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    Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift chaos triggers US Senate antitrust hearing

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    Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift chaos triggers US Senate antitrust hearingSeveral politicians voice concerns about dominance of ticket sales company after botched release for singer’s tour A US Senate antitrust panel will go ahead with a hearing on the lack of competition in the country’s ticketing industry after Ticketmaster’s problems last week managing the sale of Taylor Swift tickets.Tickemaster’s parent company, Live Nation, has blamed presale problems for Swift’s Eras tour – the pop superstar’s first US tour in five years – on “unprecedented demand” and an effort to keep out bots run by ticket scalpers.After registered fans struggled with glitches for hours to get tickets in the presale, and tickets quickly began appearing for resale for as much as US$22,700 (£19,100, A$33,500), Ticketmaster cancelled sales to the general public. It later claimed the demand for Swift tickets “could have filled 900 stadiums”.Swifties know: the Ticketmaster fiasco shows America has a monopoly problem | Arwa MahdawiRead moreSwift has said it was “excruciating” for her to watch fans struggling to secure tickets and that she had been assured Ticketmaster could handle the demand.The chaos attracted the attention of US politicians, many of whom have voiced concerns about how dominant Ticketmaster has become after it merged with the entertainment company Live Nation in 2010.Tennessee’s attorney general, Jonathan Skrmetti, has said he will launch a consumer protection investigation into the company after his office was bombarded with complaints from Swift fans.The congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has also criticised the merger. “Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, its merger with Live Nation should never have been approved, and they need to be reined in,” she tweeted. “Break them up.”On Tuesday the senator Amy Klobuchar, who will chair the panel, and the senator Mike Lee, the top Republican on the committee, announced the Senate hearing would go ahead. They have yet to provide a date or a list of witnesses.“The high fees, site disruptions and cancellations that customers experienced shows how Ticketmaster’s dominant market position means the company does not face any pressure to continually innovate and improve,” Klobuchar said. “We will hold a hearing on how consolidation in the live entertainment and ticketing industry harms customers and artists alike.”Ticketmaster denied any anti-competitive practices and said it remained under a consent decree with the Department of Justice after the 2010 merger, adding there was no “evidence of systemic violations of the consent decree”.“Ticketmaster has a significant share of the primary ticketing services market because of the large gap that exists between the quality of the Ticketmaster system and the next best primary ticketing system,” the company said.Klobuchar was one of three lawmakers who argued in a letter on Monday that Ticketmaster and Live Nation should be broken up by the Department of Justice if any misconduct was found in an ongoing investigation.The department has proven in recent years to be much more willing to file antitrust lawsuits against giant companies – including the ongoing December 2020 lawsuit against Google – and to fight mergers. Reuters contributed to this reportTopicsTaylor SwiftUS SenatePop and rockMusic industryUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Trump in apparent Twitter snub after Musk lifts ban – as it happened

