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      January 6 panel releases transcripts of key witness Cassidy Hutchinson – as it happened

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      The full report from the January 6 House panel investigating Donald Trump’s insurrection has not yet materialized, but the committee has just published transcripts of the testimony of a key witness.Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump’s White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, gave some of the most dramatic, and damning testimony during a live public hearing in the summer. She said Trump attempted to strangle his secret service agent and lunged for the steering wheel when he was told that he would not be driven to join the rioters he incited during the January 6 Capitol riot.She gave further, closed doors testimony to the panel in September, released by the committee in two documents this morning. One from 14 September is here; and the other from the following day is here.The first session lasted five and a half hours, and the second was two and half. There’s more than 200 pages of transcript here, but one episode sticks out, aboard Air Force One early on 5 January 2021, as Trump was flying back to Washington after “stop the steal” rallies in Georgia.It would appear to allude to the plot to try to persuade vice-president Mike Pence to deny certification of Trump’s election defeat by Biden in Congress the following day, the infamous Capitol riot incited by Trump.In a conference room meeting attended by, among others, Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene, allies were talking up the scheme, and assuring Trump it would succeed, Hutchinson says.But she says she then saw Meadows take Trump aside after the meeting and caution him thus: “In case we didn’t win this [the election] sir, and in case, like, tomorrow doesn’t go as planned, we’re gonna have to have a plan in place.”According to Hutchinson, Trump replied: “There’s always that chance we didn’t win, but tomorrow’s gonna go well,” a potentially crucial admission that Trump already knew his defeat was not fraudulent.We’re closing the live politics blog now, but look out for our news report later on the January 6 committee’s final report, assuming the panel sticks to its word and publishes it today.Even without the report, it’s been a busy day. The select committee did release transcripts of the two-day deposition of Cassidy Hutchinson, aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and a key witness during public hearings this summer.Hutchinson spoke of a campaign of pressure on her by White House attorneys, including one paid by Trump, to give misleading testimony.Here’s what else we followed:
      The Senate voted 68-29 to pass the $1.7tn omnibus spending bill that will keep the government funded for another year. The House is expected to take up the bill later on Thursday, and Joe Biden must sign it before a Friday deadline to avert a government shutdown.
      Arizona governor Doug Ducey said he’d take down a makeshift wall made of shipping containers at the Mexico border, settling a lawsuit and political tussle with the US government over trespassing on federal lands.
      Newly elected New York congressman George Santos, whose life story has come under question since the Republican’s midterms victory last month, said he’ll address those concerns next week.
      Former president George W Bush issued a statement condemning the Taliban for pulling the plug on university education for women in Afghanistan, accusing the country’s ruling party of treating women as “second-class citizens”.
      Joe Biden will speak from the White House at 4pm ET Thursday with a Christmas message.The president’s address, the White House said in a memo, will be “focused on what unites us as Americans, his optimism for the year ahead, and wishing Americans joy in the coming year”.You can watch the Biden Christmas address here.The governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, will take down a makeshift wall made of shipping containers at the Mexico border, settling a lawsuit and political tussle with the US government over trespassing on federal lands.The Associated Press reports that the Biden administration and the Republican governor entered into an agreement under which Arizona will cease installing the containers in any national forest, according to court documents filed in US district court in Phoenix.The agreement also calls for Arizona to remove containers already installed in the remote San Rafael Valley, in south-eastern Cochise county, by 4 January and without damaging any natural resources. State agencies will have to consult with US Forest Service representatives.Read the full story:Arizona governor agrees to remove wall of shipping containers on Mexico borderRead moreGeorge W Bush, the president who ordered US forces into Afghanistan as part of the global war on terror, has issued a statement condemning the Taliban for pulling the rug on university education for Afghan women.In a statement from his office in Crawford, Texas, the 76-year-old former commander in chief and former first lady Laura Bush said their “hearts are heavy for the people of Afghanistan”:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}We are especially sad for Afghan women and girls, who are enduring terrible hardship under the brutal Taliban regime. Just this week, all Afghan women were banned from studying at university. Many were turned away from their jobs in schools; others were prevented from worshiping in mosques and seminaries.
      And in the latest assault on human rights in the country, we fear for young girls being barred from school entirely. Treating women as second-class citizens, depriving them of their universal human rights, and denying them the opportunity to better themselves and their communities should generate outrage among all of us.
      For Afghans who were forced to flee their homes, these attacks remind us of our responsibility to help those who’ve helped us over the last two decades, including the evacuees here in the United States. Afghans, like people around the world, simply want to live in freedom and provide a better future for their children.
      Laura and I, along with the team at the Bush Center, pray that 2023 will bring a better time for the people of Afghanistan and those fighting for freedom everywhere.Other former world leaders have also been vocal. In an opinion piece for the Guardian, Gordon Brown, the United Nations special envoy for global education, and most recent Labour prime minister, said the Taliban’s ruling had done “more in a single day to entrench discrimination against women and girls and set back their empowerment than any other single policy decision I can remember”.Read more:The Taliban are taking away women’s right to learn. The world can’t afford to stay silent | Gordon BrownRead moreSenators have just voted 68-29 to pass the $1.7tn omnibus spending bill that will keep the government funded for another year.The House is expected to take up the bill later on Thursday, with the outgoing Democratic majority likely to pass it in one of its last acts before ceding control of the chamber to Republicans next month.Politicians are facing a midnight Friday deadline to get the measure to Joe Biden’s desk before parts of the government would have to shut down through lack of funding.“There are so many good things in the bill it’s hard to get them all out,” Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said.“We’ve concluded this Congress, one of the most disruptive in decades, with one of the best omnibus packages in decades.”George Santos says he’ll address questions “next week” about an allegedly fantastical biography the newly-elected New York congressman presented to voters in last month’s midterms.Speculation has grown in recent days that the Republican may not have been entirely truthful in statements about his background, education and achievements. His beaten Democratic opponent, Robert Zimmerman, said Santos “was running a scam against the voters”.“To the people of #NY03 I have my story to tell and it will be told next week. I want to assure everyone that I will address your questions and that I remain committed to deliver the results I campaigned on; Public safety, Inflation, Education & more,” Santos said in a Thursday afternoon tweet.To the people of #NY03 I have my story to tell and it will be told next week. I want to assure everyone that I will address your questions and that I remain committed to deliver the results I campaigned on; Public safety, Inflation, Education & more.Happy Holidays to all!— George Santos (@Santos4Congress) December 22, 2022
      Santos had claimed his grandfather escaped the Holocaust; that he had worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs; that he had graduated from Baruch College; and that he ran a non-profit, tax-exempt pet rescue group.Every one of the claims has been disproved, according to research by, among others, the New York Times and CNN.Santos, who beat Zimmerman by eight points in November, became the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat as a non-incumbent, the Times reported.More, from Maya Yang, on how Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump’s only current rival for the next Republican presidential nomination, has appointed a judge previously ousted over a controversial ruling in which he denied a teenager an abortion, citing her school grades.DeSantis appointed Jared Smith to the newly established sixth district court of appeal, an appointment which will begin on 1 January 2023. Smith was previously a judge on the Hillsborough county court, until he was ousted in August after his decision on the abortion-related case.In January, Smith ruled that a 17-year-old was unfit to obtain an abortion as he questioned her “overall intelligence”. According to Florida law, both parental notification and consent is required in order for a minor to receive an abortion. In the teenager’s case, she asked the court to waive the requirement.The requirement can be waived if the court finds “by clear and convincing evidence, that the minor is sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy”.In his ruling, Smith cited the teenager’s grades as a factor in his decision to deny her the abortion.