Summary
That’s a wrap for today.
- Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said he’s willing to consider proposals to reduce gun violence, including background checks, in September, after the summer recess. He said he won’t be reconvening senators early, as Democratic lawmakers have urged him to do, in order to vote on a bipartisan background check bill that has already passed in the House.
- Democratic presidential candidate Tim Ryan has led a caravan to McConnell’s hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, to demand action on gun legislation.
- Donald Trump has named Joseph Maguire, the current Director of the National Counterterrorism Center the new acting director of national intelligence, following an announcement that Sue Gordon, the widely-respected deputy director, will be leaving her post next week along with current director Dan Coats.
- Former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe has sued the bureau and the Justice Department, claiming that his firing was part of a politically motivated scheme to root out officials deemed not loyal enough to Trump.
- Kamala Harris and Joe Biden both equated the president with white supremacists but stopped short of outright ascribing him the label.
- Major Wall Street banks have handed over thousands of pages of documents to congressional committees trying to determine what financial ties Trump had to Russians, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
- The National Rifle Association is pushing back against proposals to strengthen background checks and expand red flag laws after this weekend’s mass shootings, and the gun lobbying group has warned the president against backing such measures.
In Sioux City, Iowa, Kamala Harris says that Tump’s language “has been about condoning the conduct and certainly accommodating the conduct of white supremacists”. Asked by a reporter whether she could outright call Trump a white supremacist, she said, “I think you should ask him that question.”
Joe Biden, similarly, stopped just short of calling the president a white supremacist, whereas other 2020 candidates like Elizabeth Warren have ascribed the label to Trump
.@KamalaHarris asked if she would call President Trump a white supremacist answers, "I think you should ask him that question. Ask him." Sioux City, IA pic.twitter.com/QMVnfryPW1
— Stephanie Ramirez (@RamirezReports) August 8, 2019
Updated
The transportation department has issued new guidance regarding animals on planes, giving this reporter an ideal opportunity to post a picture of a cute doggo on the politics liveblog.
The department said that airline employees can ban any animal that they consider a safety threat, but can be apprehended for banning an entire breed of cat or dog, and Delta Airlines did with pit bulls.
Airlines can also ask people “reasonable” questions the training and vaccination of service animals brought on board and require advance notice from people who plan to travel with emotional support animals, but not those traveling with guide dogs for the blind.
The transportation department plans to publish the guidelines sometime next week, according to the AP.
The whole business of bringing bets on planes has been contentious of late, with airlines nothing an increase in passengers bringing pets onto planes by falsely claiming that they are emotional support animals. The new rules will aim to better regulate what is and isn’t allowed across all flights.
Updated
Trump announces new pick for national intelligence director
Trump announced in a tweet that he is naming Joseph Maguire, the current Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, as acting director of national intelligence.
I am pleased to inform you that the Honorable Joseph Maguire, current Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, will be named Acting Director of National Intelligence, effective August 15th. Admiral Maguire has a long and distinguished....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 8, 2019
The deputy national intelligence director Sue Gordon announced she would be leaving the post earlier today.
PPDNI Sue Gordon's resignation letter: "Know that our people are our strength, and they will never fail you or our nation. You are in good hands." pic.twitter.com/LflpDjuSKh
— Jenna McLaughlin (@JennaMC_Laugh) August 8, 2019
Deputy director of national intelligence to retire
Donald Trump is has confirmed that Sue Gordon, the widely-respected deputy director of national intelligence, will be leaving her post next week, along with her national intelligence director Dan Coats.
It’s still unclear who will take up the post of acting director now that Gordon, who would have normally succeeded to director after Coats’ departure, is leaving as well.
Sue Gordon is a great professional with a long and distinguished career. I have gotten to know Sue over the past 2 years and have developed great respect for her. Sue has announced she will be leaving on August 15, which....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 8, 2019
Updated
Mitch McConnell shows willingness to consider gun legislation... in September
Mitch McConnell says that he wants Congress to consider gun legislation in September after the Senate reconvenes from its summer break.
New legislation to expand background checks will be “front and center” at Senate debates in the fall, the Senate leader told radio host Terry Meiners of WHAS in Louisville.
In the past, McConnell has staunchly opposed the idea of background checks. But he told Meiners today that he is open to considering legislation that has already passed the House, along with so-called “red flag” gun laws that would allow judges to take away guns from people who are deemed dangerous.
However, McConnell says he will not be convening the Senate early, as House leader Nancy Pelosi and others lawmakers have requested.
This is the full audio of Mitch McConnell’s excellent interview with @terrymeiners on @840WHAS just now. He made a TON OF NEWS on gun issue and appropriately hammered @Twitter for banning him.https://t.co/f0IN3PWNEs
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) August 8, 2019
Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs is reporting that Sue Gordon, the deputy director of national intelligence, may leave her post.
