Summary
- The supreme court blocked Trump’s end to rescind Daca. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled the department of homeland security had violated a federal administrative law with its policy ending Daca, the Obama-era program allowing undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children to live and work legally in the US.
- Following the decision, Trump insisted the country needed “new justices” to protect conservative values. Trump and Republican lawmakers accused chief justice John Roberts of playing politics by siding with his four liberal colleagues.
- Joe Biden and other Democrats celebrated the news. Biden vowed to develop a path to citizenship for Daca recipients and 11m undocumented immigrants on day one, if he takes office.
- The Air Force inspector general is investigating whether military aircraft were improperly used to monitor protestors, the New York Times reported. This comes after a top Pentagon official told congress that there was no surveillance of demonstrators during the recent protests against police brutality.
- Oregon’s governor was the latest to recognize Juneteenth. Kate Brown said she will submit legislation to have the day declared a state holiday next year. New York and Virginia have already proclaimed the day, which celebrates the end of slavery, a holiday. Meanwhile, the president took credit for bringing attention to Juneteenth, even though the holiday has been celebrated since 1866 and is observed in 47 states.
- Facebook pulled a Trump campaign ad that featured a Nazi symbol. The campaign claimed the symbol was associated with antifa, though experts disagreed and noted that the inverted red triangle was identical to one German Nazis used to designate political prisoners during Worl War II.
- The former Atlanta police officer charged with murdering Rayshard Brooks turned himself in. Garrett Rolfe faces 11 charges, including felony murder, after shooting Brooks twice in the back while he was running away. Rolfe’s fellow officer, Devin Brosnan, who faces three counts including aggravated assault, has also turned himself in.
- Four Confederate portraits were removed from the Speaker’s Lobby in the Capitol. House speaker Nancy Pelosi announced this morning that the four portraits of former speakers who had served in the Confederacy would be removed ahead of tomorrow’s Juneteenth holiday.
A bill to send all California voters a mail-in ballot was approved by the state’s assembly, winning bipartisan support and clearing the last legislative hurdle before it can be signed into law.
If signed by governor Gavin Newsom, the policy will take effect immediately, allowing all Californians to vote by mail in November, when public health experts expect the coronavirus pandemic will pose a continuing risk.
“No one should have to risk their health and possibly their life to exercise their constitutional right to vote,” said Assemblyman Marc Berman. “This will ensure that every California voter has the option to vote from the safety of their own home.”
Both Democrats and Republicans supported the legislation, despite staunch opposition to mail-in voting from Donald Trump and national Republicans.
The Republican National Committee and Republican Party in California sued Newsom over his earlier executive order to send ballots to all voters. The legislation passed today clarified that counties will be allowed to use their own systems to track ballots and only active voters would be mailed the ballots.
Updated
A senior Trump campaign official has advised those at high risk of severe illness from Covid-19 not to attend the president’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma as coronavirus cases in the state continue to spike and tensions in the city rise before the event on Saturday.
Marc Lotter, the Trump campaign’s director of strategic communications, told the Guardian he would encourage those in “high risk categories” to watch the rally on television, but defended the president’s decision to hold a mass indoor rally during the pandemic, despite local health officials urging the campaign to reschedule.
“I personally would encourage anyone who might find themselves to be in one of the high risk categories and encourage them not to come. Watch it on television, protect yourself, protect your family if someone in your direct family has those kinds of high risk factors,” Lotter said in an interview outside Tulsa’s 19,000 capacity BOK arena, where Trump is due to appear.
Oregon governor proclaims 19 June as Junteenth and vows to make it a state holiday
Governor Kate Brown has officially recognized Friday as Juneteeth and said that she will introduce legislation to make it a state holiday next year. The announced the news in a tweet responding to musician Pharrell Williams.
I’m officially proclaiming June 19 as Juneteenth in Oregon and I will introduce a bill in 2021 to make it a state holiday. Celebrating Black freedom this year is fiercely important as people around the world protest systemic racism and undeniably show that Black Lives Matter. https://t.co/UKs1mzC6XN
— Governor Kate Brown (@OregonGovBrown) June 18, 2020
New York and Virginia have already recognized the day as a state holiday via executive orders by state governors. The city of Portland, Oregon, also announced it would make Juneteenth a paid holiday for city employees.
Updated
The US air force inspector general is investigating whether military planes used to monitor protesters earlier this month were misused, the New York Times reports.
“Following discussions with the secretary of defense about shared concerns, the secretary of the Air Force is conducting an investigation into the use of Air National Guard RC-26 aircraft to support civil authorities during recent protest activity in U.S. cities,” Brig Gen Patrick S Ryder, the chief air force spokesman, told the Times.
The investigation comes after a top Pentagon official told Congress that the military did not spy on demonstrators.
Updated
Officials in Oakland confirmed that they are investigating an effigy hung from a tree as a hate crime. The local police and FBI are also investigating ropes hung from a tree that were discovered earlier this week.
“Symbols of racial violence have no place in Oakland and will not be tolerated,” Oakland’s mayor, Libby Schaaf, said in a statement Wednesday. “We are all responsible for knowing the history and present-day reality of lynchings, hate crimes and racial violence. Objects that invoke such terror will not be tolerated in Oakland’s public spaces.”
The effigy Thursday morning was discovered as California grapples with the death of Robert Fuller, a 24-year-old Black man who was found hanging from a tree in Palmdale last week. The family of a 38-year-old man who died in May in Victorville, California, are also raising questions about officials’ account of their relative’s death by hanging.
On Wednesday night, the half-brother of Fuller was killed by the Los Angeles county sheriff’s department, the same agency investigating the hanging.
Updated
Explainer: what is Daca and who are the Dreamers?
From my colleagues Joanna Walters and Amanda Holpuch:
What is Daca?
Daca (pronounced dah-kuh) is a federal government program created in 2012 under Barack Obama. It allowed people brought to the US unlawfully as children the temporary right legally to live, study and work in America, instead of living in the legal shadows, fearing deportation. Those applying were vetted, and then action to deport them would be deferred for two years, with a chance to renew on a rolling basis. And they would become eligible for basics like a driving license, college enrollment or a work permit. The program is not designed as a path to permanent residency or citizenship.
Who are the Dreamers?
