White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien held a call on Tuesday with his counterparts in an international intelligence sharing alliance to discuss the suspected Russian cyberattack on US government agencies and propose a joint statement condemning the breach, according to a senior administration official and two officials from the other nations. O’Brien’s proposal for
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President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed the sweeping defense bill that both chambers of Congress recently passed by veto-proof majorities, setting up a possible veto override that would pit members of his own party against him. Trump had previously threatened to veto the defense bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, because it doesn’t
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A nonviolent drug offender who argued that a change in state law should have made him eligible for parole is among nearly 30 people whose sentences were commuted or who were pardoned by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson. Gary Mitchell, of Joplin, was handed a sentence of 15 years in prison
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s tradition-bound Senate is installing an audio monitoring system in its committee hearing rooms so employees, lobbyists and the public can listen to debate in their homes or offices as the pandemic rages. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Senate Administrator Patrick Baker said the changes could mean fewer people
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The State Department on Wednesday issued the most decisive statement yet from the Trump administration blaming the Russian Security Service for the poisoning of opposition leader Alexey Navalny, days after CNN reported on the first direct evidence of the agency’s involvement in the poisoning. “The United States believes that officers from the Russian Federal Security
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At his confirmation hearing nearly two years ago, Attorney General William Barr boasted that there was an advantage to putting him in charge of the Justice Department — he could afford not to care about the consequences of his decisions. Mostly retired and 68 years old at the time, Barr’s pitch to senators in January
Continue Reading At his confirmation hearing nearly two years ago, Attorney General William Barr boasted that there was an advantage to putting him in charge of the Justice Department — he could afford not to care about the consequences of his decisions. Mostly retired and 68 years old at the time, Barr’s pitch to senators in January
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President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team on Wednesday disputed suggestions from Pentagon officials who questioned the accuracy of Biden’s assertion a day earlier that the Department of Defense has refused to brief his team on the massive cyberattack on government agencies and major American technology and accounting companies. “As the President-elect noted yesterday, the Department of
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Pedro Martinez has a simple message for Congress: “HELP US!” The military veteran and father of four said the $600 payments passed this week as part of a second coronavirus relief package are far too little to undo the financial damage his family has suffered as the pandemic has surged again — a message also
Continue Reading Sen. Kamala Harris broke barriers as America’s first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president-elect. But after her exit in January to join the Biden administration, there will be no Black women in the Senate. Harris’s departure left lawmakers and advocates urging California Gov. Gavin Newsom to choose a Black woman to replace her due to a lack of
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President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday introduced Miguel Cardona as his nominee for education secretary, calling the Connecticut education commissioner “brilliant” and saying he will play a key role in his administration’s efforts to reopen schools forced online amid the coronavirus pandemic Cardona, whose parents moved from Puerto Rico to Connecticut, would be another high-profile Latino
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President Donald Trump announced a wave of pardons on Tuesday for people ranging from Republican allies to two men who pleaded guilty in Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Meanwhile, speculation grows about whether President Trump will pardon three of his adult children, his son-in-law, or even himself before his term ends on January 20. But what
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President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he is asking for changes to the coronavirus relief bill passed by Congress, leaving the future of the $900 billion stimulus in doubt. Trump’s position could threaten to torpedo the carefully drafted bill, which his own administration helped negotiate — a move that could lead to a government shutdown
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The end of President Donald Trump’s time in office has been marked by a renewed interest in granting clemency — both from the President, and from members of his inner circle looking for protection before President-elect Joe Biden assumes office. While Trump has continued to falsely insist publicly that he won the presidential election rather
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President Donald Trump’s surprise Tuesday night video cataloging his complaints about the massive — and painstakingly negotiated — $900 billion coronavirus relief bill immediately raised the specter of a government shutdown and economic turmoil at a time when aid is desperately sought for millions of Americans. The President didn’t explicitly threaten to veto the bill,
Continue Reading The Trump administration is considering granting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman legal immunity from a federal lawsuit alleging that he ordered an assassination squad to kill a former top Saudi intelligence official who shared information with the US, according to sources familiar with the situation. Saad Aljabri alleges in his lawsuit in DC District
Continue Reading President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team has pushed back against Twitter’s decision to not allow the millions of followers of the White House Twitter accounts to be automatically retained when the accounts are handed over to the new administration. When President Donald Trump took office in 2017, his administration inherited the millions of followers of each
Continue Reading Joe Biden’s transition team late Tuesday announced Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona as the President-elect’s nominee for education secretary. If confirmed by the Senate, Cardona would play a key role in reopening schools across the country that have been forced online amid the coronavirus pandemic. CNN was first to report that Cardona would be nominated
Continue Reading President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a wave of lame duck pardons, including two for men who pleaded guilty in Robert Mueller’s investigation, as well as ones for Republican allies who once served in Congress and military contractors involved in a deadly shooting of Iraqi civilians. The pardons of former campaign aide George Papadopoulos, former
Continue Reading President Donald Trump may not be willing to accept his term is ending, but as the clock ticks down on his time in office, hundreds of his allies — including some of his closest business associates and many high-profile criminals — are ramping up their efforts to squeeze out the final ounces of his presidential
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