Bob Mueller's Busy Week
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Andrew Egger is a journalist who served as a staff writer at The Weekly Standard during its final years, contributing a prolific volume of reporting and analysis on politics, policy, and current events. He covered the Trump administration, congressional politics, polling, and national security issues for the magazine. He went on to become a writer at The Bulwark, continuing to cover conservative politics and the Republican Party.
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The president suggests a new round of tariffs to conceal the damage of the last.
New court filing alleging lies to the special counsel comes just ahead of report that Trump’s campaign manager met with Julian Assange in 2016. But there are several possible explanations.
Let’s be honest: The administration loves having CNN’s White House reporter in the spotlight.
The retiring senator is threatening to block advancement of judicial nominees.
A 60-count federal indictment was only a slight impediment to reelection. Whether he serves out his term is another question.
The Democratic incumbent is looking vulnerable in Missouri
With the November midterms fast approaching, Missouri’s Democratic senator Claire McCaskill is doing her best to stave off a late surge from her Republican challenger, state attorney general Josh Hawley. But with under ten days to go until Decision Day, the latest polling shows that Hawley may have…
This morning we learned the utterly unsurprising news that the loon who’s—allegedly—been mailing crude bombs to every Democratic politician and TV talking head he could think of is—allegedly—a gentleman named Cesar Sayoc, who seems to be devoted to Donald Trump. And since then a few ordinarily…
“All Claire wants is to win by any means necessary, and if that means stomping on the people who are her base, she’ll do it.”
It's a bold strategy. Let's see if it pays off.
The administration plans to revoke the visas of the Saudi officials who are suspected of being involved.
An object lesson in Trumpism.
Big reveal: She is a garden-variety Democrat doing her best to win re-election in a red state.
The president has previously suggested that the dissident’s disappearance from the Saudi consulate in Turkey should not endanger a lucrative arms deal with the U.S.
Andrew Egger reviews ‘Where Did You Get This Number?: A Pollster's Guide to Making Sense of the World’
Andrew Egger on the prickly street preacher who became the ‘father of Christian rock.’
Maine senator: ‘We will be ill-served in the long run if we abandon the presumption of innocence and fairness, tempting as it may be.’
Judiciary chairman, in letter, says the committee 'has a constitutional obligation to investigate Dr. Ford’s allegations.'
Judiciary chairman, in letter, says the committee 'has a constitutional obligation to investigate Dr. Ford’s allegations.'
The survey was commissioned by a pro-Hawley PAC but indicate he's gained ground since June.
Will it change anything?
Montgomery County records from the 1980s aren't digitized. Remember microfiche?
She claims to have seen Kavanaugh "around the punch."
Calls for one-week FBI investigation into allegations against the SCOTUS nominee.
Vote is scheduled for Friday afternoon.
South Carolina senator says Ford and Kavanaugh are both victims.
It would have been too much news for the world to handle in one day.
"People want fame, they want money, whatever."
New series of polls by Ipsos has no good news for Republicans.
And neither the nominee nor the Judiciary Committee have seen the results of Ford's polygraph test.
The president vows to keep sanctions in place 'until denuclearization occurs.'
Supreme Court nominee addresses allegations against him in Fox News Interview
Woman tells the New Yorker the nominee exposed himself to her at a party at Yale in the early 1980s.
So much for restraint.
Senate Judiciary chairman has a strong hand to keep things on schedule.
Christine Blasey Ford wants the FBI to investigate before she appears in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Is Trump's adviser going rogue, or have we seen this show before?
Trump's former campaign manager pleads guilty to two different conspiracy counts before his second trial.
Just Do It™. Whatever it is.
And spikes one more argument against his nomination
Kiss up, kick down.
Amid the Kavanaugh hearing chaos, the Nebraska senator offers a much-needed civics lesson.
Judiciary Committee chairman calls Democratic attacks on Kavanaugh a 'double standard.'
The establishment-backed former fighter pilot beat out two candidates who courted the lunatic fringe in Arizona's Senate primary.
Chairman of AMI, which publishes the National Enquirer, is cooperating with the feds against Michael Cohen.
Trump's defense of Manafort betrays his campaign's promise to crack down on lobbyists.
Trump's former personal attorney has set up a GoFundMe to pay his legal fees.
The president's former fixer said illegal payment to Stormy Daniels was 'for the principal purpose of influencing the election.'
Trump's former campaign adviser found guilty of tax fraud, bank fraud, and conspiring to hide foreign bank accounts.
The IRS rules on crowdfunding are nebulous, but the onus is on him to prove the donations were 'pure generosity.'
Farmers are the first to feel the squeeze.
New poll shows the Republican challenger is gaining ground.
Two years after First Boy Donald Trump Jr. accepted a meeting with a Russian lawyer in the hopes of getting damaging information about Hillary Clinton, the story is continuing to give the White House headaches. The Washington Post reported this weekend that President Trump was worried Don Jr. might…
Hey, is that the Rubicon?
Andrew Egger reviews Joe Mungo Reed’s ‘We Begin Our Ascent.’
Trump's anger about the Mueller investigation will make any meeting counterproductive.
Looks like trade wars are not that good or easy to win.
Schumer-led effort calls on Trump to refuse Putin's request to interview Americans.
What happens in voters’ backyards can affect their choices as powerfully as what is happening in D.C.
Anchor Chris Wallace even attempted to hand the Russian head of state a hard copy of the recent indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers in the Mueller probe.
