Votes from America’s first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus have started coming in the day after technical problems held up results.
With 62 per cent of votes counted, former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg was narrowly leading in delegates ahead of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar. Mr Sanders was ahead in the popular vote.
Although Iowa is a small and largely agricultural state that is not necessarily representative of the United States as a whole, its status as the first to vote on presidential candidates gives it a political significance beyond its size.
However, the chaos overnight has led to questions over whether it will keep that status.
On Monday night the state's Democratic party spotted “inconsistencies” in the results, forcing them to grapple with apparent technical issues involving an app brought in to help streamline the process. Party leaders said a "coding issue" led to errors preventing some precincts from reporting their votes.
Following the tech glitches, Nevada's Democrat party leaders said they won't plan to use the app for its caucus on 22 February.
Iowa's Republican governor Kim Reynolds defended the state's first-in-the-nation status, pointing to the caucus system's ability to encourage "dialogue between candidates and voters that makes our presidential candidates accountable for the positions they take and the records they hold".
She said: "The process is not suffering because of a short delay in knowing the final results. Iowans and all Americans should know we have complete confidence that every last vote will be counted and every last voice will be heard."
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Trump congratulates wrong state after Kansas City Chiefs win Super Bowl LIV
Donald Trump is facing fresh ridicule after tweeting his congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs after they won Super Bowl LIV by saying they represented “the Great State of Kansas... so very well” when the team is, in fact, based in Missouri.
He hastily deleted the tweet when the error was spotted but not before it had been widely circulated:
(Twitter)
The president saw the game between the Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers at a "watch party" at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, attended by such MAGA luminaries as Diamond and Silk.
"Tickets sold for $75 [£57] each, but were only available to members of the club - the initiation fee for which reportedly runs about $450,000 [£343,500], with annual dues costing several thousands of dollars more," reports The Huffington Post, which also says that US taxpayers will be footing a bill of $3.4m [£2.6m] for Trump's latest weekend jaunt to Mar-a-Lago.
The public can take heart though. Aside from exhaustively retweeting his thanks to Republican senators over their rock solid (integrity-free) support during his impeachment trial, the president used his time to play a few holes.
President lays into 2020 rival Mike Bloomberg after billionaire rivals his Super Bowl ad spend
Team Trump aired two new campaign adverts during the big game yesterday and also recorded a pre-match interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity in which he attacked rival Michael Bloomberg over his short stature.
Even before the competing commericals had aired, Trump had taken to Twitter to accuse the billionaire of "wasting his money" after spending $10m (£7.6m) on the slot - the same amount as the president’s campaign.
Trump's first promo capitalised on the story of Alice Marie Johnson, a nonviolent drug offender whose life sentence he commuted after reality TV star Kim Kardashian West championed her case. The ad showed footage of the moment when Johnson was released from prison and reunited with her family.
"My heart is just bursting with gratitude," she tells the camera. "I want to thank President Donald John Trump. Hallelujah!"
"Thanks to President Trump, people like Alice are getting a second chance," the ad's text reads, adding: "Politicians talk about criminal justice reform. President Trump got it done."
A second ad - which ran after the game had ended, instead of during the game as his campaign had said - argued that, "Under President Trump, America is stronger, safer and more prosperous than ever before."
Bloomberg, whose spot was scheduled to air during the second half of the game, also chose an emotional subject, featuring a grieving mother who lost her son to gun violence. George Kemp Jr, who dreamed of one day playing in the NFL, was only 20 when he was fatally shot in 2013. Bloomberg is a longtime backer of what he calls commonsense gun legislation and has spent hundreds of millions of dollars since his tenure as New York mayor to combat gun violence.
In the Fox interview, Trump mocked Bloomberg's height and accused him of making a special request for a box to stand on if he qualifies for future presidential debates (an accusation his team denies). "Why should he get a box to stand on?" the president asked. "Why should he be entitled to that, really? Then does that mean everyone else gets a box?"
Chris Riotta has this report.
Bloomberg spokesperson slams Trump as 'pathological liar'
The Bloomberg camp were quick to fire back at Trump...
...and spokesperson Julia Wood was on particularly venomous form, declaring of the president in response to his unsubstantiated box claim: “He is a pathological liar who lies about everything: his fake hair, his obesity, and his spray-on tan.”
Ooof.
Here's more from Chris Riotta.
President calls Bernie Sanders 'a communist', pushes Moscow marriage smear
Trump also used his Hannity interview/partisan puff piece to lay into his possible 2020 Democratic rivals.
"I see the hatred... They don't care about fairness, they don't care about lying," he said in the spot airing before American sport's biggest night of the year.
