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      Kari Lake: defeated governor candidate challenges Arizona election result

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      Kari Lake: defeated governor candidate challenges Arizona election resultTrump-backed Republican files lawsuit asking court to throw out certified results of her loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs Kari Lake, the Republican defeated in Arizona governor’s race, is formally challenging her loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs, asking a court to throw out certified election results from the state’s most populous county and either declare her the winner or rerun the governor’s election in that county.The lawsuit filed late on Friday by Lake centers on long lines and other difficulties that people experienced while voting on election day in Maricopa county. The challenge filed in Maricopa county superior court also alleges hundreds of thousands of ballots were illegally cast, but there is no evidence that is true.‘Hatred has a great grip on the heart’: election denialism lives on in US battlegroundRead moreLake has refused to acknowledge that she lost to Hobbs by more than 17,000 votes. The Donald Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate has bombarded Maricopa county with complaints, largely related to a problem with printers at some vote centers that led to ballots being printed with markings that were too light to be read by the on-site tabulators.Lines backed up in some polling places, fueling Republican suspicions that some supporters were unable to cast a ballot, though there is no evidence it affected the outcome. County officials say everyone was able to vote and all legal ballots were counted.Lake sued Maricopa county officials and Hobbs in her current role as Arizona’s secretary of state.Sophia Solis, a spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office, said Lake’s lawsuit was being reviewed but had no other comment on the filing.Jason Berry, a Maricopa county spokesperson, declined to comment on Lake’s request to throw out the county’s election results in the governor’s race. But he said the county “respects the election contest process and looks forward to sharing facts about the administration of the 2022 general election and our work to ensure every legal voter had an opportunity to cast their ballot”.Hobbs in a post on her Twitter account called the lawsuit “Lake’s latest desperate attempt to undermine our democracy and throw out the will of the voters.” She posted a statement from her campaign manager that called the lawsuit a “sham” and said her camp remained focused on “getting ready to hit the ground running on Day One of Katie Hobbs’ administration”.Lake’s lawsuit says Republicans were disproportionately affected by the problems in Maricopa county because they outvoted Democrats on election day 3-1. GOP leaders had urged their voters to wait until election day to vote.In late November, Lake filed a public records lawsuit demanding Maricopa county hand over documents related to the election. She was seeking to identify voters who may have had trouble casting a ballot, such as people who checked in at more than one vote center or those who returned a mail ballot and also checked in at a polling place.During the summer, a federal judge also rejected a request by Lake and Mark Finchem, the defeated Republican candidate for secretary of state, to require hand counting of all ballots during the November election.The judge has since sanctioned lawyers representing Lake and Finchem, saying they “made false, misleading, and unsupported factual assertions” in their lawsuit. The lawyers told the court that their claims were “legally sound and supported by strong evidence”.Hobbs in her role as secretary of state has petitioned a court to begin an automatic statewide recount required by law in three races decided by less than half a percentage point.The race for attorney general was one of the closest contests in state history, with Democrat Kris Mayes leading Republican Abe Hamadeh by just 510 votes out of 2.5m cast.The races for superintendent of public instruction and a state legislative seat in the Phoenix suburbs will also be recounted, but the margins are much larger. TopicsArizonaUS midterm elections 2022US politicsRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

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      Trump was fresh and new during his 2016 campaign. Has his fame fizzled?

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      Trump was fresh and new during his 2016 campaign. Has his fame fizzled?The failed ‘red wave’ during the midterm elections marked the beginning of a downward spiral of losses and lost support Instead of taking off like a rocket over the past three weeks, Donald Trump’s bid to win back the White House appears, so far at least, to be blowing up on the launchpad.The swagger of 2016 has given way to somnolence in 2022. Opinion polls are grim. Legal setbacks are piling up. A run of dismal results in the midterm elections, culminating in another Republican loss in Georgia this week, have punctured his aura of invincibility within the party.And Trump has performed astonishing acts of self-sabotage, from dining with antisemites to calling for the constitution to be shredded. He has eschewed a widely-anticipated spree of public rallies, instead remaining largely out of the public gaze.Trump’s act is ‘old and tired’, says his own former national security adviserRead moreFor any conventional candidate, such a list would be career-ending. For Trump, who has long defied political gravity, the fallout remains uncertain. But even the most ardent propagandist would be hard pushed to describe it as a flying start.“It couldn’t be going any worse,” said Allan Lichtman, a history professor at American University in Washington. “And it’s not because Donald Trump is making mistakes. It’s because Donald Trump is being Donald Trump.“He was something new and fresh and interesting back in 2016. He has presided over three disastrous election cycles for Republicans in 2018, 2020 and 2022 and he’s the same old Donald Trump, caring only about himself, wrapped up in his own grievances and his own whining. It’s just not playing anymore for the American people.”It was not meant to be like this. When Trump first set the date for his campaign launch at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida for 15 November, it was based on the premise that Republicans would enjoy a “red wave” in the midterm elections, putting wind in his sails for the coming months.Instead the midterms were a nightmare as most of his handpicked candidates, including election deniers, were wiped out in swing states. This week’s defeat of former American football star Herschel Walker by incumbent Raphael Warnock in a Senate runoff in Georgia seemed to confirm that Trump has become ballot box poison, prompting a headline on the once loyal Fox News website: “Herschel Walker just wrote Donald Trump’s political obituary”.Gallingly, one of the biggest winners in the midterms was Ron DeSantis, re-elected as governor of Florida by nearly 20 percentage points, cementing his status as the biggest threat to Trump. A Yahoo News/YouGov poll conducted from 1 to 5 December found DeSantis leading the former president by five percentage points in the race for the 2024 Republican nomination.So it was that Trump’s Mar-a-Lago speech was widely derided as a damp squib, lacking his usual bombast and brio and even his daughter, Ivanka, has decided to sit this one out. Since then, the campaign has been running on autopilot and little has been seen of the former president hunkered down in Florida, venturing out only to play golf.Trump’s rambunctious campaign rallies, expected to give early momentum to his third consecutive run for president, have mysteriously failed to materialise. In June 2015, by contrast, he declared his candidacy after riding down an escalator in New York and held his first rally in Iowa just 10 hours later, moving on to New Hampshire a day later.Yet Trump is still making plenty of news from Mar-a-Lago. He dined with two antisemites: Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, and white supremacist Nick Fuentes (Ye subsequently expressed his admiration for Adolf Hitler). Still harping on the 2020 election, which he falsely claims was stolen, Trump mused about the “termination” of the constitution that he once swore to preserve, protect and defend. He also posed for photos with a reporter supporter of the QAnon and “Pizzagate” conspiracy theories.Such antics have shaken even the faithful. Larry Kudlow, who was Trump’s economic adviser in the White House, shared his concerns with Trump’s former counselor Kellyanne Conway during his Fox Business show. “I don’t understand what our former boss is doing,” Kudlow said. “I love the guy, but I do not understand Kanye West, hanging out with white nationalists, hanging out with antisemitic people, talking about ending the constitution or postponing the constitution.”He added: “I don’t get it, I don’t understand why he’s saying it, and if he says it why hasn’t he apologised for it or corrected the record or something, because he’s losing support left and right. I hear it everywhere.”Then there are the legal headaches, another contrast from the carefree days of 2016. Trump’s business was this week found guilty on all 17 counts in a tax fraud case in New York. The Trump Organization – which operates hotels, golf courses and other global assets – faces up to $1.6m in fines, denting his carefully constructed image as a businessman with the golden touch.Last month attorney general Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith special counsel for two justice department investigations. One is focusing on Trump for retaining government records, including some marked as classified, after leaving office. On 1 December Trump suffered yet another defeat when an appeals court reversed a judge’s appointment of an independent arbiter to vet documents seized by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago, clearing the way for all the records to be used in a criminal investigation of the former president.The other concerns of the far reaching effort to overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 election; Smith this week issued grand jury subpoenas to local election officials in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin. Separately, a prosecutor in Georgia is pursuing Trump’s alleged efforts to influence that state’s 2020 election results. And the House of Representatives panel investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol is expected to make criminal referrals to the justice department.Lichtman added: “Trump’s companies have been operating as a criminal enterprise. That’s now established in court: 17 counts. And of course he still could be indicted on a host of different charges: mishandling classified documents, meddling in the Georgia election, inciting a riot, interfering with Congress, tax fraud. There are any number of potential violations.”Georgia’s runoff was a resounding rebuke of Trumpism. Will Republicans hear it? | Lloyd GreenRead moreMany regard Trump’s early campaign launch as blatant attempt to head off such a prospect. He characterises the investigations as politically motivated “witch hunts” reminiscent of the Russian collusion “hoax”. His gamble is that the justice department will be reluctant to prosecute an active candidate lest it be accused of interfering in an election.Kurt Bardella, a Democratic strategist, said: “It seems like it’s not really a campaign but more of an effort to use the illusion of a campaign to try and manage his legal situation. The Trump legal strategy is directly tied to the Trump 2024 strategy. They’re one and the same.”Garland’s actions so far suggest that the bid for legal immunity has failed. Trump’s effort to clear the Republican field, intimidating and chasing away potential challengers in 2024, has been equally futile, serving only to expose his vulnerabilities.DeSantis, former vice-president Mike Pence, former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin and Senator Tim Scott have left a trail of clues about their intentions. Big money donors and Rupert Murdoch’s media empire have indicated that they are ready for an alternative.And yet, if these candidates divide the anti-Trump vote, his shrinking but hardening Maga base may help him prevail in a Republican primary just as in 2016. Loyalty to the former president runs deep in county and state parties. Even after his latest transgressions, the number of senior Republicans speaking out against Trump has been striking but so too has the number mincing their words or staying silent.Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, said: “Show me the evidence where his grip on the party is breaking. The only thing we’ve heard from the party leadership is there’s no place for antisemitism in the Republican party. We haven’t heard anybody call for Donald Trump to be removed as a potential nominee of the party.“Ron DeSantis has said nothing about the Mar-a-Lago dinner. He is absolutely silent, so the idea that he’s going to be a leader is a joke because that was the moment to lead and he quivered in the corner because he was afraid of getting smacked by Donald Trump.”He added: “Trump still is the thing that animates and controls outcomes inside the Republican party for as long as the political leadership allows the tail to wag the dog. If you’re afraid of your own shadow, you’re not going to get out much.”There is no doubt that Trump’s political obituary has been prepared a thousand times, only to be torn up when the Republican party capitulates once more. Is there something different in the air this time? Bob Shrum, a Democratic strategist who worked on Al Gore and John Kerry’s presidential campaigns, said: “The problem is we’ve said it so many times and it hasn’t been true. On the other hand, some time it will be true.”TopicsDonald TrumpUS elections 2024RepublicansUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      We Are Not One review: assured history of Israel’s place in US politics

