US Politics

Subterms

    Latest story

    163 Shares19 Views

    What to know about the US Senate vote on releasing the Epstein files

    by

    The intensively discussed files related to the disgraced former financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein passed a significant milestone on Tuesday when Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor of releasing them.After months of deliberate delays and manoeuvres, the House of Representatives voted by 427 to one in favor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, legislation which would, if enacted, require the justice department to release all unclassified materials on Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The Senate has unanimously agreed to swiftly pass the bill, which would then head to the White House for Donald Trump’s signature.Tuesday’s sweeping passage was rendered all but inevitable after the president on Sunday reversed himself and called for the release of the files, declaring “we have nothing to hide” and labelling the controversy over the files a “Democrat hoax”.Trump’s volte-face followed the failure of intense White House efforts to persuade two female Republican members of Congress, Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace, to withdraw their names from a discharge petition to force the House speaker, Mike Johnson, to hold a floor vote on releasing the files.Faced with the prospect of numerous Republicans defying his wishes by voting with Democrats in favor of releasing the files, the president decided to cut his losses by bowing to the inevitable. Before Trump changed his tune on the files, Thomas Massie, the maverick Republican representative from Kentucky – who had co-sponsored the bill along with Democrat Ro Khanna – had predicted that 100 Republicans would vote for release.In the event, Trump’s green light appeared to have the effect of freeing even more GOP representatives of their previous inhibitions against joining all 214 House Democrats. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, a close Trump ally, was the sole member of the House to vote against the measure; five representatives did not vote.How did it fly through the Senate so fast? The bill appeared headed for at least some resistance in the Senate as of this weekend. John Barrasso, the Republican majority whip, had said he would “take a look” at the bill if it passed the House, but also told NBC’s Meet The Press that he thought Democrats were more interested in turning Trump into “a lame duck president than achieving accountability and transparency” .But that resistance faded in the face of the overwhelming vote in the House. The lopsided vote helped Democrats push the measure through by expedited procedure of unanimous consent, which does not require a formal roll call vote. “The American people have waited long enough. Jeffrey Epstein’s victims have waited long enough,” Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said in a floor speech on Tuesday. “Let the truth come out. Let transparency reign.” Will Trump sign it?Trump told reporters on Monday that he would sign the bill if it arrives on his desk. Yet despite this pledge and his late U-turn on releasing the files, Trump could still use his presidential veto power to block passage – though doing so at such a late stage would surely fan suspicions that he has something to hide.Could such a veto be overcome?Yes. A presidential veto can be overridden if both chambers vote to do so by a two-thirds majority. Both chambers already surpassed that in spectacular fashion. The only member of Congress to vote against the bill was Clay Higgons, a Lousiana Republican representative.What cards can Trump play if overwhelming congressional votes compel the justice department to make the files public?Even if Trump signs the bill – whether of his own volition or by force because House and Senate majorities override his veto – his recent announcement of a justice department investigation into prominent figures (other than himself) mentioned in last week’s trove of Epstein emails released by the House oversight committee have fueled fears that any version of the files released could be incomplete or selective.Last Friday, Trump instructed the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to open an investigation into links between Epstein and former president Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, a former US treasury secretary and ex-president of Harvard University, Reid Hoffman, a venture capitalist noted for funding Democrats and liberal causes, and the bank JPMorgan Chase. The investigation could enable the justice department to withhold certain documents on the argument that releasing them would be prejudicial.In the final analysis, Trump could have ended all uncertainty by ordering the files to be released without waiting for Congress to force his hand. More

    More stories

    • 225 Shares23 Views

      in US Politics

      WHO to lose nearly a quarter of its workforce – 2,000 jobs – due to US withdrawing funding

      by

      The World Health Organization has said its workforce will shrink by nearly a quarter – or over 2,000 jobs – by the middle of next year as it seeks to implement reforms after its top donor, the United States, announced its departure.US President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew from the body upon taking office in January, prompting the agency to scale back its work and cut its management team by half.Washington is by far the UN health agency’s biggest financial backer, contributing about 18% of its overall funding.The Geneva-based WHO projects that its workforce will shrink by 2,371 posts by June 2026 from 9,401 in January 2025 due to job cuts as well as retirements and departures, according to a presentation set to be shown to its member states on Wednesday.It does not include the many temporary staff, or consultants, which UN sources say have been made redundant. A WHO spokesperson confirmed the total number of staff leaving the organisation and said the workforce would shrink by up to 22%, depending on how many vacant posts are filled.While the global health agency said in August that hundreds of staff had departed, this is the first time it has given the full scale of the expected change to its global staff.“This year has been one of the most difficult in WHO’s history, as we have navigated a painful but necessary process of prioritisation and realignment that has resulted in a significant reduction in our global workforce,” said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a message to staff on Tuesday seen by Reuters, adding that the process was now nearing an end.“We are now preparing to move forward with our reshaped and renewed Organization,” he added.The slides also showed that the Geneva-based body has a $1.06bn hole in its 2026-2027 budget, or nearly a quarter of the total required, down from an estimated gap of $1.7bn in May.That excludes $1.1bn of expected funding that includes deals at various stages of negotiation, the slides showed, without giving details.The WHO spokesperson said that the portion of the two-year budget currently unfunded was lower than in previous years, attributing that to a smaller budget; the launch of a fundraising round; and an increase in member states’ mandatory fees. More

    • 188 Shares23 Views

      in US Politics

      Trump news at a glance: Bill to release Epstein files approved by Senate and House

      by

      The Senate on Tuesday gave swift approval to legislation that will force the release of investigative files related to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, following a near-unanimous vote in the US House of Representatives and a reversal by Donald Trump and his Republican allies. The administration relented after months of trying to forestall the bipartisan effort involving a scandal that has dogged the president since his return to the White House.The Senate acted by unanimous consent, which requires approval from each senator but does not require a formal roll call vote, expediting the process. Hours earlier, the House overwhelmingly approved the bill on a 427-1 tally.“The American people have waited long enough. Jeffrey Epstein’s victims have waited long enough,” Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said in a floor speech on Tuesday, before asking the chamber to pass it unanimously. “Let the truth come out. Let transparency reign.”Senate approves bill to release Epstein files after near-unanimous House voteThe bill next goes to Trump for his signature. The president indicated on Monday that he would sign the measure.Though Trump has for months dismissed the uproar over the government’s handling of the Epstein case as a “Democrat hoax”, he signalled his support for the House bill over the weekend, and said he would sign the measure if it reaches his desk.Democrats, along with survivors of Epstein and their advocates who were seated in a House gallery, broke into applause after the bill was passed. The sole “no” vote came from Clay Higgins, a Louisiana Republican who said he worried the measure would make public identifying details of witnesses, potential suspects and others caught up in the investigation.Read the full storyTrump shrugs off Khashoggi murder during Saudi prince’s White House visitDonald Trump has shrugged off the Saudi regime’s 2018 murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, saying the journalist was “extremely controversial” and unpopular, dismissing the killing by observing “things happen”.The US president made the remarks at the White House on Tuesday while welcoming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the first time since Khashoggi’s murder and dismemberment in Istanbul by Saudi state operatives.Read the full storyJudge rejects ‘racially gerrymandered’ maps in Texas that gave Republicans extra districtsNew maps that added five Republican districts in Texas hit a legal roadblock on Tuesday, with a federal judge saying the state cannot use the 2025 maps because they are probably “racially gerrymandered”.The decision is likely to be appealed, given the push for more Republican-friendly congressional maps nationwide and Donald Trump’s full-court press on his party to make them. Some states have followed suit, and some Democratic states have retaliated, pushing to add more blue seats to counteract Republicans.Read the full storyTrump faces criticism for referring to female Bloomberg reporter as ‘piggy’Donald Trump, who has a history of making extremely personal attacks on female journalists, referred to a Bloomberg News correspondent as a “piggy” during a clash onboard Air Force One on Friday.While the remark did not initially get much attention, it picked up some traction on Tuesday and has drawn backlash from fellow journalists, including some who have previously been attacked by Trump themselves.Read the full storyMany of US education agency’s powers reassigned to other federal departmentsDonald Trump’s administration has taken new steps toward dismantling the US Department of Education by reassigning many of its responsibilities to other federal agencies.The move prompted a fresh wave of criticism, as prominent Democrats accused the administration of “slashing resources” for schools and students across the US.Read the full storyMass federal immigration sweeps expand to North Carolina capitalFederal authorities were conducing operations in Raleigh, North Carolina on Tuesday, local officials said, after a weekend where more than 100 people were arrested in Charlotte.The Democrat governor of the state, Josh Stein, a critic of the operations, posted on social media that his office was aware of the reports of the impending Raleigh operations. “To the people of Raleigh,” he wrote, “if you see something wrong, record it and report it to local law enforcement. Let’s keep each other safe.”Read the full storyWhat else happened today:

      A New Jersey man whose lengthy prison sentence for fraud convictions was commuted by Donald Trump in 2021 is now headed back to federal prison for another fraud conviction.

      California farms applied an average of 2.5m lbs of Pfas “forever chemicals” per year on cropland from 2018 to 2023, or a total of about 15m lbs, a new review of state records shows.
      Catching up? Here’s what happened Monday 17 November. More

    • 275 Shares14 Views

      in US Politics

      House votes 427-1 to release Epstein files; Senate majority leader says chamber will take up vote ‘fairly quickly’ – US politics live

      by

      The US House overwhelmingly approved a bill demanding that the Justice Department release all files related to its investigation into the convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. The finally tally was 427-1, with five members not voting.Cheers rang out in the chamber, when the gavel banged the vote closed.Congressman Clay Higgins of Louisiana, a staunch ally of Donald Trump, was the sole House member to vote against the measure.The near-unanimous vote was the culmination of a months-long effort led by a bipartisan group of House members that initially faced deep opposition from the president and House leadership. But as it became clear the Speaker’s manoeuvring to prevent a vote on the petition would not succeed, Trump reversed course and threw his support behind the effort.The bill next moves to the Senate. If it is approved by the upper chamber, it would then go to Trump for his signature. Trump told reporters on Monday he would sign the legislation if it reached his desk – still an if.Democrats, as well as the bill’s bipartisan sponsors, have called on Trump not to wait for Congress to act and instead to order the Justice Department to release the files, which he has the power to do.Marty Baron, the former executive editor of the Washington Post, called Donald Trump’s remarks on Tuesday, in which the president dismissed concerns about the Saudi regime’s 2018 murder of the Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, “a disgrace” in an email to TheWrap.As our colleague Julian Borger reports, when an ABC News reporter confronted Trump’s guest, Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, over the US intelligence assessment that he ordered the brutal murder of the dissident Saudi columnist, Trump stepped in to defend the Saudi leader, saying that “a lot of people didn’t like” the murder victim before pointing at bin Salman, and adding: “things happened, but he knew nothing about it”.Trump then attacked the reporter, Mary Bruce, and suggested that the FCC should strip ABC of its broadcast license because she asked what the president called “a horrible, insubordinate and just a terrible question” of the Saudi leader, a man the president said was “highly respected”.Trump’s comments were a disgrace,” Baron wrote to TheWrap, a media business outlet. “‘Things happen,’ he said. Actually, someone made them happen. And that was the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. He had Jamal Khashoggi assassinated, and then he and his government lied about what happened.”Trump couldn’t care less about the killing of a journalist unless he viewed that journalist as a supporter of his,” Baron continued. “In this instance, he suggests the killing was justified on the grounds that ‘a lot of people didn’t like’ Khashoggi. And then he ignores the facts of the brutal murder itself, suggesting MBS was clueless. Just when you think Trump has gone as low as possible, he goes still lower.”Three weeks after Trump left office in 2021, US intelligence agencies concluded that the crown prince, known as MBS, “approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi” and noted “the Crown Prince’s support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad”.

      The US House overwhelmingly approved a bill demanding that the Justice Department release all files related to its investigation into the convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. The finally tally was 427-1, with five members not voting. The near-unanimous vote was the culmination of a months-long effort led by a bipartisan group of House members that initially faced deep opposition from the president and House leadership. But as it became clear the Speaker’s manoeuvring to prevent a vote on the petition would not succeed, Trump reversed course and threw his support behind the effort.

      The bill next moves to the Senate. If it is approved by the upper chamber, it would then go to Trump for his signature. After the House voted today, the Senate’s top Republican, John Thune told reporters that a vote on the bill would happen “fairly quickly”. Thune added that it’s “not likely” the legislation will have any further amendments. This, despite calls from House speaker Mike Johnson and several GOP lawmakers, to make changes to further protect victims’ identities. A reminder, provisions to redact names and child abuse materials are already part of the legislation. For his part, Donald Trump has signaled he would sign the bill if it reached his desk.

      A panel of federal judges has ruled that Texas cannot use the 2025 congressional map for the midterms. Instead, the state must use the 2021 boundaries in the upcoming election. The map, drawn by the GOP lawmakers in Texas at the behest of Donald Trump, was the catalyst of a nationwide redistricting battle. In response, California voters passed a ballot initiative to redraw their own maps, offsetting the five seats that Republicans gained in Texas in the process. In today’s ruling, the judges, which included a Trump appointee, said that the creation of a new map appeared unconstitutional and “racially gerrymandered”.

      Meanwhile, at the White House today, the president welcomed Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman. It was the crown prince’s first visit to Washingtong since the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul. In the Oval Office, Trump brushed off questions from a reporter about MBS’s role in Khashoggi’s killing, saying “things happen”. The president added that bin Salman “knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that”. In 2021 US intelligence concluded that bin Salman had approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi, a fierce critic of the Saudi regime.

      When it came to matters of business, MBS announced Saudi Arabia was raising its planned investments in the US to almost $1tn, up from $600bn that the Saudis said they planned to invest when Trump visited the kingdom in May. Trump also confirmed that he had agreed to sell the Saudis F-35 fighter jets despite some concerns within the administration that the sale could lead to China gaining access to the US technology behind the advanced weapon system.