Those protected under Daca are known as “Dreamers” – by the time Trump announced his decision to rescind the program, many hundreds of thousands had been granted approval. To apply, they must have been younger than 31 on 15 June 2012, when the program began, have arrived before the age of 16 and been “undocumented”, ie lacking legal immigration status. Most Dreamers are from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
What happens now?
The case before the supreme court hinged on whether the Trump administration followed proper procedure – not whether it could legally end Daca. The court agreed Trump has the power to end the program.
That leaves open the possibility that Trump could have another go at scrapping it, though it would be difficult to do before the November election – and largely unpopular with voters. So Daca survives, albeit still in limbo for now. Will it start back up again, allowing new applications?
If the program had been killed off, Dreamers faced the immediate threat of deportation to the countries where they were born but many have no familiarity with.
Joe Biden has pledged to make Daca permanent via legislation if he becomes president.
A survey of Black immigrant domestic workers in New York, Miami-Dade and Massachusetts found that 70% had lost their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A survey conducted by The Institute for Policy Studies and the National Domestic Workers Alliance includes responses from 800 workers.
Half of those surveyed said they were afraid of seeking assistance from the federal or local government due to their immigration status. Just as the pandemic hit the US, the Trump administration’s public charge rule, which allows the government to deny green cards and visas to immigrants who rely on public benefits, took effect.
A senior state department official has resigned over Donald Trump’s handling of racial tensions.
Mary Elizabeth Taylor, the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, submitted a resignation letter in which she said the president’s actions “cut sharply against my core values and convictions”, Washington Post reports.
Taylor, 30, is one of the highest-ranking African American leaders in the administration and had served since Trump first took office.
“Moments of upheaval can change you, shift the trajectory of your life, and mold your character. The President’s comments and actions surrounding racial injustice and Black Americans cut sharply against my core values and convictions,” she wrote in her resignation letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, which was obtained by the Post. “I must follow the dictates of my conscience and resign.”
Updated
What's Biden's immigration plan?
Following the supreme court’s decision on Daca, Joe Biden promised to create a roadmap to citizenship for Dreamers and 11 million undocumented people in the US “on day one” that he takes office.
The Democratic presidential candidate’s immigration platform seeks to distance Biden from policies enacted during Barack Obama’s first term, when deportations were sped up. But Biden’s plan is otherwise fairly moderate – offering a continuation of Obama-era policies that stop short of making the sorts of radical reform that immigration activists have demanded.
Biden doesn’t seek to decriminalize unauthorized entry into the US, or abolish Ice. Instead, the former vice-president also plans to refocus immigration authorities on ‘toward threats to public safety and national security” and otherwise relaxing enforcement.
His platform promises to reverse various Trump policies, including family separation and travel bans.
Updated
My colleague Kenya Evelyn explores the question of whether it is time that Juneteenth, a day that millions of African Americans across the US celebrate freedom from slavery, becomes a federal holiday:
Facebook pulls Trump ads featuring a Nazi symbol
Facebook has taken down Trump campaign ads that feature a symbol used by Nazis to classify political prisoners.
The ads, which attacked what the campaign characterized as “Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups,” featured a red, upside-down triangle. The Trump campaign said the symbol was associated with antifa, but experts said there was no evidence to support that claim.
However, the red triangle featured in the ads “is practically identical to that used y the Nazi regime to classify political prisoners in concentration camps”, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum noted on Twitter that the triangle was “the most common category of prisoners” registered at the Auschwitz.
A red triangle that marked 'political prisoners' was the most common category of prisoners registered at the German Nazi #Auschwitz camp.
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) June 18, 2020
In August 1944, political prisoners constituted 95 percent of camp prisoners'. A letter inside the triangle could mark the nationality. pic.twitter.com/jBuNn0xmL1
Moreover, contrary to claims made by the president and his campaign, there is little evidence that antifa — an umbrella term that denotes groups with far-left or anarchist tendencies — has been involved in coordinated violence or looting.
In a statement explaining why the Trump ads were removed, Facebook said that the company’s “policy prohibits using a banned hate group’s symbol to identify political prisoners without the context that condemns or discusses the symbol.”
Updated
Officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks turns himself in
Garrett Rolfe, who was charged with murder and aggregated assault after fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta, has turned himself in.
Yesterday, prosecutors who announced the charges said that Rolfe said, “I got him” after firing at Brooks and kicked him as he lay on the ground.
Rolfe’s fellow officer Devin Brosnan, who faces three counts including aggravated assault, has also turned himself in. The men were booked at the Fulton county Jail in Atlanta.
If convicted, Rolfe faces the prospect of execution or life in prison. Brosnan could spend up to 20 years in prison.
Updated
Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- The supreme court blocked Trump’s effort to rescind Daca. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled the department of homeland security had violated a federal administrative law with its policy ending Daca, the Obama-era program allowing undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children to live and work legally in the US.
- Trump and other Republicans criticized the court after the ruling. The president insisted the country needed “new justices” to protect conservative values, making a pitch for his reelection, and Republican lawmakers accused chief justice John Roberts of playing politics by siding with his four liberal colleagues.
- The former Atlanta police officer charged with murdering Rayshard Brooks turned himself in. Fulton county district attorney Paul Howard announced yesterday that Rolfe was facing 11 charges, including felony murder, after shooting Brooks twice in the back while he was running away.
- Trump acknowledged there is “probably” some systemic racism in the country, which Democrats and activists have blamed for recent police violence against African Americans. The president also took credit for bringing attention to Juneteenth, even though the holiday has been celebrated since 1866 and is observed in 47 states.
- Four Confederate portraits were removed from the Speaker’s Lobby in the Capitol. House speaker Nancy Pelosi announced this morning that the four portraits of former speakers who had served in the Confederacy would be removed ahead of tomorrow’s Juneteenth holiday.
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Confederate portraits removed from Speaker's Lobby
The portraits of four House speakers who served in the Confederacy are currently being removed from the Speaker’s Lobby in the Capitol.
Those speakers are Robert Hunter of Virginia, Howell Cobb of Georgia, James Orr of South Carolina and Charles Crisp of Georgia.
Removal of the first of four Confederate portraits from the Speaker’s Lobby. pic.twitter.com/Zh9oGnU9fC
— Emily Cochrane (@ESCochrane) June 18, 2020
House speaker Nancy Pelosi announced earlier today that she would remove the portraits ahead of tomorrow’s Juneteenth holiday, which commemorates the end of slavery in America.