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      We Are Not One review: assured history of Israel’s place in US politicsTo Eric Alterman, ‘Israel is a red state’ while ‘US Jewry is blue’. Like so much else, Donald Trump has disrupted that dynamic The civil war divided America’s Christians along axes of geography and theology. These days, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, soon to be prime minister again, have wrought a similar sorting. In the words of Eric Alterman, “Israel is a red state. US Jewry is blue.”DeSantis and Pence lead Republican wave – of presidential campaign booksRead moreAlterman is a distinguished professor of English and journalism at the City University of New York. We Are Not One represents four decades of effort, patience and research. Sixty pages of endnotes undergird his arguments, some dating to his student days.Alterman posits that closeness between the US and Israel has oscillated over time and that younger American Jews, particularly those outside Orthodox Judaism, are now distancing themselves from the Zionist experiment. He relies, in part, on polling by Pew Research.Practically speaking, the divide may be more nuanced, with the latest shifts also reflecting a response to a rise in crime – and messaging about it. In the midterms, the Republican Lee Zeldin won 46% of Jewish voters in New York as he came close to beating the governor, Kathy Hochul. Donald Trump never surpassed 30% nationally. In 2020, he took 37% of New York’s Jewish vote.In We Are Not One, Alterman observes how unsafe streets and racial tensions helped spawn neoconservatism. It is “impossible” to separate the movement’s “origins from the revulsions caused by constant news reports of inner-city riots … and broader societal dislocations”. Between 1968 and 1972, Richard Nixon’s share of the Jewish vote doubled from 17% to 35%.One Saturday night in 1968, a crowd thronged the streets of Borough Park in Brooklyn, a predominately Jewish enclave, to cheer the vice-president, Hubert Humphrey, the Democratic presidential nominee. Over the next four years, “law and order” found purchase. To top it off, George McGovern, the Democratic nominee, made Israel supporters nervous.The South Dakota senator’s message, “Come home America”, left them wondering if the US would be in Israel’s corner if war came again. Vietnam was a proxy for foreign policy anxieties. As a coda, Alterman recollects how Nixon nonetheless yearned to turn Jews into political foils and whipping boys. That 2016 Trump ad with a six-pointed star over a field of dollar bills? It had deep roots.Why pro-Israel lobby group Aipac is backing election deniers and extremist RepublicansRead moreAlterman also recounts how Daniel Moynihan, a Democrat, used his position as Gerald Ford’s UN ambassador to reach the Senate in 1976. With support from neoconservatives, hawkish Jews and the New York Times, he beat Bella Abzug, a leftwing lion, in the primary. Then he beat James Buckley, the Republican incumbent.Moynihan lauded Israel’s raid at Entebbe. In Alterman’s description, he appealed to “American Jews’ feelings of vulnerability and their pride and relief at Israel’s military prowess in kicking the asses” of Palestinian and German terrorists and “humiliating” Idi Amin, Uganda’s “evil dictator”.Time passes. Things remain the same. In New York, transit crime is up more than 30%. Violence against Jews is a staple, according to the NYPD.Meanwhile, on college campuses, in Alterman’s words, Israel is a “mini-America”, a useful target for faculty and students to vent against “rapaciousness on the part of the US and other western nations vis-a-vis the downtrodden of the world”.The author quotes Benzion Netanyahu, the Israeli leader’s late father: “Jewish history is in large measure a history of holocausts.” Modern insecurities spring from ancient calamities.Kanye West spews bile. Trump entertains him with Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist and Holocaust denier. Republicans quietly squirm. Trump’s Jewish supporters grapple with cognitive dissonance and emotional vertigo. Take Mort Klein, of the hard-right Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), who makes several appearances in We Are Not One.Testifying before Congress, Klein accused the press of taking Trump’s comments on Charlottesville, where neo-Nazis marched in 2017, “completely out of context”. In 2018, after 11 worshippers were murdered at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Klein rode to the rescue again. At the ZOA dinner, he said it was “political blasphemy” to blame Trump.Last month, ZOA gave Trump its highest honor. According to Klein, the ex-president was the “best friend Israel ever had in the White House”. Then Trump met West, now known as Ye, and Fuentes, twisting Klein into a human pretzel.“Trump is not an antisemite,” he announced. “He loves Israel. He loves Jews. But he mainstreams, he legitimizes Jew hatred and Jew haters. And this scares me.”Trump reportedly kept Hitler’s speeches by his bed. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.At a recent confab of Agudath Israel of America, an ultra-Orthodox group, Rabbi Dovid Zwiebel, its executive vice-president, condemned Trump: “Yesterday’s friend can be tomorrow’s greatest enemy.” Two years earlier, though, its members clearly backed Trump over Joe Biden. Borough Park was as deep red as Lafayette, Louisiana.It all carries a whiff of deja vu. Alterman recounts how neoconservatives admonished America’s Jews against complaining of Israel’s alliance with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson: “The Christian Zionists’ devotion to ‘Greater Israel’ earned them a pass from the neocons for their occasional outbursts of antisemitism.”Trump had dinner with two avowed antisemites. Let’s call this what it is | Francine ProseRead moreTrump’s Mar-a-Lago dinner created a similar bind. David Friedman, his bankruptcy lawyer and ambassador to Israel, tweeted: “To my friend Donald Trump, you are better than this … I urge you to throw those bums out, disavow them and relegate them to the dustbin of history where they belong.”Trump was not amused. On Friday, he lashed out at “Jewish Leaders”. Friedman must learn patience. ZOA may wish to rescind its award.Jason Greenblatt, a Trump Organization lawyer who moved to the White House, echoed Friedman for CNN. Days later, he spoke at a synagogue in Scarsdale, north of New York City. Greenblatt repeated the need for Trump to correct the record and urged those in attendance to politely speak up.In the next breath, he lauded his one-time boss’s achievements and character. It sure is tough to quit Trump.
      We Are Not One: A History of America’s Fight Over Israel is published in the US by Hachette Book Group
      TopicsBooksUS politicsDemocratsRepublicansDonald TrumpIsraelUS foreign policyreviewsReuse this content More

