In their first visit as a couple to the White House since leaving office in 2017, the former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama unveiled their portraits at a ceremony in the East Room
‘Telling that fuller story’: Michelle and Barack on their White House portraits More
Maxwell Frost, at just 25 years old, has won a competitive primary in Florida’s heavily Democratic 10th congressional district. That gives him a strong chance of becoming a member of the US House of Representatives – and the first generation Z candidate to do so. Before his victory, the Guardian’s Oliver Laughland met him during his campaign to talk about why he decided to enter the race and what he hopes to achieve as in Congress
‘I’ve always had these crazy ideas’: the 25-year-old Uber driver bidding to become the first Gen Z member of Congress More
House select panel asks Newt Gingrich to testify in effort to overturn electionThe former Republican House speaker is believed to have repeatedly contacted White House aides about fake electors The House January 6 select committee on Thursday asked former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich to testify about his repeated contacts with White House aides in Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, even in the evening after the Capitol attack had taken place.The request to Gingrich was for voluntary cooperation – though the select committee showed it now appears to believe he was involved in a potential conspiracy planned ahead of time to lay the groundwork that would lead to reversing Trump’s defeat on January 6.Ginni Thomas lobbied Wisconsin lawmakers to overturn 2020 election Read moreCongressman Bennie Thompson, the committee chair, said in a letter to Gingrich that investigators were interested in him counseling Trump aides to make TV ads about debunked election fraud conspiracies to pressure state legislators into decertifying Biden electors.The letter detailed that it had communications that showed he tried to liaise with former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone about the fake elector scheme, asking whether anyone was coordinating Trump slates to Congress so that he could be declared the winner.The select committee noted that Gingrich then furthered that effort as he emailed Meadows at 10.42pm on January 6 – hours after the Capitol attack had already largely concluded and Congress was preparing to confirm Biden’s win – asking whether there were “letters from state legislators about decertifying electors”.“Surprisingly, the attack on Congress and the activities prescribed by the Constitution did not even pause your relentless pursuit. On the evening of January 6, you continued to push efforts to overturn the election results,” the letter said.The select committee stopped short of issuing a subpoena to Gingrich, but also asked him to preserve his communications with Trump, the White House and the Trump legal team led by Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, as well as anyone else connected to January 6.TopicsJanuary 6 hearingsDonald TrumpRudy GiulianiUS Capitol attackNewt GingrichnewsReuse this content More
Retired NYPD officer receives longest sentence yet for attack on CapitolThomas Webster was given a 10-year prison time for six charges, including assaulting an officer with a metal flagpole A retired New York police department officer has received a record-setting 10- year sentence for his involvement in the Capitol attack, during which he used a metal flagpole to assault one of the police officers trying to hold off a mob of Donald Trump supporters.Thomas Webster was sentenced on Thursday, and his prison time will represent the longest punishment so far for the roughly 250 people facing punishment for their role in the January 6 attack.Donald Trump says he plans to pardon US Capitol attack participants if electedRead moreThe previous longest was shared by two other rioters, who were sentenced separately to seven years and three months in prison.Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the first Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault charge and the first to present a self-defense argument. A jury rejected Webster’s claim that he was defending himself when he tackled Noah Rathbun, a Metropolitan police department officer, and grabbed his gas mask outside the Capitol.US district judge Amit Mehta sentenced Webster, 56, to 10 years in prison plus three years of supervised release. He allowed Webster to report to prison at a date to be determined instead of immediately ordering him into custody.“Mr Webster, I don’t think you’re a bad person,” the judge said. “I think you were caught up in a moment. But as you know, even getting caught up in a moment has consequences.”“The other victim was democracy, and that is not something that can be taken lightly,” Mehta added.Webster turned to apologize to Rathbun, who was in the courtroom but didn’t address the judge. Webster said he wishes he had never come to Washington DC.“I wish the horrible events of that day had never happened,” he told the judge.In a court filing, prosecutors accused Webster of “disgracing a democracy that he once fought honorably to protect and serve”. Webster led the charge against police barricades at the Capitol’s Lower West Plaza, prosecutors said. They compared the attack to a medieval battle, with rioters pelting officers with makeshift projectiles and engaging in hand-to-hand combat.Defense attorney James Monroe said in a court filing that the mob was “guided by unscrupulous politicians” and others promoting the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. He questioned why prosecutors argued that Webster didn’t deserve leniency for his 25 years of service to his country and New York City.“That is not how we measure justice. That is revenge,” Monroe said.In May, jurors deliberated for less than three hours before they convicted Webster of all six counts in his indictment, including a charge that he assaulted Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, the flagpole.The sentencing was one of several developments related to the Capitol attack on Thursday. A New Jersey man pleaded guilty to using pepper spray on police officers, including Officer Brian Sicknick, who later suffered a stroke and died. Julian Khater, 33, pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon and could face up to 20 years in prison. Kellye SoRelle, a lawyer for the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group, was arrested in Texas on charges including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.Webster retired from the NYPD in 2011 after 20 years of service, which included a stint on then mayor Michael Bloomberg’s private security detail. He served in the US Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before joining the NYPD in 1991.The Associated Press contributed reportingTopicsUS Capitol attackUS politicsNew YorkPoliceDonald TrumpnewsReuse this content More
Donald Trump says he plans to pardon US Capitol attack participants if elected‘I mean full pardons with an apology to many,’ says former president as January 6 rioter sentenced to 10 years for assault Donald Trump said on Thursday he would pardon and apologize to those who participated in the deadly attack on the US Capitol on January 6 if he were elected to the White House again.“I mean full pardons with an apology to many,” he told Wendy Bell, a conservative radio host on Thursday. “I will be looking very, very strongly about pardons, full pardons.”‘US democracy will not survive for long’: how January 6 hearings plot a roadmap to autocracyRead moreFive people died in connection with the attack and more than 140 law enforcement officers were injured. More than 875 people have been charged with crimes related to January 6, according to an NPR tracker. 370 people have pleaded guilty to crimes so far.Trump also said he was offering financial support to some of those involved in the attack. “I am financially supporting people that are incredible and they were in my office actually two days ago, so they’re very much in my mind,” Trump said. “It’s a disgrace what they’ve done to them. What they’ve done to these people is disgraceful.”It was not immediately clear what the extent of Trump’s financial assistance was.In a series of televised hearings this summer, the US House panel investigating the Capitol attack laid out extensive evidence that Trump encouraged the mob to go to the Capitol on January 6 and resisted efforts to quell the violence.The panel is set to continue its work this fall, but the decision over whether to file criminal charges will ultimately be made by the US Department of Justice.Trump has heavily hinted that he will run for the presidency again in 2024, but has so far not confirmed any bid. If he does run, he will automatically be the overwhelming favorite to be the Republican nominee as his grip on the party and its base remains strong.Trump’s comments came the same day that Thomas Webster, a retired New York police department officer, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the longest sentence issued so far for any defendant in the attack, according to the Associated Press. A jury found Webster guilty after he argued he was acting in self-defense when he assaulted a Washington DC police officer and pulled his gas mask off.“Some of the legal people on the other side, they’re the most cold-hearted people. They don’t care about families. They don’t care about anything,” Trump said Thursday.Amit Mehta, the US district judge who sentenced Webster, said that other than the police officer, the other victim in the attack was “democracy”.TopicsDonald TrumpUS Capitol attacknewsReuse this content More
Liz Cheney loses Wyoming Republican primary to Trump-endorsed rivalThe vice-chair of the House January 6 panel faced retribution from state voters for going against the former president Liz Cheney has paid the price for her staunch opposition to Donald Trump’s assault on US democracy by losing her seat in Congress to a challenger backed by the former president.In praise of Liz Cheney. May we have more politicians like her | Robert ReichRead moreThe vice-chair of the January 6 committee was beaten by a conservative lawyer, Hageman – who has echoed Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud – in a Republican primary election to decide Wyoming’s lone member in the House of Representatives.Conceding defeat in a speech in Jackson, she said: “No House seats, no office in this land is more important than the principles we are all sworn to protect. And I well understood the potential political consequences of abiding by my duty.“Our republic relies upon the goodwill of all candidates for office to accept honorably the outcome of elections. And tonight, Harriet Hageman has received the most votes in this primary. She won.“I called her to concede the race this primary election is over. But now the real work begins.”Widely predicted by opinion polls, the result continues a winning streak for Trump-endorsed candidates in congressional primaries and deals a blow to the last vestiges of the Republican party establishment.It would have been unthinkable just a few years ago in Wyoming, a deeply conservative state where the Cheney family has been seen as political royalty.The three-term congresswoman’s father, Dick Cheney, represented the state in the US House for a decade before becoming defense secretary under George HW Bush from 1989 to 1993 and vice-president under George W Bush from 2001 to 2009.Supporting his daughter this month, Dick Cheney called Trump the greatest “threat to our republic” in American history.He also said he was proud of his daughter “for standing up to the truth, doing what’s right, honoring her oath to the constitution when so many in our party are too scared to do so”.But Liz Cheney’s crusade against Trump during the January 6 committee’s televised hearings angered local Republicans, who accused her of putting her national career ambitions ahead of Wyoming constituents.She was praised by Democrats and independents for taking a principled stand despite the likelihood it would prove an act of political self-sacrifice.Leading Republicans were eager to celebrate Cheney’s defeat.In a statement released before the race was called, Elise Stefanik of New York, who replaced Cheney as the No3 House Republican, said: “Congratulations to Harriet Hageman on her massive Republican primary victory in Wyoming over Nancy Pelosi’s puppet Liz Cheney.“… Harriet is a true America First patriot who will restore the people of Wyoming’s voice, which Liz Cheney had long forgotten”.Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, followed suit, saying Hageman would “make Wyoming proud”.The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group formed by disaffected conservatives, said: “Tonight, the nation marks the end of the Republican party.“What remains shares the name and branding of the traditional GOP, but is in fact an authoritarian nationalist cult dedicated only to Donald Trump.” More details soon …TopicsUS midterm elections 2022US CongressHouse of RepresentativesRepublicansUS politicsUS Capitol attackJanuary 6 hearingsnewsReuse this content More
