Politics Election category, Page 363
W.Va. GOP chief rebukes delegate’s remarks on gay community
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The head of the West Virginia Republican Party has denounced comments from a GOP member of the House of Delegates about the gay community. State GOP chairwoman Melody Potter says in a statement Mercer County Delegate Eric Porterfield’s comments were “hateful, hurtful, and do not reflect the...
Rep. Ilhan Omar apologizes for tweets on AIPAC’s influence
WASHINGTON — Freshman Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar “unequivocally” apologized on Monday for tweets about the influence in Congress of an American organization that supports Israel, which drew bipartisan criticism and a rebuke from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The Minnesota Democrat said she had no intention offending anyone, including Jewish Americans,...
‘Everyone deserves to be heard,’ Va. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax says; Dems explore impeachment
RICHMOND, Va. — Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax said he will not step down and will preside over the Senate on Monday regardless of any attempts to remove him from office amid allegations that he sexually assaulted two women. In a telephone interview with The Washington Post Sunday night, as fellow...
Trump tries to turn border debate his way with El Paso rally
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is trying to turn the debate over a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border back to his political advantage as his signature pledge to American voters threatens to become a model of unfulfilled promises. Trump will hold his first campaign rally since November’s midterm elections in...
Senior lawmakers say they’ve agreed on border bill
WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators announced an agreement late Monday to prevent a government shutdown and finance construction of new barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, overcoming a late-stage hang-up over immigration enforcement issues that had threatened to scuttle the talks. Republicans were desperate to avoid another bruising shutdown. They tentatively agreed...
Former White House aide Cliff Sims sues Trump after attack over tell-all book
WASHINGTON — A former White House aide who penned an insider account about President Trump is now suing the president after Trump’s lawyers filed an arbitration claim saying the book violated a non-disclosure agreement. The former communications aide, Cliff Sims, filed the suit in District of Columbia court Monday after...
Sen. Schumer pushes for fentanyl sanctions against China days before trade talks
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer announced legislation Sunday to crack down on fentanyl producers in China, the world’s largest exporter of the lethal synthetic drug. The bill aims to impose economic sanctions on China and other countries that have turned a blind eye to companies and traffickers producing fentanyl,...
Tabloid CEO’s lawyer denies Enquirer tried to extort Jeff Bezos
WASHINGTON — The National Enquirer committed neither extortion nor blackmail by threatening to publish intimate photos of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, an attorney for the head of the tabloid’s parent company said Sunday. Elkan Abromowitz, an attorney for American Media Inc. chief executive David Pecker, said on Sunday a “reliable...
Dems’ 2020 field now includes Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Sunday joined the growing group of Democrats jostling to be president and positioned herself as the most prominent Midwestern candidate in the field, as her party tries to win back voters in a region that helped put Donald Trump in the White House....
Nancy Pelosi shows pragmatic streak in pursuit of border deal
WASHINGTON — Republicans have vilified Nancy Pelosi for years as a San Francisco liberal and now they’re trying to portray her as a captive of resurgent left-wingers in her Democratic Party. But in her early moves so far as House speaker, Pelosi is displaying her pragmatic streak. She’s set to...
Warren makes presidential bid official with call for change
LAWRENCE, Mass. — Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren made her bid for the presidency official on Saturday in this working-class city, grounding her 2020 campaign in a populist call to fight economic inequality and build “an America that works for everyone.” Warren delivered a sharp call for change at her presidential...
Booker urges activists, leaders to heed social justice call
IOWA CITY, Iowa — On his first trip to Iowa as a presidential candidate, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker urged Democratic activists and black leaders on Friday to heed his call for social justice and apply it to the fight for universal health care coverage and a fair criminal justice...
Reckoning time: Trump checks in for another medical checkup
BETHESDA, Md. — It’s reckoning time: President Trump had his annual medical exam Friday, a year after his doctor advised him to up the exercise and cut the calories. Trump spent more than four hours at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a checkup supervised by Dr. Sean P....
Congressional negotiators near deal offering Trump much less border money
WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators neared a deal Friday that would offer President Trump far less than the $5.7 billion he’s sought for walls along the U.S.-Mexico border, as lawmakers worked to prevent another government shutdown next week. Two people familiar with the talks said the understanding among Republicans is that...
Abortion case shows Roberts firmly at Supreme Court’s center
Chief Justice John Roberts broke with the Supreme Court’s other conservative justices and his own voting record on abortion to block a Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Roberts didn’t explain his decision late Thursday to join the court’s four liberal justices. But...
Second woman accuses Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault
RICHMOND, Va. — A second woman has come forward to accuse Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault. The woman said in a statement Friday that the attack took place when she and Fairfax were students at Duke University. “I deny this latest unsubstantiated allegation. It is demonstrably false....
Acting AG Matthew Whitaker: I have ‘not interfered’ with Mueller investigation
WASHINGTON — Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said Friday that he has “not interfered in any way” in the special counsel’s Russia investigation as he faced a contentious and partisan congressional hearing in his waning days on the job. The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee was the first, and...
White House report tries to shift Trump health care rhetoric
WASHINGTON — A new report from the White House tries to shift the Trump administration’s combative rhetoric on health care, suggesting changes to the Affordable Care Act under President Donald Trump do not fundamentally undermine the health law. Due out Friday, the report from the Council of Economic Advisers says...
Prosecutors: Paul Manafort continued Ukraine work in 2018
WASHINGTON — Prosecutors allege that Paul Manafort was working on Ukrainian political matters in 2018, after his indictment in the special counsel’s investigation, and also revealed that a former business associate of his who was assessed by the FBI to have ties to Russian intelligence attended President Trump’s inaugural, according...
Matthew Whitaker refuses to testify unless Dems drop subpoena threat
WASHINGTON — Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said Thursday that he won’t appear before Congress unless a House committee drops its threat of a subpoena for his testimony, calling the Democratic-led move an act of “political theater.” The statement from Whitaker came soon after the House Judiciary Committee approved a...
Democrats seek Green New Deal to address climate change
WASHINGTON — Democrats are calling for a Green New Deal intended to transform the U.S. economy to combat climate change and create thousands of jobs in renewable energy. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York is teaming up with veteran Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts on the plan, which aims to...
House Democrats turn focus to getting Trump’s tax returns
WASHINGTON — The new Democratic-controlled House is looking at proposals to compel presidents and presidential candidates to make public years of their tax returns. But the burning question is what Democrats might do more immediately to get such files from President Donald Trump. That goal has been high on their...
Trump-GOP meeting boosts optimism about reaching border deal
WASHINGTON — President Trump appears to be taking a more positive view of Capitol Hill talks on border security, according to negotiators who struck a distinctly optimistic tone after a White House meeting with a top Republican on the broad parameters of a potential bipartisan agreement. Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard...
Woman who accused Justin Fairfax of sexual assault gives her account
The woman who accused Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault released a statement Wednesday identifying herself and describing an encounter in July 2004 during which she said Fairfax sexually assaulted her. “What began as consensual kissing quickly turned into a sexual assault,” said Vanessa Tyson, a fellow at...
Trump wanted $20 million for 2006 Moscow deal, developer says
Donald Trump’s dream of putting his name on a tower in Moscow came with a hefty price tag: $20 million. Trump demanded that non-negotiable fee in 2006 from a Ukrainian-Russian named Pavel Fuks, who made his fortune in oil trading, banking and real estate development. Fuks, who says he’s been...