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      White House says Sinema defection ‘does not change Democratic Senate control’ – as it happened

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      And here we go… did Joe Biden get any heads-up from Kyrsten Sinema that she was about to defect from the Democratic party?Jean-Pierre:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}We do not discuss private conversations that we have with members of Congress.
      [But] he sees, and we see, Senator Sinema as a key partner on some of the most historic pieces of legislation that you will all have covered in this administration.
      When you look at the past 20 months, from the American rescue plan to the bipartisan infrastructure law, to the inflation reduction act, to the respect for marriage act and also the pact act, all of these pieces of legislation have been historic, and we have partnered with Senator Sinema
      We understand her decision to register as an independent in Arizona. The way we see it and understand it, it does not change the new Democratic majority control of the Senate.
      And we have every reason to expect that we will continue to work with her successfully.It’s 4pm in DC. As we head into the weekend, here’s a look at the day’s biggest developments:
      Senator Kyrsten Sinema has announced she is leaving the party and has registered as an independent. The dramatic news comes just three days after Raphael Warnock’s re-election in Georgia gave the Democratic party what they thought was a 51-49 majority in the chamber (which includes the two other Senate independents Angus King of Maine, and Vermont’s Bernie Sanders).
      The White House said that Kyrsten Sinema’s defection “does not change Democratic Senate control” and did not reveal whether Joe Biden got a heads-up prior to her announcement. “We do not discuss private conversations that we have with members of Congress. [But] he sees, and we see, Senator Sinema as a key partner on some of the most historic pieces of legislation that you will all have covered in this administration. We understand her decision to register as an independent in Arizona. The way we see it and understand it, it does not change the new Democratic majority control of the Senate,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
      Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate majority leader, has issued a brief statement on the decision by Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema to sit in the chamber as an independent. “Senator Sinema informed me of her decision to change her affiliation to independent. She asked me to keep her committee assignments and I agreed. Kyrsten is independent; that’s how she’s always been. I believe she’s a good and effective senator and am looking forward to a productive session in the new Democratic majority Senate,” he said.
      The Treasury Department announced on Friday that it is sanctioning a group of companies and people linked to illegal fishing operations and human rights abuses in Chinese waters. The Cayman Islands-registered fishing company Pingtan Marine Enterprise, Ltd, which maintains boats based in China and has stock traded on the Nasdaq, was identified by the Office of Foreign Assets Control for sanctions. The US accuses the company of illegally shipping endangered species and abusing crew members through its subsidiaries and fleet of over 100 fishing boats.
      Russia wouldn’t release Paul Whelan without the US setting free a former colonel from the country’s domestic spy organization currently in German custody, CNN reported on Friday, adding another twist to the Brittney Griner saga. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldn’t confirm the story at her afternoon press briefing, but the network says Russia wanted Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a life sentence for murder.
      Joe Biden plans to announce at next week’s US-Africa summit in Washington DC that he supports adding the African Union as a permanent member of the Group of 20 nations, the Associated Press reports, citing the White House. The African Union represents the continent’s 54 countries. The G20 is composed of the world’s major industrial and emerging economies and represents more than 80% of the world’s gross domestic product. South Africa is currently the only African member of the G20.
      The Treasury Department announced on Friday that it is sanctioning a group of companies and people linked to illegal fishing operations and human rights abuses in Chinese waters.One company is accused of maintaining working conditions so dangerous that five workers died after 13 months at sea, with three of the workers’ bodies dumped into the ocean rather than repatriated to their homes, the Associated Press reports.The Cayman Islands-registered fishing company Pingtan Marine Enterprise, Ltd., which maintains boats based in China and has stock traded on the Nasdaq, was identified by the Office of Foreign Assets Control for sanctions.The US has accused the company of illegally shipping endangered species and abusing crew members through its subsidiaries and fleet of more than 100 fishing boats.The Biden administration also says two individuals, Li Zhenyu and Xinrong Zhuo, along with Dalian Ocean Fishing Co Ltd. and other companies engaged in illegal unreported fishing.A senior department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the US action, said on a call with reporters that Dalian employs crew members who work an average of 18 hours a day, live off expired food and drink dirty water.The action on Friday identifies 157 Chinese fishing vessels in which sanctioned companies and people have an interest.The sanctioned companies’ property and interests in the US will be blocked and American companies that do business with the sanctioned entities will have to wind down their ties with them.American Airlines and JetBlue Airways are moving forward with their partnership expansion across the north-east, even as a federal judge considers the government’s attempt to put an end to the deal.On Friday, the airlines announced that American Airlines will add six new routes from New York City and will drop an existing one, the Associated Press reports. Meanwhile, JetBlue said that it will start multiple new routes from New York and Boston. Some of the routes will only operate during summer and most will be limited to one to two flights daily. American Airlines said it plans to drop service between New York’s LaGuardia airport and Atlanta in May, when JetBlue adds that route. The airline also announced that on 5 May it will add flights between LaGuardia and Buffalo, New York; Greenville, South Carolina; and four other cities.Whether or not the expansion succeeds depends on a lawsuit in Boston which the justice department, six states and Washington DC have filed in attempts to stop the deal. The parties argue that the airlines’ move will result in lower competition and higher fares.The two airlines have pushed back, arguing that their joint expansion will make them a stronger competitor against Delta and United Airlines in the north-east.A verdict is expected early next year.Russia wouldn’t release Paul Whelan without the US setting free a former colonel from the country’s domestic spy organization currently in German custody, CNN reported on Friday, adding another twist to the Brittney Griner saga.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldn’t confirm the story at her afternoon press briefing, but the network says Russia wanted Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a life sentence for murder.The report suggests the US floated the idea of an exchange of Krasikov for Griner and Whelan, who has been in jail in Russia for almost four years, back in the summer.But any deal fell down, CNN says, when Germany refused to countenance his release. Krasikov assassinated a Georgian citizen in Berlin in 2019.The US then offered other names to try to persuade them to include Whelan in the Griner trade for Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer jailed in the US for 12 years. They included, CNN says, Alexander Vinnik, a Russian national extradited to the US in August for cybercrime, and Roman Seleznev, another convicted Russian cyber-criminal currently serving a 14-year sentence in the US.But it became clear a week ago that Whelan was not going to be included, so the US pressed ahead with the Griner for Bout trade, which took place on Thursday.“It was either Brittney Griner, one American or no American. That’s the very difficult decision that the president had to make,” Jean-Pierre told reporters earlier.“[Russia was] not willing to negotiate in good faith for Paul Whelan.”Joe Biden plans to announce at next week’s US-Africa summit in Washington DC that he supports adding the African Union as a permanent member of the Group of 20 nations, the Associated Press reports, citing the White House.The African Union represents the continent’s 54 countries. The G20 is composed of the world’s major industrial and emerging economies and represents more than 80% of the world’s gross domestic product. South Africa is currently the only African member of the G20.“It’s past time Africa has permanent seats at the table in international organizations and initiatives,” Judd Devermont, senior director for African affairs on the national security council, said in a statement.“We need more African voices in international conversations that concern the global economy, democracy and governance, climate change, health, and security.”Biden has invited 49 African leaders to take part in the three-day Washington summit that starts Tuesday.A judge in Michigan has dismissed criminal charges against former governor Rick Snyder in the Flint water crisis, the Associated Press reports.It comes months after the state supreme court said indictments returned by a one-person grand jury were invalid.Snyder, a Republican who left office in 2019, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of misconduct in office. He was the first person in state history to be charged for alleged crimes related to service as governor.Snyder also is the eighth person to have a Flint water case thrown out after the supreme court’s unanimous June opinion. Read the full story:Judge dismisses Flint water crisis criminal charges against ex-governorRead moreWhite House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has taken a couple of questions on foreign policy, condemning a “draconian” crackdown on civilians by authorities in Iran.“They should know that the world is watching,” she said when asked about Iran’s suppressing of dissenters, including its first-known execution of an anti-government protestor.“The US is committed to supporting the Iranian people and imposing costs on those responsible for the brutal crackdown. We will stand with Iranian civilians as they are fighting for their basic freedom [and] basic human rights.”Iran executes protestor, 23, for allegedly stabbing pro-regime officer. Likely to be the first execution of many. https://t.co/AnEnBLje7d— Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) December 8, 2022
      A reporter also wondered if, now that gas prices are falling, the Biden administration still intended to follow through with its promise of consequences for Saudi Arabia for reducing its production of oil. There has been, essentially, silence from the White House on the issue since October.“We are assessing relations with Saudi Arabia with methodology and strategically as we have done over the last 18 years of this relationship in a bipartisan way,” was Jean-Pierre’s non-answer.“We will judge the way forward based on their actions as well as our ongoing consultations with partners and allies, and also the new Congress.”Karine Jean-Pierre is pushing back strongly against Republican criticism that the exchange of jailed basketball player Brittney Griner for convicted Russian arms trade Viktor Bout wasn’t much of a trade.The White House press secretary told reporters:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}When you have an American passport, that means something.
      Brittney Griner is an American citizen who was being held unjustly.
      She was being held unjustly under intolerable circumstances. That was what was happening to Brittney Griner. And so that means something to the president.Republicans have continued to snipe at the exchange, Florida senator Marco Rubio suggesting it “incentivized the taking of more Americans”.Jean-Pierre insisted Biden was still “working very hard” to secure the release of Paul Whelan, an American still held by Russia on espionage charges, but said Russia was “not negotiating in good faith”..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}This was an opportunity to bring an American home. The Russians were willing to release Brittney Griner for Mr Bout. That was what was presented to us.
