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      Bannon is not finished: his ‘precinct strategy’ could alter US elections for years

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      AnalysisBannon is not finished: his ‘precinct strategy’ could alter US elections for yearsChris McGrealOne longtime Bannon watcher says it’s too early to count him out – even a prison term could enhance his status among the Maga crowd When Steve Bannon heard that he was, after all, going to face charges last week for allegedly ripping off contributors to a multimillion-dollar fund to build a wall on the Mexican border, he claimed it was a sign of his success.Donald Trump’s former strategist said his arrest on Thursday was an attempt to shut down his War Room pod and video cast because it is driving grassroots support for the former president’s Make America Great Again (Maga) movement and reshaping the Republican party ahead of the midterm elections.“They are coming after all of us, not only President Trump and myself. I am never going to stop fighting,” he said.That much was apparent from Bannon’s final broadcast before his arrest as he let loose against the Biden “regime” and “social media oligarchs” he accused of conspiring to fix elections for the Democrats. For Bannon, the endless war is between “people in our posse” and Joe Biden’s “global attack on Maga”.The audience for this daily assault on reality is not as large as it once was. YouTube blocked the War Room two days after the storming of the Capitol in January 2021 for falsely claiming the presidential election was stolen. Exact numbers of listeners are hard to come by but the programme has been downloaded millions of times and still regularly appears in the top 50 most listened to podcasts in the US, at times reaching No 2 in Apple podcasts about American politics.From there, the War Room appears to be having an impact far beyond the sight of most Americans, as Bannon pushes a strategy for Maga supporters to infiltrate the Republican party before the midterms and 2024 presidential election.But now the 68-year-old architect of Trump’s 2016 presidential election victory, and briefly a White House aide, could be stopped in his tracks by his legal problems. Bannon already has a conviction for contempt of Congress under his belt for refusing to testify over his role in the attack on the Capitol that could send him to jail for months when he is sentenced in October.The latest charges put the white nationalist back on the hook for alleged crimes for which he was pardoned by Trump in the last hours of his presidency. That pardon covered only federal crimes and New York state has waded in to accuse Bannon of stealing $1m from donations to the We Build The Wall campaign to help construct an anti-migrant barrier on the US border with Mexico. Two other men have already pleaded guilty in connection with the alleged fraud and face lengthy prison sentences.Madeline Peltz, who has followed Bannon’s broadcasts for the past two years for Media Matters, which monitors conservative and far-right commentators, said that for all his problems, it would be a mistake to write off the populist agitator.“The big picture shows that you can never really count out Steve Bannon, both because of the trajectory of his career as well as the status of the movement in which he is a prominent figure,” she said.Bannon has maintained that status by keeping the myth of the stolen 2020 presidential election front and centre in his broadcasts as key to engineering Trump’s comeback if he runs again in two years.But Bannon’s most important role at present may be his championing of what is known as the “precinct strategy”, which seeks to take control of the Republican party from the bottom up, getting Trump supporters to take low-ranking, often vacant, positions within local branches. They are then in a position to select more senior party officials and to influence decisions such as the staffing of elections and selection of candidates, and ultimately to move up the party ranks.Maga activists are also targeting school boards and poll monitoring positions.“We’re going to take this back village by village … precinct by precinct,” Bannon said in one of his shows pushing the strategy.ProPublica contacted dozens of Republican party county leaders across the US who reported significant increases in membership applications that appear tied to the precinct strategy.Peltz said that the consequences could be with America for years.“If Bannon is successful in shoehorning grassroots activists, which it appears that he is, he could have loyalists controlling the levels of power within the Republican party and, even more concerning, in election administration. That could be almost impossible to unwind for years and decades to come,” she said.For all that, Bannon faces challenges.As he sought to remain politically relevant after a brief and turbulent stint as a White House aide at the beginning of Trump’s presidency, Bannon launched a far-right group in Europe, the Movement, that rapidly failed.He also fell out badly with Trump, with the president saying that his former strategist had “lost his mind” after Bannon was quoted as describing a meeting between one of the president’s sons and a group of Russians as “treasonous”. Bannon backed off but the damage was done and it cost him his position running the far-right Breitbart News after a major financial backer withdrew support over the Trump comments.Bannon reingratiated himself in part by launching the War Room from a Washington townhouse three years ago to campaign against Trump’s impeachment. Within a few months, it evolved into War Room: Pandemic to exploit uncertainty and fear about the spread of coronavirus. Eventually, it broadened as a platform for Bannon’s rants about whatever was frustrating him.Bannon’s influence is not without its limits. Most of the candidates he backed in the 2022 Republican primaries lost. Peltz said that he is also financially vulnerable.“A big weakness is that he’s super desperate for money. His billionaire benefactor, Gou Wengui, declared bankruptcy. Since then the whole show has turned into a big rightwing direct-to-consumer ad for a variety of scammy projects, including gold, MyPillow, satellite cellphones, prepper supplies. That’s a sign that he’s not in a good position,” she said.Then there is the prospect of prison. He would not be able to broadcast the War Room from his cell, although others might hold the fort if he was serving a relatively short spell in jail. A longer prison sentence of several years, which is quite possible if he is convicted on the fraud charges, would be a different matter.Still, Peltz said that a prison sentence could bolster Bannon’s credibility on the right. “He ultimately will be a bigger hero among the Maga crowd than ever, and I think that his sort of profile in American politics could take off from there,” she said.TopicsSteve BannonTrump administrationUS politicsRepublicansanalysisReuse this content More

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      Trump backed failed campaign coup against Kushner, Navarro book says

