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As it happenedended

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Trump news - live: President erupts over report his businesses lost $1bn, as Congress votes to hold Barr in contempt

Follow the latest updates from Washington

New York

,Jon Sharman,Joe Sommerlad

Wednesday 08 May 2019 15:38 BST

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Republican 2020 candidate Bill Weld believes Donald Trump is impeachable

Donald Trump lost $1.17bn (£897m) from real estate ventures between 1985 and 1994 and paid no income tax for eight years, according to The New York Times, reporting after the newspaper got hold of copies of his tax returns for the period.

The president predictably branded the story, ”A highly inaccurate Fake News hit job!”, the news coming at a time when his treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin was already under fire for refusing to release his boss’s tax returns for 2013 to 2018, setting up what promises to be a protracted legal battle with Democrats.

This latest act of stonewalling from the White House comes as the House Judiciary Committee moved to hold attorney general William Barr in contempt over the Mueller report.

The vote capped a day of ever-deepening dispute between congressional Democrats and the president, who for the first time invoked the principle of executive privilege, claiming the right to block lawmakers from the full report.

Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York declared the action by Mr Trump’s Justice Department a clear new sign of the president’s “blanket defiance” of Congress’ constitutional rights to conduct oversight.

Mueller investigation: The key figures

Show all 12

1/12Mueller investigation: The key figures

Mueller investigation: The key figures

Robert Mueller is the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, and potential obstruction of justice by the president. Mr Mueller has a pristine reputation in Washington, where he was previously in charge of the FBI. Throughout his investigation, he and his team have been notoriously tight lipped about what they know and where their investigation has led.

REUTERS

Mueller investigation: The key figures

Former FBI director James Comey was the catalyst that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mr Comey was fired by the president after Mr Trump reportedly asked him to drop his own Russia investigation. Mr Trump has long maintained that the investigation is a "witch hunt".

AFP/Getty Images

Mueller investigation: The key figures

Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had authority over the special counsel investigation for much of the two years it has been active. Mr Rosenstein found himself with that responsibility after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from that oversight.

AP

Mueller investigation: The key figures

Attorney general Jeff Sessions's decision to recuse himself from oversight of the special counsel investigation may have cost him his job in the end. Mr Sessions resigned last year, after weathering a contentious relationship with Donald Trump who vocally criticised his attorney general for taking a step back. Mr Sessions recused himself from the oversight citing longstanding Justice Department rules to not be involved in investigations overseeing campaigns that officials were apart of.

AP

Mueller investigation: The key figures

Attorney General William Barr is currently responsible for oversight of the special counsel investigation. Mr Barr's office will be the first to receive the Mueller report when it is finished. His office will then determine what portion or version of that report should be delivered to Congress, and also made public.

EPA

Mueller investigation: The key figures

Michal Cohn is the president's former personal lawyer, who has been helping the special counsel investigation as a part of a plea deal over financial crimes, and campaign finance crimes, he has pleaded guilty to. Among those crimes, Cohen admitted to facilitating $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Cohen has said he did so at the direction of Mr Trump. Cohen has also admitted that he maintained contacts with Russian officials about a potential Trump real estate project in Moscow for months longer than Mr Trump and others admitted. The talks continued well into 2016 during the campaign, he has said.

AP

Mueller investigation: The key figures

Stormy Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, soon after Melania Trump gave birth to Baron Trump. The accusation is of particular importance as a result of the $130,000 hush money payment she received to keep quiet about the affair during the 2016 campaign.

AP

Mueller investigation: The key figures

Paul Manafort was Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort was charged alongside Rick Gates for a slew of financial crimes, and was convicted on several counts in a Virginia court. He then pleaded guilty to separate charges filed in a Washington court. Manafort has been sentenced to just 7.5 years in prison for his crimes — in spite of recommendations from the special counsel's office for a much harsher sentence.

AP

Mueller investigation: The key figures

George Papadopoulos was one of the first individuals associated with the Trump campaign to be charged by the Mueller probe. He ultimately received a 14 day prison sentence for lying to investigators about contacts he had with Russian officials.

AP

Mueller investigation: The key figures

Roger Stone is a well known political fixer and operative, who has made a name for himself for some dirty tactics. He has been charged by the Mueller probe earlier this year, and he has been said to have had prior knowledge that WikiLeaks planned on publishing stolen emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016.

Getty Images

Mueller investigation: The key figures

Rick Gates was charged alongside former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for a range of crimes. Gates, who worked alongside Manafort for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. The two were charged with conspiracy and financial crimes. Gates pleaded guilty.

AP

Mueller investigation: The key figures

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first casualties of the Russia scandal, and was forced out of his position in the White House weeks after Donald Trump took office. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to "willfully" making fraudulent statements about contacts he had with Russian officials including former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn then lied to Vice President Mike Pence about that contact.

REUTERS

“We did not relish doing this, but we have no choice,” Nadler said after the vote.

The White House’s blockade, he said, “is an attack on the ability of the American people to know what the executive branch is doing.” He said, “This cannot be.”

But Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said it was disappointing that members of Congress “have chosen to engage in such inappropriate political theatrics.”

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Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for the live blog to load

Here's Trump's response to The NYT tax returns story.

"A highly inaccurate Fake News hit job!" he says.

Joe Sommerlad8 May 2019 11:57

Robert Mueller reportedly attempted to keep memos written by ex-FBI director James Comey secret to stop those he was investigating, including President Trump, from conspiring to get their stories straight, according to a court transcript made public on Tuesday.

Here's more.

Mueller tried to keep Comey memos secret to stop Trump allies faking their stories

Joe Sommerlad8 May 2019 12:15

Here's our report on the president's tax tweets.

Trump says his businesses lost so much because he was avoiding tax

Joe Sommerlad8 May 2019 12:30

A new poll finds Joe Biden five points ahead of Trump in the key red state of Arizona, according to The Hill.

The OH Predictive Insights poll found 49 percent support for Biden, compared to 44 percent for Trump. Seven percent remain undecided.

Joe Sommerlad8 May 2019 12:45

Fox News report the president's border strategy aims to "retain the best and brightest minds in the world".

Joe Sommerlad8 May 2019 13:00

Kellyanne Conway here using a folksy analogy to push the Republican line - adopted by Trump over the weekend - that there's actually no need for FBI special counsel Robert Mueller to account his own report.

Joe Sommerlad8 May 2019 13:20

A reminder of the growing impeachment talk from yesterday.

Joe Sommerlad8 May 2019 13:40

Seinfeld star Jason Alexander, forever George Costanza, has gone to war with Texas senator Ted Cruz and I for one couldn't be happier.

Joe Sommerlad8 May 2019 14:00

In the last hour, Trump has retweeted House minority leader Kevin McCarthy on National Teacher's Day and prescription drug pricing and Texas congressman Randy Weber on his attempt to get an anti-abortion bill through the House.

He also had this to say on trade with China, managing to squeeze in some Biden bashing.

Joe Sommerlad8 May 2019 14:09

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler joined CNN’s New Day this morning and said he anticipates Robert Mueller will testify about his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Grilled on whether he believed Donald Trump would stop Mueller from appearing before Congress, Mr Nadler said there was no legal means by which the president could stop the special counsel from appearing.

Chris Riotta8 May 2019 14:15

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