      They were not willing to negotiate in good faith for Paul Whelan. And so it was either Brittney Griner, one American or no American. That’s the very difficult decision that the president had to make.And here we go… did Joe Biden get any heads-up from Kyrsten Sinema that she was about to defect from the Democratic party?Jean-Pierre:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}We do not discuss private conversations that we have with members of Congress.
      [But] he sees, and we see, Senator Sinema as a key partner on some of the most historic pieces of legislation that you will all have covered in this administration.
      When you look at the past 20 months, from the American rescue plan to the bipartisan infrastructure law, to the inflation reduction act, to the respect for marriage act and also the pact act, all of these pieces of legislation have been historic, and we have partnered with Senator Sinema
      We understand her decision to register as an independent in Arizona. The way we see it and understand it, it does not change the new Democratic majority control of the Senate.
      And we have every reason to expect that we will continue to work with her successfully.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is at the podium with her daily briefing.She’s talking up a big week for Joe Biden, especially securing Brittney Griner’s release from Russia, and the just-announced $275m security assistance package for Ukraine (see previous post).But you can sense that reporters in the room are just itching to ask her about Kyrsten Sinema. Stay tuned…Here’s the latest Politics Weekly America podcast from the Guardian’s ace team. With Raphael Warnock re-elected to represent Georgia in the US Senate for the next six years, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Molly Reynolds of the Brookings Institution about the significance for Democrats of having an absolute majority in the upper chamber of Congress, rather than a 50/50 split.This episode was recorded before today’s dramatic announcement by Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema that she was renouncing the Democratic party to sit as an independent.Why 51 is better than 50 in the Senate: Politics Weekly America podcastRead moreJoe Biden authorized a fresh infusion of $275 million in military aid for Ukraine offering new capabilities to defeat drones and strengthen air defenses, according to a memo released by the White House, Reuters reports.The package also includes rockets for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers made by Lockheed Martin Corp, 80,000 155mm artillery rounds, Humvee military vehicles and about 150 generators, according to the memo.This is the 27th use of Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) for Ukraine, which allows the United States to transfer defense articles and services from stocks quickly without congressional approval in response to an emergency.National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House that the equipment was “on its way.”But details were scant on two systems, “counter air defense capability” and “Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems equipment,” which appear to be new capabilities for Ukraine.Russia’s surge in missile strikes in Ukraine is partly designed to exhaust Kyiv’s supplies of air defenses and achieve dominance of the skies above the country, a senior Pentagon official said in November.To counter these attacks, the United States has sent sophisticated anti-aircraft NASAMS systems to Ukraine which have been running for a few weeks.Washington previously announced that it was sending four Avenger short-range air defense systems that use Stinger missiles, made by Raytheon Technologies Corp, and HAWK interceptor missiles. US allies have also been sending air defense systems.You can follow the Guardian’s Ukraine war live blog here. The White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is due to brief the media at 1pm ET in the west wing, as Washington and Arizona digest the news of Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s surprise news early today that she’s switching from the Democrats to be an independent.Here’s where things stand:
      Chuck Schumer, Senate majority leader, issued a brief statement on the decision by Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema to sit in the chamber as an independent in future, saying she will keep her committee assignments and saying: “I believe she’s a good and effective senator.”
      Republican criticism of Joe Biden for trading US basketball star and Olympic gold medallist Brittney Griner for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout continues.
      The White House issued a statement via Jean-Pierre noting that it expects to ‘continue to work successfully’ with Senator Sinema.
      Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema announced she would no longer represent the Democratic Party in congress and instead would become an independent. She expressed no intention to caucus with the Republicans but nor did she reassure Democrats that they can count on her vote, while saying her new status “won’t change my work” in the upper chamber.
      Here’s a selection of reactions on Twitter to Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema’s decision to renounce Democrats and sit as an independent.Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki thinks the biggest question is whether Sinema runs for re-election in 2024 as an independent, and not whether she continues to support Democrats in the Senate:so here’s the thing—If Sinema still votes for the most part with Ds and keeps her committee roles (because she will want that/also helps Dems by giving them majority on committees) the biggest q is not about the DC side–its about whether she will run as an independent— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) December 9, 2022
      Arizona congressman Ruben Gallego, who is now widely expected to seek the Democratic nomination for Arizona’s Senate seat in two years’ time, accused Sinema of putting her own interests ahead of those of voters:My statement on Kyrsten Sinema abandoning the Democratic Partyhttps://t.co/QdrRf2mO5W pic.twitter.com/f0P3WZAdvA— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) December 9, 2022
      Republican former strategist and Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson sees a different role in Sinema’s future, and calls her a “Karen”:Karen Sinema. You know a Fox news gig is somewhere in her future. https://t.co/z8eXs9SxG5— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) December 9, 2022
      Republican firebrand Lauren Boebert seems to believe that Sinema has actually switched parties to join the opposition. Spoiler: she hasn’t.Good to see @KyrstenSinema leaving the Democrat Party.Just this year we’ve had @TulsiGabbard & Senator Sinema – both high profile Democrats – change parties.Hope many more see the light!— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) December 9, 2022
      Young progressives are not impressed. This from abortion rights activist Olivia Julianna:Fixed it pic.twitter.com/ok2IWMq55X— Olivia Julianna 🗳 (@0liviajulianna) December 9, 2022
      From the Arizona Democratic party. Sinema has “fallen dramatically short leaving Arizonans behind”:Please see our statement below regarding @kyrstensinema’s change in party affiliation. pic.twitter.com/qGWSSVR8cU— Arizona Democratic Party (@azdemparty) December 9, 2022
      Toni Cani, Joe Biden’s 2020 election chief in Arizona, thinks Sinema’s decision follows a failed gamble that Republicans won the House and Senate in the midterms, pushed “something like a national abortion ban”, and Sinema could play the hero by blocking it:One of my hottest takes was the only way Sinema survives 2024 reelect is if the GOP took the House & Senate in 2022 and she then used the filibuster to stop something like a national abortion ban. I even speculated she knew that and that was her exact gamble— Tony Cani (@tcani) December 9, 2022
      Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate majority leader, has issued a brief statement on the decision by Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema to sit in the chamber as an independent.He says she will keep her committee assignments, which he doesn’t really have a choice about if Democrats are to retain a semblance of control:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Senator Sinema informed me of her decision to change her affiliation to Independent. She asked me to keep her committee assignments and I agreed.
      Kyrsten is independent; that’s how she’s always been. I believe she’s a good and effective Senator and am looking forward to a productive session in the new Democratic majority Senate.
      We will maintain our new majority on committees, exercise our subpoena power, and be able to clear nominees without discharge votes.Meanwhile, The Hill has been collating reports that the 6 January House panel looking into Donald Trump’s insurrection is also considering criminal referrals, for Trump and at least four of the ex-president’s team.They are Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff; John Eastman, a conservative lawyer; Jeffrey Clark, a former justice department official; and Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s one-time personal attorney.All four were involved in plotting or executing Trump’s scheme to try to overturn his defeat by Joe Biden, the panel believes, and is considering whether to recommend them to the justice department for criminal investigation or charges.“The committee has not officially decided whom to refer for prosecution and for what offenses,” CNN reported, citing anonymous sources, and says others could also be considered. The Guardian reported Tuesday that criminal referrals were imminent from the January 6 committee, but this is the first time these names have been reported. Representatives of the panel would not comment.You can read The Hill’s report here.While we’ve been occupied this morning with Kyrsten Sinema’s defection and Brittney Griner’s homecoming, we haven’t taken our eye off Donald Trump’s legal peril, and developments with the investigations into his insurrection and mishandling of classified documents. Here’s the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell on the latest:The US justice department is seeking a top federal judge to hold Donald Trump’s political office in contempt of court for not fully complying with a grand jury subpoena issued in May demanding the return of all classified documents in its possession, according to a source familiar with the matter.The department in recent weeks asked the chief US district court judge for the District of Columbia, Beryl Howell, to hold Trump’s office in contempt after prosecutors were unable to get the former president’s lawyers to designate a custodian of records to certify all records were returned.New: Confirming that DOJ is seeking a federal judge to hold Trump’s office in contempt of court for not fully complying with May grand jury subpoena seeking return of classified docs, per source familiar — matching WaPo— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) December 8, 2022
      Howell has not ruled on the matter, which remains under seal. But the move, earlier reported by the Washington Post, significantly raises the stakes for Trump as he stares down a criminal investigation into unauthorized retention of national security information and obstruction of justice.The issue is to do with the Trump legal team’s reluctance to designate a custodian of records to certify that Trump is no longer in possession of any documents marked classified and thus in compliance with the subpoena that demanded the return of all such government records, the source said.If the Trump legal team could not find someone to certify under oath that all documents bearing classified markings had been returned, the department is said to have communicated, it would seek a judicial sanction.The contempt action is understood to be focused on Trump’s office because the subpoena, issued on 11 May, sought the return of all documents and writings “in the custody of Donald J Trump and/or the Office of Donald J Trump” bearing classification markings.Read the full story:DoJ seeking to hold Trump team in contempt of court over classified documentsRead more More

