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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Vivian Ho in Oakland (now) and Ben Jacobs in Washington (earlier)

O'Rourke confirms plans for 2020 bid – as it happened

Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke has confirmed via text message that he’s running for president.
Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke has confirmed via text message that he’s running for president. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

Evening summary

Have a good night, everybody.

  • A local El Paso television station is reporting that Beto O’Rourke has texted a confirmation that he will announce his intentions Thursday to seek the Democratic nomination for president.
  • The Senate passed a resolution to end American military assistance to the Saudi-backed war in Yemen.
  • In more Senate news, the Senate is poised to pass a proposal Thursday that would end President Trump’s emergency declaration for a border wall.

Report: Beto O'Rourke to announce presidential bid Thursday

An El Paso-based television station is reporting that O’Rourke has confirmed via text message his plans to enter the 2020 Democratic race for president.

“I’m really proud of what El Paso did and what El Paso represents,” O’Rourke told KTSM. “It’s a big part of why I’m running. This city is the best example of this country at its best.”

Senate votes to end aid to war in Yemen

The Senate passed a resolution Wednesday ending American military assistance to the Saudi-backed war in Yemen.

The 54 to 46 vote was a bipartisan effort that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders declared to be a significant step in “reasserting the constitutional authority of the United States Congress in terms of lawmaking.”

“For many years, under Democratic presidents, under Republican presidents, Congress has abdicated its responsibility and allowed presidents to take our people into war without congressional authority,” Sanders said. “Today, we say that ends. This is a victory for progressives. This is a victory for conservatives. And I hope that not only can we end the war in Yemen, not only can we provide humanitarian relief to a people who need it so badly, but today marks the beginning of a time when Congress understands what its constitutional responsibilities are and takes those responsibilities back.”

The US is prepared to use cyber operations to strike back more aggressively against the growing threats of cyberattacks and interference in the 2020 presidential elections, the Associated Press is reporting.

Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, head of US Cyber Command, says the military learned a lot as it worked with other government agencies to thwart Russian interference in the 2018 midterm elections. He says the focus has turned to the next election cycle.

Nakasone says cyberattacks from Russia, China, North Korea and Iran are increasingly sophisticated and until recently were done with little concern for consequences.

His comments Wednesday come on the heels of a Navy review that described significant breaches of naval systems and concluded that the service is losing the cyber war.

Senate to pass proposal ending Trump's border wall emergency declaration

The US Senate appeared poised to strike a heavy blow against President Trump’s declaration of an emergency for the border wall, Reuters is reporting.

Republican Senator Mike Lee, who had been shopping a second bill that would keep the emergency declaration in effect temporarily, said on Wednesday the White House had said Trump would not support his proposal, so he would be voting on Thursday to end the emergency declaration.

“For decades, Congress has been giving far too much legislative power to the executive branch,” Lee said in a statement. “I will be voting to terminate the latest emergency declaration.”

The Utah lawmaker was the fifth Republican senator to say they back a measure passed by the Democratic-led House of Representatives to terminate Trump’s declaration. In the 100-seat Senate, votes from at least four Republicans are needed to pass the measure, along with all 45 Democrats and two independents.

Given Trump’s threat to veto the legislation, it is unlikely to become law.

“We’ll see whether or not I have to do the veto. And it will be, I think, all very successful, regardless of how it all works out, but it’s going to be very successful,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.

Updated

Former acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker was back before the House Judiciary Committee for a closed-door session on Wednesday.

Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler spoke to reporters after the hearing, saying that, “While he was acting attorney general, Mr. Whitaker was directly involved in conversations about whether to fire multiple US attorney,” the Hill reports.

The comment about Cohen and the Southern District is related to a New York Times report that President Trump requested that an ally be put in charge of the Southern District of New York, where a federal investigation into hush money payments made to two women led to jail time for Cohen.

According to the Hill, however, Representative Doug Collins repudiated Nadler’s account. “Mr. Whitaker said he did not have conversations with the president about Cohen,” he said.

Hi everybody, Vivian Ho taking over for Ben Jacobs today. Buckle up.

Summary

  • Paul Manafort was sentenced to over seven years in prison today in Washington DC.
  • Manafort was also indicted for mortgage fraud in New York. These are state charges so he could not be pardoned by Trump if convicted.
  • Trump grounded all Boeing 737 Max jets today four days after the Ethiopian Airlines crash. The United States was the last country to ground the planes which have had two crashes in less than a year.

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Updated

California Senator Kamala Harris will hold a campaign rally in Houston on March 23. The announcement comes as Texan Beto O’Rourke is moving towards his own presidential campaign.

Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina may face a potential primary challenge for his opposition to Trump’s declaration of a national emergency as well as his support for legislation to shield Robert Mueller’s probe from interference.

The Hill reports:

Some county GOP party leaders are openly calling for Tillis to face a primary challenge.

And while House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), a Trump loyalist, told The Hill he has no plans to run for the Senate, another conservative Trump ally, Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), may heed the call.

When “you have a Republican president, you expect your Republican senators to follow suit,” said Diane Parnell, the chairwoman of the Rockingham County Republican Party. “The state of North Carolina elected him to go to Washington, D.C., and support our conservative values. We want this immigration problem fixed. We want him to support our president. And we want America to remain a great country.

Beto O’Rourke is reaching out to volunteers for help sending text messages tomorrow.

Alaska is poised to become the first state to allow cannabis cafes as an increasing number of states implement more liberal marijuana policies.

Efforts by the White House to broker a deal to avoid Senate Republicans voting to disapprove Trump’s national emergency seems to have failed.

Southwest Airlines has issued a new statement about its Boeing 737 Max jets.

Southwest Airlines is immediately complying with today’s FAA requirement for all U.S. airlines to ground the Boeing 737 MAX 8. As a result, we have removed our 34 MAX 8 aircraft from scheduled service. Southwest operates a fleet of more than 750 Boeing 737s, and the 34 MAX 8 aircraft account for less than five percent of our daily flights.

We have been in constant contact with the FAA and Boeing since Ethiopian Airlines’ accident last Sunday. While we remain confident in the MAX 8 after completing more than 88,000 flight hours accrued over 41,000 flights, we support the actions of the FAA and other regulatory agencies and governments across the globe that have asked for further review of the data – including information from the flight data recorder – related to the recent accident involving the MAX 8. The Safety of our Customers and Employees is our uncompromising priority, and today’s action reflects the commitment to supporting the current investigations and regulatory concerns.

According to a financial disclosure, National Security Advisor John Bolton earned $569,000 a year as a Fox News contributor.

Bolton is one of ten current and former administration officials who were paid by Fox News.

Democrats could face a brokered convention in 2020. The splintered field and proportional primary rules create the possibility for electoral chaos.

The New York Times reports:

the Democratic Party’s egalitarian-minded rules allocate all pledged delegates to its convention on a proportional basis: A presidential candidate who receives at least 15 percent of the vote in any state or congressional district receives a corresponding share of delegates, making it difficult for a leading candidate to become a runaway train. In fact, had the 2016 Republican primary played out under Democrats’ rules, it would have almost assuredly resulted in an ugly, contested convention.

A brokered convention wasn’t a grave concern for Democrats in 2008 or 2016, because those races distilled to two main candidates quickly, virtually guaranteeing one would win a delegate majority. But for 2020, Democrats’ jam-packed field is already on track to surpass the Republican 17-way rumble of 2016 and lacks an obvious front-runner. At the dizzying pace small- and large-dollar donors are bankrolling their favorite hopefuls, many Democrats could have the financial wherewithal — and even pressure from their backers — to campaign deep into the primary calendar, dramatically increasing the odds no candidate will capture a majority by the convention. Translation: Democrats could still be fighting among themselves little more than three months before the general election.

Reuters reports that Trump spoke to Boeing’s CEO today.

Southwest Airlines just issued a somewhat perplexed statement on Trump’s announcement.

Southwest is aware of media reports stating that the Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet will be grounded in the United States. We are currently seeking confirmation and additional guidance from the FAA and will respond accordingly in the interest of aviation safety.

Gate agents at airports are already announcing flight cancellations due to the grounding.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Boeing’s effort to fix a software problem on the 737 Max jets was hampered by the extended government shutdown.

A software fix to the MCAS flight-control feature by the FAA and Boeing had been expected early in January, but discussions between regulators and the plane maker dragged on, partly over differences of opinion about technical and engineering issues, according to people familiar with the details. Officials from various parts of Boeing and the FAA had differing views about how extensive the fix should be.

U.S. officials have said the federal government’s recent shutdown also halted work on the fix for five weeks.

Boeing has just announced it is calling for temporary suspension of all 737 Max jets worldwide after the planes were grounded in the United States

Trump’s announcement also had an impact on the stock market, causing Boeing shares to drop.

Speaking in the White House, Trump insisted the decision to ground the planes was in coordination with Canada.

Speaking in the White House about the decision to ground the Boeing planes, Trump said “we very much work in conjunction with Canada,” as well as other countries and Boeing to address the issue.

Trump also said of Boeing “They have to find the problem ... and they will find it.”

Canada had grounded flights of Boeing 737 Max 8s earlier today before Trump’s announcement.

Canada’s transportation minister Marc Garneau said the decision to issue a “safety notice” was based on a review of newly available satellite tracking data, which identified similarities between the crash in Ethiopia and the one last year in Indonesia.

Garneau cautioned that the information is “not conclusive” but that “at this point we feel that threshold has been crossed”.

Trump said he feels very badly for Paul Manafort while speaking at the White House today.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told reporters on Capitol Hill that “pardoning Manafort would be . . . a political disaster” for Trump. The South Carolina Republican has become a Trump ally after running against him in 2016.

Trump issues orders to ground Boeing 737 Max 8 Jets

Donald Trump announced “planes that are in the air will be grounded if they are the 737 Max. Will be grounded upon landing at their destination.”

The United States had been the lone international holdout in not grounding the planes after the Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday.

The Senate confirmed Neomi Rao to replace Brett Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals by a party line vote of 53-46.

Rao is yet another successful Trump judicial nominee to the circuit courts. Prior to her confirmation Rao led the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs where she oversaw efforts to pare back on federal regulations.

Congressional Democrats reintroduced the Equality Act today. The legislation would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In an op-ed on the introduction of the bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congressman David Ciciline of Rhode Island, wrote:

The Equality Act clearly and consistently ensures that the same protections extended to Americans based on characteristics like race and religion are equally available to LGTBQ Americans.

States across the country have already led the way to provide full civil rights protection to their LGBTQ citizens. Yet 50 percent of the national LGBTQ community still live in states that fail to provide clear legal protections to their LGBTQ citizens. While these states try to stand against the tide of progress, the Equality Act will guarantee a nationwide standard to ensure that no American is ever forced to lose their job or home or live in fear simply because of who they are or whom they love.

Ensuring full civil rights protections for LGBTQ Americans may be inconceivable for some, but it is inevitable to us. Enacting this legislation will shorten the distance between the inevitable and the inconceivable. When we bring the Equality Act to the floor of the House, it will pass. We have the bipartisan support of members of Congress and the strong support of the business community. And most importantly, we have the overwhelming support of the American people — 71 percent of whom support the Equality Act.

Howard Schultz, the coffee mogul pondering a presidential bid, announced what he believes the criteria should be for future Supreme Court nominations.

Newly elected Florida governor Ron DeSantis is overwhelmingly popular in a new poll.

DeSantis, a Republican who narrowly edged Andrew Gillum in 2018, has governed as a relative moderate and reaped the political benefits.

Wayne Messam, the mayor of Miramar, Florida, is planning a presidential campaign.

Messam, an African American who was just re-elected to his second term as mayor of the city of 140,000, will create an exploratory committee for a bid.

CNN reports that Messam’s bid has been prompted the relative success so far of another mayor, Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana.

“If the mayor of South Bend is taken seriously, we think the mayor of Miramar should be as well,” an adviser said about Messam’s chances.

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is a New York Giants fan but the presidential hopeful expressed doubt about the team’s trade of star wide receiver Odell Beckham yesterday in a text message to his campaign manager.

California Democrat Eric Swalwell is moving closer to a presidential bid. The four term congressman’s chief of staff has left Swalwell’s official office to prepare for a campaign.

For some context on Manafort’s sentencing, a USA TODAY analysis of US Sentencing Commission’s data found that Manafort received “the type of sentencing available only to people who cooperated with the government.”

Trump, facing a potentially embarrassing rebuke in the Senate this week, offers this advice to wavering Republicans:

Speaking outside the courtroom, Manafort’s lawyer insisted again that there was “no collusion,” something the judge said was not an issue in the case.

Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut told reporters on Capitol Hill just now that Paul Manafort caught a break in his relatively lenient sentence.

Paul Manafort indicted in New York

Paul Manafort was just indicted in New York for real estate fraud.

Manafort’s sentencing involves a surprising amount of math.

The former Trump campaign chairman was sentenced to 47 months in prison in Virginia last week. However, the judge gave him credit for nine months he has already spent behind bars. This means Manafort only has 38 months remaining.

