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      Is Trump finally politically dead? Sort of | Robert Reich

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      Is Trump finally politically dead? Sort ofRobert ReichRepublican lawmakers know Trump is unpopular – but some feverishly pro-Trump voters have the party in a bind As Congress ends its first post-Trump term, the biggest political question hanging over America is: When will the Republican party finally reach its anti-Trump tipping point – when a majority of Republican lawmakers disavow him?Again and again, it looks like the tipping point is near but the party remains under Trump’s thumb.What about last month’s dinner at Mar-a-Lago, with Ye – formerly Kanye West – the man whose fame as a musician has been dwarfed by his antisemitic declarations, along with infamous Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes?It didn’t come near to tipping the scales. Trump ‘is in trouble’, says insider after DeSantis surges in 2024 pollsRead moreWhat about Trump’s 3 December declaration that the “massive fraud” of the 2020 election would allow for the constitution to be “terminated”?Nope.Both events caused grumbling among a few Republican lawmakers, but most avoided criticizing Trump (as they’ve avoided in the past and as they avoided doing the moment the furor over January 6 had died down) for fear of his wrath.But what’s to fear now? Didn’t the midterms reveal how weak he is?After all, most of the candidates he endorsed flamed out, including celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania; Tim Michels in Wisconsin; Adam Laxalt in Nevada; Blake Masters and Kari Lake in Arizona; and Herschel Walker in Georgia. (Walker’s campaign even asked Trump to stay away in the final weeks.)Many election deniers hit the skids. Michigan’s legislature swung to the Democrats for the first time since the 1980s.Democrats defied almost all doomsday prophecies as well as the historic pattern of sitting presidents’ parties losing midterms. Why? In large part because so many voters fear and loathe the former president.Nearly as many viewed the midterms as a referendum on Trump as who saw it as a referendum on Joe Biden. As Mitch McConnell explained, swing voters “were frightened” by the Trump-induced Republican rhetoric, “so they pulled back”.And it’s only going to get worse for Trump.His business has been found guilty of criminal fraud. Investigators have found more classified documents in a storage unit near Mar-a-Lago. A criminal case is pending in Georgia. The January 6 committee is likely to make a criminal referral to the justice department, whose special counsel is already building a criminal case against him. Several leaders of the January 6 attack have already been convicted of seditious conspiracy.Exclusive: January 6 panel considering Trump referral to justice department for obstruction of CongressRead moreEven the kingpins of the Republican party, including the rightwing media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, have switched their allegiances away – to Ron DeSantis or Ted Cruz or another Republican hopeful.So why hasn’t the party as a whole tipped? Why aren’t almost all Republican lawmakers publicly disavowing the former sociopath-in-chief?Two words: the base.Utah’s Republican senator Mitt Romney, no friend of Trump, put it bluntly last week:
      I think we’ve got, I don’t know, 12 people or more that would like to be president, that are thinking of running in 2024. If President Trump continues in his campaign, I’m not sure any one of them can make it through and beat him. He’s got such a strong base of, I don’t know, 30% or 40% of the Republican voters, or maybe more, it’s going to be hard to knock him off as our nominee.
      That’s the problem in a nutshell, folks.It’s not so much the size of Trump’s base. Even 40% of Republican voters is a relatively small group nationwide, especially considering that fewer than 30% of all voters are registered Republicans.It’s the intensity and tenacity of their support, which gives them effective control over the Republican party. They won’t budge.Until they budge, most Republican lawmakers won’t budge either. (With Romney and Liz Cheney being notable exceptions, and we know what happened to her.)The problem isn’t some highfalutin moral issue, such as Republican lawmakers putting their party over their country. It’s more prosaic. They want to keep their jobs.The only hope for the Republican party is that Trump is opposed in the 2024 presidential primaries by just one opponent – most obviously Florida’s Ron DeSantis – who becomes the alternative for the majority of Republican voters who don’t particularly want Trump to be their standard bearer.But if DeSantis were to jump in, it’s likely so would a bunch of others – Mike Pence, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, et al (Romney’s “12 or more”) – who’d split the non-Trump Republicans, allowing Trump’s base to anoint him the Republican nominee.Which means the Republican party will continue to rot as a political party, as a governing institution and as a moral entity. This may be good for Democrats in 2024, but in the larger sense it’s bad for us all.
      Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com
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      Federal investigators focus on emails between Trump lawyers and congressman – as it happened

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      Federal investigators have been scrutinizing emails between lawyers for Donald Trump and a loyalist Republican congressman for months, it emerged on Friday, casting new light on the direction of the criminal inquiry into the former president’s insurrection efforts.US district court chief judge Beryl Howell granted a request from the justice department to unseal an order she made in June.Just in: Federal prosecutors got access to House Republican Scott Perry’s email accounts, materials concerning 2020 election with Trump lawyer John Eastman and ex DOJ officials Jeff Clark and Ken Klukowski, per newly unsealed docs https://t.co/jPXlR7MpgU— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) December 16, 2022
      That order allowed the inquiry access to 37 emails exchanged between Jeffrey Clark and Ken Klukowski, both justice department officials for Trump, the conservative attorney John Eastman, and Pennsylvania congressman Scott Perry, a Trump loyalist who chairs the rightwing House freedom caucus.Perry has previously been implicated in Trump’s efforts overturn his election defeat to Joe Biden. Earlier this week, some of his texts sent to Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff, came to light, showing increasingly desperate efforts to try to keep Trump in power around the time of the 6 January insurrection.Those efforts included seizing voting machines, and a suggestion the US government should investigate an outlandish conspiracy theory in which Italian satellites were used to zap the machines from space and flip votes for Trump to Biden.Eastman and his allies had claimed the emails were protected by presidential privilege but Washington DC judge Howell, in her order, rejected it.The development comes as the bipartisan panel investigating the 6 January Capitol attack and Trump’s subversion prepares to release on Monday its final report, and make civil and criminal referrals.Trump, Eastman and Clark, who sought to become acting attorney general in the waning days of the Trump presidency, are all thought to be among those who could be referred for charges.Politico reports that Howell unsealed a second opinion, issued in September, in which she determined that 331 documents from Clark were also not protected by attorney-client privilege.The contents of the emails and documents are not known, but the revelation they were in the hands of the criminal inquiry provides a clue to investigators’ thinking over Trump’s plotting.Federal agents seized Eastman’s phone in June, the same time as Howell made her order. Perry’s phone was seized in August. Both lost legal challenges to reclaim them, Politico says.We’re closing the politics blog now for the day, and indeed the week. Thanks for reading along with us.It was, again, not a great day for Donald Trump. A judge unsealed an order that granted the justice department access to emails between several of his allies over the January 6 insurrection; and a Guardian exclusive revealed that the former president could face referral for criminal conspiracy charges when the House panel publishes its final report into his election meddling next week.Join us again on Monday for what’s certain to be a high-octane week in US politics.Here’s what else we covered today:
      The United Nations said it was “very concerned” for press freedoms, as a global backlash grew against Elon Musk for throwing a number of prominent journalists off Twitter. European leaders hinted at sanctions against the social media giant.
      Joe Biden spoke at a National Guard center in Delaware, touting the Pact Act that supports veterans’ healthcare, and getting emotional speaking about his late son Beau, a former Guard major.
      Senators discussed a long-term, $1.7tn package to keep the government funded for another year. Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer wants the Electoral Count Act included to preserve the integrity of future elections.
