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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Gabrielle Canon (now) and Erin Durkin (earlier)

Trump's taxes: Democrats request president's returns from IRS – as it happened

Democrats have demanded Donald Trump’s tax returns from the IRS.
Democrats have demanded Donald Trump’s tax returns from the IRS. Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Wednesday evening summary

That’s it for me tonight! Here’s what happened Wednesday evening in politics:

  • Trump’s accounting firm has agreed to hand over 10 years of the president’s financial documents, if subpoenaed. The House Oversight chairman, Elijah Cummings, promised that one is coming soon.
  • Senate Republicans used the ‘nuclear option’ to narrowly push through changes to Senate rules that would allow them to expedite appointees — over the objections from the minority party.
  • The President’s tax returns have been officially requested by Richard Neal, a Democrat who heads the ways and means committee. A battle is expected, but Trump acted unconcerned when pressed by reporters.
  • After the Guardian exposed financial issues with Stephen Moore, Trump’s new pick for the Federal Reserve, House Democrats are requesting for more information.
  • In a new report from The New York Times, anonymously sourced investigators who worked on the Mueller report expressed concerns over how the Trump-appointed attorney general, William Barr, softened their findings.

Jared Kushner’s security clearance was flagged by intelligence officers

The President’s son-in-law has been identified as the “Senior White House Official” who appeared in reports to the House Oversight Committee, the Washington Post reports. The documents were released this week after whistleblower Tricia Newbold shared concerns with the committee, over Trump overriding career intelligence officers to grant clearances despite “significant disqualifying factors”.

Kushner was flagged for significant issues raised during his background investigation, including his potential to be swayed by foreign influence, his personal conduct, and business conflicts of interest.

Per The Post:

The new details about the internal debate over Kushner’s clearance revives questions about the severity of the issues flagged in his background investigation and Kushner’s access to government secrets.

Last year, President Trump directed his then-chief of staff, John F. Kelly, to give Kushner a top-secret security clearance, despite concerns expressed by career intelligence officers”.

On Twitter it is being called the “empty chair” hearing. Despite no reported scheduling conflicts and with controversy mounting over a yet-to-be explained attempt to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross declined to attend both invitations from the House and the Senate to appear.

For the second day in a row, his seat sat empty, as the appropriations subcommittee declined to admit officials sent by the Department in Ross’s stead.

Per CNN:

Some Democrats said they had planned to grill Ross on the citizenship question, as well as his financial disclosures.

‘His absence disrespects this committee and the appropriations process as a whole,’ said Rep. Nita Lowey, chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee. Rep. Grace Meng agreed, calling Ross’s refusal to testify ‘an abandonment of his responsibilities’ as the Commerce secretary. ‘It is an insult and an attack on transparency and trust,’ the New York Democrat added”.

Report: investigators say Barr softened Mueller report findings

Officials working for the special counsel have expressed concerns over how Attorney General William Barr classified the findings in the Mueller report, the New York Times is reporting.

In his summary, the anonymous investigators say, Barr mischaracterized the results of their investigation. They believe it boded worse for the president than portrayed.

Per The Times:

At stake in the dispute — the first evidence of tension between Mr. Barr and the special counsel’s office — is who shapes the public’s initial understanding of one of the most consequential government investigations in American history. Some members of Mr. Mueller’s team are concerned that, because Mr. Barr created the first narrative of the special counsel’s findings, Americans’ views will have hardened before the investigation’s conclusions become public”.

Barr is expected to provide a redacted version of Mueller’s report this month.

Democrats diving deeper into Stephen Moore's finances

Democratic senators have pressed Stephen Moore for detailed information on his finances over the past decade, after the Guardian revealed he owed $75,000 in federal taxes and was held in contempt of court over unpaid debts.

Moore, the economics commentator chosen by Donald Trump for a seat on the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, was warned in a letter that he may need to provide a full tax return to senators preparing to consider his nomination.

Senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking members of the Senate banking and finance committees, told Moore they had “read with concern” the Guardian’s reports, which Moore has called “vile and vicious and underhanded”.

Even though House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal gave the IRS until April 10 to comply with his request for Trump’s tax returns, the president is telling reporters he isn’t concerned.

Trump repeated his previous claims that he is unable to reveal his financial documents to the public because they are currently under audit.

The request, submitted today, asks the IRS for Trump’s individual tax returns, indications of whether or not they have ever been under examination or audit, the administrative files and the returns from 8 Trump-owned entities.

While the returns likely won’t be handed over without a battle, Democrats are emphasizing that Trump doesn’t have the legal authority to stop the IRS from complying.

Updated

Amidst calls from Congress for an investigation into the security breach at the President’s Palm Beach estate, Trump has responded telling reporters that it was “a fluke” and used it as an opportunity to commended the Mar-a-Lago front desk worker.

According to the Associated Press, however, the site is rife with security issues:

Nabil Erian, a former Marine and government counterintelligence officer, said guarding Mar-a-Lago is a ‘nightmare’. That’s because unlike previous presidential vacation homes like Ronald Reagan’s and George W. Bush’s ranches or George H.W. Bush’s seaside vacation home in Maine, Mar-a-Lago is open to members who pay $14,000 annual dues after a $100,000 or $200,000 initiation fee. They expect access to the facility and want to host their equally affluent guests — and they are used to getting their way”.

Trump's tax returns formally requested by House committee chair

House Democrats have formally demanded Donald Trump’s tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service, marking a major bid to obtain information about the president’s finances and business dealings.

Richard Neal, the chairman of the House ways and means committee, issued the request on Wednesday evening, stating: “It is critical to ensure the accountability of our government and elected officials.”

“I today submitted to IRS Commissioner [Charles] Rettig my request for six years of the president’s personal tax returns as well as the returns for some of his business entities,” Neal wrote.

“We have completed the necessary groundwork for a request of this magnitude and I am certain we are within our legitimate legislative, legal, and oversight rights.

“This request is about policy, not politics; my preparations were made on my own track and timeline, entirely independent of other activities in Congress and the administration,” he added.

“My actions reflect an abiding reverence for our democracy and our institutions, and are in no way based on emotion of the moment or partisanship. I trust that in this spirit, the IRS will comply with Federal law and furnish me with the requested documents in a timely manner.”

Trump refused to release his tax returns in the 2016 campaign – breaking with a nearly 40-year precedent of major-party presidential candidates.

In testimony before Capitol Hill last month, the president’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, alleged that Trump inflated his assets to banks and insurance companies.

Democrats are seeking Trump’s tax returns from 2013 to 2018.

Updated

GOP Senators use 'nuclear option' to fast-track Trump-appointed judges

Republicans used the politically controversial “nuclear option” today — changing the Senate rules with a majority vote —fast-tracking confirmation of Trump’s nominees by bypassing debate from minority opposition.

As Politico reports, the Senate voted 51-48 to cut debate times for executive nominees:

McConnell trashed Democrats’ ‘systematic obstruction’ as he stumped for his effort on the Senate floor. His move is particularly consequential in divided government when much of the Senate’s time is now spent confirming executive nominees and lifetime judicial appointments. Under the change, debate time on District Court nominees and subcabinet executive nominees is slashed from 30 hours to 2 hours, a shift that will allow Republicans to fill dozens more vacancies over the coming months”.

McConnell contends that the legislative filibuster, which empowers the minority party to block a vote on new laws, is essential to the Senate trying to assuage fears that this could set the precedent for its end. But, he said, it was time to end “systematic obstruction”.

Democrats were quick to sound the alarm on the issue, including Senator Michael Bennet who called the move “a travesty” from the Senate floor. Bennet also highlighted McConnell’s apparent hypocrisy.

