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      Biden administration ‘dragged feet’ on Mohammed bin Salman immunity ruling

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      Biden administration ‘dragged feet’ on Mohammed bin Salman immunity rulingLegal experts raise questions about run-up to granting immunity in civil case involving murder of journalist When the Biden administration filed a legal brief last week calling for the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to be granted sovereign immunity in a civil case involving the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it said it was strictly a legal determination that did not reflect its views on the “heinous” killing.“In every case, we simply follow the law. And that’s what we did,” Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, later said.But a close examination of the Biden administration’s actions, including interviews with legal experts and people who closely followed the matter, suggest the controversial decision was anything but straightforward.Beginning last summer, the administration’s decision to delay action and seek months of legal extensions before submitting its views on the matter before a US judge offered Saudi Arabia an unprecedented opportunity to protect Prince Mohammed through a legal manoeuvre that put him above the law and out of the reach of the US legal system. Once this had happened, the Biden administration in effect said its hands were tied.“If you look at the sequence of events, it is hard not to see this was a battle between Biden and Mohammed bin Salman playing out,” said one close observer, who asked not to be named so they could speak candidly. “I would hate to imagine that there was bartering over our judicial system and that integrity was up for grabs.”The US government was first invited to get involved in the civil case against Prince Mohammed on 1 July by the US district court judge John Bates. At the centre of the request was a lawsuit filed in 2020 against the crown prince and his associates by Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancee, which accused Prince Mohammed and his associates of conspiring with premeditation to kidnap, torture and murder Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.Bates’s request was straightforward. He gave the administration 30 days – until 1 August – to submit a “statement of interest” and weigh in on whether the heir to the Saudi throne ought to be granted sovereign immunity in the case, or tell the court that it did not wish to make a statement. He also wanted the administration to weigh in on how the court might reconcile protections that are given to foreign leaders and those who are using a US law that allows victims of torture or extrajudicial killings to hold perpetrators accountable.At that time, Prince Mohammed was – clearly – not a sovereign. In Saudi Arabia, that distinction belonged at the time solely to his father, King Salman.Harold Koh, a former legal adviser to the state department during the Obama administration who is now a professor of international law at Yale Law School, said the US had competing interests at the time. On the one hand, the US asserts reciprocal principles of immunity so that its own head of state will be offered protection from legal courts. But that had to be weighed against Biden’s statements about human rights being at the centre of his administration’s foreign policy and “autocrats understanding that the president means what he says”.“All things considered, silence would have been the better way to balance those competing national interests,” Koh said, adding that there would have been “ample precedent” for the state department to stay silent.On 15 July, Joe Biden met Prince Mohammed in Jeddah, a meeting that started with a fist bump and was meant to “reset” his relationship with a leader he once called a pariah. It would later emerge that the meeting was also the start of a campaign by the administration to try to persuade the Saudis not to cut oil production before the US midterm elections.Back in Washington, just a few days later on 18 July, the US asked Judge Bates for an extension, saying it needed time to consult multiple entities within the administration with respect to “complex issues of international and domestic law”. The court agreed, giving the US until 3 October to respond.Weeks later, on 23 September, Brett McGurk, a Middle East policy coordinator for the US National Security Council (NSC), and Amos Hochstein, a US senior adviser for energy security, visited Jeddah again, ostensibly to discuss energy policies.Days later, on 27 September, the Saudi royal court announced that Prince Mohammed had been named prime minister, a role that had been and usually is held by the Saudi king. Observers noted that the apparent promotion did not confer any major new duties or powers to Mohammed bin Salman. Human rights defenders saw it as a ploy to influence the US recommendation on sovereign immunity, which was due about a week later.The US government, citing “changed circumstances”, requested a second extension to prepare its response and was granted one, until 17 November. A few days after it missed its 3 October deadline, Opec+ announced it was cutting oil production by 2m barrels a day, in what was seen by Democrats as an attempt by the kingdom to interfere with the US election and side with Russia over US interests.Biden promised that Saudi Arabia would face “consequences” for the decision, but has not articulated any specific actions he planned to take against the kingdom. On 17 November, just hours before a midnight