      Biden signed a one-week, stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown on Friday afternoon, after the Senate passed it on Thursday night, one day after the House approved the measure. Congress has until 23 December to negotiate the longer-term agreement.
      Joe Biden is seeking to elevate Cindy McCain, widow of the late Republican Senator John McCain, as the executive director of World Food Program, Axios reported on Friday.McCain is currently serving as the US ambassador to the United Nations agencies for food and agriculture.The president is also recommending David Lane, former US ambassador to the WFP for the post, Axios said, citing people familiar with the matter.David Beasley, the Republican former South Carolina governor, currently serves in WFP’s top role but is set to leave that post when his term ends in April next year. Officials are now pushing for McCain to take on the role and get to work raising funds in this time of crisis. “Cindy deserves a promotion. She’s doing a great job,” Lindsey Graham, South Carolina’s Republican senator, told Axios.Donald Trump could face criminal referrals for obstructing Congress and conspiracy to defraud the US when the January 6 House panel delivers its final report on Monday. Here’s an exclusive from The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell:The House January 6 select committee is considering a criminal referral to the justice department against Donald Trump for obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the United States on the recommendation of a special subcommittee, according to sources familiar with the matter.The recommendations on the former president – made by the subcommittee examining referrals – were based on renewed examinations of the evidence that indicated Trump’s attempts to impede the certification of the 2020 election results amounted to potential crimes.The select committee could pursue additional criminal referrals for Trump and others, given the subcommittee raised the obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud statutes among a range of options and discussions about referrals continued on Thursday, said the sources.The referrals could also largely be symbolic since Congress has no ability to compel prosecutions by the justice department, which has increasingly ramped up its own investigations into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and subpoenaed top aides to appear before federal grand juries.The recommendations presage a moment of high political drama next Monday, when the full panel will vote publicly to adopt its final report and formally decide on making referrals, and increase pressure on the attorney general, Merrick Garland, to seek charges over January 6.Trump could be referred for obstruction of an official proceeding, the subcommittee is said to have concluded, because he attempted to impede the certification and did so with a “consciousness of wrongdoing” – as the panel has previously interpreted the intent thresholdThe former president was seen to have met the elements of the offense since he relentlessly pressured Mike Pence to refuse to count electoral college votes for Joe Biden, despite knowing he had lost the election and had been told the plan was illegal.Trump could also be referred for conspiracy to defraud the United States, the subcommittee suggested, arguing the former president violated the statute that prohibits entering into an agreement to obstruct a lawful function of government by dishonest means.Read the full story:Exclusive: January 6 panel considering Trump referral to justice department for obstruction of CongressRead moreFederal investigators have been scrutinizing emails between lawyers for Donald Trump and a loyalist Republican congressman for months, it emerged on Friday, casting new light on the direction of the criminal inquiry into the former president’s insurrection efforts.US district court chief judge Beryl Howell granted a request from the justice department to unseal an order she made in June.Just in: Federal prosecutors got access to House Republican Scott Perry’s email accounts, materials concerning 2020 election with Trump lawyer John Eastman and ex DOJ officials Jeff Clark and Ken Klukowski, per newly unsealed docs https://t.co/jPXlR7MpgU— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) December 16, 2022
      That order allowed the inquiry access to 37 emails exchanged between Jeffrey Clark and Ken Klukowski, both justice department officials for Trump, the conservative attorney John Eastman, and Pennsylvania congressman Scott Perry, a Trump loyalist who chairs the rightwing House freedom caucus.Perry has previously been implicated in Trump’s efforts overturn his election defeat to Joe Biden. Earlier this week, some of his texts sent to Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff, came to light, showing increasingly desperate efforts to try to keep Trump in power around the time of the 6 January insurrection.Those efforts included seizing voting machines, and a suggestion the US government should investigate an outlandish conspiracy theory in which Italian satellites were used to zap the machines from space and flip votes for Trump to Biden.Eastman and his allies had claimed the emails were protected by presidential privilege but Washington DC judge Howell, in her order, rejected it.The development comes as the bipartisan panel investigating the 6 January Capitol attack and Trump’s subversion prepares to release on Monday its final report, and make civil and criminal referrals.Trump, Eastman and Clark, who sought to become acting attorney general in the waning days of the Trump presidency, are all thought to be among those who could be referred for charges.Politico reports that Howell unsealed a second opinion, issued in September, in which she determined that 331 documents from Clark were also not protected by attorney-client privilege.The contents of the emails and documents are not known, but the revelation they were in the hands of the criminal inquiry provides a clue to investigators’ thinking over Trump’s plotting.Federal agents seized Eastman’s phone in June, the same time as Howell made her order. Perry’s phone was seized in August. Both lost legal challenges to reclaim them, Politico says.An Iowa construction worker and QAnon follower was sentenced earlier today to five years in prison for his role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol, when he led a crowd chasing police officer Eugene Goodman, who courageously diverted rioters away from lawmakers.Wearing a T-shirt celebrating the conspiracy theory, with his arms spread, Douglas Jensen became part of one of the most memorable images from the riot, the Associated Press reports.As he handed down the sentence, judge Timothy Kelly said he wasn’t sure Jensen understood the seriousness of a violent attack in which he played a “big role.”.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}It snapped our previously unbroken tradition of peaceful transfer of power. We can’t get that back. I wish I could say I had evidence you understood this cannot be repeated,” Kelly said.Jensen was convicted at trial of seven counts, including felony charges that he obstructed Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote and that he assaulted or interfered with police officers during the siege. His sentence also includes three years of supervised release and a $2,000 fine.He gave a brief statement to the judge, saying that he wanted to return to “being a family man and my normal life before I got involved with politics.”Jensen scaled a retaining wall and entered through a broken window so he could be one of the first people to storm the Capitol that day, Kelly said.He led a group that chased Capitol Police officer Goodman up a staircase. He would later re-entered the building and scuffle with police..css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Doug Jensen wanted to be the poster boy of the insurrection,” prosecutor Emily Allen said.Jensen wore a T-shirt with a large “Q” on it because he wanted the conspiracy theory to get credit for what happened that day, his defense attorney Christopher Davis said.Davis has argued Jensen was dressed as a “walking advertisement for QAnon” and not intending to attack the Capitol.He did not physically hurt people or damage anything inside the Capitol, Davis said, and many friends and family members wrote letters to the judge on his behalf.Goodman’s quick thinking that day — to divert the rioters away from the Senate and then find backup — avoided “tremendous bloodshed,” Capitol Police inspector Thomas Lloyd said today.The United Nations is “very disturbed” by the arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on today, adding that media voices should not be silenced on a platform professing to give space for freedom of speech..css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The move sets a dangerous precedent at a time when journalists all over the world are facing censorship, physical threats and even worse,” Dujarric told reporters.UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric says the body is “very concerned” about Twitter’s journalist suspensions and adds that it sets “a dangerous precedent” amid rising threats to press freedom globally. At 39:30-ish during today’s press briefing stream, here: https://t.co/FqkSQytzjI— Brian Fung | @b_fung@masto.ai (@b_fung) December 16, 2022
      Dujarric is the spokesman for UN secretary-general António Guterres, a position he has held since 2014, when he was appointed by previous secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon.Time to take stock of developments midway through Friday. There’s a growing global backlash against Elon Musk for suspending the accounts of several prominent journalists from Twitter. European leaders are threatening sanctions, while Musk’s company insists it only acted after a careful manual review.Here’s what else we’ve been following:
      Joe Biden has been speaking at a National Guard center in Delaware, touting the Pact Act that supports veterans’ healthcare, and getting emotional speaking about his late son Beau, a former Guard major.
      The bipartisan House committee investigating Donald Trump’s January 6 insurrection is making final preparations ahead of Monday’s last public hearing, the publication of its report and civil and criminal referrals for certain individuals possibly including Trump.
      Senators have been discussing a long-term, $1.7tn package to keep the government funded for another year. Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer wants the Electoral Count Act included to preserve the integrity of future elections.
      Joe Biden is at a town hall for veterans in New Castle, Delaware, choking with emotion when talking about his late son Beau, a former National Guard major for whom the center he was speaking at is named.The president kept his comments tightly focused on the expansion of benefits and services for veterans resulting from the Pact Act, introducing a second world war pilot, and talking of the need to support and improve the physical and mental health of retired military members.The law helps veterans get screened for exposure to toxins, such as agent orange, which was used for deforestation during the Vietnam War; and burn pits, where poisonous trash was destroyed on military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.Biden said:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The Pact Act was the first step of being sure that we leave no-one behind.
      We also need to pass the bipartisan government funding bill so we can deliver on the act’s promise.It was a more somber, subdued delivery from Biden as he delivered anecdotes about military families who have struggled to get care, and remembered his son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015.Joe Biden is about to speak in Delaware. You can follow his comments live here:Happening Now: President Biden participates in a town hall with veterans and discusses the historic expansion of benefits in the PACT Act. https://t.co/PlsF9hwHrG— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 16, 2022
      Happy Wright Brothers Day everyone, for tomorrow! The White House has issued a proclamation to commemorate the first powered fight, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on 17 December, 1903.“On Wright Brothers Day, we celebrate the ingenuity and perseverance of Orville and Wilbur Wright, whose aircraft expanded the limits of human discovery and lifted this nation to new heights,” the statement, signed by Joe Biden, says.“When their Wright Flyer finally took to the skies… they launched the future of aviation and helped define the American spirit: bold, daring, innovative, and always asking what is next”.On Dec. 17 at 9 a.m., Wright Brothers National Memorial will celebrate the accomplishments of Wilbur and Orville Wright on the 119th anniversary of their first heavier-than-air, controlled, powered flight. Park entrance fees are waived on this special day. https://t.co/qWYYHVntxS pic.twitter.com/MnMbwBxVEO— Wright Brothers National Memorial (@WrightBrosNPS) December 5, 2022
      Never missing an opportunity to brag, the White House is using the occasion to tout some of its own achievements.“[The] Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is investing $25bn to renovate airport terminals; upgrade air traffic control facilities; and improve runways, taxiways, and other vital infrastructure that make flying easier and more secure,” it says.“We have pushed airlines to rebook travelers’ tickets for free when flights are significantly delayed or canceled, and to disclose fees, like for checked baggage, clearly and up front. And we are exploring new technologies that can decrease carbon emissions coming from airplanes.”Read the White House proclamation here.It’s the final countdown for the bipartisan House committee investigating Donald Trump’s January 6 insurrection as it prepares for its last public hearing and report publication next week. Also coming soon: criminal referrals.The panel has set a 1pm date on Monday for a “business meeting” at which it will make finishing touches to its report and recommendations for legislative changes, and prepare to announce much-anticipated referrals for civil and criminal charges, which many expect to include Trump himself and a number of close allies.But it is unclear if the final report’s release will also come on Monday. Bloomberg’s congressional correspondent Billy House says there’s doubt, as some important discussions still need to take place.Release of the full J6 report on Monday is not a settled matter, it turns out. Discussions on what will be released as the committee meets on Monday publicly still under way.— Billy House (@HouseInSession) December 15, 2022
      The Guardian reported last month there was something of a rift on the panel, with members split over focusing on Trump and the efforts he made to cling on to power after losing the 2020 election; and issues such as intelligence failures by the FBI and others that allowed Trump’s mob of supporters to easily overrun law enforcement defending the Capitol on 6 January 2021.Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who chairs the panel, urged observers this week to “stay tuned” as he refused to give clues about referrals or conclusions. “We’re going with what we think are the strongest arguments,” he said, according to the New York Times.The referrals could follow two tracks, the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reported last week: citations for things that Congress can request prosecution by statute, such as perjury or witness tampering, or wider-ranging recommendations such as making the case that Trump obstructed an official proceeding on 6 January.The select committee held its first meeting in July 2021.Read more:House January 6 panel to issue criminal referrals to DoJ as tensions heightenRead moreJoe Biden is in Delaware, where he’s meeting with veterans at a National Guard facility named for his late son. The president is urging them to take advantage of new healthcare opportunities under legislation he signed in August.Biden is scheduled to make public remarks at noon. We don’t know if he’ll restrict his comments only to the Pact Act, a law that helps veterans get screened for exposure to toxins, and which Senate Republicans famously blocked earlier this year in a political stunt, before relenting.The toxins include agent orange, which was used for deforestation during the Vietnam War, and burn pits, where trash was destroyed on military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.According to the Associated Press, the Biden administration has been hosting scores of events around the country to draw attention to the new benefits. More than 730,000 veterans have already received screenings, the White House says.Beau Biden, the president’s elder son, served as a major in the Delaware National Guard. He died of brain cancer in 2015, and the president has suggested that exposure to burn pits on his base in Iraq may have been the cause.Hundreds of thousands of railroad jobs disappeared in the US over the last 50 years, while railroad carriers made record profits. After their recent strike was blocked, workers are fighting back. Michael Sainato reports: Railroad workers and unions are ramping up pressure on the US Congress and Joe Biden to address poor working conditions in the wake of the recent move to block a strike when Congress voted to impose a contract agreement.Workers and labor activists in America have criticized that action for undermining the collective bargaining process in the US and workers’ right to strike.Twelve labor unions representing about 115,000 railroad workers across the US had been negotiating with railway carriers since 2019 on a new union contract. By September the prospect of a strike threatened to shut down down the US railroads and hit the US economy to an estimated $2bn a day. That eventually prompted Congress – backed by the president – to impose the settlement.Workers are courageously standing up to corporate greed. Congress must have their backs. pic.twitter.com/99mIpvgQpZ— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) December 15, 2022
      “You always knew that this was the culmination of the process, you knew that Congress was going to push you back to work, you just didn’t know when and under what conditions that you’d be put back to work,” said Ross Grooters, a locomotive engineer based in Iowa and co-chair of Railroad Workers United.Railroad workers had pushed for paid sick days to provide relief for grueling schedules caused by of labor cuts, with many workers on call 24/7 every day of the year, often having to work while sick or forgo doctor’s appointments because of their scheduling demands and strict disciplinary policies around attendance.As conditions have worsened, railroad carriers have made record profits and spent billions of dollars on stock buybacks and dividends to shareholders. Meanwhile, US railroad jobs have declined significantly in recent years, from 1m in the 1950s to fewer than 150,000 in 2022, with drastic recent losses as the industry experienced a reduction of 40,000 workers between November 2018 and December 2020.Now the imposed contract provides just one extra day of personal time off, with no days allotted for illnesses, and three days a year for doctor appointments with stipulations.Read the full story:Railroad workers pressure Congress and Biden to address working conditionsRead moreProtecting the integrity of elections, and preventing another January 6-style insurrection, are up for discussion Friday as senators weigh an omnibus funding package to keep the government funded for another year.The chamber passed a short-term deal late on Thursday to extend funding until 23 December, which Joe Biden will approve today after the House approved the same measure the day before.It provides breathing space for a bipartisan team negotiating the longer-term deal, which Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer wants to see include the Electoral Count Act.Among other measures, the law would clarify the role of the vice-president in the certification of general election results. The 2021 riot by Donald Trump supporters was sparked, at least in part, by the outgoing president’s false claim that his vice-president Mike Pence could refuse to certify Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, and keep him in office.“I expect an omnibus will contain priorities both sides want to see passed into law, including more funding for Ukraine and the Electoral Count Act, which my colleagues in the Rules Committee have done great work on. It will be great to get that done,” Schumer told reporters.Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate minority leader, has said he could support a omnibus bill, which will come in around $1.7tn, as long as it doesn’t contain any “poison pills”. It would finance day-to-day operations of government agencies for the current fiscal year that began 1 October. Federal spending on programs such as social security and Medicare is not part of the annual appropriations process and is not included in the package.Read more:US Senate passes legislation to keep government afloat for another weekRead moreWhile it’s been quiet from politicians in the US (so far) over Elon Musk’s suspension of prominent journalists’ accounts from Twitter, European leaders are not holding back, and are threatening sanctions against the social media giant.“News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying,” Věra Jourová, vice-president of the European Commission tweeted.“EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. This is reinforced under our #MediaFreedomAct. @elonmusk should be aware of that. There are red lines. And sanctions, soon.”News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying. EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. This is reinforced under our #MediaFreedomAct. @elonmusk should be aware of that. There are red lines. And sanctions, soon.— Věra Jourová (@VeraJourova) December 16, 2022
      She did not specify what the sanctions could entail.The Digital Services Act (DSA) compels companies using serving European web users to meet strict regulations in tackling manipulative algorithms, disinformation and other cyber harm.Meanwhile, France’s industry minister Roland Lescure tweeted on Friday he would mothball his account. “Following the suspension of journalists’ accounts by @elonmusk, I am suspending all activity on @Twitter until further notice”, he wrote.Suite à la suspension de comptes de journalistes par @elonmusk, je suspends toute activité sur @Twitter jusqu’à nouvel ordre.— Roland Lescure (@RolandLescure) December 16, 2022
      Twitter insisted on Friday that the company “manually reviewed” every account it suspended last night, ranging from prominent journalists from the New York Times, CNN and Washington Post, and a number of popular liberal commentators.Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of trust and safety, made the claim in an email to Reuters, stating the manual review was on “any and all accounts” it said violated its new privacy policy by posting links to a Twitter account called ElonJet, which tracked Elon Musk‘s private jet using information in the public domain.Musk, formerly the world’s richest man, who bought the social media platform for $44bn earlier this year, accused the journalists of posting “assassination coordinates” by publicizing the ElonJet account, which was suspended earlier.“Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not,” Musk tweeted.He did clarify how he thought they had done so. And he hung up on a Twitter Spaces audio chat after clashing with some of the journalists he banned. The suspension of the accounts late Thursday has prompted outrage on both sides of the Atlantic about Musk’s curbing of press freedoms.Statement on tonight’s suspension of CNN’s @donie O’Sullivan: pic.twitter.com/TQGsysxvpf— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) December 16, 2022
      Also suspended were accounts run by liberal commentators Keith Olbermann and Aaron Rupar. Irwin’s letter to Reuters offered little by way of further explanation.“I understand that the focus seems to be mainly on journalist accounts but we applied the policy equally to journalists and non-journalist accounts today,” she wrote.The Washington Post reported Friday that the suspensions, which included its technology reporter Drew Harwell, were instigated at the “direction of Ella”.Read more:Twitter suspends accounts of several journalists who had reported on Elon MuskRead moreGood morning and happy Friday to all politics blog readers! After Elon Musk’s purge of several prominent US journalists’ Twitter accounts, the EU was quick to react, promising sanctions against the social media giant.“We have a problem @Twitter,” the German foreign ministry tweeted, while a raft of other senior European officials are expressing their concern at curbed press freedoms.Media outlets this side of the Atlantic are similarly outraged, and we’re waiting to see what US politicians have to say about it all. We’ll bring you reaction and developments through the day.Here’s what else we’re watching on what’s shaping up to be a busy, and consequential day:
      Senators continue their discussions on an omnibus deal to keep the government funded for the next year after passing a week-long stopgap measure last night. Democrats want to include the Electoral Count Act, seeking to prevent another January 6-style insurrection.
      The House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack by followers of Donald Trump are wrapping up their business ahead of Monday’s final public hearing, but it’s unclear whether we’ll see the full report on that day.
      Joe Biden will meet veterans to talk about benefits and services resulting from the Pact Act during a town hall meeting at a National Guard center in Delaware named for the president’s late son Beau. He’ll speak at 12pm.
      The national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will talk about international affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace thinktank in Washington DC. More

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      Conservative donors pour ‘dark money’ into case that could upend US voting law

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      Conservative donors pour ‘dark money’ into case that could upend US voting lawGroups submitting amicus briefs to supreme court case in support of Republican lawmakers received $90m in anonymous donations Conservative donors poured tens of millions of dollars of anonymous “dark money” into groups supporting Republican lawmakers in a supreme court case that could upend American election law.The donors backed several groups that have filed supreme court amicus briefs in support of North Carolina legislators in Moore v Harper, according to a recent analysis. They are pushing for a ruling that would take ultimate decisions about voting rights and congressional gerrymandering away from state courts and hand those powers to state legislatures, of which Republicans now control the majority.Could the US supreme court give state legislatures unchecked election powers? Read moreEight conservative groups that submitted amicus briefs in the supreme court case have received close to $90m from dark money donors since 2016, according to Accountable.US, a liberal leaning watchdog group that tracks government corruption.Several of these conservative bastions are also champions of restrictive voting laws.Conservatives want the supreme court to adopt the independent state legislature theory, a once fringe idea now promoted by a coterie of conservative groups that filed amicus briefs, including the Honest Elections Project, the Claremont Institute, and the Public Interest Legal Foundation. The groups boast strong ties to rightwing lawyers Leonard Leo, John Eastman and Cleta Mitchell respectively. Eastman and Mitchell were allies in Donald Trump’s baseless crusade to overturn the 2020 election.Sparked by a North Carolina gerrymandering fight, Moore v Harper has attracted strong opposition from many liberal and some conservative legal experts, who call it a partisan attack on voting rights by prominent conservative groups. Opponents of the case say they’re using a discredited legal theory to boost GOP political fortunes in coming elections.The leading dark money financier of the conservative groups that filed amicus briefs was DonorsTrust, which contributed a whopping $70.5m, Accountable data shows.Other top dark money donors to groups that filed amicus briefs include the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and America First Works, which, respectively, gave $6.1m and $4.8m to outfits that supported the independent state legislature theory. The long time conservative Bradley Foundation boasts Mitchell on its board, while the non-profit America First Works has been allied with Trump since its founding in 2016 under another name.The dark money routed to some of these groups took circuitous routes. For instance, America First Works gave $4.8m to DonorsTrust that was earmarked for the Honest Elections Project, according to Accountable.The Honest Elections Project, which has been a leading advocate for tougher voting laws in recent years, was founded by Leo, a legendary fundraiser, lawyer and co-chairman of the powerful Federalist Society. Leo was instrumental in advising Trump on his three conservative supreme court nominees.DonorsTrust, known as the ATM of the right, has been very generous with other projects Leo has helped spearhead. In 2021, for example, Leo’s 85 Fund – a dark money conduit for conservative legal campaigns and other priorities – received its largest single grant of $17.1m from DonorsTrust, which doled out close to $190m that year.US supreme court hears case that could radically reshape electionsRead moreCritics of the right’s drive to push the independent state legislature theory note the strong influence of well-financed conservative groups along with several like-minded justices.“The ISLT [independent state legislature theory] has been fueled by several conservative justices’ dissents, and other statements, coupled with amicus briefs and public arguments supporting the theory from think tanks, litigation shops, and partisan political organizations,” Thomas Wolf, the deputy director of the democracy program at the Brennan Center for Justice, told the Guardian.Two key Democrats in Congress, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Hank Johnson, submitted an amicus brief arguing forcefully against the independent state legislature theory, highlighting the role of conservative groups funded by dark money who have supported voter suppression efforts.“Many of the petitioners’ amici actually attempted to undermine the 2020 election by relying on this theory,” Whitehouse and Johnson wrote. “Other amici share connections with groups and individuals who played a role in those attempts. Still others are presently engaged in voter-suppression and election-subversion efforts.“Rarely has such a noxious assemblage of amici appeared before this court, and their secrecy about their funders and connections does this court a grave disservice,” they added.The high stakes for democracy behind Moore v Harper and other recent supreme court cases involving dark money funded groups trouble Whitehouse, he said.In tandem with Johnson, Whitehouse has introduced legislation that would require amicus filers to disclose funders who donated $100,000, or more than 3% of their gross revenues.In an interview, Whitehouse said his proposed bill coincides with other efforts he has made to have the supreme court change its reporting rules for amicus filers backed by dark money.“I’ve been pushing the supreme court to update their reporting requirements,” he said about the dark money behind several high-stakes cases, but to date the court has “shown no interest”.The independent state legislature theory played a key role in Trump’s failed crusade to get states to invalidate the 2020 election results and was the handiwork of Eastman, who filed the amicus brief for the Claremont Institute, a conservative California based thinktank, that made a similar argument.Eastman’s involvement with Trump’s baseless drive to overturn the 2020 election results, which included promoting an alternative elector scheme to block Congress certifying Joe Biden’s as president, could lead the January 6 panel investigating the Capitol insurrection to file a criminal referral to the justice department for him, as well as Trump and others, according to a recent CNN report.On a related legal front, Eastman’s refusal to turn over 101 documents to the House panel led federal judge David Carter to rule this year that there was substantial evidence Eastman had conspired with Trump to block Congress from certifying the 2020 election results. The “illegality of the plan was obvious”, Carter wrote.Just how much the amicus briefs from Claremont and other conservative outfits backed by dark money will influence the supreme court’s ruling on the independent state legislature theory is hard to discern.Oral arguments in Moore v Harper were heard by the supreme court on 7 December. The court’s three liberal-leaning justices expressed their strong opposition to North Carolina lawmakers’ position, and some conservative justices including Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh also indicated their skepticism about some maximalist versions of the theory.Billions in ‘dark money’ is influencing US politics. We need disclosure laws | David Sirota and Joel WarnerRead moreThe genesis of the Moore v Harper case was a ruling by the North Carolina state supreme court in early 2022 that invalidated districts drawn by the Republican-controlled legislature on the grounds they were an “egregious and intentional partisan gerrymander”, unfairly favoring the GOP.North Carolina legislator Timothy Moore appealed the state supreme court ruling, and a voter named Rebecca Harper was a named plaintiff in a challenge to the state’s gerrymandered maps.Significantly, North Carolina is one of six states where state courts have ruled in recent years that partisan redistricting plans for Congress violated state constitutions.Moore v Harper has also sparked significant legal blowback from some prominent lawyers with conservative pedigrees including J Michael Luttig, a former appeals court judge who is a co-counsel for litigants opposing the independent state legislature theory.“This case swarms with amicus briefs supporting petitioners that elide a salient fact: the doctrine they encourage this Court to adopt – the ‘independent state legislature’ theory – is one of the fringe legal theories deployed in a failed legal plot to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,” Whitehouse and Johnson wrote in their brief.TopicsUS supreme courtThe fight for democracyUS political financingUS politicsRepublicansLaw (US)North CarolinanewsReuse this content More

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      Can Republicans come back from the extreme in 2023? Politics Weekly America podcast

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      As 2022 draws to a close, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Simon Rosenberg and Sarah Longwell about their predictions for how US politics will shake out in 2023. Can the Democrats capitalise on a weary electorate, can the Republicans finally get rid of the spectre of Donald Trump, and who will announce their intention to run in 2024?

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      The Guardian and Observer charity appeal for 2022 is the cost of living crisis, and you can donate here Send your questions and feedback to podcasts@theguardian.com Help support the Guardian by going to theguardian.com/supportpodcasts More

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      Senate passes $858bn defense bill that rescinds army Covid vaccine mandate

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      Senate passes $858bn defense bill that rescinds army Covid vaccine mandateDemocrats agreed to Republican demands to scrap vaccination requirement for service members to win support for the bill A bill to rescind the Covid-19 vaccine mandate for members of the US military and provide nearly $858bn for national defense passed the Senate on Thursday and now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.The bill provides for about $45bn more for defense programs than Biden requested and roughly 10% more than last year’s bill as lawmakers look to account for inflation and boost the nation’s military competitiveness with China and Russia. It includes a 4.6% pay raise for servicemembers and the defense department’s civilian workforce.Petraeus: US would destroy Russia’s troops if Putin uses nuclear weapons in UkraineRead moreThe Senate passed the defense policy bill by a vote of 83-11. The measure also received broad bipartisan support in the House last week.To win GOP support for the 4,408-page bill, Democrats agreed to Republican demands to scrap the requirement for service members to get a Covid-19 vaccination. The bill directs Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to rescind his August 2021 memorandum imposing the mandate.Before approving the measure, the Senate voted down a couple of efforts to amend it, including a proposal from West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, to speed the permitting process for energy projects. The effort had drawn fierce opposition from some environmental advocacy groups who worried it would accelerate fossil fuel projects such as gas pipelines and limit the public’s input on such projects.Manchin, who chairs the Senate energy committee, secured a commitment from Biden and Democratic leaders last summer to support the permitting package in return for his support of a landmark law to curb climate change.Machin’s legislation sets deadlines for completion of National Environmental Policy Act reviews for major energy and natural resource projects. It would require courts to consider litigation involving energy project permits on an expedited basis. It also directs federal agencies to permit the completion of a natural gas pipeline in his home state and Virginia “without further administrative or judicial delay or impediment”.“We’re on the verge of doing something unbelievable, but let me tell you, most of it will be for naught. Because without permitting reform, the United States of America is more litigious than any nation on earth,” Manchin told colleagues.Biden voiced his support for Manchin’s legislation a few hours before Thursday’s vote. He said far too many projects face delays and described Manchin’s amendment “as a way to cut Americans’ energy bills, promote US energy security and boost our ability to get energy projects built and connected to the grid”.Not only did some environmental advocacy groups bash Manchin’s proposal, but so did many Republicans. Minority leader Mitch McConnell said it didn’t go far enough, calling it “reform in name only”.The amendment fell short of the 60 votes needed for passage, 47-47.An amendment from senators Ron Johnson and Ted Cruz, also went down to defeat. It would have allowed for the reinstatement of those service members discharged for failing to obey an order to receive the Covid-19 vaccine and compensate them for any pay and benefits lost as a result of the separation.“People serving our military are the finest among us. Over 8,000 were terminated because they refused to get this experimental vaccine, and so I’m urging all of my colleagues to support Senator Cruz’s and my amendment,” Johnson said.But opponents worried about the precedent of rewarding members of the military who disobeyed an order. Rhode Island senator Jack Reed, the Democratic chairman of the Senate armed services committee, said orders are not suggestions, they are commands.“What message do we send if we pass this bill? It is a very dangerous one,” Reed said. “What we’re telling soldiers is, ‘if you disagree, don’t follow the order, and then just lobby Congress, and they’ll come along and they’ll restore your rank, or restore your benefits, or restore everything.’”The amendment failed, with 40 senators supporting it and 54 opposing it.The defense bill sets policy and provides a roadmap for future investments. Lawmakers will have to follow up with spending bills to bring many provisions to reality. It’s one of the final bills Congress is expected to approve before adjourning, so lawmakers were eager to attach their top priorities to it.The directive to rescind the vaccine mandate for service members proved to be among the most controversial provisions, but Democrats agreed to it to allow the bill to advance.As of early this month, about 99% of the active-duty troops in the navy, air force and marine corps had been vaccinated, and 98% of the army. Service members who are not vaccinated are not allowed to deploy, particularly sailors or marines on ships. There may be a few exceptions to that, based on religious or other exemptions and the duties of the service member.The vaccination numbers for the guard and reserve are lower, but generally all are more than 90%.TopicsUS politicsUS national securityJoe BidenDemocratsRepublicansReuse 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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      Biden says he’s ‘all in’ on Africa’s future at leadership summit – as it happened

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      Joe Biden has committed to strengthening Africa’s food supplies, tackling the climate emergency and partnering with the continent’s nations to take on the rising global power in the region of China and Russia.In an address at the US Africa Business Leaders forum in Washington DC, the president says “the US is all in on Africa’s future”. He’s outlining a multi-prong approach to strengthen those ties, including the signing of a memorandum of understanding that Biden says will “unlock new opportunities for trade and investment between our countries and bring Africa and the US even closer than ever”:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}It’s an enormous opportunity for Africa’s future, and the US wants to help make those opportunities real.Included in the package are, he says, up to $370m from the US international development finance fund for new projects, including investing $100m for clean energy for sub-Saharan Africa.Entrepreneurship and innovation are at the top of Biden’s list, he says.And he wants $350bn from Congress for a “digital transformation” for Africa, which includes involving companies such as Microsoft to build networks and infrastructure to bring internet access to five million Africans who are currently not connected:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}When Africa succeeds, the United States succeeds and, quite frankly, the whole world succeeds as well,” Biden says.It’s time to close the blog on an eventful day in US politics. Joe Biden says he’s “all in” on Africa’s future after unveiling a package of investments and supports at a summit with the continent’s business leaders in Washington DC.The president says infrastructure and the climate emergency are among his top priorities for Africa, as he seeks to build closer ties and limit Russian and Chinese influence in the region.Here’s what else we’ve been watching:
      Survivors from mass shootings at gay nightclubs in Florida and Colorado gave harrowing testimony at a hearing of the House oversight committee looking into surging violence against the LGBTQ+ community. Democrats say Republicans have “stoked the flames of bigotry” with hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ laws nationwide.
      A new poll shows voters have little appetite for a presidential election rematch in 2024 between Biden and Donald Trump. Almost two thirds of registered Democrats and Republicans say they don’t want their 2020 nominees to run again.
      Georgia’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger said it was time to drop the general election runoff system that forced Democrat Raphael Warnock to beat Republican challenger Herschel Walker twice within weeks to retain his Senate seat.
      In a statement marking the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting that killed 20 children and six adults, Biden said the US should have “societal guilt” at taking so long to address the problem of gun crime.
      Thanks for being with us! Please join us again tomorrow.North Dakota has become the latest state to ban the popular social media app TikTok from devices owned by the state government’s executive branch, the Associated Press reports.Governor Doug Burgum signed an executive order Wednesday afternoon, joining Republican colleagues from other states, including South Dakota and Texas, to have previously done so over concerns about the platform’s Chinese ownership and perceived data sharing and national security worries.In addition to prohibiting downloads of TikTok on government-issued equipment or while connected to the state’s network, it bars visiting the TikTok website.“TikTok raises multiple flags in terms of the amount of data it collects and how that data may be shared with and used by the Chinese government,” Burgum said in a statement, according to the AP.In its own statement Wednesday, TikTok said it was “disappointed that so many states are jumping on the bandwagon to enact policies based on unfounded, politically charged falsehoods”.Read more:Texas bans TikTok on government devices amid China data-sharing fearsRead moreA hair-raising moment, literally, took place on the Senate floor at lunchtime when New Jersey senator Cory Booker rose to urge colleagues to progress the Crown Act, the acronym for a bill seeking to “create a respectful and open world for natural hair”.It might sound frivolous, but the bill seeks to enshrine in federal statute a measure already passed in 19 states to prevent racial discrimination on the grounds of hair style or color.“You go to my city right now and you’ll find hairstyles of different types, locks, cornrows with braids, Bantu knots, and of course what I once had, afros,” the famously bald Booker said.“[But] there’s a decades-long problematic practice of discrimination against natural hair in this country.”@Dove and the #CROWNCoalition applaud #Alaska — the 19th state to provide legal protections against hair discrimination.#hairdiscrimination #naturalhair #crownact #hairlove #equity #Alaska pic.twitter.com/ebvh2iC7bE— The CROWN Act (@thecrownact) September 12, 2022
      He cited the case of Andrew Johnson, an 18-year-old student in 2018 whose dreadlocks were cut off on the orders of a judge at a high school wrestling match before he was allowed to compete. The episode was caught on video.“You can see the deep hurt and pain on the face of this young man,” Booker said.“It’s the pain felt by many. Traumatic at times, hurtful experiences that make you question your very belonging in a community. “The beauty of your hair, its natural style, your immutable characteristics, your cultural beliefs, your connection to your heritage. No person in America should have to deal with this pain.”Opposing Booker’s plea to advance the bill, Kentucky Republican Rand Paul said it was not necessary. The bill, he said, might compromise the safety of workers who could have the legal right to refuse to wear a helmet in the workplace because of their hair.“Using hairstyle as a pretext for racial discrimination is already illegal,” Paul claimed.The state that prolonged November’s midterms until 6 December won’t be able to do it again, if a proposal by its top election official gets approved.Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, says it’s time to get rid of the runoff system that requires a revote any time that no candidate in a general election reaches 50% of the votes cast.It’s the reason incumbent Democratic senator Raphael Warnock had to beat Republican challenger Herschel Walker for the second time in a month after coming close to, but not quite reaching, the 50% threshold in November.“Georgia is one of the only states in country with a general election runoff. We’re also one of the only states that always seems to have a runoff,” Raffensperger said, according to Fox5 Atlanta.“I’m calling on the general assembly to visit the topic… and consider reforms.”He said the current system made it difficult for counties, especially those in rural areas with few staff, to handle two elections within weeks of each other, a period that includes Thanksgiving.“No one wants to be dealing with politics in the middle of their family holiday,” he said.Raffensperger was the recipient of an infamous telephone call from Donald Trump asking him to “find” enough votes in Georgia to reverse his 2020 defeat by Joe Biden. A huge part of the Biden administration’s just-announced investment in Africa’s future will be a half-billion dollar investment in infrastructure, specifically the building and maintaining of roads linking ports to interior countries.The money, Joe Biden says, will come from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an independent government foreign aid agency with a brief to reduce global poverty. The president said that MCC had made new investments of almost $1.2bn in Africa, and expected to commit an additional $2.5bn across the continent over the next four years:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}This compact will invest $500m to build and maintain roads, put in place policies that reduce transportation costs, make it easier and faster for ships to ship goods from the port of Cotonou [in Benin] into neighboring landlocked countries.The climate emergency, Biden stressed, will be another top focus, with work already under way, funded by $80m in public and private finance, to replace 12 coal-fired power plants in South Africa with renewable energy sources, and to develop “cutting edge energy solutions” such as clean hydrogen.He cited a $2bn deal to build solar energy projects in Angola, and a $600m high speed communications cable linking south Asia and Europe through Egypt, and $800m to help protect African countries against cyber threats..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}One of the most essential resources for many entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to participate in the global economy is reliable and affordable access to the internet.