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      House passes landmark legislation protecting same-sex marriage

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      House passes landmark legislation protecting same-sex marriageFinal vote was 258 to 169, with 39 Republican members joining every House Democrat The House gave final passage on Thursday to landmark legislation protecting same-sex marriage, in a bipartisan vote that reflects a remarkable shift in public opinion just over a quarter-century after Congress defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman.The final vote was 258 to 169, with 39 Republican members joining every House Democrat in supporting the bill. One Republican, Burgess Owens of Utah, voted present.Virginia restaurant cancels reservation of anti-LGBTQ+ organizationRead moreThe vote was one of the final acts of this lame-duck Congress before the balance of power shifts and Republicans take control of the House in January. The bill, which provides a degree of relief for hundreds of thousands of same-sex married couples in the US, next goes to Joe Biden, who has said he will sign the legislation “promptly and proudly”.“Today, Congress took a critical step to ensure that Americans have the right to marry the person they love,” Biden said. “The House’s bipartisan passage of the Respect for Marriage Act – by a significant margin – will give peace of mind to millions of LGBTQI+ and interracial couples who are now guaranteed the rights and protections to which they and their children are entitled.”The historic legislation, known as the Respect for Marriage Act, requires federal and state governments to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages, prohibiting them from denying the validity of a marriage legally performed in another state on the basis of sex, race or ethnicity.During an emotional bill enrollment ceremony on Thursday, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, wiped tears from her eyes as she thanked the many lawmakers and advocates who made the legislation a reality.“At last we have history in the making,” Pelosi said. “Not only are we on the right side of history, we’re on the right side of the future: expanding freedom in America.”Momentum for the bill began to build after the supreme court’s ruling overturning Roe v Wade in June raised fears that the conservative-leaning court might reverse same-sex marriage next. Writing in support of the majority’s decision, the conservative supreme court justice Clarence Thomas had suggested the court might also consider striking down “demonstrably erroneous” precedents set by rulings like Obergefell v Hodges, the 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide and ended bans in the states that had them.Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay person elected to the Senate, said the newly passed bill would provide reassurance to all LGBTQ+ citizens living in fear of having their marriages invalidated.“Today we are making history, but we’re also making a difference for millions of Americans,” said Baldwin, who played a key role in crafting the bill. “With the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act, we can put to rest the worries of millions of loving couples who are concerned that some day an activist supreme court may take their rights and freedoms away.”Despite support from some Republican lawmakers, most still opposed the legislation, calling it unnecessary. During the House debate over the bill, a number of Republicans criticized the proposal as an insult to religious liberty and a Democratic attempt to force liberal policies on more conservative states.However, should Obergefell fall, the new law would not compel all 50 states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples nor does it stop states from moving to ban or limit same-sex marriages. In a concession to win Republican support, the measure also includes an exemption for religious organizations, guaranteeing that they would not be required to provide goods, services or accommodations for a celebration of a same-sex marriage, and that such a refusal would not jeopardize their tax-exempt status or other benefits.Notably, the bill would also repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (Doma), which defined a marriage as the union between a man and a woman and denied federal benefits to same-sex couples. Though the supreme court struck down part of the law, it remained on the books.When Bill Clinton signed Doma into law in 1996, same-sex marriage was considered a divisive cultural issue. At the time, nearly seven in 10 Americans said marriages between same-sex couples should not be recognized by law as valid, according to Gallup. Now, decades later, almost exactly the same number of Americans – a record 71% – say same-sex unions should be legal.The former Democratic congressman Barney Frank, the first House member to voluntarily come out as gay, celebrated Doma’s demise at the bill enrollment ceremony on Thursday, where his arrival was greeted with applause.“I was here for the birth of Doma, so I am very grateful to be able to be here for the funeral,” Frank said.LGBTQ advocates, meanwhile, praised the legislation as a “clear victory for this country’s 568,000 same-sex married couples”. But they argued that there is still more to do to protect marriage equality and LGBTQ+ Americans, who continue to face threats and violence, including a deadly shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs last month.“Today’s vote in the House of Representatives sends a clear message: love is winning,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “We eagerly await the president’s signature on this important legislation – and look forward to continuing to fight for full equality for everyone in our community, without exception.”While there was little question the bill would pass the Democratic-controlled House, proponents say its passage was not inevitable.Earlier this summer, House Democrats held what many expected would amount to a “show” vote demonstrating their commitment to protecting same-sex marriage while drawing a contrast with Republicans, whose midterm message targeted LGBTQ+ Americans.But 47 House Republican lawmakers unexpectedly voted for the measure, a bipartisan tally that suddenly gave advocates hope that the upper chamber could muster enough bipartisan support to overcome the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold. After months of negotiating, the Senate voted 61-36 to approve a version of the measure, sponsored by Baldwin. It drew the support of 12 Republican senators.“On the Senate side, I think we can say we defied political gravity,” Baldwin said on Thursday.The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, heralded the legislation as a “very important step forward” in the nation’s “long but inexorable march towards greater equality”. Like many Americans, the issue of marriage equality is personal for Schumer. His daughter and her wife are expecting their first child next year.“Today, thanks to the tireless advocacy of many, many in this room and the dogged work by many of my colleagues, my grandchild will live in a world that will respect and honor their mothers’ marriage,” Schumer said at the enrollment ceremony.For Pelosi, who announced last month that she would step down from House leadership, the bill’s passage was not just a national achievement but also a personal milestone. When Pelosi joined the House in 1987, her first remarks on the floor were about fighting HIV/Aids. Now, after 35 years in office and two stints as speaker, one of the final bills she will send to the president will protect the rights of LGBTQ+ couples.Just before voting for the bill, Pelosi said: “Today, we stand up for the values the vast majority of Americans hold dear – a belief in the dignity, beauty and divinity – divinity, a spark of divinity in every person – an abiding respect for love so powerful that it binds two people together.”TopicsHouse of RepresentativesLGBTQ+ rightsUS politicsUS CongressDemocratsRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

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      More classified documents reportedly found on Trump property – as it happened

