The White House has refused to rule out Donald Trump issuing a presidential pardon to his ex-campaign manager Paul Manafort after the latter was sentenced last week to 47 months in prison for bank and tax fraud, crimes uncovered by FBI special counsel Robert Mueller during his Russia investigation.
With Manafort facing a further to 10 years behind bars when he is sentenced by a second court in Washington on Wednesday, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders used her first briefing in six weeks to tell reporters: “The president has made his position on that clear – he’ll make a decision when he’s ready”.
Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi has meanwhile said she believes the impeachment process is too “divisive” and Mr Trump “just not worth it”, while veteran Vermont senator Bernie Sanders attacked the president’s new budget plan as “dead on arrival” and intended “for the military industrial complex, for corporate CEOs, for Wall Street and for the billionaire class”.
Hello and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the Donald Trump administration.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders gave her first briefing in 42 days yesterday and faced a barrage of difficult questions from the assembled correspondents.
MSNBC reporter Hallie Jackson pressed Ms Sanders to state: "Yes or no, does the president truly believe that Democrats hate Jews?"
Predictably, she refused to give an explicit answer to a question born from the president's remarks made on the South Lawn on Friday morning before he set out for Alabama to the effect that the opposition were "an anti-Israel, an anti-Jewish party". Mr Trump was seemingly seeking to capitalise on divisions within the Democrats exposed by congresswoman Ilhan Omar's comments about what she regards as the undue influence of Israeli lobbyists in Washington.
This answer on why President Trump had not condemned Republican representative Steve King of Iowa for his praise of white supremacists also left something to be desired:
Perhaps of greater consequence, Ms Sanders also refused to say that Mr Trump would not grant a presidential pardon to his ex-campaign manager Paul Manafort, sentenced to 47 months in prison by a court in Virginia last week for bank and tax fraud, crimes uncovered by Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
He is due for further sentencing in Washington on Wednesday over a second case in which he plead guilty to conspiracy against the US and obstruction of justice through witness-tampering.
“The president has made his position on that clear – he’ll make a decision when he’s ready,” Ms Sanders said on the pardoning question.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson, also overseeing the case of Trump campaign consultant Roger Stone, could give Manafort an additional 10 years behind bars.
Ms Sanders was also confronted with a difficult question about Michael Cohen and the president's "hush money" payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Asked why the president had reimbursed his former lawyer with a cheque for $35,000 (£26,500) written in office and whether he had done so as part of "a conspiracy to conceal campaign-finance violations", the press secretary answered: "The president has been clear that there wasn’t campaign-finance violations."
"So you’re saying that the president didn‘t know about these violations?" the reporter countered.
"Again, I would refer you back to the president’s comments, that’s not something I’m a part of, and I would refer you to the president’s outside counsel [Rudy Giuliani] beyond his comments," she deflected.
"Does the White House deny that the president is Individual 1?" the reporter persisted.
"Again I am not going to comment on an ongoing case that’s not something I would be a part of here at the White House. What I can tell you is that the president has stated his position and made it clear," Ms Sanders answered before quickly departing the podium.
With the slew of congressional investigations into the president's affairs still simmering in the background and Robert Mueller's Russia report set to land on the desk of attorney-general William Barr any day now, Donald Trump is continuing to feel the heat.
But yesterday House speaker Nancy Pelosi disappointed many of the president's opponents when she told The Washington Post impeachment was something he shouldn't have to worry about.
“I’m not for impeachment. This is news. I’m going to give you some news right now because I haven’t said this to any press person before", she said.
"But since you asked, and I’ve been thinking about this: Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he’s just not worth it.”
That last line... ooof.
Impeaching Trump is 'not worth it', says Nancy Pelosi
House speaker prefers getting politicalDonald Trump's new 2020 budget request - including an $8.6bn (£6.6bn) provision for the construction of his US-Mexico border wall, a $3bn (£2.3bn) increase on his last estimate for the job - was lambasted by the opposition when it was unveiled yesterday.
