List of All Articles with Tag 'politics'

Investigators from special counsel Jack Smith's office are set to interview Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, as part of the federal probe into efforts to subvert the peaceful transition of power.

Advisers and allies to former President Donald Trump are expressing outrage after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that he thinks Trump can win in 2024, but does not know if he is the "strongest" candidate.

The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General on Tuesday issued a scathing rebuke of the Bureau of Prisons detailing the multiple failures that led to the death of high-profile financier Jeffrey Epstein following his arrest in 2019 but found no evidence to contradict the "absence of criminality" in his death.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday wiped away a lower court decision upholding the stalking conviction of a Colorado man who sent hundreds of messages to a woman over Facebook.

The Supreme Court said Tuesday that the North Carolina Supreme Court did not violate the elections clause of the US Constitution when it invalidated the state's 2022 congressional map

Walt Nauta, an aide charged alongside former President Donald Trump for the alleged mishandling of classified documents from the White House, was set to be arraigned Tuesday, but it's unclear now whether that will occur.

By Hannah Confino TEL AVIV Members of Sudan's Masalit tribe in Israel are watching in torment as family

Audio of former president Donald Trump appearing to flaunt his possession of classified military documents has been broadcast by CNN. In the recording, which allegedly came from a meeting at Mr Trump’s Bedminster golf club and estate in July 2021, the former president can be heard audibly shuffling documents and describing his “big pile of papers” to associates. The existence of the tape was already known but this is the first time it has been heard in public. “These are the papers,” Mr Trump says at one point, referring to a military document concerning Iran and US military joint chief of staff Mark Milley. “This was done by the military and given to me.” “They presented me this — this is off the record,” Mr Trump is heard to say at another point in the recording, describing the information he is showing to others as “highly confidential” and “secret”. The audio records Mr Trump speaking to several people and apparently showing them documents relating to a possible attack on Iran that he says were drawn up by Gen Milley and which he himself says are still classified. The former president is heard saying: “Isn’t it amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. [PAPERS SHUFFLING] This was him. They presented me this – this is off the record – but they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him.” One of the other people in the room can be heard to say: “Wow.” Another says: “Oh my gosh.” Apparently referring to an ongoing public row with Gen Milley, Mr Trump is then heard to say: “This totally wins my case, you know.” He is then heard saying: “Except it is, like, highly confidential.” His guests are heard laughing as he says this. The former president then says: “Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this. You attack, and ....” One of his guests then jokes that “Hillary would print that out all the time, you know”, referring to Hillary Clinton’s controversial use of a private email server for which she was criticised but not criminally charged. Mr Trump then says: “See as president I could have declassified it. Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret. Isn’t that interesting? It’s so cool. I mean it’s so – look, her and I, and you probably almost didn’t believe me, but now you believe me.” The former president was indicted earlier this month and charged with 37 counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House, including willful retention of national defence secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice, corruptly concealing documents, concealing documents in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and making false statements. In May, CNN reported that among the evidence prosecutors used to build their case against the former president was an audio recording of a summer 2021 meeting, in which Mr Trump allegedly acknowledged holding onto a classified Pentagon document detailing potential battle plans against Iran. In an interview with Fox News, Mr Trump denied possessing such a document. “That was a massive amount of papers and everything else talking about Iran and other things,” he said. “And it may have been held up or it may not but that was not a document. I did not have a document per se.” He suggested the papers may have been newspaper and magazine clippings. The Independent has contacted Donald Trump for comment. It was not immediately clear how CNN had come into possession of the recording. Read More Trump news – live: Supreme Court dismisses Democratic lawsuit over Trump hotel documents Trump mocked for bursting into bizarre moaning sounds at Michigan GOP dinner Convicted Jan 6 rioter tells Trump to stop misusing her story: ‘I pleaded guilty because I was guilty!’ Rape accuser files new lawsuit as Trump seethes over 2024 flop – live Where do Donald Trump’s family stand on him running in 2024? Trump revealed to have tweeted classified image from spy satellite

Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and current CEO of Bridger Aerospace, announced his Senate candidacy Tuesday, setting up a potential challenge to incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and giving GOP leaders a prized recruit in a marquee race.

Bombshell audio has revealed Donald Trump apparently bragging about possessing still-classified military documents about Iran after he left the White House. In the recording, from a July 2021 meeting at Mr Trump’s Bedminster golf club and released by CNN, the former president is heard audibly shuffling documents and describing his “big pile of papers” to associates. “These are the papers,” Mr Trump says, refering to a military document concerning Iran. “This was done by the military and given to me.” Mr Trump took to Truth Social on Monday night to fume about the tape, railing against “Deranged Special Prosecutor” Jack Smith and baselessly accusing the DOJ and FBI of leaking it. “The Deranged Special Prosecutor, Jack Smith, working in conjunction with the DOJ & FBI, illegally leaked and “spun” a tape and transcript of me which is actually an exoneration, rather than what they would have you believe. This continuing Witch Hunt is another ELECTION INTERFERENCE Scam. They are cheaters and thugs!” he wrote. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit from a number of Congressional Democrats who were attempting to get information about the government lease for the Washington, DC hotel previously owned by former President Trump. Read More CNN plays tape of Trump appearing to show off military documents that he says are still classified Judge to weigh whether Trump's New York criminal case should be moved to federal court Trump valet set for arraignment in classified documents case Fox News choose Jesse Watters to replace Tucker Carlson in primetime shakeup

The January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol was "essentially planned in plain sight on social media" and yet the FBI and Department of Homeland Security appeared to have "completely dropped the ball," a Senate committee concluded in the latest highly critical assessment of the security failures.