Pelosi has also called for the removal of Confederate statues in the Capitol, although she has less authority when it comes to removing them because individual states choose what statues to send.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans say the president has made the country more divided, according to a new AP/NORC poll.
The poll found that 64% of Americans say Trump has made the country more divided, while 12% say he has made the question more united. Another 24% said he had not made the country more united or more divided.
A majority of Americans, 54%, also say Trump has made things worse since the police killing of George Floyd and the protests it has sparked.
And Americans are overall pessimistic about the direction of the country. Just 24% of Americans say the country is headed in the right direction, down from 42% in March.
At one point during the roundtable, Trump pulled out his phone to look at it while Oklahoma businessowners were describing how their businesses have suffered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump checks his phone during event with governors and small biz owners pic.twitter.com/uETXtkTOLR
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) June 18, 2020
Moments later, Trump sent this tweet about US trade representative Robert Lighthizer, who yesterday defended the US-Chinese trade deal that the president has soured on in recent weeks.
It was not Ambassador Lighthizer’s fault (yesterday in Committee) in that perhaps I didn’t make myself clear, but the U.S. certainly does maintain a policy option, under various conditions, of a complete decoupling from China. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
Trump just concluded a roundtable at the White House on reopening the economy, alongside Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt.
Stitt told Trump that the state of Oklahoma “can’t wait to see you” on Saturday, when the president holds a campaign rally in Tulsa.
“Oklahoma’s ready for your event,” Stitt said. “It’s gonna be safe.”
But public health experts have expressed serious concerns about the potential spread of coronavirus at the large indoor rally, and Tulsa’s top health official has said he thinks the Trump campaign should postpone the event.
Updated
Atlanta police officer charged with murdering Brooks turns himself in
Former Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe, who has been charged with felony murder in connection to the death of Rayshard Brooks, has turned himself in, according to CNN.
Fulton county district attorney Paul Howard announced yesterday that Rolfe was facing 11 charges, including felony murder, after shooting Brooks twice in the back while he was running away.
Howard gave Rolfe and former officer Devin Brosnan, who is facing three charges for his involvement in the killing of Brooks, until 6 pm today to turn themselves in.
Brosnan turned himself in earlier today and was released on bond, in part because he is cooperating with Howard’s office and has agreed to testify against Rolfe.
The Guardian’s Kenya Evelyn reports from Washington:
Crowds cheered as Daca recipients, also known as Dreamers, descended arm-in-arm from the steps of the US supreme court Thursday, after the justices blocked Trump’s effort to end the program.
Some wiped tears while others raised their fists. Elsewhere in Washington, on the floor of Congress, New York Democrat and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer delivered an emotional statement: “It gives you some faith that the laws, rules and mores of this country can be upheld.”
In a statement, Cesar Vargas, New York state’s first undocumented attorney, said: “Dreamers can now breathe a sigh of relief.”
“We always knew this was close and we were proven right with the 5-4 decision,” he said, of the split vote between the nine justices that sit on the supreme court. “Now the Trump administration has to follow proper procedures to ensure that lives are not disrupted.”
Daca recipients are celebrating today’s supreme court ruling, while emphasizing there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure permanent legal status for “dreamers.”
Martín Batalla Vidal, a lead plaintiff in the Daca case, said in a statement provided by the National Immigration Law Center, “Today marks a historic victory for immigrant youth who have led the fight for respect and dignity for all communities. ...
“For almost three years we have been living with immense uncertainty, and today we are able to breathe a sigh of relief. Nonetheless, our fight does not end with the decision by the Supreme Court; our fight continues for permanent protection for DACA recipients and all undocumented people.”
Marielena Hincapié, the executive director of the NILC, added, “This is an incredible victory fought for and won by the very people Trump continues to want to exclude from our country. Today’s Supreme Court decision is a great day for our country.”
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro mocked John Bolton’s new book as “deep swamp revenge porn,” a day after an excerpt of the book revealed some alarming and unflattering anecdotes about Trump.
In a Fox News interview, Navarro criticized “book deal, big lie John Bolton” for his hawkishness, claiming Bolton became a “warlord” in his role as national security adviser.
“He comes in here in his like seersucker summer suits with the big mustache. I was in a staff meeting one time, he walked in and he was absolutely giddy at the prospect of a coup in Venezuela,” Navarro said.
“It was like weird, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Wait a minute. This is a serious, serious matter and he is giddy. There’s something wrong with that dude.’”
The trade adviser also denied that Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to buy American agricultural products to help his reelection, as Bolton alleges in his book.
Top officials from Facebook, Google and Twitter were grilled by lawmakers this morning at a virtual hearing on foreign influence and election security ahead of the November vote.
Leaders from Facebook and Twitter told the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee that they had not seen evidence of coordinated foreign interference in conversations about absentee voting or about recent protests on anti-racism and policing, Reuters writes.
However, Twitter’s director of global public policy strategy and development Nick Pickles said the company had seen a shift from platform manipulation to public tweets from state media and government accounts.
Democratic Representative Jim Himes pressed Facebook’s head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher on what the company was doing to deal with the concern that its algorithm promotes polarization.
“If every single American household is full of toxic, explosive gas, as I think it is today, all it takes is a match from Russia or from Iran or from North Korea or from China to set off a conflagration,” said Himes.
Gleicher said Facebook’s users did not want to see divisive content and the platform had refocused to emphasize content from friends and family.
The debate over content moderation has intensified in recent weeks.
Twitter and Facebook have diverged on how to handle inflammatory posts by Donald Trump.
Trump, in turn, has accused social media companies of censorship and called for the government to roll back liability protections for tech platforms.
Updated
Trump said he would once again release a shortlist of potential conservative nominees to the supreme court, as he did during the 2016 presidential election.
Trump set a September 1 deadline to release the list of names. “Based on decisions being rendered now, this list is more important than ever before,” the president wrote in a tweet.
...Based on decisions being rendered now, this list is more important than ever before (Second Amendment, Right to Life, Religous Liberty, etc.) – VOTE 2020!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
The list appears to be a tactic to recreate the success of Trump’s 2016 campaign, when there was a seat open on the supreme court after Senate Republicans refused to take up Barack Obama’s nomination.
It’s worth noting that one of the justices nominated by Trump, Neil Gorsuch, was on his 2016 shortlist. This week, Gorsuch wrote a majority opinion stating that existing federal law protected gay and transgender workers from job discrimination, enraging many conservatives.