Judge to consider unsealing Trump search affidavit as legal worries mountJustice department says making Mar-a-Lago affidavit public could jeopardize investigation as White House lawyers receive subpoenas in separate case A federal judge in Florida will hear arguments on Thursday over whether to make public an affidavit used to justify a search of Donald Trump’s Florida estate, as broadening legal disputes on multiple fronts intensify against the former president and his allies.Justice department asks not to disclose affidavit behind Mar-a-Lago searchRead moreIn a 13-page filing on Monday, the justice department objected to efforts to unseal the document, arguing that doing so would “jeopardize the integrity of this national security investigation” into Trump’s handling of some of the government’s most closely held records after leaving the White House. The prosecutors said that the affidavit that gave the FBI probable cause to search Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort contained sensitive information about witnesses who are key and acknowledged that its investigation involved “highly classified material”.Bruce Reinhart, the federal magistrate judge who signed off on the search warrant, will decide whether to publish the affidavit, which would provide more details about the investigation and the FBI’s search of Trump’s private residence. Trump and his allies, including some members of Congress, have also pushed for the release of the affidavit.But the prosecutors said the affidavit should not be unsealed because that could reveal the scope of the investigation into Trump’s unauthorized retention of classified White House records.“The affidavit would serve as a roadmap to the government’s ongoing investigation, providing specific details about its direction and likely course,” prosecutors wrote. They also argued that releasing the document could compromise the continuing investigation.“Disclosure of the government’s affidavit at this stage would also likely chill future cooperation by witnesses whose assistance may be sought as this investigation progresses, as well as in other high-profile investigations,” prosecutors added.Last week, Reinhart agreed to unseal the search warrant and a list of items removed from the property after the justice department, in a rare move, asked for the documents to be made public given the “substantial public interest” in the investigation. Trump did not oppose the release of the materials, which he had refused to disclose publicly.FBI agents seized about 20 boxes of materials, among them documents designated “top secret”, a grant of clemency for Trump’s close ally, Roger Stone, and information related to the “president of France”, according to the list of items removed from the property. The search warrant, unsealed on Friday, revealed that federal agents were investigating potential violation of the Espionage Act, among other laws.Trump has sought to cast himself as a victim of a political witch-hunt designed to keep him from running for office, even as his campaign gleefully shares news stories claiming his recent legal troubles have only served to strengthen his support.The tussle over the affidavit is only the latest in a series of legal obstacles that could trip up Trump and his closest allies.This week, Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani was informed that he is a target of a criminal investigation in Georgia related to efforts by the former president and his legal team to invalidate Joe Biden’s electoral victory in the state. The notification came as a federal judge rejected an attempt by the Republican senator Lindsey Graham, another prominent Trump ally, to avoid testifying in the same investigation before the special grand jury in Atlanta.As his personal lawyer, Giuliani led the efforts to keep Trump in power, which included brazen attempts to overturn the results of elections in key states that Trump lost. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, is scheduled to testify before the special grand jury in Atlanta on Wednesday. He is expected to invoke attorney-client privilege on questions related to his discussions with Trump over those efforts, the Guardian has reported.Meanwhile, Trump took a similar approach when questioned under oath last week in New York state’s long-running civil investigation into his business practices. In a statement, Trump claimed to have done nothing improper but invoked his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination.And all that comes against the backdrop of the justice department’s intensifying investigation into the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and Trump’s attempts to reverse his defeat. The New York Times on Monday reported that Eric Herschmann, a lawyer who worked in the Trump White House, had been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury. Pat Cipollone, who served as White House counsel, has also received a subpoena, according to the Times.Trump and his allies have attacked the various legal investigations as politically motivated and denied wrongdoing.TopicsDonald TrumpUS Capitol attacknewsReuse this content More
Senate Democrats passed their climate and healthcare spending package on Sunday, sending the legislation to the House and bringing Joe Biden one step closer to a significant legislative victory ahead of crucial midterm elections in November.
‘To the tens of millions of young Americans who spent years marching, rallying, demanding that Congress act on climate change, this bill is for you,’ said Chuck Schumer, the US Senate majority leader.
‘The time has come to pass this historic bill’
Senate passes $739bn healthcare and climate bill after months of wrangling
Climate bill could slash US emissions by 40% after historic Senate vote
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