Tag: Syria

The president’s advisers have concluded that a corruption investigation in New York presents a more imminent threat than the special counsel’s inquiry. Nearly a week after a deadly suspected chemical attack, the United States and its allies launched airstrikes on Syria. Additional reading Excerpts from James B. Comey’s memoir, which describes Mr. Trump as “untethered to truth,” were released. The president fired Mr. Comey in May. Additional reading Additional reading Speaker Paul D. Ryan announced he would not seek re-election, sending Republicans scrambling seven months before the midterm elections. As many as 50 House Republican seats are at risk in competitive races this year, and his departure makes it more difficult for the Republican Party to hold onto the House majority. Additional reading Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, testified before Congress for the first time. Mark Zuckerberg answered nearly 600 questions from skeptical lawmakers over two days after revelations that Facebook, the company that he repeatedly mentioned he started in his Harvard University dorm room, failed to protect the data of more than 87 million users from being harvested by a political consulting firm. Additional reading The Trump administration continued to seek trade deals — including one it left last year — but it remains unclear how those deals will unfold. In a sharp reversal, Mr. Trump said on Thursday that the United States was looking to rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multinational trade agreement he pulled out of during the first few days of his administration.

Prime Minister Theresa May is pushing to declare war on Syria after announcing her favourite Bible passage is ‘Thou shall not kill unless it might provide a boost in the polls and help secure a trade agreement’ early this morning. The vicar’s daughter claims to have access to a special edition of ‘The Bible’ which offers her guidance in times of trouble. ‘Being borne of the cloth, I was handed a very special version of “The Bible”. It offers a selection of handy get-out clauses when its teachings are inconvenient to you,’ said Mrs May. As well as justify mass-murder, Theresa May’s Bible also allows for the starving of the poor as long as it helps to create tax-cuts for corporations and the wealthy. ‘It really is a very useful book. I’ve handed out copies to all of my Conservative colleagues,’ she told us. Britain now looks likely to venture into Syria alongside America, with a lucrative trade agreement potentially at stake, making the slaughter all worthwhile.

It would been Trump’s first visit to Latin America as president. A statement issued by the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, said: “At the president’s request, the vice-president will travel in his stead. The president will remain in the United States to oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world.” On Monday, Trump said a decision about a US response to a chemical weapons attack in Syria was imminent. Speaking to reporters at the White House, he said: “We’re making decisions as to what we do with respect to the horrible attack that was made near Damascus. And it will be met. And it will be met forcefully. At the White House press briefing on Tuesday afternoon, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump’s “national security team thought it was best he stay in the United States”. “Mar-a-Lago happens to be within the United States,” she added. Trump also faces pressure from within the US, over an FBI raid on the office of his attorney, Michael Cohen. He described the raid as “an attack on our country in a true sense … an attack on what we all stand for”.

AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable. Topics subject to change but here’s what we’re watching through the weekend: The latest on the Syria chemical strike, plus Trump calls out Putin by name on Twitter, John McCain tweets that Trump saying he was going to pull troops out of Syria may have emboldened Assad to carry out this attack and Russia blames Israel for follow-up airstrikes North Korea willing to discuss denuclearization, but does that word mean the same to us as it does them? China trade war latest Zuckerberg testifying before Congress tomorrow NYT: GOP seizing on impeachment as an edge in 2018 midterms GOP focuses on saving Senate majority Paul Ryan may be on the outs if midterms go south for GOP Scott Pruitt’s political future More on plans for National Guard at border – TX & AZ to deploy troops Evangelical leaders want a sit down with Trump over Stormy Daniels Trump to skip White House correspondents dinner Guests: Pete Peterson, dean of the School of Public Policy and senior fellow at The Davenport Institute at Pepperdine University; he tweets @Pete4CA Matt Rodriguez, Democratic strategist and founder and chief executive officer of Rodriguez Strategies; he is also a former senior Obama advisor in 2008; he tweets @RodStrategies