"A Budget for a Better America: Promises Kept. Taxpayers First" sees the White House proposing $2.7trn (£2trn) in spending cuts for the year beginning 1 October, a reduction of 5 percent across all non-defence agencies as military funding is boosted to $750bn (£577bn). It also contains a $32.5bn (£24.6bn) pledge towards beefing up border security and $478m (£362m) to hire 1,750 Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
During the recent 35-day government shutdown, the president demanded $5.7bn (£4.4bn) to build his wall but the Democrats stood firm and refused the request, prompting Mr Trump to yield, sign a spending bill pledging just $1.4bn (£1.1bn) towards the project and then declare a national emergency on the "crisis" of illegal immigration at the southern border.
This allowed him to invoke emergency powers and reallocate as much as $8.1bn (£6.2bn) in federal funding without consulting Congress, a move that has already been the subject of a resolution of disapproval in the House of Representatives and which will face a vote in the Senate this week. Taken together, the president appears to be seeking access to a whopping $16.7bn (£12.8bn) for the construction of the wall, although it is highly unlikely he'll ever get his hands on anything like that amount.
This allowed him to invoke emergency powers and reallocate as much as $8.1bn (£6.2bn) in federal funding without consulting Congress, a move that has already been the subject of a resolution of disapproval in the House of Representatives and which will face a vote in the Senate this week. Taken together, the president appears to be seeking access to a whopping $16.7bn (£12.8bn) for the construction of the wall, although it is highly unlikely he'll ever get his hands on anything like that amount.
Vermont senator and 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was particularly scathing about the new budget plan: "The Trump budget is breathtaking in its degree of cruelty and filled with broken promises.
"This is a budget for the military industrial complex, for corporate CEOs, for Wall Street and for the billionaire class. It is dead on arrival. We don’t need billions of dollars for a wall that no one wants. We need a budget that works for all Americans, not just Donald Trump and his billionaire friends at Mar-a-Lago."
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer was not much kinder: "The Trump administration’s latest budget proposal is a gut-punch to the American middle class and a handout to the wealthiest few and powerful special interests that would worsen income inequality. Its proposed cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and social security, as well as numerous other middle-class programmes, are devastating, but not surprising."
Here's Andrew Buncombe.
Trump condemned over budget ‘for the billionaire class’
All departments other than defence face 5 percent cutsMr Trump's Twitter account was quieter than usual yesterday but he did take to social media to pressure Republican senators not to humour that disapproval resolution over his national emergency declaration when it reaches the upper chamber.
The resolution opposing the measure sailed through the Democrat-controlled House 245-182 and four Republican senators - Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul and Thom Tillis - have already said they will support it.
He also, of course, continued to rage about the widespread mockery of his "Tim Apple" gaffe last week. Let it go Don...
Trump continues to rage about 'Tim Apple' gaffe five days after it happened in new tweet
'I quickly referred to Tim + Apple as Tim/Apple'Nigel Farage (remember him?) told Donald Trump he should back a no-deal Brexit when the pair met in Washington earlier this month.
That's all we need.
Nigel Farage urged Donald Trump to back no-deal Brexit at recent meeting
'This American administration firmly believes in the nation state, not supranational structures and this administration are hugely keen on the defence, security and indeed business relationships that exist between our two countries,' former Ukip leader saysA new book claims Ivanka Trump insisted, "My dad's not racist; he didn't mean any of it", over his comments on there having been "violence on many sides" at the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 at which anti-fascist protester Heather Heyer was run over and killed by neo-Nazis.
Kushner Inc by journalist Vicky Ward recounts the story of Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner's rise to power.
Ivanka Trump said 'my dad's not a racist' after he failed to condemn Charlottesville white nationalists, book claims
Title includes interviews with anonymous sourcesThe US is withdrawing all of its diplomatic personnel from Venezuela, secretary of state Mike Pompeo has announced, as the South American nation remains mired in blackout, a phenomenon branded an "electric coup" staged by Washington by incumbent president Nicolas Maduro.
His opponent, self-declared president Juan Guaido, has called for further street demonstrations to oust Mr Maduro.
Senior Democratic congressman John Yarmuth of Kentucky has disagreed with Nancy Pelosi's remarks about impeaching Donald Trump.
"To me it's not a question of 'whether,' it's a question of 'when,' and probably right now is not the right time, but I think at some point it's going to be inevitable," he told CNN's OutFront with Erin Burnett.
Fox News anchor and Trump ally Tucker Carlson has dug in his heels, refused to apologise and attacked the "great American outrage machine" after left-leaning nonprofit Media Matters unearthed a treasure trove of ugly remarks he made about women and sexual assault on his Bubba the Love Sponge radio show between 2006 and 2011.