The Donald Trump presidency somehow reaches a new low.
The indictment does much to confirm that Russians meddled in the 2016 election.
New polling shows Missouri Republican Senate candidate Josh Hawley with a slight lead over Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill in what promises to be one of the country’s tightest and most consequential races.
We've reached tit-for-tat-for-tit in the president's trade war.
The president chooses an originalist who would give conservatives a solid majority.
China is targeting agriculture because of farm country's support for the president.
For what seems like the hundredth time since President Trump took office, Sen. Susan Collins is in a bind. Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement has provided Trump with the opportunity to appoint another conservative to the Supreme Court—provided he can manage to get one through a closely-divided…
A dying breed of GOP moderate, Larry Hogan has handled the rise of Donald Trump better than any other Republican politician
Incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill already voted against Gorsuch, and Josh Hawley plans to exploit that.
As Americans continue to react with horror to stories of families being torn apart at the U.S.-Mexico border, the White House has struggled to assemble a defense for their new “zero tolerance” immigration policies which have created the problem.
Why did the White House roll out a plan and then ask for a congressional fix only after 2,000 children had been separated from their families.
Back in February, President Donald Trump tried to use the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA—the Obama-era policy that provided legal protections to people brought to America illegally as children—to strong-arm his immigration agenda through a reluctant Congress. He…
His nonsense about the Apostle Paul and protecting 'the weak and lawful' ignores the fact that the policy is not law and many immigrants are seeking asylum.
The president vows to fight what he calls a 'ridiculous case' in court.
Chosun Ilbo had been optimistic about progress toward denuclearization in the days leading up to the Singapore summit.
Whatever else comes of Tuesday’s historic talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean despot Kim Jong-un, they’ve already given the world at least one thing: a victory lap from Dennis Rodman.
The special counsl uncovered evidence that Manafort had attempted to tamper with potential witnesses.
The commercials avoid the pitfalls of the 'Just Say No' era.
Trump former campaign manager attempted to tamper with witnesses, according to a new court filing.
Outgoing congressman says last week's hearing shows that FBI just doing its Job.
The Missouri governor faced allegations of sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations.
Anticipated trade deal is apparently falling apart.
In many ways, Thursday’s classified Justice Department briefing was the culmination of a year’s work for House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes. For months, Nunes has been demanding that the Justice Department turn over information documenting how and why they first began to investigate…
So here’s a crossover we didn’t see coming. After a year of keeping a low profile, Barack and Michelle Obama are stepping back into the public square to try their hand at a new enterprise: film production. The pair on Monday announced a multi-year production deal with streaming giant Netflix, which…
Last week, for the first time in months, it looked like President Donald Trump and his legal team might be inching back toward a strategy of cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. According to presidential lawyer Rudy Giuliani,…
Michael Warren is out of town today for The Weekly Standard's Broadmoor Summit in Colorado Springs, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on Monday.
His legal arguments are tenuous, but they may be enough to convince the president.
The judge ruled that the circuit attorney could end up being called as a witness by the defense.
The vice president calls for an end to the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling.
Michael Cohen's alleged misdeeds are lamer than collusion—and worse.
Missouri’s Eric Greitens puts his fellow Republicans in a terrible spot.
In an attempt to drum up even more attention for their 'censored' Facebook and YouTube accounts.
The president called into his favorite TV program for a free-wheeling interivew.
Tom Perez and the DNC file suit against Donald Trump, the Russian government, and Wikileaks.
Missouri's governor is facing invasion of privacy charges related to a sex scandal, but a wholly separate claim about computer tampering will be tricky to get out of.
With Greitens already facing invasion of privacy charges, AG Josh Hawley alleges he might have illegally obtained a donor list.
The Fox News host railed against the raid on Cohen's office last week.
When outgoing FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was fired on the eve of his retirement last month, many Democrats protested that he was being cheated out of his pension for purely political reasons. But the administration’s official line—that McCabe had been fired for “lack of candor” after lying…
Lawmakers will discuss impeachment; many have called on Greitens to resign.
The raid on Michael Cohen's offices required layers of approval including a judge and the Justice Department.
President Trump traveled to Ohio Thursday to give what was supposed to be a speech touting his administration's infrastructure plan, as the White House attempts this week to refocus on infrastructure for the umpteenth time since Trump's inauguration. But that effort ran aground Thursday for the…
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday on Twitter that he intends to replace Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin, bringing a long-expected end to the embattled secretary's administration post.
As special counsel Robert Mueller prepares for a potential climactic interview with President Trump, his team continues to bore into potential links between Russian intelligence and Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. In new court documents filed Wednesday, Mueller is asserting the…
Two weeks after Hillary Clinton sparked an uproar by blaming backward-looking voters in middle America for her 2016 election loss, Republicans are already laying plans to turn her remarks into a major campaign talking point. Missouri Senate candidate Josh Hawley on Monday released two ads tying…
President Trump threw a potential wrench into congressional budget discussions Friday morning, threatening to veto the omnibus package that Republican leaders pushed to his desk just hours before to avoid a government shutdown.
Chesterfield, Mo.
Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe—sacked on the eve of his retirement after allegedly leaking information to a reporter and then misleading investigators about it—has acquired a pair of wildly divergent reputations. In Trumpworld, McCabe is a hack whose partisan actions during the Clinton…
Hours after throwing Washington into a frenzy with his surprise decision to fire Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, President Trump skipped town Tuesday, traveling to San Diego to examine prototypes for his signature border wall that have been constructed at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Could we be on the brink of a thaw in U.S. relations with North Korea? The Trump administration is hoping so in the wake of a shocking message South Korean officials brought from North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un on Thursday: that Kim is “committed to denuclearization,” that the North will refrain…
President Trump signed a controversial order implementing heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminum Thursday, calling the action “a matter of necessity for our security” and saying it would help to revitalize fading American industry.
President Trump’s controversial plan to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum is about to become a reality, as Trump reportedly wants to sign the order establishing the new policy as early as Thursday afternoon.
Another day, another high-profile White House departure. Gary Cohn, President Trump’s chief economic adviser, is leaving the Trump administration—a serious shakeup in a White House where protectionist economics are suddenly on the rise.
Despite opposition mounting in his own party, President Trump seems determined to stay the course on trade, saying Monday he’s “not backing down” on last week’s decision to implement new tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum.
Sam Nunberg, a former Trump aide recently subpoenaed by the Mueller probe, said Monday he would refuse to testify before the special counsel’s grand jury or turn over requested communications with other members of the Trump campaign.
Michael Warren is on vacation this week, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on March 12.
Michael Warren is on vacation this week, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on March 12.
Say what you will about Paul Manafort (and you can say a lot): He’s no quitter. Pundits proclaimed Manafort’s goose cooked last week after his former business partner and co-defendant Richard Gates fessed up to the battery of crimes of which special counsel Robert Mueller has accused them,…
Michael Warren is on vacation this week, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on March 12.
On Tuesday, White House communications director Hope Hicks told House investigators her job sometimes requires her to lie and refused to answer questions about her time in the Trump administration. One day later, the longtime Trump aide has announced she is leaving the White House, reportedly in…
Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner’s year of security clearance struggles finally caught up with him Tuesday, when White House chief of staff John Kelly officially downgraded his access to classified material from “top secret” to “secret,” barring the president’s son-in-law from accessing…
For recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a sigh of relief: The Supreme Court on Monday effectively upheld a lower court’s ruling that the White House cannot end DACA, which provides legal status to people brought to America illegally as children, until challenges to the…
Michael Warren is on vacation this week, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on March 12.
She doesn’t say so, but 2018 has been a tricky year so far for Arizona Senate candidate Kelli Ward. After months of polling strongly as an uncompromising, Trump-loving alternative to unpopular incumbent Jeff Flake, the conservative firebrand now finds herself squeezed between two new challengers:…
President Donald Trump on Friday delivered a free-wheeling speech to CPAC, a campaign-style barnburner that went over well with the raucous crowd. And on his way out, he casually got around to the important stuff: major new sanctions on North Korea.
Update, 9:36 p.m.: Manafort attorney Jason Maloni emails in the following statement "on behalf of Paul Manafort:
Four days after his surprise indictment of 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for conspiracy against the United States, special counsel Robert Mueller revealed a new plea deal Tuesday, with Russia-connected lawyer Alex Van Der Zwaan. Mueller charges that Van Der Zwaan lied to FBI…
In his first public indictment of 2018, special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday announced charges against 13 Russian nationals and three organizations for conspiring in secret to destabilize America’s political institutions.
President Trump on Thursday gave his first public comments after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida that left 17 dead on Wednesday, pledging to take action “to secure our schools” and “tackle the difficult issue of mental health” to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
President Trump on Wednesday threw his weight behind Sen. Chuck Grassley’s immigration plan, urging the Senate to pass the “responsible and commonsense” proposal based on the White House’s immigration priorities and threatening to veto proposals that contain further Democratic concessions.
Senator Bob Corker made headlines last October when he became the first GOP senator to announce he would not seek reelection in 2018—then quickly ignited a public spat with President Donald Trump, with the two trading barbs on Twitter. Over a period of weeks, Corker called the Trump White House “an…
President Trump drew a line in the sand on immigration reform in a Tuesday morning tweet, telling Congress that the freewheeling negotiations that began Monday are “our last chance” to grant legal status to nearly 2 million people brought to America illegally as children.
Two of the top Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are calling on former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice to explain an “unusual email” she sent on the day of President Trump’s inauguration.
President Donald Trump on Friday offered words of praise and support for a disgraced former staffer who resigned earlier this week over allegations of domestic abuse.
When the young Muslim known as “Mo” decided he could no longer live in America, the Islamic State wasn’t his destination of choice. Initially, he said, he wanted to migrate to Saudi Arabia to study at the University of Medina—but he couldn’t get in. A diet of online propaganda convinced him the…
The FBI on Wednesday expressed “grave concerns” about the public release of a Republican-drafted memo that reportedly contains allegations of FBI partisanship and surveillance abuses, a rare display of public displeasure from the usually taciturn agency.
Brenda Fitzgerald, whom President Trump tapped as CDC director last year, announced her resignation Wednesday, one day after it was reported she had purchased stock in a tobacco company one month into her leadership last year.
FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe is stepping down from his post at the FBI, NBC News first reported Monday.
Capping his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, President Trump on Friday declared America “open for business and competitive once again” in a speech that trumpeted the country’s economic strength under his administration.
Special counsel Robert Mueller spent much of 2017 making quiet progress in his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, but that has changed in the new year. Mueller’s team has interviewed Attorney General Jeff Sessions, will soon meet with former White House strategist Steve…
You’ve got to feel for Robert Mueller.