Today in 5 Lines The FBI raided the office of President Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, and seized records related to several topics, including payments to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels. Federal investigators also reportedly searched his home and hotel room. Trump condemned the suspected chemical attack in Syria as a “barbaric act” and said he will make a decision on the U.S. response within the next 24 to 48 hours. Florida Governor Rick Scott announced that he will run for U.S. Senate, challenging incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson. Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth became the first senator to give birth while in office. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg met privately with several lawmakers on Capitol Hill ahead of his planned testimony before a joint session of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees on Tuesday, followed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday. Today on The Atlantic ‘They’re Desperate to Keep This Email Hush-Hush’: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt denied knowing about salary increases given to two of his top aides. But an email exchange suggests otherwise. (Elaina Plott) A Bit of Self-Criticism: Conor Friedersdorf argues that The Atlantic’s firing of conservative writer Kevin Williamson represents a failure of tolerance. (Franklin Foer) Snapshot What We’re Reading Expect an Expensive Race: Florida Governor Rick Scott announced that he’s launching a bid to unseat Democratic Senator Bill Nelson.

raided the Rockefeller Center office and Park Avenue hotel room of President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, on Monday morning, seizing business records, emails and documents related to several topics, including a payment to a pornographic film actress. The prosecutors obtained the search warrant after receiving a referral from the special counsel in the Russia investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, according to Mr. Cohen’s lawyer, who called the search “completely inappropriate and unnecessary.” The search does not appear to be directly related to Mr. Mueller’s investigation, but most likely resulted from information that he had uncovered and gave to prosecutors in New York. “Many people have said you should fire him.” The president once again railed against Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, for recusing himself in the Russia inquiry, and blasted the F.B.I. “Today, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York executed a series of search warrants and seized the privileged communications between my client, Michael Cohen, and his clients,” Mr. Ryan said. It is not clear what Mr. Mueller saw that made him refer the matter to other prosecutors. The search is an aggressive move for the Justice Department, which normally relies on grand jury subpoenas to obtain records from people who are represented by lawyers and are cooperating with authorities. Justice Department rules require prosecutors to first consider less intrusive alternatives before seeking records from lawyers. Mr. Ryan said Mr. Cohen has cooperated with the authorities and turned over thousands of documents to congressional investigators looking into Russian election meddling. “I will get all of Putin’s team to buy in on this, I will manage this process.” But the emails obtained by The New York Times show no response from Mr. Cohen, who told congressional investigators that he regarded Mr. Sater’s talk as puffery. It is not clear how significantly prosecutors view the payment to Ms. Clifford.

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—Fox News Channel announced on Monday that it would decide what Donald J. Trump’s Syria response will be in the next forty-eight hours. At a press conference at the network’s headquarters, Sean Hannity, Judge Jeanine Pirro, and the “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy said that, as the people who have been entrusted with the decision of whether to use military force, they were not taking their responsibility lightly. “The U.S. military is the mightiest force in all the world,” Hannity said. “However we decide that President Trump will use that force in Syria, we promise that it will be a decision he will be proud of.” Pirro said that she and her colleagues were taking “full advantage of the entire Fox News brain trust” to craft Trump’s Syria response. “The American people should sleep well at night knowing that we are keeping Tucker Carlson in the loop,” she said. Ending the press conference on an urgent note, Doocy spoke directly to President Trump. “Mr. President, we’ll have a decision for you in the next forty-eight hours,” he said. “Don’t change the channel.”

Today in 5 Lines Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced that President Trump will sign a proclamation for the deployment of National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. Police said the woman who opened fire at the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California, on Tuesday practiced at a gun range hours before the attack. The shooter, identified as Nasim Aghdam, was upset with YouTube’s policies, according to authorities. After China imposed tariffs on American soybeans, cars, and airplanes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 500 points, and soybean prices dropped more than 5 percent. Today on The Atlantic Does It Matter If Trump Is a ‘Target’ or a ‘Subject’? : The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the president is a subject of the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, but not a target. Here’s what that means. (Adam Serwer) Roseanne Is Dividing the Left: Conor Friedersdorf breaks down two distinct reactions to ABC’s reboot of the television sitcom. How the House Intelligence Committee Broke: The panel’s leading members once enjoyed “something of a bromance.” But the committee’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election has driven them apart. (Natasha Bertrand) Why Chappaquiddick Matters: A new film tells the story of Senator Ted Kennedy’s 1969 car crash that led to the death of his passenger.

Food and medical aid convoy reaches Syria's eastern Ghouta. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one network in cable, FNC has been…

Residents of Eastern Ghouta in the suburbs of Damascus, Syria, continue to suffer under a brutal siege by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports.