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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Adam Gabbatt in New York

Bill Shine: ex-Fox News executive resigns as top Trump aide – as it happened

The White House communications director, Bill Shine, at the White House in October 2018.
The White House communications director, Bill Shine, at the White House in October 2018. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters

Summary

  • Bill Shine, the White House’s deputy chief of staff for communications, abruptly resigned. Shine was previously an executive at Fox News, and will serve as an adviser to Donald Trump’s reelection campaign.
  • Trump contradicted his former fixer Michael Cohen’s sworn congressional testimony, tweeting that Cohen “directly asked” him for a pardon.
  • The House passed a major election reform bill, HR1, designed to limit the influence of wealthy donors and improve voting rights.
  • Senator Elizabeth Warren unveiled a proposal to break up the major tech companies that many critics argue have become monopolies.
  • The White House announced that it will host controversial Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro for a visit on 19 March. Bolsonaro recently made global headlines for tweeting a pornographic video.

That’s all for today. Happy International Women’s Day, and have a great weekend!

A bit of an update on the New Yorker’s report that Fox News killed the story of Donald Trump’s alleged affair with and hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, from investigative reporter Jane Mayer.

Nancy Erica Smith is the attorney for Diana Falzone, the former Fox News journalist who reportedly had proof of the affair and payments, but was blocked from publishing the story because Rupert Murdoch wanted Trump to win the election. Falzone signed a non-disclosure agreement with Fox News after suing the network and reaching a settlement.

A bit of fun/environmental horror for the Friday evening crowd...

South Carolina congressman Joe Cunningham fired off an air horn during a hearing on the danger of seismic testing to whales on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.

The stunt startled Trump administration official Chris Oliver, who had been testifying that seismic blasting does not threaten the endangered marine mammals, despite the fact that they rely on echolocation.

Cunningham pointed out to Oliver that the commercial air guns emit a sound that is 16,000 time louder than the air horn ever 10 seconds over the course of months.

“Usually I don’t like to toot my own (air) horn, but this needed to be done,” Cunningham tweeted Friday morning.

Trump continues to tweet angrily about his former attorney, Michael Cohen.

Trump to host Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro at White House

Donald Trump will host the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, at the White House on 19 March, press secretary Sarah Sanders just announced.

The pair will discuss “how to build a more prosperous, secure and democratic Western Hemisphere,” according to the White House statement, as well as “opportunities for defense cooperation, pro-growth trade policies, combatting transnational crime and restoring democracy in Venezuela”.

Bolsonaro was elected last October, took office on 1 January, and is already dogged by scandal. The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent Tom Phillips has described him as “a far-right nationalist known for his hostility to minorities and his affection for authoritarian rule”.

A vehement homophobe, Bolsonaro shocked the world this week when he tweeted a pornographic video of a man being urinated on by another man.

Harris: Manafort sentencing evidence of "absolute unfairness" of judicial system

Senator Kamala Harris, a leading Democratic presidential candidate, weighed in on Paul Manafort’s controversial 47 month sentence while campaigning in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina today.

“We are looking at further evidence in America’s judicial system of absolute unfairness,” Harris said in video captured by CNN. “People who commit white collar crimes – they should be prepared to bring their tooth brush and spend as much time behind bars as anybody else.”

A career prosecutor, Harris has herself faced criticism for failing to prioritize white collar crime. While running for California attorney general, she supported a statewide law that would have penalized parents of chronically truant students with up to a year in county jail. But she has never explained why she declined to prosecute OneWest, a bank founded by Trump treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, despite “evidence of widespread misconduct” in foreclosures uncovered by investigators while she was attorney general.

Hello! This is Julia Carrie Wong in San Francisco, here to see you through the end of the week on the politics live blog.

The president and first lady have already started their weekend. They just arrived at Mar-a-Lago after visiting parts of Alabama devastated by tornadoes last week.

Summary

•Donald Trump’s top communications strategist has quit the White House. Bill Shine, a former Fox News executive, said he was looking forward to spending more time with his family. He will serve as an adviser to Trump’s reelection campaign. Trump said Shine had “done an outstanding job”.

•Trump claimed Michael Cohen did ask him for a pardon, contradicting sworn testimony Cohen gave last week. “[Cohen] directly asked me for a pardon. I said NO. He lied again! He also badly wanted to work at the White House. He lied!,” Trump tweeted.

