Donald Trump is facing rejuvenated calls for his impeachment by House Democrats following FBI special counsel Robert Mueller's surprise statement on Wednesday in which he suggested only Justice Department policy prevented his team from charging a sitting president with a crime.
Mr Trump was quick to declare “The case is closed!” on Twitter but 2020 challengers Kamala Harris and Cory Booker called on Congress to hold the president to account while House speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has so far attempted to resist “divisive” impeachment proceedings, said: “Nothing is off the table”.
Quickly moving on to a fresh controversy, Mr Trump has been forced to deny asking the US Navy to have its destroyer the USS John S McCain, named after the late senator and Trump antagonist, kept “out of sight” during his recent four-day trip to Japan.
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An important point made here: It appears Donald Trump doesn’t actually understand how the impeachment process works…
Elizabeth Warren has come out swinging in an interview with The View, saying on Thursday, “If [Donald Trump] were anyone other than president of the United States, he would be in handcuffs and indicted.”
Senator Mark Warner has spoken out about Robert Mueller’s statement yesterday. Video below -
Donald Trump’s former 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton has spoken out about the president’s behaviour on Thursday, writing in a tweet, “The president hasn't just refused to condemn a foreign power that attacked our democracy. He's also failed to protect the country's voting systems against future attacks.”
She added, “He betrays his oath every day.”
Here’s more video from Donald Trump’s wild press stop before departing for the UK, in which he attacked Robert Mueller as being “totally conflicted” -
Donald Trump also denied reports saying the White House ordered the USS John McCain to be moved out of his sight during his trip to Japan, telling reporters on Thursday: “I don’t know what happened. I wasn’t involved. I would not have done that.”
“I was very angry with John McCain because he killed healthcare,” he continued. “I was not a big fan of John McCain in any way shape or form. I think John McCain had a lot with getting President Bush – a lot to do with it to go into the Middle East, which was a catastrophe. To me, John McCain, I wasn’t a fan. But I would never do a thing like that.”
“Now, somebody did it because they thought I didn’t like him, ok? And they were well-meaning, I will say,” Mr Trump went on. “I didn’t know anything about it. I would never have done that.”
In other news surrounding 2020, Jill Biden has spoken out about accusations surrounding her husband’s physical interactions with women, saying in a new interview “it took a lot of courage for women to step forward”.
The former second first lady joined The Daily Show on Wednesday to discuss her new book, Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself, as well as her husband’s 2020 presidential bid.
Story to come…
Donald Trump also berated Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Thursday, calling him a “true Never-Trumper” -
So…did Russia help Donald Trump get elected or not?
The president tweeted earlier this morning: “I had nothing to do with Russia helping me to get elected.”
Then he joined reporters outside of the White House and said: “No, Russia did not help me get elected. You know who got me elected? I got me elected. Russia didn’t help me at all.”
Pelosi reportedly added that Trump’s immigration proposal is designed to “make America white again.”
