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      Mitch McConnell cleared for work by congressional doctor after freezing

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      Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the US Senate, was given a clean bill of health by the congressional physician, a day after freezing in front of reporters for the second time in a month.In a short statement, the physician, Brian P Monahan, said he had consulted with McConnell and told him “he is medically clear to continue with his schedule as planned”.At the same time, however, it was reported that a “handful” of Republican senators were weighing an attempt to force the party to confront the issue of their 81-year-old leader’s uncertain health and ability to fulfill the role.In Covington, Kentucky, on Wednesday, McConnell appeared to freeze during questions from reporters. He was eventually escorted away. It followed a similar incident in Washington in July, at the US Capitol. McConnell then returned to resume the session, saying he had been “sandbagged” – a reference to a fall suffered by Joe Biden at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado in May.Four months previously, in March, McConnell fell himself, sustaining a concussion and a rib injury that kept him away from Congress. After his first freeze, other falls were reported.On Wednesday, a spokesperson for McConnell said the senator had felt lightheaded and would consult a doctor. On Thursday, Monahan said: “Occasional lightheadedness is not uncommon in concussion recovery and can also be expected as a result of dehydration.”But with the health of ageing politicians increasingly at issue in Washington – also over reports of Biden, 80, feeling “tired” and the California Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein appearing confused at 90 – McConnell’s health remains in the spotlight.Polling shows majorities of voters believe many politicians stay in their jobs too long. More than half support maximum age limits for elected officials.Frank Luntz, a leading Republican pollster, told CNN: “It’s one of the problems that we have with Washington, which is that there is a time to lead and a time to pass on the torch to another generation.”Calling the response by McConnell’s office to his Wednesday freeze “insufficient”, Luntz added: “I understand why the public is saying about some of these people – give somebody else the chance to do the job.”Three Johns – Thune of South Dakota, Cornyn of Texas and Barrasso of Wyoming – are in line to contest the Republican succession when McConnell does step down. All have avoided stoking speculation. Thune is 62, Cornyn and Barrasso both 71.On Wednesday, it was widely reported that McConnell had sought to reassure those three and other Republican senators about his fitness to lead to the end of his seventh six-year term, in 2026.A Thune aide told news outlets McConnell “sounded like himself and was in good spirits”. Jim Banks, a House Republican running for Senate in Indiana, posted a photo with McConnell, saying they “enjoyed a wide-ranging discussion” that evening. Banks told Axios: “He was engaging. Very dialed in on my race and following closely.”The next day, Politico reported the discussions among Republicans about whether to move to confront the issue of McConnell’s health. But the only senator who was quoted, speaking anonymously, predicted any attempt to move McConnell aside would fail, just as a direct challenge from Rick Scott of Florida failed conclusively last year.“If a handful goes down that path, it will be a rerun of the last time,” the unnamed senator was quoted as saying.Scott told CBS News: “I expect [McConnell will] continue to be the Republican leader through this term … We’ll have another election after the 2024 elections.”Elected in 1984, McConnell is the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, having taken charge of the minority in 2007. As majority leader, between 2015 and 2021, he presided over a radical reshaping of the federal judiciary, stocking lower courts with conservatives and installing three rightwingers on the supreme court.Memorably, McConnell described himself as “stronger than mule piss” in support of Brett Kavanaugh, the second of those supreme court justices whose confirmation was rocked by allegations of sexual assault.Despite McConnell’s long record as a ruthless political warrior, he has maintained at least superficially friendly relations with Joe Biden, who sat alongside him for 23 years as a senator from Delaware.On Thursday, Biden told reporters: “I spoke to him today. He was his old self on the telephone.”The president, who suffered two brain aneurysms in 1988, added: “It’s not at all unusual to have the response that sometimes happens to Mitch when you’ve had a severe concussion. It’s part of the recovery. I’m confident he’ll be back to his old self.” More

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      Trump’s Georgia election subversion trial will be broadcast live on YouTube, judge says – as it happened