“Addressing her ‘overall intelligence’ … the court found her intelligence to be less than average because ‘[w]hile she claimed that her grades were ‘Bs’ during her testimony, her GPA is currently 2.0. Clearly, a ‘B’ average would not equate to a 2.0 GPA,’” Smith wrote.Smith also questioned the teenager’s “emotional development and stability, and ability to accept responsibility”.“This court has long recognized that the trial court’s findings … may support a determination that the minor did not prove that she was sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy,” he wrote.An appeals court overturned the ruling. In August, Smith lost his re-election bid against Nancy Jacobs, a Tampa criminal defense and family law attorney.DeSantis appoints judge who denied abortion to girl over school gradesRead moreSpeaking of impending investigations of Hunter Biden, the president’s son has hired a well-known Washington lawyer, who represented Jared Kushner in Congress as well as during the investigation of Russian election interference and links between Donald Trump and Moscow, to advise him during his looming congressional combat.The younger Biden “has retained Abbe Lowell to help advise him and be part of his legal team to address the challenges he is facing,” another attorney, Kevin Morris, told news outlets on Wednesday.“Lowell is a well-known Washington based attorney who has represented numerous public officials and high-profile people in Department of Justice investigations and trials as well as congressional investigations. [For Hunter Biden] Mr Lowell will handle congressional investigations and general strategic advice.”Lowell has worked across the political divide, representing Democrats including Bob Menendez, a New Jersey senator, and the former senator and vice-presidential nominee John Edwards, both in corruption cases that ended in mistrials, and acting as chief minority counsel to House Democrats in the impeachment of Bill Clinton.Recently, Lowell represented Tom Barrack, a Trump ally acquitted in a foreign lobbying case.Lowell, 70, has said that to be a trial lawyer, “you have to have a desire to be a performer at some level. If I hadn’t done this, it would have been Broadway”.But his work for Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and chief adviser, brought an uncomfortable sort of spotlight. Writing in the American Lawyer in late 2020, Lowell suggested criticism of his work for another client was generated “primarily because I later represented … the president’s son-in-law.“The resulting news coverage, and especially the more sensational headlines, triggered the all-too-common flurry of hate mail, threatening voice mails and anonymous criticisms for doing the very job that attorneys are supposed to do.”Full story:Hunter Biden hires Jared Kushner lawyer to face Republican investigatorsRead moreJamie Raskin of Maryland, a member of the January 6 committee and before that a House manager in the second impeachment of Donald Trump, will be the top Democrat on the House oversight committee in the next Congress.Raskin beat Gerry Connolly of Virginia in a closed ballot on Capitol Hill.So far, so inside Beltway baseball. But it’s an important vote to note nonetheless. Raskin, who was a professor of constitutional law before entering Congress, has achieved a high profile and he will need to wield it to good effect in the oversight role from January, given Republicans’ declared intent to use the committee to launch investigations into Hunter Biden and other subjects designed to damage Joe Biden.The current oversight chair, Carolyn Maloney of New York, will leave Congress shortly, having lost her primary this year.James Comer of Kentucky, the incoming Republican chair, told reporters last month he intended to go on the offensive, by investigating whether family business activities have “compromise[d] US national security and President Biden’s ability to lead with impartiality”.“We want the bank records and that’s our focus,” Comer said. “We’re trying to stay focused on: ‘Was Joe Biden directly involved with Hunter Biden’s business deals and is he compromised?’ That’s our investigation.”Raskin’s work on the January 6 investigation is all but done. Now comes the next hefty task.Here’s some further reading about Raskin, from our Washington bureau chief, David Smith:Congressman Jamie Raskin: ‘I’ll never forget the terrible sound of them trying to barrel into the chamber’Read moreWhite House aide Cassidy Hutchinson said she felt she had “Trump himself looking over my shoulder” as she discussed with her attorney her upcoming testimony to the January 6 committee earlier this year.Hutchinson, an assistant to then-president Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, makes the revelation in a transcript of a deposition to the panel that was released on Thursday morning.In it, Hutchinson, a star witness against Trump in public hearings of the committee this summer, outlines what she saw as sustained campaign of pressure by lawyers paid by Trump to get her to mislead the panel.CNN reported on Wednesday that Stefan Passantino, the top ethics attorney in the White House at the time, allegedly advised Hutchinson to tell the committee that she did not recall details that she did over Trump’s efforts to reverse his defeat to Joe Biden.According to the transcript, Hutchinson told the panel:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}It wasn’t just that I had Stefan sitting next to me; it was almost like I felt like I had Trump looking over my shoulder. Because I knew in some fashion it would get back to him if I said anything that he would find disloyal.
      And the prospect of that genuinely scared me. You know, I’d seen this world ruin people’s lives or try to ruin people’s careers. I’d seen how vicious they can be.Hutchinson, then 26, said she originally thought she was “fucked” because she couldn’t afford a lawyer after receiving a subpoena from the House committee, but was hooked up with Passantino through her White House contacts. It turned out that Passantino was being paid by a Trump political action committee.NEW: Cassidy Hutchinson told Jan. 6 committee that Ben Williamson — aide to former Trump chief Meadows — told her: “Well, Mark wants me to let you know that he knows you’re loyal and he knows you’ll do the right thing tomorrow and that you’re going to protect him and the boss.”— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) December 22, 2022
      Hutchinson also said that Passantino had never explicitly asked her to lie to the panel:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}I want to make this clear to you: Stefan never told me to lie. He specifically told me, ‘I don’t want you to perjure yourself, but ‘I don’t recall’ isn’t perjury. They don’t know want you can and can’t recall’.But she said she felt increasingly pressured into misleading the panel. The relationship with Passantino soured, and ended, she said.Read more:Cassidy Hutchinson: who is the ex-aide testifying in the January 6 hearings?Read moreThe $1.7tn government spending bill could pass Congress as early as Thursday night after Democratic and Republican negotiators in the Senate appeared to strike a deal over certain amendments that were holding it up.Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer announced the agreement to clear about 15 amendments, the Associated Press reported. Such amendments are subject to a 60-vote requirement and would ordinarily fail in the evenly divided chamber.“It’s taken a while, but it is worth it,” Schumer said in announcing the series of votes, needed to lock in an expedited vote on final passage and get the bill to Joe Biden’s desk before a partial government shutdown would begin at midnight Friday. The House will take up the bill after the Senate completes its work, the AP reports.The massive bill includes about $772.5bn for non-defense, discretionary programs and $858bn for defense, and would finance the government through September. Lawmakers were racing to get the bill approved before a shutdown could occur, and many were anxious to complete the task before a deep freeze and wintry conditions leave them stranded in Washington for the holidays. Many also want to lock in government funding before a new GOP-controlled House next year could make it harder to find compromise on spending.Read more:Schumer seeks Senate path for funding bill as government shutdown loomsRead moreThe full report from the January 6 House panel investigating Donald Trump’s insurrection has not yet materialized, but the committee has just published transcripts of the testimony of a key witness.Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump’s White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, gave some of the most dramatic, and damning testimony during a live public hearing in the summer. She said Trump attempted to strangle his secret service agent and lunged for the steering wheel when he was told that he would not be driven to join the rioters he incited during the January 6 Capitol riot.She gave further, closed doors testimony to the panel in September, released by the committee in two documents this morning. One from 14 September is here; and the other from the following day is here.The first session lasted five and a half hours, and the second was two and half. There’s more than 200 pages of transcript here, but one episode sticks out, aboard Air Force One early on 5 January 2021, as Trump was flying back to Washington after “stop the steal” rallies in Georgia.It would appear to allude to the plot to try to persuade vice-president Mike Pence to deny certification of Trump’s election defeat by Biden in Congress the following day, the infamous Capitol riot incited by Trump.In a conference room meeting attended by, among others, Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene, allies were talking up the scheme, and assuring Trump it would succeed, Hutchinson says.But she says she then saw Meadows take Trump aside after the meeting and caution him thus: “In case we didn’t win this [the election] sir, and in case, like, tomorrow doesn’t go as planned, we’re gonna have to have a plan in place.”According to Hutchinson, Trump replied: “There’s always that chance we didn’t win, but tomorrow’s gonna go well,” a potentially crucial admission that Trump already knew his defeat was not fraudulent.Nancy Pelosi is delivering the final press conference of her long-time tenure as House speaker, and is reminiscing over all the memorable presidents she has served:Pelosi: “I was speaker and minority leader under President Bush, under President Obama and under whatshisname?”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) December 22, 2022