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      A brief recap of how Donald Trump’s return to Twitter happened:The first, and most pivotal event, is Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform. The Tesla boss announced his intention months ago then tried to back out, before finally taking over Twitter last month. Musk said he would reverse Trump’s ban if he took over the platform, but decided to first put it to a vote on Friday:Reinstate former President Trump— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2022
      The 52% in favor of his return is the type of popular vote margin Trump can only dream of.Anyway, Musk made good on his promise and reinstated the former president on Saturday: The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated.Vox Populi, Vox Dei. https://t.co/jmkhFuyfkv— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2022
      Trump has not yet tweeted. Musk has, perhaps seeking to distract attention from the chaos that appears to be engulfing Twitter since he took it over:And lead us not into temptation … pic.twitter.com/8qNOXzwXS9— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 21, 2022
      After being booted from Twitter following the January 6 insurrection, Trump started Truth, a competing social network that never really took off, and on which he was its most famous denizen. Last month, Trump told Fox News that he planned to remain there. A regulatory filing from Truth indicates that even if Trump intends to return to Twitter, he has comittments to take care of first:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}President Trump is generally obligated to make any social media post on TruthSocial and may not make the same post on another social media site for 6 hours. Thereafter, he is free to post on any site to which he has access. … In addition, he may make a post from a personal account related to political messaging, political fundraising or get-out-the-vote efforts on any social media site at any time.Donald Trump’s Twitter account was reactivated but remained quiet, though the former president aired grievances in other venues. Meanwhile, Joe Biden carried out the customary pardon of a pair of turkeys ahead of Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday, but his administration may soon have another labor headache to deal with.Here’s what else happened today:
      Manhattan’s district attorney is revitalizing a criminal investigation into Trump, but it appears to have long odds of success.
      Biden said he had no advance knowledge of the decision to appoint a special counsel to decide whether to charge Trump over the January 6 insurrection and Mar-a-Lago documents case.
      Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows is continuing to fight his subpoena from a special grand jury investigating the 2020 election meddling campaign in Georgia.
      The head of progressive Democrats in the House said Biden should stand for re-election, and called on Republicans to stop attacking Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, accusing them of stoking xenophobia.
      Another January 6 rioter is going to jail.
      Barack Obama will return to Georgia on 1 December to campaign for Democratic senator Raphael Warnock, who is fighting to keep his seat in a contest with Republican challenger Herschel Walker, FOX 5 Atlanta reports.Warnock and Walker will stand in a runoff election on 6 December after neither won a majority in the midterm elections held earlier this month. Obama campaigned for Warnock in late October, and the senator ended up winning slightly more votes than Walker in the 8 November election.Democrats have already won narrow control of the Senate for another two years, but Warnock’s re-election would pad their majority and allow them smoother operation of the chamber. A win by Walker would give Republicans an easier path to regaining the Senate when the next elections are held in 2024.Another January 6 rioter has been convicted, Politico reports:JUST IN: A jury finds Riley Williams — 22-year-old woman who joined Jan. 6 mob that breached Speaker Pelosi’s office — *guilty* of participating in a civil disorder and of impeding police.Jury hung on obstruction/aiding theft of Pelosi laptop.Details TK— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) November 21, 2022
      Kevin McCarthy’s criticism of Ilhan Omar is more indicative of his problems than hers.While Republicans may prevail in ousting Omar from the foreign affairs committee, McCarthy is embroiled in a high-stakes contest to win the post of House speaker – and may not have the votes to get the job.Last week, the California lawmaker was selected as the party’s candidate for House speaker, but to prevail he will need the support of a majority in the chamber. With the GOP likely to have only a tiny majority in the House and Democrats not expected to lend any support, he can afford to lose very few Republican votes. But several conservative lawmakers have said they won’t vote for McCarthy, imperiling his bid.Politico reports that dynamic has presented an opportunity for centrist lawmakers to make demands of McCarthy in return for their support, such as steps to promote bipartisan legislation. Some Democrats are even working on a plan to extract their own concessions, in case their votes become necessary for McCarthy to win, according to Politico.McCarthy, meanwhile, has announced a trip to the southern border, which has seen a big uptick in migrant arrivals since Joe Biden took office. That’s likely a signal McCarthy is trying to burnish his bona fides on conservative immigration policy as he looks to consolidate support:Headed to the Southern border this week, where I’ll share our gratitude for brave border patrol personnel and send a message to Joe Biden that a Republican majority will use every tool at our disposal—from the power of the purse to power of the subpoena—to secure the border.— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) November 20, 2022
      The chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Pramila Jayapal, has called for Republicans, particularly their leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, to tone down their rhetoric toward Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.Omar, a Democratic House representative from Minnesota who was born in Somalia and is a practising Muslim, has been a frequent target of attacks from rightwing lawmakers since she arrived in the chamber in 2019:Islamophobia has no place in our country or our government.@Ilhan is a dedicated Congresswoman and a powerful member of @USProgressives. But since the moment she arrived in Washington, the Republican Party has weaponized xenophobia and racism to undermine her voice. (1/2)— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) November 21, 2022
      It is clear that Kevin McCarthy did not hear the American people when they unequivocally rejected MAGA extremism and hatred in the midterms.It’s time to turn down the temperature. (2/2)— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) November 21, 2022
      Over the weekend, McCarthy pledged that if he was elected House speaker, he would remove Omar from the House foreign affairs committee, citing remarks she made about Israel:Last year, I promised that when I became Speaker, I would remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee based on her repeated anti-semitic and anti-American remarks.I’m keeping that promise. pic.twitter.com/04blBx3neD— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) November 19, 2022
      Removing lawmakers from House committees requires approval from a majority of the chamber, which Republicans are set to control next year.The United States just took a 1-0 lead over Wales in the Americans’ first World Cup match in eight years.Joe Biden must be pleased. Before the match, he gave the national team a pep talk, and here’s footage from the White House of what he said:President Biden called the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team to wish them luck in the 2022 World Cup. pic.twitter.com/Z9UhWurzNu— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 21, 2022
      Follow along here for more of the Guardian’s live coverage of the match:USA v Wales: World Cup 2022 – liveRead morePramila Jayapal, the Washington state Democratic congresswoman and chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus has joined the ranks of those who think Jo Biden should run for a second term in the White House term, despite the fact he turned 80 yesterday..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}He was not my first or second choice for president, but I am a convert. I never thought I would say this, but I believe he should run for another term and finish this agenda we laid out.
      What the president understands is you need this progressive base — young people, folks of color — and that progressives issues are popular. Whoever is in the White House should understand that, because it is a basic tenet now of how you win elections,” Jayapal told online news site Politico in an interview launched today.The Hill noted today that almost three-quarters of Democratic voters in a USA Today-Ipsos poll released yesterday said Biden could win if he runs for reelection, and half of Democrats think he deserves to win the White House again.The comments from Jayapal came in Politico’s piece about progressives also supporting Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain continuing in that job. Amid talk that he might leave, Biden has reportedly asked him to stay on, too.Elon Musk has said he will not reinstate the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Twitter, saying he has “no mercy” for people who capitalise on the deaths of children for personal fame.Twitter permanently suspended the accounts of Jones and his Infowars website in September 2018 for violating the platform’s abusive behaviour policy.Jones, 48, gained notoriety for pushing a false conspiracy theory about the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in 2012, which led to harassment of parents who lost their children in the massacre. Jones has been ordered by a US court to pay more than $1.4bn (£1.2bn) to people who suffered from his false claim that the shooting, in which 20 children and six educators died, was a hoax.Musk appeared to rule out a return for Jones in an interaction with Twitter users on Monday. The author and podcaster Sam Harris asked Twitter’s new owner if it was “time to let Alex Jones back on Twitter” and “if not, why not?”. Kim Dotcom, the internet entrepreneur, also asked if Jones could be reinstated in the interest of “real free speech”.Musk replied that he had lost a child – to sudden infant death syndrome in 2002 – and said Jones used the death of children to push his own agenda. He tweeted: “My firstborn child died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat. I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame.” Full story here.Prosecutors in the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial rested their case today, earlier than expected, pinning hopes for convicting Donald Trump’s company largely on the word of two top executives who cut deals before testifying in New York that they schemed to avoid taxes on company-paid perks.Allen Weisselberg, the company’s longtime finance chief, and Jeffrey McConney, a senior vice president and controller, testified for the bulk of the prosecution’s eight-day case, bringing the drama of their own admitted wrongdoing to a trial heavy on numbers, spreadsheets, tax returns and payroll records, the Associated Press writes.Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty in August to dodging taxes on $1.7 million in extras, was required to testify as a prosecution witness as part of a plea deal in exchange for a promised sentence of five months in jail. McConney was granted immunity to testify.The Trump Organization’s lawyers are expected to start calling witnesses Monday afternoon, likely beginning with an accountant who handled years of tax returns and other financial matters for Trump, the Trump Organization and hundreds of Trump entities.Prosecutors had considered calling the accountant, Mazars USA LLP partner Donald Bender, but decided not to. The defense indicated it would call him instead.Manhattan prosecutors allege that the Trump Organization helped top executives avoid paying taxes on company-paid perks and that it is liable for Weisselberg’s wrongdoing because he was a “high managerial agent” acting on its behalf.The tax fraud case is the only trial to arise from the Manhattan district attorney’s three-year investigation of Trump and his business practices. If convicted, the company could be fined more than $1 million and face difficulty making deals.In Arizona, Republican Liz Harris won her race for a seat in the state’s House of Representatives – but has pledged not to cast any votes until the entire 2022 election is redone, 12News reports.“Although I stand to win my Legislative District race it has become obvious that we need to hold a new election immediately. There are clear signs of foul play from machine malfunctions, chain of custody issues and just blatant mathematical impossibilities. How can a Republican State Treasurer receive more votes than a Republican Gubernatorial or Senate candidate?” Harris wrote in a statement.If Harris follows through on the threat, it could cause some serious problems for her Republican colleagues. They control the Arizona House, but only by two votes.Former Trump official Steve Bannon was a great promoter of his Maga ideology ahead of the midterms. But most of the candidates who appeared on his shows lost their races, a Media Matters for America analysis found.Of the 59 candidates who were interviewed by Bannon, 34, or 58%, lost their races, the left-leaning media watchdog found. His record among new aspirants for office was worse. Of the 48 non-incumbents Bannon hosted, 33 of them lost. Losers include Tudor Dixon, the GOP candidate for governor of Michigan, and Kari Lake, who stood for the same role in Arizona. Among Senate aspirants, Don Bolduc, Adam Laxalt, Blake Masters, Joe Pinion and Gerald Malloy were among the losers. JD Vance and Katie Britt, however, won their races. Other notable losers who Bannon spotlit were Mark Finchem, the election-denying secretary of state candidate in Arizona, as well as Doug Mastriano, Pennyslvania’s Republican candidate for governor who was known for his hardline anti-abortion views and involvement in the January 6 insurrection.Donald Trump’s Twitter account is reactivated but quiet, though the former president is airing grievances in other venues. Meanwhile, Joe Biden has carried out the customary pardon of a pair of turkeys ahead of Thursday’s thanksgiving holiday, but his administration may have another labor headache to soon deal with.Here’s what else is going on today:
      Manhattan’s district attorney is revitalizing a criminal investigation into Trump, but it appears to have long odds of success.
      Biden said he had no advance knowledge of the decision to appoint a special counsel to decide whether to charge Trump over the January 6 insurrection and Mar-a-Lago documents case.
      Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows is continuing to fight his subpoena from a special grand jury investigating the 2020 election meddling campaign in Georgia.
      Trump still hasn’t bothered to make use of his restored Twitter account, but has other ways of making his opinions known.Such as email. The former president periodically sends out statements to reporters that seem to be about whatever’s on his mind. Today, it’s Joe O’Dea, the unsuccessful Republican candidate for Senate in Colorado who clashed with Trump.“Joe O’Dea lost his race in Colorado by over 12 points because he campaigned against MAGA,” Trump wrote. “Likewise, candidates who shifted their ‘messaging’ after winning big in the Primaries (Bolduc!) saw big losses in the General. Will they ever learn their lesson? You can’t win without MAGA!”It’s also worth noting he didn’t bother with Twitter when it came to sharing his thoughts about the newly appointed special counsel. Instead, he used Truth to put out a statement that was about what you would expect if you’ve read anything the former president has written over the past six years:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The Polls are really strong, especially since Tuesday’s announcement, hence the appointment of a Radical Left Prosecutor, who is totally controlled by President Obama and his former A.G., Eric Holder. This is not Justice, this is just another Witch Hunt, and a very dangerous one at that! No way this Scam should be allowed to go forward!In a brief encounter with the press after the turkey pardon, Biden said he had no advance warning of attorney general Merrick Garland’s decision Friday to appoint a special counsel to handle the criminal investigations involving Donald Trump.“I learned about when you did,” Biden said.Garland last week announced the appointment of Jack Smith as special counsel to decide on whether to bring charges related to the Mar-a-Lago documents case and the January 6 insurrection.Joe Biden has just carried out one of the most solemn duties an American president must perform: pardoning the thanksgiving turkey.In a chilly morning ceremony on the White House lawn, Biden gave a reprieve to turkeys Chocolate and Chip, while finding a way to zing the Republicans for their underwhelming midterm performance:“The only red wave this season is gonna if our German Shepherd, Commander, knocks over the cranberry sauce.”— President Biden jokes about Republicans’ midterm performance at the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon pic.twitter.com/Yw4YgHYLtz— The Recount (@therecount) November 21, 2022
      As happens sometimes, there was a heckler at the president’s speech, but on this occasion, it was his own dog:In this clip you can hear Commander bark and the turkey gobble back. pic.twitter.com/AaMOtZOiT4— Jeremy Art (@cspanJeremy) November 21, 2022
      The GOP was watching, and wasted no time in highlighting a gaffe made by the president:BIDEN: “9.5 million turkeys! I tell ya what, that’s like some of the countries I’ve been to and they — anyway… *looks at turkey* you wanna talk?” pic.twitter.com/GgsRkr23nZ— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 21, 2022 More

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      US attorney general appoints special counsel in Trump DoJ investigations – live