Today’s supreme court decision on Daca was also written by chief justice John Roberts, who was nominated by former Republican president George W Bush.
Trump said he was looking for a “legal solution on DACA, not a political one,” after the Supreme Court blocked his effort to rescind the Obama-era program.
“The Supreme Court is not willing to give us one, so now we have to start this process all over again,” the president said in a new tweet.
It wasn’t entirely clear what Trump meant be searching for a “legal solution,” considering the nation’s highest court just weighed in on the issue.
The director of the ACLU immigrants’ rights project said he could not even begin to guess at the meaning of the tweet:
i have been staring at this for five minutes and i can't even guess at what it means https://t.co/NUhBjjL01V
— Omar C. Jadwat (@OmarJadwat) June 18, 2020
The majority opinion written by chief justice John Roberts focused on the rollout of the policy ending Daca, arguing its implementation violated federal administrative law. The court did not weigh in on the “wisdom” of the policy itself.
Perhaps Trump is indicating he will try to rescind Daca again with an eye toward the administrative law referenced by Roberts, but such a move would once again be tied up in years of legal battles and would be immediately reversed if Trump lost reelection. Again, the whole thing is rather murky.
Trump calls for 'new justices' after Daca decision
Trump is calling for “new justices” to be added to the supreme court after the high court blocked the president’s effort to rescind Daca, making a pitch for his reelection.
...Religious Liberty, among many other things, are OVER and GONE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
“The recent Supreme Court decisions, not only on DACA, Sanctuary Cities, Census, and others, tell you only one thing, we need NEW JUSTICES of the Supreme Court,” Trump wrote in a new tweet thread.
“If the Radical Left Democrats assume power, your Second Amendment, Right to Life, Secure Borders, and ... Religious Liberty, among many other things, are OVER and GONE!”
During his 2016 campaign, Trump promised to nominate conservative justices to the supreme court, a promise that bolstered his standing among many Republicans after he won the nomination.
Trump appears to be trying to run on a similar promise this year. But it’s worth noting today’s Daca decision was determined by the court’s four liberal justices and chief justice John Roberts, who was appointed by former Republican president George W Bush.
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- The supreme court blocked Trump’s effort to rescind Daca. The Obama-era program allows undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children to live and work legally in the US. The program covers nearly 700,000 “dreamers.”
- Trump and other Republicans criticized the court after the ruling. Without explicitly mentioning Daca, Trump accused the court of releasing “horrible & politically charged decisions,” while Republican lawmakers accused Chief Justice John Roberts of playing politics by siding with his four liberal colleagues.
- Trump acknowledged there is “probably” some systemic racism in the country, which Democrats and activists have blamed for recent police violence against African Americans. The president also took credit for bringing more attention to Juneteenth, even though the holiday has been celebrated since 1866 and is observed in 47 states.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Updated
Republicans are lashing out against John Roberts after the supreme court chief justice decided, along with his four liberal colleagues, to block Trump’s effort to rescind the Daca program.
Senator Tom Cotton accused Roberts, who was appointed by former Republican president George W Bush, of injecting politics into the court’s rulings.
It cannot be the law that what Barack Obama has unlawfully done, no president may undo. https://t.co/xJsBbeCMEj
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) June 18, 2020
“It cannot be the law that what Barack Obama has unlawfully done, no president may undo. Yet John Roberts again postures as a Solomon who will save our institutions from political controversy and accountability,” Cotton said in a scathing statement.
“If the Chief Justice believes his political judgment is so exquisite, I invite him to resign, travel to Iowa, and get elected. I suspect voters will find his strange views no more compelling than do the principled justices on the Court.”
It’s worth noting that Roberts’ opinion does not eliminate the possibility of any president ending Daca. The court’s majority determined the Trump administration had violated federal administrative law in its rollout of the policy rescinding Daca and thus told the department of homeland security to reexamine the issue.
Updated
In the wake of the Daca decision, law experts are also championing the role of administrative law in the supreme court’s ruling (please be patient with me).
Justices were tasked with determining if the US government followed proper procedure in ending Daca, not if Daca itself was a legal program. To do this, they consulted the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), which the Trump administration tends to violate.
A staff writer at the Atlantic, Robinson Meyer, noted that while presidents usually win about 70% of cases under the APA, Trump has won 7%.
the Census, DACA, numerous environmental rules all owe their survival against a hostile administration to the fact that the administration doesn't feel like they should have to justify their actions at all https://t.co/oxn2mOIiwD
— Seth D. Michaels (@sethdmichaels) June 18, 2020
Biden pledges to make Daca permanent after court ruling
Joe Biden celebrated the supreme court’s Daca decision in a new statement, and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee pledged to make the program permanent through legislation if he is elected.
“The supreme court’s ruling today is a victory made possible by the courage and resilience of hundreds of thousands of Daca recipients who bravely stood up and refused to be ignored,” Biden said. “As president, I will immediately work to make it permanent by sending a bill to Congress on day one of my administration.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling today is a victory made possible by the courage and resilience of hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients who bravely stood up and refused to be ignored. And as President, I will get to work immediately to make it permanent. https://t.co/xKkCp4P9Ff
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 18, 2020
The Democratic-controlled House has previously passed a bill to give “dreamers” permanent protection from deportation, but the Republican-controlled Senate has yet to take up the legislation.
Biden acknowledged there was a “difficult road ahead” for Daca recipients, but he promised to continue supporting “dreamers” and their families if he becomes president.
“We know that much work remains to be done,” Biden said. “But I will continue to stand with Daca recipients, their parents, and their families at every step, and in November, joined by millions across this country, we will reject the president who tried to rip so many of our family members, friends, and coworkers out of our lives.”
Updated
In his Wall Street Journal interview, Trump also acknowledged his controversial tweet about those protesting the police killing of George Floyd was at least partly meant as a threat.
As a protest in Minneapolis turned violent late last month, Trump sent a tweet saying, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” The tweet was widely condemned for promoting violence against the protesters, and Twitter hid it from Trump’s feed for violating its rules.
Trump said he had no regrets about the tweet, and he once again argued it could be read as a statement of fact rather than a threat. When asked how he intended it to be read, Trump replied, “a combination of both.”