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      Attorneys for Donald Trump discovered two classified items among materials retrieved from a Florida storage unit rented for the former president, the Washington Post reports.Trump hired an outside firm to search his properties for any classified items, in order to comply with a federal grand jury subpoena issued in May. The former president is under investigation for unlawfully retaining secret material after leaving the White House last year, which led to the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago property in August.Besides the storage unit in West Palm Beach, Florida housing materials that had been moved from a northern Virginia office after his presidency, the outside firm also searched Trump-owned golf course in New Jersey and Trump Tower in New York.Here’s more from the Post’s report:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The ultimate significance of the classified material in the storage unit is not immediately clear, but its presence there indicates Mar-a-Lago was not the only place where Trump kept classified material. It also provides further evidence that Trump and his team did not fully comply with a May grand jury subpoena that sought all documents marked classified still in possession of the post-presidential office.
      In addition to the storage unit, the team hired an outside firm to carry out the search of his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., and, more recently, Trump Tower in New York, according to people familiar with the matter. The outside team also searched at least one other property.
      The team also offered the FBI the opportunity to observe the search, but the offer was declined, the people said. It would be unusual for federal agents to monitor a search of someone’s property conducted by anyone other than another law enforcement agency.
      Trump’s lawyers have told the Justice Department that the outside team did not turn up any new classified information during their search of Bedminster and Trump Tower, according to people familiar with the process, and have said they utilized a firm that had expertise in searching for documents.Classified material keeps turning up at Donald Trump’s properties, as the former president faces heat from a federal investigation into whether he unlawfully held on to government secrets after leaving the White House. Meanwhile, Democrats were relishing Raphael Warnock’s victory in Georgia’s Senate race, capping a historic midterm election in which they stemmed their losses in the House and managed to get all of their senators re-elected.Here’s a look back at what happened today:
      The Congressional Black Caucus wants lawmakers to pass a long-stalled voting rights measure before the end of the year as Democrats try to make the most of their finals weeks controlling the House and Senate.
      Sean Spicer, a former press secretary in Trump’s White House, is being roasted for mistaking today for the anniversary of D-day – when it is, in fact, the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
      The supreme court sounds skeptical of making a ruling in favor of Republican-backed state legislatures that could have a major impact on voting rights.
      Second gentleman Doug Emhoff spoke out forcefully against antisemitism, warning of “an epidemic of hate facing our country”.
      Republicans were playing the blame game after their poor midterm showing.
      But what does Raphael Warnock think of the Trump question?CNN caught up with the newly re-elected Democratic senator to ask him whether he thought the former president made a difference in his race. Here’s what he had to say:Asked how much he benefited from Trump’s involvement in selecting his foe, Raphael Warnock told me: “I think the people of Georgia deserve a great deal of credit for seeing the differences between me and my opponent. I look forward to working on their behalf the next six years.”— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 7, 2022
      In a speech today, second gentleman Doug Emhoff spoke out against antisemitism, warning that there’s “an epidemic of hate facing our country”:.@SecondGentleman: “There’s no both-sides-ism on this one. There’s only one side…ALL OF US must be against antisemitism.” pic.twitter.com/V9SKEOiS53— Herbie Ziskend (@HerbieZiskend46) December 7, 2022
      Emhoff is the husband of Kamala Harris and the first Jewish spouse of a vice president. His speech came after Donald Trump sparked outrage by meeting with Nick Fuentes, a noted antisemite.Well this is awkward.The below video is of Indiana’s Republican senator Mike Braun decrying the quality of the party’s candidates in the midterms. Behind him stands Rick Scott, another senator who is chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee – which was tasked with retaking control of the chamber. He did not succeed:Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) blasts Republican strategy after Herschel Walker’s loss, with NRSC Chairman Rick Scott (R-FL) standing right behind him:“Candidate quality does count … We are basically for nothing … and then say, ‘Well, maybe we’ll tell you after we’re elected.’” pic.twitter.com/pZ04zE3e4W— The Recount (@therecount) December 7, 2022
      The Congressional Black Caucus’ last-minute push to get voting rights legislation passed may already be making waves.The lawmakers want the long-delayed bill attached to a year-end Pentagon funding proposal, and the House was this afternoon expected to vote on the rules for debate of the legislation. That vote has now been postponed:The House is in recess subject to the call of the Chair.— House Press Gallery (@HouseDailyPress) December 7, 2022
      “Members are advised that further information will be provided later today,” the office of Democratic majority leader Steny Hoyer said.In other Mar-a-Lago shenanigans, ABC News reports that Liz Crokin, a well-known promoter of the QAnon and “pizzagate” conspiracy theories, turned up at an event at Donald Trump’s south Florida property.Crokin was there to attend a documentary on sex trafficking, which ABC says is a major subject of concern for QAnon adherents. She managed to snag a photo with the former president, who is under fire for his recent dinner with rapper Ye and far-right activist Nick Fuentes, both of whom have made antisemitic remarks.Here’s more from ABC’s report:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Videos and photos posted to social media appear to show Liz Crokin, a prominent promoter of QAnon and pro-Trump conspiracies theories, speaking at an event at Mar-a-Lago and later posing for photos with Trump. In one photo, the duo make a “thumbs up” sign together.
      According to social media posts, the event was billed as a fundraiser in support of a “documentary” on sex trafficking — one of the pillars of the QAnon conspiracy theory. The website for the film, which includes multiple falsehoods and claims of mass sex-trafficking in Hollywood, boasts that it is “Banned by YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and PayPal.”
      Mar-a-Lago often hosts events for outside groups.
      “You are incredible people, you are doing unbelievable work, and we just appreciate you being here and we hope you’re going to be back,” Trump said in remarks to the crowd, according to a video of his speech.
      A representative for the Trump campaign did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.With Congress in the midst of a flurry of bill-passing before the year ends and newly elected lawmakers take their seats, Punchbowl News reports that the Congressional Black Caucus is making a last-ditch attempt to get a major voting rights bill passed.The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act has been stalled since its August 2021 passaged in the House, after it failed to get enough support to make it through the Senate. Punchbowl reports that the caucus representing African-American lawmakers in both chambers wants the legislation attached to the annual defense spending bill, which is considered a priority for both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.A key test of whether their strategy will go anywhere may come this afternoon, when the House is set to vote on the rules for debate of the spending bill, according to Punchbowl.CNN has been going around the Capitol, polling Republicans senators on whether they think Donald Trump is to blame for their candidates’ weak showing during the midterms.While not an out-and-out break with the most recent White House occupant from their party, several acknowledged that Trump wasn’t much help in last month’s election. Here’s John Thune, the number-two Senate Republican:Thune added: “The Dems were in many cases able to turn it into a choice election because of Trump’s presence out there – so was he a factor? I don’t think there’s any question about that.”— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 7, 2022