      It’s safe to say that Madam Speaker has not suddenly become that forgetful as she prepares to stand down.Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona’s Democratic-turned-independent senator, has always had a reputation as one of Washington’s more unconventional politicians. Now, it seems, she’s also one of the most demanding.The Daily Beast has published details of what it says is a 37-page memo “intended as a guide for aides who set the schedule for and personally staff Sinema during her workdays in Washington and Arizona”.It makes for quite a read, reminiscent of some of the more outlandish demands contained in the “riders” of various rock stars.Sinema must always have a room temperature bottle of water at hand, the Beast says, citing the memo.At the beginning of each week, her executive assistant must contact Sinema in Washington to “ask if she needs groceries,” and copy both the scheduler and chief of staff on the message to “make sure this is accomplished”.Anyone booking her travel must avoid Southwest Airlines, never book her a seat near a bathroom, and never a middle seat, the Beast says.And if the internet in Sinema’s private apartment fails, the executive assistant “should call Verizon to schedule a repair” and ensure a staffer is present to let a technician inside the property.The allegations come just a week after Slate published a piece claiming Sinema was a prolific seller on Facebook’s online marketplace, listing mostly shoes and clothing.The Beast said Sinema’s office said it couldn’t verify the document’s authenticity, which is not an outright denial, and said the information as published “is not in line with official guidance from [her] office and does not represent official policies of [the] office”.You can read the Beast’s report here.Never one to hide his opinions, however extreme, Fox News host Tucker Carlson did not share in the almost universal acclaim for Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s historic address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night.“The president of Ukraine arrived at the White House, dressed like the manager of a strip club and started to demand money,” Carlson announced at the opening of his show on Wednesday, citing both Zelenskiy’s request for more western armaments and his trademark olive green military-style clothing.“Amazingly, no one threw him out. Instead, they did whatever he wanted,” Carlson continued, fuming at the further $1.85bn in US aid for Ukraine, including, for the first time, advanced Patriot air defense missiles, announced by the Biden administration on Wednesday.Tucker Carlson, Lauren Boebert, and Matt Gaetz stand with Putin; most of America stands with Zelensky and the people of Ukraine.The contrast between the far right and most of America has never been more glaring.— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) December 22, 2022
      Right-wingers bashing US support for Ukraine as it fights to repel the 10-month-old invasion by Russia is nothing new. A number of politicians and celebrity figures such as Carlson have long questioned the tens of billions of dollars of taxpayers money committed so far.But the howls of protest have become louder in recent weeks as Republicans prepare to take control of the House, and a further $44bn in emergency aid for Ukraine is included in the $1.7tn government spending package that looks on track for congressional passage today.Ahead of November’s midterms, Republicans even hinted that if they won control, the stream of funding for Ukraine could be cut off, as reported by Axios, and others, in October.On Wednesday night in the House, two notorious Republican extremists, Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Matt Gaetz of Florida, remained sitting and unmoved as Zelenskiy spoke, while many party colleagues sprang to their feet in applause.It caught the attention of Democratic New York congressman Ritchie Torres, who was not impressed with the pair’s antics, or Carlson’s comments for that matter.“Tucker Carlson, Lauren Boebert, and Matt Gaetz stand with [Russian president Vladimir] Putin; most of America stands with Zelenskiy and the people of Ukraine. The contrast between the far right and most of America has never been more glaring,” he said in a tweet.CNN is reporting that Senate negotiators for the Democrats and Republicans have struck a deal to secure passage of the $1.7tn government spending package.A number of amendments are incorporated into the bill, reflecting a “furious push by Senate leaders to get this done,” the network reports.We’ll have more details soon.Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who chaired the January 6 House panel, says its investigation into Donald Trump’s insurrection uncovered witnesses that not even the justice department could find.In a revealing interview with MSNBC on Wednesday night, Thompson also said the bipartisan, nine-member committee took its time before referring the former president for criminal charges on Monday because it “wanted to get things right”.Thompson, and Liz Cheney, the Republican vice-chair from Wyoming, will present their 800-page full report to Congress sometime today. The panel has already sent evidence to the justice department to assist its own parallel criminal investigation into Trump’s efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden.Thompson told MSNBC:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}I am more comfortable with the fact that the special counsel has been actively engaged in pursuing any and all the information available. They have been in contact with our committee, asking us to provide various transcripts.
      There were people that we deposed that justice had not deposed. There were electors in various states that justice couldn’t find. We found them. We deposed them.
      So we had a lot of information, but now we make all that information available to them. And if they come back and want to interview staff or any members, ask any additional information, you know, we’ll be more than happy to do it. Thompson also spoke emotionally about the demands of conducting an intensive, 18-month inquiry, and the reason it was necessary:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}It’s been difficult. I have spent many nights away from home. I’ve spent a lot of time just trying to figure out why, in the greatest democracy in the world, would people want to all of a sudden stow on the Capitol because they lost an election?
      You know, normally in a democracy, you settle your differences at the ballot box. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but under no circumstances do you tear the city hall up, or the courthouse up, and, God forbid, the United States Capitol.
      It was just something that for most Americans, it was beyond imagination. And so, it played out in real time. People could see it. And there are still a lot of people who can’t fathom why our people would do that. You can view Thompson’s MSNBC interview here.It’s a third day of reckoning this week for Donald Trump as the January 6 House committee releases the final report from its 18-month investigation into the former president’s insurrection.Delayed from Wednesday, today’s publication of a dossier expected to run to 800 pages will expose in depth the extraordinary, and illegal efforts Trump employed to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
      On Monday, the panel held its final hearing and referred Trump to the justice department for four criminal charges, including engaging in or assisting an insurrection.
      And on Tuesday, a separate House panel voted to release tax returns that Trump had fought for three years to keep secret.
      We already know from previous hearings much of the plotting and scheming that took place. Trump incited a mob that overran the US Capitol on January 6 2021, seeking to halt the certification of Biden’s victory; tried to manipulate states’ election results in his favor; and attempted to install slates of “fake electors” to reverse his defeat in Congress.On Wednesday night, the House panel released transcripts of 34 witness interviews.Today, the Select Committee made public 34 transcripts of witness testimony that was gathered over the course of the Select Committee’s investigation.These records can be found on the Select Committee’s website: https://t.co/JZaSH4GmdK— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) December 21, 2022
      Subjects of the interview transcripts included Jeffrey Clark, a senior official in the Trump justice department; John Eastman, a conservative lawyer and an architect of Trump’s last-ditch efforts to stay in office; and former national security adviser Mike Flynn, who was convicted of lying to the FBI but pardoned by Trump.Each invoked his fifth-amendment right against self-incrimination.More transcripts are expected to be released today.Panel member Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, told CBS: “I guarantee there’ll be some very interesting new information in the report, and even more so in the transcripts.”Read more:January 6 panel releases transcripts of testimony ahead of 800-page reportRead moreGood morning US politics blog readers. If you figured things were winding down for the Christmas holiday, think again.Sometime today we will see the release of the full January 6 House committee report into Donald Trump’s insurrection, delayed from Wednesday for reasons unknown. But the panel did release transcripts of 34 witness interviews last night, many of which make interesting reading.Also in Trump news, we’re learning the former president paid no federal tax at all in the final year of his administration.Elsewhere, here’s what we’re following:
      There’s uncertainty over the passage of the bipartisan $1.7tn government spending package after early-hours drama in the Senate when Republicans threatened to blow up the deal over an immigration provision.
      Nancy Pelosi will give her last press conference, scheduled for 10.45am, before she stands down as speaker when Republicans take control of the chamber early next month.
      There’s reaction to Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s powerful and historic address to to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night.
      Joe Biden has no public engagements scheduled, and no White House press briefing is listed, although that could change.
      A reminder you can follow ongoing developments in the war in Ukraine in our live blog here.Strap in and stick with us. It’s going to be a lively day. More