Trump also appeared unaware that his own White House had issued statements recognizing Juneteenth for each of the past three years.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Mr. Trump said he polled many people around him, none of whom had heard of Juneteenth. Mr. Trump paused the interview to ask an aide if she had heard of Juneteenth, and she pointed out that the White House had issued a statement last year commemorating the day. Mr. Trump’s White House has put out statements on Juneteenth during each of his first three years.
‘Oh really? We put out a statement? The Trump White House put out a statement?’ Mr. Trump said. ‘Ok, ok. Good.’
Trump takes credit for bringing attention to Juneteenth
In his Wall Street Journal interview, Trump took credit for bringing attention to Juneteenth, which has been celebrated since 1866 to commemorate the end of slavery in America.
The president said a black Secret Service agent explained to him the meaning of the June 19 holiday after Trump received criticism for scheduling his first campaign rally in more than three months on Juneteenth in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the site of a deadly 1921 race massacre. Trump later delayed the raly to June 20.
“I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous,” Trump said of the controversy. “It’s actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it.”
In reality, Juneteenth has been celebrated since the year after the Civil War concluded in 1865, and Texas became the first state to make it an official holiday in 1979.
Trump: 'There probably is some' systemic racism in the US
Trump acknowledged there was “probably” some systemic racism in the country, as many Democratic lawmakers and criminal justice activists blame police brutality on systemic racism.
“I’d like to think there is not” systemic racism, Trump said in a newly published interview with the Wall Street Journal. “But unfortunately, there probably is some. I would also say it’s very substantially less than it used to be.”
Trump also explained his opposition to renaming military bases named after Confederate generals. The president argued the bases had been named after the Confederate military leaders to bring the country together after the Civil War and removing them would further divide the country.
“And now you’re going to take them off? You’re going to bring people apart,” he said.
But as the Journal notes, the bases were named for the Confederate generals between 1917 and the 1940’s, decades after the Civil War had concluded.
Obama celebrates Daca decision
Former president Barack Obama, who created Daca in 2012, celebrated the supreme court decision blocking Trump’s effort to rescind the program.
“Eight years ago this week, we protected young people who were raised as part of our American family from deportation. Today, I’m happy for them, their families, and all of us,” Obama wrote in a tweet.
...and now to stand up for those ideals, we have to move forward and elect @JoeBiden and a Democratic Congress that does its job, protects DREAMers, and finally creates a system that’s truly worthy of this nation of immigrants once and for all.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 18, 2020
Obama went on to urge Americans to elect Joe Biden as president and secure a Democratic Congress in November in order to create “a system that’s truly worthy of this nation of immigrants once and for all.”
Biden has pledged to sign a bill offering “dreamers” a pathway to citizenship if he is elected, although that will almost certainly require Democrats flipping the Senate in November.
Updated
Trump has followed up on his tweet about the Supreme Court by asking this: “Do you get the impression that the Supreme Court doesn’t like me?”
Do you get the impression that the Supreme Court doesn’t like me?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
Writing for the majority in the DACA case, Chief Justice John Roberts did not rule out the possibility of a president rescinding the immigration program.
Instead, Roberts argued the rollout of the Trump administration’s policy ending the program had violated federal administrative law and told the department of homeland security to reexamine the issue.
It’s difficult to see how such a narrow process argument could be based on the justices’ personal animus against the president. It’s also worth noting Roberts was appointed by a Republican president, George W Bush.
Trump condemns 'horrible & politically charged' supreme court rulings
Trump has sent a tweet condemning the “horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court” after the high court blocked his effort to rescind Daca.
These horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives. We need more Justices or we will lose our 2nd. Amendment & everything else. Vote Trump 2020!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
In a new tweet, Trump said the supreme court’s decisions this week are “shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives.”
The president then argued Republicans needed to appoint more justices to the supreme court, “or we will lose our 2nd. Amendment & everything else,” making a pitch for his reelection.
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Pelosi orders removal of portraits of speakers who served in Confederacy
House speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she is ordering the removal of portraits of speakers who served in the Confederacy.
Pelosi told reporters during her weekly press conference that she has written to the Clerk of the House ordering the removal of four speakers’ portraits.
Those speakers are Robert Hunter of Virginia, Howell Cobb of Georgia, James Orr of South Carolina and Charles Crisp of Georgia.
Pelosi said the removal is meant to occur ahead of tomorrow’s Juneteenth holiday, which commemorates the end of slavery in America.
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House speaker Nancy Pelosi started her weekly press conference by celebrating the supreme court’s Daca decision.
“Good morning, and a good morning it is,” Pelosi told reporters. “The DACA decision is something that supports our values as a country.”
The Democratic speaker noted many members of her caucus were “in such dread” about the court’s decision and what it would mean for the nearly 700,000 “dreamers” who rely on Daca.
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Trump has retweeted a story from the conservative website the Daily Caller about the Daca decision, but the president did not offer his personal opinion on the ruling.
In his dissent in the SCOTUS DACA case Justice Thomas says The decision is “An effort to avoid a politically controversial but legally correct decision.” pic.twitter.com/kFvWt4f2BH
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 18, 2020
The Daily Caller story highlights Clarence Thomas’ dissenting opinion, in which the conservative justice wrote, “Today’s decision must be recognized for what it is: an effort to avoid a politically controversial but legally correct decision.”
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There are more than 652,800 people, including doctors fighting the coronavirus, who could be affected by the decision about the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (commonly known by its acronym, Daca).
Daca allowed young people who were raised without legal immigration status in the US to get renewable, two-year authorizations to live and work in the country. It did not provide a path to citizenship.
Barack Obama enacted Daca in 2012. The policy landed in the court system after the Trump administration rescinded it in September 2017. Trump has repeatedly said he supports the people Daca shielded from deportation, but for nearly three years their futures have been uncertain as the policy wound through the legal system.
As of September 2019, 652,880 people had Daca, including roughly 27,000 healthcare practitioners and nearly 9,000 teachers. About 80% of the people who have it are from Mexico and nearly half live in California and Texas.
Daca is a popular policy. A month before a November supreme court hearing in the case, 53% of voters said they would oppose a decision by the supreme court to end Daca, in a Marquette University law school poll.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer celebrated the news of the supreme court’s Daca decision in a floor speech moments ago.
I literally cried tears of joy when I heard the DACA decision.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 18, 2020
The wonderful young Dreamers and their families have a huge burden lifted off their shoulders.