“He led the most famous blockade that’s ever happened in the Senate. And that was the blockade he led of Merrick Garland,” he said referring to McConnell. “It was shameful”.

Updated

Gabrielle Canon here, taking over for Erin Durkin.

House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings told reporters today, that Mazars USA, a tax accounting firm that has over 10 years of Trump’s financial documents has agreed to turn them over to the committee if they receive a subpoena, Politico reports.

Initially, Cummings had requested the statements in a letter sent to the firm last month, but Mazars replied that laws and rules barred them from complying without a subpoena.

“The accounting firm told us that they will respond, and they just want a subpoena,” the Cummings told reporters, promising that the subpoena will soon be issued.

The House inquiry into the President’s finances gained momentum after Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, shared three years of the financial statements, prepared by Mazars USA. After Cohen’s testimony, the committee had elevated concerns about Trump’s assets and debts, and whether they were accurately accounted.

Summary

  • The House Judiciary Committee voted to authorize a subpoena for special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee also said it was “inevitable” Mueller would be called to testify before Congress.
  • Former Vice President Joe Biden promised he would “be more mindful about respecting personal space” after several women said his touching made them feel uncomfortable.
  • Several Democratic presidential candidates spoke on the first day of Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network convention, expressing openness to the idea of reparations for slavery.

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Updated

A group of CEOs warned Donald Trump that shutting the US-Mexico border would do serious damage to the economy.

“Shutting down the U.S-Mexico border or slowing cross-border trade would severely damage the operations of American businesses and hurt American workers,” the Business Roundtable wrote in a letter, the Hill reports. “Closing the border would back up thousands of trucks, impact billions of dollars of goods each day, cripple supply chains and stall U.S. manufacturing and business activity.”

Joe Biden, when he was a senator in 1977, was the only member of the Judiciary Committee to vote against the first black head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, and a black nominee for solicitor general, the Huffington Post reports.

Biden was adamantly opposed to busing to desegregate schools, and wanted two two nominees to firmly oppose a court-ordered integration plan in Wilmington, Delaware, which they declined to do.

Drew Days III was confirmed as head of the DOJ civil rights division and Wade McCree as solicitor general.

The House Intelligence Committee has asked one of the top contractors for Donals Trump’s inauguration to provide it with documents about the event, the New York Times reports.

The committee requested documents and an interview from Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a close friend of First Lady Melania Trump who planned parties around the inauguration.

Updated

Rep. Robert Aderholt will introduce legislation this week to raise the minimum age to buy tobacco nationwide form 18 to 21.

“It’s these enterprising 18-year-olds that are selling to minors, and increasing the age to 21 will make it harder for this type of activity,” the Alabama Republican said Wednesday, the Hill reported.

Senate Republicans used a tactic called the “nuclear option” and voted to change the body’s rules Wednesday to make it easier to confirm Donald Trump’s nominees.

Senators voted 51-48 to reduce the amount of debate required to two hours for executive branch nominees below the Cabinet level, from thirty hours currently. The vote was 51-48, according to the Hill.

Under traditional Senate rules, 60 votes are required to overcome a filibuster by the opposing party and approve a proposal. But Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell put though the rule change with only a simple majority, hence the “nuclear option” moniker.

Another vote was expected later Wednesday to make the same cut to debate time for district court judges.

Updated

Senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren today introduced legislation that would make it easier to criminally prosecute and jail corporate executives.

The Corporate Executive Accountability Act would allow the criminal prosecution of an executive found to be negligent while leading a company with more than $1 billion in annual revenue, if that company is found guilty of a crime or found liable for a civil violation that affects the health, safety, or finances of at least 1% of the population of a state.

The crime of executive negligence could be punished by up to a year in jail, or up to three years for a repeat violation.

Updated

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, leaving a meeting with Donald Trump at the White House, said the “option remains on the table” to close the US-Mexico border, Newsday reports.

