Tag: election

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The congresswoman who heads the campaign arm for U.S. House of Representatives Democrats has acknowledged mistakes after lawmakers complained about a lack of racial diversity within the organization, and she named a Cuban-American as interim executive director as part of a major staff shakeup. The announcement by Representative Cheri Bustos late on Monday followed several days of turmoil at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), a controversy that has sidetracked the organization as it seeks to...

An Italian MP faces losing her seat in parliament for being elected under her birth name, and after claiming the rights to her true identity. The case involves Piera Aiello, the first anti-mafia witness elected to the Chamber of Deputies in Italy's history. For 27 years, Aiello lived in a secret location under an assumed name as part of a witness protection programme hiding her from the Mafia. But the 52-year-old, whose testimonies against the notorious crime syndicate led to dozens of...

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday dismissed a Democratic Party lawsuit arguing that the Russian government, President Donald Trump’s campaign and WikiLeaks carried out a conspiracy to influence the 2016 U.S. election. U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan said he could not hear the claims against Russia, which were the focus of the case, because of a legal doctrine called sovereign immunity that shields foreign governments from litigation in the United States. “The remedies for hostile...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned China against waiting out his first term in office to finalize any trade deal, saying if he wins re-election in the November 2020 U.S. presidential contest, the outcome could be no agreement or a worse one. “The problem with them waiting ... is that if & when I win, the deal that they get will be much tougher than what we are negotiating now...or no deal at all,” Trump...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior lawmaker in the U.S. House of Representatives on Sunday rejected the notion that Democrats must decide whether to pursue the impeachment of Republican President Donald Trump before the 2020 election season shifts into high gear. With some Democrats warning that the window for impeachment was closing with the approach of elections, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler was asked if he thought there was a deadline. “No, I don’t,” Nadler told CNN’s “State...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would nominate Representative John Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican who strongly defended him at a recent congressional hearing, to replace Dan Coats as the U.S. spy chief. Coats, the current U.S. director of national intelligence who has clashed with Trump over assessments involving Russia, Iran and North Korea, will step down on Aug. 15, the president said as he announced his decision on Twitter. “John will lead and inspire...

President Trump lashed out at probes into his 2016 campaign and Russian election interference on Friday, suggesting that investigators should open a probe into a book deal signed by former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama. “They want to investigate, they want to go fishing and I watched Bob Mueller and they have nothing,” Trump said of Democrats during an Oval Office gathering to announce an agreement with Guatemala. “It’s a disgrace,” he continued. “We want to...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday defended the integrity of his Russia investigation during a dramatic congressional hearing and reiterated that he had not cleared President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice or, as the president has said, totally exonerated Trump. Mueller appeared for eagerly anticipated testimony at the first of two back-to-back congressional hearings that carry high stakes for Trump and Democrats who are split between impeaching him or moving on to the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller emphasized on Wednesday he had not exonerated Donald Trump of obstruction of justice, as the president has claimed, but his long-awaited congressional testimony did little to add momentum to any Democratic impeachment ambitions and Trump heartily declared victory. “This was a very big day for the Republican Party. And you could say this was a great day for me, but I don’t even like to say that,” the Republican president said...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A day before Robert Mueller’s eagerly anticipated congressional testimony, a senior Democratic U.S. lawmaker on Tuesday accused President Donald Trump’s Justice Department of arrogance in instructing the former special counsel to limit the scope of his remarks and said it lacked the authority for such a directive. On Wednesday, Mueller is scheduled to appear at back-to-back hearings before the Democratic-led House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and Intelligence Committee to discuss his inquiry into Russia’s role in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday defended the integrity of his Russia investigation during a dramatic congressional hearing and reiterated that he had not cleared President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice or, as the president has said, totally exonerated Trump. Mueller, answering questions publicly for the first time on his inquiry, appeared for eagerly anticipated testimony at the first of two back-to-back televised congressional hearings that carry high stakes for Trump and Democrats...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday defended the integrity of his Russia investigation during a dramatic congressional hearing and reiterated that he had not cleared President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice or, as the president has said, totally exonerated Trump. Mueller appeared for eagerly anticipated testimony at the first of two back-to-back congressional hearings that carry high stakes for Trump and Democrats who are split between impeaching him or moving on to the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller arrived on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to testify at a pair of televised hearings that carry high stakes for President Donald Trump and Democrats who are split between impeaching him or moving on to the 2020 election. Mueller, whose inquiry detailed extensive contacts between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia at a time when Moscow was interfering in the 2016 election with hacking and propaganda, is set to appear beginning at...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday said in dramatic U.S. congressional testimony he had not exonerated President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice and defended the integrity of his inquiry under repeated attacks by conservative Republican allies of the president. Mueller initially testified he would have sought to indict Trump were it not for a Justice Department policy against charging a sitting president. But hours later he corrected himself and said “we did not reach...