One day they will become American citizens. https://t.co/exh0OIlniJ
“I cried tears of joy a few minutes ago when I heard the decision of the supreme court on Daca,” Schumer said. “These wonderful DACA kids and their families have a huge burden lifted off their shoulders.”
The Obama-era program allows nearly 700,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children to live and work in the US without fear of deportation.
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Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a blistering dissent to the Daca decision, joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch.
“This holding is incorrect, and it will hamstring all future agency attempts to undo actions that exceed statutory authority,” Thomas wrote.
However, Chief Justice John Roberts did not rule out the possibility of rescinding Daca in his majority opinion, instead arguing that the Trump administration had violated the Administrative Procedure Act in its rollout of the policy.
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In his opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts made clear that the court was not making a determination about whether DACA and its recission were sound policies.
Instead, Roberts argued in the majority opinion that the department of homeland security had violated the Administrative Procedure Act in its rollout of the recission.
“We address only whether the agency complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action,” Roberts wrote. “Here the agency failed to consider the conspicuous issues of whether to retain forbearance and what if anything to do about the hardship to Daca recipients.
“That dual failure raises doubts about whether the agency appreciated the scope of its discretion or exercised that discretion in a reasonable manner. The appropriate recourse is therefore to remand to DHS so that it may consider the problem anew.”
That process argument could theoretically allow the Trump administration to try to enact the policy again with an eye toward these issues, but of course the president is up for reelection in November, so there may not be time for him to do so.
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The Daca decision marks a loss for Trump, who attempted to rescind the Obama-era immigration program in 2017, kicking off a lengthy legal battle.
The 5-4 decision comes three days after a majority of the court’s justices ruled that existing federal law protected gay and transgender workers from job discrimination, which was another loss for the Trump administration.
The most disappointing week at #SCOTUS in years https://t.co/f0LWmoIzsX
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) June 18, 2020
Conservatives were quick to bemoan the decision, with Republican senator Josh Hawley calling this “the most disappointing week at [the Supreme Court] in years.”
That comment was particularly noteworthy because Hawley clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts, who joined the majority in both decisions.
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Supreme Court blocks Trump from canceling Daca
The Supreme Court has ruled to block Trump from canceling Daca, the Obama-era program that offered undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children the chance to legally reside in the US.
Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s four liberals made up the majority, with Roberts writing the opinion.
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Schiff signals openness to calling Bolton to testify
House intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff has signaled he is condering calling former national security adviser John Bolton to testify about the explosive allegations in his new book.
In a lengthy statement, Schiff criticized Bolton for not disclosing the information he had during the House impeachment inquiry. Bolton refused to testify before the House, and the Senate chose to not call any additional witnesesses during Trump’s impeachment trial.
“John Bolton may be an author, but he’s no patriot,” Schiff said. “During impeachment proceedings in the House, members of John Bolton’s staff were asked to testify about President Trump’s abuse of power. And they did. They had a lot to lose, and showed real courage when their country needed it.”
Notwithstanding Bolton’s unconscionable delay, his allegations are serious.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) June 17, 2020
They again demonstrate that Trump's impeachable conduct with Ukraine was part of a clear pattern:
Seeking personal political benefit from foreign powers.
History will judge Republicans. Harshly.
Despite that criticism, Schiff said Bolton’s allegations were “very serious” and deserved to be examined as “part of a persistent pattern by Trump of abusing his position and misusing the powers of the U.S. government to seek personal and political benefits from foreign governments.”
“We will continue to hold Trump accountable, and work to expose his abuses and corruption. In the coming days, we will be consulting with the Speaker and other chairs on next steps,” Schiff said.
If Schiff and House speaker Nancy Pelosi decide to call Bolton to testify, it could create a sensational spectacle of a former top administration official publicly rebuking the president as voters decide whether to reelect him.
“History will judge those Republicans who sought to protect Trump, harshly. It will judge those who refused to testify when others came forward, harshly. And it will judge Donald Trump harshest of them all.”
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Trump’s claim that John Bolton’s new book is “a compilation of lies and made up stories” appears to be at odds with his administration’s assertion that it includes classified information.
The administration has sued to block the book’s publication, claiming it represents a threat to national security. White House officials have also accused Bolton of backing out of a necessary review process for the book.
Bolton’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, has said the lawsuit “is nothing more than the latest in a long-running series of efforts by the Administration to quash publication of a book it deems unflattering to the president”.
Trump: Bolton's book is 'pure fiction'
This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Martin Belam.
Trump has just sent a new tweet lashing out against his former national security adviser, John Bolton, claiming his upcoming book is “pure fiction.”
“Bolton’s book, which is getting terrible reviews, is a compilation of lies and made up stories, all intended to make me look bad,” Trump said. “Many of the ridiculous statements he attributes to me were never made, pure fiction. Just trying to get even for firing him like the sick puppy he is!”
Bolton’s book, which is getting terrible reviews, is a compilation of lies and made up stories, all intended to make me look bad. Many of the ridiculous statements he attributes to me were never made, pure fiction. Just trying to get even for firing him like the sick puppy he is!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
In an excerpt of the book published by the Wall Street Journal yesterday, Bolton said that Trump had nearly begged Chinese President Xi Jinping to help him win reelection. He also accused Trump of pushing to halt a number of criminal investigations as “personal favors” to foreign dictators.
Bolton was ousted from his role as national security adviser in September and had a very public spat with Trump over whether he resigned or was fired.
Donald Trump’s first tweet of the day certainly has an air of shouting at the television about it. He’s kicked off about Joe Biden’s ratings during the handling of the Swine Flu H1N1 crisis.
Biden got failing grades and polls on his clueless handling of the Swine Flu H1N1. It was a total disaster, they had no idea what they were doing. Among the worst ever!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
It is possibly a response to the new Gallup and West Health survey I mentioned earlier which found that 57% of US adults rated the national response to Covid-19 from Trump’s administration as only fair or poor.
As a reminder, in the US, between April 2009 and April 2010, when Joe Biden was vice president, the CDC estimates there were 60.8 million cases of swine flu, and nearly 12,500 deaths.
So far in 2020, with the novel coronavirus, the US is reported to have far fewer cases, at 2.1m, but with many more deaths. The Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker puts that deaths figure currently at over 117,000.
Trump has also just retweeted someone calling John Bolton “a notoriously mendacious enemy of all living beings on the planet” which does make you question Trump’s initial decision to hire him to work at the White House.