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      From 6h agoDonald Trump has entered a plea of not guilty to the charges brought against him by Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis for trying to overturn Georgia’s presidential election results in 2020.By entering his plea, Trump opted to skip an in-person arraignment of the 19 suspects charged by Willis, which is scheduled to take place in Atlanta next week.Donald Trump will not be appearing in a Georgia courtroom for his arraignment next week, instead deciding to enter his plea of not guilty in writing and skipping another trip to Atlanta. Separately, Republican governor Brian Kemp rejected an effort by a small group of rightwing lawmakers to call the state legislature back in session to remove Fani Willis, the Fulton county district attorney who indicted Trump and 18 others for trying to overturn Georgia’s elections in 2020. And next week, we may get more details about the special grand jury whose work led to the indictments, when their full report is potentially made public by a judge.Here’s what else happened today:Jenna Ellis, a former attorney for Donald Trump who advised on ways to prevent Joe Biden from taking office, has pled not guilty to charges brought against her in the Georgia election subversion case, Reuters reports.Once a prosecutor in Colorado, Ellis spread multiple statements claiming voter fraud during the 2020 election and sent at least two memos advising Mike Pence to reject Biden’s victory in Georgia and other states. The Colorado supreme court censured Ellis earlier this year and she acknowledged making false statements.Ellis was among the 19 people indicted by Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis last week, along with Trump, who today pleaded not guilty to charges including racketeering.The editorial board of influential conservative publication National Review is calling on Mitch McConnell to step down as Republican leader in the Senate.They cite the two instances of the 81-year-old freezing up in public in recent months as evidence that it’s time to hand leadership of the minority party to someone else, though they do not call for him to resign his seat representing Kentucky.Here’s more from their piece:
      The details can be left to McConnell, who deserves a large measure of deference. A leadership transition doesn’t need to happen urgently, but the wheels should be turning.
      Stepping aside from leadership would not necessarily require leaving the Senate; McConnell could, like Nancy Pelosi, remain in office, and he would doubtless remain influential so long as he is capable of serving. But the job of caucus leader demands more.
      The time will come for a fuller appreciation of McConnell’s legacy. But his strenuous opposition to campaign-finance reform, effective resistance to the Obama agenda, stalwart refusal to fill the Scalia seat prior to the 2016 election, fruitful cooperation with President Trump on judges, and, lately, strong support for American leadership abroad when the winds in the party are blowing the opposite way easily make him one of the most consequential politicians of our era.
      Prudence and realism have been hallmarks of his leadership and now are called for in considering his own future.
      Joe Biden’s national infrastructure advisory council has recommended privatization and long-term leases of water systems to help revitalise the nation’s aging water infrastructure – a move that has not gone down well with water justice advocates.Nationwide, one in 10 people already depend on private water companies, whose bills are on average almost 60% higher than those supplied by public utilities. Private ownership is the single largest factor associated with higher water bills, more than aging infrastructure or climate disasters.“Water privatisation is a terrible idea,” said Mary Grant, the Public Water for All campaign director at Food & Water Watch. “Wall Street wants to take control of the nation’s public water systems to wring profits from communities that are already struggling with unaffordable water bills and toxic water. Privatisation would deepen the nation’s water crises, leading to higher water bills and less accountable and transparent services.”The council is also recommending the creation of a federal water department or an equivalent cabinet-level agency to oversee a national strategy to shore up the nation’s ageing water infrastructure. Federal funding for water and wastewater peaked in 1977, since when utilities have mostly relied on loans and raising bills to fund infrastructure upgrades. After decades of federal austerity for water, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act provided a major cash injection – but is still just a fraction, around 7%, of what experts say is needed to provide safe, clean, affordable drinking water for every American.Biden’s advisory council includes public and private sector representatives, but notably the chair is the CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners, an infrastructure investment bank with an estimated $100bn in assets under management that targets energy, transportation, digital and water infrastructure.Joe Biden just announced he will travel to Florida on Saturday to survey damage caused by Hurricane Idalia:Earlier in the day, the White House announced he spoke to Florida’s Republican governor and 2024 presidential contender Ron DeSantis, and signed a major disaster declaration that will steer federal resources to the state.Biden and DeSantis are adversaries, but have put politics aside to make joint appearances when Biden has traveled Florida state following disasters, most recently in October in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.Now a tropical storm, Idalia is menacing the Carolinas. Follow our live blog for the latest on its path:Punchbowl News reports that Capitol physician Brian Monahan says Mitch McConnell, the top GOP lawmaker in the Senate who yesterday appeared to freeze up while addressing the press, is “medically clear” to work.Monahan attributed the episode, the second in as many months, to “occasional lightheadedness” as the Kentucky lawmaker continues to recover from a concussion he sustained earlier this year:Meanwhile, Joe Biden said he had spoken to McConnell, and his former senate colleague “was his old self on the telephone”. Here’s a clip of the