The House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on the Justice Department to drop its push to get Obamacare overturned in the courts.

The resolution passed by a vote of 240 to 186, with eight Republicans joining Democrats in voting for it, according to the Washington Post.

The measure is non-binding.

Senate Democrats are asking the FBI to investigate potential security vulnerabilities at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida after the arrest of a woman carrying two Chinese passports and a device containing computer malware. From the Associated Press:

Chuck Schumer of New York and other Democrats wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday. They said the incident, in their words, “raises very serious questions regarding security vulnerabilities at Mar-a-Lago, which foreign intelligence services have reportedly targeted.” The woman, Yujing Zhang, briefly gained access to the club after lying about why she was there.

The Democrats previously asked Wray to investigate a Trump campaign donor from Florida who is the founder and onetime owner of a spa that has been implicated in an alleged human-trafficking ring. They said the FBI hasn’t responded.

Former President Barack Obama congratulated Lori Lightfoot on her victory as Chicago mayor. “Chicago’s best days are still ahead,” he said.

Biden: 'I will be more mindful about respecting personal space'

Former Vice President Joe Biden says he will “be more mindful about respecting personal space” in the future.

“I’ve always tried to make a human connection,” Biden said in a video posted on Twitter. “I shake hands, I hug people, I grab men and women by the shoulder and say, ‘You can do this.’”

But Biden said he would be more careful in the future, after several women said his touching made them uncomfortable.

“Social norms have begun to change. They have shifted, and the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset, and I get it,” he said. “I’ll be much more mindful. That’s my responsibility.”

In the video, Biden also said he expected to be talking to Americans about a host of issues in the coming weeks, a hint he does in fact intend to jump into the race for president.

Updated

Senator Lindsey Graham defended former Vice President Joe Biden amid accusations of inappropriate touching.

The South Carolina Republican said Biden is a a “glad-handing politician” who meant no harm, according to the Huffington Post.

“Maybe at times he’s done some things that make people feel uncomfortable, but it matters to me that what his intent is,” he said. “I just think he’s a good guy. I think he means nothing bad by this.”

The Secret Service will brief leaders of the House Oversight Committee Thursday on the recent security breach at Mar-a-Lago, chairman Elijah Cummings tells the Washington Post.

A Chinese woman was arrested after gaining access to the reception area at Donald Trump’s Florida club carrying multiple cellphones and a computer thumb drive bearing malware.

Updated

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has refused a request to testify before a House committee at a hearing on his department’s budget.

So an empty chair has been left for him at the hearing.

Updated

White House adviser and first daughter Ivanka Trump is planning a trip to Africa to promote a global women’s initiative she’s leading. From the Associated Press:

President Donald Trump’s daughter will visit Ethiopia and Ivory Coast over four days this month. The White House says her schedule includes a women’s economic empowerment summit in Ivory Coast, as well as site visits and meetings with political leaders, executives and female entrepreneurs in both countries.

Joining her on the trip will be Mark Green, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

It will be her first visit to the region since the White House launched the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative in February.

Updated

Beto O’Rourke raised $9.4 million for his presidential bid in the first three months of the year.

Updated

Lots of dramatic language in an email sent to Department of Homeland Security staffers last night by Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen looking for volunteers to go to the southern border, obtained by BuzzFeed.

Two more women have said former Vice President Joe Biden touched them in a way that made them feel uncomfortable.

From the New York Times in a story published Tuesday night:

Caitlyn Caruso, a former college student and sexual assault survivor, said Mr. Biden rested his hand on her thigh — even as she squirmed in her seat to show her discomfort — and hugged her “just a little bit too long” at an event on sexual assault at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She was 19.

Ms. Caruso, now 22, said she chalked up the encounter at the time to how men act, and did not say anything publicly. But she said it was particularly uncomfortable because she had just shared her own story of sexual assault and had expected Mr. Biden — an architect of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act — to understand the importance of physical boundaries.