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It is fair to say that John Bolton has not been mincing his words about his former boss Donald Trump as he carries out a round of interviews and media appearances to promote his new book.
I don’t think he’s fit for office. I don’t think he has the competence to carry out the job. There really isn’t any guiding principle that I was able to discern other than ‘What’s good for Donald Trump’s re-election’
That quote comes from a promo clip issued this morning of an interview scheduled to be aired by ABC News on Sunday.
BREAKING: "I don't think he's fit for office," former national security adviser John Bolton says of Pres. Trump. "I don't think he has the competence to carry out the job."
— ABC News (@ABC) June 18, 2020
Watch more from Bolton's interview with @MarthaRaddatz Sunday at 9|8c. https://t.co/rTfQLohwWQ pic.twitter.com/ZtxD98iwyh
In quotes given out before the programme goes out, Bolton also criticises Trump over his trip to meet Kim Jong Un in North Korea. As Bolton puts it:
I think he was so focused on the re-election that longer term considerations fell by the wayside. So, if he thought he could get a photo opportunity with Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone in Korea, there was considerable emphasis on the photo opportunity and the press reaction to it and little or no focus on what such meetings did for the bargaining positions of the United States.
The book isn’t out until later in the month, and Trump has already dismissed it as being untrue, but you can have a skim through eight of the most stunning revelations here:
US unemployment claims rise by 1.5 million
The latest figures on jobless claims have just come out and the massive wave of layoffs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic continues, with another 1.5 million people filing for unemployment benefits.
Here’s our full story: US unemployment claims rise by 1.5 million as pandemic pain continues
We’ve have further coverage and reaction to today’s economic news over on our business live blog.
Jean Kennedy Smith, last surviving JFK sibling, dies aged 92
Jean Kennedy Smith, the last surviving sibling of President John F. Kennedy and a former ambassador to Ireland, died on Wednesday, her family have confirmed. She was 92, and died at her home in Manhattan, according to a report from the Associated Press. Smith was the eighth of nine children born to Joseph P. and Rose Kennedy.
Smith married Kennedy family financial adviser and future White House chief of staff Stephen Edward Smith in 1956, and was viewed for much of her life as a quiet sister who shunned the spotlight. In her memoir “The Nine of Us,” published in 2016, she wrote that for much of the time her childhood seemed “unexceptional.”
“It is hard for me to fully comprehend that I was growing up with brothers who eventually occupy the highest offices of our nation, including president of the United States,” she explained. “At the time, they were simply my playmates. They were the source of my amusement and the objects of my admiration.”
She was appointed ambassador to Ireland by President Bill Clinton, who called her “as Irish as an American can be.” As ambassador, she played a role in the Northern Ireland peace process. When she stepped down as ambassador in 1998, she received Irish citizenship for “distinguished service to the nation.”
Smith and her husband had four children. Her husband died in 1990.
My colleague on the books desk Alison Flood has rounded up some of the reviews of John Bolton’s blockbuster new book. It is already #1 on the Amazon best-sellers list, assuming attempts to stop its publication fail.
It may contain some shocking revelations, but it isn’t getting viewed that favourably as a book. The New York Times has called it “bloated with self-importance”, while the Washington Post says that Bolton’s utter lack of self-criticism is a significant failing.
None of it is hurting, though. Bolton’s sales are just ahead of another scathing take on Donald Trump from his niece Mary Trump. Bolton’s book, which is out on 23 June, and Mary Trump’s, scheduled for 28 July, have knocked anti-racism titles off the top spots in the charts which they had claimed in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests across the country.
Read the review round-up here: John Bolton’s bad reviews don’t stop him topping US book charts
The Associated Press is reporting that the half-brother of a black man found hanged in a Southern California park was killed by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday, after they say he opened fire on them.
The shots were fired shortly after 4:30pm in the Kern County community of Rosamond, just north of the Los Angeles County border in the Antelope Valley, Sheriff’s Department officials said.
Detectives with the sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit were tracking the man, and when they tried to stop his car, he opened the door and began shooting, authorities said. Deputies shot and killed the man.
A woman in the car was wounded in the chest and was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening while a 7-year-old girl in the car wasn’t hurt.
The man was identified as Terron Jammal Boone by an attorney representing the family of Robert Fuller, a 24-year-old man who was found hanging from a tree in Palmdale last week. Officials say the death appeared to be a suicide but family members have disputed that.
“At this time, until we receive all of the information, the family and their legal team doesn’t have any further comment on this incident. The family respectfully asks that their privacy be respected,” attorney Jamon Hicks said in a statement.
A new poll suggests that a majority of US adults are not impressed with the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Gallup and West Health survey found that 57% of US adults rated the national response to Covid-19 as only fair or poor.
Vice President Mike Pence wrote in the Wall Street Journal this week that the US response should be “a cause for celebration”. It is clearly not a feeling shared in the country, with only 23% of adults rating the national response as excellent or very good.
Gallup survey director Dan Witters said people with higher levels of education were more likely to be dismayed by the federal government’s efforts. 65% of college graduates rated it fair or poor, compared with 49% of people with a high school diploma or less.
The survey also reinforces perceptions of a partisan divide over Covid-19, with 44% of Republicans calling the government’s response excellent or very good, compared to only 6% of Democrats.
The poll also indicated a split by race and ethnicity. Witters said black people and other minorities were significantly more likely to give the national response low marks (66%) compared to white people (51%).
And there’s some more bad news for Trump’s re-election campaign lurking in the survey. The Gallup and West Health survey is based on telephone interviews from 11 May to 22 May. On 22 May, the US death toll stood at 94,000. It is now significantly higher and rapidly approaching 120,000.
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There’s an interesting piece on the Politico website this morning by Tina Nguyen, looking at what is happening in Seattle with the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ. She describes it as a “microcosm of the culture wars”.
Fox News has portrayed it as a “city under siege” by antifa forces, even offering misleading evidence, such as digitally altered photos. These descriptors have spurred members of far-right groups such as the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer to descend, claiming they are attempting to root out alleged antifa agents and insurrectionists that don’t actually appear to have much of a presence in the largely peaceful area.
Meanwhile, progressives have highlighted elements of the area that much more accurately reflect the on-the-ground activities, discussing the hippie block party vibe and talking about how local activists are offering everything from free snacks and clothing to teach-ins on Marxism and harm reduction clinics.