deadline, the administration filed a notice that it believed Prince Mohammed, as prime minister, deserved to be treated as a sovereign as a standard matter of international law.An NSC spokesperson told the Guardian that the US president was briefed on the immunity decision, which was based on “well-established principles of common law”.When the Guardian asked the spokesperson if any US official ever suggested to Saudi Arabia that Prince Mohammed could be appointed prime minister before the matter was public, the spokesperson said: “This was an independent decision made by Saudi Arabia.”People familiar with the matter say legal questions about Prince Mohammed’s status were hotly debated inside the state department, where views about the best course of action differed.In debates within the administration, senior officials such as McGurk who have sought to promote the rehabilitation of the Saudi-US relationship have edged out policy objectives focused on human rights.“This administration made the decision it did because Mohammed bin Salman is prime minister. But they dragged their feet so much … This was clearly a policy decision in that they waited and stalled,” said one person who has advocated for human rights to have more prominence in decisions around policy.Leaders like Prince Mohammed were “legitimately worried” when Biden first came into office and vowed to make the Saudi heir accountable for human rights violations.“And when they got into office, the execution was not there,” the person said. Even when Biden made the decision to release a declassified intelligence report that found Prince Mohammed had likely ordered the murder, there were no sanctions against him.The person added: “That set the stage and indicated the rhetoric was not matched by substance.”TopicsMohammed bin SalmanSaudi ArabiaBiden administrationUS foreign policyUS politicsMiddle East and north AfricanewsReuse this content More

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      Herschel Walker accuser comes forward with fresh relationship claims

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      Herschel Walker accuser comes forward with fresh relationship claimsWoman who says she was pressured into abortion by Republican Senate hopeful presents unseen letters, audio and diary entries The second woman to allege that she was pressured into having an abortion by Herschel Walker, the Republican nominee in Georgia’s hotly contested US Senate race, on Tuesday presented previously unseen letters, audio recordings and pages of her personal diary that she said were evidence of their relationship, which he has denied.US supreme court allows Congress to view Trump’s tax returnsRead moreAt a press conference in Los Angeles organized by her lawyer, Gloria Allred, the anonymous woman known only as Jane Doe came forward anew with a raft of fresh materials. She said she was doing so because when she first aired her allegations last month “and told the truth, he denied that he knew that I existed”.The alleged new evidence of the relationship between the woman and the former college football star included a voicemail recording in which Walker was purported to say to her: “This is your stud farm calling, you big sex puppy you”.Jane Doe also read out a letter which she said had been written by Walker to her parents. “I do love your daughter and I’m not out to hurt her. She has been a strong backbone for me through all of this,” the letter said.The new allegations surfaced just as early voting is set to begin in the important run-off election for a Georgia seat in the US Senate between Walker, who has publicly called for abortion to be banned, and the Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock, following a neck-and-neck result in the midterm elections. Asked whether she was coming forward with a new round of allegations in order to influence the election, Jane Doe said: “Voters can make their own decision. All I can do is tell the truth.”The unnamed woman initially raised her claims on 26 October that she was pressured into an abortion. She alleged that she had an intimate relationship with Walker for six years while he was playing for the Dallas Cowboys and that he paid for her to have an abortion in 1993, driving her to the clinic.Walker rebutted the claims, saying: “I’m done with this foolishness. I’ve already told people this is a lie and I’m not going to entertain it.”At Tuesday’s press conference, Jane Doe read passages of what she said were her personal diaries from 1993 in the days immediately after she learnt she was pregnant. In one extract Walker is alleged to have told her that the pregnancy was “probably his ‘fault’ since he had very high levels of testosterone”.In a second passage, she wrote that Walker “has about gone off the deep end over this whole thing … He thinks that by not having the baby we do have a future chance for happiness that we can ‘grow strong again together’.”Allred read out what she said was a signed declaration from a friend of Jane Doe’s in which she recalled her confiding to her in 1993 that she was pregnant and that Walker had been the partner. Several years later, the friend said in her declaration, “she confessed to me that she had in fact had an abortion in 1993” and that Walker had personally driven her to the clinic.The first woman to make allegations against Walker told the Daily Beast last month that he paid for her to have an abortion in 2009.TopicsUS politicsRepublicansGeorgiaUS midterm elections 2022newsReuse this content More

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      US supreme court allows Congress to view Trump’s tax returns