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      Merrick Garland said his appointment of a special prosecutor was necessary because of Donald Trump’s return to the campaign trail, as well as Joe Biden’s plans to seek a second term in the White House. “The department of justice has long recognized that in certain extraordinary cases, it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution,” Garland said in the just-concluded press conference.“Based on recent developments, including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting president’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel.”Gabrielle Canon here, taking over from the west coast to bring you the latest this afternoon. Trump-supporting Republicans have been quick to criticize the newly announced special counsel, with figures like Ted Cruz and Marjorie Taylor Greene sounding off against the ongoing investigation in an attempt to paint the move as a politically motivated.IMPEACH MERRICK GARLAND!— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) November 18, 2022
      “Joe Biden has completely weaponized the Department of Justice to attack his political opponents,” Cruz said on Twitter, trying to make a connection between the timing of Trump’s presidential campaign launch and Garland’s announcement. But Trump’s renewed attempt to regain the presidency could add complications to hold him to account. As Chris McGreal highlights:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}But then there is the politics of a prosecution against a presidential candidate who has already dismissed the investigations of his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, the hoarding of top secret documents, and allegedly fraudulent business practices, as “politically motivated” and a Democratic “witch-hunt”.Could Trump’s 2024 campaign keep his legal troubles at bay?Read moreRepublican party chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has offered her thoughts on the appointment of Jack Smith as special counsel handling the investigations into Donald Trump:We’ve seen this time and again: Biden weaponizes his administration to target his political opponents. Whether it’s the former president, pro-life organizations, tagging parents as domestic terrorists, or creating the “ministry of truth,” Biden is out of line and out of control.— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) November 18, 2022
      CBS News reports that the White House said it had no advance warning of attorney general Merrick Garland’s announcement today of Smith’s appointment. Joe Biden has previously said the justice department has not consulted with him during its investigation into government secrets found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort:WATCH from our Special Report: White House officials tell @cbsnews they had no heads up from the Justice Department about the attorney general’s decision to appoint a special counsel to handle investigations regarding Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/lNykYAaodY— Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) November 18, 2022
      In an interview with Fox News, Donald Trump slammed the appointment of special prosecutor Jack Smith to weigh charging him over the government secrets found at Mar-a-Lago and the January 6 insurrection.“I have been going through this for six years – for six years I have been going through this, and I am not going to go through it anymore,” Trump told the network. “And I hope the Republicans have the courage to fight this.”“I have been proven innocent for six years on everything – from fake impeachments to Mueller who found no collusion, and now I have to do it more?” he continued, adding, “It is not acceptable. It is so unfair. It is so political.”The former president tied attorney general Merrick Garland’s appointment of a special prosecutor to his own announcement this week of another run for the White House.“I announce and then they appoint a special prosecutor,” Trump said. “They found nothing, and now they take some guy who hates Trump. This is a disgrace and only happening because I am leading in every poll in both parties … I am not going to partake in this.”Garland acknowledged that Trump’s run along with Joe Biden’s plans to seek a second term were both factors in his appointment of a special prosecutor, arguing it was the appropriate way to handle the question of whether to seek charges against the former leader after he returned to the campaign trail.“The department of justice has long recognized that in certain extraordinary cases, it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution,” Garland said in his press conference earlier today.“Based on recent developments, including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting president’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel.”Texas’s Republican senator John Cornyn has reacted to the appointment of a special counsel to handle the Trump investigations by asking the justice department to do the same for Hunter Biden:This is an admission of a conflict of interest by DOJ; now acknowledge the obvious conflict of interest in Hunter Biden investigation and appoint a special counsel. #nodoublestandard https://t.co/bmypUxWcTk— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) November 18, 2022
      The US attorney in Delaware is said to be weighing whether to bring federal charges against the president’s son, whose business dealings have been a target of scrutiny from GOP politicians and federal investigators for years.Andrew Weissmann was a seasoned justice department prosecutor whose last job was as a manager on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election.Here’s what he had to say about Jack Smith:Jack Smith, the new Special Counsel, is a very aggressive prosecutor who represents the best of the Department, who will bring cases if warranted be fact sand the law.— Andrew Weissmann 🌻 (@AWeissmann_) November 18, 2022
      Special counsel Jack Smith has released a statement after being appointed to the role in which he will determine whether to charge Donald Trump and his allies over the January 6 insurrection and government secrets found at Mar-a-Lago.“I intend to conduct the assigned investigations, and any prosecutions that may result from them, independently and in the best traditions of the department of justice. The pace of the investigations will not pause or flag under my watch,” Smith wrote. “I will exercise independent judgment and will move the investigations forward expeditiously and thoroughly to whatever outcome the facts and the law dictate.”So who’s Jack Smith? As described by Merrick Garland, Smith is a veteran justice department prosecutor who from 2010 to 2015 was head of its public integrity section, responsible for handling corruption cases. He then served as a US attorney in Tennessee during the final years of Democrat Barack Obama’s administration.Lately, he’s been working in international law. He’s currently in The Hague as the specialist prosecutor at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, which is handling trials of war crimes suspects from the eastern European country. He also worked as an investigator for the international criminal court from 2008 to 2010.“I strongly believe that the normal processes of this department can handle all investigations with integrity. And I also believe that appointing a special counsel at this time is the right thing to do,” Garland said. “The extraordinary circumstances presented here demand it. Mr. Smith is the right choice to complete these matters in an even handed and urgent manner.”Merrick Garland said his appointment of a special prosecutor was necessary because of Donald Trump’s return to the campaign trail, as well as Joe Biden’s plans to seek a second term in the White House. “The department of justice has long recognized that in certain extraordinary cases, it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution,” Garland said in the just-concluded press conference.“Based on recent developments, including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting president’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel.”Attorney general Merrick Garland has named veteran prosector Jack Smith as the special counsel to decide whether to bring charges against Donald Trump. Attorney general Merrick Garland has started his press conference by announcing a special prosecutor will be appointed to handle two inquiries.The first is “the investigation into whether any person or entity unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6 2021.”The second is “the ongoing investigation involving classified documents and other presidential records, as well as the possible obstruction of that investigation, referenced and described in court filings… in the Southern District of Florida.” That is likely the inquiry into government secrets found at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.As we wait for what is looking to be a consequential announcement from attorney general Merrick Garland, a winner appears to have emerged from one of the last uncalled House races.The Pueblo Chieftain reports that Democrat Adam Frisch has conceded to Republican incumbent Lauren Boebert after a surprisingly close race:Adam Frisch just said that he’s called Lauren Boebert to concede the race in CO-03. He said an automatic recount will likely happen under state law but encouraged supporters to save fundraising $$ for gas, groceries and other causes.— Anna Lynn Winfrey (@annalynnfrey) November 18, 2022
      Boebert is among a group of conservative lawmakers known for their extreme rhetoric, but nearly lost to Frisch even though her district normally votes for Republicans. The House representative has in the past made Islamophobic comments and condemned the separation of church and state.Attorney general Merrick Garland plans to hold a press conference at 2.15pm eastern time, following reports that he will name a special prosecutor to decide whether to bring charges against Donald Trump and his allies.Beyond just the investigation into government secrets Trump allegedly retained at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Politico reports that the special counsel will also look into Trump’s attempts to undermine the 2020 election. The justice department has not yet announced who they will be appointed to job.This blog will cover Garland’s address as it happens.The plan for a special counsel appears to be linked to allegations of the unlawful retention of national defense information at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and residence in Florida, according to the Reuters news agency, which cites an unnamed senior Department of Justice official.The agency says a senior DoJ official has named a special prosecutor to investigate the entirety of the department’s criminal investigation into that potential offense.Meanwhile, CNN reports that the special counsel will also review the parallel DoJ investigation into Trump’s involvement around the insurrection on January 6, 2021, when extremist supporters of the-then president invaded the US Capitol in an attempt to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election by congress.We will bring you more developments as they happen.US attorney general Merrick Garland plans to name a special counsel to examine whether former president Donald Trump should be prosecuted as a result of investigations carried out by the Department if Justice (DoJ), the Wall Street Journal reports, citing an unnamed source “familiar with the matter”.The Journal reports:“A formal announcement, which is expected by Friday afternoon, would come three days after Mr. Trump announced another bid for the presidency and would mark the naming of the third independent prosecutor in five years to examine issues involving Mr. Trump. The exact scope of the special counsel’s remit and who it would be couldn’t be determined.”More details to come…A judge refused today to quash a subpoena issued to former White House press secretary Jen Psaki that seeks her deposition in a lawsuit filed by Missouri and Louisiana, alleging that the Biden administration conspired to silence conservative voices on social media, the Associated Press reports.Psaki filed a motion in federal court in Alexandria seeking to quash the subpoena, saying that she had no relevant information to provide and that a deposition would place an undue burden on her. The Justice Department supported her efforts to quash.US magistrate Ivan Davis said during a hearing today that he was unimpressed with Psaki’s arguments. But he did not reject her request outright. Instead, he transferred the case back to Louisiana, where the lawsuit was filed.Psaki was allowed to file a separate opposition in Virginia because she lives in the state and would be deposed there.Davis, though, said it makes no sense for him to wade into the questions of whether Psaki’s testimony is relevant when the judge in Louisiana is more familiar with the case.He also said Psaki failed to show how sitting for a deposition in her home state would be an undue burden. In fact, he said that if Psaki has little information to contribute, as she alleges, it shouldn’t be much of a burden at all.Justice Department lawyer Indraneel Sur indicated he would appeal Davis’ ruling to a district judge in Alexandria and asked the judge to stay his ruling to provide time to do so, but Davis declined.The lawsuit filed by the attorney general in Missouri and Alexandria accuses Joe Biden, former federal health official Anthony Fauci and others of conspiring with social media companies to restrict free speech by censoring conservative opinions about the Covid-19 response and other issues.Readers will have noticed that politicians, and indeed journalists and people, are still tweeting. But for how much longer?What should Twitter do next?— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
      Here’s the Guardian’s Kari Paul:Amid ongoing fallout from Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, speculation of the platform’s imminent collapse is swirling – leaving users wondering what parts of their online selves they’ll get to keep.After Musk laid off thousands of workers, many users have reported signs the platform is falling apart in real time – from glitching home pages to log-in failures – and researchers are desperately urging users to download their tweets in case Twitter implodes completely.“If there’s something you care about on Twitter, now’s the time to become like a temporary expert in digital archiving measures,” said Caroline Sinders, an artificial intelligence researcher and founder of human rights lab Convocation Research and Design.Digital archiving – the process of preserving online content for future use – has expanded steadily since the launch of the internet, but still exists in a patchwork, decentralized framework.There’s more to read, here. But the last bit is killer:If you want to save tweets – whether jokes from a favorite celebrity or the last thoughts of a loved one who has passed – an expert suggests a relatively analog solution.“Print out their tweets, and put them in a box,” the expert said. “They will last longer in every way.”He may still be the most popular man in the Republican party, but Donald Trump’s announcement of a new run for the White House this week has been fodder for his opponents, most recently his former top diplomat Mike Pompeo. Meanwhile, conservatives have continued their quest to stop Kevin McCarthy from becoming speaker in the Republican-run House next year, while Democrats’ transition away from Nancy Pelosi’s leadership appears to be running much more smoothly.Here’s what else has happened today so far:
      The January 6 committee could, as soon as today, file its response to Trump’s attempt to quash its subpoena for his testimony as the end-of-the-year expiration of its mandate draws nearer.
      Joe Biden’s administration has asked the supreme court to allow its student debt relief plan to proceed.
      Republicans on the House judiciary committee want homeland security chief Alejandro Mayorkas and a host of top officials to testify. Expect the situation at the southern border to be a major topic of questioning for the GOP.
      Donald Trump’s former top diplomat Mike Pompeo has again attacked his one-time boss:We were told we’d get tired of winning. But I’m tired of losing.And so are most Republicans.— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) November 18, 2022
      Pompeo’s wording echoes Trump’s promise on the campaign trail 2016 that if he was elected, supporters would “get tired of winning.” Pompeo, who served as secretary of state from 2018 till the end of Trump’s term in 2021, is thought to be considering a run for the presidency in 2024.Perhaps he’ll elaborate on his thoughts about the former president in his speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition later today:Today, I’m going to speak at @RJC on how we can regain Americans’ trust and win again.— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) November 18, 2022
      The Biden administration has petitioned the supreme court to allow its plan to relieve some student debt relief to proceed, Bloomberg News reports:NEW: Biden asks Supreme Court to let his student-debt relief plan take effect. Case will be docketed as 22A444.— Greg Stohr (@GregStohr) November 18, 2022
      Biden in August announced the plan to forgive as much as $20,000 in federal student debt for people earning less than $125,000 a year, or households earning below $250,000.Conservative activists and states immediately sued to stop the program, and last month, an effort by six Republican-led states succeeded in getting it temporarily halted. More

