Wednesday indicted so-called "fake electors" who backed then-President Donald Trump in 2020.
5 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
Legal woes pile up for Trump allies: Giuliani, Meadows, and more indicted in Arizona election interference case
Former President Donald Trump appears to be listed as an unindicted coconspirator.
3 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
TikTok has promised to sue over the potential US ban. What's the legal outlook?
Legislation forcing TikTok's parent company to sell the video-sharing platform or face a ban in the U.S. received President Joe Biden's official signoff Wednesday. Critics of the sell-or-be-banned ultimatum argue it violates TikTok users' First Amendment rights. The law's opponents, which include advocacy organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, maintain that the government hasn't come close to justifying banning TikTok, while others say national-security claims could still preva
5 min read - BusinessNBC News
TikTok creators react to Biden signing ban-or-sell law: 'We don't want a TikTok ban'
TikTok creators weren’t surprised to hear that President Joe Biden signed into law a bill that could lead to a TikTok ban.
4 min read - USHuffPost
Speaker Johnson To Columbia Protestors: 'Go Back To Class And Stop The Nonsense'
The House’s top Republican visited the university in New York City, where activists have taken over part of campus to protest Israel’s brutal invasion of Gaza.
3 min read - PoliticsPolitico
‘Lost touch with reality’: How TikTok’s vaunted lobbying operation went wrong
The app always faced an uphill battle in Congress because of its owner’s ties to China. But observers say TikTok’s complacency, tone deafness and hubris caused its lobbyists to lose its most important fight in Washington.
13 min read - PoliticsNBC News
What’s in a name? Trump’s legal team faces an unusual balancing act: From the Politics Desk
Donald Trump's legal team in his New York criminal hush money trial faces a balancing act as they portray him as a former president and a normal guy.
4 min read - PoliticsReuters
Giuliani among 18 charged in Arizona election scheme; Trump an unindicted co-conspirator
Rudy Giuliani, a former lawyer for Donald Trump, is among 18 people charged in Arizona with illegally seeking to claim the state's 2020 electoral votes for the then-U.S. president, in an indictment that names Trump as an unindicted co-conspirator. The indictment, reached on Tuesday and unsealed on Wednesday, stems from the attempt by Trump and his allies to pressure election officials in several states to overturn the presidential election won by Joe Biden, efforts for which Trump has been indi
4 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Arizona indicts 18 in election interference case, including Giuliani and Meadows
An Arizona grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump 's chief of staff Mark Meadows, lawyer Rudy Giuliani and 16 others for their roles in an attempt to overturn Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. The indictment released Wednesday names 11 Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Trump won Arizona in 2020.
6 min read - PoliticsThe Guardian
Congress passed a TikTok bill. Will the US really ban the app?
A bill passed by Congress and signed by Biden requires owner ByteDance to sell or face a US ban – it’s its biggest threat yet
8 min read - PoliticsHuffPost
A Popular Conspiracy Theory Website Just Declared Bankruptcy
Donald Trump frequently shares its material.
3 min read - WorldNBC News
Doug Emhoff to attend memorial for World Central Kitchen workers killed in Israeli strike
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will represent the Biden administration at a memorial Thursday for the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza earlier this month, according to a White House official.
2 min read - PoliticsHuffPost
Ocasio-Cortez Calls Fellow Democrat's Remarks On Sanders 'Shameful'
"He and many other Jewish leaders deserve better than to be treated this way," the New York Democrat said of Rep. Jared Moskowitz's remarks.
2 min read - PoliticsNBC News
'We will call him President Trump': Defense lawyers vacillate between honorifics
Former President Donald Trump has been called a lot of names in the first six days of his New York hush-money trial.
3 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Another ex-State Department official alleges Israeli military gets 'special treatment' on abuses
A former senior U.S. official who until recently helped oversee human-rights compliance by foreign militaries receiving American military assistance said Wednesday that he repeatedly observed Israel receiving “special treatment” from U.S. officials when it came to scrutiny of allegations of Israeli military abuses of Palestinian civilians. The allegation comes as the Biden administration faces intense pressure over its ally's treatment of Palestinian civilians during Israel's war against Hamas
4 min read - USNBC News
Former Republican mayoral candidate gets 10 days in prison in Jan. 6 case
A former Republican candidate who lost his race for mayor in Connecticut last year was sentenced Wednesday to 10 days of incarceration for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S.
3 min read - BusinessLA Times
Questions swirl over the future of TikTok. Who could own it? How will the platform operate?
Congress passed a bill that could ban TikTok. What could happen next, and who might buy the social media platform?
6 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Biden pardons 11 people and shortens the sentences of 5 others convicted of non-violent drug crimes
President Joe Biden has granted clemency to 16 people who were convicted of non-violent drug crimes, issuing pardons to 11 men and women and commuting the sentences of five other people in the latest use of his clemency power to address racial disparities in the justice system. Biden said in a statement Wednesday that April is Second Chance Month and that many of the individuals getting clemency had received “disproportionately longer” sentences than they would have under current law. The Demo
2 min read