“It doesn’t even really cross your mind that such a person would dare perpetuate harm like that,” she said. “These are supposed to be people you can trust.”

D. J. Hill, 59, a writer who recalled meeting Mr. Biden in 2012 at a fund-raising event in Minneapolis, said that when she and her husband, Robert, stepped up to take their photograph with the vice president, he put his hand on her shoulder and then started dropping it down her back, which made her “very uncomfortable.”

Her husband, seeing the movement, put his hand on Mr. Biden’s shoulder and interrupted with a joke. Ms. Hill did not say anything at the time and acknowledged that she does not know what Mr. Biden’s intention was or whether he was aware of her discomfit.

Updated

Tech billionaire Mark Cuban calls current US immigration policy “really, really, really stupid.”

“Right now, we’re being really, really, really stupid by taking really, really, really educated people who could do a lot for our really, really important economy and sending them home,” he said at Dallas Startup Week, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Republican state lawmakers in Georgia are proposing to create a journalism “ethics board,” and force news organizations to give copies of photographs and audio and video recordings to subjects who request them, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

Media outlets could be fined for not turning over the documents.

The proposal by Rep. Andy Welch appears to be motivated by his grudge against a TV reporter who asked him questions about legislation recently, per AJC.

“First I thought this was an April Fools joke, but this is clearly an effort to rein in those who have been scrutinizing what’s been happening at the Legislature. In this country there is a First Amendment which reads, in part: Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech or of the press. This applies even to the Georgia Legislature,” said Richard T. Griffiths, president of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.

The White House has not explained why Donald Trump has falsely and repeatedly claimed his father was born in Germany.

But a Trump adviser suggested to CNN he was just confused. “Obama thought we had 57 states. Sometimes mistakes happen,” the person said.

Updated

President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Wednesday to rein in what the administration calls the “Wild West” of online trafficking in counterfeit goods. From the Associated Press:

The memorandum is aimed at stopping the sale of counterfeit products on sites like Amazon, Ebay and China’s e-commerce leader, Alibaba.

“This president has decided that it’s time to clean up this Wild West of counterfeiting and trafficking,” said Peter Navarro, director of the White House National Trade Council.

“The central core of the problem is that right now, third-party online marketplaces ... have zero liability when it comes to trafficking in these counterfeit goods. That simply has to stop. We are going to attack that on numerous fronts.”

But Navarro said discussion of possible actions the administration will take to deter online trafficking in counterfeit merchandise is premature. He says the directive orders the Department of Homeland Security to work with other agencies on a report identifying the scope of the problem. The report also is to identify the origin of the fake goods and recommend administrative, regulatory, legislative or policy changes to stem the problem.

Updated

Virginia lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax released the results of polygraph tests Wednesday which he says support his denials of sexual assault allegations by two women.

“I knew that the allegations made against me were false from the moment I first heard them,” he said, according to Politico. “That is why I denied them.”

He said he passed both polygraph exams “on the first try.”

He asked prosecutors in Boston and North Carolina, where the alleged incidents took place, to investigate the charges.

Updated

Republican New York Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis has raised $300,000 to run for Congress against Rep. Max Rose, who flipped the seat to Democratic control last year, her campaign said.

Several leading Republicans have donated to the campaign, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s Leadership PAC contributed the maximum $10,000.

It indicates party leadership is lining up behind Malliotakis - not former Rep. and convicted felon Michael Grimm, who is considering running yet again for the seat. He ran last year but lost the primary.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also has its eyes on her, sending out a release criticizing her on healthcare.

Updated

The Commission on Presidential Debates identified six cities that have applied to host 2020 presidential debates.

The commission will pick spots from among the following contenders:

  • Belmont University, Nashville, TN
  • City of Hartford, Hartford, CT
  • Creighton University, Omaha, NE
  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
  • University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
  • Utah Debate Commission and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has a book coming in the fall, per the Washington Post.

Updated

President Donald Trump’s Senate GOP allies, frustrated by delays in confirming dozens of lower-profile nominees, are forcing through a rules change to cut back debate on most of his picks. The Associated Press reports:

The GOP plan is to indefinitely restore rules in place during the first few years of President Barack Obama’s second term. Those rules have lapsed, allowing any senator to force 30 hours of debate on a nominee.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who’s no stranger to obstructionist tactics himself, says the situation has gotten out of hand, with the Senate taking 128 votes to end debate on Trump’s nominees during his first two years in office, far more than under other presidents.

“The Senate’s advice and consent power is not supposed to be used to slow-walk all of a president’s nominees simply because one party doesn’t like the president who is doing the nominating,” said South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the second-ranking Republican.

The proposed rules change would limit debate on most nominees to two hours instead of the 30 hours now required. Cabinet secretaries, Supreme Court nominations, and appeals court judges would be exempted from the new rules.

McConnell is set to employ a procedural maneuver to effectively change the rules by a party-line vote instead of the supermajority that would ordinarily be required.

Former Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada used the same approach in 2013 to lower the filibuster threshold on most nominations to a simple majority when faced with what Democrats said was GOP obstructionism.

Republicans said at the time that Reid and Democrats would come to regret that rules change, which has given Trump largely free rein to fill numerous judicial vacancies that have piled up over the years.

Democrats, who benefited from prior rules changes under Obama, are strongly protesting now. They say the GOP move would enable Trump and future presidents, so long as their party controls the Senate, to run roughshod over the Senate.

They say the hurdles required to win confirmation should be difficult as a way to ensure nominees are ethical, qualified and responsive to requests by senators for information.

“There is no emergency that justifies changing the Senate rules. Sen. McConnell himself admitted the Senate has plenty of time to consider nominees,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. “This is all about avoiding close scrutiny for extreme ideological nominees that Republicans want to pack onto the federal courts for lifetime appointments.”

Democrats also say that GOP complaints over their tactics now ring hollow after the obstructionism Obama experienced over his two terms.

Merrick Garland, a federal appeals court judge nominated to the Supreme Court by Obama, failed to get a Senate hearing, and Republicans stalled numerous other Obama judicial nominees — both when the GOP was in the minority and then after retaking the Senate in 2015.

Armed with the White House and control of the Senate, Trump is now confirming both district and appeals court judges at a dizzying pace and is positioned to reshape the federal judiciary even if he fails to win a second term.

The New York Post has quite the front page today on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s warning to Joe Biden to keep his hands to himself.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of other states have sued the Trump administration over its move to weaken nutritional standards for school meals.

California, Illinois, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington DC have joined New York in the suit.

The Trump administration rolled back sodium limits and whole grain requirements for school meals.

“Over a million children in New York – especially those in low-income communities and communities of color – depend on the meals served daily by their schools to be healthy, nutritious, and prepare them for learning,” James said. “The Trump Administration has undermined key health benefits for our children – standards for salt and whole grains in school meals – with deliberate disregard for science, expert opinion, and the law.

New York City voters are overwhelmingly uninterested in seeing Mayor Bill de Blasio run for President, a new poll finds.

They say he shouldn’t run by a 76% to 18% margin in the new Quinnipiac Poll.

“Mayor Bill de Blasio’s flirtation with a 2020 White House bid is prompting a rare moment of unity among New Yorkers. Three-quarters of them say, ‘Mr. Mayor: Don’t do it,’” said Mary Snow, polling analyst for the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Updated

Democratic presidential contender Julian Castro brought up reparations in his speech to the National Action Network, saying, “Our country will never truly heal until we address the original sin of slavery,” according to a Newsday reporter.

Castro also pitched policies universal pre-kindergarten and legalizing marijuana, per WNYC.

Updated

Former Attorney General Eric Holder is pushing Democratic presidential candidates to get more involved in local legislative and court elections, and is crafting a pledge for them to promise to do so, the Washington Post reports.