Considering they were protesting what they call “the greatest human rights violation of our time,” the crowd that gathered on the National Mall Friday morning for the March for Life was oddly upbeat. Church and school groups who had traveled across the country to show their opposition to 45 years…
President Donald Trump said during his campaign he was in favor of keeping marijuana regulation a states’ rights issue, according to a recording released Thursday by the Colorado Springs Gazette.
Retiring senator Arizona Jeff Flake accused President Donald Trump of reckless disregard for the truth Wednesday, saying that the White House had launched an “unrelenting daily assault on constitutionally protected free speech.”
As Washington stares down the barrel of a government shutdown, the White House is refusing to back down from its budget terms. Appearing on Fox & Friends Tuesday morning, press secretary Sarah Sanders said Congress must pass a continuing resolution now, then try to find a bipartisan deal on…
A question of grammar is at the center of President Donald Trump’s latest battle with the media.
U.S. diplomat John Feeley announced Thursday he would resign from his post as ambassador to Panama, the same day President Donald Trump provoked controversy by reportedly demeaning immigrants from central America and “shithole countries” in Africa.
President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. court system as “broken and unfair” on Wednesday, one day after a federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary injunction to prevent the White House from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Steve Bannon, the bomb-throwing media figure and nationalist mascot who was once one of Donald Trump’s most trusted advisers, stepped down on Tuesday from his post as executive chairman of Breitbart.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling is continuing to tighten, with NBC News reporting Monday that Mueller has informed the White House that he will seek an interview with the president.
Special counsel Robert Mueller may be the most well-known figure in the special counsel's office (SCO), but the attorneys Mueller has assembled for his investigation into connections between the Trump campaign and Russian government during the 2016 election are a prosecutorial dream team. The SCO…
This post had been updated.
In its early, scrappy days, Twitter captured the hearts of Americans with a seductive promise: famous celebrities tweet, you can tweet back at them, and if you’re lucky, they might read your tweet. Such interactions seemed to offer a peek behind the curtain into the world of Hollywood spangle. We…
President Trump told reporters Sunday evening that he is not considering firing special counsel Robert Mueller, whose investigation into Russian election meddling has been a constant irritant to the White House. At the same time, however, Trump and his allies are stepping up their campaign to…
Donald Trump’s Friday morning appearances were an amusing reminder of a central presidential incongruity: He loves and supports law enforcement, except the ones trying to enforce the law on him.
The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 along party lines Thursday to reverse the Obama-era internet regulations known as “net neutrality,” arguing over dire Democratic warnings that the change would help consumers and promote competition among internet providers.
How does an accused sex offender go about getting elected to public office? With Alabama’s special Senate election taking place Tuesday, Republican Roy Moore has chosen to pursue a bold strategy: putting on the full armor of Trump and vanishing almost entirely from the voters’ view.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors filed evidence late Friday afternoon to demonstrate that Paul Manafort violated a court-mandated gag order by contributing to an op-ed defending himself in a Ukrainian newspaper.
Congressman Trent Franks announced his resignation from Congress Thursday evening, saying he was unwilling to undergo an Ethics Committee investigation into conversations about surrogacy he had in recent years with two female staffers.
After a week spent limping along under the weight of accusations of sexual misconduct, Sen. Al Franken announced his resignation from the Senate Thursday morning.
Less than a week ago, Donald Trump’s former national security adviser was pleading guilty to lying to the FBI and cooperating with Robert Mueller’s investigation, but things might be looking up for the president. Both houses of Congress have now passed a version of his signature tax reform plan (or…
The White House is currently insisting that President Donald Trump did not know in January that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn lied to the FBI about his contacts with Russia, a felony for which he has pleaded guilty. But the administration’s own public statements, taken together,…
In the months since Robert Mueller began sniffing around the White House for evidence of electoral misbehavior, President Donald Trump has watched warily to see whether the special counsel would sift through his personal finances. In July, he told the New York Times such an action would amount to…
Congressman John Conyers of Michigan announced Tuesday he would retire from Congress effective immediately, making him the first sitting congressman to resign amid the wave of sexual misconduct allegations that has swamped the nation in recent months.
President Donald Trump on Monday announced his administration would reduce two vast national monuments in Utah, arguing that the monuments amounted to a federal land grab by past Democratic presidents.
President Donald Trump was briefed that Michael Flynn had likely misled the FBI in late January, weeks before the former national security advisor was fired for lying about the extent of his contacts with a Russian diplomat, the president’s lawyer said Sunday.
President Donald Trump on Monday told reporters he feels “very badly” for his former national security advisor Michael Flynn, days after Flynn pled guilty to obstruction of justice for lying to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team about his interactions with Russian officials before President…
The GOP tax plan cleared its first major hurdle in the Senate Wednesday afternoon, after a motion to proceed to amendments passed on a 52-48 party line vote.
Longtime Today host Matt Lauer was fired Wednesday morning after a complaint of sexual misconduct, the latest public figure to fall from grace during a remarkable moment of cultural reckoning. As NBC is one of President Donald Trump’s favorite punching bags, he wasted no time crowing about it.
President Trump was planning to meet with Democratic leaders Tuesday to discuss a deal to prevent a government shutdown next month. But Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer canceled the meeting Tuesday morning after Trump attacked them on Twitter and said he didn’t expect to strike a deal.
Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore made his first public appearance in nearly two weeks Monday night, dodging press and refusing to take questions at a rally in Henagar, Alabama, as he railed against “malicious and false attacks which reflect the immorality of our time.”