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      Pelosi to depart as top House Democrat to make way for ‘new generation’

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      Pelosi to depart as top House Democrat to make way for ‘new generation’Outgoing speaker, 82, who has led House Democrats for two decades, makes announcement after Republicans win control Nancy Pelosi, a giant of American politics and the first woman to lead the House of Representatives, is stepping down from leadership to make way for a new generation, she said on Thursday.The 82-year-old, an ally of Joe Biden who led congressional Democrats for two decades, made the announcement after Republicans regained a majority in the chamber.Election denier Kari Lake refuses to concede Arizona governor race she lostRead more“With great confidence in our caucus, I will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” Pelosi said in a speech on the House floor. “For me, the hour’s come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect, and I’m grateful that so many are ready and willing to shoulder this awesome responsibility.”The outgoing speaker, wearing a Mace of the Republic brooch and a white suit that nodded to the suffragist movement, was greeted with a standing ovation. In an emotional scene House Democrats gathered around her, some tearful and many embracing her or planting kisses on her cheek.Biden led tributes to Pelosi’s career. In a statement released by the White House, the president described her as “the most consequential speaker of the House of Representatives in our history.“There are countless examples of how she embodies the obligation of elected officials to uphold their oath to God and country to ensure our democracy delivers and remains a beacon to the world. In everything she does, she reflects a dignity in her actions and a dignity she sees in the lives of the people of this nation.”Pelosi, a congresswoman from California, was the highest-ranking and most powerful elected woman in American history until Kamala Harris became vice-president in January last year.A devout Catholic, she grew up in Baltimore, the daughter of Thomas D’Alesandro Jr, a Democratic mayor and former congressman. By the age of 30, she was the mother of five children. “When I first came to the floor at six years old, never would I have thought that someday I would go from homemaker to House speaker,” she reflected on Thursday.Pelosi was first elected to the House in a special election and steadily moved up the ranks. She broke a glass ceiling in 2007 when she was elected the first woman to serve as speaker – a position second in line to the presidency – and steered then president Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law through the House.Regaining the position in 2019, she earned plaudits for her no-nonsense approach to then president Donald Trump. She memorably ripped up a copy of his speech just as he finished his third State of the Union address. She was the first speaker in history to oversee two House votes to impeach a president.In her remarks, Pelosi, who will remain in Congress, said she had enjoyed working with three presidents (George Bush, Obama and Biden), making no mention of Trump. She welcomed last week’s midterm elections, in which numerous election deniers loyal to Trump were defeated.“With these elections, the people stood in the breach and repelled the assault on democracy. They resoundingly rejected violence and insurrection and, in doing so, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there” – a reference to the national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner.In recent days Pelosi had said the 28 October assault on her husband, Paul, by a hammer-wielding intruder in their San Francisco home, and other factors, would affect her decision on whether to continue.00:50David Axelrod, a former chief strategist for Obama, tweeted: “People will honor Speaker Pelosi as the first woman to hold that post. But history will remember her as one of the most skillful, durable and accomplished legislative leaders in American history. A truly towering figure. One of a kind.”Along with Biden, who turns 80 on Sunday, Democrats’ ageing leadership has raised questions about the party’s next generation.Her retirement sets up a leadership battle among contenders including the caucus chair, Hakeem Jeffries, 52, from New York. House Democrats are set to vote on their leaders on 30 November.On Wednesday, House Republicans offered initial support for Kevin McCarthy to serve as speaker when the next Congress convenes. McCarthy, also from California, currently serves as House Republican leader and will face election by the entire House at the start of the new year. It is not yet clear if he will gain enough backing from fellow Republicans to win the speakership.Republicans’ majority in the House will be much smaller than polls had predicted, a headache for whoever wins the speakership. Each member will have huge sway over what happens in the chamber, paving the way for potentially chaotic battles over government funding and other measures. Many are aligned with Trump.But control of House committees will give Republicans the ability to blunt Biden’s legislative agenda, as well as to launch potentially politically damaging investigations of his administration and family.On Thursday, Jim Jordan of Ohio and James Comer of Kentucky, the top Republicans on the House judiciary and oversight committees, signalled their intent by announcing an investigation to determine the extent of Biden’s involvement in his son Hunter’s business dealings.“We want to know what the Biden administration is trying to hide from the American people,” Comer said at a press conference, alleging that the Bidens “flourished and became millionaires by simply offering access to the family”.Joe Biden has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. In 2020 the Politifact website concluded that there is no evidence that Hunter Biden came close to breaking the law, much less any evidence that his father has done so.Kyle Herrig, executive director of the Congressional Integrity Project watchdog, said: “Instead of addressing the issues that affect the American people the most, they are acting like Donald Trump and pushing their radical Maga [Make America Great Again] Republican agenda. They haven’t learned their lesson.”The Democratic National Committee said in a statement: “The new Republican House majority features election deniers, conspiracy theorists, and Maga extremists. Whatever Republican wins the speaker race will be completely beholden to extreme Maga Republicans and you can count on House Republicans to remind Americans every day just how extreme their party is.”Any legislation that emerges from the House could face steep odds in the Senate, where Democrats won a slim majority on Saturday. Both parties are looking to a 6 December Senate runoff in Georgia to strengthen their hand.TopicsUS midterm elections 2022US politicsDemocratsHouse of RepresentativesUS SenatenewsReuse this content More

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      Nancy Pelosi says she will not seek re-election as Democratic leader in House – as it happened