Dan Coats, the current national intelligence director will be stepping down next week. Gordon, a longtime CIA analyst, would be normally step in when Coats leaves — at least until Trump appoints a new director. But The New York Times recently reported that the White House has been weighing options to block her succession so that Trump can choose someone more to his liking.
Gordon is a widely respected intelligence official. Both Democrats and Republicans have expressed doubts about Trump’s previous top choice for the intelligence director post, Texas representative John Ratcliffe, an outspoken supporter of the president who withdrew from consideration amid questions about whether he exaggerated his resume.
The Guardian has not independently confirmed these reports.
Some natl security aides have told me Sue Gordon is one of strongest leaders in intel community, saying she tells truth even when people don't want to hear it.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) August 8, 2019
But she has detractors, including those who tagged her an acolyte of John Brennan, who has become a major Trump foe.
Updated
Videos and news reports from the Wednesday raids in Missippi show children crying, separated from their parents.
The children, some toddlers, of apprehended migrants were taken to makeshift shelters, the Guardian’s Edward Helmore reports.
Local reporters say that despite immigration authorities’ reassurances that all the children were being cared for, some were left behind with nowhere to go
The number of migrants encountered by officials at the southern border dropped more than 20% in July, compared to June.
This is the first time in five months the number of people encountered by US Customs and Border Protection has dipped below 100,000.
In July, there were 82,049 people encountered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, down 21% from June when there were 104,344 people and down 43% from May. The number of families and minors crossing the border also dropped.
The monthly numbers from USCBP have become a yardstick by which President Donald Trump measures the success of his administration’s efforts to reduce immigration, his signature issue. The number of migrant families from Central America has risen sharply during his term despite his hardline policies...
In June, after Trump threatened tariffs on Mexico, leaders there agreed to expand the administration’s program forcing U.S. asylum seekers to wait on the Mexican side of the border . Mexican police, soldiers and National Guard forces are raiding hotels, buses and trains to round up Central American migrants before they can make it to the border. And they are busing migrants from the Texas border hundreds of miles to inland towns.
While July’s border numbers are below the peak of earlier this year, they are still high compared to recent history. Until this March, July’s total would have been the highest number in at least the last six years, spanning multiple previous surges of adults and children crossing to the U.S.
Updated
Nancy Pelosi is asking Donald Trump to call the Senate back into session to consider the bipartisan gun legislation that passed the House, in wake of the gun violence in El Paso, Dayton, Gilroy, and Chicago.
The House speaker wrote in a letter to Trump:
Mr. President, we have an opportunity to work in a bipartisan way to pass gun violence prevention background checks. However, Leader Mitch McConnell, describing himself as the “grim reaper,” has been an obstacle to taking any action.
Today, as Speaker of the House, I am writing in good faith to request that you call the United States Senate back into session immediately under your powers in Article II Section 3 of the Constitution to consider House-passed bipartisan gun violence prevention legislation.
Although Mitch McConnell is the Senate leader, Article II Section 3 of the constitution allows the president to convene either legislative body “on extraordinary occasions.”
In her letter, Pelosi says: “This extraordinary moment in our history requires all of us to take extraordinary action to save lives.”
Updated
That’s it from me today. I’m handing the blog over to my west coast colleague Maanvi Singh for the next few hours.
Here is where the day stands so far:
- Former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe has sued the bureau and the Justice Department, claiming that his firing was part of a politically motivated scheme to root out officials deemed not loyal enough to Trump.
- Joe Biden appeared to equate the president with white supremacists but was careful not to outright call Trump a white supremacist. “I believe everything the president says and has done encourages white supremacists, and I’m not sure there’s much of a distinction,” Biden said in Iowa. “As a matter of fact, it may be even worse.”
- Major Wall Street banks have handed over thousands of pages of documents to congressional committees trying to determine what financial ties Trump had to Russians, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
- The National Rifle Association is pushing back against proposals to strengthen background checks and expand red flag laws after this weekend’s mass shootings, and the gun lobbying group has warned the president against backing such measures.
- Democratic presidential candidate Tim Ryan is leading a caravan to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, to demand action on gun legislation.
Ryan’s caravan is expected to arrive in Louisville in the next couple of hours, so stay tuned.
Updated
The defendants named in Andrew McCabe’s lawsuit are Attorney General William Barr, the Justice Department, FBI Director Christopher Wray and the FBI.
But the complaint makes clear that McCabe believes Trump should ultimately be held responsible for his firing. “Trump, acting in an official capacity as President of the United States, is responsible and accountable for Defendants’ actions,” McCabe said in the lawsuit.