"It’s pointless to try to explain how the words were spoken in jest or taken out of context or in any case bear no resemblance to what you actually think or would want for the country. None of that matters. Nobody cares. You know the role you’re required to play: You are a sinner, begging the forgiveness of Twitter," Mr Carlson said on Fox, the broadcaster so far refusing to condemn his comments.
Satirist Stephen Colbert summarised the whole rotten episode rather neatly on The Late Show last night: "Let's be honest, you're awful on so many levels. But on the positive side, I think R Kelly just got a character witness."
Here's Clarisse Loughrey.
Tucker Carlson vows he will 'never bow to the mob' following outcry over comments about statutory rape
A progressive media watchdog published recordings from Carlson’s shock jock show 'Bubba the Love Sponge', which originally aired from 2006 to 2011The president's son, Don Jr, has backed Tucker Carlson:
But Stormy Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, was less convinced:
An interesting poll from the Midwest suggests 40 percent of Iowa Republicans would like see Donald Trump face a challenger from within the GOP's ranks, with only 41 percent saying they were dead against the idea.
The state will host the first 2020 presidential caucus in 10 months' time and takes pride in its role as the first "vetter" of candidates.
Iowa remains a Trump stronghold though, with 81 percent of responders to the CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom survey saying they believed the president was doing a good job in office.
Here's Andrew Buncombe.
40% of Iowa Republicans want a challenger to Trump, new poll says
Bill Weld is the only Republican to have to far raised his handA little more background colour on the Michael Cohen-Stormy Daniels payments from lawyer Keith Davidson, interviewed by CNN's Chris Cuomo.
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The Donald is up and doubling down on his antisemitism attack on the Democrats.
The president appears to be quoting a 23-year-old Jewish author, figure skater and model who worked on the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and got married at Mar-a-Lago on Boxing Day.
Her website, Jexodus, founded in 2019, stands for "proud Jewish Millennials tired of living in bondage to leftist politics".
What perfect timing for such a site to exist - exactly when her old employer needed it to make his spurious case against the Democrats!
Here she is on Fox and Friends this morning, which is very much the final piece of the puzzle.
He's watching Fox and Friends and claiming the co-founder of Greenpeace Patrick Moore is saying climate change is "Fake Science".
Wow indeed.
How perfect. It's almost as though they... colluded.
Paul Manafort, appearing in court for sentencing for the second time in a week on Wednesday, is expected to be given a much rougher ride by Judge Amy Berman Jackson after TS Ellis III of Virginia concluded the veteran political operator had "lived an otherwise blameless life" and gave him just 47 months in jail.
Judge Jackson will sentence Manafort for two charges he plead guilty to last year - conspiracy against the US and conspiracy to obstruct justice by attempting to tamper with witnesses - and could hand down a maximum of 10 years in prison.
His plea before her court involved confessing to the personal financial crimes Judge Ellis dealt with last week.
Commentators have speculated that the latter's leniency might encourage Judge Jackson to take a firmer stance.
This instance comes much closer to the heart of FBI special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia collusion, touching on Manafort's work as a political consultant in the Ukraine and his contacts in Russia, notably associate Konstantin Kilimnik.
How closely Judge Jackson will touch on the investigation is unclear given Mr Mueller's probe is still ongoing but she did write of Manafort in February that he "made multiple false statements to the FBI, the OSC [Office of the Special Counsel] and the grand jury concerning matters that were material to the investigation".
She has been unsympathetic to Manafort throughout the case and told the defendant last June: "I am concerned that you seem inclined to treat these proceedings as just another marketing exercise and not a criminal case brought by a duly appointed federal prosecutor in a federal court."
Judge Jackson has also taken Manafort's attorney Kevin Downing to task for being smug and overbearing and shutdown his attempt to call-out the impact of media interest in the case.
Here's a striking new horror film for your delectation: Steve Bannon: The Movie.
Here's professor of clinical psychology Simon McCarthy-Jones on Donald Trump and "weaponised humiliation" for Indy Voices.
Opinion: A psychologist explains why Trump's taste for humiliation could have catastrophic consequences
A little-known Henry Kissinger quote sheds a telling light on the president's alarming tacticsPlease allow a moment for our liveblog to load