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      Nancy Pelosi has announced she will step down as House Democratic leader after nearly two decades, but remain as a lawmaker in the chamber.“There is no greater official honor for me than to stand on this floor and to speak for the people of San Francisco. This I will continue to do as a member of the House – speaking for the people of San Francisco, serving the great state of California and defending our constitution,” Pelosi said.“And with great confidence in our caucus, I will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress.”Nancy Pelosi will not run again for a position in House Democratic leadership, ending her nearly two decades as one of the most powerful figures in the party and the first woman to serve as speaker of Congress’s lower chamber. In a speech, she reflected on her decades representing San Francisco in Congress, and found time to throw shade at Donald Trump.Here’s what else happened today:
      Pelosi’s number-two, Steny Hoyer, will also leave House Democratic leadership, paving the way for a younger generation to take over the party’s top jobs.
      House Republicans are plowing ahead with plans to investigate Hunter Biden’s business ties, casting it as an inquiry into alleged corruption by Joe Biden.
      Arizona’s governor’s race may be over, but not for Republican candidate Kari Lake.
      The January 6 committee interviewed a Secret Service agent who Trump supposedly lunged at during a struggle for the steering wheel of his limo as he tried to get to the Capitol during the insurrection.
      Democratic senators want the Federal Trade Commission to look into how things are going at Twitter since Elon Musk took over.
      Donald Trump’s network of properties aren’t just good places to allegedly store government secrets – they’re also big-time moneymakers for the former president, according to a new report from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).Starting from January 20, 2021, when Trump departed the White House, the former president has made hundreds of thousands of dollars off of lawmakers and other candidates from more than 500 visits to Mar-a-Lago in south Florida and his other properties. A few of the finer points from CREW’s report:
      Sixty-seven senators and House lawmakers have visited Trump’s properties 187 times since he left office. The incoming Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy is the biggest spender, putting down more than $250,000 at the former president’s real estate over five visits, despite the lawmaker’s condemnation of Trump after the January 6 attack.
      State officials including governors, attorney generals and lawmakers have made 106 visits to the president’s properties. Despite their budding rivalry, Florida governor Ron DeSantis showed up the most out of this group, making seven visits.
      Candidates for various offices at the state and federal levels have made nearly half of all political visits to the Trump properties, with 140 aspirants stopping by 236 times. Anna Paulina Luna, an incoming House representative from Florida, made six visits, while Kari Lake, who failed in her bid for Arizona’s governorship, made five. In fact, the New York Times reports that Lake stopped by today:
      Seen at Mar-a-Lago: Kari Lake, per a source.— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 17, 2022
      Meanwhile in Georgia, the bloopers are piling up as Republican Herschel Walker continues his campaign for Senate, ahead of the state’s 6 December run-off election. Martin Pengelly watched footage of the latest, so you don’t have to:In a campaign speech on Wednesday, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Georgia, Herschel Walker, told supporters: “I don’t want to be a vampire any more. I want to be a werewolf.”The remark was the latest controversial or outright bizarre intervention from the former football star who like other candidates endorsed by Donald Trump struggled to overcome his Democratic opponent in the midterm elections.Raphael Warnock, the incumbent Georgia senator, outpolled Walker last week but did not pass 50% of the vote, meaning that under state law a runoff will be held on 6 December. Control of the Senate has been decided, after Democrats won in Arizona and Nevada, but the Georgia race will still be keenly watched.On Wednesday, Walker spoke in McDonough.Choosing to rehash the plot of a film he said he recently watched late at night, whose title he remembered as “Fright Night, Freak Night, or some type of night”, he said in rambling remarks: “I don’t know if you know, but vampires are some cool people, are they not? But let me tell you something that I found out: a werewolf can kill a vampire. Did you know that? I never knew that.“So, I don’t want to be a vampire any more. I want to be a werewolf.”Herschel Walker says in rambling speech he wants to be ‘werewolf, not vampire’ Read moreSeven Democratic senators have sent the Federal Trade Commission a letter to express concerns about changes made by Elon Musk to Twitter, asking the regulator to “vigorously oversee” the social media platform’s consent decree and compliance with consumer privacy laws.“We write regarding Twitter’s serious, willful disregard for the safety and security of its users, and encourage the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate any breach of Twitter’s consent decree or other violations of our consumer protection laws,” begins the letter to the commissions’s chair Lina Khan, which was signed by Richard Blumenthal, Dianne Feinstein, Ben Ray Luján, Elizabeth Warren, Edward J. Markey, Cory Booker and Robert Menendez.“In recent weeks, Twitter’s new Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, has taken alarming steps that have undermined the integrity and safety of the platform, and announced new features despite clear warnings those changes would be abused for fraud, scams, and dangerous impersonation,” the letter continues, noting the layoffs and resignations that have hit the company since Musk, the world’s richest man, took over last month.They also take issue with the bungled launch of the Twitter Blue service, which allows anyone to receive a verified account for $8 a month. The senators note it led to an explosion of impostor accounts, including “scammers impersonating companies and celebrities for cryptocurrency schemes, identity theft, and other financial crimes.”“We are concerned that the actions taken by Mr. Musk and others in Twitter management could already represent a violation of the FTC’s consent decree, which prohibits misrepresentation and requires that Twitter maintain a comprehensive information security program,” the senators write.“We urge the Commission to vigorously oversee its consent decree with Twitter and to bring enforcement actions against any breaches or business practices that are unfair or deceptive, including bringing civil penalties and imposing liability on individual Twitter executives where appropriate.”The Senate’s top Democrat Chuck Schumer made the journey to the House to watch Nancy Pelosi announce the end of her time in Democratic leadership.Here’s his thoughts on the end of the Pelosi era, delivered on the Senate floor:Thank you, @SpeakerPelosi. It is the honor of a lifetime to work with you. pic.twitter.com/V9pUMpSKAJ— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) November 17, 2022
      Reaction continues to come in after Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that she will not run for leadership of House Democrats again.Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics, says her organization has “witnessed a great deal of history in our 50 years of observing women’s roles in American politics, but among the most significant is Nancy Pelosi’s ascension as the first woman speaker of the US House of Representatives.“She has been, throughout her career, a symbol of the heights of aspiration for American women and girls … Nancy Pelosi will be remembered as one of the most consequential speakers in modern history, holding together an often-fractious caucus, shepherding momentous legislation, and wielding influence in ways that earned respect from allies and opponents alike.“She has weathered unprecedented vitriol but was nonetheless dedicated to consensus-building and results. She also prioritized the leadership of other women – encouraging and supporting women across the country to run for office. She presided over the largest ever increase in women’s representation in the US House, as well as the most diverse Democratic caucus in history … she has shown the world and future generations the unlimited potential of women’s leadership.”And here’s Danielle Melfi, executive director of the pro-Biden administration group Building Back Together: “Speaker Pelosi’s legacy is without equal in Congress. From the Affordable Care Act to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Dodd-Frank reforms, she has championed some of the most impactful legislation of the last four decades.“She fights for the interests of children and working families in California and across the country, broke down barriers as the first woman to serve as speaker of the House, and is a stalwart defender of our democracy – particularly in the wake of the January 6 attack. “Among her countless policy achievements, the speaker was instrumental in passing key elements of President Biden’s agenda, including the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Chips and Science Act, the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and the Pact Act – each of them a historic win for working families.”Interesting news emerging on the January 6 front via Annie Grayer of CNN, who reports that the House select committee “is interviewing Secret Service agent Robert Engel, the lead agent in former president Donald Trump’s motorcade on the day of the US Capitol attack, two sources [say]”.Grayer adds that “Engel was the agent Cassidy Hutchinson testified she was told Trump lunged at” when he was told he could not follow his supporters to the Capitol after his speech near the White House.Trump denies lunging at agents on his protective detail. Here’s video of Hutchinson’s testimony, in which she said: “The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr Engel grabbed his arm, said, ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We’re going back to the West Wing. We’re not going to the Capitol.’ Mr Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel.”01:42In other January 6 news, there follows a write-up of Mike Pence’s statement to CBS in an interview that he will not testify because he thinks the committee is partisan and also doesn’t think he, as an ex-vice-president, should have to testify “about deliberations that took place at the White House”.Pence’s detailed descriptions of detailed deliberations that took place at the White House are currently available from all good booksellers – and no doubt quite a few bad ones too.Of course, accounts of detailed deliberations that took place at the White House as contained in memoirs aimed at the 2024 Republican primary are not given under oath. But testimony to congressional committees is, as the January 6 chair and vice-chair, Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney, made clear in their response to Pence.In short, testimony such as Hutchinson’s about Trump lunging at agents is “subject to criminal penalties for lying to Congress”. So news that Engel is interviewing with the committee is interesting to say the least.Further reading:Cheney hits back as Pence says January 6 committee has ‘no right’ to testimonyRead moreDave Wasserman, US House editor at the nonpartisan Cook Report political analysis website, says the Democrat Mary Peltola has won in Alaska, beating two Republicans, Nick Begich and the former governor and John McCain vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin.I’ve seen enough: Rep. Mary Peltola (D) wins reelection in #AKAL, defeating Sarah Palin (R) and Nick Begich (R).— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) November 17, 2022
      Though Republicans have won the House back from Democrats this still qualifies for a “huge if true” – the Guardian follows the Associated Press, which has not called the Alaska race yet – and not only because Palin seems to have lost again in her attempt to return to meaningful political office.When she won a special election for the seat earlier this year, Peltola became the first Alaska Native elected to Congress.“I want to work with everyone and anyone who is a reasonable person to find solutions to Alaska’s challenges,” she told the Guardian then:‘I want to work with everyone’: Alaska’s history-making new congresswomanRead moreMore on Kari Lake and her refusal to concede defeat in the governor’s race in Arizona, where the Trump-endorsed Republican lost to her Democratic opponent, Katie Hobbs.Lake posted a two-minute statement to Twitter earlier. She began: “Hi, Arizona … I wanted to reach out to you to let you know that I am still in this fight with you. For two years I’ve been sounding the alarm about our broken election system here in Arizona. And this past week has confirmed everything we’ve been saying.”Lake proceeded to recount a list of evidence-free claims against Hobbs, the secretary of state who oversaw the election, and about supposed suspicious outcomes at the polls last week.Reporting Lake’s statement for the Guardian, Sam Levine writes: .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}There were equipment malfunctions at about a third of polling locations on election day in Maricopa county, but voters were still able to cast their ballots. Officials had figured out a solution by the afternoon. A county judge also rejected a lawsuit filed by Republicans to extend voting hours, saying there was no evidence voters had been disenfranchised.”Lake said she was “busy here collecting evidence and data” and had “assembled the best and brightest legal team and we are exploring every avenue to correct the many wrongs that have been done this past week”. “I’m doing everything in my power to right these wrongs,” she said. “My resolve to fight for you is higher than ever.”She also referred to being part of a “movement [that] started in Arizona and it quickly expanded to all 50 states … a movement of mama bears and papa bears and students and Arizonans who love this country”.Lake concluded by promising “one thing. This fight to save our republic has just begun”.Sam has more:Election denier Kari Lake refuses to concede Arizona governor race she lostRead moreNancy Pelosi will not run again for a position in House Democratic leadership, ending her nearly two decades as one of the most powerful figures in the party and the first woman to serve as speaker of Congress’s lower chamber. In a speech on the floor, she talked about her decades representing San Francisco in Congress, and found time to throw shade on Donald Trump.Here’s what else has happened today so far:
      Pelosi’s number-two, Steny Hoyer, will also leave House Democratic leadership, paving the way for a younger generation to take over the party’s top jobs.
      House Republicans are plowing ahead with plans to investigate Hunter Biden’s business ties, casting it as an inquiry into alleged corruption by Joe Biden.
      Arizona’s governor’s race may be over, but not for Republican candidate Kari Lake.
      As she announced her plans to step down from House leadership, Nancy Pelosi managed to get in one more dig at Donald Trump.“I have enjoyed working with three presidents, achieving historic investments in clean energy with President George Bush, transformed healthcare reform with President Barack Obama … and forging the future, from infrastructure to healthcare to climate action, with President Joe Biden,” she said on the House floor.The problem is, Pelosi worked with four presidents. Trump is left unmentioned.What moment might the House speaker remember most fondly from the former Republican president’s time in office? Perhaps it would be when she tore up Trump’s State of the Union address right after he finished delivering it. More

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      Q&A: what does a split Congress mean for US politics?