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      in US Politics

      Volodymyr Zelenskiy channels Churchill to briefly unite a polarised US Congress

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      AnalysisVolodymyr Zelenskiy channels Churchill to briefly unite a polarised US CongressDavid Smith in Washington As he received thunderous cheers and standing ovations, Ukraine’s president made a case for financial support that would ensure his country’s survivalFor a former actor and comedian, it was the curtain call of a lifetime.His address delivered, Volodymyr Zelenskiy walked up the centre aisle of the House of Representatives chamber to thunderous cheers, a standing ovation, eager handshakes and some members clamouring to touch him with almost religious reverence. One group had brought a giant Ukrainian flag. Others wore blue and yellow, the national colours.They were last impressions to warm Zelenskiy as he flew back to bleak, wintry Ukraine. He could also reflect that he had written one more chapter in the strange, eventful history of America and Ukraine, two nations whose fates have become unexpectedly intertwined.Zelenskiy invokes fight against Nazi Germany in speech to US CongressRead moreThe 44-year-old president was making his first trip outside Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February. He was in Washington to thank Joe Biden, Congress and the American people for their support. The climax was his address to a joint session of Congress that included representatives, senators and members of Biden’s cabinet.There was a rising hubbub of voices as the chamber awaited his entrance. Kevin McCarthy, running for speaker, gave someone an elaborate wink. Matt Gaetz offered a quip to Lauren Boebert, who chuckled. January 6 committee members Liz Cheney and Elaine Luria chatted then posed for a photo together.It takes a lot to impress long-in-the-tooth politicians but the Time magazine person of the year’s combination of star quality and steel core was enough. As every member rose to their feet, applauding and hollering, even Zelenskiy was overwhelmed for a moment. “It’s too much for me,” he said.He stood at the same spot that American presidents do when delivering the State of the Union address but cut a very different figure with short dark hair, a moustache and beard. The House waived a rule that requires men to wear a jacket and tie inside the chamber, allowing him to wear a sweater in his trademark wartime olive. He read his speech from pages placed on the lectern before him, tracing the words with his index finger as he spoke English in a raspy, accented voice.“Against all odds and doom-and-gloom scenarios, Ukraine didn’t fall – Ukraine is alive and kicking,” he said, prompting one of many standing ovations.02:12More than one historian compared the visit to Winston Churchill sailing to America soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Churchill held a press conference with President Franklin Roosevelt and joined him in the ceremonial lighting of the National Christmas Tree. He also addressed Congress in the Senate chamber on 26 December 1941. At the end of his half-hour speech, the chief justice gave a “V” for victory sign and one reporter observed: “The effect was instantaneous, electric. The cheers swelled into a roar.”Cheers turned to roars again for Zelenskiy when, in a nod to Churchill, he declared: “Ukraine holds its lines and will never surrender.”He was also a polite guest, resisting the temptation to go all Oliver Twist and demand more. But he did remark: “Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”He added: “Your support is crucial. We have artillery, yes. Thank you. We have it. Is it enough? Honestly, not really.” Some members of Congress burst out laughing, which would have been fine in Zelenskiy’s old job playing a fictional president of Ukraine on TV, but must have been less welcome as his people freeze.America, of course, had its own celebrity turned president in the shape of Donald Trump. Whereas the Watergate rule was “follow the money”, the best advice in this era of American politics is “follow the ruble”.Top US conservatives pushing Russia’s spin on Ukraine war, experts sayRead moreTrump has made a habit of parroting the Kremlin’s talking points since a visit to Russia in 1987. Mysteriously, his campaign aides intervened during the 2016 Republican National Convention to block language from the Republican party platform that called on the US to send lethal arms to Ukraine.The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, undoubtedly meddled in that year’s election. Special counsel Robert Mueller did not establish a conspiracy but the Trump campaign and transition team is known to have at least hundreds of known contacts and dozens of known meetings with Russia-linked operatives. Once he became president, Trump shied away from criticising Putin over anything.Zelenskiy, already locked in a long conflict with Russia, had cause to wonder which side Washington was on. His face was a picture when Trump once told him: “I really hope that you and President Putin can get together and solve your problem.”So it was hardly a surprise when, in 2019, the US president withheld nearly $400m in military aid from Ukraine in an effort to pressure Zelenskiy into announcing a bogus investigation into Biden and his family. This led to a congressional inquiry in which Ukraine was suddenly dominating media headlines and experts such as Fiona Hill were the talk of the town. Trump was ultimately impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate.When Joe Biden took office in 2021, Zelenskiy was not uppermost in his thoughts, but Russia’s invasion of the country in February this year changed all that. It gifted him an ‘Exhibit A’ in his oft-made argument that democracies face a struggle with autocracies for global preeminence. On his watch, the US has poured $20bn worth of military aid into Ukraine and is about send a battery of Patriot missiles.In vivid contrast to Trump, the personal chemistry between Biden and Zelenskiy was palpable on Wednesday. At a joint press conference in the White House east room, Biden, at his most tactile, pointed to the Ukrainian and said: “This guy to his very soul is who he says he is. It’s clear who he is. He’s willing to give his life for his country and all the folks who came with him today.”Zelenskiy, for his part, said through an interpreter: “As to what is the message for Putin, I am standing here in the United States with President Biden on the same podium because I respect him as a person, as a president, as a human being for his position. And for me, this is a historic moment.”Zelenskiy expressed confidence that, despite the upcoming change in control of the House, America will stand firm in backing his cause. Despite some in the Trump wing questioning the cost, plenty of Republicans seemed to show enthusiasm on Wednesday night. They joined the cheering as, near the end of a half-hour speech, Zelenskiy presented Vice-president Kamala Harris and speaker Nancy Pelosi – probably presiding over their last joint meeting of Congress – with a Ukrainian flag signed by its soldiers. “We are united,” he said. “Ukraine, America and the entire free world.”A decade ago few could have predicted that Ukraine would loom so large in Washington – in Donald Rumsfeld’s language, it was an unknown unknown. It would also have been hard to foresee that it would take a courageous leader from eastern Europe to bring Democrats and Republicans together. In the age of polarisation, unity at last. A sea of heads turned upwards as a Ukrainian contingent in the public balcony shouted: “God bless America! Thank you, thank you, thank you.”TopicsVolodymyr ZelenskiyThe US politics sketchUkraineRussiaUS politicsJoe BidenNancy PelosiHouse of RepresentativesanalysisReuse this content More

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      Zelenskiy invokes fight against Nazi Germany in speech to US Congress

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      Zelenskiy invokes fight against Nazi Germany in speech to US CongressUkrainian president’s first foreign trip since Russia invaded was made amid concern that Republicans might oppose future funding proposals02:12The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has given a defiant address to a joint session of the US Congress in which he vowed that his country would never abandon its resistance to Russian aggression – but said that Washington’s continued support is key to ultimate victory.Zelenskiy was received with a standing ovation as he arrived to speak wearing his now trademark green military-style trousers and shirt. The Ukrainian leader was repeatedly met with long bursts of applause as he invoked US battles against Nazi Germany and President Franklin Roosevelt’s wartime commitments in a bid to keep American weapons supplies flowing for the war against Russia.“Our two nations are allies in this battle and next year will be a turning point. I know it. The point when Ukrainian courage and American resolve must guarantee the future of our common freedom. The freedom of people who stand for their values,” he said. Zelenskiy’s US visit to counter emerging opposition to support for UkraineRead moreThe Ukrainian president left his country for the first time since Russia invaded 300 days ago, crossing into Poland earlier in the day and then flying to Washington, to make a direct appeal to Congress for continued military aid amid concern that the incoming Republican leadership of the House of Representatives might oppose proposals for an additional $45bn in weapons and other assistance next year.The US has already supplied $22bn in military assistance to Ukraine since the Russians invaded in February. On Wednesday, the White House announced a further $1.85bn in aid including, for the first time, Patriot air defence missiles to protect Ukraine’s infrastructure, already crippled by Russian attacks.Zelenskiy sought to win sceptics over with a speech that tied the future of the war, and freedom, to America’s commitment to Ukraine.He said his country had defied expectations that it would not be able to hold out for more than a few weeks against Russia.“Against all odds and doom and gloom, Ukraine didn’t fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking,” he said.That survival had produced different kinds of victories, he said.“We defeated Russia, in the battle for minds of the world. We have no fear. Nor should anyone in the world have it. Ukraine’s gained this victory and it gives us courage, which inspires the entire world.”But, Zelenskiy said, the struggle on the battlefield remained, and America was central to what happened there.“I know that everything depends on us, on the Ukrainian armed forces. Yet so much depends on the world. So much in the world depends on you,” he told Congress.“Russia could stop its aggression, really, if it wanted to. But you can speed up our victory.”‘You’ll never stand alone’: Biden pledges support to Zelenskiy during US visitRead moreZelenskiy said that the day before flying to Washington he visited the frontline city of Bakhmut in the Donbas. He described the region as “soaked in blood”.“Russians use everything they have against Bakhmut and other our beautiful cities. The occupiers have a significant advantage in artillery, they have an advantage in ammunition, they have much more missiles and planes than we ever had,” he said. “It’s true, but our defence forces stand.”He compared Ukrainian soldiers to American troops who resisted Germans at the Battle of the Bulge in Christmas 1944.And then he got to his point: Ukranians are fighting and dying. The least America can do is provide them with the weapons to resist.“We have artillery. Yes. Thank you. Is it enough? Not really,” he said to laughter in the chamber.Zelenskiy also sought to define his enemy in terms American politicians understand – as a terrorist state allied with another of the US’s enemies, Iran, which has supplied drones used in attacks on Ukrainian cities.“Russia found an ally in this genocidal policy, Iran. The deadly drones sent to Russia in hundreds and hundreds became a threat to our critical infrastructure. That is how one terrorist has found the other,” he said. “It is just a matter of time when they will strike against your other allies if we do not stop them now. We must do it.”Zelenskiy also played to the American reverence for the flag. He unfurled a blue and yellow Ukrainian standard he said had come from the front line. The speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and Vice-president Kamala Harris held it up.“This flag is a symbol of our victory in this war. We stand, we fight and we will win because we are united – Ukraine, America and the entire free world,” he said.It was not clear if Zelenskiy’s performance was enough to win over sceptical Republicans in Congress but he got the reassurance he wanted at a White House meeting earlier in the day.“You will never stand alone,” President Biden told the Ukrainian leader. TopicsVolodymyr ZelenskiyUkraineRussiaUS politicsNancy PelosiJoe BidennewsReuse this content More