“Trump purposefully and intentionally caused the unlawful actions of Defendants and other Executive Branch subordinates that led to Plaintiff’s demotion and purported termination.”
Andrew McCabe claimed in a statement last year that he was “singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey.”
But Comey himself has expressed faith that the inspector general, who concluded McCabe lied to investigators about an unauthorized media leak, acted appropriately.
“This is what an organization, an institution committed to the truth, looks like. This is what accountability looks like,” Comey told NPR last year.
But the former FBI director added that Trump’s attacks on McCabe had tarnished the reputation of the investigation. “The problem with this whole situation is the president’s stained those institutions, the entire Department of Justice and the inspector general, by doing something wildly inappropriate, which is calling for Andy McCabe’s head,” Comey said.
McCabe claims FBI director and former AG acted as Trump's "enforcers"
Andrew McCabe’s lawsuit accuses Trump administration officials, including former attorney general Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray, of acting as the president’s “enforcers” to root out those perceived as disloyal.
Sessions and Wray “knowingly acted in furtherance of Trump’s plan and scheme, with knowledge that they were implementing Trump’s unconstitutional motivations for removing Plaintiff from the civil service,” McCabe alleges in the lawsuit.
“Trump demanded Plaintiff’s personal allegiance, he sought retaliation when Plaintiff refused to give it, and Sessions, Wray, and others served as Trump’s personal enforcers rather than the nation’s highest law enforcement officials, catering to Trump’s unlawful whims instead of honoring their oaths to uphold the Constitution.”
Andrew McCabe’s lawsuit is actually the second such complaint this week from a former FBI official.
Peter Strzok, the former FBI agent who was removed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and ultimately fired over anti-Trump text messages he sent, sued on Tuesday to be reinstated and receive back pay.
Echoing McCabe’s claims, Strzok argued that his removal was “part of a broader campaign against the very principle of free speech,” which he said was “initiated and led by” Trump.
Strzok added that the Trump administration had “consistently tolerated and even encouraged partisan political speech by federal employees” as long as it was supportive of the president.
“It’s indisputable that his termination was a result of Trump’s unrelenting retaliatory campaign of false information, attacks and direct appeals to top officials,” Strzok’s lawyer said in a statement.
Many Republicans, including the president, have pointed to Strzok’s messages with Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer with whom he was having an extramarital affair, as evidence that the Mueller investigation was biased against Trump from the beginning.
McCabe sues the FBI, claiming he was fired as part of 'unconstitutional' plot by Trump
Former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe has sued the bureau and the Justice Department, claiming his firing was unjust and part of a plot to root out officials who were not loyal to Trump.
The Washington Post reports:
McCabe asked that a federal judge declare his termination a ‘legal nullity’ and essentially allow him to retire from the FBI as planned, with all the benefits that would have afforded him. He was fired from the bureau in March 2018, a little more than 24 hours before McCabe was set to retire, costing him significant retirement benefits. The termination came after the Justice Department inspector general found that McCabe made an unauthorized disclosure to the media, then lied to investigators about it.
‘It was Trump’s unconstitutional plan and scheme to discredit and remove DOJ and FBI employees who were deemed to be his partisan opponents because they were not politically loyal to him,’ the lawsuit alleges, adding that McCabe’s firing ‘was a critical element of Trump’s plan and scheme.’
Updated
Biden says there's not 'much of a distinction' between Trump and a white supremacist
Joe Biden, who is campaigning at the Iowa State Fair, said there isn’t “much of a distinction” between Trump being a white supremacist and how he has encouraged such extremists.
NEW: Asked if he thinks Pres. Trump is a white supremacist, Joe Biden tells @marykbruce, "I believe everything the president says and has done encourages white supremacists, and I'm not sure there's much of a distinction. As a matter of fact, it may be even worse." pic.twitter.com/QiWpodlaWo
— ABC News (@ABC) August 8, 2019
When asked if considers Trump a white supremacist, Biden replied, “I believe everything the president says and has done encourages white supremacists, and I’m not sure there’s much of a distinction. As a matter of fact, it may be even worse.”
Updated
Trump campaign and Republican committees halt Twitter spending
Trump’s re-election campaign and Republican campaign committees have announced they will not spend money on Twitter advertising after the social media giant locked an account affiliated with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign.
The @GOP and @TeamTrump stand with the @Team_Mitch and the @NRSC. Any future ad $ either organization was planning to spend with @Twitter has been halted until they address this disgusting bias. https://t.co/IVXjjDkizA
— Richard Walters (@rww_gop) August 8, 2019
“Twitter’s hostile actions toward Leader McConnell’s campaign are outrageous, and we will not tolerate it,” said Jesse Hunt, a spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “The NRSC will suspend all spending with Twitter until further notice. We will not spend our resources on a platform that silences conservatives.”
Twitter said the campaign was locked out of its account because a video it posted of a protest in front of McConnell’s home violated the platform’s rules about posting threats. “The user was temporarily locked out of their account for a Tweet that violated our violent threats policy, specifically threats involving physical safety,” a Twitter spokesperson said.
Tim Ryan leads caravan to Mitch McConnell's hometown
Representative Tim Ryan, the Ohio Democrat who is also running for president, is leading a caravan to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s hometown of Louisville, Kenticky, demanding action to reduce gun violence.
#CaravanForChange made its last OH stop. We are headed to our final destination—Louisville, KY:
— Congressman Tim Ryan (@RepTimRyan) August 8, 2019
✅ Niles
✅ Akron
✅ Columbus
✅ Dayton
✅ Cincinnati
➡️ On our way to Louisville
Join us at the Gun Reform Rally at City Plaza adjacent to the Muhammad Ali Center. Starts at 7:30pm pic.twitter.com/XVEY4x9m3d
The caravan, which is co-led by the gun-control group Moms Demand Action, started in Ryan’s hometown of Niles, Ohio. It will make its sixth and final stop in downtown Louisville, 376 miles from Niles, at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
“It’s been 150+ days since the House passed 2 comprehensive gun reform bills & Mitch Mcconnell still has done nothing,” Ryan said in a tweet announcing the caravan. “That’s unacceptable.”
State department suspends staffer over reported ties to white supremacist group
The State Department has suspended a staffer in its energy bureau after the Southern Poverty Law Center reported that he had ties to a white supremacist group.
The SPLC reported:
The official, Matthew Q. Gebert, works as a foreign affairs officer assigned to the Bureau of Energy Resources, a State Department spokesperson told Hatewatch. Online, and in private correspondences with other white nationalists, Gebert uses ‘Coach Finstock’ as a pseudonym. Through that alias, he expressed a desire to build a country for whites only.
‘[Whites] need a country of our own with nukes, and we will retake this thing lickety split,’ ‘Coach Finstock’ said on a May 2018 episode of ‘The Fatherland,’ a white nationalist podcast. ‘That’s all that we need. We need a country founded for white people with a nuclear deterrent. And you watch how the world trembles.’
Former State Department officials expressed shock that Gebert was able to obtain a security clearance. “If Gebert was Muslim or a person of color, it would have been caught,” Amos Hochstein, who was Gebert’s boss at the State Department, told Politico. “Neo-Nazis are not all shaved heads and tattoos, they are hiding in plain sight. I’m horrified Gebert worked for me at the State Department.“
Updated
Warren: Trump 'cozies up to the white supremacists'
Elizabeth Warren once again went after Trump for intensifying racism in America, saying the president “cozies up to the white supremacists.”
Elizabeth Warren: President Trump "cozies up to the white supremacists" https://t.co/KmOSdEwBpp pic.twitter.com/i82ns3mYbE
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 8, 2019
“This is what he’s done, the wink and a nod,” Warren said during a campaign stop in Iowa. “And he can’t have it both ways. He can’t keep trying to stir this up ... and then say, ‘Oh, but not me.’”
In an interview with the New York Times yesterday, Warren was asked if she considers Trump himself a white supremacist. “Yes,” Warren replied without hesitation.
Updated
Trump claimed over Twitter that Iran wants “desperately” to negotiate with the United States but is receiving “mixed signals” from other parties, including Emmanuel Macron, France’s president.
....I know Emmanuel means well, as do all others, but nobody speaks for the United States but the United States itself. No one is authorized in any way, shape, or form, to represent us!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 8, 2019
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said last month that the door to negotiations was “wide open” if Trump lifted sanctions on the country, which have significantly harmed the Iranian economy.
“Once those sanctions are lifted, then ... the room for negotiation is wide open,” Zarif told NBC News.
The CEO of a nonprofit advocating for democratic reform in Iran tweeted this in reaction to Trump’s claim:
Macron giving mixed (wrong?) signals to Rouhani on behalf of US? The regime is definitely eager to negotiate these days. It’s not entirely clear what Washington wants: regime capitulation on nuke program or regime collapse, or both. https://t.co/KZNExP1tMR
— Alireza Nader (@AlirezaNader) August 8, 2019
Updated
Immigration officials arrested 680 people, mostly Latinos, in a series of raids at Mississippi food processing plants yesterday. The arrests mark the largest workplace immigration sting in at least 10 years.
Our colleague Jessica Glenza reports:
The raids took place just hours before Donald Trump was scheduled to visit El Paso, Texas, the majority-Latino city rocked by the recent mass shooting that left 22 people dead. ...