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      Trump backed failed campaign coup against Kushner, Navarro book saysEx-adviser says president in 2020 agreed that his son-in-law had to be replaced by Steve Bannon but did not dare try to fire him In June 2020, less than five months before polling day, Donald Trump agreed to a “coup d’état” to remove his son-in-law Jared Kushner from control of his presidential re-election campaign and replace him with the far-right provocateur Steve Bannon.‘You have to run’: Romney urged Biden to take down Trump, book saysRead moreThe coup had support from Donald Trump Jr but according to a new book by the former Trump aide Peter Navarro it did not work, after Trump refused to give Kushner the bad news himself.Fearing “family troubles if [he] himself had to deliver the bad news to … the father of his grandchildren”, Trump asked Bernie Marcus, the founder of Home Depot, a major Republican donor and a central player in the coup, “to be the messenger” to Kushner.In Navarro’s telling, Kushner first insulted Marcus by skipping a call, then told Trump’s emissary “things were fine with the campaign, there was no way he was stepping down and, in effect, Bernie Marcus and his big moneybags could go pound sand”.Navarro writes: “And that was that. And the rest is a catastrophic strategic failure history.”In November, Trump lost the White House to Joe Biden.With his wife, Ivanka Trump, Kushner was a senior adviser to Trump in the White House and on the campaign, essentially acting as a shadow chief of staff.Before entering the White House, Navarro, with a Harvard PhD in economics, wrote a number of books attacking China (and liberally quoting a source whose name was an anagram of his own).His new book, Taking Back Trump’s America: Why We Lost the White House and How We’ll Win It Back, will be published later this month. The Guardian obtained a copy.Navarro’s dim view of Kushner permeates his new book: one section is titled Both Nepotism and Excrement Roll Downhill.Navarro also took a central role in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. He says planning for the campaign coup originated when Kushner told Fox News in April 2020 the pandemic would be over by the summer.“In being so wrong,” Navarro writes, “Jared ‘Pangloss’ Kushner woke up” big donors who until then thought “Kushner and the Trump campaign would, at some point, get its ship together”.Dr Pangloss is a character in Voltaire’s Candide, given to extreme optimism in the face of adversity.Navarro reprints a journal entry for 25 June 2020 which describes a meeting in New York between Bannon and donors who “want[ed] Kushner and Brad Parscale [the campaign manager] out the door”. He adds: “Don Jr [and his girlfriend] Kimberly Guilfoyle feel the same way. This could be really interesting. It could also be our last chance for victory.”According to Navarro, the plotters thought Bannon, who chaired Trump’s campaign in 2016, was the only operative who could steer him to re-election four years later.The plotters also knew that Kushner would never agree to the change – Navarro says Kushner told him he wanted to “crush Bannon like a bug” – and that Trump resented Bannon for taking “too much credit for the 2016 win”.Bannon was fired as White House strategist in August 2017, amid controversy over Trump’s supportive remarks about far-right protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia. Returning to Breitbart News, Bannon remained influential in Trump’s orbit.On the page, Navarro risks Trump’s ire by criticizing his actions as president, at one point devoting six pages to outlining “why a president who is supposed to be one of the greatest assessors of talent … would make such bad personnel choices across so many White House and cabinet-level positions”.He also writes that Trump could not have beaten Hillary Clinton in 2016 without Bannon, at the behest of another big donor, Robert Mercer, “coming in towards the end of the campaign and righting the Kushner ship”.In 2020, Navarro says, he conquered his “trepidations” about angering Trump and pressed ahead with the anti-Kushner plot. Navarro says he set up and attended a White House meeting between Trump and Marcus at which Trump “readily agreed with Bernie that Jared had to be replaced with Steve”.But there was another problem, again at odds with the ruthless image Trump constructed on The Apprentice, his NBC reality TV hit, in which his catchphrase was “You’re fired!”As has been extensively documented, Trump in fact does not like firing people.Peter Navarro: what Trump’s Covid-19 tsar lacks in expertise, he makes upRead more“Rather than being shot himself,” Navarro writes, Trump “asked Bernie to be the messenger” to Kushner.Marcus “accepted the mission, albeit grudgingly”. The mission failed. Parscale, the campaign manager under Kushner, was removed in July but the son-in-law stayed in control.Navarro played a central role in Trump’s attempts to overturn his election defeat, outlining a plan called the “Green Bay Sweep” which was meant to block certification of Biden’s win.In November, Navarro will stand trial. He is charged with contempt of Congress, for refusing to comply with the January 6 investigation. He faces up to two years in jail. The judge in the case refused a request to hold the trial next April, so Navarro could market his new book.TopicsBooksDonald TrumpJared KushnerSteve BannonTrump administrationUS elections 2020RepublicansnewsReuse this content More

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      Steve Bannon’s indictment reveals the truth about Trumpism | Andrew Gawthorpe

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      Steve Bannon’s indictment reveals the truth about TrumpismAndrew GawthorpeIn the end, Maga is nothing but a scam with hate in its heart and other people’s money in its pockets By all appearances, Steve Bannon likes to think that he represents the soul of the Maga movement. He sees himself as a tireless champion of the common man, fighting their battles against America’s corrupt elites. It’s not for nothing that his radio show is called War Room and carried by the Real America’s Voice network. But just like everybody else who has worked closely with Donald Trump, Bannon is either delusional or trying to delude. He’s not the everyman – he’s the corrupt elite.Steve Bannon expected to turn himself in to face fraud charges – liveRead moreThis was driven home once again on Thursday, when Bannon surrendered himself to New York prosecutors to face charges of defrauding donors to We Build the Wall, a non-profit organization that raised over $25m to build a wall to keep immigrants from crossing America’s southern border. Although donors to the group were assured that 100% of their money would be used on construction, large sums were siphoned into the pockets of those running the group. And who as chairman of the board allegedly took the greatest sum of all? None other than Steve Bannon.This affair – in which two people have already pleaded guilty – is a very direct example of a prominent figure in the Maga movement lining their pockets with the money of unsuspecting marks. But it also stands as a metaphor for the movement as a whole. Far from standing up for the interests of “ordinary Americans”, Maga exists to funnel money, power and prestige to a small elite while not lifting a finger to improve the lives of anyone else.During his first presidential campaign in 2016, Trump – with Bannon at his side – tried to present himself as a champion of the downtrodden. He promised to bring jobs back from overseas and help Americans get over their economic anxiety. But as soon as he got into office, he governed as a plutocrat. His one significant legislative achievement before the coronavirus pandemic was a 2017 tax bill which forced lower-income groups to pay more and allowed higher income groups to pay less. And every year the administration proposed steep cuts to the social programs used by real ordinary Americans, including a 2021 budget which would have cut $1.2tn from Medicaid, food stamps and elsewhere.In office, Trump continued to benefit from the economic recovery which had begun under Barack Obama, allowing him to tout high employment and wage levels. But just as the Biden administration is largely powerless to fight inflation right now, this economic performance had precious little to do with Trump. When he did intervene – for instance by launching a trade war with China – it was in ways which harmed manufacturers and cost American jobs. But for Trump and the Maga movement it’s posturing for their nationalist base, not the real effect on real people, which matters.But Trump and Bannon have done something even more pernicious than this. For they have also tried to exclude a large part of the population from even being considered as “ordinary Americans” at all. Theirs is an agenda not for the racially diverse working and middle classes that actually exist in America, but for a narrow white subset of it. They have made a mythic folk hero out of the white male worker, promising to return the country to an era like the 1950s, in which such people reigned supreme. That they then have actually done little to help even white workers should not obscure the fact that they have also poured hatred and vitriol on the immigrants and people of color who do so much of America’s actual work.All of which brings us neatly back to Bannon and the wall. It’s no coincidence that when Bannon left office, he dedicated himself to building the wall rather than building working-class communities. The border wall has endured as the ultimate symbol of Trumpism because the soul of his movement is racism and exclusion, not charity and assistance. It is through the stoking of hatred and division that Maga elites keep the punters engaged and happy to open their wallets. It’s also how they keep themselves rich and – through blocking any attempt to actually help working people – ensure the poor stay poor.This, the true driving force of Trumpism, makes a mockery of conservatives who pretend that the Republican party can become a “multiethnic, multiracial, working-class party”. The proposition is absurd not only because the party is in hock to a movement built on racial hate but also because the same movement has never evinced any interest in actually helping “ordinary Americans”. Its leading figures will eventually depart from life leaving wealthy heirs but no record of ever having helped the people they supposedly stand for. In the end, Maga is nothing but a scam with hate in its heart and other people’s money in its pockets. Just ask Steve Bannon.
      Andrew Gawthorpe is a historian of the United States and host of the podcast America Explained
      TopicsSteve BannonOpinionDonald TrumpUS politicscommentReuse this content More

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      Steve Bannon ‘stole millions of dollars to line his own pocket,’ New York attorney general says – as it happened