•The House passed a sweeping election reform bill containing a range of anti-corruption and voting rights measures. HR1 includes a slew of measures to reduce the influence of wealthy donors and encourage people to the polls. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has said he won’t allow it to come to a vote.

•The House oversight committee has reportedly obtained documents relating to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s controversial security clearance. Axios reported that the documents had been leaked to the committee from the White House.

Donald Trump appointed Jeff Sessions.

Just a reminder that we’re hosting live coverage of International Women’s Day.

A host of our reporters are covering the day as it unfolds across the globe from our offices in Sydney, London and New York. We’re aiming to mark the progress, record the anger, and hear the voices of women all over the world.

Earlier we heard that the US world champion women’s national soccer team has filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation.

Players including Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd are named in the lawsuit, which alleges the federation engaged in “institutionalized gender discrimination.” Players said the discrimination impacted their pay, coaching, and medical treatment.

Donald Trump has been visiting some of the areas in Alabama hit by tornadoes last week.

Donald Trump and Melania Trump
Donald Trump and Melania Trump talk with people in Beauregard, as they travel to tour areas where tornados killed 23 people in Lee County, Alabama. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP
Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump
Donald Trump and Melania Trump stand before a row of crosses outside Providence Baptist Church, Opelika, Alabama, honoring 23 people who died in a tornado. Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

According to White House pool reports, Trump said responders were doing an “A plus job”.

“We’re gonna take care,” Trump told volunteers at the site of some of the damage. “FEMA is here.”

Trump said he had met with a family who lost 10 people from the storm.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Trump said.

Shortly after speaking Trump took the time to retweet five posts from Paul Sperry, author of Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America.

Updated

Donald Trump watched this year’s SuperBowl with the founder of a spa where New England Patriot’s owner Robert Kraft later allegedly paid for oral sex, the Miami Herald has discovered.

The Herald posted a photo showing Trump alongside Li Yang during the February 3 SuperBowl. Yang founded Tokyo Day Spas, which is where Kraft allegedly solicited sex acts on two different occasions.

Police say they have video of the acts being administered.

The photo was apparently taken at a viewing party at Trump’s West Palm Beach country club. There is no suggestion that Yang and Trump have a relationship.

Kraft is a supporter of Trump and donated to his campaign. Trump claims to be friends with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Brady’s wife, Gisele Bundchen, has denied it.

Updated

The Pentagon is reportedly reviewing the federal security clearance held by tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Musk is the founder and chief executive officer of SpaceX, which provides satellite launch services to the Defense Department.

He had to resubmit his SF-86 security form after he smoked marijuana, still illegal under federal law, on a podcast last year.

The Associated Press reported that no decision has been made on Musk’s clearance.

Musk.
Musk. Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters

And just like that:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1104091299718811650

Air Force secretary Heather Wilson, who had been tipped to become the next Secretary of Defense, is resigning after about two years, according to Reuters.

Wilson has led the Air Force at a time when it has been at the heart of America’s campaigns in Syria and Afghanistan. From Reuters:

Wilson, who aims to return to academia, was not asked to leave by anyone in President Donald Trump’s administration and was not resigning under pressure, the official told Reuters.

She plans to step down on May 31, if the University of Texas Board of Regents approves her selection to be president of University of Texas at El Paso, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

She’s the second senior official to uncouple themselves from Donald Trump today.

A number of people have called out the discrepancy between Paul Manafort’s sentence, for looting millions of dollars, and the prison terms given to less wealthy individuals for what seem to be lesser crimes.

Among the criticis of the sentence Judge T S Ellis gave Manafort was Rev Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign – which aims to tackle racism and poverty.

And it didn’t stop there.

Rep. Chip Roy said he was “proud” to vote no on a resolution condemning bigotry, one of 23 Republicans to vote against it.

“I was proud to vote no,” the Texas congressman said on CNN, objecting to the fact that the resolution did not specifically condemn Rep. Ilhan Omar for her remarks about Israel.

“This was a show vote. This was a sham vote,” he said, adding the resolution was meant to “cover for Rep. Omar rather than calling her out specifically.”

Asked about Donald Trump’s comments that have arguably also trafficked in antisemitic tropes, Roy said, “we weren’t debating that yesterday.”

The entire Washington, DC City Council has been subpoenaed in a probe into Councilman Jack Evans, the Washington Post reports.