      The Department of Education (ED) announced today that it is outsourcing a number of its functions to different agencies, in a move that is part of the administration’s wider plans to totally dismantle the department. The ED said that through six new interagency agreements, with the Department of Labor, Department of the Interior, and Department of Health and Human Services, it would “break up the federal education bureaucracy” and “move closer to fulfilling the President’s promise to return education to the states”.
      The Department of Education (ED) announced today that it is outsourcing a number of its functions to different agencies, in a move that is part of the administration’s wider plans to totally dismantle the department.The ED said that through six new interagency agreements, with the Department of Labor, Department of the Interior, and Department of Health and Human Services, it would “break up the federal education bureaucracy” and “move closer to fulfilling the President’s promise to return education to the states”.Trump ran on the promise that he would do away with the department responsible for the country’s education policy, and in March, he signed an executive order to dismantle the agency. Shuttering it outright requires congressional approval, but under the guise of education secretary, Linda McMahon, the scope of the department has diminished.The House of Representatives just voted to rebuke retiring Democratic congressman Chuy García for what his detractors said was a scheme to ensure that his chief of staff would be the only Democrat left on the ballot next year in his heavily blue district.The resolution, proposed by fellow Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, passed with almost all Republicans in favor, along with 23 Democrats. Three Democrats voted present.Perez accused Garcia of “election subversion” for announcing that he would not seek re-election next year, while, as the Chicago Sun-Times reported, quietly collecting signatures for his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, to be on the ballot. The two Garcias are not related.Democratic party leaders in the House had encouraged members to vote against the resolution, issuing a joint statement where they decried the “misguided resolution” and defending Chuy Garcia as “a good man who has always prioritized the people he represents, even while experiencing unthinkable family tragedy.” His wife is struggling with multiple sclerosis, and Garcia has said he is stepping down on the advice of his cardiologist. In 2023, his office announced the death of his daughter Rosa at the age of 28.Fabiola Rodriguez-Ciampoli, a spokesperson for the congressman, said, “he followed every rule and every filing requirement laid out by the state of Illinois. At a moment like this, he hopes his colleagues, especially those who speak about family values, can show the same compassion and respect that any family would want during a health crisis.”Others disagreed, with longtime Democratic strategist David Axelrod calling his actions “old-style, Chicago machine tactics to ensure his chief-of-staff would be the only name on the Dem ballot. It’s election denial of another kind!”Democratic senator Andy Kim said: “Chuy Garcia’s decision to end his re-election at the last second and plant his chief of staff as the only candidate to succeed him was undemocratic and should not be allowed. Standing against corruption means standing up no matter which political party violates.”John Thune, the majority leader and top Senate Republican, said that a vote on the full release of the Epstein files will happen “fairly quickly”.Speaking to reporters on the Hill after the House voted, almost unanimously, for the justice department to release their complete trove of documents relating to the disgraced financier, Thune said that it’s “not likely” the legislation will have any further amendments. This, despite calls from House speaker Mike Johnson and several GOP lawmakers, to make changes to further protect victims’ identities.A reminder, provisions to redact names and child abuse materials are already part of the legislation.As we mentioned earlier, the sole holdout in today’s vote to release the justice department files on Jeffrey Epstein was Republican congressman Clay Higgins. He said that the bill, in its current form, doesn’t adequately protect victims, survivors, and “thousands of innocent people”.The Louisiana lawmaker added:
      If the Senate amends the bill to properly address privacy of victims and other Americans, who are named but not criminally implicated, then I will vote for that bill when it comes back to the House.
      However, there are provisions in the legislation, as written, which redacts identities and examples of child abuse. If the upper chamber issues an amendment, the House will need to vote on the bill again. A move that the bipartisan co-sponsors say is a delay tactic and unnecessary.In a statement after Tuesday’s vote, congressman Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House oversight committee demanded that the Senate majority leader John Thune take up the bill “immediately”.“Donald Trump is panicking and trying to stop our investigation. We need to know what he’s hiding, and what powerful men are responsible for the rape and abuse of children and women,” Garcia said. “And let’s be clear – Donald Trump has the power to release the files today. But he chooses to delay and deflect.”He added: “No more lies. No more secrets. We will get justice for the survivors. Release the files, NOW.”The US House overwhelmingly approved a bill demanding that the Justice Department release all files related to its investigation into the convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. The finally tally was 427-1, with five members not voting.Cheers rang out in the chamber, when the gavel banged the vote closed.Congressman Clay Higgins of Louisiana, a staunch ally of Donald Trump, was the sole House member to vote against the measure.The near-unanimous vote was the culmination of a months-long effort led by a bipartisan group of House members that initially faced deep opposition from the president and House leadership. But as it became clear the Speaker’s manoeuvring to prevent a vote on the petition would not succeed, Trump reversed course and threw his support behind the effort.The bill next moves to the Senate. If it is approved by the upper chamber, it would then go to Trump for his signature. Trump told reporters on Monday he would sign the legislation if it reached his desk – still an if.Democrats, as well as the bill’s bipartisan sponsors, have called on Trump not to wait for Congress to act and instead to order the Justice Department to release the files, which he has the power to do.While the House votes, the Guardian’s congressional correspondent Chris Stein sends this dispatch from Capitol Hill.As the House debates the bill to require release of the government’s investigative files related to alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, survivors of his abuses clapped from the chamber’s gallery, prompting an admonition from the chair.“I rise today to acknowledge the survivors, family members and advocates who are here today and have never given up the legislation in front of us, at its core is about something very simple: The survivors deserve justice. The American people deserve the truth,” said Democratic congresswoman Adelita Grijlava.“Protecting women and children from pedophiles should not be a Democratic issue. Should not be a Republican issue. It should be a human rights issue and a matter of justice. I urge my colleagues to vote yes.”The group broke into applause after Grijalva — who, after a lengthy delay, provided the final signature on a discharge petition that forced a vote on this bill — finished her remarks.The Republican lawmaker presiding over the House then addressed the group, saying “the chair will remind all persons in the gallery that they are here as guests of the House, and that any manifestation of approval or disapproval of proceedings is in violation of the rules of the House.”Jamie Raskin, the Democratic congressman managing the party’s debate, chimed in, saying: “I’ll just add, they’re here as honored guests of the House, and we’re delighted they’re here.”Congressman Jamie Raskin, who has been leading the debate for Democrats on the House floor, issued a forceful rebuttal of the Speaker’s comments before the chamber moved to a vote.“We want the whole truth to come out,” Raskin said, arguing that it was Johnson and Republicans who have been dragging their feet on releasing the files, including delaying the swearing in of Adelita Grijalva, who provided the 218th signature to advance the petition.“Even the British Monarchy wouldn’t put up with this,” Raskin continued. “How about the American democracy? How about we say: ‘No way we’re not going to allow this cover up to go on for one day more.’” More

    • 125 Shares21 Views

      in US Politics

      How did your representative vote on releasing the Epstein files?