Judge Berman Jackson sentenced him on two counts. One was for 60 months in prison and the second was for 13 months in prison for a total of 73 months.

However, 30 of those months will be served concurrently with his sentence in Virginia. The rest will be served consecutively. This means it is only an effective addition of 43 months to his sentence.

This means that Manafort was effectively sentenced to 90 months in jail combining the 47 months in Virginia and the 43 in Washington DC. He has already served nine of those months and thus 81 months remaining to be served.

In total, between his Washington DC trial and his Virginia trial, Manafort has been sentenced to 90 months in prison, or seven and a half years. He has already served nine of those months.

Updated

Manafort sentenced

Judge Amy Berman Jackson has issued her sentence for Manafort and much of it will run consecutively, not concurrently, to the 47 months he was sentenced to in Virginia.

Jackson is also expressing her skepticism about Manafort’s claims of ill health.

Jackson is now saying Manafort lied about being in solitary confinement.

And Jackson really does not seem to buying Manafort’s apology

Jackson is still going at Manafort for what she sees as deceptions.

Jackson seems not to accept Manafort’s apology as genuine and says he is still not being honest with the court.

Jackson lays into Manafort now in the courtroom.

Court is now back in session and Jackson pointedly notes that the question of collusion in the 2016 election was not an issue in the case.

As we await Manafort’s sentencing, this is not Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s first high profile trial.

An Obama appointee, Jackson has presided over the public corruption trial of former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr as well as that of Alex Van Der Zwaan, the first person to go to prison in the Mueller probe.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson is now taking a break before she returns to impose a sentence on Manafort.

Manafort says he is a different person now than he was before he was arrested.

Manafort: I am sorry for what I have done

Paul Manafort is now speaking in court and apologizing for his actions.

Manafort’s lawyer is complaining about the media attention and seems to argue that, if not for his time on Trump’s campaign, Manafort might not be facing prosecution.

Manafort will address the court before his sentencing.

As Manafort’s sentencing hearing continues, he is being attacked for his work in Ukraine by prosecutor Andrew Weissmann.

Jasiel Correia, the mayor of Fall River, Massachusetts was both recalled from office and re-elected Tuesday.

Correia faced a recall election after being indicted for fraud and tax evasion. 60 percent of voters in the Massachusetts city of 90,000 voted to remove Correia from office. However, the ballot also included a vote on who be the new mayor if there was a successful recall and Correia won the plurality of votes to replace himself in a five candidate field.

Correia faces re-election in November as well.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi just torpedoed efforts by the White House to avoid an embarrassing vote by the Senate to override Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on the southern border.

Vice President Mike Pence was on Capitol Hill yesterday pushing Senate Republicans dubious of the emergency to support it in exchange for White House support for legislation to limit future declarations of national emergencies. Pelosi announced that that legislation would not receive a vote in the House.

New Mexico is set to become the 13th state to approve national popular vote legislation.

The legislation is a backdoor way of abolishing the Electoral College. If states that combine to have 270 electoral votes approve the legislation, then they are bound to cast their electoral votes for the winner of the national popular vote as opposed to the winner in each state.

The result would be to elect a president who won a plurality of votes without a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College.

President Donald Trump weighed in on Twitter this morning about California Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision to impose a moratorium on executions in his state. Trump is not pleased.

Phoenix, Arizona, the fifth largest city in the United States, held its mayoral election yesterday and elected Kate Gallego to be the city’s second female mayor.

Gallego, a member of the city council, won a special election after the previous incumbent Greg Stanton, was elected to Congress. The position is officially non-partisan but Gallego is a Democrat.

The Justice Department is investigating whether a donation to a joint fundraising committee for Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign came from a Malaysian businessman currently living as a fugitive in China.

Federal investigators are trying to determine if Jho Low, who is facing criminal charges in the US and Malaysia, funded a $100,000 donation to the Trump victory committee. It is illegal for foreigners to make contributions in American elections.

Federal investigators have issued subpoenas in an election fraud investigation in North Carolina’s 9th District. The 2018 congressional race there was thrown out because of fraud and a do-over is being held later this year.

State prosecutors have already filed criminal charges against McCrae Dowless, who allegedly committed absentee ballot fraud on behalf of Republican Mark Harris in 2018.

Good morning.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort will be sentenced today in Washington DC on two counts of conspiracy. He was sentenced last week to 47 months in federal prison on separate charges. Manafort faces up to 10 years in prison.

Updated

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