A group of 25 US states led by Republicans has asked a federal judge in Texas to scrap a Biden administration rule allowing socially conscious investing by retirement plans. Lawyers contend that it will imperil Americans' retirement savings. Congress voted in March to repeal the rule, but Democratic President Joe Biden rejected the proposal in the first veto of his presidency. The Department of Labor says the rule failed to account for the positive impact of ESG investing can have on returns. The case is with U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a conservative appointee of former Republican President Donald Trump.
President Joe Biden’s visit to Asia to reassure allies of the US focus on China’s aggressiveness in the region has backfired. The trip, which was originally intended to be a tour of three nations to highlight the US commitment to the Asia region, has been hugely diminished as Biden has cancelled stops in Papua New Guinea and Australia to focus on debt-limit talks with Republicans. Furthermore, there is speculation that if the US defaults on its debt, in conjunction with Biden’s decision to leave Asia early, this would undermine Biden’s message of strength and provide a potentially favourable contrast with China’s President Xi Jinping. Despite this, Biden still plans to attend a Group of 7 meeting in Japan where allies will confront what they call China’s economic pressure on less powerful countries. One foreign diplomat has claimed that skipping the G-7 would undermine a sense of unity towards China.
The nomination of Republican Lee Morris to chair Fulton County's elections board in Georgia has been withdrawn just before the impending vote, following opposition from activists who regarded having a Republican majority at this level of the US electoral system as a threat to democracy itself. Fulton County is largely Democrat but nonetheless has been the focus of numerous attacks from opponents of President Joe Biden convinced he only won the White House through vote rigging. Lee Morris, for his part, had made no public utterances contradicting the official position that there was no rigging in the 2020 Presidential election. Republican activists had been urged to back Morris after it became clear the successful election of both Morris and the two Republican nominees for election board seats would mean the Republicans would have had a majority. Morris, himself a former county commissioner, expressed disappointment at what he saw as divisiveness.
Journalist Kaitlan Collins has been named the anchor of CNN’s 9pm prime-time slot. Collins earned a reputation as an unflinching chronicler of former US president Donald Trump’s administration while serving as the network's chief White House correspondent during the 2020 election. She recently hosted a controversial town hall event with Trump, attracting criticism that CNN offered a platform for misinformation. CNN's ratings have fallen in the past year and the network was heavily criticised for the town hall event with Trump. Collins, 31, joined CNN from the conservative website The Daily Caller in 2017.
US archives have found numerous instances in the past decade where classified materials have been mixed with non-sensitive records belonging to retired lawmakers and officials. These discoveries have raised concerns over data security and classification, with investigations ongoing into the mishandling of information found in records belonging to former president Donald Trump and others, and potential legislative changes being considered. The National Archives stated in a recent congressional testimony that the majority of the 80 calls it received over the mixed classification were made by libraries where former officials, including Senate veterans, had donated their records for future research. In each case, “essentially, each individual is serving as their own custodian with very limited oversight”.
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani has been sued for $2m by a ShopRite employee who said he was arrested by police he believes the politician colluded with. The worker, Daniel Gill, was cleared of charges that he had assaulted an elderly man, who alleges Gill called him a scumbag. CCTV footage showed Gill patting Giuliani on the back and making a remark before walking off. Giuliani said Gill had called him a scumbag and given him an abusive diatribe about his opposition to abortion. In a separate action, Giuliani has been sued for harassment and sexual assault by his former business development director, Noelle Dunphy.
A federal appeals court is considering restricting access to a key abortion medication, which was first approved over two decades ago and has since become part of more than half of US abortions. The three judges on the panel questioned lawyers for the government and the drug manufacturer about why mifepristone could be prescribed by medical professionals other than doctors and why the drug could be sent by mail instead of being dispensed in person. The judges also appeared to accept the suggestion that new restrictions on mifepristone could result in fewer women requiring emergency care following medication-induced abortions. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a Christian conservative group of anti-abortion doctors and others, filed a lawsuit arguing that the FDA improperly cleared the medication for use and later allowed the drug to be mailed, violating federal law. The legal fight around abortion has moved away from laws like Roe v Wade towards questions around medical access to mifepristone, with lawmakers in multiple states limiting and banning the procedure.
The New York Post published an article on Wednesday suggesting that Hillary Clinton and "Clinton operatives" invented the investigation into Russian election interference. The article claimed that the entire investigation was based on disinformation in the "Steele dossier" compiled by former intelligence officer Christopher Steele, and that Clinton operatives invented the Russian collusion conspiracy and put it into the Steele dossier. The article was written by Jonathan Turley, an attorney who has become a vocal supporter of former US President Donald Trump’s claims of an unfair investigation. The claims made by Turley have been popular in right-wing circles, but have been refuted by the recent report of special counsel John Durham. In an attempt to counter the report, Turley incorrectly claims that the dossier was the origin of the Russia probe rather than based on credible intelligence sources, and that the Clinton campaign invented the conspiracy theory linking Trump to Russia. A detailed timeline of the events that preceded the investigation into Russia’s attempts to influence the 2016 US presidential election shows that the claims made by Turley are unfounded.
UK culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, clashed with deputy leader of the Labour Party, Angela Rayner, during the Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament. Dowden compared Rayner and Labour leader Keir Starmer's tense working relationship to that of Phil and Holly of British TV, however, Rayner criticised the "conveyor belt of crisis" in the UK represented by the Conservative Party, calling them "a carnival of conspiracy".
Two FBI agents set to appear before a House subcommittee Thursday had their security clearances revoked this month over security concerns, according to a letter sent by the FBI to the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and obtained by The Washington Post. Friend and Allen have been billed by the committee as whistleblowers and are expected to testify Thursday in a hearing about alleged abuses by the bureau and retaliation they allegedly faced for raising their concerns.
Former ShopRite employee Daniel Gill is seeking $2m in damages from Rudy Giuliani over an incident in which Gill was arrested for patting the former New York City mayor on the back unexpectedly. Gill alleges that Giuliani conspired with police to cause him to lose his job and be falsely imprisoned. Giuliani claimed after the encounter that he was hit so hard it felt like being shot or hit in the back with a boulder. Gill was held in jail for more than a day after the incident, during which he touched Giuliani on the back with an open hand and said, “What’s up, scumbag?” according to surveillance footage.
Montana has banned the sales and use of TikTok state-wide, becoming the first state to do so. Governor Greg Gianforte signed the legislation into law on 12 May, stating that the law would "protect Montanans' private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party." The bill imposes fines of $10,000 per day on any mobile store making the app available and on TikTok itself if it operates the app within the state. Lawsuits challenging the ban are expected, with the American Civil Liberties Union accusing Gianforte of violating the First Amendment.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell remains a prominent figure in Kentucky politics, despite being hugely unpopular nationally. Republicans in Kentucky recently resoundingly backed former McConnell legal counsel Daniel Cameron, who is now their gubernatorial nominee. McConnell remains deeply concerned with the Kentucky governor’s race, where Cameron is in a close contest with Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear. Cameron is equally tipped to make an impact in national politics following this term. In terms of his own future, McConnell’s Senate term runs through 2026, at which point he would have to consider running for a six-year term that would end when he’s 90 years old. McConnell's continued success in Kentucky in many senses is comparable to the late Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid's standing in his home state of Nevada. Reid's influence lives on today, giving hope to McConnell of an equally long-lasting impact in Kentucky.
European officials are growing concerned that support for Ukraine against Russia has peaked and fear that the flow of aid will be disrupted in 2023 as the US enters a divisive presidential campaign. Although there are sufficient preapproved funds to sustain Kiev for five more months, major questions remain over whether the US government will meet its existing $48bn aid package, particularly as it requires a vote in Congress in the autumn against a background of increased partisan debate on the war. European allies say that current levels of support could be sustained for a year or two but not for longer.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is set to officially announce his 2024 presidential bid next week. Two sources claim DeSantis has gathered top Republican fundraisers in Miami, Florida, for the event. DeSantis has spent time constructing his campaign, boasting of his re-election victory and the legislative agenda in Florida passed by GOP supermajorities. In competing with former president Donald Trump for GOP nominations, doubt has arisen, but a small group of fundraisers met with him in Tallahassee over recent weeks to garner support for a DeSantis campaign.
Christiane Amanpour voices dissent over Trump town hall, says she had ‘very robust exchange’ with CNN chief
CNN
23-05-18 04:05
CNN's Christiane Amanpour has voiced dissent towards management over Donald Trump's appearance on the station. Speaking whilst accepting the Columbia Journalism Award, Amanpour said she disagreed with the decision to allow Trump on the show, calling his behaviour "well known". She also criticised the audience who "cheered Trump on as he mocked sexual abuse claims". Amanpour argued that it is up to the press to "cut through the noise, counter disinformation, and summon the public back to reality", and that "there is a 100% connection between a robust, independent, free and fair press and a functioning democracy."
Ron DeSantis, the Republican Governor of Florida, is expected to announce his candidacy for the 2024 US presidential elections next week. The announcement will mark DeSantis' run as a leading contender for the Republican nomination, directly pitting him against former president Donald Trump, who is also expected to stand. Some high-profile Republican donors had hoped that DeSantis would enter the race earlier to rebut attacks from Trump, which have taken a toll on DeSantis’ standing in some national polls. The Republican party field also includes Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Asa Hutchinson and Tim Scott.
Artificial intelligence (AI) poses challenges for the future of journalism, said US reporter Carl Bernstein. The veteran journalist warned of the risks posed by AI in an interview with the BBC. He also noted that determining truth is critical. News outlets are the "essential element in a community of being able to attain that," said Bernstein. There are serious concerns around potential job losses, privacy and the dissemination of false information posed by widespread AI usage.
Anti-abortion campaigners and pro-life religious groups are moving to the forefront of the battle over abortion, hoping that the new wave of laws in Republican states will trump state laws. Activists who sway legal opinions warn that any effort to retreat from national abortion restrictions would be a serious mistake, and Kellyanne Conway believes a 15-week limit on abortion is an effective way to put Democrats on defense on the issue. Two-thirds of Americans say they oppose the decision to eliminate the constitutional right to an abortion, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, and despite abortion restrictions becoming more prevalent, the pro-choice lobby is seen as powerful and a key issue for many voters in the Democratic party. Trump, as a candidate, has not yet given his opinion on where he will draw the line on federal legislation concerning abortion since the Supreme Court ruling overturning the right to an abortion.
The Biden administration's new foreign policy doctrine, outlined by national security adviser Jake Sullivan, has a number of flaws that could ultimately weaken US global leadership, according to The Economist. The doctrine fuses domestic prosperity, defence and climate change under a framework of a greater government role in society and an emphasis on national security. However, the combination of state-led industrial policies and protectionism underlying the plan may end up undermining the country's international strength, the magazine argued. The policy of balancing the management of the US-China relationship with a militarily cautious approach reflects a belief that establishing "strategic maturity" can make America safer and keep the world on a virtuous path, but this is flawed, as the US economic influence is far from in decline and its involvement in global economic rules is essential, warned the magazine.
