Ex-national security adviser turned Trump critic could face prison for sharing classified information with relativesUS politics live – latest updatesJohn Bolton, the former US national security adviser who became an arch-enemy of Donald Trump after serving under him and then being fired, pleaded guilty on Friday to a charge of mishandling classified information that could result in him going to prison.Bolton admitted the charge, as widely anticipated, in an appearance at a federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a plea deal designed to produce a lesser sentence by reducing the seriousness of the accusations against him. Continue reading...
Mr. Bolton admitted to mishandling classified information and could face time in prison, in an inquiry that spanned the Trump and Biden administrations.
Bolton pleads guilty to charges that he unlawfully retained sensitive national security information in agreement that includes $2.25m fineSign up for the Breaking News US emailAs we’ve been reporting, the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool will have to be drained again. Donald Trump has blamed vandalism for the failure to keep the water “American flag blue”. But what if this small body of water is proof that the president can’t outrun the truth?In the latest edition of our Politics Weekly America podcast, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Arwa Mahdawi about why this project, which has cost the taxpayer millions of dollars, is proving to be such an embarrassing failure for a man obsessed with image. Continue reading...
A Republican lawmaker upended the rationale for President Donald Trump's legislative obsession.The 80-year-old president is demanding congressional Republicans pass his SAVE America Act to prevent widespread election fraud, which he continues to insist cost him the presidency in 2020, but Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) called those claims absurd."I think it's a distraction from our real problems," Massie said. "I think it's ironic that we control the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court and the White House, and we're yelling 'election fraud'? I mean, we won all the damn elections."Massie lost his Republican primary race last month to the Trump-endorsed Ed Gallrein after the congressman angered the president for successfully pushing for the release of the Department of Justice files on Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious sex offender and longtime Trump friend.Trump abruptly canceled a scheduled signing of bipartisan legislation intended to bring down housing costs, and he repeated his demand that he would not sign anything until Congress approves the SAVE America Act, which critics say would disenfranchise millions of voters.
Bolton pleaded guilty to one count of retaining national defense information while he was a national security adviser during President Trump's first term, saying: "And I am sorry for it."
President Donald Trump continues to double down on his voter fraud fixation, repeating the widely debunked claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him and pressuring the U.S. Senate to pass the SAVE America Act as soon as possible — even if it means ditching the Senate filibuster. But according to Axios reporter Brittany Gibson, Trump's voter fraud claims are not serving him or fellow Republicans well."President Trump's voter fraud crusade is crashing into the limits of his power ahead of November's midterm elections," Gibson explains in Axios. "Why it matters: Trump has made cracking down on alleged mass voter fraud a priority, but his election-related executive orders are stalled in court and his legislative fix is stuck in the Senate…. Senate Republicans have defied Trump on the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote."Gibson continues, "Trump has retaliated by threatening not to sign any legislation without it. But Senate Republicans insist they don't have the votes to pass it, even if they tried to gut their own rules in the process."The Axios reporter emphasizes that resistance to his voter fraud obsession is coming not only from GOP lawmakers, but also, from federal courts that have "stonewalled" him."A D.C. court, on Monday, blocked Trump's expansion of the SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) database — to scan local voter files for noncitizens," Gibson reports. "The new database created a centralized list that includes data on U.S. citizens, not just immigrants. Another district court in Boston ruled, on Wednesday, against the implementation of one of Trump's first executive orders demanding a citizenship verification at registration. "Gibson adds, "The administration is expected to appeal. This could eventually escalate the cases to the Supreme Court, which recently ruled in Trump's favor on immigration policy-related cases."Trump's "defeats" in court, according to Gibson, "have raised the stakes for passing the SAVE America Act" — which he is describing as a "national emergency." "Instances of voter fraud are rare, but searching for cases has become a priority for the executive branch," Gibson reports. "ICE agents and attorneys have been querying local election officials for specific voter files for 'ongoing cases.' They've obtained voter files in Webb County in Texas and Forsyth County in North Carolina. The Homeland Security Department installed election integrity activist Heather Honey, best known for questioning elections and voter rolls accuracy in Pennsylvania and Arizona, as a deputy assistant secretary. The Department of Justice is also suing multiple states to gain access to their voter rolls."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a tax on America's billionaires — while remaining in steadfast opposition to the very same levy on the wealthiest in his state.