A letter from the general counsel warned the 13 council members to preserve all documents related to the subpoena.

The investigation deals with Evans’ private legal and consulting clients.

Donald Trump said this morning he feels “very badly” for Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman who was sentenced Thursday to almost four years in prison.

“I think it’s been a very, very tough time for him. But if you notice, both his lawyer -- a highly respected man and a very highly respected judge -- the judge said there was no collusion with Russia. It’s had nothing to do with collusion. There was no collusion. It’s a collusion hoax. It’s a collusion witch-hoax. I don’t collude with Russia,” Trump said, according to a White House pool report.

The trial had to do with financial crimes and was not related to Russian conclusion. It did not consider or reach a conclusion as to whether collusion occurred.

Trump said he had not considered a pardon for Manafort.

Updated

And here’s Trump – apparently – taking in the scene in Alabama:

House passes sweeping election reform bill

HR1, a key Democratic bill containing a range of anti-corruption and voting rights measures, has passed in the House of Representatives this morning.

The legislation, known as the ‘For the People Act’, includes a slew of measures to reduce the influence of wealthy donors and encourage people to the polls. It would require “dark money” political groups to disclose their donor lists, establish automatic voter registration and make election day a national holiday.

The bill now goes to the Senate, but it seems it won’t go anywhere in the Senate. Majority leader Mitch McConnell has said he will not bring the bill to a vote.

CNN have just shown pictures of Trump being loaded into Marine One – the White House helicopter – in Georgia. The president is en route to Alabama where he will examine tornado damage.

In a statement emailed to reporters by Sarah Sanders, Shine said he was looking forward to spending more time with his family.

“Serving President Trump and this country has been the most rewarding experience of my entire life. To be a small part of all this president has done for the American people has truly been an honor.

“I’m looking forward to working on President Trump’s reelection campaign and spending more time with my family.”

For his part, Trump said Shine had “done an outstanding job” at the White House.

“We will miss him in the White House, but look forward to working together on the 2020 presidential campaign, where he will be totally involved,” the president said in a statement.

Bill Shine.
Bill Shine. Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP

Shine, a former Fox News executive, had only joined the White House in June last year.

As Trump’s most senior communications official, he was expected to have a prominent role in steering the administration’s messaging. But in January the New York Times reported that Trump had become disillusioned with his employee:

Shine, according to his critics, has shown little understanding of the conservative media beyond the cable news ecosystem and his former network — the one place where the president does not need much assistance, and where Mr. Shine has few remaining admirers.

Mr Shine has survived mainly by fulfilling the president’s desire to be in charge of his own messaging.

Trump's communications strategist resigns

Bill Shine, White House deputy chief of staff for communications, has abruptly left the Trump administration.

“Bill Shine offered his resignation to the president yesterday evening, and the president accepted,” Sarah Sanders said in statement.

Sanders said Shine “continues to support President Trump and his agenda”, and will serve as “senior advisor” to Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign.

Elizabeth Warren says her administration would “break up” Amazon, Facebook and Google to boost small business and promote the “next generation” of tech companies.

In a Medium post, Warren said the technology companies had taken advantage of “weak antitrust enforcement” to monopolize the market. In turn that has led to a reduction in innovation in the tech sector, Warren said, as: “Venture capitalists are now hesitant to fund new start ups to compete” with Google, Facebook and Amazon.

Today’s big tech companies have too much power — too much power over our economy, our society, and our democracy. They’ve bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else. And in the process, they have hurt small businesses and stifled innovation.

Warren said her administration would “unwind anti-competitive mergers”, such as Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods, Facebook’s acquisition of Whatsapp and Instagram, and Google’s relationship with Waze.

Warren said:

Unwinding these mergers will promote healthy competition in the market — which will put pressure on big tech companies to be more responsive to user concerns, including about privacy.

Elizabeth Warren at a campaign rally in Iowa last week.
Elizabeth Warren at a campaign rally in Iowa last week. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Updated

Trump: Cohen did ask for presidential pardon

Donald Trump claims his former lawyer Michael Cohen asked him “directly” for a pardon and that Cohen “badly wanted to work at the White House”. Trump’s claims would contradict statements Cohen made when he testified last week before Congress.

In his tweet Friday morning, Trump claimed three times that Cohen lied.

