(CNN) - The White House has instructed a former official who was in charge of the security clearance process to not comply with a House subpoena demanding his appearance for an interview, the latest move by the Trump administration to thwart Democratic-led investigations into all aspects of the presidency. After a day of tense negotiations, the White House late Monday told the former official, Carl Kline, who now works at the Defense Department, to not appear at Tuesday's deposition, contending that Democrats were seeking access to confidential information that should be off limits. The move raises the prospect that the House Oversight Committee could seek to hold Kline in contempt, a step that Chairman Elijah Cummings warned Monday he would take. And it's the latest White House effort to stonewall Democratic investigations, coming the same day the Trump Organization filed a lawsuit to prevent an accounting firm from complying with Cummings' subpoena for President Donald Trump's past financial records.
Some lawmakers want to take on OPEC. Now they’re itching for Trump to get on board with an idea he backed before becoming president.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday vowed to be the "Grim Reaper" for progressive policies if Republicans hold on to the Senate in 2020. "If I'm still the majority leader in the Senate think of me as the Grim Reaper. None of that stuff is going to pass," McConnell said while speaking to community leaders in Owensboro, Ky. McConnell noted that if Republicans win back the House or President Trump wins reelection "that takes care of it." But he pledged that even if Republicans lose the White House, he would use his position as majority leader to block progressive proposals like the Green New Deal. "I guarantee you that if I'm the last man standing and I'm still the majority leader, it ain't happening. I can promise you," McConnell added.
In an interview about the Mueller report, Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, distorted the facts in repeatedly making the case that there was “no obstruction” by Trump.
The Trump administration will sharply accelerate its goal of driving Iran’s oil exports to zero, ending sanctions exemptions that it previously granted to some of the Islamic Republic’s biggest customers. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a 2015 nuclear accord with Iran last May and restored wide-ranging sanctions on the Iranian economy in November. At the time, his administration granted six-month waivers to eight countries that allowed them to continue importing limited quantities of crude oil from Iran. The market widely expected Washington to extend the waivers for five of the countries. However, the administration says that any country still importing oil from Iran will be subject to U.S. sanctions beginning on May 2.
Washington (CNN) - The House Judiciary Committee has served former White House counsel Don McGahn with a subpoena as part of its investigation into obstruction of justice, a move to bring in a key player with direct knowledge about President Donald Trump's efforts to undermine the Russia probe.
The Democratic-led panel authorized subpoenas earlier this month for McGahn and four other White House officials as part of its sweeping investigation into possible obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power. But it waited until Monday to issue the subpoena to McGahn, seeking documents and testimony from the former White House counsel. The subpoena asks McGahn testify before the committee on May 21 and provide documents on three-dozen topics by May 7.
As he spoke, confused attendees at the Women Entrepreneurship Finance Initiative could be heard asking each other in hushed tones what Graham was talking about. While on a trip to Cote d'Ivoire last week to help Ivanka Trump promote women’s access to capital in Africa, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) warned of religious wars with “radical ideology” that would be “hell on earth for women” if they are not “destroyed.” “It’s the enemy of mankind, not just the United States,” Graham said, of the theoretical invaders, according to a recording provided to The Daily Beast. “Some of our soldiers will be needed, but not a lot. Most of the fighting will be done by people in the region. I promise you the enemy will lose because very few mothers or fathers want to turn their daughters over to ISIS, Al Qaeda or any other group.” As he spoke, confused attendees could be heard on the recording asking each other in hushed tones what Graham was talking about.
Larry Mitchell Hopkins has been described as the “commander” of the United Constitutional Patriots that has been detaining migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. A leader of a New Mexico militia that has been detaining migrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border said that the group was “training to assassinate George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama,” according to an FBI agent's sworn deposition describing reports phoned into the agency's public tip line. Larry Mitchell Hopkins, 69, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and made an initial appearance in federal court in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on the charge Monday.
In his rollout of the special counsel’s report, Attorney General William Barr painted the Trump White House as a willing participant in all key respects during Robert Mueller’s nearly two year probe. "The White House fully cooperated with the Special Counsel’s investigation," Barr said at an April 18 press conference prior to the release of Mueller report. The report found the Trump campaign did not illegally conspire with Russia. While Mueller declined to reach a legal judgment as to whether the president obstructed justice, Barr and his deputy concluded Trump did not.