In the two weeks since sexual misconduct allegations began to surface against him, Senator Al Franken has repeatedly apologized to the four women who have accused him of groping them. He’s said he’s “embarrassed and ashamed,” and insisted that “we have to listen to women and respect what they say.”…
President Donald Trump announced Monday that the United States would once again designate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, reversing a change made under the George W. Bush administration.
The New York Times suspended one of its star reporters Monday after allegations surfaced that he had made inappropriate sexual advances toward younger colleagues throughout his career.
Special counsel Robert Mueller in mid-October issued a subpoena against the Trump campaign to obtain Russia-related documents from over a dozen campaign officials, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
A federal judge declared a mistrial in the corruption case against Sen. Bob Menendez on Thursday after jurors informed him they were intractably deadlocked. The jurors had been deliberating since last week.
A Los Angeles news anchor and former model on Thursday accused Sen. Al Franken of sexually assaulting her during a USO tour to the Middle East in December 2006.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday gave a speech that was long on self-congratulation, but thin on concrete diplomatic victories from his 12-day Asia trip—and silent on everyone’s most pressing question, whether Trump still supports Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.
A new accuser has come forward with an accusation of sexual assault against Senate candidate Roy Moore.
The New Jersey judge in Sen. Bob Menendez’s federal corruption trial sent the jury home to “clear their heads” Monday after jurors informed him they were deadlocked on a verdict.
The Senate campaign arm of the Republican Party on Friday severed ties with Roy Moore, one day after the Washington Post reported that Moore had sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and pursued inappropriate relationships with several other teenagers while he was a district attorney in his 30s.
Senate candidate Roy Moore allegedly sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl when he was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney in Alabama, according to an explosive new report by the Washington Post.
GOP Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia announced on Thursday that he will not seek re-election in 2018, citing the upcoming end of his tenure as chair of the House Judiciary Committee.
The judge overseeing the federal case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on Wednesday issued a gag order to prevent lawyers, defendants, and witnesses from making public statements that could prejudice the jury.
With a week to go before Virginia’s governor’s election, Democrats were wringing their hands.
President Donald Trump on Thursday officially nominated Jerome Powell to replace Janet Yellen as chair of the Federal Reserve.
Republicans finally released a full working draft of their mammoth tax reform plan on Thursday. The 400-page Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doesn’t deliver the full Christmas list of tax priorities the White House requested in April, but it’s still a massive reorganization of the tax code that includes huge…
At least eight people are dead and 11 sustained "serious but non-life threatening" injuries after a motorist driving a rented truck veered onto a bicycle path in Manhattan Tuesday afternoon, the NYPD has confirmed.
Special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s indictments of Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, and George Papadopoulos turned the news cycle on its head Monday, with some trumpeting the news as the latest smoking gun for Russian collusion and others dismissing the story as the latest media nothing-burger. As the…
President Donald Trump is planning to nominate Jerome Powell to replace Janet Yellen as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, the New York Times reported Monday.
The indictment of Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, on charges of conspiracy and fraud was the big news from special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s investigation Monday morning. But court documents also implicate a lower-level aide who could prove an even bigger headache for the…
Special prosecutor Robert Mueller has filed the first charges of his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, CNN reported Friday.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, Congress’s longest-serving member, is privately planning to retire at the end of his term, according to a report from the Atlantic on Friday.
President Trump declared America’s opioid crisis a public health emergency Thursday, decrying the “scourge of drug addiction” that kills 175 Americans a day and pledging that “we can be the generation that ends the opioid epidemic.”
The House of Representatives narrowly approved a Senate budget proposal on Thursday, paving the way for the long-anticipated tax reform package Republicans hope to pass by the end of the year.
The head of the House’s Ways and Means Committee isn’t disputing that tax reform will be harder now that President Donald Trump is at war with two members of the rickety GOP Senate majority. But he does want you to know that he and Trump are doing just fine.
Arizona senator Jeff Flake announced Tuesday that he will not seek reelection in 2018, saying he could not secure victory without sacrificing his core principles.
Abingdon, Va.
After two weeks of dormancy, President Donald Trump’s ugly spat with Tennessee senator Bob Corker flared up again Tuesday after Corker insulted the president on the morning news, saying Trump was “unable to rise to the occasion” of his office and that he should “step aside” on tax reform and…
By his own admission, former White House strategist Steve Bannon doesn’t know much about foreign policy. But he knows one thing for sure: Every foreign headache for President Donald Trump’s administration is somebody else’s fault.
Abingdon, Va.
The race for the Virginia’s governor’s mansion is tightening with three weeks to go. A Monmouth University poll released Tuesday shows Republican Ed Gillespie with a razor-thin lead over Virginia’s Democratic lieutenant governor Ralph Northam, 48 percent to 47 percent, Politico reports:
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at expanding Americans’ access to health insurance choices, the first official step of his pledge to tackle health-care reform solo after repeated congressional failures to pass legislation repealing Obamacare.
In a speech championing Republican tax reform efforts on Wednesday, President Donald Trump attempted to deflect criticism that the GOP tax plan disproportionately favors the wealthy with a novel argument: The rich don’t even want a tax cut.
The pro-Trump super PAC Great America Alliance on Wednesday released its first slate of Senate endorsements for the 2018 election season, endorsing three conservative challengers who are attempting to flip blue seats next year.