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      Hailing Steve Bannon’s indictment for conspiracy and money laundering over a fraudulent border wall fundraising scheme as “an important day for justice”, New York’s attorney general Letitia James said he “stole millions of dollars to line his own pocket”.“Regular, everyday Americans”, she said, played by the rules, and that people like Bannon ignore them:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}They think that they are above the law, and the most egregious of them take advantage of hardworking Americans in the process. And Steve Bannon stands out as a perfect example of this blatant inequality.
      He gained power and influence as a top adviser to the former president. And he used that influence and those connections to cheat everyday Americans and carry out this fraud.
      When Mr Bannon created a fundraising scheme to finance the construction of that wall, he basically stole millions of dollars to line his own pocket, and those of other politically connected people..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Simply put, Mr Bannon lied to ordinary citizens about this project. He diverted their hard-earned money. He preyed upon the emotions of New Yorkers and Americans.
      And then when Mr Bannon was held accountable for his criminal actions, the former president pardoned him.
      Given this reality, it is understandable how hard working honest ordinary citizens are cynical about the two systems of justice in our country, one for the rich and powerful, and another for everyone else.
      But in New York, we have zero tolerance for corruption and or for abuses of power.Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg told reporters that Bannon’s formal arraignment would take place within the next hour in the New York supreme court.Here’s my colleague Hugo Lowell’s report reminding us what the Bannon scandal is about:Steve Bannon charged with money laundering and conspiracy in New YorkRead moreWe’re closing the US politics blog now. A hugely hectic day saw Steve Bannon, former chief strategist to Donald Trump, arrested and arraigned on fraud charges relating to fundraising for the former president’s border wall.In New York’s supreme court this afternoon, Bannon pleaded not guilty to six felony counts and was released without bail until next month.Letitia James, the New York attorney general, said Bannon “cheated everyday Americans” and “basically stole millions of dollars to line his own pocket”.Here’s what else we followed:
      Presidents past and present led US tributes to Queen Elizabeth II, who died this afternoon aged 96. Joe Biden said she was “more than a monarch. She defined an era”.
      The department of justice appealed a Florida judge’s controversial ruling agreeing to Donald Trump’s demand for a ‘special master’ in its investigation into the former president’s handling of classified materials.
      The Biden administration formally reversed the Trump-era “public charge” rule that barred immigrants from gaining legal residency if they had utilized certain government benefits.
      First lady Jill Biden named a new press secretary, Vanessa Valdivia, most recently communications director for California Democratic senator Alex Padilla.
      The department of justice is appealing a Florida judge’s controversial ruling agreeing to Donald Trump’s demand for a ‘special master’ in its investigation into the former president’s handling of classified materials.District court judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, ruled on Monday that a special master was necessary to review classified documents taken by FBI agents from Trump’s Palm Beach mansion, Mar-a-Lago, during an 8 August search.Justice Department appeals federal judge’s ruling for a special master in Trump Mar-a-Lago case pic.twitter.com/iCOVvwL2zX— Manu Raju (@mkraju) September 8, 2022
      The decision temporarily blocks the department from using for investigative purposes thousands of records seized, which the Washington Post reported on Wednesday included nuclear secrets of an unnamed foreign power.William Barr, attorney general during the Trump administration, called Cannon’s decision flawed. Cannon directed Trump’s attorneys and lawyers for the department to submit by Friday a list of names to be considered as a special master by Friday. The role is often filled by a lawyer or former judge.The justice department filed notice of appeal Thursday, saying it was contesting the ruling to the Atlanta-based 11th US circuit court of appeals.And here’s former president Barack Obama’s tribute to Queen Elizabeth II:Like so many of you, Michelle and I are grateful to have witnessed Her Majesty’s dedicated leadership, and we are awed by her legacy of tireless, dignified public service. Our thoughts are with her family and the people of the United Kingdom at this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/sbID222iSQ— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 8, 2022
      Former president Donald Trump also released a statement on the death of Queen Elizabeth II, on behalf of himself and the former first lady:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Melania and I are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Together with our family and fellow Americans, we send our sincere condolences to the royal family and the people of the UK during this time of great sorrow and grief.Queen Elizabeth’s historic and remarkable reign left a tremendous legacy of peace and prosperity for Great Britain. Her leadership and enduring diplomacy secured and advanced alliances with the US and countries around the world. However, she will always be remembered for her faithfulness to her country and her unwavering devotion to her fellow countrymen and women.Melania and I will always cherish our time together with the Queen, and never forget Her Majesty’s generous friendship, great wisdom, and wonderful sense of humor. What a grand and beautiful lady she was – there was nobody like her!Our thoughts and prayers will remain with the great people of the UK as you honor her most meaningful life and exceptional service to the people.Joe Biden has ordered flags to half-staff at all government, public and military buildings in the US, and at embassies, military buildings and vessels in US territories and possessions overseas, to mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.In a proclamation released from the White House, the president said the flags would remain there until sunset on the day of the Queen’s interment.“The seven decades of her history-making reign bore witness to an age of unprecedented human advancement and the forward march of human dignity. Her legacy will loom large in the pages of British history, and in the story of our world,” the proclamation said.Earlier this afternoon, House speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the lowering of flags at the US Capitol in Washington DC.Steve Bannon has pleaded not guilty to all six felony counts of his indictment for money laundering, conspiracy and scheming to defraud at his Thursday afternoon arraignment in New York’s supreme court.Donald Trump’s former chief strategist arrived in the Manhattan courtroom in handcuffs, and had his passports confiscated as a condition of his release.New: Steve Bannon pleads not guilty to money laundering and conspiracy charges connected to the “We Build the Wall” fundraising effort, agrees to surrender passports — case adjourned until Oct. 4— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) September 8, 2022
      He was arraigned on two counts of money laundering in the second degree, three of conspiracy in the fourth and fifth degree, and one of scheming to defraud in the first degree.The charges all relate to an alleged fundraising scam in which Bannon siphoned thousands of dollars in donations meant to help construct Trump’s border wall, prosecutors say.“It’s all nonsense. They will never shut me up. Ever,” Bannon told reporters in the court’s hallway.The case was adjourned until 4 October“It’s all nonsense. They will never shut me up.” – Bannon pic.twitter.com/kH2NVOM07d— Graham Kates (@GrahamKates) September 8, 2022
      Queen Elizabeth II was “more than a monarch. She defined an era,” Joe Biden anf first lady Jill Biden have said in a statement.The president’s tribute, posted to the White House website, also called the late monarch “a stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy who deepened the bedrock alliance between the UK and US”:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}In a world of constant change, she was a steadying presence and a source of comfort and pride for generations of Britons, including many who have never known their country without her. An enduring admiration for Queen Elizabeth II united people across the Commonwealth. The seven decades of her history-making reign bore witness to an age of unprecedented human advancement and the forward march of human dignity.