president’s remarks:Scott McAfee, the judge presiding over the trials of Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants in the Georgia election subversion case, says the proceedings will be streamed live on YouTube, Atlanta News First reports:McAfee cited the practice of Robert McBurney, the judge who presided over the grand jury investigation and indictment phase of the case:It’s unclear when Trump’s trial will start, but proceedings in his former attorney Kenneth Chesebro’s case are scheduled to start on 23 October.Why does Donald Trump want his trial severed from two other his fellow co-defendants?Because those two defendants, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, both former lawyers for his campaign, have made motions for speedy trials – which is exactly what Trump doesn’t want. In a sign of just how speedy those trials will be, a judge set out a schedule for Chesebro’s trial that will see it start on 23 October.Politico reports that Trump’s attorney Steven Sadow argues that if the former president is put on trial at the same time, he won’t have enough time to mount a proper defense:In a fast-moving and ever more complex situation, lawyers for Donald Trump have moved to sever his election racketeering case in Georgia from two defendants who have asked for their own trials to be speeded up.As local Georgia court journalist Sam Gringlas reports:“Trump moves to SEVER his case from 2 defendants who want a speedy trial, slated for Oct. “We’re in a huge state of flux right now,” attorney Bob Rubin told me. “The case involving these 19 defendants seems to be going in a lot of different directions all at the same time.”His fellow senators may be keeping mum, but at least one Republican politics watcher thinks it’s time for Mitch McConnell to step down, the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly reports:It may be time for Mitch McConnell to “pass the torch”, a leading Republican pollster said, after the 81-year-old GOP Senate leader suffered a second apparent freeze while talking to reporters.“It’s one of the problems that we have with Washington, which is that there is a time to lead and a time to pass on the torch to another generation,” Frank Luntz told CNN.A spokesperson for McConnell said the senator felt “light-headed” on Wednesday, when he appeared to freeze during questions from reporters in Covington, in his home state of Kentucky, and was eventually escorted away. McConnell would consult a doctor, the spokesperson said.But the freeze followed a similar incident in Washington in July, when McConnell was speaking at the US Capitol. He said then he had been “sandbagged” – a reference to Joe Biden’s fall at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado in May – and returned to talk to reporters.On Wednesday, Biden called McConnell “a good friend”, and said he would “try and get in touch with him later this afternoon”.Tucker Carlson warns of Trump assassinationFar-right media personality Tucker Carlson is known for his outrageous statements and bigoted positions, as well as a degree of paranoia. They can mostly be found on social media these days, after being taken off air by Fox News.But even by his own low standards, Carson might have gone too far on comedian Adam Corolla’s podcast when he predicted that someone would try to kill Donald Trump, the Hill reports.“Begin with criticism, then you go to protest, then you go to impeachment, now you go to indictment, and none of them work. I mean what’s next? You know, graph it out man! We’re speeding toward assassination, obviously. No one will say that, but I don’t know how you can’t reach that conclusion,” Carlson said.It’s not the first time Carson has gone there though. In a recent interview with Trump himself – held to distract people from the Republican debate – Carson asked bluntly: “Are you worried that they’re going to try and kill you? Why wouldn’t they try and kill you?”Following the second instance in as many months where the Senate’s top Republican Mitch McConnell froze up while addressing the press, Politico reports that some senators want to convene a special meeting to discuss his health.McConnell, 81, is the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, but suffered a concussion earlier this year that he took weeks to recover from, as well as a fall in July. The Kentucky lawmaker was challenged for the party’s leadership post earlier this year by Florida’s senator Rick Scott, but easily defeated him, and it remains unclear if a majority of his fellow Republicans want him to step down.Here’s more from Politico:
      Some rank-and-file Republicans have discussed the possibility of a broader conversation once senators return to Washington next week, according to a person directly involved in the conversations who confirmed them on condition of anonymity. Party leadership is not currently involved in those discussions, and nothing has been decided yet, this person added.
      It takes just five Republican senators to force a special conference meeting, which is the most direct way to have a specific discussion about the minority leader after his public pause on Wednesday revived questions about his condition. But the Senate GOP also holds private lunches two or three times a week, giving members another forum for hashing out the direction of the party’s leadership — one that could forestall the need for a special confab.
      And McConnell’s health is a touchy subject: The 81-year-old, the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, doesn’t like to discuss it. Even detractors of the Kentucky Republican’s leadership style are sensitive to the health issues he faces after falling in March and suffering a concussion.
      Even so, the question now facing the GOP is whether McConnell’s health hastens a transition atop the conference leadership that has to happen eventually. McConnell squashed his first-ever challenge last fall from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) on a 37-10 vote.
      If a special conference meeting doesn’t happen, the issue could be punted until after the 2024 election. However, a special meeting would undoubtedly draw more media attention that would amplify the risk of specifically broaching the touchy topic of McConnell’s leadership. And his own support may be relatively unchanged even after the two summer pauses.