      by

      The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill that will force the release of investigative files related to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, after Donald Trump and his Republican allies backed down from their opposition amid a scandal that has dogged the president since his return to the White House.Though Trump has for months dismissed the uproar over the government’s handling of the Epstein case as a “Democrat hoax”, he signaled his support for the House bill over the weekend, and said he would sign the measure if it reaches his desk. Here is how the House voted.@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Titlepiece;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}div#maincontent:focus{box-shadow:none!important}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.content__main-column–interactive{margin-left:160px}}@media (min-width: 81.25em){.content__main-column–interactive{margin-left:240px}}.content__main-column–interactive:before{position:absolute;top:0;height:calc(100% + 15px);min-height:100px;content:””}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.content__main-column–interactive:before{border-left:1px solid #dcdcdc;z-index:-1;left:-10px}}@media (min-width: 81.25em){.content__main-column–interactive:before{border-left:1px solid #dcdcdc;left:-11px}}.content__main-column–interactive .element-inline,.content__main-column–interactive .element-atom{max-width:620px}@media (max-width: 46.24em){.content__main-column–interactive .element-atom{max-width:100%}}.content__main-column–interactive .element-showcase{margin-left:0}@media (min-width: 46.25em){.content__main-column–interactive .element-showcase{max-width:620px}}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.content__main-column–interactive .element-showcase{max-width:860px}}.content__main-column–interactive .element-immersive{max-width:1100px}@media (max-width: 46.24em){.content__main-column–interactive .element-immersive{width:100vw;position:relative;left:50%;right:50%;margin-left:-50vw!important;margin-right:-50vw!important}}@media (min-width: 46.25em) and (max-width: 71.24em){.content__main-column–interactive .element-immersive{margin-left:-20px;width:calc(100% + 60px)}}@media (min-width: 81.25em){.content__main-column–interactive .element-immersive{max-width:1260px}}.content__main-column–interactive .element-atom{margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-bottom:12px;padding-top:12px}.content__main-column–interactive p{max-width:620px}p+.element-atom{padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:12px}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Titlepiece Extra;src:url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}body{–primary-text-color: #121212;–secondary-text-color: #707070;–tertiary-text-color: #707070;–primary-bg-color: #ffffff;–secondary-bg-color: #f3f3f3;–tertiary-bg-color: #f6f6f6;–primary-line-color: #333333;–secondary-line-color: #dcdcdc;–border-divider-color: #dcdcdc;–axis-color: #bababa;–primary-button-color: #121212;–primary-button-text-color: #ffffff;–primary-button-highlight-color: #333333;–highlight-color: #ffe500;–highlighted-text-color: #121212;–info-color: #00b2ff;–news-grey-01: #121212;–news-grey-02: #707070;–news-grey-03: #a1a1a1;–news-grey-04: #bababa;–news-grey-05: #dcdcdc;–news-grey-06: #f3f3f3;–news-core-01: #005689;–news-core-02: #0094da;–news-core-03: #c70000;–news-core-04: #23b4a9;–news-core-05: #494949;–news-core-06: #cca36e}#maincontent{margin-top:0}@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark){body.ios,body.android{–primary-text-color: #dcdcdc;–secondary-text-color: #c8c8c8;–tertiary-text-color: #999999;–primary-bg-color: #1a1a1a;–secondary-bg-color: #383838;–tertiary-bg-color: #121212;–primary-line-color: #dcdcdc;–secondary-line-color: #707070;–border-divider-color: #606060;–axis-color: var(–news-grey-04);–primary-button-color: #383838;–primary-button-text-color: #dcdcdc;–primary-button-highlight-color: #707070;–highlight-color: #cda500;–highlighted-text-color: #121212;–info-color: #0077b6;–news-grey-01: #dcdcdc;–news-grey-02: #c8c8c8;–news-grey-03: #a1a1a1;–news-grey-04: #707070;–news-grey-05: #494949;–news-grey-06: #383838;–news-core-01: #0077b6;–news-core-02: #00b2ff;–news-core-03: #e33824;–news-core-04: #23b4a9;–news-core-05: #494949;–news-core-06: #cca36e}}.content__main-column–interactive h2,#article-body h2{font-size:20px;line-height:24px;font-family:Guardian Headline,Guardian Egyptian Web,Guardian Headline Full,Georgia,serif;font-weight:400;font-weight:700}.content__main-column–interactive blockquote,#article-body blockquote{font-size:16px;line-height:24px;font-family:Guardian Text Egyptian Web,Georgia,serif;font-style:normal}.content__main-column–interactive blockquote svg,#article-body blockquote svg{visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;margin-right:0}.content__main-column–interactive blockquote:before,#article-body blockquote:before{content:””;font-size:0em;line-height:0em;display:none}.prose blockquote{margin:0}.gv-parameter-link{display:none}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Titlepiece;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}.legend.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{font-size:13px;line-height:18px;font-family:Guardian Text Sans Web,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif;list-style:none}.legend.svelte-z0xv3a li.svelte-z0xv3a{display:inline-flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center;margin-top:10px;margin-right:10px}.legend.svelte-z0xv3a .swatch.svelte-z0xv3a{border-radius:12px;display:inline-block;margin-right:3px;height:8px;width:14px}.legend.svelte-z0xv3a .swatch.yes.svelte-z0xv3a{background-color:#7d0068}.legend.svelte-z0xv3a .swatch.no.svelte-z0xv3a{background-color:#dcdcdc}@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark){.legend.svelte-z0xv3a .swatch.no.svelte-z0xv3a{background-color:#767676}}.legend.svelte-z0xv3a .swatch.no-vote.svelte-z0xv3a{background-color:#fff;box-shadow:inset 0 0 0 1px var(–article-border);height:9px;width:14.5px}@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark){.legend.svelte-z0xv3a .swatch.no-vote.svelte-z0xv3a{background-color:transparent}}.mpsearch.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{border:1px solid var(–article-border);border-radius:999px;font-family:Guardian Text Sans Web,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif;font-size:16px;margin-top:30px;padding:10px 16px;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis;transition:border-color .2s ease;width:100%}.mpsearch.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a:active,.mpsearch.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a:focus{border-color:var(–article-text)}h3.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{font-size:20px;line-height:24px;font-family:Guardian Headline,Guardian Egyptian Web,Guardian Headline Full,Georgia,serif;font-weight:400;margin-bottom:10px;position:relative}h3.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a:before{content:””;position:absolute;border-radius:3px;top:-5px;left:0;height:4px;width:35px}h3.gop-header.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a:before{background-color:#c70000}h3.dem-header.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a:before{background-color:#0a3ca4}.table-container.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{display:flex;align-items:start;gap:30px;width:100%}@media (min-width: 46.25em){.table-container.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{gap:60px}}table.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{font-size:13px;line-height:18px;font-family:Guardian Text Sans Web,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif;margin-top:20px;width:50%}tr.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{border-top:1px dotted var(–article-border);display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:space-between;flex-direction:row;padding:3px 0;width:100%}.member.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{padding-right:10px;width:calc(80% – 10px)}.name.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{display:block;line-height:1.1;margin-bottom:0}.title.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{color:var(–secondary-text-color);font-size:12px}.voterecorded.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{background-color:#fff;box-shadow:inset 0 0 0 1px var(–article-border);border-radius:15px;color:var(–secondary-text-color);font-size:11px;line-height:1.2;display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center;padding:4px 2px;max-width:40px;width:20%}.voterecorded.Yea.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a,.voterecorded.Aye.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{background-color:#7d0068;box-shadow:none;color:#fff}.voterecorded.Nay.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a,.voterecorded.No.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{background-color:#dcdcdc;box-shadow:none}@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark){.voterecorded.Nay.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a,.voterecorded.No.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{background-color:#767676;color:#121212}}@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark){.voterecorded.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{background-color:transparent}}.notes.svelte-z0xv3a.svelte-z0xv3a{font-size:12px;line-height:16px;font-family:Guardian Text Sans Web,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif;color:#929297;margin-top:10px}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Titlepiece;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}svg.svelte-2gw8iq.svelte-2gw8iq{overflow:visible}svg.svelte-2gw8iq text.svelte-2gw8iq{font-size:14px;line-height:18px;font-family:Guardian Headline,Guardian Egyptian Web,Guardian Headline Full,Georgia,serif;font-weight:400;font-size:20px;fill:var(–article-text)}.waffle.svelte-2gw8iq.svelte-2gw8iq{padding-top:20px;margin-bottom:0;position:relative;z-index:1}.for-tick.svelte-2gw8iq.svelte-2gw8iq,.against-tick.svelte-2gw8iq.svelte-2gw8iq{fill:var(–article-text)}.bignumber.svelte-2gw8iq.svelte-2gw8iq{line-height:44px;font-family:Guardian Titlepiece Extra,Guardian Headline Full,Guardian Headline,Guardian Egyptian Web,Georgia,serif;font-variant-numeric:lining-nums;font-feature-settings:”lnum”;font-weight:700;font-size:40px}.mp-square.svelte-2gw8iq.svelte-2gw8iq{cursor:pointer}.mp-square.active{stroke:#000;stroke-width:2.5}.tooltip.svelte-2gw8iq.svelte-2gw8iq{background-color:#fff;border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,.1);box-shadow:0 0 2px #00000026;color:#121212;font-size:13px;line-height:18px;font-family:Guardian Text Sans Web,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif;font-weight:600;line-height:1.1;margin-bottom:4px;min-width:120px;position:absolute;padding:5px 7px;pointer-events:none;transition:opacity .1s ease;opacity:0;z-index:1000}.gv-party{color:var(–secondary-text-color);font-size:12px;line-height:16px;font-family:Guardian Text Sans Web,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif;display:block;font-weight:400}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Titlepiece;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}.legend.svelte-19vxoki.svelte-19vxoki{font-size:13px;line-height:18px;font-family:Guardian Text Sans Web,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif;list-style:none}.legend.svelte-19vxoki li.svelte-19vxoki{display:inline-flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:10px}.legend.svelte-19vxoki .swatch.svelte-19vxoki{background-color:#848484;display:inline-block;margin-right:3px;height:10px;width:10px}.legend.svelte-19vxoki .swatch.republican.svelte-19vxoki{background-color:#c70000}.legend.svelte-19vxoki .swatch.democrat.svelte-19vxoki{background-color:#0a3ca3}.legend.svelte-19vxoki .swatch.independent.svelte-19vxoki{background-color:#848484}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Titlepiece;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}.loadingmessage.svelte-17174re{font-size:16px;line-height:24px;font-family:Guardian Text Egyptian Web,Georgia,serif;min-height:120vh}
      Loading …
      . More