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      Nancy Pelosi tells of ‘proud’ record as speaker in likely final press conference – as it happened

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      Nancy Pelosi has given what she suggests will be her final press conference as House speaker, telling reporters this is “maybe the last time I see you in this way”.She’s been reflecting on some of the successes of her tenure, and paying tribute to Joe Biden and Barack Obama for most of them, from the passing of the Affordable Care Act to this week’s signing of the same-sex Respect for Marriage Act.Pelosi said she was “proud” to have her signature below Biden’s on that law:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}He has been a remarkable president. He has a record that is so outstanding, and for such a short period of time as well.
      People compare him to Lyndon Johnson, to Franklin Roosevelt, but I’d remind you all that Roosevelt had 319 Democrats in the House, President Biden 222, whatever it is, and even fewer now.She went on to list many of the items of legislation she was most proud of, under Biden’s leadership:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Passing the American rescue plan, getting vaccines at arms, money in pockets, children back to school and people safely back to work, the bipartisan infrastructure law, building roads, bridges, ports and water systems…
      Bringing people together, not projects that divide communities but bringing people together, and this such a source of pride, putting justice and equity front and center.Of her regrets, the inability to pass comprehensive gun reform saddened her, she said. Speaking one day after the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting that killed 20 elementary school children and six adults, she said:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}We won’t relent until the job is done, until we can have background checks, and have banned assault weapons.Pelosi doesn’t leave office until early next month, and didn’t rule out speaking with the media again, particularly if there’s a resolution to threat of a government shutdown. The speaker says she’s optimistic that a “bipartisan, bicameral” omnibus spending deal will pass next week to keep the government funded for a year.We’re closing our politics blog now. Thanks for joining us. So far there’s no sign of a deal in the Senate over a stopgap funding agreement that would keep the government running. The House passed the measure last night.Here’s what we’ve been following:
      Nancy Pelosi praised Joe Biden and Barack Obama as she reflected on their legislative accomplishments during her time a House speaker. Pelosi, who steps down next month, gave what could be her last press conference in the job.
      Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis indicated he was ready to sign the nation’s most restrictive abortion law, a Texas-style “heartbeat ban” that outlaws the procedure as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy.
      The House voted 233-191 to allow Puerto Rico to hold a vote on becoming the 51st state, a largely symbolic measure because the Puerto Rico Status Act is unlikely to get a hearing in the Senate.
      Joe Biden said he’ll be heading to sub-Saharan Africa soon. He was speaking at the conclusion of a summit with African leaders in which he pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure, technology and free elections.
      First lady Jill Biden says she’s “all in” on her husband running again for the presidency in 2024, according to a report from CNN that says her position is a “tidal shift” from her reluctant feelings of just three months ago.
      Two conspirators convicted of terrorism last month in a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor Gretchen Whitmer were sentenced to prison sentences of 12 and 10 years respectively. A third convict is yet to be sentenced.
      The state department has announced a new round of sanctions against a number of Russian oligarchs, government officials and their families for enabling president Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
      An extreme “heartbeat” abortion ban looks to be coming to Florida after Republican governor Ron DeSantis announced his willingness Thursday to sign such a law.“I’m willing to sign great life legislation. That’s what I’ve always said I would do,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Fort Lauderdale, reported by the Florida Phoenix.A heartbeat ban outlaws an abortion once the presence of a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy.A version of the law, the nation’s most restrictive abortion legislation, took effect in Texas in 2021 after the Supreme Court, which had yet to overturn federal abortion protections, declined to block it.Rightwinger DeSantis is seen as a likely contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, and leads in several recent polls of party members.Despite passing a raft of culture war legislation during his first term of office, including a 15-week abortion ban, DeSantis largely avoided the issue during campaigning ahead of his landslide reelection as Florida’s governor last month.The Republican supermajority in the Florida legislature means Democrats would be unable to block any new abortion law.Free-spirited Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema raised eyebrows last week when she announced she was leaving the Democratic party to sit as an independent. Now, it seems, she’s also become an independent trader.An extraordinary article published Thursday by Slate outs the enigmatic Sinema as a prolific seller of goods, especially shoes and clothes, on Facebook Marketplace, enough to rise to the level of a “side hustle”, the magazine says.Reporter Christina Cauterucci said she exchanged Facebook messages with the politician over the potential purchase of a pair of worn-only-once Badgley Mischka heels ($65, “in perfect condition”).Digging deeper, she found also for sale: a $215 cycling ensemble, a $25 trucker hat, and a $150 stainless steel watch with a silicone strap. Within the past six weeks, Cauterucci says, Sinema has “offloaded” a $150 fitness tracker ring, an $80 cycling jersey, and a $500 bicycle travel case. Longer ago, there were listings on Facebook for “several dozen personal items”, including a $100 pair of sunglasses (“Just too big for my tiny head!!”), two $50 puffer jackets, three $75 pairs of high-heeled boots, a $75 cycling bib, a $60 Lululemon raincoat, several mesh tanks at $55 a pop ($20 off the current retail price), and multiple bikinis, priced between $60 and $70, that ranged from “never worn” to “in great condition”.Slate is cautious and won’t state outright that it’s definitely Sinema who’s been selling off her worldly goods. “Would a sitting senator respond within seconds on a weekday morning to a message about her used heels?” Cauterucci wonders.“Would it be worth her time to photograph a pair of old shoes, write a sales listing, field inquiries from potential buyers, and arrange pickup logistics – all for just $65?”But as if to answer its own questions, Slate points out that it’s Sinema’s name on the Facebook Marketplace listing, it’s her in the profile photo, the seller’s biography says she lives in Phoenix, and she shares one mutual Facebook friend with the reporter who works for the Democratic party.The clincher, perhaps: The 4.5in, rhinestone-studded stilettoes “look as if they would fit pretty well in Sinema’s wardrobe”.It’s possible we’ll never know. According to Slate, Sinema’s staff would not confirm or deny the Facebook Marketplace account was hers, and did not respond to fact-checking queries.Here’s a video clip from Nancy Pelosi’s final press conference, definitely, maybe, as House speaker.Addressing the media on Thursday morning, Pelosi looked back on some of the main policy accomplishments that took place under her tenure, and praised presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden for getting them done.01:00“This may be the last time I see you in this way,” Pelosi said.She said she was particularly proud of the passage of the Affordable Care Act under Obama, which she said brought healthcare to tens of millions previously denied, and this week’s signing of the same-sex Respect for Marriage Act.Pelosi, a Democrat from California, became speaker in 2007. She will retire next month.Kevin McCarthy’s travails as he seeks to become House speaker when Republicans take over the majority in January are well documented, no more so than in this latest take by Politico.The California congressman has been scrambling to attract the 218 votes he needs to take the gavel, and making some pretty unsavory promises to rightwing extremists in his party to get there, if accounts are to be believed.Politico drills down on the fragile political game behind McCarthy’s maneuvering, the pledges he has had to make, and particularly something called the “motion to vacate the chair”, a potentially hazardous procedure in which any House member would be able to force a vote on deposing a sitting speaker.There’s horse trading going on between the pro and anti-McCarthy camps among House Republicans over setting a threshold of votes that would be needed for such a motion in exchange for support.One of McCarthy’s fears is that Democrats could use a motion to vacate in retaliation for his threats to remove prominent opposition congress members Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell and Ilhan Omar from committees.Politico likens the haggling to an episode of the TV gameshow The Price is Right. You can read their report here.In what was largely a symbolic gesture, the House has voted to allow Puerto Rico to decide whether it wants to pursue becoming the 51st state.The Puerto Rico Status Act passed 233-191 in the chamber, requiring the US territory to hold a vote of its residents on three options, statehood, independence or sovereignty in free association with the US.But with little to no time left on the Senate calendar, the measure, hailed by outgoing Democratic House majority leader Steny Hoyer, is unlikely to be heard there, sounding its death knell in this current Congress at least.Statehood for Puerto Rico was supported by the Biden administration. 