Updated

Fox News will be hosting a town hall with Sen. Bernie Sanders later this month, according to TVNewser.

"Inevitable' Mueller will have to testify, Schiff says

House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, speaking on MSNBC Wednesday morning, said it’s “inevitable” that special counsel Robert Mueller will be called to testify before Congress.

He said the American people “have every right” to see the Mueller report. “Indeed I think they have a need to see it, and we’re going to have this fight if we have to.”

“I think it’s inevitable Bob Mueller’s going to have to testify before Congress,” he said, predicting he would testify before multiple committees. The intelligence committee is particularly interested in a counterintelligence investigation into whether Donald Trump was acting as a Russian agent, which is not covered in any of what’s been released publicly so far.

Updated

Andrew Yang, in his NAN remarks, said he would pardon everyone locked up for marijuana offenses and “high five them on their way out of jail,” according to the Daily Beast.

Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang is speaking to the National Action Network convention.

Some highlights via Newsday:

Updated

Rep. Ben Ray Lujan announced he is running for an open New Mexico Senate seat.

Lujan, a Democrat, is hoping to succeed fellow Democrat Sen. Tom Udall, who recently said he would not run for re-election in 2020.

Updated

Rep. Jerry Nadler, chair of the Judiciary Committee, says he will move in “very short order” to subpoena the Mueller reports if the Justice Department doesn’t hand it over in full, according to CNN.

Nadler said he would “absolutely not” be willing to accept a version of the report with any redactions.

The committee is comfortable handling classified and sensitive material, he said, after members voted to authorize subpoenas. “We’re not willing to let the attorney general, who after all is a political appointee, substitute his judgment for ours.”

Nadler said he will “absolutely” go to court if the Justice Department doesn’t comply with a subpoena.

Updated

Beto O’Rourke, speaking at the National Action Network, said he would sign a bill to establish a commission to study reparations for slavery, Newsday reports.

He also said he would bring back federal consent decrees to oversee local police departments accused of civil rights offenses, per WNYC. The decrees were used under the Obama administration but have fallen out of favor under Donald Trump.

O’Rourke also called for new voting rights legislation, according to the New York Post.

A Senate committee approved a bill Wednesday to fine companies that spam Americans with illegal robo-calls, the Hill reports.

The bill would give the federal government the power to slap offenders with fines of up to $10,000 per call. The Senate Commerce Committee voted unanimously to advance it.

House Judiciary Committee approves subpoena for Mueller report

The House Judiciary Committee has voted to authorize a subpoena for the Mueller report. The vote was 24-17, along party lines, per CNN.

Committee chairman Jerry Nadler has said he’ll give Attorney General William Barr some time to turn over a full, unredacted version of the report before serving the subpoena. He says he’s prepared to go to court if the Justice Department does not comply.

Updated

Donald Trump is now back to threatening to close the US-Mexico border, this time if Congress does not act on immigration.

He previously threatened a border closure if Mexico did not act to restrict migration, but then backed off saying he was satisfied with Mexico’s efforts.

Updated

The House of Representatives is expected to pass a resolution Wednesday calling on the Justice Department to halt its effort to get Obamacare overturned in the courts, the Washington Post reports.

The resolution calls the move “an unacceptable assault” on Americans’ health care. It is non-binding.

Here’s Rep. Jerry Nadler’s opening statement at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on subpoenas for the Mueller report.

Several Democratic presidential candidates are speaking today at Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network convention.

Beto O’Rourke, Andrew Yang, and Julian Castro are scheduled to speak today.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer is poking some fun at O’Rourke’s penchant for climbing up on counters, per a Washington Post reporter.

Updated

Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, called it “reckless” and “irresponsible” to subpoena the Mueller report, per the Washington Post.

House Judiciary Committee debates subpoena for Mueller report

The House Judiciary Committee is currently meeting to discuss a resolution that would authorize subpoenas for special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report.