      Pat Toomey is the retiring senator from Pennsylvania, who is being replaced by Democrat John Fetterman in a major loss for the GOP:Pat Toomey: “It’s just one more data point in an overwhelming body of data that the Trump obsession is very bad for Republicans but normal Republicans are doing extremely well”Graham to me: “I think we’re losing close elections, not because of Donald Trump,” citing D fundraising— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 7, 2022
      Lindsey Graham is one of Trump’s biggest allies in Congress’s upper chamber. Here’s what he had to say:Lindsey Graham to me on Trump: “I think what he’s gonna have to do is establish to Republicans he can win in 2024. He’s still very popular in the party. People appreciate his presidency. They appreciate his fighting spirit. But there’s beginning to be a sense, ‘Can he win?’”— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 7, 2022
      Attorneys for Donald Trump discovered two classified items among materials retrieved from a Florida storage unit rented for the former president, the Washington Post reports.Trump hired an outside firm to search his properties for any classified items, in order to comply with a federal grand jury subpoena issued in May. The former president is under investigation for unlawfully retaining secret material after leaving the White House last year, which led to the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago property in August.Besides the storage unit in West Palm Beach, Florida housing materials that had been moved from a northern Virginia office after his presidency, the outside firm also searched Trump-owned golf course in New Jersey and Trump Tower in New York.Here’s more from the Post’s report:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The ultimate significance of the classified material in the storage unit is not immediately clear, but its presence there indicates Mar-a-Lago was not the only place where Trump kept classified material. It also provides further evidence that Trump and his team did not fully comply with a May grand jury subpoena that sought all documents marked classified still in possession of the post-presidential office.
      In addition to the storage unit, the team hired an outside firm to carry out the search of his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., and, more recently, Trump Tower in New York, according to people familiar with the matter. The outside team also searched at least one other property.
      The team also offered the FBI the opportunity to observe the search, but the offer was declined, the people said. It would be unusual for federal agents to monitor a search of someone’s property conducted by anyone other than another law enforcement agency.
      Trump’s lawyers have told the Justice Department that the outside team did not turn up any new classified information during their search of Bedminster and Trump Tower, according to people familiar with the process, and have said they utilized a firm that had expertise in searching for documents.Democrats are relishing Raphael Warnock’s victory in Georgia’s Senate race, which caps a historic midterm election where they stemmed their losses in the House and managed to get all of their senators re-elected. The GOP’s underwhelming showing has several Republicans pointing their fingers at Donald Trump, saying candidates he’d handpicked for the election underperformed.Here’s a look back at what has happened so far today:
      Trump has hired an outside firm to look for classified documents at two of his properties to comply with a grand jury subpoena, the Washington Post reports.
      Sean Spicer, a former press secretary in Trump’s White House, is being roasted for mistaking today for the anniversary of D-day – when it is in fact the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
      The supreme court sounds skeptical of making a ruling in favor of Republican-backed state legislatures that could have a major impact on voting rights.
      The White House has announced that Joe Biden will speak this evening, at St Mark’s Episcopal Church in Washington, host to the 10th Annual National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence.A White House update says the vigil is “a service of mourning and loving remembrance for all who have fallen victim to the ongoing epidemic of gun violence in America”. The 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, in which 20 young children and six adults were killed, falls a week from today.Biden, as vice-president, saw attempts for meaningful gun reform fail, even after that massacre in Connecticut. But Chris Murphy, the Democratic senator from the north-eastern state, has campaigned for reform ever since.He is now optimistic that more will soon be done. Last week, he told the Guardian: “Ten years ago, it would have been unthinkable for a gun safety bill to pass the Senate with NRA opposition. Now, a whole bunch of Republican senators know that the NRA does not even represent gun owners any longer. And thus, they’re not paying as much attention.”More:Senator Chris Murphy: ‘victory after victory’ is coming for US gun safetyRead moreFrom Washington, the Associated Press reports that “at least six supreme court justices sound skeptical of making a broad ruling that would leave state legislatures virtually unchecked when making rules for elections for Congress and the presidency”.Here’s more on the case in hand, also from the AP:US supreme court hears case that could radically reshape electionsRead moreSean Spicer, Donald Trump’s first White House press secretary and a Harvard politics fellow, has come under fire for a tweet in which he said today, 7 December, was D-Day.Spicer wrote: “Today is Dday [sic]. It only lives in infamy if we remember and share the story of sacrifice with the next generation. #DDay.”7 December is indeed an important second world war anniversary – that of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which brought the US into the war. It has been called many things, including, most famously and lastingly and by the then president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “a date which will live in infamy”.But not D-Day. That was 6 June 1944, when allied navies sent forces ashore in France, at the start of the end of the war against Nazi Germany.Pearl Harbor was primarily an attack on the US navy. According to US government figures, 2,008 members of the navy were killed, along with 218 members of the army, 109 marines and 68 civilians. Three US ships were destroyed and 16 damaged.According to his own website, Spicer “holds a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from the US Naval War College [and] has served over 20 years in the US Navy Reserve and is currently a commander”. He specialises in public affairs.Amid a minor PR nightmare and Twitter storm, Spicer deleted his D-Day tweet and said: “Sorry. Apologies.”Undeleted, a tweet from 2021 in which Spicer showed he knew when D-Day was and was happy to use that knowledge to attack Joe Biden, writing: “Yesterday was the anniversary of #DDay – no mention of it from the president. The White House press secretary says he might get around to it.”Biden was widely attacked from the right for not formally marking D-Day last year. But as the fact-checking website Snopes put it: “While neither Biden himself nor the White House, as such, publicly commemorated the 77th anniversary of D-Day in 2021, Vice-President Kamala Harris and first lady Jill Biden both did.”Furthermore, “in his speech at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, 31 May, Biden briefly alluded to the D-Day landings, saying: ‘Here in Arlington lie heroes who gave what President Lincoln called ‘the last full measure of devotion’. They did not only die at Gettysburg or in Flanders Field or on the beaches of Normandy, but in the mountains of Afghanistan, the deserts of Iraq in the last 20 years.’” More