16 Republicans voted for the bill in a free vote.A joint statement from bipartisan negotiators of the act said: “Many of us disagree on what that future should look like, but we all accept that the decision must belong to the people of Puerto Rico and to them alone. The Puerto Rico Status Act will grant them that choice.”Read more:Statehood or independence? Puerto Rico’s status at forefront of political debateRead moreCharlie Baker, the Republican governor of Massachusetts who will soon step down after choosing not to run for a third term – or for president or any other office as a GOP candidate despite (or perhaps because of) leading a Democratic-dominated state for so long – will be the next president of the NCAA, the largest governing body in US college sports.“The NCAA is confronting complex and significant challenges but I am excited to get to work as the awesome opportunity college athletics provides to so many students is more than worth the challenge,” Baker said on Thursday, about the job he will start in March, replacing Mark Emmert.“And for the fans that faithfully fill stadiums, stands and gyms from coast to coast, I am eager to ensure the competitions we all love to follow are there for generations to come.”As the Associated Press has it, the NCAA has recently been “battered by losses in court and attacks by politicians” and is “going through a sweeping reform, trying to decentralize the way college sports is run”.“College sports leaders, including Emmert, have repeatedly asked for help from Congress to regulate name, image and likeness compensation since the NCAA lifted its ban in 2021 on athletes being paid endorsers. Now the association will be led by a politician for the first time.”Baker, the AP says, “graduated from Harvard, where he played on the junior varsity basketball team. That’s the extent of his personal experience in college sports”.Linda Livingstone, president of Baylor in Texas and chair of the NCAA board, said Baker had “shown a remarkable ability to bridge divides and build bipartisan consensus, taking on complex challenges in innovative and effective ways. These skills and perspective will be invaluable as we work with policymakers to build a sustainable model for the future of college athletics.”Futher reading:Andrew Cooper, from college star to activist: ‘The NCAA does not exist to protect athletes’ Read moreIn something close to a policy announcement – a scarce feature of a 2024 presidential run that has so far featured little of anything, particularly polling success – Donald Trump has promised to stop government “impeding the lawful speech of American citizens”, should he retake the White House. In a video shared with the New York Post (a Murdoch-owned tabloid though not the source of support it used to be), the former president said: “I will sign an executive order banning any federal department or agency from colluding with any organization, business or person to censor, limit, categorize or impede the lawful speech of American citizens. I will then ban federal money from being used to label domestic speech as mis- or disinformation.”As the Post put it: .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The 76-year-old Trump made the pledge as part of a broader ‘free speech’ platform … vowing also to impose a seven-year ban on former FBI and CIA workers handling private-sector US consumer records.Trump said he would fire bureaucrats deemed to have engaged in censorship, “directly or indirectly, whether they are the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI, the DOJ, no matter who they are”.He also said: “If any US university is discovered to have engaged in censorship activities or election interferences in the past, such as flagging social media content for removal of blacklisting, those universities should lose federal research dollars and federal student loan support for a period of five years, and maybe more.”Free speech, or a particular rightwing version of it, is of course the much-discussed topic of the day at Twitter, where the site’s new owner, Elon Musk, is dedicated to the concept to the extent of reinstating Trump’s account – though Trump has not yet returned to tweeting.TechScape: I read Elon Musk’s ‘Twitter Files’ so you don’t have toRead moreTrump, the Post reports, thinks this month’s ‘Twitter Files’ releases have “confirmed that a sinister group of Deep State bureaucrats, Silicon Valley tyrants, leftwing activists, and depraved corporate news media have been conspiring to manipulate and silence the American People.”“The censorship cartel must be dismantled and destroyed – and it must happen immediately.”Meanwhile:‘Losing the plot’: Trump mocked after announcing superhero card collectionRead moreWe’ve reached lunchtime on a busy day in US politics, which includes ongoing discussions in the Senate on approving a short-term funding measure to keep the government open for at least another week.We’re hoping to learn more this afternoon.Also happening today:
      Nancy Pelosi has been speaking of her “pride” in a number of legislative achievements during what could be her final press conference as House speaker. She paid tribute to Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
      Biden says he’ll be heading to sub-Saharan Africa soon on the first visit there of his presidency. He was speaking at the conclusion of a summit with African leaders in which he pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure, technology and free elections.
      Two conspirators convicted of terrorism last month in a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor Gretchen Whitmer were sentenced to prison sentences of 12 and 10 years respectively. A third convict is yet to be sentenced.
      First lady Jill Biden says she’s “all in” on her husband running again for the presidency in 2024, according to a report from CNN that says her position is a “tidal shift” from her reluctant feelings of just three months ago.
      The state department has announced a new round of sanctions against a number of Russian oligarchs, government officials and their families for enabling president Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
      Joe Biden will soon visit sub-Saharan Africa, he announced on Thursday. It came at the conclusion of a three-day summit with African leaders in which he announced hundreds of millions of dollars in investment in the continent for infrastructure, technology initiatives and supporting free elections.A day earlier, the president said he was “all in” on strengthening US relations with African countries, which was why he had sent many of his top advisers there, including secretary of state Antony Blinken, treasury secretary Janet Yellin and commerce secretary Gina Raimondo.“I’m looking forward to seeing you in your home countries,” Biden told the leaders of 49 African countries on Thursday about what will be the first visit there of his presidency other than a brief stopover in Egypt last month, the Associated Press reported. He did state which countries he will visit or when the trip will happen.Biden on Thursday pledged $165m in US funding to support peaceful, credible elections in Africa next year as his administration looked to underscore the importance of fair voting in countries where it sometimes has been blighted by violence. More

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      'This may be the last time': Nancy Pelosi at what she suggests is her final press conference – video

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      ‘This may be the last time I speak to you this way,’ said Nancy Pelosi in what she suggested could be her final press conference. The former Democrat house speaker defended her record in office, noting the passing of the Affordable Care Act as one of her greatest achievements. ‘Nothing in any of the years that I was there compares to the Affordable Care Act,’ Pelosi told reporters, adding: ‘It is a values issues for our country, so that for me was the highlight.’
      Pelosi announced in November that she would be stepping down as house speaker, ending a historic run as the first woman in the position. The California Democrat held the post for nearly two decades

      Nancy Pelosi tells of ‘proud’ record as speaker in likely final press conference – live More

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      ‘It’s been very dark for all of us’: film-maker Alexandra Pelosi on a family on America’s political frontline