President Donald Trump has made accusations of “fake news” a regular tactic in his administration’s war against the media in general and CNN in particular. Now, the president’s allies are leaning into that assault with polling indicating popular distrust for CNN.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson went into full damage-control mode last week after NBC News reported he had called President Donald Trump a “f—-ing moron,” denying the allegation and insisting the president was “smart.” But Trump never forgets a slight—and sooner or later, he always hits back. In…
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley announced Monday evening that he is running for Senate in 2018. The young Republican may prove the most formidable challenger yet to Claire McCaskill, who is widely seen as one of the Senate’s most vulnerable Democrats.
President Donald Trump and outgoing senator Bob Corker of Tennessee got into an unexpected and personal Twitter fight Sunday morning, the nastiest public conflict yet between the White House and Senate Republicans.
Tennessee congresswoman Marsha Blackburn announced Thursday that she would run for the Senate seat that retiring senator Bob Corker is vacating in 2018.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Wednesday denied an NBC report that claimed he angrily considered quitting the administration in July before being dissuaded by Vice President Mike Pence.
The United States has expelled 15 Cuban diplomats from the country's embassy, less than a week after pulling its own embassy workers from Cuba in response to a series of apparent sonic attacks on American personnel.
President Donald Trump’s judicial nomination of Amy Barrett has become a religious-liberty flashpoint in recent weeks, with Democratic senators arguing that her conservative Catholicism would interfere with her ability to uphold the law. Sen. Jeff Flake defended Barrett on the Senate floor Monday…
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned Friday afternoon, amid reports that President Trump was considering firing him over his use of private jets for government business, which provoked a public outcry over misuse of public funds.
The State Department announced Friday that it would pull more than half its embassy staff out of Cuba after a series of apparent sonic attacks that left diplomats with a host of strange medical issues, from hearing loss to balance problems.
Washington stands by to see which brand of Trumpism will carry the day in a Alabama's special election primary between Luther Strange and Roy Moore, a race that has become something of a proxy war for the Republican Party. Polls close at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday and THE WEEKLY STANDARD will be tracking…
Axios’s Jonathan Swan reported Monday that the White House is expected to announce it will accept about 40,000 refugees in fiscal year 2018—a dramatic drop from the 110,000 refugees President Obama authorized for 2017, and a substantial reduction from the 50,000 quota Trump set in an executive…
The Supreme Court on Monday canceled scheduled oral arguments on President Donald Trump’s travel ban after the White House released new immigration standards that supersede it.
North Korea’s foreign minister accused the United States Monday of declaring war against the Kim regime, the sharpest escalation yet of tensions between the two nations.
Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for exchanging lewd text messages with a 15-year-old girl, a case which sunk his marriage to Huma Abedin and rattled Hillary Clinton’s campaign in the weeks leading up to the 2016 election.
President Donald Trump is scrapping his controversial blanket ban on travel from six Muslim-majority countries in favor of placing individual targeted restrictions on more nations, the Wall Street Journal first reported Friday.
For months, GOP leadership from both houses of Congress along with Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin and NEC director Gary Cohn have huddled over Republican plans for tax reform, laying the groundwork for a plan each group could support.
After a months-long slide in the polls, President Trump has enjoyed a small bounce-back so far in September.
President Donald Trump will sign the Graham-Cassidy health-care bill if it passes Congress, CNN first reported Tuesday.
Walking toward the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday afternoon, I could hear the speaker’s voice long before I picked him out among the crowd gathered by the Reflecting Pool. His voice crackled through the loudspeaker and rolled across the water as he led his audience in the refrain:
One of the primary challengers to Donald Trump’s top Senate rival says she’s sticking with the president after his immigration deal with Democratic leaders.
Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell resigned Thursday from his position at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, one day after the school announced it would bring Chelsea Manning to its Institute of Politics as a visiting fellow for the upcoming year.
Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi came away from their Wednesday White House dinner with a simple message: President Donald Trump is ready to reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and he doesn’t mind not getting a border wall in return.
Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy on Wednesday released a last-ditch health-care bill that aims to replace Obamacare’s architecture with a block grant given annually to states to defray individuals’ insurance costs.
Despite a packed legislative calendar, House Speaker Paul Ryan says he’s still confident that Congress will have tax reform legislation on President Donald Trump’s desk before the end of 2017.
When the White House first announced its intent to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program last week, many speculated that President Donald Trump was planning to use the issue as part of a grand bargain to win additional funding for immigration enforcement and a border wall.
The cache of al-Qaeda documents captured in the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin-Laden will soon be released to the public, CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Monday.
The best day of Sen. Luther Strange’s election campaign was Aug. 8, the day President Donald Trump tweeted that he had “done a great job representing the people of the Great State of Alabama” since being appointed to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions and giving his “complete and total…
The House of Representatives Friday passed a White House-backed bill that provides $15 billion for hurricane relief while raising the federal debt ceiling and funding the government until December.
One day after President Donald Trump shocked Washington by endorsing a Democratic debt ceiling plan that would fund the government for three months and provide money for hurricane relief, the Senate passed the plan by an 80-17 vote.
President Donald Trump has fiscally conservative Republicans in a serious bind.
House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday voiced his disagreement with President Donald Trump’s decision to adopt the short-term timetable Democrats have advocated to raise the federal debt limit, a plan he called a “ridiculous idea” on Wednesday—but stopped short of criticizing the president himself.
On Wednesday morning, House Speaker Paul Ryan called Democrats’ plans to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government for just three months “a ridiculous idea.” Hours later, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi announced that President Trump had agreed to help them do just that.