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      US supreme court allows Congress to view Trump’s tax returnsOrder ends committee’s three-year battle to receive returns former president has long refused to release The US supreme court will allow a congressional committee to receive copies of Donald Trump’s tax returns, ending a three-year battle by the Democratic-led body to see the documents the former president has famously refused to release since his first White House bid.US court appears inclined to end special master review of Trump papersRead moreThe court did not accompany its decision with any public comment, but it rejected Trump’s plea for an order that would have prevented the treasury department from giving six years of tax returns for Trump and some of his businesses to the House ways and means committee.The influential committee will continue to be led by a Democratic party chair, in this case Massachusetts congressman Richard Neal, until the new Congress is sworn in in January with the Republicans in the majority and therefore filling committee chairs, following the midterm elections.It was Trump’s second loss at the supreme court in as many months, and third this year.In October, the court refused to step into the legal fight surrounding the FBI search of Trump’s Florida estate that turned up classified documents.In January, the court refused to stop the National Archives from turning over documents to the special House panel investigating the 6 January 2021 insurrection at the Capitol by extremist supporters of then-president Trump who were trying to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 election. Justice Clarence Thomas was the only vote in Trump’s favor.In the dispute over his tax returns, the treasury department had refused to provide the records during Trump’s presidency. But the Biden administration said federal law is clear that the committee has the right to examine any taxpayer’s return, including the president’s.Lower courts agreed that the committee has broad authority to obtain tax returns and rejected Trump’s claims that it was overstepping and only wanted the documents so they could be made public.The supreme court chief justice, John Roberts, imposed a temporary freeze on 1 November to allow the court to weigh the legal issues raised by Trump’s lawyers and the counter arguments of the administration and the House of Representatives.Just over three weeks later, the court lifted Roberts’s order.No supreme court justices on Tuesday recorded dissents to the order. The House ways and means committee in 2019 requested Trump’s returns under federal law, saying they were part of their investigation into Trump’s compliance with Internal Revenue Service auditing.Trump has been fighting the matter in court ever since.The treasury department is now cleared to hand the documents to the ways and means committee but it’s unclear what Democrats on the committee will be able to accomplish in the few weeks of congressional business left this year.The justice department under the Trump administration had defended a decision by then treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin to withhold the tax returns from Congress. Mnuchin argued that he could withhold the documents because he concluded they were being sought by Democrats for partisan reasons. A lawsuit ensued.After Biden took office, the committee renewed the request, seeking Trump’s tax returns and additional information from 2015 to 2020. The White House took the position that the request was a valid one and that the treasury department had no choice but to comply.Trump then attempted to halt the handover in court. Then Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr obtained copies of Trump’s personal and business tax records as part of a criminal investigation.That case, too, went to the supreme court, which rejected Trump’s argument that he had broad immunity as president.In 2020, the New York Times published damning information about Trump’s wealth and taxes after obtaining tax information about the then president going back two decades.Documents showed chronic business losses and the fact that Trump paid barely any federal income tax, but he has not faced any conclusive legal consequences up to now and has boasted that a habit of tax avoidance “makes me smart”.TopicsDonald TrumpUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Supreme court allows Congress to see Donald Trump’s tax returns – as it happened

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      The supreme court will allow a congressional committee to receive Donald Trump’s tax returns, the Associated Press reports, ending a three-year battle by the Democratic-led body to see the documents the former president has famously refused to release since his first White House bid.We’ll have more on this developing story as it happens.Three years of court battles came to a close today, when the supreme court allowed the Democratic-led House ways and means committee to receive Donald Trump’s tax returns over the former president’s opposition. Also ending today was Anthony Fauci’s streak of appearances at the White House. The top US public health official who became a household name during the Covid-19 pandemic made his last briefing to reporters before he steps down from the role, and implored Americans to get a booster shot to protect against the virus.Here’s what else happened today:
      Joe Biden extended the pause on federal student loan repayments until 30 June in order to give his administration time to defend his debt forgiveness plan at the supreme court.