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      ExplainerQ&A: what does a split Congress mean for US politics?With Republicans in control of the House and Democrats holding the Senate, expect a legislative logjam Republicans officially captured control of the House on Wednesday, as the Associated Press called the 218th seat for the party. The House victory ends four years of Democratic control of the lower chamber, handing Republicans the speakership and the chairmanships of key committees, while Democrats will maintain control of the Senate.But the incoming Republican speaker has the unenviable task of attempting to pass legislation with a very narrow majority, where only a few defections within the party will be enough to kill a bill.Republicans had hoped that a “red wave” in the midterm elections would allow them to flip dozens of House seats, giving them a much more comfortable majority. Instead, Republicans were barely about to flip the House, and Democrats may even be able to increase their Senate majority depending on the results of the Georgia runoff next month.With the House and the Senate now both called, Washington is bracing for at least two years of split control of Congress. Here’s what we can expect. :Will Congress be able to pass any bills?It will be extremely difficult for Democrats to advance their legislative agenda. Republicans can use their majority power to block any bills passed by the Democratic Senate from even getting a vote on the House floor.Since Joe Biden took office, some notable bills have passed the House with bipartisan support, including the infrastructure law that the president signed late last year. But the new Republican speaker will probably be hesitant to hand Biden and his party any more policy wins before the 2024 presidential race, which could result in a legislative logjam.How will Republicans use their House majority?Given their very narrow majority, House Republicans may have trouble advancing major legislation through the chamber. Even if they are able to pass something, the bill would almost certainly fail in the Democratic Senate, so it seems likely House Republicans will focus most of their attention on investigations and executive oversight.Even before polls closed last Tuesday, House Republicans had outlined plans to launch a series of investigations into the Biden administration and members of the president’s family. Republican members have expressed keen interest in investigating the administration’s handling of the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, Biden’s oversight of the US-Mexican border and his son Hunter’s overseas business dealings.Some of the far-right members of the House Republican caucus have also threatened to use their new majority to hold up must-pass bills, including a debt ceiling hike. If the debt ceiling – essentially, the maximum amount the US government can borrow – is not raised, it could jeopardize the entire US economy. Some House Republicans have signaled they want to withhold support for a debt ceiling increase until they secure concessions on government spending and entitlement programs.The new House Republican majority could also threaten proposals to send more military aid to Ukraine amidst its war against Russia. The far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has said that “not another penny will go to Ukraine” once Republicans take control, alarming Ukraine’s allies on Capitol Hill and abroad. With such a narrow majority, it only takes a few votes to block bills.Who will replace Nancy Pelosi as House speaker?That is a question that many House Republicans are asking themselves right now as well. The obvious frontrunner for the role – which oversees, manages and directs the majority party in the House – is Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican who has served as House minority leader since 2019.But McCarthy has faced some dissent from within his own caucus, and it remains unclear whether he can get the 218 votes needed to become speaker. On Tuesday, the House Republican caucus easily nominated McCarthy as their speaker candidate, but 31 members cast ballots for the far-right Arizona lawmaker Andy Biggs. That tally could spell disaster for McCarthy when the full floor vote is held in January.“My position remains the same until further notice – no one has 218 (or close, as needed),” Chip Roy, a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus who nominated Biggs, told the Texas Tribune on Tuesday. “We have to sit down and establish the fundamental changes needed.”How will Biden work with the new Republican speaker?Before becoming president, Biden built a reputation in the Senate for his ability to reach across the aisle and strike compromise with his Republican colleagues. During the 2020 Democratic primary, Biden boasted about how he was even able to work with hardline segregationists such as James Eastland and Strom Thurmond. Those comments, meant to demonstrate Biden’s collaborative nature, outraged many Democratic primary voters.But in recent months, Biden has become increasingly vocal in his criticism of the modern Republican party, which he says is beholden to Donald Trump and hostile to democratic principles. “Donald Trump and the Maga Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” Biden said in September.McCarthy has responded to Biden’s criticism by accusing the president of having “chosen to divide, demean, and disparage his fellow Americans … simply because they disagree with his policies”.So if McCarthy does manage to capture the speakership, he and Biden will not be starting off their new relationship on the best footing. When a reporter asked Biden last week about his relationship with McCarthy, the president deflected.“I think he’s the Republican leader, and I haven’t had much of [an] occasion to talk to him,” Biden replied. “But I will be talking to him.”What can Democrats get done without control of the House?Democrats’ continued control of the Senate ensures that they will still be able to approve Biden’s cabinet and judicial nominations. Their Senate majority will allow Democrats to install more liberal judges in key posts, and it could give them the ability to fill another supreme court seat if one opens up in the next two years.But overall, Democrats’ best opportunity to enact change between now and 2024 may come down to the power of the executive. Biden has already signed more than 100 executive orders since becoming president, according to the Presidency Project at University of California Santa Barbara.Biden has used executive orders to overturn some of Trump’s most controversial policies, such as halting funding for construction of a wall at the US-Mexican border, and to advance progressive proposals that would otherwise stall in Congress. Biden’s order to provide student debt relief of up to $20,000 for millions of borrowers was celebrated by the president’s progressive allies, although the policy is now facing legal challenges.With Republicans now in control of the House, Biden could soon be reaching for his executive pen more frequently.TopicsUS midterm elections 2022US CongressRepublicansDemocratsUS politicsHouse of RepresentativesUS SenateexplainersReuse this content More

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      Donald Trump announces 2024 run for president nearly two years after inspiring deadly Capitol riot

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      Donald Trump announces 2024 run for president nearly two years after inspiring deadly Capitol riotTwice-impeached ex-president makes expected election announcement despite shaky midterms and surge from rival Ron DeSantis00:52Donald Trump on Tuesday night announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, likely sparking another period of tumult in US politics and especially his own political party.“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said from ballroom of his private Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he stood on a stage crowded with American flags and Make America Great Again banners.Vowing to defeat Joe Biden in 2024, he declared: “America’s golden age is just ahead.”The long-expected announcement by a twice-impeached president who incited a deadly attack on Congress seems guaranteed to deepen a stark partisan divide that has fueled fears of increased political violence.Who’s next? Republicans who might go up against Trump in 2024Read moreBut it also comes as Trump’s standing in the Republican party has suddenly been put into question. Trump spoke at Mar-a-Lago a week after midterm elections in which his Republican party did not make expected gains, losing the Senate and seeming on course for only a narrow majority in the US House.In his remarks, Trump took credit for Republicans’ performance victory in the House, even though they are poised to capture a far narrower majority than anticipated. “Nancy Pelosi has been fired. Isn’t that nice?” he said. The Associated Press has not yet projected which party will win the majority.In a party hitherto dominated by Trump, defeats suffered by high-profile, Trump-endorsed candidates led to open attacks on the former president and calls to delay his announcement or not to run at all. As Trump’s standing has slipped, Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has surged into strong contention after sailing to reelection last week.Trump’s announcement also coincided on Tuesday with the release of Mike Pence’s memoir, So Help Me God, in which the ex-president’s once-faithful lieutenant criticizes him for his conduct on January 6. The former vice-president is also maneuvering toward a possible 2024 run despite falling out of favor with the Maga base.Brushing past Republican setbacks in 2022 and his defeat in 2020, Trump insisted that he was the only candidate who could deliver a Republican victory in 2024.“This is not a task for a politician or a conventional candidate,” he said. “This is a task for a great movement.”His third candidacy comes as he faces intensifying legal troubles, including investigations by the justice department into the removal of hundreds of classified documents from the White House to his Florida estate and into his role in the 6 January attack. Trump has denied wrongdoing and used the attacks to further his narrative that he has been unfairly targeted by his political opponents and a shadowy “deep state” bureaucracy.“I’m a victim,” Trump said, making reference to the Russia investigation and the raid on his Mar-a-Lago estate. On Tuesday, Trump nevertheless pressed forward with his run.Painting a bleak portrait of the United States, with “blood-soaked” city streets and an “invasion” at the southern border, Trump said his campaign was a “quest to save our country.”In the less than two years since Biden took office, a period Trump referred to as “the pause”, he accused his successor of inflicting “pain, hardship, anxiety and despair” with his economic and domestic policies.Trump offered an alternative vision, which he called the “national greatness agenda”. Among the policy proposals he endorsed on Tuesday were the death penalty for drug dealers, term limits for members of Congress and planting an American flag on Mars. And wading into the social fights he enjoys inflaming, Trump promised to protect “paternal rights” and keep transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.Though he made no explicit mention of his stolen-election lies, he promised to overhaul the nation’s voting laws, vowing that a winner would be declared on election night. In close contests, it can take several days before enough votes are tabulated in a state to project a winner, but Trump and his allies have seized on the delay to spread baseless conspiracy theories about results.Despite promising to deliver remarks as “elegant” as the gold-plated room he was standing in, Trump’s rambling, hourlong speech turned to name-calling and ridicule, lashing the “fake news”, mocking the former German chancellor Angela Merkel’s accent and accusing Biden of “falling asleep” at international conferences. At one point, he appeared to confuse the civil war with the reconstruction period that followed and scoffed at climate science.Without acknowledging his 2020 defeat, Trump insisted that beating Biden in 2024 would be much easier because “everybody sees what a bad job has been done.”He called Biden the “face of left-wing failure and government corruption” and accused him of worsening inflation and “surrendering” America’s energy independence. He also slammed the administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan as “the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country”.“Our country is being destroyed before your very eyes,” he said, casting his four years in office as a glowing success, despite leaving behind a nation shaken by disease and political turmoil.Now 76, Trump was long seen as a colorful if controversial presence in American life, a thrice-married New York real-estate mogul, reality TV star and tabloid fixture who flirted with politics but never committed.But in 2015, after finding a niche as a prominent voice for rightwing opposition to Barack Obama – and a racist conspiracy theory about Obama’s birth – Trump entered the race for the Republican nomination to succeed the 44th president.Proving immune to scandal, whether over personal conduct, allegations of sexual assault or persistent courting of the far right, he obliterated a huge Republican field then pulled off a historic shock by beating the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 election.Trump’s presidency was chaotic but undoubtedly historic. Senate Republicans playing political and constitutional hardball helped install three supreme court justices, cementing a dominant rightwing majority which has now removed the right to abortion and weakened gun control laws while eyeing further significant change.Trump is running for president again – but these legal battles might stand in the wayRead moreTrump’s third supreme court pick, replacing the liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Amy Coney Barrett, a hardline Catholic, came shortly before the 2020 election. That contest, with Obama’s vice-president, Joe Biden, was fought under the shadow of protests for racial justice and the coronavirus pandemic, the latter a test badly mishandled by Trump’s administration as hundreds of thousands died.Trump was conclusively beaten, Biden racking up more than 7m more votes and the same electoral college win, 306-232, that Trump enjoyed over Clinton, a victory Trump then called a landslide.But Trump’s refusal to accept defeat, based on his “big lie” about electoral fraud, fueled election subversion efforts in key states, the deadly January 6 attack on the US Capitol by supporters and far-right groups, a second impeachment for inciting that insurrection (and a second acquittal, if with more Republican defections) and a deepening crisis of US democracy.01:41With a third White House bid, Trump hopes to defy political history. Only one former president, Grover Cleveland, has served two nonconsecutive terms. Cleveland was elected in 1884 and 1892, but, unlike Trump, he won the popular vote in the intervening election of 1888.Trump flirted with announcing a new run throughout Biden’s first two years in power, ultimately delaying until after midterm elections, which did not go as he or his party expected. But while high-profile backers of Trump’s stolen election myth were defeated, among them his choice for Arizona governor, Kari Lake, more than 170 were elected, according to the Washington Post.Until his midterms reversal, Trump dominated polling of potential Republican nominees for 2024. His closest rival in such surveys, DeSantis, reportedly indicated to donors he would not compete with Trump. But the landscape has now changed. DeSantis won re-election by a landslide, gave a confident victory speech to chants of “two more years” and has surged in polling – prompting attacks from Trump. At least one Republican mega donor, Ken Griffin, has said he backs the Florida governor.Should Trump dismiss DeSantis as he has so many other challengers and win the nomination, the 22nd amendment to the US constitution would bar him from running again in 2028. But a rematch of 2020 remains possible. Though Biden will soon turn 80 and has faced questions about whether he should seek a second term himself, he is preparing a re-election campaign.TopicsDonald TrumpUS elections 2024US politicsRepublicansRon DeSantisJoe BidenUS midterm elections 2022newsReuse this content More