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      Interview‘It’s been very dark for all of us’: film-maker Alexandra Pelosi on a family on America’s political frontlineDavid Smith in Washington With her father recovering from a brutal hammer attack, the director’s latest film shows her mother Nancy Pelosi resisting the January 6 insurrectionAlexandra Pelosi is at home in New York, preparing a birthday party for her 15-year-old son, and pops up on Zoom beside a sign that says: “Don’t work for assholes. Don’t work with assholes.” When our interview begins with the most unimaginative of queries – “How are you?” – she is in no mood for casual conversation.Pelosi in the House: documentary captures speaker’s January 6 struggleRead more“How am I supposed to answer that question?” the fast-talking film-maker bats back. “Look, I don’t know how you do polite small talk because I’ve just been through basically like both of my parents’ funerals.”To be clear, neither of Alexandra’s parents is dead. Her father Paul Pelosi, 82, is undergoing a slow and painful recovery from a hammer attack in late October by a home intruder. Her mother Nancy Pelosi, also 82, last month announced her retirement as Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, assured of a place in history as the first female speaker.Alexandra, 52, recalls that, when her father emerged from intensive care, his house looked like a funeral home because so many well-wishers sent flowers. “I was reading the notes from his friends and I was like, this is great, ’cos you get to go to your own funeral, ’cos you get to see what people say about you when you die. I’m putting a good spin on it, trying to cheer him up.”Then she went to Washington for her mother’s long goodbye. “If you’re in politics and you step down, it’s like going to your own funeral because you get to read your own obituary. Essentially it’s like I’ve read both of my parents’ obituaries and now I have to keep living with two living people. That’s surreal.”The pitiless assault on Paul Pelosi was one of the most disturbing examples yet of America’s increasingly coarse, polarised and violent political culture. He has told how he was sleeping when a man he had never seen before entered his bedroom looking for Nancy, who was in Washington at the time.Officers responding to Paul’s 911 call found him and David DePape, 42, fighting over a hammer, according to a federal indictment. An officer ordered DePape to drop the hammer but he responded, “ummm nope,” before forcefully swinging it at Paul, who was treated at a hospital for a fractured skull.DePape last month pleaded not guilty to federal charges of attempting to kidnap a federal official and assaulting a federal official’s family member. Paul, wearing a hat and glove on one hand, made his first public appearance since the assault at the recent Kennedy Center Honors in Washington.“Wasn’t that amazing?” asks Alexandra, who has been struggling to sleep and has had nightmares about the incident. “Come on, you can’t be a bitter old journalist! I think every member of our family cried when they saw that because that’s the first time he left the house. That was a nice 10 seconds of his life but he has to live with traumatic brain injury for the rest of his life and he’s 82. If it could’ve been me, I would have loved to have been in his place.”She reflects: “It’s been very dark for all of us. We all process it differently. I’ve been very dark because the minute it happened I got on a plane with my mom and went to San Francisco. We sat in the ICU for a week and I was very upset because my mother loves to tell the story that, when I was 16, she came to me and said, ‘Mommy has the chance to run for Congress and I will only do it if you give me your permission but I’d have to be gone three nights a week.’ I was like, ‘Mom, get a life!’“She loves that story and so then we were sitting in the ICU 35 years later and I was like, ‘If I had known that this is where it was going to end, I never would have given you my blessing that day 35 years ago.’ But my dad was like, you can’t say that because it’s not fair to erase her career just because of this; you have to say, if you came to me today, I would not give you my permission because of how toxic the social media environment is.”Alexandra’s son, Paul, is named after her father and worships him. He was with her at the US Capitol when it came under attack from a mob of Donald Trump supporters on 6 January 2021. “He was asking me that day, ‘Mom, why do all these people want to kill MiMi?’ I couldn’t come up with an answer. Because of the Affordable Care Act? I don’t know.“I know that if you watch Fox News, you hate Nancy Pelosi because they’ve programmed you to hate Nancy Pelosi and, if I watched Fox News, I would hate Nancy Pelosi too. But I don’t know how it gets from that to, ‘I want to break into her house and try and kill someone in her family.’ That’s a leap and so it’s been a lot for my teenagers to try and process that.”The Virginia governor, Glenn Youngkin, and Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake made fun of it while Trump’s son, Don Jr. retweeted a “Paul Pelosi Halloween costume” featuring a hammer.Alexandra, who had to clean up the mess and has photos of her father’s bloody pyjamas on her phone, comments: “I can’t see how the governor of Virginia can make jokes about it or the wannabe governor of Arizona can make jokes about it and then how elected members of Congress can tweet these insane Pizzagate-style conspiracies. That’s unforgivable. That’s who I’ll never forgive. I’m trying to make peace with that.”Both her parents feature in her latest film, her 14th documentary for HBO, broadcast on Tuesday. Pelosi in the House is shot in a cinéma vérité style across three decades with plenty of shots of Nancy’s back as she strides through the corridors of power. At one point she is seen putting Vice-President Mike Pence on speakerphone while doing household chores.Alexandra admits: “She never gave me permission. She has not signed a release. She has not seen the film. She does not know what this is. I don’t know if she’s ever going to watch it.” Indeed, Alexandra could never get her mother to sit down for an in-depth interview. “This is watching her work because Nancy Pelosi is her job. The only way to understand her is to watch her work so the only way I could explain her is watching her work. But if I tried to talk to her or ask a question, it just wouldn’t work. She just didn’t play ball with me. That’s not what she does. ”The documentary sometimes revels in the quotidian but, when it arrives at January 6, moves to a different plane. Watching on TV as Trump delivers an incendiary speech urging his supporters to “fight like hell” to overturn his election defeat, Nancy vows to “punch him out” if he sets foot in the US Capitol, her sacred ground.Alexandra recalls: “She was protecting her turf. It was the House of Pelosi and they broke into her house and tried to kill all of her family members because the caucus is her family. Nancy Pelosi has two families. She has us, her children and grandchildren, then she has her political family, the members, the caucus.”Whipped up into a frenzy, the mob marched on the Capitol. Alexandra’s husband, the Dutch TV journalist Michiel Vos, was outside reporting the drama; she and her teenage son were inside, watching with alarm. “I was looking out the window: ‘Oh, look at those protesters out there.’ I’m trying to get her [Nancy’s] attention because she’s very laser-focused. Then my son kept saying like, ‘What if they stormed the Capitol?’“At some point the security came over and said we’re leaving. They [the mob] had already broken the window to come in. The security camera shows that the protesters were two minutes from us but we found out that after. At the time we did not know how close they came so it wasn’t as scary as it seemed.”Nor did the threat come as a complete surprise. “The Republicans have spent hundreds of millions of dollars demonising her and turning her into a target. The Capitol police have protected her for decades. There was a pig’s head on her doorstep in San Francisco a few days before that attack. It’s not as if this all came completely out of the blue.”Alexandra accompanied her mother into the back of SUV that sped them away to safety. The speaker, full of cold fury, and other congressional leaders gathered at a military base, working the phones to demand that order be restored so they could certify Joe Biden’s election victory.Alexandra melted into the background and filmed for posterity. Some of the footage made its way into the House’s January 6 committee hearings. “It’s like a soccer player. What do you do when you put a ball in front of me? I’m going to kick it. I knew my job was to kick the ball.”The rioters, meanwhile, had overrun the Capitol and were ransacking the speaker’s office. Among the most haunting footage from that day is the sound of one demanding, “Where’s Nancy?” Subsequently Stewart Rhodes, founder of the far-right Oath Keepers, reportedly said he wanted to hang Nancy “from the lamp-post”.Jokes about Paul Pelosi aren’t just in bad taste. They normalize political violence | Arwa MahdawiRead moreAlexandra reflects: “Stewart Rhodes was prosecuted so my son comes down for breakfast the other day and he’s like, ‘Hey, did you see that this guy was found guilty? He said he wanted to hang Nancy Pelosi from a lamp-post. Why did he want to hang Nancy Pelosi from a lamp-post?’ I don’t know. I still haven’t been able to come up with a good answer for Nancy Pelosi’s grandchildren about why people want to hang her from a lamp-post.”Such unanswerables underline that it has been a bruising couple of months. But a trip to Washington boosted Alexandra’s spirits. First, she was reunited with her “old friend” former president George W Bush – a relationship that bemuses her liberal friends. “It’s renewing my faith in humanity because I know there’s hope that the Republican party does have a life after Donald Trump and then I can live in America and we can all live happily ever after.”Then she attended a state dinner at the White House, sitting across from Biden and next to the guest of honour, the French president, Emmanuel Macron. “Let’s face it, I’m the least interesting person at the table so it’s my job to entertain them.” She began with a mother-in-law joke for Macron’s benefit: “When I met my husband’s mom, the first thing she said to me was, ‘Why can’t you be French?’”Now, in another welcome diversion from her parents’ “funerals”, she has to get ready for her younger son’s birthday party and so ends the interview with a final plea. “Be nice,” she says mischievously. “Haven’t the Pelosis suffered enough? I don’t want to retraumatise my family when they read the Guardian. That’s all.”TopicsDocumentary filmsNancy PelosiUS politicsinterviewsReuse this content More