But Mueller completed his report without the Trump White House’s full cooperation — and Barr’s claim to the contrary is simply wrong. Not only did Trump refuse an in-person interview and supply written responses that Mueller found "inadequate," but the president also tried on multiple occasions to shut down or curtail the investigation itself.
Removing the president from office is purely a political move, and it’s not the only tool at lawmakers’ disposal for dealing with impropriety.
(CNN) - One of President Donald Trump's picks to serve on the Federal Reserve Board has written that women should be banned from refereeing, announcing or beer vending at men's college basketball games, asking if there was any area in life "where men can take vacation from women." Stephen Moore, an economic commentator and former Trump campaign adviser, made those and similar comments in several columns reviewed by CNN's KFile that were published on the website of the conservative National Review magazine in 2001, twice in 2002 and 2003. In a 2000 column, Moore complained about his wife voting for Democrats, writing, "Women are sooo malleable! No wonder there's a gender gap." In another column in 2000, Moore criticized female athletes advocating for pay equality, writing that they wanted "equal pay for inferior work."
Washington (CNN) - President Donald Trump contended Monday that none of his underlings routinely defy his commands, despite numerous examples contained in Robert Mueller's report showing aides ignoring or refusing his dictates. "Nobody disobeys my orders," Trump said during a walkabout on the South Lawn for the annual Easter egg roll. He was questioned by CNN's Kaitlan Collins about whether he was worried some of his staff were shrugging off his requests, as depicted by Mueller, whose full redacted report was made public last week. The document contained anecdote after anecdote of aides refusing to carry out some of Trump's demands to short-circuit the special counsel's investigation. The trend was so marked the report's authors made note of it in their assessment.
President Trump and the Trump Organization are suing House Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings to stop subpoenas for financial information from the president's businesses. Mr. Trump filed the lawsuit Monday morning in D.C. District Court, after Cummings authorized subpoenas for Mazars USA LLP, the president's longtime accountant, along with a few Trump entities. Mr. Trump, in a strongly worded complaint, claims Congress only has oversight power insofar as it relates to producing legislation. - Sorry Donnie that is their job oversite to protect America from crooks like you
Waste is enough a problem that it is part of an acronym used by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: FWA, for fraud, waste and abuse. In a training manual for employees, CMS says with bold type and an exclamation point that "combating FWA is everyone’s responsibility!"
The White House policy aide has involved himself in specific immigration cases and pressed to publicize more personal information about migrants. The one-time Senate aide is a key architect of Trump’s tough immigration policies — a controversial role affirmed when he helped engineer a recent purge of Department of Homeland Security officials deemed too soft on border security. Miller has helped shape several explosive Trump actions, including an early 2017 executive order banning travel from several Muslim-majority nations and Trump’s crusade for a Mexican border wall. Most recently, he has backed an idea to relocate undocumented immigrants to “sanctuary cities” within the U.S., a scheme that has been described as political retribution by Democratic opponents.
After Democrats Surged In 2018, Republican-Run States Eye New Curbs On VotingAfter high turnout in last year's midterm elections propelled Democrats to a new House majority and big gains in the states, several Republican-controlled state legislatures are attempting to change voting-related rules in ways that might reduce future voter turnout.
Washington (CNN) - The State Department is set to announce all countries that continue to import Iranian oil will be subject to US sanctions, The Washington Post reported on Sunday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will announce Monday morning that as of May 2, countries importing Iranian crude or condensate will no longer be granted sanctions waivers by the State Department, two department officials told the newspaper's columnist Josh Rogin, who is also a CNN political analyst.
Sheriff restricts officer to administrative assignments after video sparks outrage
For the first time in years, lawmakers are seriously discussing the issue.
Special counsel Robert Mueller painted a damning picture of the Trump administration, even as he handed the president a victory on the central issue of collusion with Russia. The Trump White House, as portrayed by Mueller, revolves around an impulsive and angry president who issues orders that underlings often defy, ignore or seek to delay. The depiction will enrage a president who fixates on the concept of strength and is hypersensitive about any suggestion that he is not in absolute control of his administration.
Conservative CNN host. S.E. Cupp on Saturday said that special counsel Robert Mueller's report showed that President Trump is "unfit to lead," but added that Congress should refrain moving to impeach him.
The grown-ups who protected Trump and us, from Trump’s worst instincts, are gone now. The president, who thought Mueller was the beginning of the end, is about to really begin. Trump, convinced he alone outwitted the deep state, is now unleashed to be a purer version of himself. He will listen even less to his aides, except the most servile, like the recently appointed Attorney General William Barr who followed directions perfectly with his No Collusion, No Collusion Summary of the Mueller Report, stopping just short of his boss declaring it “bullshit.”
Trump’s pal is destitute paying to defend against charges he lied about WikiLeaks. Now he’s being hounded by an antifa who doesn't want him and the Proud Boys in town.
(CNN) - The FBI has arrested a member of an armed militia that had detained hundreds of migrants at the border this week, the New Mexico attorney general's office said Saturday. Larry Mitchell Hopkins, 69, is a member of an armed group that had reportedly detained migrants near Sunland Park, New Mexico, state Attorney General Hector Balderas said in a statement. Hopkins -- also known as Johnny Horton Jr. -- was arrested on felony charges of being in possession of firearms and ammunition, according to a statement from the FBI's Albuquerque field office.
Special counsel Robert Mueller painted a damning picture of the Trump administration, even as he handed the president a victory on the central issue of collusion with Russia. The Trump White House, as portrayed by Mueller, revolves around an impulsive and angry president who issues orders that underlings often defy, ignore or seek to delay. The depiction will enrage a president who fixates on the concept of strength and is hypersensitive about any suggestion that he is not in absolute control of his administration.
As president, he tried to control the investigation and fire Mueller. As a candidate, he appeared to know what WikiLeaks planned, ordered Hillary’s emails to be found, and more.
The special counsel’s findings validate the concerns of anyone who feared how Donald Trump would wield presidential power. Mueller’s report cataloged dozens of behaviors from Trump and his advisers—from sharing internal campaign polling data and strategy with a suspected agent of a foreign power to repeatedly lying to the public to systematically seeking to thwart investigations—that would have inspired volcanic eruptions of outrage from congressional Republicans and the conservative-media infrastructure if perpetrated by a Democratic president.
These are the highlights of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report
The central question about the Trump-Russia matter remains unanswered.
More than two dozen times, Trump’s answers to Mueller included phrases “I can’t remember” or “I do not recall.”
Even with redactions, Mueller’s report is clear Trump undermined the Russia investigation.
A lot about Jared, a little about Ivanka.
A California couple who beat, tortured and abused 12 of their 13 children for years were sentenced to life in prison during an emotional hearing that included testimony from some of the victims.
'Why in the world would you want to put your enemy on the payroll?' said one adviser close to the White House.
Mueller laid out the evidence for members of Congress to take action against President Trump. Will they?
The Mueller report, with some redactions, was released on Thursday.
The press secretary is now lying about lies.
After the Justice Department released a redacted version of the special counsel’s report on Thursday, Times reporters shared excerpts and analysis.
His strategy to spin first and release later left many questions unanswered and raised the specter of a cover-up.
The document will be provided to lawmakers only after a press conference about it by Attorney General William Barr.
Congress reasserted its constitutional power over declaring wars. Trump called it an attempt to “weaken my constitutional authorities.”
The 18-year-old, who prompted a massive manhunt in Colorado, appears to have drawn pictures of guns and knives and written about plans she was making.
"We're just praying every day. Every day is a blessing."
The C.F.P.B. was created to protect Americans from predatory lenders after the financial crisis. President Trump’s new chief of staff took it apart on his way to White House.
Sol Pais, 18, drove to Colorado and allegedly made threats, authorities said; Columbine High and 19 other schools were placed on lockout.
A white supremacist ran down and killed a young black man in Oregon has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 28 years
A 1989 memo Barr wrote summarizing the “principal conclusions” of a D.O.J. ruling apparently left out several of those principal conclusions.
Those close to Mueller’s team say there was “immediate displeasure” over Barr’s characterization of the special counsel’s findings—particularly on the obstruction question.
The freshman congresswoman was mentioned 3,181 on Fox News and Fox Business Network over a six-week period
Want an impeachable offense? Trump covered up the last Russian attack and seems to be begging for another
The intel committee’s top Republican and top Democrat have been openly fighting for more than a year. But there’s one thing they agree on: They need to hear from Robert Mueller.
The president also goes after Pelosi, saying she has 'lost all control of Congress.'
Her statement followed an announcement by House Speaker Pelosi that she has taken steps to ensure the safety of the Minnesota Democrat.
Trump has done things that make Bill Clinton’s wrongs look like a high-school date in the malt shop. His party doesn’t care.
The GOP changed the rules to polarize the federal bench, but that will come back to haunt Republicans.