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      Raphael Warnock sues Georgia over early voting restrictions for runoff

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      Raphael Warnock sues Georgia over early voting restrictions for runoffState law limits early voting after state holidays, including Thanksgiving and another formerly honoring Confederate general Raphael Warnock’s campaign sued Georgia on Tuesday after the state said it would not offer Saturday early voting for the closely watched runoff in which Warnock is seeking re-election to the US Senate.The suit challenges the state’s interpretation of a law that would prohibit early voting on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. The day after Thanksgiving is also a state holiday in Georgia, originally to commemorate Robert E Lee, the Confederate civil war general. In 2015, state officials dropped Lee’s name and started recognizing the day simply as a “state holiday”.‘This movement was rejected’: Republican election deniers lose key state racesRead moreLawyers for Warnock’s campaign argued that the voting prohibition only applies to primary and general elections, not runoffs, which have a much shorter voting period. Last year, Georgia Republicans passed a law shortening the runoff period from nine weeks to four. But the shortened runoff period is coming into conflict with the state law that bars early voting around holidays.The state “misreads” and “cherry-picks” provisions of the law that do not apply to runoffs, lawyers for Warnock’s campaign wrote in a complaint, which was joined by the Georgia Democratic party and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “The secretary’s insistence that counties may not hold advance voting on November 26 therefore has no support in the law and conflicts with [the statute’s] requirement that counties begin advance voting for the December 6 runoff as soon as possible,” it reads.The suit asks a judge to declare that state law does not prohibit counties from offering early voting on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and to order the state not to take any action blocking them from doing so.Georgia law says counties may start early voting “as soon as possible” after the state certifies results from the general election, with a mandatory period from 28 November to 2 December. State law also bars Saturday early voting on the Saturday before a runoff, 3 December.Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, initially said he believed some counties would offer early voting on Saturday, before his office reversed course and said it was prohibited.“It’s not our choice. It’s literally in black-letter law that the Saturday following a state holiday cannot be used for early voting,” Gabriel Sterling, an interim deputy secretary of state, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “We all thought there was going to be Saturday voting until we looked at the law really closely.”Gerald Griggs, the president of the Georgia NAACP, said a Confederate holiday should not block voting.A Confederate holiday should not prevent the protection of democracy, which is called voting. That holiday needs to be eliminated. #TakeDownHate #gapol https://t.co/FqxW4zEx7h— Gerald A. Griggs (@AttorneyGriggs) November 13, 2022
      A coalition of civil rights groups separately sent a letter to all of Georgia’s 159 counties on Tuesday urging them to offer at least three additional days of early voting from 7am to 7pm, which is allowed at the counties’ discretion under Georgia law. The coalition urged the counties to offer voting on the Tuesday and Wednesday preceding Thanksgiving as well as the Sunday after the holiday.“If you only offer advance voting on the five days required by statute (which, as noted above, is limited to weekdays), there is a significant risk that many voters will be unable to participate due to obligations during the workday,” lawyers for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU of Georgia wrote in the letter. “The lack of weekend or evening voting options is especially concerning for voters of color, who may be less able to take time off from work to vote.”Hillary Holley, the executive director of Care in Action, the political arm of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, tweeted on Tuesday that Fulton county, home to Atlanta and the state’s most populous county, had agreed to start early voting on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. She also said Gwinnett county, one of the largest and most diverse counties in the state, had also agreed to start early voting on Sunday.TopicsUS midterm elections 2022The fight for democracyGeorgiaUS SenateUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      US midterms 2022: Democrats’ hopes of keeping House fade as counting continues – live

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      If a president’s party can only keep one chamber of Congress, the Senate is the one to have.The Senate is tasked with approving the White House’s nominations, including cabinet secretaries, federal judges and most crucially, supreme court justices. With Democrats holding the majority for the next two years, Joe Biden is once again guaranteed the ability to get his cabinet secretaries and judges confirmed to post across the government. That will increase the chances Biden’s legislative accomplishments – and those of future Democratic presidents – survive court challenges.But if the House falls to Republicans, Biden’s days of big legislating may have come to an end, at least for now. The chamber’s GOP leadership has shown little interest in working with the president, and it’s unlikely any of their bills make it through the Senate and to the president’s desk. Control of the House also gives the GOP the ability to conduct investigations and issue subpoenas. Expect them to do that to officials involved in the US withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, and to Hunter Biden. Prosecutors say criminal charges not expected from Giuliani raidNew York prosecutors said in a letter to a judge on Monday they do not plan to criminally charge Rudy Giuliani following a probe into his dealings with Ukrainian associates – a development Giuliani’s called “a total victory”. Prosecutors had been investigating whether Giuliani should have been registered as a foreign agent due to his dealings with figures in Ukraine in the run-up to the 2020 election.The investigation, which resulted in raids on his residence in April 2021 and seizure of a number of electronic devices, has concluded, and that criminal charges would not be forthcoming.“In my business, we would call that total victory,” Giuliani’s lawyer, Robert Costello, told the Associated Press. “We appreciate what the US attorney’s [office] has done. We only wish they had done it a lot sooner.”Read the full story here. Kari Paul here taking over for the next couple hours, stay tuned for updates. Trump wasn’t keeping all those classified documents at Mar-a-Lago for the money, The Washington Post reports.Rather, the motivation for his alleged retention of government secrets at his south Florida resort was more about Trump’s desire to hang on to keepsakes from his time in the White House, according to the Post, which cited federal investigators. That doesn’t mean he won’t face charges in the case, which is one of many inquiries the former president is involved in nearly two years after he left office. Here’s more from the Post:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}That review has not found any apparent business advantage to the types of classified information in Trump’s possession, these people said. FBI interviews with witnesses so far, they said, also do not point to any nefarious effort by Trump to leverage, sell, or use the government secrets. Instead, the former president seemed motivated by a more basic desire not to give up what he believed was his property, these people said.
      Several Trump advisers said that each time he was asked to give documents or materials back, his stance hardened, and that he gravitated toward lawyers and advisers who indulged his more pugilistic desires. Trump repeatedly said the materials were his, not the government’s — often in profane terms, two of these people said.
      The people familiar with the matter cautioned that the investigation is ongoing, no final determinations have been made, and it’s possible additional information could emerge that changes investigators’ understanding of Trump’s motivations. But they said the evidence collected over a period of months indicates the primary explanation for potentially criminal conduct was Trump’s ego and intransigence.
      A Justice Department spokesman and an FBI spokeswoman declined to comment. A Trump spokesman did not return a request for comment Monday.
      The analysis of Trump’s likely motive in allegedly keeping the documents is not, strictly speaking, an element of determining whether he or anyone around him committed a crime, or should be charged with one. Justice Department policy dictates that prosecutors file criminal charges in cases in which they believe a crime was committed and the evidence is strong enough to lead to a conviction that will hold up on appeal. But as a practical matter, motive is an important part of how prosecutors assess cases and decide whether to file criminal charges.The Guardian’s Kari Paul is now taking over the live blog, and will take you through the latest politics news over the remainder of the day.Another notable Republican has reiterated his support for Donald Trump, Politico reports.Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville said he will back Trump for president in 2024, if he announces:Sen. Tuberville says he will endorse Trump for president when he announces. He also says he’ll support McConnell as GOP leader— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) November 14, 2022
      He also announced that he would back Mitch McConnell as Senate minority leader, the top office available for the GOP in that chamber after they failed to win control in the midterms.CNN reports that the bipartisan group of senators pushing a bill to codify same-sex marriage believes it has enough support to pass the chamber:Multiple sources say the bipartisan group working on legislation to codify same-sex marriage has the votes needed for the bill to pass and is urging leadership to put it on the floor for a vote as soon as possible.w/ @alizaslav— Daniella Diaz (@DaniellaMicaela) November 14, 2022
      The Respect for Marriage Act passed the House earlier this year with some Republican support. Assuming all Democratic senators vote for it, it will need the votes of at least 10 Republicans to overcome a filibuster, but it’s previously been unclear if that support exists.Ahead of the release of his memoir tomorrow, former vice-president Mike Pence sat down with ABC News to talk more about his experience on January 6.Here was his reaction when asked about Trump’s tweet lashing out at Pence on the day of the attack:”It angered me. … The president’s words were reckless. It was clear he decided to be part of the problem.”— Former Vice President Mike Pence, in an ABC News exclusive as he promotes his new book, rebukes Trump’s tweet attacking him on Jan. 6th as the mob stormed the Capitol pic.twitter.com/PqnqUH7vbQ— The Recount (@therecount) November 14, 2022
      In their quest to understand why they performed so poorly in the midterms, some Republicans are pointing the finger at Donald Trump, arguing he has outlived his usefulness to the party.Writing in The American Conservative, JD Vance, a Republican who just won a seat in the Senate representing Ohio, attempted to dissuade the GOP from casting blame on the former president. He argues that Trump serves as a unifying force for Republicans and can offset Democrats’ advantages in fundraising and voter turnout that are going to make it more difficult for the GOP to win House and Senate races.Here’s more from his piece:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}In the long term, the way to solve this is to build a turnout machine, not gripe at the former president. But building a turnout machine without organized labor and amid declining church attendance is no small thing. Our party has one major asset, contra conventional wisdom, to rally these voters: President Donald Trump. Now, more than ever, our party needs President Trump’s leadership to turn these voters out and suffers for his absence from the stage.
      The point is not that Trump is perfect. I personally would have preferred an endorsement of Lou Barletta over Mastriano in the Pennsylvania governor’s race, for example. But any effort to pin blame on Trump, and not on money and turnout, isn’t just wrong. It distracts from the actual issues we need to solve as a party over the long term. Indeed, one of the biggest changes I would like to see from Trump’s political organization—whether he runs for president or not—is to use their incredible small dollar fundraising machine for Trump-aligned candidates, which it appears he has begun doing to assist Herschel Walker in his Senate runoff.
      Blaming Trump isn’t just wrong on the facts, it is counterproductive. Any autopsy of Republican underperformance ought to focus on how to close the national money gap, and how to turn out less engaged Republicans during midterm elections. These are the problems we have, and rather than blaming everyone else, it’s time for party leaders to admit we have these problems and work to solve them. Meanwhile in Georgia, the midterms are very much not over.The Senate race is headed to a run-off election on 6 December, with Republican Herschel Walker challenging Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock for the seat.In a speech today, Walker attacked Warnock for using campaign funds to pay for childcare – as US election law allows:Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker (R) criticizes Sen. Raphael Warnock’s (D) parenting:”He paid himself for childcare, all that stuff — why don’t he keep his own kids? Don’t have nobody keep your kids. … I keep my own, even though he lied about me.” pic.twitter.com/C41IJUbA0F— The Recount (@therecount) November 14, 2022
      Left unsaid were reports that Walker paid for two women to have an abortion, even though he supports a nationwide ban on the procedure, without exceptions. He also did not mention one of his son’s claim that he has not been much of a father.It’s just one pollster in one state, but take a look at who CWS Research found was leading among Republican candidates for the White House in 2024.Florida governor Ron DeSantis topped Donald Trump in the poll of Republicans and independents, with 43% support against Trump’s 32%. The survey was conducted from 12 to 13 November, after the midterm elections, and represents a change from a previous poll conducted in mid-October before the vote. Then, Trump led, with 46% support compared to DeSantis’ 29%.Trump is widely expected to announce another campaign for office tomorrow, but DeSantis had a far better midterm election. The Florida governor resoundingly won another term on a day when Republicans performed well in the state overall. Trump, meanwhile, saw several of his handpicked candidates for office rejected by voters in states across the country.Joe Biden’s plan to relieve some student debt has lost again in court and will remain on hold, Politico reports:NEWS – 8th Circuit has blocked Biden’s student debt relief program, siding with GOP states in a 3-0 decision. pic.twitter.com/6gn7UyxmLa— Michael Stratford (@mstratford) November 14, 2022
      The panel of two Trump appointees & a GWB appointee ruled unanimously that Missouri has standing to challenge debt relief program based on injury to the state via MOHELA. pic.twitter.com/FixeqTSmAa— Michael Stratford (@mstratford) November 14, 2022
      But the 10-page decision doesn’t discuss the merits of the case much — other than to say the GOP states have raised “substantial questions of law which remain to be resolved”https://t.co/2WkRX1ozkd pic.twitter.com/0Qs03zL7qh— Michael Stratford (@mstratford) November 14, 2022
      The Guardian’s community team wants to hear from Americans about what they think of the results of Tuesday’s midterm elections. Be you Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, independent or something else, let them know your thoughts:US voters: share your reaction to the midterm results so farRead moreThe dust is settling from Tuesday’s midterm elections. Control of the House is still up for grabs, but the GOP appears on course to eke out a majority, while Democrats have won themselves the Senate for another two years. The 2024 presidential race may very well kick off tomorrow, when Donald Trump is expected to announce another campaign for the White House.Here’s what else is happening today:
      Joe Biden doesn’t believe the House is winnable for Democrats, nor that there’s enough support for a measure to codify abortion rights into law.
      The Senate plans to vote on a measure to codify same-sex marriage rights this week, after a conservative supreme court justice raised the possibility of the court reconsidering its ruling establishing the rights.
      The January 6 committee is cleared to access the phone records of Arizona’s Republican party chair after the supreme court quashed a challenge to the lawmakers’ subpoena.
      Mo Brooks was once one of Donald Trump’s closest allies, but has since joined the ranks of those who have fallen out with the former president.The Alabama Republican congressman will retire at the end of this year, and in an interview with AL.com called on the party to dump the former president.“It would be a bad mistake for the Republicans to have Donald Trump as their nominee in 2024,” said Brooks, who was the first congressman to object to the certification of the 2020 election. “Donald Trump has proven himself to be dishonest, disloyal, incompetent, crude and a lot of other things that alienate so many independents and Republicans. Even a candidate who campaigns from his basement can beat him.”The bad blood between the two men stems from Trump’s withdrawn endorsement of Brooks for Alabama’s Senate seat, which was won last week by Republican Katie Britt. Brooks said Trump asked him to remove Joe Biden from office and elevate the ex-president back to power, which the congressman told him was illegal. The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports on a new justice department filing in the Mar-a-Lago case, which claims Donald Trump kept classified documents at the resort, even after he left the White House:Donald Trump retained documents bearing classification markings, along with communications from after his presidency, according to court filings describing the materials seized by the FBI as part of the ongoing criminal investigation into whether he mishandled national security information.The former US president kept in the desk drawer of his office at the Mar-a-Lago property one document marked “secret” and one marked “confidential” alongside three communications from a book author, a religious leader and a pollster, dated after he departed the White House.The mixed records could amount to evidence that Trump wilfully retained documents marked classified when he was no longer president as the justice department investigates unauthorised possession of national security materials, concealment of government records, and obstruction.Court files show evidence Trump handled records marked classified after presidencyRead moreMike Pence will on Tuesday release a memoir detailing his time in the Trump White House, and Martin Pengelly takes a look at what the former vice president reveals:In his new book, Donald Trump’s vice-president, Mike Pence, protests his loyalty to his former boss but also levels criticisms that will acquire new potency as Trump prepares to announce another presidential run and the Republican party debates whether to stay loyal after disappointment in last week’s midterm elections.According to Pence, Trump mishandled his response to a march staged by neo-Nazis in Charlottesville in August 2017, a costly error that Pence says could have been avoided had Pence called Trump before a fateful press conference in which Trump failed to condemn “the racists and antisemites in Charlottesville by name”.Also in Pence’s judgment, “there was no reason for Trump not to call out Russia’s bad behaviour” early in his term while beset by investigations of Russian election interference on Trump’s behalf and links between Trump and Moscow.“Acknowledging Russian meddling,” Pence writes, would not have “somehow cheapen[ed] our victory” over Hillary Clinton in 2016.Pence does not stop there. Among other judgments which may anger his former boss, he says Trump’s claimed “perfect call” to Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine in 2019, the subject of Trump’s first impeachment after he withheld military aid in search of political dirt, was in fact “less than perfect” – if not, in Pence’s judgment, impeachable.Pence risks Trump’s wrath by piling on criticisms of ex-president in new bookRead moreThe January 6 committee can access the phone records of the chair of Arizona’s Republican party after the supreme court turned down an attempt to block the lawmakers’ subpoena:NEW: Supreme Court rejects bid by Ariz GOP Chair Kelli Ward to block a Jan. 6 committee subpoena for her phone records. Thomas and Alito dissent. pic.twitter.com/g3IoSuuRuk— Greg Stohr (@GregStohr) November 14, 2022
      Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are two of the court’s most conservative justices, and objected to the court’s order.Arizona was one of the states targeted by Donald Trump and his allies in the weeks after the 2020 election, as part of their effort to tamper with Joe Biden’s election victory.Later this week, Republicans in the House and Senate are set to vote on who their leaders will be for the next two years, but the party’s weak showing in the midterms has sparked calls to delay the election.It appears rightwing lawmakers are trying to punish top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell for failing to retake the chamber, and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy for the party’s weak showing there. According to Axios, conservative figures outside of Congress will soon release a letter backing the calls for a delay: Per source: collection of prominent conservative movement figures — incl Heritage President Kevin Roberts — will be releasing a letter calling for delay to House and Senate leadership elections. pic.twitter.com/ON8c1dvIyl— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) November 14, 2022
      Among the signatories: Ginni Thomas, wife of rightwing supreme court justice Clarence Thomas. She’s a prominent denier of the facts surrounding Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, and was interviewed by the January 6 committee earlier this year. Lawmakers on the panel said she didn’t have much to offer, and there wasn’t evidence she played a significant role in the insurrection. More