The Trump administration will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Obama-era directive that provided work permits and protection from deportation for illegal immigrants brought to the country as children, after a six-month window, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced…
President Donald Trump has decided to end the Obama-era program under which young illegal immigrants who came to the country as children could avoid deportation and receive work permits, Politico reported Sunday.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has obtained a draft of a letter President Donald Trump composed laying out his reasons for firing FBI director James Comey, the New York Times reported Friday.
As the White House debates whether to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Republican congressional leaders are pressuring the president to keep the Obama-era protections for illegal immigrants who came to the country as minors.
The United States will close three Russian diplomatic facilities in retaliation for the Kremlin’s expulsion of American diplomats, the State Department announced Thursday.
President Donald Trump kicked off his party’s major push for tax reform with a speech in Springfield, Missouri, Wednesday, pledging to reduce the burden of taxation on America’s companies and workers and calling for Democratic support.
Controversial activist Linda Sarsour is being called out widely for her efforts to solicit donations for a leftist organizing group under the guise of Hurricane Harvey relief.
Donald Trump might be going nowhere with the implementation of his legislative agenda. But when it comes to executive-branch immigration policy, the administration continues to make real if typically glacial progress.
President Donald Trump on Monday defended his pardon of Arizona’s Joe Arpaio, who as sheriff of Maricopa County defied a court order to stop his hardline immigration policing and earned a citation for contempt of court last month. Trump’s comments came at a joint press conference with the president…
President Donald Trump is lifting restrictions banning local law enforcement from using surplus military equipment, overturning an Obama-era policy that restricted police access to heavy assets like armored vehicles, riot shields, and grenade launchers.
Donald Trump’s top economic adviser said on Thursday said that the Trump administration “can and must do better” in addressing America’s racial divisions.
At his campaign-style rally in Phoenix Tuesday night, President Donald Trump reconfirmed one of the laws of his presidency: For every sane, measured presidential action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday that the administration’s new Afghanistan strategy is designed to send a message to Taliban insurgents: You have no path to victory here.
The Treasury Department on Tuesday unveiled new sanctions targeting Russian and Chinese entities it said have continued to aid North Korea following recent United Nations sanctions against the Kim regime.
President Donald Trump announced a troop increase for the U.S. war in Afghanistan, promising Monday night that “our troops will fight to win” our nation’s longest-running conflict while acknowledging his own change of heart on U.S. foreign policy.
Steve Bannon, a key populist voice in the Trump administration, is out as White House chief strategist, the Drudge Report first reported on Friday.
President Donald Trump is meeting with his national security team at Camp David today to consider a thorny question: What course should the United States pursue for the conflict in Afghanistan, its longest-running war?
President Donald Trump tripled down on his controversial reaction to the violence in Charlottesville, taking to Twitter Wednesday to decry the growing movement to remove Confederate statues and monuments.
The representatives from Canada and Mexico who came to Washington on Wednesday to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement were greeted by U.S. officials taking a hard line on negotiations.
The White House named a new communications director Wednesday: longtime Trump aide Hope Hicks, whose tenure with Trump predates even his presidential campaign.
President Donald Trump’s business advisory council, which was hemorrhaging members following Trump’s series of responses to a white nationalist rally over the weekend, disbanded itself on Wednesday.
The Department of Justice is compelling a broad set of Internet records related to an organization established to coordinate anti-Trump protests during Inauguration Day, prompting a legal fight, according to multiple reports this week.
In an explosive, combative Tuesday press conference, President Donald Trump blasted media coverage of white nationalism, defended groups who assembled to protest the removal of a Charlottesville statue of Robert E. Lee, drew an equivalence between “both sides” of protesters, and accused “alt-left”…
Another day, another defection from President Donald Trump’s manufacturing council.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed Tuesday that Iran would drop the nuclear deal “within hours” if the United States attempts to impose new sanctions on his country.
The white supremacists who demonstrated over the week weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, may have felt their numbers guaranteed anonymity—but social-media users have been poring over images of the rally to identify those participants who engaged in violent clashes with counterprotesters.
Two days after neo-Nazis marched openly in Virginia, President Donald Trump has yet to explicitly condemn their behavior. But the president found a different target to denounce Monday after a black CEO resigned in protest from the White House’s manufacturing council.
Two days after violent clashes at a white supremacist rally in Virginia left one dead, President Donald Trump on Monday finally gave an explicit rebuke of the racist groups involved.
Three Trump administration officials will soon travel to the Middle East to try brokering peace between Israel and Palestine, the White House announced Friday.
President Donald Trump declared America’s opioid epidemic a “national emergency” Thursday, following the advice of his opioid commission after declining to do so two days prior.
President Donald Trump intensified his rhetorical assault on Sen. Mitch McConnell Thursday, days after the Senate’s most powerful Republican said Trump had put “excessive expectations” on Congress to pass his legislative agenda.
Congressional Republicans are attempting to pivot away from Obamacare repeal toward tax reform. But they continue to butt heads with a White House that’s unhappy with where they left the health care debate.
After President Donald Trump shocked his national security team with his off-the-cuff fire-and-fury remarks about North Korea on Tuesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is trying to walk back his boss’s comments—without saying Trump was off base.
Breaking news on the Russia investigation: FBI agents conducted a predawn raid on the home of Trump campaign operative Paul Manafort on July 26, according to a new report by the Washington Post. The agents had a warrant to seize documents and materials, although the significance of the documents…
President Donald Trump knows America has an opioid problem. But it’s not clear that he knows what to do about it.