The committee is expected to authorize subpoenas for the report and to five individuals, the Wall Street Journal reports: former White House counsel Don McGahn, former White House communications director Hope Hicks, former White House aide Steve Bannon, former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, and Ann Donaldson, former chief of staff to the White House counsel.

“We have reason to suspect this administration’s motives,” committee chairman Jerry Nadler said at the hearing, according to WSJ. “The Mueller report probably isn’t the ‘total exoneration’ the president claims it to be. And, in any event, this committee has a job to do.”

Trump at the White House last week.
Trump at the White House last week. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

Updated

Three Democratic senators will introduce legislation Wednesday to allow young immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to work jobs on Capitol Hill, CNN reports.

The DACA program gives the immigrants, who were brought to the country illegally as children, authorization to work legally in the United States. But a little known law says only US citizens and legal permanent residents can get jobs and paid internships in Congress, according to CNN. Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada and Dick Durbin of Illinois will introduce legislation that would allow DACA recipients, often called Dreamers, to get paid.

Updated

Donald Trump says he was “was never planning a vote prior to the 2020 Election” on a healthcare plan to replace Obamacare.

Trump’s administration has asked the courts to strike down the Affordable Care Act. He first claimed that Republicans would come up with a great plan to replace it, but later acknowledged no such plan exists and no effort will be made to get one through Congress until after the 2020 election.

Prior Trump efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare have failed to pass.

A Republican group is launching an ad campaign against Rep. Ilhan Omar, CNN reports.

American Action Network, a conservative advocacy group, will spend six figures on ads going after the Minnesota Democrat over her controversial statements about Israel, an official told the network. The ads charge that Omar “keeps hurling anti-Semitic slurs” and say House Democrats should “stand up to hate” and remove her from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

At least 14 major donors to Donald Trump’s inaugural committee got nominations to be US ambassadors, NBC News reports.

None have diplomatic experience. The nominee for ambassador to the Bahamas, Doug Manchester - who gave $1 million to the inaugural - was even unaware the island nation he was picked for is an independent country. He incorrectly told Congress during his confirmation hearing that it was a US protectorate, which has never been the case. The Bahamas was formerly a British possession, but has been independent since 1972. Manchester’s nomination has been stalled for two years, according to NBC.

Updated

Catching up on some election results from last night: Lori Lightfoot has been elected mayor of Chicago. She’s the first black woman to hold the job, and the first openly gay person. Her election is also remarkable because she is a political outsider who has never held elected office.

Meanwhile, a conservative candidate beat the favored liberal in crucial state supreme court election in Wisconsin, which is being seen as an ominous sign by Democrats there, Talking Points Memo reports.

And voters in Anchorage, Alaska rejected a proposal for a new alcohol tax, the Anchorage Daily News reports.

Updated

Kushner prepares plan to increase legal immigration

As Donald Trump pushes anti-immigration policies on multiple fronts, his son in law Jared Kushner has been quietly working on a plan to increase legal immigration to the United States, Politico reports.

Kushner, a senior adviser at the White House, has been working for months on the proposal, which would increase permitted numbers of both high-skilled and low-skilled workers.

The effort began in January when Kushner convened meetings with business and agriculture organizations, people involved in the talks told Politico. It could generate a proposal for Congress by the summer. Whether it gets that far may depend on whether Kushner or Stephen Miller, a hardliner on restricting immigration, who has not been involved in the talks, wins the day with Trump.

The news emerged hours after Trump further backed off his threat to close the US-Mexico border, saying Mexico has been cooperating to his satisfaction.

“I really wanted to close it. Now Mexico saying is no no no, the first time in decades, we will not let anybody through, and they’ve apprehended over a thousand people today, at their southern border and they’re bringing them back to their countries,” he said at a Republican dinner Tuesday night, according to ABC News.

Updated

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