      A former top prosecutor on Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election has some thoughts for how newly appointed special counsel Jack Smith could approach the criminal investigations into Trump.
      Democrat Raphael Warnock has a narrow lead over GOP candidate Herschel Walker in the runoff election for Georgia’s Senate seat scheduled for 6 December.
      Florida’s legislature appears to be moving to change a law that would allow Governor Ron DeSantis make a much-expected run for president.
      Republican senator Lindsey Graham spoke to a special grand jury investigating meddling in Georgia’s 2020 election result, after months of trying to get out of it.
      The NAACP civil rights group is among those cheering Biden’s decision to extent the pause on federal student loan repayments.“In the face of extreme greed and hypocrisy by the far-right, President Biden today is standing up for all Americans – middle-class and low-income families – who carry the heavy burden of student loan debt,” the group’s president Derrick Johnson. “The impact this extension will have in the lives of those who have been targeted by predatory student loans cannot be overstated.”Progressive House Democrat Ro Khanna joined in:This is the right move from @POTUS and a victory for those fighting to cancel student debt. We must cancel debt and make public higher education and trade school free for all. https://t.co/2MoDdLzoPL— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) November 22, 2022
      Here’s Joe Biden in his own words, explaining his decision to extend the pause on federal student loan repayment:I’m confident that our student debt relief plan is legal. But it’s on hold because Republican officials want to block it.That’s why @SecCardona is extending the payment pause to no later than June 30, 2023, giving the Supreme Court time to hear the case in its current term. pic.twitter.com/873CurlHFZ— President Biden (@POTUS) November 22, 2022
      Biden first announced the plan in August, and said federal student loan payments would restart in January of next year, and no later. He’s now reversed that, and in the video above, cites recent court rulings putting his loan forgiveness program on hold as the reason.The Biden administration will extend its pause on student loan repayments until 30 June, Bloomberg News reports:WHITE HOUSE TO EXTEND STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT HALT UP TO JUNE 30per @nancook— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) November 22, 2022
      The decision comes after Joe Biden’s plan to relieve as much as $20,000 of some borrowers’ federal student loan debt was blocked by a federal court. The White House is appealing that order before the supreme court.Lindsey Graham’s office has released a brief statement after the Republican senator appeared today before a special grand jury investigating attempts by Donald Trump and his allies to meddle in the state’s election results.“Today, Senator Graham appeared before the Fulton County Special Grand Jury for just over two hours and answered all questions. The Senator feels he was treated with respect, professionalism, and courtesy. Out of respect for the grand jury process he will not comment on the substance of the questions,” the statement read.No supreme court justices recorded dissents to the order lifting a stay on an appeals court ruling that allows the House ways and means committee to access Donald Trump’s tax returns.The Democratic-led committee in 2019 requested the then-president’s returns under federal law, saying they were part of their investigation into Trump’s compliance with Internal Revenue Service auditing. Trump has been fighting the matter in court ever since, and supreme court chief justice John Roberts had earlier this month put a stay on the most recent ruling from a federal appeals court in the committee’s favor.The Treasury department is now cleared to hand the documents the ways and means committee. Democrats currently control the House, but will lose it at the start of 2023, when the new Republican majority takes their seats.US supreme court blocks handover of Trump’s tax returns to CongressRead moreThe supreme court will allow a congressional committee to receive Donald Trump’s tax returns, the Associated Press reports, ending a three-year battle by the Democratic-led body to see the documents the former president has famously refused to release since his first White House bid.We’ll have more on this developing story as it happens.Donald Trump is having his day in court as the justice department challenges the appointment of a special master in the Mar-a-Lago case.Politico reports that the appeals panel hearing the matter is skeptical of why an official was appointed to filter out privileged documents from the trove seized by federal agents:HAPPENING NOW: Appeals court panel (with two Trump appointees and a GWB appointee) is sharply critical of Trump effort to save special master process. They think Trump is seeking special pre-indictment treatment as an ex-president.— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) November 22, 2022