Sen. John Cornyn thinks the White House will be on board with a bill he issued last week to beef up security along the U.S.-Mexico border. But that hasn’t stopped the majority whip from distancing himself from President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall.
President Donald Trump is only 200 days into his first term, but other Republicans are already eyeing the Oval Office.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has a stark message for the media and their government sources: Playtime is over at the Department of Justice.
It has been a rocky year for ride-sharing conglomerate Uber. On the one hand, they’re still bringing in the revenue, to the tune of in $8.25 billion in the second quarter of 2017. On the other, the company has blundered through a series of corporate missteps and PR disasters, ultimately resulting…
West Virginia’s Democratic governor Jim Justice is expected to announce he is changing parties at a rally Thursday night with President Donald Trump, after Trump promised earlier in the day “a very big announcement” was to come during the event. The New York Times was first to report the news.
Donald Trump’s base swooned when he roared on the campaign trail that he would build a wall on the Mexican border, and that Mexico would pay for it.
President Donald Trump got away from his populist roots with his support of the deeply unpopular Obamacare repeal bill. But while the president continues to push that legislation despite its crash landing in the Senate, he is also returning to aa core campaign issue: immigration.
Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch has insisted repeatedly that the window for health care has closed, and that the Senate’s time is better spent on other issues for now.
President Donald Trump signed stiff Russia sanctions into law Wednesday morning, days after overwhelming congressional support for the bill painted the White House into a corner.
The Senate confirmed Christopher Wray as the new FBI Director by a 92-5 vote Tuesday, filling the spot left vacant when President Donald Trump fired James Comey in May.
Mooch, we hardly knew ye.
President Donald Trump announced the latest White House shakeup via Twitter on Friday afternoon, tweeting that John F. Kelly would replace Reince Preibus as White House chief of staff.
Republican senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Ron Johnson, and Bill Cassidy told reporters Thursday afternoon that they despise the idea of a “skinny” Obamacare repeal bill—but that they would vote for it on the condition health reform ends up being negotiated further between the House and…
After months of private deliberations, GOP leadership and the White House announced Thursday that they are ready to move forward on tax reform.
Bipartisan agreement in the House on a Russia sanctions bill was the first sign this week that the alliance between President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress was growing shakier. On Tuesday, it grew shakier still, as multiple Republican senators spoke out in protest of Trump’s continued…
Hedge fund manager and new White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has never held a press job before. But he has repeatedly demonstrated the key qualifying characteristics: a willingness and ability to carry water for the president.
John McCain’s unexpected retreat to Arizona for eye surgery and the defections of Mike Lee and Jerry Moran have added yet another delay to the Senate’s health-care reform slog. But even as the most recent Senate health-care bill dies, Republicans are charging ahead to lay plans for their next…
The recent revelation of Donald Trump Jr.’s 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer is causing headaches for the Trump administration. But in their enthusiasm to decry Trump Jr. and the campaign, congressional Democrats are jumping to some shaky conclusions.
A spokesman for Mike Pence on Wednesday repeatedly refused to answer whether the vice president ever met with representatives from Russia during last year’s campaign. Appearing on Fox News, Pence press secretary Marc Lotter was asked by host Bill Hemmer, “Did the vice president ever meet with…
On Tuesday morning, Donald Trump Jr. publicly released emails he sent in June 2016 to set up a meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer. The content of these leaves no doubt that at least some in the Trump campaign knew that Russia supported their candidate and welcomed electoral aid from a foreign…
Walter M. Shaub, the head of the Office of Government Ethics who has repeatedly critiqued Donald Trump’s sustained connections to his private businesses, announced on Thursday that he will resign his post later this month.
Speaking to the Polish people in Warsaw Thursday morning, President Donald Trump reaffirmed U.S. commitments to Europe and promised to work together with allies to defend the values of family, freedom, country, and God.
Michael Warren is on vacation this week, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on July 3.
It’s been a stressful week for Donald Trump. Diplomacy with China is going nowhere fast. His party’s Obamacare replacement is floundering in the Senate. The constant irritation of a hostile press is rankling more than ever.
Michael Warren is on vacation this week, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on July 3.
Michael Warren is on vacation this week, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on July 3.
For most of their history, video games were a fringe pastime, the loser kid brother to traditional entertainments like sports. Gamers were doughy nerds who subsisted on Doritos and Mountain Dew and feared women and sunshine.
Michael Warren is on vacation this week, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on July 3.
The Supreme Court gave the Trump administration’s revised travel ban its first legal victory on Monday, agreeing unanimously to consider the ban this October and allowing the ban to go partially into effect until then.
Michael Warren is on vacation this week, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on July 3.
Following through on a campaign promise, President Donald Trump on Friday morning signed legislation aimed at reforming the famously dysfunctional Department of Veterans Affairs.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin on Tuesday morning defended the Trump administration’s 2018 budget and discussed his department’s plans to increase internal accountability and cooperation with private hospitals.
President Trump announced Friday that the U.S. would strengthen economic and diplomatic sanctions on Cuba, undoing an Obama policy of more open relations with the Castro regime that Trump called "terrible and misguided."
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said he has seen no reason to fire the special prosecutor investigating the Trump campaign's ties to Russia.
President Donald Trump on Friday announced plans to streamline and simplify the "dense thicket" of regulatory red tape that drives up costs and slows construction projects to a crawl.