Updated

Andrew Gillum sparks presidency speculation with 'major announcement'

Andrew Gillum, the former Tallahassee mayor who ran (but lost) for Florida governor in 2018, says he is making a “major announcement” on March 20.

Since missing out on the governorship Gillum has been linked with a presidential bid. There’s a chance this March 20 business could be him entering the race.

Gillum posted a video, set to an EDM track, on his Twitter feed this morning. The video ends with the words “March 20 Miami, FL” flashing on screen as a chant of “Bring it home” – Gillum’s gubernatorial campaign rallying cry – plays in the background.

Gillum only just signed up as a CNN commentator last month. Whatever happened to loyalty?

Updated

Trump has claimed the Democrats are “anti-Jewish” as he prepares to head to Alabama.

In brief remarks before clambering aboard Air Force One Trump said:

“Yesterday’s vote by the House was disgraceful. Because the Democrats have become an anti-Israel party, they’ve become an anti-Jewish party.”

Trump had been asked for his thoughts on the anti-hate resolution Democrats introduced and passed in the House yesterday. Some Republicans – and Democrats – had wanted the resolution to be specifically critical of anti-semitism, and Trump clearly agrees. The president has been a vocal critic of Rep Ilhan Omar, whose criticism of Israeli lobbying prompted that resolution.

As you’ll remember, Trump had little to say about Republican congressman Steve King when King questioned when phrases like white supremacy and white nationalism had become offensive.

Trump also claimed there were good people “on both sides” of a white supremacist march, and during the 2016 campaign tweeted a (doctored) photo of Hillary Clinton in front of a pile of money, alongside the Star of David. The Anti-Defamation League said the photo had “obvious anti-Semitic overtones”.

Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One this morning.
Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One this morning. Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

“We’re working very hard, working with them very closely, very detail oriented,” is what I say when my boss catches me showing people memes on my phone, but still:

House oversight committee has documents on Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump security clearance - report

The committee leading an investigation into White House security clearance processes has obtained documents relating to Donald Trump’s son-in-law and daughter, according to Axios.

The Trump administration had refused to provide the documents, which the oversight committee is seeking following reports that Trump personally ordered Kushner and Ivanka Trump to be given top level clearance.

But according to Axios the documents were leaked to the oversight committee in February.

“The documents leaked to the Oversight Committee provide detailed information on the timeline for how Kushner’s and Trump’s security clearances were approved and who the people were involved in processing and the final decision,” Axios reported.

Ivanka Trump, left, and Jared Kushner.
Ivanka Trump, left, and Jared Kushner. Photograph: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Donald Trump’s inauguration received tens of thousands of dollars from shell companies that masked the involvement of a foreign contributor or others with foreign ties, my colleague Jon Swaine reports.

The Guardian identified the creators of three obscure firms that contributed money to Trump’s inaugural committee, at least one of whom was a foreign national who appears ineligible to make political donations in the US.

US election law prohibits non-resident foreigners from contributing to political campaigns, including inaugurations. Donors or campaigns who “knowingly and willfully” breach this rule may be fined or prosecuted.

One of the $25,000 donations to Trump’s inauguration was made through a Delaware shell company for a wealthy Indian financier based in London, who appears to not hold US citizenship or residency.

Good morning …

… and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of US politics.

•Donald Trump’s thumbs are having a busy morning. The president has already pumped out several tweets along the usual theme: the wall is being built (it isn’t), Fox and Friends is a “great show” (it isn’t), and he is “winning” (vague enough to not be empirically false, but definitely debatable).

•Trump is traveling to Alabama to survey storm damage today. He’s done this before, he knows the drill, he’s possibly brought paper towels with him. By night, Trump will travel to Mar-a-Lago – typical cost to the taxpayer $3.4m – to hold a private fundraiser.

•February jobs numbers are out, and they are hugely disappointing. The US added just 20,000 jobs last month – the expectation had been for 180,000 – and lost over 30,000 in both construction and at goods-producing firms. It’s the fewest jobs gained since September 2017, a performance matching a drooping economy.

•The House is expected to vote on its sweeping HR1 bill this afternoon. The legislation contains a range of anti-corruption and voting rights measures, including a six-to-one match for small dollar political campaign donations. Given Democrats majority, HR1 will very likely pass, then all that momentum and excitement rolls on to the Senate, where Mitch McConnell has said he will not bring the bill to a vote.

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