      The special master review is seen as an attempt to frustrate and learn details of the investigation into alleged government secrets discovered at the former president’s south Florida resort.On another note:Trump attorney Jim TRUSTY says among the items seized from Trump’s home: a picture of Celine Dion.— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) November 22, 2022
      An interesting development from Florida, where the new leader of the Republican-controlled House appears ready to repeal the state’s “resign to run” law, currently an obstacle to Ron DeSantis’s expected campaign for the White House.As things stand, DeSantis, who was re-elected this month in a landslide to a second term, would have to step down if he were to challenge for his party’s 2024 presidential nomination. His supporters acknowledged as much by chanting “two more years!” at his election night party. Governors in Florida serve four year terms.It’s the same rule that required Charlie Crist, DeSantis’s beaten Democratic opponent, to resign his US House seat earlier this year to challenge him.Politico’s reports that state House speaker Paul Renner says he’s willing to change the law next year, and allow DeSantis to fulfil his four-year term as governor at the same time as pursuing a presidential campaign in 2024.Fla House Speaker @Paul_Renner says he’s willing to change state law during 2023 session so @GovRonDeSantis can run for president without having to resign. Called it a “good idea.”— Gary Fineout (@fineout) November 22, 2022
      And with a compliant, super-majority in both chambers of the state’s legislature, Republicans can pretty much do as they please.The US relationship with Saudi Arabia is still under review despite a Biden administration ruling that the Saudi crown prince has immunity from a lawsuit over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today.Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist then living in the United States, was killed and dismembered in 2018 by Saudi agents in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, in an operation US intelligence believes was ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Reuters writes.The prince has denied ordering the killing, which has cast a pall over relations between the two countries.Khashoggi’s fiancee has sued the prince in US court, but in a ruling last week, US justice department lawyers concluded that the prince had immunity as a result of having been named prime minister in the Saudi government in September..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The opinion that we provided does not in any way speak to the merits of the case or the status of the bilateral relationship.
      Our review of that relationship is ongoing,” Blinken told reporters at a news conference in Qatar after an annual US-Qatar strategic dialogue.Blinken also said there were no plans for the prince to visit the United States.Donald Trump today asked a federal court in Florida to provide him and his lawyers with a complete version of the affidavit that federal investigators used to obtain a search warrant for his Florida property in August.Prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation into the retention of government records at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort after his presidency ended, Reuters reports.The request to unseal the search warrant affidavit was made to US District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida.A redacted version of the affidavit was made public in August after media organizations sought its release, with sections blacked out that prosecutors said should remain secret.The Justice Department said the redactions included information from “a broad range of civilian witnesses” as well as investigative techniques that, if disclosed, could reveal how to obstruct the probe.US Attorney General Merrick Garland last Friday appointed a special counsel, Jack Smith, to preside over criminal investigations involving the former president after Trump announced he would run for president again.A federal appeals court later today will hear arguments on whether an outside arbiter appointed by Cannon should be allowed to continue a review of documents seized in the search and determine whether any of the records should be kept from criminal investigators.Juror are deliberating over whether to convict five Oath Keepers militia members of seditious conspiracy, in what would be a milestone for the government’s prosecution of alleged January 6 insurrectionists. Meanwhile, Anthony Fauci made what could be his last appearance at the White House podium and asked Americans to get the latest Covid-19 vaccine booster as the holiday travel season arrives.Here’s what else has happened today so far:
      Top House Republican Kevin McCarthy plans a “major” announcement around 4:30 pm eastern time during his visit to El Paso, Texas. This could be the start of a GOP effort to impeach homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the surge in migrants to the US-Mexico border since Joe Biden took office.