Prompted by the Fox anchor, Trump went through most of the major candidates one by one, deriding "Sleepy Joe" Biden, the former vice president, accusing Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren of telling "fairy tales" and labelling Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, as "a communist", speculating outrageously and entirely without evidence that he had got married in Russia.
Prompted by the Fox anchor, Trump went through most of the major candidates one by one, deriding "Sleepy Joe" Biden, the former vice president, accusing Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren of telling "fairy tales" and labelling Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, as "a communist", speculating outrageously and entirely without evidence that he had got married in Russia.
On House speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump harped on about his favourite nickname for her: "I think she's a very confused, very nervous woman. I don't think she wanted to do this.
"I think she really knew what was going to happen, and her worst nightmare has happened. I don't think she's gonna be there too long, either. I think that the radical left - and she's sort of radical left too, by the way - but I think the radical left is gonna take over."
John T Bennett was watching.
Iowa caucuses to give first indication of who Democratic nominee might be
Trump's attacks on Bloomberg, Bernie and the rest see him - like the rest of the American political universe - turning his attention towards today's Iowa caucuses, where Democrats will cast their first votes to choose the party's nominee to challenge him.
Over the weekend, the usually revered Des Moines Register/CNN poll of local voters had to be scrapped by mastermind Ann Selzer after Pete Buttiieg's name was left off at least one survey by mistake, leaving us without a key indicator of how today's events might pan out.
If you're baffled by what's going in in the Midwest, here's a handy introduction from Graig Graziosi.
We also have analysis of Elizabeth Warren's scramble to make up lost ground after being detained in Washington by the impeachment trial (a problem also navigated by Sanders and Amy Klobuchar), an interview with GOP Trump challenger Joe Walsh and this on Buttigieg's bold claim that a win here will make him America's next president, as it ultimately did for Barack Obama in 2008.
Andrew Buncombe also has this assessement of Bernie's chances as an Emerson College poll puts him seven points ahead of the field with 28 per cent of the vote.
Senate impeachment trial to hear closing arguments
Trump's Senate impeachment trial also resumes on Monday, with both sides offering their closing arguments following Friday's brutal 51-49 defeat on Democratic calls to hear from new witnesses like John Bolton and consider new evidence after Republican moderates Lamar Alexander and Lisa Murkowski refused to break ranks.
The trial picks up at 11am EST (4pm GMT) with the Democratic impeachment managers and Trump's legal team both getting two hours each to speak. After the arguments, the Senate reverts to a normal session to allow its members to grandstand on the floor from late Monday through to Wednesday, before they reconvene as an impeachment court on Wednesday afternoon for the final vote of the president's guilt or otherwise.
With Trump's acquittal all but assured (20 Republicans would need to defect and join all 47 Democrats to secure the two-thirds majority that would see him removed from office, a distant fantasy at this point), one of the biggest questions may be whether any Democrats join in with the expected Republican landslide to clearing him of the abuse of power and obstruction of Congress charges.
Three Democratic senators hailing from states where Trump remains popular - Doug Jones of Alabama, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona - remained conspicuously quiet over the weekend about their intentions.
If one or more of those senators votes to acquit Trump - even voting against one article of impeachment while supporting the other - it could alienate some Democratic voters, mark their legacies and let Trump spend his re-election campaign asserting that he was cleared by a bipartisan vote.
Manchin indicated to reporters Friday he probably won't decide his vote "until walking in" to the chamber on Wednesday. Jones has said he will announce his decision prior to Wednesday's vote, making sure he gets it "right." Sinema hasn't indicated when she will signal her intentions.
Over the weekend, it emerged that the administration had blocked the release of some two dozen emails that could reveal the US president’s thinking about withholding military aid to Ukraine.
Lamar Alexander offers spurious defence of president
Speaking of the retiring Republican senator from Tennessee, he was on Meet the Press with Chuck Todd yesterday to admit the president's conduct had been "improper", to express the hope that he will learn from the Ukraine scandal and not seek further foreign interference in American elections (he won't) and to make the point that the president should have raised corruption concerns against Joe Biden, if he sincerely held them, with the attorney general.
So why didn't he?
"Maybe he did not know how to," said Alexander, offering surely the weakest of all GOP arguments we've heard so far and my goodness there have been some beauties.
Also doing the rounds of the talk shows yesterday was Pete Buttigieg - making his case to be the Democratic nominee - who told Todd that Trump was like a Chinese finger trap ("The harder you pull, the more you get stuck") and Jake Tapper on State of the Union that: "The Senate is the jury today, but we are the jury tomorrow."
Adam Schiff was also out there, still fighting, and told Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation: "The truth will come out."