On the surface, the turmoil in Russia would seem like something for the U.S. to celebrate: a powerful mercenary group engaging in a short-lived clash with Russia’s military at the very moment that Ukraine is trying to gain momentum in a critical counteroffensive. But the public response by Washington has been decidedly cautious. Officials say the U.S. had no role in the conflict, insist this was an internal matter for Russia and decline to comment on whether it could affect the war in Ukraine. The reason: to avoid creating an opening for Russian President Vladimir Putin to seize on the rhetoric of American officials and rally Russians by blaming his Western adversaries. Even President Joe Biden, known for straying from talking points, has stayed on script. Biden told reporters Monday that the United States and NATO weren’t involved. Biden said he held a video call with allies over the weekend and they are all in sync in working to ensure that they give Putin “no excuse to blame this on the West” or NATO. “We made clear that we were not involved. We had nothing to do with it,” Biden said. “This was part of a struggle within the Russian system.” Biden and administration officials declined to give an immediate assessment of what the 22-hour uprising by the Wagner Group might mean for Russia’s war in Ukraine, for mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin or for Russia itself. “We’re going to keep assessing the fallout of this weekend’s events and the implications from Russia and Ukraine,” Biden said. “But it’s still too early to reach a definitive conclusion about where this is going.” Putin, in his first public comments since the rebellion, said “Russia’s enemies” had hoped the mutiny would succeed in dividing and weakening Russia, “but they miscalculated.” He identified the enemies as “the neo-Nazis in Kyiv, their Western patrons and other national traitors.” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia was investigating whether Western intelligence services were involved in Prigozhin’s rebellion. Over the course of a tumultuous weekend in Russia, U.S. diplomats were in contact with their counterparts in Moscow to underscore that the American government regarded the matter as a domestic affair for Russia, with the U.S. only a bystander, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, said that Putin in the past has alleged clandestine U.S. involvement in events — including democratic uprisings in former Soviet countries, and campaigns by democracy activists inside and outside Russia — as a way to diminish public support among Russians for those challenges to the Russian system. The U.S. and NATO “don’t want to be blamed for the appearance of trying to destabilize Putin,” McFaul said. A feud between the Wagner Group leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and Russia’s military brass that has festered throughout the war erupted into the mutiny that saw the mercenaries leave Ukraine to seize a military headquarters in a southern Russian city. They rolled for hundreds of kilometers toward Moscow, before turning around on Saturday, in a deal whose terms remain uncertain. Biden’s national security team briefed him hourly as Prigozhin’s forces were on the move, the president said. He said he had directed them to “prepare for a range of scenarios” as Russia’s crisis unfolded. Biden did not elaborate on the scenarios. But national security spokesman John Kirby addressed one concern raised frequently as the world watched the cracks opening in Putin’s hold on power — worries that the Russian leader might take extreme action to reassert his command. Putin and his lieutenants have made repeated references to Russia’s nuclear weapons since invading Ukraine 16 months ago, aiming to discourage NATO countries from increasing their support to Ukraine. “One thing that we have always talked about, unabashedly so, is that it’s in nobody’s interest for this war to escalate beyond the level of violence that is already visited upon the Ukrainian people,” Kirby said at a White House news briefing. “It’s not good for, certainly, Ukraine and not good for our allies and partners in Europe. Quite frankly, it’s not good for the Russian people.” Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend, telling him, ”’No matter what happened in Russia, let me say again, no matter what happened in Russia, we in the United States would continue to support Ukraine’s defense and sovereignty and its territorial integrity.” Biden said. The Pentagon is expected to announce Tuesday that it is sending up to $500 million in additional military aid to Ukraine, including more than 50 heavily armored vehicles and an infusion of missiles for air defense systems, U.S. officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the aid had not yet been publicly announced. Biden, in the first weeks after Putin sent tens of thousands of Russian forces into Ukraine in February 2022, had issued a passionate statement against the Russian leader’s continuing in command. “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” he said then, as reports emerged of Russian atrocities against civilians in Ukraine. On Monday, U.S. officials were careful not to be seen as backing either Putin or his former longtime protege, Prigozhin, in public comments. “We believe it’s up to the Russian people to determine who their leadership is,” Kirby said. White House officials were also trying to understand how Beijing was digesting the Wagner revolt and what it might mean for the China-Russia relationship going forward. China and Russia are each other’s closest major partner. The White House says Beijing has considered — but not followed through on — sending Russia weaponry for use in Ukraine. “I think it’d be fair to say that recent developments in Russia had been unsettling to the Chinese leadership,” said Kurt Campbell, coordinator for the Indo-Pacific at the White House National Security Council, speaking at a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “I think I’ll just leave it at that.” China values Russia as a friend in part to keep from standing alone against the U.S. and its allies in disputes. With Russia’s invasion and resulting international sanctions sapping Russian resources and now sparking a rebellion, McFaul said, Ukraine and its allies could make the case: ”’Xi Jinping, you know, if you want your buddy to stay in power, maybe this is the time to put some pressure on him to wrap up this war.‴ ___ AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Putin issues desperate message to Russian public after Wagner mutiny US to send $500 million in weapons, military aid to Ukraine, officials say What the papers say – June 27