      She was the first British monarch to whom people all around the world could feel a personal and immediate connection – whether they heard her on the radio as a young princess speaking to the children of the UK, or gathered around their televisions for her coronation, or watched her final Christmas speech or her platinum kubilee on their phones. And she, in turn, dedicated her whole life to their service.
      Queen Elizabeth II was a stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy who deepened the bedrock alliance between the UK and US. She helped make our relationship special.The Bidens’ statement also included personal recollections from meetings the president and first lady had with the Queen:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}We first met the Queen in 1982, traveling to the UK as part of a senate delegation. And we were honored that she extended her hospitality to us in June 2021 during our first overseas trip as president and first lady, where she charmed us with her wit, moved us with her kindness, and generously shared with us her wisdom.
      All told, she met 14 American presidents. She helped Americans commemorate both the anniversary of the founding of Jamestown and the bicentennial of our independence. And she stood in solidarity with the US during our darkest days after 9/11, when she poignantly reminded us that ‘Grief is the price we pay for love’.
      In the years ahead, we look forward to continuing a close friendship with the King and the Queen Consort. Today, the thoughts and prayers of people all across the US are with the people of the UK and the Commonwealth in their grief.
      We send our deepest condolences to the royal family, who are not only mourning their Queen, but their dear mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Her legacy will loom large in the pages of British history, and in the story of our world.It looks like the White House has canceled this afternoon’s address by Joe Biden about Covid-19 vaccines, presumably out of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.We’re awaiting an official response or statement from the White House to the news.At a press briefing earlier this afternoon, during which news of the British monarch’s death emerged, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president’s thoughts were with the royal family:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Our hearts and our thoughts go to the family members of the Queen, goes to the people of the United Kingdom.
      I don’t want to get ahead of what the president is going to say. But our relationship with the people of the UK, and this is something the president has said himself, has grown stronger and stronger. The UK is one of our closest allies.
      Again, our hearts go to the people of the United Kingdom, to the Queen and to her family.House speaker Nancy Pelosi has released a statement:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Today, Americans join the people of the United Kingdom in mourning the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
      Over her seven decades on the throne, Her Majesty was a pillar of leadership in the global arena and a devoted friend of freedom.
      On behalf of the United States Congress, I extend our deepest and most sincere condolences to the Royal Family during this sad time.The Biden administration has formally reversed a Trump-era rule that barred immigrants from gaining legal residency if they had utilized certain government benefits, the Associated Press reports.The department of homeland security said Thursday that a new regulation for the “public charge” rule would go into effect in late December, although the administration had already stopped applying the previous version last year.“Consistent with America’s bedrock values, we will not penalize individuals for choosing to access the health benefits and other supplemental government services available to them,” homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement, adding the shift “ensures fair and humane treatment.”The public charge rule bars people from getting green cards if they would be burdens to the US. Prior to the Trump administration, that was interpreted as being primarily dependent on cash assistance and income maintenance. Trump expanded the disbarring benefits to include non-cash assistance including food stamps and Medicaid.Joe Biden is about to speak from the White House in an address billed “the arrival of Covid-19 vaccines”, but it is inconceivable the president won’t be devoting the moment to a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, who died this afternoon aged 96.Biden was the 13th US president of her long reign, and the two heads of state took tea together at Windsor Castle in June of last year.According to Biden, the Queen asked him about his Russian and Chinese counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, during their 45-minute talk.“We had a long talk, she was very generous. I don’t think she’d be insulted, but she reminded me of my mother. In terms of the look of her and just the generosity,” Biden said at the time.You can follow the Guardian’s rolling coverage of the Queen’s death here:Queen Elizabeth II dies aged 96 – latest updatesRead moreHailing Steve Bannon’s indictment for conspiracy and money laundering over a fraudulent border wall fundraising scheme as “an important day for justice”, New York’s attorney general Letitia James said he “stole millions of dollars to line his own pocket”.“Regular, everyday Americans”, she said, played by the rules, and that people like Bannon ignore them:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}They think that they are above the law, and the most egregious of them take advantage of hardworking Americans in the process. And Steve Bannon stands out as a perfect example of this blatant inequality.
      He gained power and influence as a top adviser to the former president. And he used that influence and those connections to cheat everyday Americans and carry out this fraud.
      When Mr Bannon created a fundraising scheme to finance the construction of that wall, he basically stole millions of dollars to line his own pocket, and those of other politically connected people..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Simply put, Mr Bannon lied to ordinary citizens about this project. He diverted their hard-earned money. He preyed upon the emotions of New Yorkers and Americans.
      And then when Mr Bannon was held accountable for his criminal actions, the former president pardoned him.
      Given this reality, it is understandable how hard working honest ordinary citizens are cynical about the two systems of justice in our country, one for the rich and powerful, and another for everyone else.
      But in New York, we have zero tolerance for corruption and or for abuses of power.Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg told reporters that Bannon’s formal arraignment would take place within the next hour in the New York supreme court.Here’s my colleague Hugo Lowell’s report reminding us what the Bannon scandal is about:Steve Bannon charged with money laundering and conspiracy in New YorkRead moreDistrict attorney Alvin Bragg is laying out details of the scheme in which Bannon “directed” transfers of tens of thousands of dollars in donations – meant to help fund Donald Trump’s border wall – to a non-profit he controlled, which then paid a salary to We Build the Wall’s president, “thereby obscuring the source of the funds”..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Bannon and three other individuals were indicted by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for crimes related to this fundraising scheme and then just months later received a presidential pardon from former president Donald Trump.
      We then began investigating and determined that Mr Bannon must be held accountable… for his conduct as the architect of this scheme, which impacted hundreds of Manhattan residents.
      Because the simple truth is that it is a crime to profit off the backs of donors by making false pretenses.
      This is the work we do, ensuring that when a Manhattanite hands over money for a particular purpose they know where it’s going and that it actually goes there without any smokescreens or false pretenses.