      Donald Trump will not be appearing in a Georgia courtroom for his arraignment next week, instead deciding to enter his plea of not guilty in writing and skip another trip to Atlanta. Separately, Republican governor Brian Kemp rejected an effort by a small group of rightwing lawmakers to call the state legislature back in session to remove Fani Willis, the Fulton county district attorney who indicted Trump and 18 others for trying to overturn Georgia’s elections in 2020. And next week, we may get more details about the special grand jury whose work led to the indictments, when their full report is potentially made public by a judge.Here’s what else has happened today so far:
      A self-described organizer for the Proud Boys militia group was just given a 17-year prison sentence for his actions on January 6.
      Clarence Thomas, the conservative supreme court justice, released his delayed financial disclosure reports, in which he acknowledged luxury trips taken with Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow.
      Trump remains way ahead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight reports, though his support may have slipped a little bit since the Georgia indictment.
      Joseph Biggs, a self-described organizer for the Proud Boys militia group who entered the Capitol on January 6, was just handed a 17 year jail sentence by a judge after being convicted on seditious conspiracy charges.The term was much less than the 33 years prosecutors requested, which would have been the highest meted out in the cases stemming from the attack on the Capitol. Biggs is one of five Proud Boys scheduled to be sentenced in the coming days, a group that also includes its former leader Enrique Tarrio.A report produced by a special grand jury that Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis used to indict Donald Trump and 18 others for trying to overturn Georgia’s election in 2020 could be released in full on 8 September, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.Judge Robert McBurney had earlier this year made public parts of the report, but kept other sections sealed at the request of Willis, who cited due process concerns. In particular, a chapter where jurors recommended who should be indicted was kept out of the public eye. If it was released, it could answer whether there were people who the jurors thought should face charges whom Willis ultimately did not indict.McBurney said the due process concerns were alleviated by the announcement of charges in the case, and said he would release the report next Friday, unless any parties object.Here’s more from the Journal-Constitution:
      Such an “exceedingly public development” eliminates due process concerns, at least for the 19 defendants charged in the case and who might have been named in the special grand jury’s final report, McBurney wrote. For that reason, he said, he plans to release the final report at 10 a.m. on Sept. 8.
      At the same time, McBurney said, if “any concerned party believes something less than everything should be published,” they have until close of business on Sept. 6 to raise an objection. “If objections are timely filed, they will be carefully considered and a new publication date will be announced,” he said.
      Objections would likely come from individuals who were not indicted but who may believe the special grand jury voted that they be charged. They may want to keep such a recommendation from being made public.
      When the full special grand jury’s final report is published, it will show the vote tallies from the 23-member panel on each recommendation as to who should be indicted, grand jurors told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in prior interviews. This will allow the public to know whether the panel was overwhelmingly in favor or closely divided on each person.
      If you are wondering if Donald Trump’s indictment in Georgia has changed his political fortunes, poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight took a look at the numbers and the answer is … no.“Looking at the big picture – including FiveThirtyEight’s averages of the national Republican primary and Trump’s overall favorable and unfavorable ratings – it’s clear that public opinion about Trump has not changed in a major way in several months, even after he was indicted on nearly 100 criminal charges in four different jurisdictions. After what is expected to be his final indictment, he remains the strong favorite in the GOP primary and a competitive candidate in the general election,” they write.The conclusion comes in a piece that analyzes some of the more recent polls that have come out of Republican primary voters, which show some fluctuations in Trump’s level of support, but no change to his status as the far and away frontrunner for the party’s presidential nomination. He’s currently at 50% support in FiveThirty Eight’s polling average, down from 53% before news of the Georgia indictment broke, but still an overwhelming advantage.Here’s the moment from his press conference today where Georgia governor Brian Kemp rejected using the legislature to oust Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis.His remarks amounted to both a repudiation of the effort to stop her prosecution, and a defense of her conduct:Georgia’s Republican governor Brian Kemp says he will not call the legislature into a special session to impeach Fani Willis, the Fulton county district attorney who last week brought charges against Donald Trump and 18 others for trying to overturn the state’s presidential election result in 2020, Atlanta’s WSB-TV reports.A handful of GOP lawmakers have requested Kemp convene the legislature outside of their normal session to remove Willis from the case, but the governor, who has publicly rejected the former president’s baseless insistence that Joe Biden’s election victory in the state was fraudulent, turned down doing that.“We have a law in the state of Georgia that clearly outlines the legal steps that can be taken if constituents believe their local prosecutors are violating their oath by engaging in unethical or illegal behavior,” Kemp said at a press conference today, according to WSB-TV.He characterized a special session targeting Willis as unfeasible and potentially also unconstitutional, and said, “As long as I am governor, we’re going to follow the law and the constitution, regardless of who it helps or harms politically.” More