    • 125 Shares17 Views

      in US Politics

      The Saudification of America is under way | Karen Attiah

      by

      The first time I ever used the words “alhumdulilah”, which translates to praise be to God in Arabic, was the night of 16 November 2018. A Friday night news alert came through on my phone: “CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination.” I collapsed into my couch, repeating the words.I am not Muslim. But Jamal, in life and death, has taught me a lot about faith and looking for hope in all the wrong places. As a writer with a history of criticizing America’s meddling in weaker countries, in normal circumstances, I should have been loath to celebrate the CIA.But given that, a month before, a group of Saudi hitmen not only kidnapped my friend and writer from a consulate in Istanbul but allegedly cut his body into pieces, I might have been forgiven for looking for any hope that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, would face consequences – cutting off leaders who think nothing of cutting up human beings should be a basic tenet of any healthy country’s foreign policy. (Prince Mohammed has denied any involvement or responsibility for Khashoggi’s killing.)This week, seven years almost to the day since the CIA announced the crown prince’s responsibility in the murder, Mohammed bin Salman returns to Washington, invited for an offical visit by America’s Temu pharaoh, Donald Trump. The reconciliation between Trump and MBS was perhaps inevitable, given that even before the first Trump presidency, Trump spoke often of his love for the Saudis and their wealth. (“I get along great with all of them; they buy apartments from me. They spend $40m, $50m,” he quipped in 2015. “Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much!”)In 2016 Saudi Arabia banned Jamal Khashoggi, a longtime editor, journalist and royal adviser from writing. His crime? He published an op-ed warning about the rise of Trump in 2016. He remained silent for a year, until Prince Mohammed unleashed a crackdown on businessmen, writers, and mild critics – imprisoning many of them. Jamal fled to the US in self-exile.In September 2017, while I was the editor of the Washington Post’s global opinion section, I asked Jamal to write for us. He published “Saudi Arabia was not always this repressive, but now it’s unbearable”, breaking his year-long silence. I hired him to continue to write for the Washington Post.A year later, Saudi Arabia had Jamal killed. In the aftermath of Jamal’s murder, Trump administration officials worked overtime to launder Saudi Arabia’s blood-stained image. Jared Kushner was advising Prince Mohammed on how to “weather the storm”. Last year, Kushner’s equity firm received $2bn from Saudi Arabia’s private equity firm.There’s much to say about the Saudification of western cultural spaces through the sheer sums of money the kingdom is so obviously throwing into what it sees as soft power. Writers and observers have commented for years about Saudi Arabia’s “sportswashing”, like the kingdom’s sponsorship of LIV golf tournament and the purchase of the Newcastle United soccer team.The kingdom invested heavily in tourism campaigns for Saudi Arabia, paying online influencers hefty sums to post pictures of their heavily curated trips to the country.Jamal warned about these hollow visions of Saudi Arabia. He warned that behind the glitz and glamour of the Saudi royal family, and promises of futuristic cities, there was poverty and discontent. He often told me how proud he was to have his words in the Washington Post, and he hoped the Post could be a model for voices like his to be heard. I still admire Jamal’s relentless optimism about media and America.In death, Jamal’s faith would prove to be misplaced. The Washington Post’s erasure of Jamal’s memory and the freedom he stood for has been brewing in the background.The global opinion section that Jamal wrote for was dismantled. The Jamal Khashoggi fellowship – which was offered to writers speaking out against authoritarian regimes – was left to fade away. Jamal used to tell me about his days as an editor chairing newspaper editorial meetings in Saudi Arabia, where editors were given marching orders from the top about the “red lines”, or what the royal regime wanted and did not want published.Today, the Washington Post opinion section is going through an increasing Saudification – imposing harsh red lines on who and what can publish. Under owner Jeff Bezos’s edict to write only about “free markets” and “personal liberties”, the Washington Post opinion section, the first major US paper to publicly impose such heavy censorship, purged nearly all its full-time voices that wrote against censorship, political violence and repression at home and abroad, myself included.To date, the Washington Post editorial board has not mentioned Jamal’s name ahead of Prince Mohammed’s visit. The Saudification of the mainstream news media means that other US media outlets and institutions are bending the knee to Trump, agreeing to multimillion-dollar shakedowns in exchange for eliminating diversity. He has sued outlets he claims were not fair to him. He has begun attempting to prosecute his political rivals. Pro-Saudi voices would argue that moralizing about chopped-up journalists does us no good, shouldn’t get in the way of the US-Saudi partnership, that there is too much money at stake, and that in order for the west’s colonial management of the Middle East, we need our friends in Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel. They are effectively asking Americans to believe that America and Saudi Arabia will make the world a better place, together.This narrative only helps the billionaires and the deal brokers. The average American gains next to nothing from these elite arrangements. Rather, Jamal’s plight and murder was a warning sign for America, of the impending loss of freedom and censorship that would sweep the country.