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      Pelosi in the House: documentary captures speaker’s January 6 struggle

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      Pelosi in the House: documentary captures speaker’s January 6 struggle Film by her daughter, Alexandra Pelosi, captures how Nancy Pelosi fought to preserve democracy in the dramatic hours of the Capitol attackThe struggle of Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, to preserve American democracy in the dramatic hours of the January 6 attack are captured in a new documentary film shot by her daughter.Pelosi is seen watching on TV Donald Trump’s incendiary speech to his supporters, getting rushed out of the US Capitol building and making calls to Vice-President Mike Pence and other officials from the Fort McNair military base, where congressional leaders took refuge from the mob.Despite the chaos and confusion, she is immediately clear that Trump is responsible for instigating what she describes as an “insurrection”.The blow-by-blow reconstruction of the assault on democracy is contained in Pelosi in the House, produced and directed by the speaker’s daughter, film-maker Alexandra Pelosi, broadcast on HBO on Tuesday. Some of the behind-the-scenes footage was seen in edited form during the House January 6 committee hearings.Early in the day Pelosi is in her office, wearing a face mask and adjusting her hair, as three TV screens show Trump whipping up his supporters at the Ellipse and vowing never to concede the 2020 presidential election. She tells her staff with a laugh: “Tell him if he comes here, we’re going to the White House.”Watching through a window, Alexandra’s teenage son, Paul, spots a flag-waving mob gathering ominously outside the US Capitol. Pelosi’s chief of staff, Terri McCullough, reports that the Secret Service have dissuaded Trump from coming to the Capitol because they would not have the resources to protect him.Pelosi replies defiantly: “If he comes, I’m going to punch him out. I’ve been waiting for this. For trespassing on the Capitol grounds, I’m going to punch him out and I’m going to go to jail, and I’m going to be happy.”Members of Congress adjourn to consider objections to the 2020 election results. A car has “Trump” and “Pelosi is Satan” signs on its windscreen. The chanting, horn-blowing mob attacks police, smashes windows and force its way into the building, shouting: “This is our house!”Pelosi escapes with just two minutes to spare. At 2.15pm she is escorted to safety down a staircase. She asks: “Are they calling the national guard?” A woman replies: “Yes. Yes, ma’am.”Hastening through a tunnel, she asks: “Did you reach McConnell?” – a reference to the then Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell. Someone says: “We did.” Pelosi: “And will they call the national guard?” Reply: “That’s correct.”Upstairs, the rioters are demanding to know where votes are counted. Walking through another corridor with aides around her, Pelosi evidently realises what a perilous moment this is for democracy. She says: “If they stop the proceedings, they will have succeeded in stopping the validation of the president of the United States. If they stop the proceedings, we will have totally failed.”She is then seen on a phone, telling an unidentified person: “We have got to finish the proceedings or else they will have a complete victory.”Both Pelosi and her daughter climb into the back of a black SUV so they can be taken to safety. Upstairs, her office is being ransacked by Trump supporters. One thinks he has found Pelosi’s laptop. Another asks: “You want Nancy’s pink boxing gloves?” Someone shouts with primal rage: “Fuck Nancy Pelosi!”Sitting in the moving vehicle, the speaker is livid at the disruption of Congress’s sacred duty. “So what’s the prospect? We’re gonna stay here all day, for the rest of our lives, or what? We’re here until what, until the national guard decides to come and get rid of these people?”By now the insurrectionists are inside the Senate chamber. One demands: “Do you see Nancy Pelosi?” Another asks: “Where the fuck is Nancy?” Outside, a bearded man in a “Maga” cap picks up a phone and shouts: “Can I speak to Pelosi? Yeah, we’re coming, bitch.”Pelosi is seen entering the military base at Fort McNair. As Congressman James Clyburn looks on, she says: “There has to be some way we can maintain the sense that people have that there is some security, some confidence that government can function and that we can elect the president of the United States.”Chuck Schumer, then the Democratic minority leader in the Senate, informs Pelosi: “My wife just called watching TV. There are people with guns trying to get into the House chamber.”Pelosi had to leave the Capitol without her phone so is forced to borrow others’. Sitting and studying a photo on one phone, says: “Oh, one of them is in the president of the Senate’s seat.”Schumer notes that some senators are still in hiding and pleads by phone with Ryan McCarthy, the army secretary, to send in military personnel. Pelosi, watching the carnage on CNN, speaks to Ralph Northam, the governor of Virginia: “They’re just breaking windows. This is horrendous. And all at the instigation of the president of the United States.”She tells Schumer that Northam agreed to dispatch 200 state police and a national guard unit.At 3.30pm Pelosi and Schumer speak by phone to Jeffrey Rosen, the acting attorney general. Pelosi tells him: “Safety just transcends everything but the fact is, on any given day, they’re breaking the law in many different ways and, quite frankly, much of it at the instigation of the president of the United States.”Schumer adds sharply: “Why don’t you get the president to tell them to leave the Capitol, Mr Attorney General, in your law enforcement responsibility? A public statement they should all leave?”Rosen begins to say his team is “coordinating as quickly and as –” before getting cut off by Schumer, who demands: “No, no, no – please answer my question, answer my question!”Congressional leaders then have a call with the acting defence secretary, Christopher Miller. Pelosi says forcefully: “Just pretend for a moment it was the Pentagon or the White House or some other entity that was under siege. You can logistically get people there as you make the plan and you have some leadership of the national guard there they have not been given the authority to activate.”Then Pelosi speaks to Pence as he waits in a parking garage beneath the Capitol, where rioters chanted for him to be hanged.Taking a seat beside a plant and cabinet full of decorative plates, the speaker says she and other congressional leaders are OK, then asks: “How are you? Oh, my goodness, where are you? God bless you. But are you in a very safe –?”She says she has been told that it will “take days” to clear the Capitol and that Fort McNair has facilities for the House and Senate to meet, adding: “We’d rather go to the Capitol and do it there but it doesn’t seem to be safe.”Pelosi continues: “We’ve got a very bad report about the condition of the House floor, with defecation and all that kind of thing.”She is then seen using her teeth to help unwrap a beef jerky stick and eating while holding the phone in her right hand. She tells Pence: “I worry about you being in that Capitol room. Don’t let anybody know where you are.”Finally, Trump releases a video calling his supporters to go home, but Pelosi and Schumer are not impressed. She comments: “Insurrection. That’s a crime and he’s guilty of it.”By 5.45pm the security forces have regained control. Pence informs Pelosi and Schumer by phone that Congress will be able to reconvene. The backup plan of doing so at Fort McNair is therefore not necessary.Sitting in a vehicle heading back through darkened streets, Pelosi expresses her disgust towards Trump. “I just feel sick at what he did to the Capitol and to the country today. He’s got to pay a price for that.”Back inside the Capitol, Pelosi is informed that the sign outside her office has been taken. She responds phlegmatically: “They took the sign? We’ll get another.”Entering the office, she is warned that there is still a lot of broken glass. A gold framed mirror above the fireplace is smashed. She observes: “Boy, the staff looks scared. They’re traumatised.”The Senate reconvenes around 8pm and the House around 9pm. Pelosi watches on TV as Schumer compares the insurrection to the attack on Pearl Harbor as a “day of infamy”. At 3.48am on 7 January, Joe Biden’s election victory is ratified after all.At 9am Pelosi is in a car, telling Clyburn: “We have to stop this man, the insurrectionist in the White House.” Clyburn warns that invoking the 25th amendment would be a “complicated process” and there may not be enough time, “but there is enough time – and it’s rather simple – to tag him with the uniqueness of a second impeachment”.On 13 January, a week before he left office, the House voted to impeach Trump by a vote of 232-197 for incitement of insurrection. He was the first president in history to be impeached twice.TopicsNancy PelosiDocumentary filmsUS Capitol attackUS politicsDonald TrumpfeaturesReuse this content More