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      Donald Trump pleads not guilty in Georgia election racketeering case

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      Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges that he conspired and engaged in racketeering activity to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia, according to a court filing submitted by his lawyer in superior court in Atlanta.The former president also attested in the filing that he would waive his arraignment – the formal reading of the indictment handed up by a jury this month – meaning he will not need to appear for that proceeding next week.“As evidenced by my signature below,” said the two-page-filing submitted in Fulton county superior court by Trump’s lead lawyer, Steven Sadow, “I do hereby waive formal arraignment and enter my plea of NOT GUILTY to the Indictment in this case.”Trump’s Sharpie-written signature marks the fourth time in as many months that he has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, after previously being indicted in a hush-money case in New York, in a classified documents case in Florida, and in a federal 2020 election subversion case in Washington.But it was no less momentous given the seriousness of the allegations in the sprawling 41-count Fulton county indictment, which alleges Trump and 18 co-defendants violated Georgia’s state Rico statute in pursuing a multi-pronged effort to undermine the results of a fair election.The conclusion of the plea and arraignment process starts the pre-trial phase of the case. No trial date has yet been set for Trump, though the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, asked to try all 19 defendants together starting on 23 October after two ex-Trump lawyers sought a speedy trial.On Thursday, lawyers for Donald Trump moved to sever his case from two defendants who have asked for their own trials to be speeded up.“We’re in a huge state of flux right now,” attorney Bob Rubin told Georgia’s WABE. “The case involving these 19 defendants seems to be going in a lot of different directions all at the same time.”Trump’s lawyers have also been weighing whether to seek to have the case moved to federal court, according to two people familiar with the matter, and are expected to make a decision based on whether Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows is successful in his effort.To have the case moved to the US district court for the northern district of Georgia, Trump would have to show that the criminal conduct alleged in the indictment involved his official duties as president – he was acting “under color of office” – and cannot be prosecuted at the state level.The reasons to seek removal to federal court are seen as twofold: the jury pool would expand beyond just the Atlanta area – which skews heavily Democratic – and a federal judge might be less deferential to local prosecutors compared with judges in the Fulton county superior court.Regardless of the final trial venue and jurisdiction, Trump’s overarching legal strategy has been to delay. Even with the Georgia case, if Trump were to win re-election, he could theoretically have the case frozen while he assumes the presidency, legal experts have said.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionLast week, Trump surrendered at the Fulton county jail, where he was processed as any other criminal defendant. He had his fingerprints taken, his height and weight recorded, and submitted himself to a mugshot that the Guardian previously reported he had desperately sought to avoid.The booking came during the primetime viewing hours for the cable news networks, a time slot that Trump is said to have insisted his lawyers negotiate with prosecutors in an apparent effort to discredit the charges and distract from the indignity of the surrender.The strategy to turn the surrender into a made-for-television circus has been an effort to discredit the indictments, a person familiar with the matter said, as well as to capitalize on the information void left by prosecutors after the events to foist his own spin on the charges.And in a sign of the deeply interwoven nature of the Trump 2024 campaign and the legal team, his top political advisers at the very least explored whether Trump should appear for the arraignment and hold a press conference afterwards for “optics” reasons, the person said.The bond for Trump was agreed at $200,000, the highest amount of any of his co-defendants, including his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who turned himself in for booking a day earlier after his bond was set at $150,000 after being charged with principally the same counts. More

