The House Judiciary Committee has passed a key vote surrounding Donald Trump's potential impeachment, with representatives passing a resolution to define the boundaries of a probe which some Democrats hope could ultimately lead to the president's removal from office.
Thursday's hearing allowed the committee to designate certain hearings as impeachment hearings and empower staff to question witnesses. If approved, the move will signal an escalation of the committee's investigation into Mr Trump's alleged obstruction of justice.
It comes as the president celebrates a Supreme Court ruling which allows his administration to block most Central American migrants from seeking asylum in the US.
Donald Trump did not take action against Israel after it was accused of planting spying devices found near the White House in a move that has shocked former intelligence officials, according to a new report.
The devices are called “Stingrays” and can extract identifying information from mobile phones, including their geolocation. They were found near the White House and across Washington in “sensitive locations”, former officials told Politico, adding that the US government determined Israel was “most likely” behind their placement.
Officials said the devices were probably planted in order to spy on Mr Trump and his inner circle. But the president declined to take action after his government determined within the last two years that Israel was most likely the foreign entity behind the apparent espionage attempts, three former senior US officials told the news outlet.
Donald Trump has said he plans to ban flavoured e-cigarettes after a spate of vaping deaths, declaring that companies were getting rich as people died.
In an appearance at the Oval Office with his most senior health official, the president said the issue had become such that parents needed to be taught about what was happening to young people.
“People are going to watch what we’re saying and parents are going to be a lot tougher with respect to their children,” he said.
“They’ve become very rich companies very fast and the whole thing with vaping is it’s very profitable. And I want companies – you know that … that’s why I’m fighting with China. But we can’t allow people to get sick.”
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe faces the prospect of an indictment after his attorneys were unable to persuade senior Justice Department officials not to pursue charges.
Two people familiar with the matter say the deputy attorney general declined an appeal from McCabe’s lawyers aimed at preventing a prosecution. The attorneys have argued that McCabe, a frequent target of Donald Trump’s wrath, shouldn’t face charges on accusations he lied during an internal investigation.
The people weren’t authorized to discuss the issue by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.
AP
Donald Trump did not take action against Israel after it was accused of planting spying devices found near the White House in a move that has shocked former intelligence officials, according to a new report.
The devices are called “Stingrays” and can extract identifying information from cell phones, including their geolocation. They were found near the White House and across Washington in “sensitive locations,” former officials told Politico, adding that the US government determined Israel was “most likely” behind their placement.
Officials said the devices were likely planted in order to spy on Donald Trump and his inner circle. But the president declined to take action after his government determined within the last two years that Israel was most likely the foreign entity behind the apparent espionage attempts, three former senior US officials told the news outlet.
Story incoming...
The president responded on Twitter with a quote he attributed to Al Green, one of the first Democrats to call for an impeachment vote on: “We can’t beat him, so let’s impeach him!’ Democrat Rep. Al Green,” Mer Trump wrote.
It was not immediately clear whether the congressman had in fact said that exact quote, though in a TV interview in May he said: “"I'm concerned that if we don't impeach the president, he will get re-elected."
While most North Carolinians were remembering the lives lost on September 11, 2001, the Republican leaders in the General Assembly took advantage of a half-empty House and voted to override the governor's budget veto Wednesday morning.
Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said in a news conference that House Republicans called for a "surprise vote" while he and House members were honouring first responders on the anniversary of 9/11.
"Republicans called a deceptive surprise override of my budget veto," Mr Cooper said. "Unfortunately, it's the people of North Carolina who lose."
House Minority Leader Darren Jackson, a Democrat, said he told his caucus members that they did not need to be in attendance and that David Lewis, a Republican, chairman of the Rules, Calendar and Operations Committee, gave Mr Jackson his word that there would be no votes, according to the News and Observer.
The Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee has successfully passed a vote to establish rules for hearings on impeaching Donald Trump in a move seen as a major step forward in the panel’s investigations into the president.
The resolution passed on Thursday is a technical step, and the committee would still have to introduce impeachment articles against Mr Trump and win approval from the House to bring charges against him. It’s unclear if that will ever happen, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has urged caution on the issue, saying the public still isn’t yet supportive of taking those steps.
And yet the House Judiciary Committee pressed forward, with Chairman Jerrold Nadler saying: “We have a constitutional, historical, and moral obligation to fully investigate these matters.”
“Let us take the next step in that work without delay,” he said just before the vote. “I urge my colleagues to adopt this resolution, and I yield back."
However, even if the House does recommend impeachment charges against the president, the Republican-led Senate is unlikely to convict him and remove him from office.
Additional reporting by AP. Story to come.
The clerk is reporting the numbers on the official vote tally:
24 yes and 17 nos. The resolution is agreed to. The markup is adjourned, and the House Judiciary Committee has now voted to hear future proceedings about launching an impeachment of Donald Trump.