Republican argues Trump impeachment opens door to future impeachment of Joe Biden
Iowa GOP senator Joni Ernst was also interviewed by Tapper yesterday and admitted the president's call with Volodymyr Zelensky was "not perfect", despite his claims to the contrary.
More controversially, she also spoke to Bloomberg News and said also that the House's decision to impeach Trump has paved the way for a future hypothetical revenge impeachment of a President Joe Biden, should he ultimately win his nomination and beat their man to the White House.
“I think this door of impeachable whatever has been opened,” Ernst said. “Joe Biden should be very careful what he’s asking for because, you know, we can have a situation where if it should ever be President Biden, that immediately, people, right the day after he would be elected would be saying, ‘Well, we’re going to impeach him.’”
Saturday Night Live presents impeachment trial 'you wish had happened'
NBC's celebrated sketch show has been on good form in recent weeks and outdid itself again over the weekend.
Kate McKinnon as Lindsey Graham is truly glorious.
Here's Jacob Stolworthy with more.
Trump accused of hypocrisy after golfing during global coronavirus outbreak
Dave Maclean has this on the latest instance of Trumpian double standards, after he criticised Barack Obama for golfing during the Ebola crisis in 2014 and then did the exact equivalent himself over the weekend.
Mitt Romney barred from major conservative conference over vote for new witnesses in trial
Petty? Vengeful? Vindictive? Not the Grand Old Party, surely??
Here's Conrad Duncan on the senator for Utah finding himself a pariah after daring to defy his fellow Republicans by voting for impeachment witnesses.
Rashida Tlaib boos Hillary Clinton at Bernie Sanders rally in Iowa
Say what you like about the Michigan freshman, you can't accuse her of not speaking her mind.
Here she is deriding the fallen 2016 Democratic nominee after she said in a Hulu documtentary series that "no one likes" Bernie at a panel discussion in the Hawkeye State.
'Democrats have one real option left if they want to remove Trump'
For Indy Voices, Chris Stevenson offers this assessment of what the opposition must do to take on the president in the aftermath of an impeachment process that proved every bit as partisan and frustrating as feared.
'Mostly my family has been suffering'
Donald Trump said impeachment is mostly causing pain for his family, during a pre-Super Bowl interview on Sunday.
The interview came days before the Senate was expected to vote to acquit him after a short trial, and was give to the conservative news network's Sean Hannity.
"It should never happen to another president," Mr Trump said during the interview, in which he also touched upon the coronavirus and the Democratic presidential candidates.
President and Speaker haven't spoken in months
Trump will deliver the State of the Union in Pelosi's House chambers on Tuesday, but it is apparently the first time in months that the two will have crossed paths.
That's according to a Pelosi spokesperson, who told CNN that they haven't spoken since 16 October, when Trump insulted the most powerful Democrat in Washington and called her a "third-grade politician".
The insult resulted in Pelosi and other top Democrats leaving the meeting, and accusing the president of having a "meltdown". The meeting was about Syria.
What to expect from today's impeachment trial
We're over the hump, as they say, and careening straight towards the president's acquittal.
But, we still have a bit more process, which will start at 11 am (in 40 minutes from right now!)
We'll start today with closing arguments — House managers are expected to go first, and then the defense counsel.
We'll start today with closing arguments — House managers are expected to go first, and then the defense counsel.
Then we'll be expecting a lunch break later in the day, and the potential for some senators speaking after closing arguments (which could come later in the week).
We're expecting a final vote on Wednesday, just a day after the president's State of the Union on Tuesday.
2020 is dashing old friendships
Dr Jill Biden — who is married to presidential contender Joe Biden — said on CNN that senator Lindsey Graham has said "hurtful" things about her and her family, leading to a split between her family and his.
Dr Jill Biden — who is married to presidential contender Joe Biden — said on CNN that senator Lindsey Graham has said "hurtful" things about her and her family, leading to a split between her family and his.
She said the Bidens used to be "great friends" with Graham, and frequently dined or travelled together. But, now: "I don't know what happened to Lindsey... It's hard when you consider somebody a friend and then they've said so many negative things. That's been a little hurtful."
And we're back!
The Senate is resuming its impeachment trial of the president, just days after Republicans determined not to bring further witnesses forward.
Follow along for major developments, and for non-impeachment news out of Iowa.
Some senators may speak before impeachment ends
Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins are among those who have said they would like to speak on the Senate floor before casting their final votes this week, and it seems they may get the chance.
They could come up between today and the final vote on Wednesday, and explain their thought process and rationale for their vote.
They won't be able to speak while the trial is in session, however, but they will be allowed to make floor statements after closing arguments have been wrapped up.