      And so we are here to say today in one voice that in Manhattan and in New York, you will be held accountable for defrauding donors.
      Read more:Steve Bannon charged with money laundering and conspiracy in New YorkRead moreManhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg and New York attorney general Letitia James have just begun a press conference to give more details of this morning’s indictment against former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.Bragg says Bannon was the architect of a year-long fundraising scheme by him and other leaders of We Build the Wall Incorporated “that netted more than $15m from thousands of donors across the country based on false pretenses”:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Specifically the false promise that all of the funds obtained to We Build The Wall would go to the construction of a wall on the border of the United States and Mexico and that, and I quote, ‘not a penny’ would go to its president’s salary.
      We Build The Wall’s fundraisers use that phrase time and again, not a penny, as they solicited donations through media appearances, emails to potential donors, social media posts, and more.
      But instead of pennies, the president of We Build the Wall received more than $250,000 in a salary funded by donations, at least $140,000 of which we allege was laundered by Steve Bannon.Ruth Braunstein writes…Among the many subplots roiling Washington is a surge in Republican concern about a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act that would invest $80bn in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to modernize outdated technology and increase enforcement of tax laws. Citing this investment, Senator Ted Cruz warned of a coming “shadow army of 87,000 IRS agents”.The preference to pay lower taxes is as American as apple pie and has been a centerpiece of modern Republicanism. Demonizing the IRS is not. In fact, mainstream Republicans have historically maintained a commitment to cutting taxes without promoting hysterical fears about the enforcers of tax laws. When champions of tax cuts have talked of “starving the beast”, even they have been clear that the beast is big government. The IRS is just the messenger.George W Bush requested an increase in funding for “IRS enforcement activities”, insisting that “Americans who play by the rules and pay their taxes deserve confidence that others pay their fair share as well”, and also that “enforcement more than pays for itself”. This made sense for the leader of a party that prided itself on its commitments to “law and order” and balanced budgets.For his father, George HW Bush, these commitments also required vocally rejecting anti-government rhetoric. In 1995, the former president publicly resigned as a life member of the National Rifle Association when the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre stood by his characterization of federal agents as “jack-booted thugs” who sought to “attack law-abiding citizens”, even after anti-government extremists carried out a deadly attack on a federal office building in Oklahoma City.Today, the Republican party – emboldened by years of a sitting president denouncing the “deep state” – has embraced this precise brand of anti-government rhetoric, and their latest target is the IRS.How did Republican fearmongering about an IRS ‘shadow army’ go mainstream? | Ruth BraunsteinRead moreFirst lady Jill Biden has a new press secretary, according to an announcement today from East Wing staff.Vanessa Valdivia will assume duties soon, a statement Elizabeth Alexander, the first lady’s communications director, says. We had incredible candidates, and enthusiasm around the search for this position, and we are all excited to welcome Vanessa Valdivia to our team soon as the new @FLOTUS Press Secretary! Full statement here: pic.twitter.com/01tJV3DDqE— Elizabeth Alexander (@EAlexander46) September 8, 2022
      Valdivia was most recently communications director for Democratic California senator Alex Padilla, Alexander said.She takes over from Michael LaRosa, who resigned in July.The New York Times has also got hold of a copy of Geoffrey Berman’s book, describing “new details about how the justice department under President Donald J Trump sought to use the US attorney’s office in Manhattan to support Mr Trump politically and pursue his critics – even pushing the office to open a criminal investigation of former secretary of state John Kerry”.As the Guardian has its own copy of the book, here’s a precis of what Berman writes about the Kerry issue.After ending his stint as Barack Obama’s secretary of state in 2017, Kerry continued to talk to diplomatic contacts, among them Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister with whom he had conducted talks around the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. This is normal.Trump opposed the deal. He also did not think Kerry talking to the Iranians was normal, and tweeted angrily about it. Berman writes:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}On 9 May 2018, the day after the second Trump tweet, the co-chiefs of SDNY’s national security unit … [were told] Main Justice was referring an investigation to us that concerned Kerry’s Iran-related conduct … the focus was to be on potential violations of the Logan Act.”The Logan Act, from 1798, prohibits private citizens from conducting relations with foreign powers. It has rarely been used and indeed is generally held not to be usable at all. “This is what we were being asked to consider using to prosecute Kerry,” Berman writes.The investigation never leaked to the media, Berman says. He also points to the irony that Trump himself was generally held to have conducted foreign policy, regarding Israel, before taking office.The SDNY decided not to act, in part, Berman writes, because it held that the Logan Act “does not prohibit a former US secretary of state from talking to a foreign official”.Berman calls William Barr’s conduct over the investigation – as attorney general, putting political pressure on prosecutors to please his president – “outrageous”.Barr had a second go at getting Kerry for Trump, Berman says, by moving the investigation to Maryland. That didn’t work either.Trump attorney general Barr a liar, bully and thug, says fired US attorney in bookRead moreThe department of justice inquiry into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden has expanded to look at the activities of the former president’s political action committee Save America, ABC News is reporting.A federal grand jury has been empaneled to look specifically at the group’s fundraising operations and, the network says, it has issued subpoenas for “documents, records and testimony from potential witnesses”EXCLUSIVE: A federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 attack and efforts to overturn the 2020 election has expanded its probe to examine Trump’s leadership PAC, sources say. https://t.co/mTQrPkT9jh— ABC News (@ABC) September 8, 2022
      The ABC report states: .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The subpoenas, sent to several individuals in recent weeks, are specifically seeking to understand the timeline of Save America’s formation, the organization’s fundraising activities, and how money is both received and spent by the Trump-aligned PAC.According to ABC, Save America PAC has brought in more than $135m, including transfers from affiliated committees, according to disclosure records, since its inception days after the 2020 election. As of the end of July, the PAC reported having just under $100m in cash on hand, the network said.And here’s the full 22-page grand jury indictment for Steve Bannon that’s just been released.Bannon has been indicted on six counts, two of money laundering in the second degree, three of conspiracy in the fourth and fifth degree, and one of scheming to defraud in the fifth degree.The conspiracy and scheme to defraud was in essence, the indictment alleges, Bannon and other leaders of We Build The Wall Inc soliciting money to help with the construction of Donald Trump’s border wall (that the former president insisted Mexico would pay for), and assuring donors that nobody was taking a salary.The executives, the state alleges, were actually siphoning off “hundreds of thousands of dollars” for themselves, and in Bannon’s case around a million dollars.We’ll learn more at the lunchtime press conference from New York attorney general Letitia James and Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg.Meanwhile, you can read the indictment here. More

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      in US Politics

      Nuclear secrets reportedly found at Mar-a-Lago are ‘gamechanger’, experts say – live

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      The reported discovery of information about a foreign nation’s nuclear secrets in materials found at Donald Trump’s private residence is horrifying intelligence experts.Federal agents seized the document during their search of Mar-a-Lago, the former president’s Palm Beach mansion in Florida, last month, the Washington Post reported. It appears to confirm officials’ worst fears about the nature of the intelligence he should have returned to the National Archives.Shawn Turner, former director of communications for US national intelligence, was searing in his criticism during an interview Wednesday on CNN’s New Day:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The fact we now know there were highly classified, restricted access documents about another country’s nuclear defense capabilities stored at Mar-a-Lago is a gamechanger with regard to the risk it poses to our national security.
      That these documents may have been seen by unauthorized personnel … tells individuals what our capabilities are with regard to intelligence collection related to nuclear programs.
      More important is it identifies or exposes our gaps with regard to intelligence collection.
      The bottom line is others are going to look at this information and determine what we know and don’t know, and they’re going to make decisions about their nuclear programs based on that information. And that is an extremely dangerous thing.The Post’s reporting is only the latest twist in a weeks-long saga over the justice department’s investigation into his handling of classified materials after he left office in January 2021.Trump, who is mulling another run for the presidency in 2024, attacked the department at a weekend rally where he called the FBI and DoJ “vicious monsters”.Many others, including Trump’s former attorney general, William Barr, have defended the investigation into his retention of government records, saying that it posed a major national security risk.Read more:FBI found document on foreign nuclear defenses at Mar-a-Lago – reportRead moreA judge today struck down a 1931 anti-abortion law in Michigan, months after suspending it, saying, “A law denying safe, routine medical care not only denies women of their ability to control their bodies and their lives – it denies them of their dignity. Michigan’s Constitution forbids this violation of due process.”The law had long been inactive prior to the overturning of Roe v Wade and made it illegal to perform abortions unless there was a life-threatening emergency. Judge Elizabeth Gleicher said the law “compels motherhood”, prevents a woman from determining the “shape of her present and future life” and “forces a pregnant woman to forgo her reproductive choices and to instead serve as ‘an involuntary vessel entitled to no more respect than other forms of collectively owned property’”.Michigan’s Democratic governor praised the ruling, but warned it was likely to be challenged and said there were “extremists who will stop at nothing to ban abortion even in cases of rape and incest”. Today, the courts ruled once again Michigan women have the right to make medical decisions for themselves.However, this decision is likely to be challenged, and we know that there are extremists who will stop at nothing to ban abortion even in cases of rape and incest.— Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) September 7, 2022
      The decision comes amid an ongoing court battle that will determine whether another anti-abortion measure is on the ballot before voters in Michigan this year. The full story on Gleicher’s decision: Judge strikes down Michigan’s strict 1931 anti-abortion lawRead moreHi all – Sam Levin here in Los Angeles taking over our live coverage for the rest of the day. A new report suggests that hundreds of US law enforcement officers, elected officials and military personnel were listed on leaked documents as members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group linked to the Jan 6 2021 insurrection. The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism reviewed 38,000 leaked names on a membership list of the group and said it identified more than 370 people believed to be active members of police agencies, in addition to more than 100 people currently in the military, the AP reports. The review also identified more than 80 people running for office or currently serving as elected officials as of this summer. The list included sheriffs and police chiefs, the AP said. Some of the officials contacted by the AP responded they were members years ago but were no longer active. In recent years, there has been escalating concerns about links between police departments and far-right extremist groups in the US, a problem that was widely scrutinized after the insurrection, where off-duty officers were present. Last week, a retired New York police officer received the longest sentence yet for his involvement in the attack on the Capitol, during which he assaulted an officer with a flagpole. The full story on the Oath Keepers leak: Oath Keepers membership rolls feature police, military and elected officialsRead moreCertain prominent legal experts aren’t pulling their punches this afternoon, already skeptical of the ruling by the federal judge in Florida granting Donald Trump’s request to have a special master interrupt and oversee the Department of Justice’s review of documents seized by the FBI from the former president’s residence at Mar-a-Lago.Harvard’s Laurence Tribe, as pithy as usual, has quote tweeted former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann over what needs to happen next in the court case – and not long after.A good list. I’d offer a friendly amendment to item 2:2. Indict Trump before this December. https://t.co/Zl4GiT3v2B— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) September 7, 2022
      Tribe wrote for the Guardian today that the ruling two days ago on the special master by Aileen Cannon, the federal judge in West Palm Beach, “has to rank high in the annals of the worst reasoned judicial decisions in American history”.He warns: “If it signals that judicial Trumpism has spread more broadly than we thought, there may be danger ahead to our entire system of equal justice.”Tribe wrote the piece with former federal prosecutor Dennis Aftergut and you can read the rest of it here.Tribe also notes that Trump’s attorney general Bill Barr has called Cannon’s ruling “deeply flawed”. (Barr also called it “a crock of shit”.)But he adds in a tweet: “I’m glad Bill Barr is making the rounds on his “dismantle Trump” tour, but if it’s a “rehabilitate Barr” tour, count me out.”I’m glad Bill Barr is making the rounds on his “dismantle Trump” tour, but if it’s a “rehabilitate Barr” tour, count me out . . . https://t.co/ELnloUmIn2— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) September 7, 2022
      The rehab tour started in earnest with the main round of January 6 hearings, and no matter what it does or doesn’t do for Barr, his testimony to that House committee’s inquiry did a lot for the congressional investigation itself (as well as for Ivanka Trump’s view of who won the 2020 election, apparently).Reporters at the White House press briefing are wondering if the US has had contact with any other countries over the reported discovery of a foreign power’s nuclear secrets among classified documents hoarded by ex-president Donald Trump.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is sticking closely to her previous position of flat-out refusing to comment on the justice department’s investigation into Trump’s handling of secret material, but does say this:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}We don’t have any calls to foreign governments to read out at this time on this particular issue as known.
      When it comes to this specific issue, the ODNI [office of the director of national intelligence] is in the middle of an assessment, and DoJ [justice department] is in the middle of an ongoing criminal investigation. So I’m not going to comment.It should be noted that Jean-Pierre is not saying no such calls have taken place, nor is she saying they have. She’s just saying that she has nothing that she can share.We’ve hopped across the White House from the East Room to the briefing room, to join press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.Monkeypox is first on the agenda. Robert Fenton, White House national monkeypox response coordinator, says the country has ample supplies of vaccines to supply the most at-risk.“Our focus is to reach the remainder of the eligible population where they are,” he says, citing the success of thousands of doses being administered over the weekend at pride events in Louisiana, Georgia and elsewhere.“These events demonstrate our strategy is working.”Dr Demetre Daskalakis, deputy response coordinator, says the population at highest risk is largely men who have sex with other men.“It’s important people know a safe and effective vaccine is available for those who need it,” he says.“It’s important we speak to the community in a way that doesn’t stigmatize them. [The virus] doesn’t distinguish between people based on their sexual orientation or gender.”Michelle Obama’s speech from her portrait unveiling at the White House is worth a read. The day, the former first lady said, belongs not to her or Barack Obama, and it’s not even about the paintings:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Too often in this country, people feel like they have to look a certain way or act a certain way to fit in. They have to make a lot of money, or come from a certain group or class or faith in order to matter.
      But what we’re looking at today, a portrait of a biracial kid with an unusual name and the daughter of a water pump operator and a stay at home mom, what we are seeing is a reminder that there’s a place for everyone in this country.
      Because, as Barack said, if the two of us can end up on the walls of the most famous address in the world, it is so important for every young kid who is doubting themselves to believe that they can too..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}That is what this country is about. It’s not about blood or pedigree or wealth. It’s a place where everyone should have a fair shot. Whether you’re a kid taking two buses and a train just to get to school, or a single mother who’s working two jobs to put some food on the table.
      Or an immigrant, just arriving, getting your first apartment, forging a future for yourself in a place you dreamed of.
      That’s why for me this day isn’t about me or Barack. It’s not even about these beautiful paintings. It’s about telling that fuller story, a story that includes every single American in every single corner of the country so that our kids and grandkids can see something more for themselves.
      And as much as some folks might want us to believe that that story has lost some of its shine, that division, and discrimination and everything else might have dimmed its light, I still know deep in my heart, that what we share, as my husband continues to say, is so much bigger than what we don’t.
      Our democracy is so much stronger than our differences.Joe Biden has tweeted about his “old pals act” at the White House on Wednesday, the vice-president turned president greeting his former boss Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama for the unveiling of their portraits.“Someone once said that if you’re looking for a friend in Washington get a dog,” Obama said during his speech in the East Room.“Our family was lucky enough to have two wonderful dogs. But I was even luckier to have a chance to spend eight years working day and night with a man who became a true partner and a true friend.“Joe, it is now America’s good fortune to have you as president”.Barack and Michelle, welcome back. pic.twitter.com/wcdBvfMcGg— President Biden (@POTUS) September 7, 2022
      Mar-a-Lago – the Palm Beach resort and residence where Donald Trump reportedly stored nuclear secrets among a trove of highly classified documents for 18 months since leaving the White House – is a magnet for foreign spies, former intelligence officials have warned.The Washington Post reported that a document describing an unspecified foreign government’s defences, including its nuclear capabilities, was one of the many highly secret papers Trump took away from the White House when he left office in January 2021.There were also documents marked SAP, for Special-Access Programmes, which are often about US intelligence operations and whose circulation is severely restricted, even among administration officials with top security clearance.Potentially most disturbing of all, there were papers stamped HCS, Humint Control Systems, involving human intelligence gathered from agents in enemy countries, whose lives would be in danger if their identities were compromised.The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is conducting a damage assessment review which is focused on the sensitivity of the documents, but US officials said it is the job of FBI counter-intelligence to assess who may have gained access to them.That is a wide field. The home of a former president with a history of being enthralled by foreign autocrats, distrustful of US security services, and boastful about his knowledge of secrets, is an obvious foreign intelligence target.“I know that national security professionals inside government, my former colleagues, [they] are shaking their heads at what damage might have been done,” John Brennan, former CIA director, told MSNBC.“I’m sure Mar-a-Lago was being targeted by Russian intelligence and other intelligence services over the course of the last 18 or 20 months, and if they were able to get individuals into that facility, and access those rooms where those documents were and made copies of those documents, that’s what they would do.”Barack Obama also thanked artists Robert McCurdy and Sharon Sprung for their respective portraits of himself and Michelle Obama.“He captures every wrinkle of your face, every crease of your shirt, [and] you’ll note he refused all of my requests to make my ears smaller,” he said.“He also talked me out of wearing a tan suit, by the way,” he added to laughter and applause, a nod to the social media firestorm he created back in 2014 when he wore one.“What you realize when you’re sitting behind that desk, and what I want people to remember about Michelle and me, is that presidents and first ladies are human beings. “I’ve always described the presidency as a relay race. You take the baton from someone, you run your leg as hard and as well as you can, and then you hand it off to someone else, knowing that your work will be incomplete. “The portraits hanging in the White House chronicle the runners in that race.Having unveiled his portrait, Barack Obama is now paying tribute to Joe Biden, saying it is “America’s good fortune” to have him as president:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}You have guided us through some perilous times, you have built on and gone beyond the work we all did together to expand healthcare, to fight climate change, to advance social justice and to promote economic fairness.
      Thanks to you our faith in our democracy and the American people, the country is better off than when you took office. He also acknowledged his aides, staffers and colleagues from his time in the White House. Many are in the audience in the East Room:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}For eight years, even longer for some of you, I drew on your energy and dedication and your goodness. You inspired me and I never wanted to disappoint you.
      Even during the toughest times it was all of you that kept me going. It’s good to be back and see all of you…what’s been a special joy to see what’s happened since.
      [But] I am a little disappointed I haven’t heard anyone naming a kid Barack yet.“Or Michelle…” the former first lady interjected from beside him.Joe Biden is acknowledging Barack Obama as his inspiration for everything he does as president.Speaking at the official unveiling of the former president and first lady, Michelle Obama, at the White House, Biden said:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}With Barack as our president we got up every day and went to work full of hope, for real, full of purpose, and excited about the possibility before us.
      Few people I’ve ever known have more integrity, decency, and moral courage than Barack Obama.
      Mr President, nothing could have prepared me better, and more, to become president of the United States than to be your side for eight years. I mean it from the bottom of my heart.
      No matter what the issue was, no matter how difficult, no matter what it was about, you never did what it was the easy way, the easy way out. It was never about doing it that way, it was always about doing what was right.To that end, Biden cited Obama’s signature achievement, passage of the Affordable Care Act, nicknamed Obamacare, which survived a bumpy passage and overcame Republican opposition in the Senate to become law:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}He never gave up on the simple truth that health care was a right for all Americans when so many were telling him, including me at one point, take the compromise, take the compromise… we weren’t sure we get anything done.
      You refused. You went big. And now the Affordable Care Act is there permanently and it’s even being improved.Here are the portraits:JUST UNVEILED: The official @WhiteHouse portraits of @BarackObama & @MichelleObama. pic.twitter.com/dDTxblOe5e— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) September 7, 2022
      Joe Biden is speaking at the White House, where he is unveiling the official portraits of former first lady Michelle Obama, and 44th president Barack Obama, whom he served as vice-president.“Barack and Michelle, welcome home,” the president began.Here’s a video interview with the portraits’ artists, Robert McCurdy and Sharon Sprung.New York state is ending a 28-month-old Covid-19 mandate requiring masks on trains, buses and other modes of public transit, governor Kathy Hochul said at a news conference today, Reuters reports..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Starting today masks will be optional. We have to restore some normalcy to our lives…Masks are encouraged but optional,” Hochul said, citing recent revised guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).New York first adopted the mandate in April 2020 as Covid-19 was rampaging in the New York City area..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}It’s always been a visible reminder that something is not normal here, and it was there for the right reason. It protected health and now we’re in a far different place,” Hochul said.In April, the Biden administration decided to no longer enforce a US mask mandate on public transportation after a federal judge in Florida ruled the directive was unlawful. New York declined to adopt the Biden policy in April.In recent months, many riders in New York had stopped observing the mask policy.Hochul said masks will still be required in some places like adult care facilities and some other medical facilities.The US Justice Department appealed the Florida judge’s ruling invalidating the transportation mask mandate, but a federal appeals court has not yet set the case for oral arguments.It’s been a lively morning in US political news and there’s more to come. The unveiling at the White House of the official portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama is just ahead, with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in attendance, and the White House press briefing with Karine Jean-Pierre follows not long after that. We’ll be watching for any other significant breaking news and will bring it to you as it happens.Here’s where things stand:
      Former Trump administration defense secretaries Jim Mattis and Mark Esper have joined a group of retired military officers who have written an open letter warning of an “extremely adverse environment” for the military – a thinly-veiled attack on the former president’s efforts to use servicemen and women to advance his political goals.
      Andrew McCabe, former deputy director of the FBI says federal agents “absolutely had to go in” to retrieve highly classified documents from Donald Trump’s private residence relating to the nuclear secrets of a foreign power.
      Donald Trump’s legal jeopardy could be heightened by the reported discovery of a foreign nation’s nuclear secrets among his hoard of improperly retained classified materials, some experts believe.
      The reported discovery of information about a foreign nation’s nuclear secrets in materials found at Donald Trump’s private residence in the FBI search last month is horrifying intelligence experts. The legal and security situation was already extremely serious and the further revelation has been called “a gamechanger”.
      Massachusetts is on course to elect its first woman and first gay governor after Maura Healey won the Democratic primary on Tuesday and a Trump-backed candidate, Geoff Diehl, won the Republican contest to face her.Healey, the state attorney general, said: “I am honored to receive the Democratic nomination … Together, we’re going to win in November and build a Massachusetts that works for everyone.”Massachusetts has a long record of electing moderate Republicans. Only one Democrat – Deval Patrick, from 2007 to 2015 – has been governor since 1991.Healey, a former college and professional basketball player, has been attorney general since 2015. Polls give her huge leads over Diehl.The Republican backs Donald Trump’s lie that his defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 election was the result of electoral fraud, opposed the extension of mail-in voting, opposed public health mandates in the Covid pandemic and supports the supreme court decision overturning Roe v Wade, the 1973 ruling that guaranteed the right to abortion.The abortion issue alone has driven electoral successes that have Democrats hoping they can prosper in the midterm elections.On Monday, Trump – the de facto leader of a party dominated by supporters Biden has called “semi-fascist” – told Massachusetts Republicans that Diehl would push back against “ultra-liberal extremists” and “rule your state with an iron fist”.Full-story:Massachusetts set to elect first female, gay governor over Trumpist opponentRead more More