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      Republicans reflect and blame after Trump-backed candidate Walker loses

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      Republicans reflect and blame after Trump-backed candidate Walker losesHerschel Walker’s failure to win Georgia runoff is latest in long list of midterm misfires for extremist candidates endorsed by Trump Deflated Republicans were embarking on a period of introspection and blame on Wednesday after Herschel Walker, Donald Trump’s handpicked candidate, fell well short in his effort to capture Georgia’s Senate seat.Raphael Warnock wins Georgia runoff, bolstering Democratic Senate majorityRead moreWalker’s failure in the runoff against the incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock was the most recent of a long list of misfires in the midterm elections for extremist candidates endorsed by the former president, who announced his latest run for the White House last month.It secured Democrats a 51-49 majority in the Senate, leaving Republicans powerless to block key elements of Joe Biden’s agenda, especially judicial appointments, for at least two years.Hours after Walker delivered his concession speech in Atlanta on Tuesday night, an increasing number of prominent party members were suggesting they were ready to look for a future unshackled by Trump and his lie that his 2020 election defeat to Biden was fraudulent.John Bolton, national security adviser during Trump’s single term in office, was forthright in a tweet urging Republican colleagues to cast him aside.“The outcome in Georgia is due primarily to Trump, who cast a long shadow over this race,” he wrote.“His meddling and insistence that the 2020 election was stolen will deliver more losses. Trump remains a huge liability and the Democrats’ best asset. It’s time to disavow him and move on.”John Thune, a South Dakota Republican and Senate minority whip, also blamed his party’s flops on the Trump factor.“Was he a factor? I don’t think there’s any question about that, because a lot of the candidates that had problems in these elections were running on the 2020 election being stolen, and I don’t think independent voters were having it.”Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican seen as a close ally of the former president, did not refer to Trump directly in his own analysis, but saw blame for his party’s lackluster midterms performance in poor-quality candidates, such as Walker, focusing on Trump’s big lie.“Democrats have done a pretty good job of picking issues that motivate their base and that have wider support among the public,” Graham told Politico.“We need to be doing the same thing. I think a lot of people in the Republican party don’t see us doing it as emphatically as Democrats.”Other election-denying, Trump-backed candidates who were defeated included Kari Lake, who was seeking the governorship of Arizona; Blake Masters, who lost his race for that state’s Senate seat; and Mehmet Oz, the celebrity television doctor and conspiracy theorist who was beaten by senator-elect John Fetterman in Pennsylvania as Democrats flipped the previously Republican-held seat.The Lincoln Project, a political action committee consisting largely of disgruntled Republicans, gleefully tweeted a video clip from the rightwing Fox News network, captioned “And the runner-up is …”, showcasing 25 Trump-endorsed losers from various midterm races.Trump himself remained defiant, posting on his own Truth Social network, in all capitals, that “Our country is in big trouble. What a mess!” and without accepting any responsibility for Walker’s defeat.The question now is whether the Republican party, which has remained fiercely loyal despite his two impeachments, the 2020 election defeat and their failure to recapture control of Congress, still sees Trump as the undisputed party leader and the man to lead them into the 2024 presidential race. Many members are proposing to switch allegiance from a man mired in legal problems over the January 6 Capitol riot, his mishandling of classified documents post-presidency and efforts in Georgia to overturn Biden’s victory, to someone more appealing and without that baggage, such as Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis.Trump’s toxicity at the ballot box, especially among suburban voters, provoked grumbling even before last weekend, when Trump was condemned for hosting dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida with the antisemitic rapper Kanye West and the white supremacist Nick Fuentes.Several Republicans, including the usually loyal Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, also spoke out this week when Trump demanded the “termination” of the constitution to accommodate his election lies.Mick Mulvaney, White House chief of staff in the Trump administration, pointed to the party’s mixed performance in Georgia, where the Republican governor, Brian Kemp, and senior officials were re-elected comfortably in the generally reliably red state. Trump lost Georgia to Biden in 2020, and watched Democrats take both Senate seats from Republicans he endorsed.“Trump has now lost four races in Georgia in two years. One of his own and three by proxy. Similar stories in [Arizona and Pennsylvania],” Mulvaney tweeted.“He has a swing-state problem for 2024 that is real. Again: those who win primaries, and lose general elections, are still losers.”TopicsGeorgiaUS midterm elections 2022US politicsRepublicansDemocratsnewsReuse this content More

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      'No excuses': Republican Herschel Walker concedes defeat in Georgia Senate race – video

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      Republican Herschel Walker conceded defeat in his Georgia runoff for a Senate seat against Raphael Warnock on Tuesday. Walker said: ‘There’s no excuses in life. And I’m not going to make any excuses now because we put up one heck of a fight. That’s what we got to do.’ 
      Walker told his supporters at the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta to continue to ‘believe in America and its elected officials, thanking them for their prayers and efforts. ‘I said, ‘you guys, I’ve done a lot of stuff. You talk about Heisman Trophy, talk about all the athletic award, business awards I’ve won. But the best thing I’ve ever done in my whole entire life is run for this Senate seat right here”

      Raphael Warnock wins Georgia runoff, bolstering Democratic Senate majority 
      Raphael Warnock wins crucial Georgia runoff election – as it happened More