      So today, I’m announcing a new initiative, the digital transformation with Africa. We’re here with Congress to invest $350bn, to facilitate more than almost a half a billion dollars in financing to make sure people across Africa participate in a digital economy.Biden brought his speech to a close just before the kick-off of the France v Morocco World Cup semi-final.Joe Biden has committed to strengthening Africa’s food supplies, tackling the climate emergency and partnering with the continent’s nations to take on the rising global power in the region of China and Russia.In an address at the US Africa Business Leaders forum in Washington DC, the president says “the US is all in on Africa’s future”. He’s outlining a multi-prong approach to strengthen those ties, including the signing of a memorandum of understanding that Biden says will “unlock new opportunities for trade and investment between our countries and bring Africa and the US even closer than ever”:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}It’s an enormous opportunity for Africa’s future, and the US wants to help make those opportunities real.Included in the package are, he says, up to $370m from the US international development finance fund for new projects, including investing $100m for clean energy for sub-Saharan Africa.Entrepreneurship and innovation are at the top of Biden’s list, he says.And he wants $350bn from Congress for a “digital transformation” for Africa, which includes involving companies such as Microsoft to build networks and infrastructure to bring internet access to five million Africans who are currently not connected:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}When Africa succeeds, the United States succeeds and, quite frankly, the whole world succeeds as well,” Biden says.Joe Biden is speaking now at the US-Africa leadership summit where he’s about to announce partnerships with African nations and a pathway to better ties and business relations.But the president said he was aware of people knowing the France v Morocco World Cup game was starting at the top of the hour, and were thinking: “Make it short Biden. There’s a semi-final game coming up”.We’ll bring you the best of Biden’s comments.Earlier this month, the Guardian’s Joan E Greve travelled to Newtown, Connecticut to speak with Nicole Hockley and Mark Barden of Sandy Hook Promise, the parents of Dylan and Daniel, who were killed 10 years ago today. For the Guardian’s Politics Weekly America podcast, Joan also met teenagers from the Junior Newtown Action Alliance, who now go through terrifying lockdown drills as preparation for another shooting and who want to see more change in gun legislation, and spoke to Senator Chris Murphy, who helped draft the first significant gun control policy in the US in 30 years this year.10 years since Sandy Hook – what’s changed? Politics Weekly America special – podcastRead moreThe Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren is pressing Congress to adopt bipartisan legislation which would force crypto firms to abide by the same regulations as banks and corporations, in an attempt to crack down on money laundering through digital assets. Ed Pilkington reports…Warren is pushing for the new controls on the crypto industry in the wake of the spectacular collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. On Tuesday its founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, was charged with eight criminal counts including conspiracy to commit money laundering.Warren’s bill is being co-sponsored by the Republican senator from Kansas Roger Marshall. The Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act would essentially subject the world of crypto to the same global financial regulations to which more conventional money markets must conform.Under current systems, crypto exchanges are able to skirt around restrictions designed to stop money laundering and impose sanctions. Should the bill be enacted into law it would authorize the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) to reclassify crypto entities as “money service businesses” which would bring them under basic regulations laid out in the Bank Secrecy Act.In a statement to CNN, Warren said “commonsense crypto legislation” would protect US national security. “I’ve been ringing the alarm bell in the Senate on the dangers of these digital asset loopholes,” she said, adding that crypto was “under serious scrutiny across the political spectrum”.Bankman-Fried, 30, was indicted by prosecutors at the southern district of New York and is being held in custody in the Bahamas. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also brought civil charges against him, accusing him of creating a firm that was a “house of cards”Five things we know about the collapse of FTX and Sam Bankman-FriedRead moreSome news out of Oregon that came later yesterday, which we wanted to record: the outgoing Democratic governor Kate Brown has commuted the sentences of all 17 of the state’s death row prisoners to life without parole.“I have long believed that justice is not advanced by taking a life, and the state should not be in the business of executing people – even if a terrible crime placed them in prison,” Brown said in a statement released by her office.“Since taking office in 2015, I have continued Oregon’s moratorium on executions because the death penalty is both dysfunctional and immoral.“Today I am commuting Oregon’s death row so that we will no longer have anyone serving a sentence of death and facing execution in this state. This is a value that many Oregonians share.”Brown’s order will also see the closure of the state’s execution chamber. Oregon’s most recent execution was in 1997, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.Governor John Kitzhaber first declared a moratorium on executions in 2011, which Brown has kept in place ever since.Full story:Oregon governor commutes sentences of everyone on death row in stateRead moreVoters have little appetite for a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump for the presidency in 2024, a poll released Wednesday lunchtime has found.Roughly six in 10 Republicans, and the same margin in the Democratic party, don’t want their respective 2020 nominees to run again, according to the CNN poll conducted by SSRS.Support from registered Republicans for Trump, especially, has plummeted, a reflection of the former president’s burgeoning legal troubles and, perhaps, the rising star of rightwing Florida governor Ron DeSantis.In January, CNN found, 50% said they hoped Trump would be the nominee and 49% wanted someone else. By July, 44% wanted Trump to be the party’s nominee, and now, only 38% say the same.Trump announced last month his third run at the White House as a Republican.There’s slightly better news for Biden. 40% of registered Democrats want the president to run again in 2024, the poll says, up from only 25% in the summer. But both figures are a drop from the 45% support he received in January.You can read about the poll here.The former Trump campaign chair and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has repeatedly praised the Republican National Committee on Fox News while failing to disclose that it has paid her firm more than $800,000 since last year, Media Matters reports.Eric Hananoki, an investigative reporter for the liberal media watchdog, writes: “The lack of disclosure about Conway’s financial ties goes against the ethics-challenged network’s purported policy”. He adds: .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}A Fox News spokesperson told the Washington Post in 2019 regarding work Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer did with the RNC that ‘Fox News requires contributors to disclose ties related to any topic he or she discusses on the air in which the contributor may have a financial interest.’ The spokesperson added that such a rule would apply when talking about ‘the RNC on air.’ Elsewhere, the Daily Beast adds that “Karl Rove, another Fox News contributor with deep ties to the GOP, was allowed to keep his paid network gig while overseeing Senate Republicans’ fundraising efforts in 2020”.As Hananoki notes, the RNC and its chair, Ronna McDaniel, have faced fierce criticism since the midterm elections, in which Republicans took back the House but by a slim majority and failed to win back the Senate – a disappointing performance widely blamed on former president Donald Trump, who endorsed a string of defeated candidates.Conway, Hananoki writes, “has used her Fox News platform to praise the RNC and play defense for McDaniel”. According to Media Matters, the RNC “has paid KAConsulting $829,969.38 since 2021 for a variety of expenses. The RNC’s most recent payment was on 4 November for ‘political strategy services’. The organisation recently announced that Conway would serve on a Republican Party Advisory Council ‘to inform the Republican Party’s 2024 vision and beyond’.” Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The final witness testimony before a Q and A session at today’s House hearing into anti-LGBTQ violence was a chilling account of inside Orlando’s Pulse nightclub as a gunman murdered 49 mostly gay and transgender patrons in 2016.“There were gunshots, endless gunshots; the hair standing up on the back of my neck; the stench of blood and smoke burning the inside of my nose,” said Brandon Wolf, a survivor who lost his two best friends in the massacre, and who has now become a prominent gun control and LBGTQ+ advocate.“A nervous huddle against a wall; a girl trying desperately so hard not to scream. I could feel her trembling on the tiles underneath us. “There was a sprint to the exit, all atop this bang, bang, bang, from an assault weapon. A man filled with hate an armed with a Sig Sauer MCX charged into Pulse, an LGBTQ safe space, and murdered 49 of those we loved.”On hand and ready to testify on anti-LGBTQ hate alongside the Club Q community.Tune in live: https://t.co/4bLU0X0ZWq pic.twitter.com/eSDKZiiROD— Brandon Wolf (@bjoewolf) December 14, 2022
      Wolf called out the bigotry and hatred of extremists who have fomented violence against the LBGTQ+ community, and spread hateful narratives that have resulted in attacks, threats and clampdowns on everything from drag shows, to donut shops to school libraries.“For years cynical politicians and greedy Grifters have joined forces with right wing extremists to pour gasoline on anti LGBTQ hysteria and terrorize our community,” he said.“My own governor Ron DeSantis has trafficked in that bigotry to feed his insatiable political ambition and propel himself toward the White House. “We have been smeared and defamed. Hundreds of bills have been filed in order to erase us; powerful figures have insisted that the greatest threats this country face are a teacher with they-them pronouns, or someone in a wig reading Red Fish, Blue Fish.” Barack Obama has called the Sandy Hook massacre “the single darkest day of my presidency”.In his own statement marking the 10th anniversary of the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the former president also said he believed “the tide is turning” on gun violence.I consider December 14th, 2012 the single darkest day of my presidency. The news from Sandy Hook Elementary was devastating, a visceral blow, and like so many others, I felt not just sorrow but anger at a world that could allow such things to happen. pic.twitter.com/Y2log7FBaH— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 14, 2022
      His administration was unable to renew a nationwide assault weapons ban, lamenting that inaction on gun safety laws was the “biggest regret” of his time in office.Here’s Obama’s statement today:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The news from Sandy Hook Elementary was devastating, a visceral blow, and like so many others, I felt not just sorrow but anger at a world that could allow such things to happen.Even then we understood that mere words could only do so much to ease the burden of the families who were suffering. But in the years since, each of them has borne that weight with strength and with grace. And they’ve drawn purpose from tragedy – doing everything in their power to make sure other children and families never have to experience what they and their loved ones did.The journey hasn’t always been easy – and in a year when there hasn’t been a single week without a mass shooting somewhere in America, it’s clear our work is far from over. But of late, I’ve sensed that slowly, steadily, the tide is turning; that real change is possible. And I feel that way in no small part because of the families of Sandy Hook Elementary.Ten years ago, we all would have understood if those families had simply asked for privacy and closed themselves off from the world. But instead, they took unimaginable sorrow and channeled it into a righteous cause – setting an example of strength and resolve.They’ve made us proud. And if they were here today, I know the children and educators we lost a decade ago would be proud, too. More

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      Republican who urged Trump to declare ‘Marshall’ law only regrets misspelling

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      Republican who urged Trump to declare ‘Marshall’ law only regrets misspellingText from Ralph Norman to Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s final chief of staff, urged president to declare martial law A Republican who urged the Trump White House to declare martial law to stop Joe Biden taking office has only one regret: that he misspelled “martial”.Ron DeSantis leads Donald Trump by 23 points in Republican pollRead moreThe text from Ralph Norman of South Carolina to Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s final chief of staff, was given to the January 6 committee by Meadows and revealed by Talking Points Memo.On 17 January 2021, 11 days after the deadly Capitol attack and three days before Biden’s inauguration, Norman wrote: “Mark, in seeing what’s happening so quickly, and reading about the Dominion law suits attempting to stop any meaningful investigation we are at a point of no return in saving our Republic !! Our LAST HOPE is invoking Marshall Law!! PLEASE URGE TO PRESIDENT TO DO SO!!”No response from Meadows was revealed.On Tuesday, a HuffPost reporter asked Norman about the message.Norman said: “Well, I misspelled ‘martial’.”He added: “I was very frustrated then, I’m frustrated now. I was frustrated then by what was going on in the Capitol. President Biden was in his basement the whole year. Dominion was raising all kinda questions.”The reference to Biden’s basement was to the then Democratic candidate’s decision largely to stay off the campaign trail in 2020, the year of the Covid pandemic.Dominion Voting Systems has filed major lawsuits, notably against Fox News, regarding claims its machines were involved in voter fraud.Trump insists his defeat by Biden – by more than 7m votes and by 306-232 in the electoral college – was the result of electoral fraud. It was not.Norman was among 147 Republicans in the House and Senate who objected to results in key states even after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, a riot now linked to nine deaths.Trump was impeached for inciting an insurrection, proceedings which were ongoing when Norman texted Meadows.According to CNN, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right Georgia congresswoman, also texted Meadows on 17 January, writing: “In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law.”This week, Greene said that if she and Steve Bannon, Trump’s former strategist, had organised the Capitol riot, “we would have won”. She also said rioters “would’ve been armed”.According to the Congressional Research Service, “crises in public order, both real and potential, often evoke comments concerning a resort to martial law.“While some ambiguity exists regarding the conditions of a martial law setting, such a prospect, nonetheless, is disturbing to many Americans who cherish their liberties, expect civilian law enforcement to prevail, and support civilian control of military authority.”The CRS also says that since the second world war, “martial law has not been presidentially directed or approved for any area of the United States. Federal troops have been dispatched to domestic locales experiencing unrest or riot, but in these situations the military has remained subordinate to federal civilian management.”Marjorie Taylor Greene: Capitol attack ‘would’ve been armed’ if I was in chargeRead moreOn Tuesday, Norman told HuffPost: “I was frustrated at the time with everything that was happening. It was a private text between a friend and myself, nothing more, nothing less.”On Wednesday, the White House issued a rebuke.“Plotting against the rule of law and to subvert the will of the people is a disgusting affront to our deepest principles as a country,” the deputy press secretary, Andrew Bates, said.Referring to Trump’s slogan, Make America Great Again, Bates added: “We all, regardless of party, need to stand up for mainstream values and the constitution, against dangerous, ultra-Maga conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric.”TopicsRepublicansUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesUS elections 2020US Capitol attackUS politicsUS militarynewsReuse this content More