Bill Chandler, president of the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance, told the Jackson Free Press he is in touch with schools, where children may have been left behind on Wednesday after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) federal agents detained their parents. He added that Ice agents attempted to arrest at least one American citizen.
The raids left local communities to pick up the pieces after children were separated from their parents by the raids on the first day of the new school session after the summer break. In Forest, Mississippi, one local news report found children were left without a place to stay when they were locked out of their homes, and were forced to sleep in a local gym.
Democrats and immigrants rights groups condemned the raids over social media. From Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke:
Only days after a massacre committed with the express purpose of targeting immigrants, Trump conducted the largest raid of his presidency. 680 human beings arrested, including the mother of a 13-year-old, who waved goodbye as she was taken from him. The cruelty knows no bounds. https://t.co/d0WzzVMoJ4
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) August 7, 2019
From the American Civil Liberties Union:
ICE cruelly swept through Mississippi, leaving children stranded without parents or knowledge of when they could be reunited. THIS is what happens when you want to achieve an anti-immigrant agenda no matter the cost. https://t.co/SeNBsmEuIG
— ACLU (@ACLU) August 8, 2019
From the policy director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights-Los Angeles:
Today, Missippi experienced the biggest #immigration raid in decades. @realDonaldTrumpthe hateful and anti-immigrant rhetoric also comes with cruel actions. #Not1moreDollar #DefundHate #RoadtoFreedom https://t.co/Yz1xSmX5HY
— Joseph Villela (@JosephCHIRLA) August 7, 2019
O'Rourke condemns Trump's crowd size remark at El Paso hospital
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, who used to represent part of El Paso in the House, criticized Trump for discussing the crowd size of his February rally in the city while visiting with medical staff who aided the victims of Saturday’s mass shooting.
This community is focused on healing. Not hatred. Not racism. Certainly not crowd sizes. Our community — and our country — will not be defined by @realdonaldtrump’s smallness. We will be defined by the love, compassion, and strength of El Paso. https://t.co/etBaR9W0eA
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) August 8, 2019
A video surfaced earlier today showing Trump making the comments while meeting with staff at the University Medical Center of El Paso. “That was some crowd, and we had twice the number outside,” the president said. He went on to slam “crazy Beto,” who held a rally in the city on the same day and “had like 400 people in a parking lot.”
Multiple Democratic presidential candidates, including Montana Governor Steve Bullock, are campaigning in Iowa this week to capitalize on the the state fair:
Started our day at the Iowa State Fair right — follow along! pic.twitter.com/KmoB3UhXsP
— Steve Bullock (@GovernorBullock) August 8, 2019
Time: ‘Enough’
The new cover of Time magazine names places affected by gun violence in the US, highlighting the many mass shootings that have taken place in America already this year - usually defined as a crime in which three or more people are killed by a shooter in a single incident.
The names of Gilroy, California; Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, can be clearly seen, as the locations of the three mass shootings that happened inside of a week, all surrounding the word “Enough”.
TIME's new cover: "We are being eaten from within." Why America is losing the battle against white nationalist terrorism https://t.co/HYdDIqctb7 pic.twitter.com/63lEREH7Sr
— TIME (@TIME) August 8, 2019
Updated
Banks hand over documents on Russians with possible ties to Trump – report
Major Wall Street banks have handed over thousands of pages of documents related to Russians who may have had ties to the president.
The material has been given to congressional committees investigating Donald Trump, and the documents relate to Russians who have possibly had dealings with him, his family or his business, people familiar with the congressional investigations have told the Wall Street Journal.
Some banks are also giving documents related the Trump Organization to New York state investigators, people familiar with the New York investigation said.
Firms include Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. They have reportedly recently provided the documents to congressional investigators, people familiar with those investigations told the Journal.
The House financial services committee and the House intelligence committee are looking into potential foreign influence on the Trumps.
Separately, Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump’s primary bank, has reportedly turned over emails, loan agreements and other documents related to the Trump Organization to the office of New York attorney general Letitia James.
Photograph: Jeenah Moon/Reuters
Updated
Here is where the day stands so far:
- A video has emerged from Trump’s visit with hospital staff in El Paso yesterday, in which he brags about the crowd size of his February rally in the city and mocks “crazy” Beto O’Rourke.
- The National Rifle Association wrote an 18-part Twitter thread signaling their opposition to expanding background checks or red-flag laws. The gun lobbying group has also reportedly warned Trump against backing such proposals.
- Trump is considering commuting the prison sentence of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. The former Democratic governor was found guilty of federal corruption after being caught on tape trying to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat.
- Another House Democrat, Gerry Connolly, announced his support for launching an impeachment inquiry into Trump.
The blog is still covering more fallout from this weekend’s shootings, so stay tuned.
NRA signals opposition to expanding background checks or red flag laws
In an 18-part Twitter thread, the National Rifle Association addressed this weekend’s mass shootings and tried to direct attention away from proposals to expand background checks or red flag laws.
(8/18) Unfortunately, aspiring presidential candidates immediately took to the airwaves this past weekend to politicize these tragedies, and to demonize the NRA and its 5 million law-abiding members.
— NRA (@NRA) August 8, 2019
The gun lobbying group said it would “work in good faith to pursue real solutions to the violence we witnessed this past weekend.” It then went on to undercut many of the proposed solutions to reduce such violence.
“It is the NRA’s long-standing position that those who have been adjudicated as a danger to themselves or others should not have access to firearms and should be admitted for treatment,” the group tweeted. “But, there needs to be real evidence of danger – and we cannot sacrifice anyone’s constitutional rights without due process.”
That controversial argument would seemingly rule out red flag laws, which allow a judge to take guns away from anyone deemed too dangerous to possess firearms.
On expanding background checks, the group said, “It is not enough anymore to simply say that ‘we need more background checks.’ Considering both suspects in El Paso and Dayton passed them, that is rhetoric for billionaire activists and campaign rallies – not a call for constructive progress.”
Many gun-control supporters have made the argument that while no one law will prevent all mass shootings, measures like strengthening background checks could go a long way in reducing such tragedies.
The NRA also tried to deflect attention away from El Paso and Dayton to Chicago, where gun violence is frequent despite Illinois’ relatively strong laws on the issue. But an analysis found that 60% of firearms recovered after crimes in the city came from neighboring states, such as Indiana, with weaker guns laws.
Updated
Patti Blagojevich, who is married to former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, expressed hope after Trump said he was considering commuting her husband’s prison sentence for federal corruption.
Our President's comments on Air Force One last night make us very hopeful that our almost 11 year nightmare might soon be over. We are very grateful.
— Patti Blagojevich (@pblagojevich) August 8, 2019
For press inquires please contact Mark Vargas -202-878-1715, @markavargas .
Another person who is reportedly supportive of commuting Blagojevich’s sentence: Jared Kushner. The New York Times reports:
Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser who has internally championed pardons and commutations, had suggested Mr. Blagojevich be pardoned, saying that it would appeal to Democrats, [a person familiar with the talks] said. Other aides told Mr. Trump that such a move would be politically unwise given the nature of Mr. Blagojevich’s conviction; instead, commuting the sentence was what had been settled on.
Yang qualifies for September debate
Andrew Yang, the entrepreneur whose surprising presidential bid has attracted attention for its universal basic income proposal, has qualified for the September debate.
Yang registered at 2 percent in a newly released Monmouth University poll of the early voting state Iowa. He already had three other qualifying polls and 130,000 unique donors, crossing the two thresholds outlined by the Democratic National Committee.
We did it - poll #4! Thank you #YangGang - it is on to Houston and the Fall debates!! Special thank you to all who have been spreading the word. Let’s make history together! 👍😀🥊🇺🇸 https://t.co/WyYbnqWRil
— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) August 8, 2019
Yang becomes the ninth person to qualify for the debate. The other guaranteed participants are: Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
Julián Castro remains one poll short of qualifying, having registered at less than 1 percent in the Monmouth survey.
Biden led in the Monmouth poll, attracting the support of 28 percent of Democratic respondents in Iowa. But Warren is gaining on the former vice president, registering at 19 percent. That’s a 12-point bump since April.
Sanders, meanwhile, has seen his numbers drop 7 points in that same time frame. He now trails Harris, attracting 9 percent of support to her 11 percent.
Updated
Trump brags about El Paso crowd size while meeting with medical staff
While meeting yesterday with some of the El Paso medical staff who aided the victims of a mass shooting that killed 22, Trump took a moment to brag about the crowd size at his February rally in the city.
This is viewer video of President @realDonaldTrump
— KFOX14 News (@KFOX14) August 8, 2019
and @FLOTUS at @umcelpaso meeting with victims and medical staff. Send us any photos/videos of president Trump's visit to #ElPaso and we may show it on TV. Upload here: https://t.co/ScHf8VXjAw pic.twitter.com/5vKZS8s4CP
“That was some crowd, and we had twice the number outside,” Trump said at the University Medical Center of El Paso. He went on to slam “crazy” Beto O’Rourke, who held a rally in the city on the same day and “had like 400 people in a parking lot.”
Reports emerged this week that Trump’s re-election campaign has an unpaid tab of more than $500,000 to the city of El Paso for the rally.
During his visit, the president also applauded the medical staff for the “fantastic job” it has done aiding the shooting victims. “They’re talking about you all over the world,” Trump said. “It’s an honor to be with you.”
Updated
Nancy Pelosi is leading a bipartisan congressional delegation to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, after which the group will see a migrant detention center in McAllen, Texas.
Estoy entusiasmada de viajar a Guatemala con la Presidenta de la Cámara @SpeakerPelosi y la delegación del Congreso para que escuchen y hablen directamente con el pueblo guatemalteco como lo he hecho yo. https://t.co/1mZQcJjrKp
— Rep. Norma Torres (@NormaJTorres) August 8, 2019
“As our high-powered delegation begins our visit to the Northern Triangle, we look forward to strengthening our partnership to enhance regional security and stability, create greater economic opportunity, combat corruption and advance human rights to make it safer for people to thrive in their communities,” the House speaker said in a statement.
“We also look forward to honoring the cultural and family ties that connect our people and the enormous contributions that generations of immigrants from the region have made to the United States.”
Pelosi noted that many members of the delegation have visited the border several times already to draw attention to the horrendous conditions of migrant detention centers there.
Trump has turned his focus to the Federal Reserve, which he has repeatedly bashed for not lowering interest rates fast enough.
....John Deere, our car companies, & others, to compete on a level playing field. With substantial Fed Cuts (there is no inflation) and no quantitative tightening, the dollar will make it possible for our companies to win against any competition. We have the greatest companies...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 8, 2019
....in the world, there is nobody even close, but unfortunately the same cannot be said about our Federal Reserve. They have called it wrong at every step of the way, and we are still winning. Can you imagine what would happen if they actually called it right?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 8, 2019
Ironically, the central bank did announce last week that it was cutting interest rates for the first time in a decade. Explaining the decision, Chairman Jay Powell cited the slowing growth of the US economy, partly due to Trump’s trade wars.
Trump considers commuting corrupt Illinois governor's prison sentence
Trump is once again toying with the idea of commuting the sentence of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, who is currently serving a 14-year prison term for federal corruption.
“I thought he was treated unbelievably unfairly,” Trump told reporters yesterday aboard Air Force One. The former Democratic governor, who also appeared on Trump’s show Celebrity Apprentice shortly before he was convicted, was caught on tape trying to sell the Senate seat of Barack Obama after he won the presidency.
“I’ve got this thing, and it’s fucking golden. I’m just not giving it up for fucking nothing,” Blagojevich was recorded saying.
The commutation, which Trump said he is “very strongly” considering, would likely be opposed by Illinois Republicans. Representative Adam Kinzinger previously called the idea, which Trump floated last year, “stupid”.
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Another House Democrat announces support of impeachment
Another House Democrat, Gerry Connolly of Virginia, has come out in favor of launching an impeachment inquiry into Trump.
I believe the time has come for the House of Representatives to begin an impeachment inquiry into President Donald J. Trump.
— Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) August 8, 2019
My full statement:https://t.co/llf7vQxB09 pic.twitter.com/06UfNOSRFO
“I caution that we cannot allow ourselves to become so desensitized to the President’s behavior that there are no consequences,” Connolly said in a statement announcing his support. “Now more than ever, Congress must assert its constitutional role and that is why I believe we must immediately start an impeachment inquiry into President Trump.”
Connolly is the 119th House Democrat to back an inquiry, according to the Washington Post’s count. But Nancy Pelosi does not seem to have changed her position on launching impeachment proceedings, despite a majority of the House speaker’s caucus supporting such a move.
Former president Bill Clinton has called for reinstating the assault weapons ban that he signed into law in 1994.
We have talked, tweeted, and delayed long enough. This is about who we are as a country, and what America will look like years from now. It’s time to reinstate the assault weapons ban and make background checks universal. https://t.co/sc0moYF8Dx
— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) August 8, 2019
The 10-year law, a provision of the controversial 1994 crime bill, expired in 2004 and has not been reauthorized, despite evidence that it reduced the the number of deaths from mass shootings.
“I worked hard to pass and was proud to sign the ban on these weapons of war into law, and the results were clear: mass shooting fatalities declined while they were in effect and have risen sharply since they were allowed to lapse,” Clinton wrote in an op-ed for Time magazine.
“For too long, America has allowed a determined, well-financed group to pretend to grieve with us while spreading paranoia among those who responsibly use guns for hunting, sport shooting and self-protection. For too long, the gun lobby and their elected allies have stalled, deflected and changed the conversation until the pressure abates and they can get back to business, heedless of the killings inevitably yet to come.”
Clinton also called on Americans to “stand against, not inflame, the racial, religious and gender-based bigotries that often drive the delusions of mass killers.”
Harris releases first television ad
Kamala Harris released the first television ad of her presidential campaign, part of a six-figure ad buy in Iowa this week.
In the video, the California senator uses her biography to tout the merits of her campaign platform. Harris says her mother would “work all day then pour her whole heart into Maya and me when she got home,” referring to the senator’s sister and campaign chairwoman. “And then, after we were fed and in bed, our mother would sit up trying to figure out how to make it all work.”
“That’s what my ‘3am Agenda’ is all about – a real plan to help you solve those worries,” Harris continues. “The biggest middle-class tax cut in a generation; another $500 in your pocket every month, paid for by repealing Donald Trump’s tax breaks for the top one percent and the richest corporations in America; healthcare for all with Medicare for All; and for companies that don’t pay women the same as men, new fines on their profits until they do.”
The ad makes Harris the first major presidential candidate to launch a television ad in Iowa, and it comes as she embarks on a five-day bus tour across the state.
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McConnell campaign's Twitter account locked out
The Twitter account for Mitch McConnell’s re-election campaign was locked out after it posted a video of a protest outside his home in Louisville, Kentucky.
The video was filmed as many supporters of gun control have called on the Senate majority leader to take up a background checks bill that has already passed the House. In the video, Black Lives Matter Louisville leader Chanelle Helm said that McConnell, who recently injured his shoulder in a fall, “should have broken his little raggedy, wrinkled-(expletive) neck.”
A Twitter spokesperson said of the decision, “The user was temporarily locked out of their account for a Tweet that violated our violent threats policy, specifically threats involving physical safety.”
But McConnell’s team claimed the decision was evidence of the social media platform’s bias. “This morning, Twitter locked our account for posting the video of real-world, violent threats made against Mitch McConnell. This is a problem with the speech police in America today,” McConnell’s campaign manager, Kevin Golden, told the Louisville Courier Journal. “The Lexington Herald-Leader can attack Mitch with cartoon tombstones of his opponents. But we can’t mock it.
“Twitter will allow the words of ‘Massacre Mitch’ to trend nationally on their platform but locks our account for posting actual threats against us,” Golden added. “We appealed and Twitter stood by their decision, saying our account will remain locked until we delete the video.”
Warren and O'Rourke call Trump a white supremacist
Two Democratic presidential candidates – Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke – said in separate interviews yesterday that they considered Trump to be a white supremacist.
Asked by the New York Times whether she considered Trump a white supremacist, Warren offered an unequivocal, “Yes.”
“He has given aid and comfort to white supremacists,” the Massachusetts senator said. “He’s done the wink and a nod. He has talked about white supremacists as fine people. He’s done everything he can to stir up racial conflict and hatred in this country.”
Hour earlier, O’Rourke was asked about Trump being a white supremacist while doing an MSNBC interview. “He is,” O’Rourke said.
The comments mark a significant escalation in 2020 Democrats’ accusations against the president, and it’s unclear who will join the pair in their description.
Frontrunner Joe Biden said in a speech yesterday that Trump had “fanned the flames of white supremacy.” But that was his strongest condemnation of the president yet, and it still seems like a significantly lesser charge than calling Trump himself a white supremacist.
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Trump intensifies divisions as calls for gun control grow
Good morning, live blog readers!
Donald Trump is back in Washington today after spending yesterday in Dayton and El Paso to meet with victims and first responders of this weekend’s two mass shootings.
But his visits likely hurt more than they helped. The president was met by hundreds of protesters along the way, and he spent his time on Air Force One tweeting that Joe Biden’s speech on white supremacy was “sooo boring” and falsely accusing Ohio Democratic officials of lying about his Dayton visit.
It served as another stark reminder of how Trump consistently falls short on playing a key presidential role in the era of mass shootings: consoler-in-chief.
The visits also came as calls for action to combat gun violence have intensified. More than 200 mayors have signed on to a letter demanding the Senate take up gun legislation, as congressional Democrats continue their calls for Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell to consider the background checks bill that has already passed the House.
And while Trump has claimed he is open to extending background checks, his advisers and the National Rifle Association have warned him against it. All of this has led many in Washington to believe that after yet another horrific mass shooting, nothing will change.
Here is what else the blog is keeping its eye on:
- Trump has a light schedule today, receiving his intelligence briefing and meeting with Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, in the afternoon. That could leave him plenty of time to tweet more criticisms of his opponents.
- Multiple Democratic presidential candidates –- including Biden, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren – will campaign in Iowa today.
- Other presidential contenders – including Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg – will speak at National Association of Black Journalists’ forum in Miami.
That’s all still coming up, so stay tuned.
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