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      Mitch McConnell appears to freeze again for more than 30 seconds

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      The Republican leader in the US Senate, Mitch McConnell, experienced another public health scare on Wednesday when he appeared to freeze for more than 30 seconds while speaking to reporters in his home state, Kentucky.McConnell, 81, was eventually escorted away by staff, footage from an NBC News affiliate showed.Asked for his thoughts about running for re-election in 2026, McConnell laughed and said: “Oh, that’s a …” He then appeared to freeze.Coming to his side, an aide said: “Did you hear the question, senator? Running for re-election in 2026?”McConnell did not answer. The aide said, “All right, I’m sorry you all, we’re gonna need a minute.” Another aide exchanged quiet words with the senator, who said: “OK.” The first aide asked for another question, saying: “Please speak up.”The aide repeated questions loudly into McConnell’s ear. He gave quiet, halting answers.Told, “It’s a question about Trump,” McConnell said he would not comment on the presidential race “on the Democratic side or the Republican side”.The two aides then escorted McConnell away.The incident came a little more than a month after McConnell appeared to freeze while talking to reporters at the US Capitol in Washington.McConnell returned to answer questions then, saying he had been “sandbagged” – a reference to remarks by the 80-year-old president, Joe Biden, after he tripped and fell at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado in June.The Washington incident was followed by reports of McConnell suffering multiple falls, including one in March that left him with concussion and a rib fracture, keeping him away from Washington.Elected to the Senate in 1984, McConnell became Republican leader in 2006. Now the longest-serving Senate party leader in history, he has earned a reputation for ruthlessly partisan operations, memorably describing himself as “stronger than mule piss” when it came to stocking the supreme court with conservative justices.Aides have said McConnell will stay in his role as Republican leader until the end of his term, in 2026. Were he to vacate the role before that, his temporary replacement would be appointed by the governor of Kentucky. Andy Beshear is a Democrat but state law says he must pick from a shortlist named by the same party as the retiree. Democrats hold the Senate 51-49, with vulnerable senators up for re-election in Republican-run states next year.Public incidents involving McConnell and other ageing politicians, particularly the 90-year-old California Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein, have stoked growing public opinion that too many party leaders and grandees have put off retirement too long.Biden was 78 when he was inaugurated president, the oldest ever, and would be 86 at the end of his second term if he wins re-election next year. On Tuesday, the Guardian reported that a new book about Biden’s presidency, based on access to his trusted advisers, says Biden has often told aides he is tired.After the incident in Kentucky on Wednesday, the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said Biden, a senator from Delaware from 1973 to 2009, would wish McConnell well.Biden later told reporters he would try to get in touch with his “good friend” and would “wish him well”.A spokesperson for McConnell told reporters the senator had “felt momentarily lightheaded” and would consult a doctor before his next event.Dean Phillips, a Democratic congressman from Minnesota, said: “For goodness sake, the family, friends and staff of senators Feinstein and McConnell are doing them and our country a tremendous disservice. It’s time for term limits for Congress and the supreme court, and some basic human decency.” More

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      Senator Mitch McConnell has another freezing moment – video

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      Republican senator Mitch McConnell appeared to have another freezing moment on Wednesday at a Kentucky event, prompting further concerns about the minority leader’s health. He fell silent for more than 30 seconds after he was asked if he would run for re-election. McConnell, 81, froze at a news conference in Washington in July, going silent for 19 seconds before being taken away from cameras More

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      Texas judge blocks bill that would allow state to override local water breaks rules

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      A Texas judge has ruled that a controversial bill dubbed “the Death Star law” is unconstitutional, just days before the law was set to take effect when it would have hurt many local labor laws, including paid sick leave and mandated water breaks for some employees toiling outside in a brutal heatwave.The state district judge Maya Guerra Gamble issued her decision in response to a lawsuit against Texas filed by the cities of Houston, San Antonio and El Paso. Gamble agreed with arguments made by the cities that the bill is vague and unclear on which ordinances the municipalities must cancel before it was set to take effect.The law was an attempt by Texas Republicans to nullify and prevent local municipalities and counties from passing local ordinances that go further than state law. It was slated to prevent legislation requiring paid sick leave for workers, eviction protections for tenants, and would nullify local ordinances that mandated water breaks for construction workers in Austin and Dallas and prompted San Antonio to scale back efforts to enact a similar ordinance.Texas is expected to appeal, but worker advocate groups praised the decision.“This ruling allows critical, life-saving local policies to remain in place – including worker protections like rest breaks for construction workers – reflecting the importance of local leaders being able to respond to their communities’ urgent needs. We celebrate this win today, but we also acknowledge that this fight is far from over,” wrote Local Progress Texas, Texas AFL-CIO, Every Texan, & Workers Defense Project in a joint statement in response to the ruling.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe statement added: “The Death Star law is part of a trend of Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country using preemption as a tactic to undermine local policies that protect vulnerable Americans and concentrate power in the hands of extreme lawmakers and their corporate interests. We hope that the Texas supreme court will uphold this decision to protect local democracy.” More

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      Rudy Giuliani liable for defaming Georgia election workers, judge rules

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      Rudy Giuliani, an attorney and close ally of Donald Trump, is liable for defaming two Georgia poll workers following the 2020 election, a federal judge has ruled in a default judgment.Giuliani failed to produce records during the discovery process while making “excuses” to shroud his noncompliance, according to the opinion by Judge Beryl Howell, of the federal US district court for the District of Columbia.“Donning a cloak of victimization may play well on a public stage to certain audiences, but in a court of law this performance has served only to subvert the normal process of discovery in a straightforward defamation case,” Howell wrote.Ruby Freeman, a election worker in Fulton county, Georgia during the 2020 election, sued Giuliani for defaming her and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, by repeatedly spreading baseless claims they committed election fraud, including rolling around suitcases of fake ballots.As a result of those baseless claims, Freeman and Moss, who are Black, became targets of harassment in the weeks after the election. Moss testified that she received threats and racist messages from strangers as a result had to go into hiding and change her appearance. The ruling, along with the Fox-Dominion settlement, marks the second time Giuliani, one of the most prolific spreaders of misinformation in the 2020 election, has been held liable.Giuliani admitted to making false statements but argued they were protected by the first amendment, in an earlier court filing.A Georgia state election board formally cleared Freeman and Moss, of wrongdoing in a 10-page report released in March.That report confirmed that the election tampering allegations against Freeman and Moss were “unsubstantiated and found to have no merit”.According to the Wednesday ruling, Giuliani is also liable for “intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy and punitive damage claims”.Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, is facing 13 felony charges in the Georgia election interference case. He was booked in a Fulton county jail last week and was released after posting $150,000 bail.Yet Giuliani, 79, has struggled to pay his mounting legal fees, according to the New York Times, which reports that his bills add up to $3m. He put his Manhattan apartment up for sale for $6.5m in July, and has asked Trump to help cover some of the cost.Trump is set to host a fundraiser for Giuliani at his New Jersey golf club this September, and it will cost each guest $100,000 to attend.The defamation case will now go to trial to determine the amount of damages. While it is unclear how much Giuliani will be required to pay, Howell ruled that he owes $89,172.50, with interest, in attorney fees for Freeman and Moss on their successful motion to compel discovery. More

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      Trump improves lead over Republican primary rivals after mugshot release

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      Donald Trump extended his lead over his Republican nomination rivals in a series of polls conducted since the release of his mugshot in Fulton county after he surrendered on charges that he conspired to subvert the 2020 election in Georgia and his absence from the first GOP primary debate.The former US president held commanding advantages across the board in recent surveys done for the Trump campaign and for Morning Consult, leading his nearest challenger, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, in the overall race, in a head-to-head matchup, and in favorability ratings.That outcome has been a trend for Trump who has seen polling and fundraising boosts with each indictment this year – in the hush-money case in New York, in the classified documents case in Florida, and in the federal 2020 election subversion case in Washington.It also suggests that some of DeSantis’s principal campaign arguments – that he is more electable than Trump – have failed to cut through with likely Republican voters even after he had the opportunity to establish himself last week in Trump’s absence on the debate stage.The polling commissioned and touted by the Trump campaign in the days after Trump surrendered at the Fulton county jail suggests the release of his mugshot that underscored his legal jeopardy and skipping the first GOP debate has not weakened him among likely Republican primary voters.Overall, Trump polled at 58% compared with DeSantis at 13% among roughly 2,700 likely Republican primary voters surveyed by Coefficient, improving his lead by three points since the start of the month. No other candidate topped 10%.The Trump campaign polling was consistent with a Morning Consult poll which found Trump’s lead unshaken in the immediate aftermath of the release of his mugshot and the first Republican primary debate, with Trump at 58%, DeSantis at 14% and no other candidate again above 10%.The survey found that even if all the other candidates withdrew for a unified opposition against Trump, the former president would win the hypothetical head-to-head race against DeSantis by almost a two-to-one margin, 62% to 23%.Notably, in the days after Trump’s surrender in Fulton county, the share of voters who believed Trump is guilty of the charges dropped by 11%, while the share of voters who believed Trump was being indicted as part of an effort to stop him running for president held at 74%.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe survey comes less than six months before the first 2024 primary contest and the political landscape for Trump could still change as he spends more time in courtrooms across the country and off the campaign trail.On Monday, the federal judge presiding over the special counsel prosecution of Trump over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, scheduled the trial to commence on 4 March 2024, one day before Super Tuesday, when 15 states are scheduled to hold Republican primaries or caucuses.Both Trump and DeSantis are viewed favorably among likely Republican primary voters, 75% to 62%. But the intensity of the approval split for Trump, as 54% held a “very favorable” opinion for the former president compared with 19% for DeSantis. More