In the piece Nguyen looks a little at the history of autonomous zones, and compares what is happening in Seattle with Exarcheia in Athens. Overall it is a fascinating look at the CHAZ, which is certainly arousing some strong and contrasting opinions.
Read it here: Politico - How 6 blocks in Seattle became a microcosm of the culture wars
Senator Jennifer McClellan announces run for Virginia governor
Sen. Jennifer McClellan has announced that she’s running for Virginia governor in 2021, saying she has the right skill set and track record to rebuild the state’s economy, safety nets and communities amid a coronavirus pandemic and civil unrest over police violence and systematic racism.
In an interview with the Associated Press ahead of her formal announcement, she said she’s a proven problem solve and a “compassionate listener” who will work to build a more inclusive state.
“I have the understanding of where we are in this moment in time, how we got here ... and the vision to take Virginia forward,” McClellan said.
If she were to win the 2021 contest, McClellan would be Virginia’s first woman governor, the first African American female governor in the United States and only the second woman ever elected to statewide office in Virginia.
The 47-year-old has served in the state legislature for more than 14 years, first as a House delegate and more recently as a senator representing Richmond. A mother of two, she was the first delegate to serve while pregnant.
“I’m not running to make history, I am running to set Virginia on the course I think we need to go,” she said.
McClellan is one of several Democrats either officially running or eyeing a possible campaign for their party’s nomination to succeed Governor Ralph Northam, who is barred by law from seeking re-election. They include former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, Attorney General Mark Herring and Del. Jennifer Carroll-Foy, who like McClellan is also a black woman.
McClellan said black women have been the “backbone” of this country while often being overlooked, but she’s not interested in shattering glass ceilings for its own sake.
The party primaries are not until 2021. On the Republican side, Sen. Amanda Chase, a populist who is outspoken on gun rights and often clashes with members of her own party, announced her candidacy in February, and businessman Pete Snyder has indicated an interest in running. No Republican has won a statewide race in Virginia in more than a decade.
In the UK this morning there has already been an incredulous reaction to an interview with the foreign secretary Dominic Raab.
Asked about the Black Lives Matter movement he said: “On this taking the knee thing, I don’t know maybe it’s got a broader history, it seems to be taken from the Game of Thrones, feels to me like a symbol of subjugation and subordination”
Understandably this ignorance of the origins of the symbol has been widely criticised, including by one of the country’s most prominent black MPs, David Lammy.
This is not just insulting to the #BlackLivesMatter
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) June 18, 2020
movement, it is deeply embarrassing for Dominic Raab.
He is supposed to be the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. https://t.co/4ZLAOlSUko
As people scramble to get a look at the John Bolton book, Peter Baker at the New York Times has pulled out his five key takeaways from reading it.
One that stands out is Bolton’s own insistence that he was not at fault for failing to present all the knowledge he had about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine in the run-up to the president’s impeachment trial. And in part he blames the Democrats. Baker writes:
Mr. Bolton explains his position in the epilogue, saying he wanted to wait to see if a judge would order one of his deputies to testify over White House objections. Once the House impeached Mr. Trump over the Ukraine matter, Mr. Bolton volunteered to testify in the Senate trial that followed if subpoenaed.
Mr. Bolton blames House Democrats for being in a rush rather than waiting for the court system to rule on whether witnesses like him should testify, and he faults them for narrowing their inquiry to just the Ukraine matter rather than building a broader case with more examples of misconduct by the president.
He also doesn’t think it would have made any difference anyway. Baker quotes Bolton in the New York Times as writing: “Had a Senate majority agreed to call witnesses and had I testified, I am convinced, given the environment then existing because of the House’s impeachment malpractice, that it would have made no significant difference in the Senate outcome.”
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Over the last few days several Confederate statues have been pulled down in Virginia. One that remains is a statue of rebel General Robert E. Lee which stands in the Confederacy’s former capital of Richmond.
Governor Ralph Northam’s administration have said that they will remove it - but a court order has so far prevented that happening. Judges are expected to hear more arguments on the case on Thursday morning.
Judge Cavedo previously wrote that it was in the public interest to await the resolution of a lawsuit filed by a Virginia man described as a descendant of signatories to a 1890 deed that transferred the statue, pedestal and ground they sit on to the state. The lawsuit argues the state agreed to “faithfully guard” and “affectionately protect” them. The plaintiff, William C. Gregory, later filed a motion seeking a permanent or extended injunction.
Attorney General Mark Herring opposes the move and has also filed court papers arguing that the case should be dismissed. Herring argued that the deed does not prevent the governor from removing the statue. “The only question is whether a single plaintiff may call upon the equitable powers of this Court and use 130-year-old documents and inapplicable doctrines of property law to countermand the Governor’s decision. He cannot,” Herring’s brief said.
The 12-ton Lee statue is about 21 feet (6.4 metres) tall and sits on a pedestal nearly twice that high on Monument Avenue. It was unveiled before a massive crowd in May 1890, at a time when the Civil War and Reconstruction were long over.
According to the Associated Press reports, it is not immediately clear if the judge would rule from the bench today or reserve judgement to a later time.
Good morning - welcome to today’s live coverage of US politics, on the eve of a Juneteenth sure to be marked with even more emotional celebrations and protests than usual. Here are some of the key points from yesterday, and what we can perhaps look forward to today.
- Rayshard Brooks’s killer has been charged with felony murder. Prosecutors said Garrett Rolfe kicked Brooks and offered no medical treatment as he lay dying.
- It emerged that Rolfe was accused of involvement in the cover-up of a 2015 police shooting of another black man. The president said last night that police are not being treated fairly.
- Oakland police are investigating ‘nooses’ found hanging from at least five trees in the city’s Lake Merritt neighbourhood as a possible hate crime.
- Washington, meanwhile, is transfixed by the jaw-dropping revelations about the Trump administration in John Bolton’s book. Here are eight of the most sensational claims.
- Donald Trump has angrily tweeted that the book is “made up of lies and fake stories”. His administration has also gone after the book legally for revealing classified information. It can’t be both untrue AND classified, surely?
In his diary today, the president has a roundtable with Governors on the reopening of America’s small businesses. We can probably expect some lively Twitter output from him too.
Wondering how we got here? This piece in Wired yesterday put forward a compelling argument about misinformation driving the divides in the US: Facebook groups are destroying America.
You can get in touch with me at martin.belam@theguardian.com