      Karen Attiah is a writer and educator whose work focuses on race, global culture and human rights More

    • 238 Shares15 Views

      in US Politics

      Trump defends Saudi crown prince over Khashoggi killing, threatens ABC News in White House meeting – as it happened

      by

      Donald Trump welcomed crown prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington on Tuesday, in the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia’s first White House visit since the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul. The shocking murder caused global outrage and appeared to set the Gulf kingdom on a path to international pariah status. In 2021 US intelligence concluded that bin Salman had approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi, a fierce critic of the Saudi regime. The crown prince has denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler. Seven years on, that shocking murder seemed a distant memory, as MBS arrived to a lavish display including fanfare, a US Marine band and a military flyover as he stepped onto the South Lawn of the White House to meet Trump.

      Talking to reporters in the Oval Office, the US president brushed off questions from a reporter about MBS’s role in Khashoggi’s killing, saying “things happen”. “You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” Trump said of the murdered columnist, before going on to contradict US intelligence on the Saudi crown prince’s role in the affair. “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him, or didn’t like him, things happen. But he [bin Salman] knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.” While Trump castigated the reporter for the question, a calm MBS said:“It’s painful and it’s a huge mistake, and we are doing our best that this doesn’t happen again.”

      The crown prince announced Saudi Arabia was raising its planned investments in the US to almost $1tn, up from $600bn that the Saudis said they planned to invest when Trump visited the kingdom in May. MBS said the kingdom has “huge demand” for computing power and desires US AI chips. Trump also said he “can see” a deal happening to transfer American nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, but didn’t specify a timeline. Against a backdrop of subdued oil prices and MBS’s high spending on megaprojects at home, that figure is likely very unrealistic, but Trump seemed thrilled nonetheless.

      Trump also pushed back on the notion that there was a conflict of interest, given his family’s strong personal interest in the kingdom. “I have nothing to do with the family business,” said Trump, adding that his family has relatively little interest in the kingdom. In September, London real estate developer Dar Global announced that it plans to launch Trump Plaza in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. It’s Dar Global’s second collaboration with the Trump Organization, the collection of companies controlled by Trump’s children, in Saudi Arabia. Last year, the two companies announced the launch of Trump Tower Jeddah.

      Trump confirmed that he had agreed to sell the Saudis F-35 fighter jets despite some concerns within the administration that the sale could lead to China gaining access to the US technology behind the advanced weapon system. The agreement will be similar to the one the US has with Israel, which is significant as until now Israel has been the only country in the Middle East to have the jets. The move has the potential to alter the military balance in the region. As Politico noted earlier: “A major arms deal would signal a sea change in the US approach to Saudi Arabia: No longer would deeper ties between the two countries be so dependent on Saudi Arabia normalising relations with Israel.”

      On that subject, MBS made clear that normalisation with Israel (i.e. Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, which Trump really wants) could not happen without first securing a clear path towards a two-state solution. The crown prince said he wants Israelis and Palestinians “to coexist peacefully” in the region. Trump has been trying to nudge the Saudis to join the accords for some time and said today he felt he’d had a “positive response”. But it’s worth remembering that Israel, meanwhile, remains steadfastly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.

      Trump will return to the South Lawn later, with first lady Melania, to welcome the crown prince when he returns for the evening East Room dinner. In addition to today’s White House pomp, the two nations are also planning an investment summit at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday that will include the heads of Salesforce, Qualcomm, Pfizer, the Cleveland Clinic, Chevron and Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil and natural gas company, where even more deals with the Saudis could be announced.
      And I’ll leave you with my colleague Julian Borger’s report on the visit:

      Donald Trump welcomed crown prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington on Tuesday, in the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia’s first White House visit since the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul. The shocking murder caused global outrage and appeared to set the Gulf kingdom on a path to international pariah status. In 2021 US intelligence concluded that bin Salman had approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi, a fierce critic of the Saudi regime. The crown prince has denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler. Seven years on, that shocking murder seemed a distant memory, as MBS arrived to a lavish display including fanfare, a US Marine band and a military flyover as he stepped onto the South Lawn of the White House to meet Trump.

      Talking to reporters in the Oval Office, the US president brushed off questions from a reporter about MBS’s role in Khashoggi’s killing, saying “things happen”. “You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” Trump said of the murdered columnist, before going on to contradict US intelligence on the Saudi crown prince’s role in the affair. “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him, or didn’t like him, things happen. But he [bin Salman] knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.” While Trump castigated the reporter for the question, a calm MBS said:“It’s painful and it’s a huge mistake, and we are doing our best that this doesn’t happen again.”

      The crown prince announced Saudi Arabia was raising its planned investments in the US to almost $1tn, up from $600bn that the Saudis said they planned to invest when Trump visited the kingdom in May. MBS said the kingdom has “huge demand” for computing power and desires US AI chips. Trump also said he “can see” a deal happening to transfer American nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, but didn’t specify a timeline. Against a backdrop of subdued oil prices and MBS’s high spending on megaprojects at home, that figure is likely very unrealistic, but Trump seemed thrilled nonetheless.

      Trump also pushed back on the notion that there was a conflict of interest, given his family’s strong personal interest in the kingdom. “I have nothing to do with the family business,” said Trump, adding that his family has relatively little interest in the kingdom. In September, London real estate developer Dar Global announced that it plans to launch Trump Plaza in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. It’s Dar Global’s second collaboration with the Trump Organization, the collection of companies controlled by Trump’s children, in Saudi Arabia. Last year, the two companies announced the launch of Trump Tower Jeddah.

      Trump confirmed that he had agreed to sell the Saudis F-35 fighter jets despite some concerns within the administration that the sale could lead to China gaining access to the US technology behind the advanced weapon system. The agreement will be similar to the one the US has with Israel, which is significant as until now Israel has been the only country in the Middle East to have the jets. The move has the potential to alter the military balance in the region. As Politico noted earlier: “A major arms deal would signal a sea change in the US approach to Saudi Arabia: No longer would deeper ties between the two countries be so dependent on Saudi Arabia normalising relations with Israel.”

      On that subject, MBS made clear that normalisation with Israel (i.e. Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, which Trump really wants) could not happen without first securing a clear path towards a two-state solution. The crown prince said he wants Israelis and Palestinians “to coexist peacefully” in the region. Trump has been trying to nudge the Saudis to join the accords for some time and said today he felt he’d had a “positive response”. But it’s worth remembering that Israel, meanwhile, remains steadfastly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.

      Trump will return to the South Lawn later, with first lady Melania, to welcome the crown prince when he returns for the evening East Room dinner. In addition to today’s White House pomp, the two nations are also planning an investment summit at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday that will include the heads of Salesforce, Qualcomm, Pfizer, the Cleveland Clinic, Chevron and Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil and natural gas company, where even more deals with the Saudis could be announced.
      If you’re just joining us, Donald Trump has welcomed Mohammed bin Salman to Washington, as the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia seeks to rebrand himself as a global statesman in his first White House visit since the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.Trump warmly received the crown prince when he arrived at the White House this morning for a pomp-filled ceremony that included a military flyover and a thundering greeting from the US Marine band.The US-Saudi relationship had been sent into a tailspin by the operation targeting Khashoggi, a fierce critic of the kingdom, that US intelligence agencies later determined MBS likely directed the agents to carry out.But seven years later, Khashoggi was an afterthought as the two leaders unveiled billions of dollars in deals and Trump brushed off questions to the crown prince about the journalist’s gruesome murder.“Whether you like [Khashoggi] or didn’t like him, things happen,” Trump said, referring to the murdered Washington Post columnist as “extremely controversial”. “But he [bin Salman] knew nothing about it,” he said of bin Salman.Trump chastised the reporter for “embarrassing our guest” with the question and went on to commended the Saudi leader for strides made by the kingdom on human rights without providing any specific detail.“I’m very proud of the job he’s done,” Trump said. “What’s he done is incredible in terms of human rights and everything else.”Trump lashes out once again at a reporter’s question, calling her a “terrible reporter” and saying he believes ABC News’s broadcasting license should be revoked.The reporter had asked him why he wouldn’t just release the Epstein files rather than wait for Congress to do it. He says.
      I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein.
      It’s worth noting that MBS, in comparison, has remained calm and confident in the face of tough questions.Trump says he “can see” a deal happening to transfer American nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, but doesn’t specify any sort of timeline, adding it’s not urgent.Trump says he spoke with bin Salman about the Abraham Accords, adding that he believes he got a positive response.The crown prince adds that while Saudi Arabia wants to be part of the accords, which normalises ties with Israel, it also wants to make sure it secures a clear path for a two-state solution.He says he wants Israelis and Palestinians “to coexist peacefully” in the region.Trump says the US would sell F-35 stealth fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a similar arrangement it has with Israel.“As far as I’m concerned, I think they are both at a level where they should get top of the line [F-35s],” he says, referring to Saudi and Israel as great allies. Israel and Saudi Arabia have never had formal diplomatic relations but have engaged in covert cooperation on issues such as Iran.Trump says the United States has reached a defense deal with Saudi Arabia.As the Trump Organization and a Saudi developer look to open the latest Trump hotel in the Maldives, Trump is asked about a possible conflict of interest for the Trump Organization to do business with Saudi Arabia while he is president. He replies:
      I have nothing to do with the family business. I have left, and I’ve devoted 100% of my energy. What my family does is fine. They do business all over.
      They’ve done very little with Saudi Arabia actually. I’m sure they could do a lot, and anything they’ve done has been very good.
      An ABC reporter then addresses the elephant in the room, asking whether why Americans should trust bin Salman given that US intelligence concluded that he orchestrated the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Trump blasts ABC News as fake news, before contradicting US intelligence on the Saudi crown prince’s role in Khashoggi death:
      You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman [Khashoggi] that you’re talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen. But he [bin Salman] knew nothing about it. And we can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking something like that.
      As I noted earlier, US intelligence concluded in 2021 that bin Salman approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The crown prince denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler. Here’s our report on that from the time:Asked by a reporter whether Saudi Arabia can really continue to invest as much as $1tn in the United States given the reality of lower oil prices, bin Salman says the kingdom was not “creating fake opportunities to please America or please Trump” and that Saudi Arabia has “huge demand” for computing power and desires US advanced chips.Trump says he is working to approve the sale of advanced US AI chips to Saudi Arabia, signalling a major shift in export policy and deepening tech ties with the kingdom.“We’ve been really good friends for a long period of time,” Trump says of the crown prince.“I want to thank you because you’ve agreed to invest $600bn into the United States, and because he’s my friend, he might make it a trillion, but I’m going to have to work on him,” Trump says, referring to bin Salman.Bin Salman then says in response that Saudi Arabia “believes in the future of America” and is going to increase its pledge to almost $1tn of investment in the United States.Talks in the Oval Office are underway, albeit somewhat behind schedule. I’ll bring you any key news lines here.Bearing in mind that, while this is not a state visit – Mohammed bin Salman is not technically the Saudi head of state, though he is the kingdom’s de facto leader – that ceremony was definitely more lavish than your average state visit arrival, including the Marine band and officers on horseback flying the Saudi and US flags.The two men have been speaking as they walk along the row of presidential portraits on the colonnade at the White House, which Trump recently unveiled as the “Presidential Walk of Fame”.Here are some more pictures capturing the pomp and circumstance Donald Trump has put on for MBS.Mohammed bin Salman arrived at the White House to fanfare and a jet flyover moments ago, as he seeks to further rehabilitate his global image after the brutal 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and deepen ties with Washington.Making his first White House visit in more than seven years, the crown prince was greeted with a lavish display of pomp and ceremony presided over by Donald Trump on the South Lawn, complete with a military honour guard, a cannon salute and a flyover by US warplanes. More

    • 138 Shares23 Views

      in US Politics

      ‘Please release the records’: Epstein survivors urge Congress over DoJ files

      by

      A group of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse gathered outside the US Capitol on Tuesday morning, demanding justice, accountability and the release of the justice department files related to the late convicted sex offender.“It’s time that we put the political agendas and party of affiliations to the side. This is a human issue, this is about children,” Haley Robson, one of the survivors, said. “There is no place in society for exploitation sexual crimes or exploitation of women in society.”The news conference came just hours before the House of Representatives almost unanimously passed a bill to force the release of the justice department’s cache of records related to Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges of sex-trafficking minors.“We are exhausted from surviving the trauma and then surviving the politics that swirl around it,” Wendy Avis, who said she met Epstein when she was 14, said. “I am asking Congress, please pass the bill, please release the records, stop making survivors fight alone for the truth.”The measure secured bipartisan support and passed the House on Tuesday.The vote took place after it became clear that it was likely to succeed and after Donald Trump, who has spent the last few months resisting the release of the files and urging Republicans to dismiss the bid, reversed his position and called on Republican lawmakers to back the bill.In an interview with CBS on Tuesday morning, the Democratic representative Ro Khanna, one of the Congress members leading the bipartisan push to release the files, said that he was “very surprised” by Trump’s reversal, adding that the president “was fighting Thomas Massie and me for five months”, referring to the Republican representative who has co-led the effort to force a House vote on this bill.Khanna and Massie stood with the group of Epstein survivors and delivered remarks.“This is one of the most horrific and disgusting corruption scandals in our country’s history,” Khanna said. “Because survivors spoke up, because of their courage, the truth is finally going to come out.”Massie urged the Senate, where the bill gets sent if it passes the House, to “not muck it up”.“If you do anything that prevents any disclosure, you are not for the people and you are not part of this effort,” Massie said.The Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican and longtime Trump ally who has also pressed for the release of the Epstein file, joined Khanna and Massie at the conference.“These women have fought the most horrific fight that no woman should have to fight, and they did it by banding together and never giving up,” Greene said. “That’s what we did by fighting so hard against the most powerful people in the world, even the president of the United States, in order to make this vote happen today.”Greene also referenced her recent clash with Trump, who withdrew his support for her on Friday, after her criticisms and deviations from Trump and his administration on certain topics, including the handling of the Epstein records.“I’ve never owed him anything, but I fought for him, for the policies and for America first, and he called me a ‘traitor’ for standing with these women and refusing to take my name off the discharge petition,” Greene said.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionRobson, the Epstein survivor, also used her remarks at the news conference to speak to Trump directly.“While I do understand that your position has changed on the Epstein files, and I’m grateful that you have pledged to sign this bill, I can’t help but be skeptical of what the agenda is,” she said. “So with that being said, I want to relay this message to you: I am traumatized. I am not stupid.”Another survivor, Jena-Lisa Jones, also addressed Trump directly.“I beg you, President Trump, please stop making this political, it is not about you,” she said.“I voted for you, but your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment,” Jones added. “It is time to take the honest moral ground and support the release of these files.”The Epstein case, which has for years been the subject of many conspiracy theories, has plagued the Trump administration for months. Over the summer, the administration faced backlash after the justice department announced it would not release any additional files, despite Trump’s campaign promises. The decision sparked outrage from both sides of the political aisle, with some accusing the administration of a “cover-up”.Last week, the House oversight committee released more than 20,000 documents it received from Epstein’s estate, including an email in which Epstein alleged that Trump “knew about the girls”, which reignited scrutiny over Trump’s past ties to the disgraced financier and intensified calls to release all the justice department and FBI records.Trump has consistently denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s crimes, and the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, last week dismissed the release of the emails and accused Democrats of “selectively” leaking them “to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump”. More

    • 125 Shares14 Views

      in US Politics

      House passes bill to release Epstein files with near-unanimous support

      by

      The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill with nearly unanimous support that will force the release of investigative files related to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, after Donald Trump and his Republican allies backed down from their opposition amid a scandal that has dogged the president since his return to the White House.The measure now awaits consideration by the Senate, where the Republican majority leader, John Thune, has not said if or when he will put it up for a vote. A spokesperson for Thune did not respond to a request for comment.Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, announced after the bill’s House passage that he would later on Tuesday ask for the chamber to pass it unanimously.“We have an opportunity to get this bill done today and have it on the president’s desk to be signed into law tonight. We should seize that opportunity,” he said.Though Trump has for months dismissed the uproar over the government’s handling of the Epstein case as a “Democrat hoax”, he signaled his support for the House bill over the weekend, and said he would sign the measure if it reaches his desk. On Tuesday morning, the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, announced he would vote for it, making its passage certain.Democrats, along with survivors of Epstein and their advocates who were seated in a House gallery, broke into applause after the bill was passed. The sole “no” vote came from Clay Higgins, a Louisiana Republican who said he worried the measure would make public identifying details of witnesses, potential suspects and others caught up in the investigation.Several of the president’s allies who voted for the bill did so only after criticizing it in floor speeches, arguing Democrats were being insincere but that the House could spend no more time on the matter.“As President Trump has stated, we have nothing to hide, nothing to hide here,” said Republican congressman Troy Nehls. “I’m voting to release the files so that we can move on from the [smear] campaign the Democrats have manufactured. God bless Donald J Trump.”Republican judiciary committee chair Jim Jordan argued that Democrats could have pushed for the files’ release during Joe Biden’s presidency. “Why now, after four years of doing nothing? Because going after President Trump is an obsession with these guys.”Even as he announced his support, Johnson criticized the measure for not doing enough to protect victims of Epstein, a financier who died in 2019 by what investigators determined was suicide while he was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.“Everybody here, all the Republicans, want to go on record to show we’re for maximum transparency, but they also want to note that we’re demanding that this stuff get corrected before it is ever moves through the process and is complete,” Johnson said.Any changes to the bill made by the Senate would require it to be approved again by the House, probably delaying its enactment.Chuck Grassley, the Republican chair of the Senate judiciary committee, wrote on X that he had “been calling for full transparency in the Epstein case since 2019” and that the chamber should vote on the bill “ASAP”.The Epstein case returned dramatically to the public eye in July, when the justice department and FBI released a memo saying they had nothing further to disclose about the investigation. That flew in the face of statements made by Trump and his top officials that indicated they would release more information about Epstein’s offenses and ties to global elites once they took office.Shortly after, four dissident Republicans in the House and all Democrats banded together to force a vote on a bill to release the investigative files, over Johnson’s objections.The leaders of that effort cheered the imminent vote, with the Democratic congressman Ro Khanna calling Tuesday “the first day of real reckoning for the Epstein class”.“Because survivors spoke up, because of their courage, the truth is finally going to come out, and when it comes out, this country is really going to have a moral reckoning. How did we allow this to happen?” Khanna said at a press conference, adding that the case was “one of the most horrific and disgusting corruption scandals in our country’s history.”Trump’s friendship with Epstein has had staying power in American politics as the late disgraced financier had links to many other rich and powerful figures in the US and overseas. The president’s dramatic shift came after it became increasingly apparent that the bill would pass the GOP-controlled House, most likely with significant support from Republican lawmakers. Trump in recent days changed his approach from outright opposition to declarations of indifference.“I DON’T CARE!” the president wrote in a social media post on Sunday. “All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT.”Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he did not want the Epstein scandal to “deflect” from the White House’s successes, and claimed it was a “hoax” and “a Democrat problem”.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“We’ll give them everything,” he told reporters. “Let the Senate look at it, let anybody look at it, but don’t talk about it too much, because honestly, I don’t want to take it away from us.”Thomas Massie, an iconoclastic Republican congressman who frequently defies Trump and joined with Khanna to pursue the files’ release, noted the president’s reversal on the Epstein issue.“We fought the president, the attorney general, the FBI director, the speaker of the House and the vice-president to get this win,” he said. “But they’re on our side today, though, so let’s give them some credit as well.”In July, Khanna and Massie turned to a procedural tactic known as a discharge petition to circumvent House leadership and compel a vote on their bill, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, if a majority of the 435-member House signs on.Johnson went to extraordinary lengths to avoid a vote on the the measure, which splintered his conference. Democrats accused the speaker of delaying the swearing-in of the Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva to prevent her from becoming the decisive 218th signatory. She signed her name to the petition moments after officially taking office last week.As president, Trump has the authority to order the justice department to release the documents in its possession, as he has previously done with the government records related to the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr and John F Kennedy.Emails made public last week by a House committee that has opened a separate inquiry into the scandal showed Epstein believed Trump “knew about the girls”, though it was not clear what that phrase meant. The White House said the released emails contained no proof of wrongdoing by Trump.Last week, the president instructed the justice department to investigate prominent Democrats’ ties to Epstein. The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, who earlier this year said a review of the files revealed no further investigative leads, replied to Trump that she would get on it right away and has appointed a prosecutor to lead the effort.The Epstein scandal is a core issue for a swathe of Trump’s rightwing base, some of whom believe in conspiracy theories that surround Epstein and his coterie of powerful friends and associates. Unlike many other issues, the Epstein files have prompted rebellions from Trump’s supporters in politics and the media, who have called on the president to follow through on his campaign promise to release them.Meanwhile, several Epstein survivors have ramped up pressure on Congress and Trump to advance the measure.“It’s time that we put the political agendas and party affiliations to the side. This is a human issue. This is about children,” survivor Haley Robson said at the press conference. “There is no place in society for exploitation, sexual crimes or exploitation of women.”She then addressed her comments to Trump, saying: “While I do understand that your position has changed on the Epstein files, and I’m grateful that you have pledged to sign this bill, I can’t help to be skeptical of what the agenda is.”On Monday night, activists projected an image of Trump and Epstein on to the justice department building, accompanied by the message: “Release the files now.” More