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      Bannon trial set for closing arguments after defense doesn’t call witnesses

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      Bannon trial set for closing arguments after defense doesn’t call witnessesFederal prosectors to make final pitch to convict Trump’s ex-adviser on charges of contempt of Congress for defying subpoena Federal prosecutors are due to make their final pitch to jurors on Friday to convict Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s former presidential adviser, on charges of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena by the committee investigating last year’s attack on the US Capitol by supporters of the-then president as they sought to overturn his election defeat by Joe Biden.The prosecution and defense are expected to deliver closing arguments to the 12-member jury in federal court, with deliberations expected to begin afterward.House panel showed Trump conspired to seize the election – but was it illegal?Read moreThe defense rested its case on Thursday without calling any witnesses after the prosecution rested on Wednesday, having called two witnesses over two days.Bannon, 68, has pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts after rebuffing the House of Representative select committee’s subpoena requesting testimony and documents as part of its inquiry into the January 6, 2021, rampage by Trump supporters trying to stop the US Congress officially certifying Democrat Biden’s win over Republican Trump.Bannon had promised in out-of-court bluster to fight his case vigorously and make it the “misdemeanor from hell” for the authorities, but he ultimately made no presentation to the court, as the Daily Beast reported.Prosecutors said they expect their arguments on Friday to last about 30 minutes, plus 15 for rebuttal. The defense said it plans to take roughly the same amount of time to make its arguments.Bannon was barred from arguing that he believed his communications with Trump were subject to a legal doctrine called executive privilege that can keep certain presidential communications confidential. The judge also prohibited Bannon from arguing that he relied on legal advice from an attorney in refusing to comply with the congressional subpoena.Bannon’s primary defense in the trial was that he believed the subpoena’s deadline dates were flexible and subject to negotiation between his attorney and the committee.The main prosecution witness was Kristin Amerling, a senior committee staff member. She testified on Wednesday that Bannon disregarded the subpoena’s two deadlines, sought no extensions and offered an invalid rationale for his defiance – a claim by Trump involving a legal doctrine called executive privilege that can keep certain presidential communications confidential.Bannon has spoken only once in court throughout the trial. He said: “Yes, your honor,” when the judge asked if he agreed not to testify.Outside court on Thursday, Bannon said: “One last thing. I stand with Trump and the constitution.”TopicsSteve BannonJanuary 6 hearingsUS Capitol attackLaw (US)newsReuse this content More

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      Steve Bannon appears in court as contempt-of-Congress trial begins

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      Steve Bannon appears in court as contempt-of-Congress trial beginsFar-right Trump ally seeks to claim in federal court that he did not willfully fail to comply with subpoena Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman and White House strategist, appeared in federal court on Monday as his trial for criminal contempt of Congress, over noncompliance with a subpoena from the House January 6 committee, formally opened in Washington.Trump won’t blunt January 6 inquiry by entering 2024 race, panel member saysRead moreThe far-right provocateur – one of the principal architects of Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election – is attempting to argue that he did not willfully fail to comply with the subpoena, which sought documents and testimony.The DC district court judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, presided over a first day of the trial that was not expected to proceed past the jury selection process, to opening arguments from the government and Bannon’s legal team.The general standard to qualify a person for the jury appeared to be whether they had in-depth knowledge of Bannon’s contempt of Congress case specifically, after Nichols decided mere knowledge of the January 6 hearings was not enough to exclude people.Bannon’s legal team had repeatedly sought to delay the trial over supposed concerns that the hearings would taint a jury pool that might have an above-average consumption of news coverage of the Capitol attack or January 6 inquiries.The majority of potential jurors, however, had limited knowledge of Bannon’s case specifically, and even if they knew Bannon had not complied with a congressional subpoena, they did not know the underlying reasons for his failure to testify or produce documents.TopicsSteve BannonUS Capitol attackJanuary 6 hearingsUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Steve Bannon’s criminal contempt of Congress trial set to begin Monday

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      Steve Bannon’s criminal contempt of Congress trial set to begin MondayFormer Trump adviser refused to comply with Capitol attack subpoena for documents and testimony related to January 6 A federal criminal trial is set to begin on Monday to determine whether Stephen Bannon, the influential former adviser to Donald Trump, broke the law by refusing to comply with a subpoena for documents and testimony by the panel investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol.Last fall, the congressional committee investigating the deadly Capitol riots subpoenaed Bannon to sit for a deposition and to provide a wide range of documents related to the events of January 6. Bannon refused to comply. The committee cited him for contempt and referred him to the US justice department for prosecution in October of last year.The justice department pursued the referral, and a federal grand jury indicted Bannon on two counts of contempt of Congress, both misdemeanors, in November. It is extremely rare for the justice department to pursue such charges – before Bannon, the last contempt prosecution was in 1983. Bannon faces between 30 days and a year in prison if convicted on each charge.Bannon, whom Trump fired from the White House in August of 2017, has emerged as a powerful conservative voice since leaving the White House, and his podcast, War Room, has become a must-stop for those on the political right. He has used it to stoke baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and began outlining how Trump could try to overturn the elections starting in September 2020.Days in advance, Bannon predicted that Trump would declare himself the winner on election night and take advantage of confusion that would result as Democrats picked up votes because of mail-in ballots that were counted after in person votes. Trump wound up doing exactly that.The committee said in its contempt report that Bannon appeared to have “some foreknowledge” of what would happen on 6 January. It has also said that Bannon and Trump spoke twice on 5 January. “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow,” Bannon said on a podcast after the first call. “It’s all converging and now we’re on the point of attack tomorrow.”In the leadup to the attack, Bannon was also was present at the Willard hotel, the nucleus of Trump’s legal efforts to overturn the 2020 election.Bannon is the first former Trump administration official to face a criminal trial for refusing to participate in the January 6 probe. From the moment he was indicted, he has pledged to fight the charges, saying on his podcast recently he was going “medieval” and would “savage his enemies”. But Bannon has suffered a number of defeats in the leadup to the trial as US district court Judge Carl J Nichols, a Trump appointee, has blocked many of Bannon’s main defenses.“What’s the point of going to trial if we don’t have any defences?” David Schoen, one of Bannon’s lawyers, said at a recent hearing. Nichols replied by simply by saying “agreed”.Nichols’s ruling stripped Bannon of some of his key defenses, including that he had been relying on the advice of his lawyer when he defied the subpoena. Bannon’s lawyers have also claimed that Trump invoked executive privilege to shield Bannon from compliance, but it’s not clear that Trump did so and whether or not a former president has the power to grant such protection to someone not serving in government. The Trump lawyer Justin Clark told Bannon’s attorney in a letter that he didn’t believe Bannon was immune from testimony.After the rulings, the only defenses that appear to remain for Bannon is that he might have somehow misunderstood the deadline to respond to the subpoena, and that he did not think he had defied the subpoena because the select committee told him in a letter after the deadline that they hoped he might still cooperate with the investigation.Bannon has maneuvered to try to delay the trial, citing the publicity of the committee’s public hearings and by recently offering to testify before the panel. Prosecutors argued the move was an attempt to put off the trial. Bannon had also attempted to call prominent Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as witnesses in his case, but Nichols’s rulings appear to make it more difficult for him to do so.Government prosecutors have said it will take them just a day to put on their case. Bannon’s lawyers have said their defense could take weeks.Federal prosecutors are also pursuing contempt charges against Peter Navarro, another ex-Trump administration official. Like Bannon, Navarro has pleaded not guilty.Hugo Lowell contributed to this report.TopicsUS politicsSteve BannonJanuary 6 hearingsUS Capitol attacknewsReuse this content More