      A former top prosecutor on Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election has some thoughts for how newly appointed special counsel Jack Smith could approach the criminal investigations into Donald Trump.
      Democrat Raphael Warnock has a narrow lead over GOP candidate Herschel Walker in the run-off election for Georgia’s Senate seat scheduled for 6 December.
      Andrew Weissmann was one of the top members on special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s team looking into Russian interference in the 2016 election that brought Trump to power.Now another special prosecutor has been appointed to decide on whether to bring charges against Trump over the January 6 insurrection and the alleged government secrets found at Mar-a-Lago. Writing in the New York Times, Weissmann shares some advice for Jack Smith, the veteran prosecutor appointed to the role.Chief among these is the possibility of Smith bringing charges against Trump – an option Mueller didn’t have, Weissmann says. “Mr. Smith is stepping into a political context very different from the one that confronted Mr. Mueller. Most notably, because of Justice Department policy, Mr. Mueller was forbidden to charge a sitting president. Now that Mr. Trump is a former president, Mr. Smith is not subject to that limitation. (That policy does not apply to presidential candidates like Mr. Trump.),” Weissmann writes.He also notes that Smith has the option of taking a more transparent approach to his investigation than Mueller, who was famously tight-lipped about what he was finding.“Neither the current special counsel regulations nor Justice Department rules require Mr. Smith to take a vow of silence with the American public,” Weissmann writes. “His ability to explain and educate will be critical to the acceptance of the department’s mission by the American public. It will permit Mr. Smith to be heard directly and not through the gauze of pundits and TV anchors; it will allow the public to directly assess Mr. Smith, a heretofore little-known figure; and it will permit Mr. Smith to counteract those strong forces seeking to discredit or misleadingly shape the narrative about the investigations.”Under Joe Biden, the United States passed the first significant piece of legislation to fight climate change and reversed decades of opposition to creating a fund for poor countries suffering the worst effects of global rising temperatures. Now, it’s trying to portray China as the world’s climate change villain – but as Oliver Milman reports, activists aren’t buying it:The US, fresh from reversing its 30 years of opposition to a “loss and damage” fund for poorer countries suffering the worst impacts of the climate crisis, has signaled that its longstanding image as global climate villain should now be pinned on a new culprit: China.Following years of tumult in which the US refused to provide anything resembling compensation for climate damages, followed by Donald Trump’s removal of the US from the Paris climate agreement, there was a profound shift at the Cop27 UN talks in Egypt, with Joe Biden’s administration agreeing to the new loss and damage fund.The US also backed language in the new agreement, which finally concluded in the early hours of Sunday morning after an often fraught period of negotiations between governments, that would demand the phase-out of all unabated fossil fuels, only to be thwarted by major oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia and Russia.Despite these stances, the US continued to be the leading target of ire from climate activists who blame it for obstruction and for failing to reckon with its role as history’s largest ever emitter of planet-heating gases. On Friday, the US was given the unwanted title of “colossal fossil” by climate groups for supposedly failing to push through the loss and damage assistance at Cop27.The US delegation in Sharm el-Sheikh chafed at this image, with John Kerry, Biden’s climate envoy, using his closing remarks to shift the focus on to China, now the world’s largest emitter. Kerry said that “all nations have a stake in the choices China makes in this critical decade. The United States and China should be able to accelerate progress together, not only for our sake, but for future generations – and we are all hopeful that China will live up to its global responsibility.” US receives stinging criticism at Cop27 despite China’s growing emissionsRead moreAnthony Fauci is making his final appearance at the White House podium, ahead of his retirement next month as America’s top public health official:.⁦@PressSec⁩ says this is Dr Fauci’s last time at the podium pic.twitter.com/fgeE36pkzD— AlexGangitano (@AlexGangitano) November 22, 2022
      The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, Fauci became a household name as the public face of the US government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic beginning in early 2020. Here’s where his parting words to reporters gathered at the White House:FAUCI: “So my message and my final message, may be the final message I give you from this podium, is that please for your own safety, for that of your family, get your updated COVID-19 shot as soon as you’re eligible to protect yourself, your family and your community.”— Molly Nagle (@MollyNagle3) November 22, 2022
      Fauci is appearing alongside the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator Ashish Jha to announce the Biden’s administration’s new six-week campaign to encourage Americans to get Covid-19 boosters in anticipation of the holidays.He’s in court, he’s on the campaign trail and he’s once again being investigated by a special prosecutor.Like it or not, Donald Trump will frequently be in the news for the next two years – at least – and the Guardian’s community team would like to hear your thoughts on how reporters should cover the former president. Weigh in at the link below:Tell us: how should the media cover Trump’s 2024 run?Read more More

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      Where was Ivanka when Donald launched his campaign? Looking after number one | Arwa Mahdawi

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      Where was Ivanka when Donald launched his campaign? Doing what Trumps do and looking after number oneArwa MahdawiThe former first daughter is no idiot. Why risk tainting her brand by associating with a loser? Just a few years ago Ivanka Trump reportedly had her heart set on being the US’s first female president. Now, however, she seems desperate to stay as far away from politics as possible. The former first daughter has made it clear that while Daddy may be running for office again, she has no intention of joining him on the campaign trail. She has already selflessly served the public once, you see, and the public didn’t sufficiently appreciate her sacrifices. Now it’s time for a little self-care. “I love my father very much,” Ivanka said in a statement following Donald Trump’s official 2024 announcement. “This time around, I am choosing to prioritise my children and the private life we are creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics.” To really hammer things home she was conspicuously absent when Trump, surrounded by family, made his official announcement from Mar-a-Lago last week. Even Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, was in attendance.Rumour has it that Trump isn’t happy his eldest daughter has decided to keep her distance. According to the New York Post, Trump spent much of Tiffany Trump’s recent wedding unsuccessfully trying to convince Ivanka, who has always been a big hit among his base, to join him for his campaign announcement – which I’m sure thrilled Tiffany, who has always seemed like the most neglected child. Ivanka, however, stood firm.00:52And why wouldn’t she? Ivanka may be many things, but she is not an idiot. The 41-year-old “Girlboss” entrepreneur has always spent a lot of time worrying about her personal brand. Hitching your wagon to Donald Trump at the moment? Definitely not good for the personal brand. Trump doesn’t scream “winner” right now: even many of his old allies have turned against him. The Rupert-Murdoch-owned-New York Post, for example, has spent the last couple of weeks gleefully trolling the former president. Two days after the midterms, it called him “TRUMPTY DUMPTY” on its front page. Even more humiliating was the way it chose to cover Trump’s run for president – “Florida man makes announcement” was the strapline that ran at the very bottom of the front page.At the moment, the consensus seems to be that Trump has lost his lustre and has zero chance of becoming president again. If Ivanka decides to side with her dad now she has nothing to gain. If she keeps her distance long enough, however, there’s a possibility she’ll be able to successfully rebrand herself, and all her liberal friends who turned their backs on her will invite her to dinner parties again. It’s a well-trodden path, after all: do a bunch of odious things when you’re in politics, get booted out of power, keep a low profile for a bit, then reinvent yourself by doing some high-profile charity work or appearing on a reality TV show. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ivanka’s PR people have been busy on the phone calling Volodymyr Zelenskiy (please, just one photo op!) and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (please, just a quick appearance on the podcast), in an attempt to ready her for a re-entrance to polite society.Speaking of odious people who have reinvented themselves: Michael Cohen, who was formerly Trump’s fixer and who has now successfully rebranded himself as a guy who gets paid to dish dirt on the Trump family on liberal cable news channels, has an interesting theory about Ivanka’s self-exile from politics. Cohen told MSNBC on Saturday that he reckons Jared and Ivanka have been working with the FBI and were the ones who informed the authorities about classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Ivanka’s involvement with the FBI, Cohen says, is why she’s not helping her father.I don’t know whether Ivanka is snitching to the FBI or not. But you know what I am very confident saying? Ivanka is busy doing what Trumps do best: looking out for number one. At the moment, that means staying away from her dad’s drama. If Trump’s fortunes change, however, and it looks like he might actually be on his way to the White House again, I have a feeling Ivanka might suddenly reassess her interest in politics.TopicsIvanka TrumpOpinionDonald TrumpUS politicscommentReuse 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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      Arizona voters approve Republican measures to restrict ballot initiatives

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      Arizona voters approve Republican measures to restrict ballot initiativesTwo measures get go-ahead from voters but bid to institute stricter voter ID requirements fails Two Republican ballot measures that will restrict how citizens can get their own priorities on the ballot in the future were approved by voters in Arizona, while one measure to institute stricter voter ID requirements failed.The mixed messages sent by voters on these measures aligned with the state’s increasingly purple, swing-state style, where candidates and proposals that win come from both sides of the aisle.Trump in apparent Twitter snub after Musk lifts ban – US politics liveRead moreGroups planning to run initiatives will now need those measures to focus on a single subject. For measures that seek to increase taxes, they will now need to get a 60% supermajority of votes for approval. The tax increase measure passed narrowly, with 50.7% in favor, while the single subject question received 55% of the vote.“The irony is that, with such a slim majority, just over 30,000 votes, voters gave away their authority to have a simple majority make decisions,” said Stacy Pearson, a spokesperson for Will of the People Arizona, the campaign against the three initiative-related measures.A third measure aimed at restricting the citizens’ initiative process by allowing lawmakers to tinker with measures after they passed netted just 36% of voters in favor, failing at the ballot.The Republican-controlled state legislature, which sent questions to the ballot on eight topics this year, from in-state tuition for undocumented students to tax increases to fund rural fire districts.Progressive policies rarely find an audience at the legislature, so groups have used direct democracy to enact them instead, often at a cost of many millions of dollars while facing an intense, well-funded opposition and lawsuits that seek to throw the measures off the ballot. In recent years, citizens’ initiatives in Arizona created a higher minimum wage and recreational marijuana legalization. This year, two initiatives from the public passed, one of which will increase disclosures of dark money spent on elections and another that limits medical debt.The new restrictions will be in place for the 2024 election, where abortion rights advocates are eyeing a potential ballot measure to enshrine access to abortion. The initiatives come after years of restrictions from the legislature that have made the process more costly and difficult.Groups that run initiatives fear the new measures will mean even fewer policies can make the ballot and that the new restrictions will not be applied narrowly. Citizens’ initiatives cannot cost the state money, so they often come with fees or tax structures to fund themselves, which they worry may be construed as a tax measure that needs 60% approval.As for single subjects, most measures cross various parts of state law to ensure they are enacted completely, so initiative users are not sure how courts will construe how a single-subject rule applies to them.Running ballot measures will become more expensive, and there will be more avenues for litigation against them, Pearson said. “I think anyone looking at initiatives in Arizona needs to find clarity on the definition of a tax increase … It just complicates what should be a very simple decision for voters,” she said.The voter ID measure, which had the backing of the Arizona Republican party, narrowly failed, coming in with about 49.6% of the vote. It would have required additional information from voters on mail-in ballots, including a date of birth and an ID number, and eliminated an option for in-person voters to prove their identity and address using documents like utility bills and bank statements.Opponents to the measure warned that the additional requirements could disenfranchise voters and expose their personal information to potential identity theft, while proponents said the voter ID law would make voting by mail, the main way Arizonans vote, more secure.TopicsArizonaThe fight for democracyUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      in World Politics

      The Destiny of Pakistan’s Totalitarian Proxy Regime in Afghanistan

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