Donald Trump claims Nancy Pelosi would have leaked details of Iran raid to media
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A judge in New York has refused a request by Donald Trump’s legal team to have a defamation lawsuit brought against him by the writer E Jean Carroll dismissed, ensuring her allegations of sexual assault are heard while the president seeks re-election.
Mr Trump went after his domestic rivals over the Iran crisis during a wild campaign rally in Ohio on Thursday night, suggesting House speaker Nancy Pelosi would have leaked the US plan to assassinate Qassem Soleimani to the media had she had prior warning.
The president also told his supporters in Toledo the mission that killed the Quds commander was instigated to “preserve peace”, took credit for inspiring a revival of Christian faith in America and claimed 44th president Barack Obama had played too much golf in office and “violated the carbon footprint”.
On Friday, his administration announced sweeping and "punishing" sanctions against Iran, targeting key economic drivers like manufacturing, until the country "changes its behaviour", he said.
Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal
The Senator Majority Leader has threatened to coordinate with the White House as the president faces trial, and Speaker Pelosi refused to send impeachment articles passed by House Democrats without assurance from Senate Republicans that witnesses could be called and evidence be presented in an impartial trial. In a statement announcing next week's plans, Ms Pelosi said "McConnell does not want to present witnesses and documents to Senators and the American people so they can make an independent judgment about the president's actions."
Senator and double amputee Iraq War veteran issues stunning rebuke to Doug Collins after he claims Democrats 'love' terrorists
Georgia congressman Doug Collins, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, appeared on Fox News on Wednesday night to tell Lou Dobbs the Democrats are "in love with terrorists".
Ilinois senator Tammy Duckworth, a captain in the Army National Guard who lost both her legs in a rocket attack on her Black Hawk helicopter during the Iraq War in 2004, has hit back in stunning style on Twitter with a lesson in patriotism for Collins.
Who are the winners and losers in the US-Iran crisis?
Patrick Cockburn has the answer to the above question below and argues that both sides have actually gained from this week's stand-off as it becomes clear neither wants war.
Trump blasting out retweets as Pompeo, Mnuchin ready Iran sanctions briefing
Since Trump's tweet about Fox and Friends this morning, we've seen new fewer than 27 more - almost all of which are from Republican Senators on a wide variety of policy matters, from war powers and impeachment to pensions for coal miners.
Very much a back-to-business message being sent out, lord help us, belied by the president's extremely slim official schedule for the day.
Mike Pompeo and Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin are set to give a rare press briefing on the new sanctions against Iran in a little while.
Best-selling writers challenge Stephanie Grisham to finally give press briefing in exchange for $200,000 charitable donation
Speaking of press briefings, the Trump administration hates giving them and rarely bothers.
But best-selling authors Don Winslow and Stephen King have had enough and are challenging Trump's press secretary Stephanie Grisham to offer the first in over 300 days in exchange for a combined $200,000 (£153,000) donation to St Jude's children's hospital in Tennessee.
Grisham did not reply to the above tweet but told Jake Tapper on CNN: “If you have $200,000 to play with, why not just help children because it’s a good thing to do? Donations to charity should never come with strings attached."
Winslow answered her: “First, we both regularly donate to charity. Second, why do all Trump officials refuse to answer the most basic questions they are asked? Stop evading, Stephanie. Let’s try again: Why have you not held any White House press briefings for over 300 days? What are you afraid of?”
Bernie Sanders hires protester Joe Biden told to 'vote for Trump'
The Vermont senator and 2020 candidate has reportedly embarrassed Joe Biden, the frontrunner in the race for the Democratic nomination, by hiring activist Carlos E Rojas, whom Biden told to go away and "vote for Trump" after he dared t ask him about immigrant deportations under the Obama administration in South Carolina back in November.
Rojas, who previously led the immigrant rights group Movimiento Cosecha, announced on Facebook that he will work for the Sanders campaign as Latino Constituency Organizer for Iowa ahead of the February Iowa Caucuses.
"As someone who is part of the immigrants rights movement, I believe Sanders has the most progressive platform when it comes to immigration, foreign policy and the best approach when it comes to basic needs like healthcare and education," Rojas wrote.
"For me, working for Bernie Sanders, is beyond Bernie Sanders - it is about redefining the path we, as a nation, started walking in 2016 under 45. It is about rejecting white supremacy and the scapegoating of vulnerable communities and embracing popular ideals that resonate with a majority of americans like #HealthCareForAll #FreeCollegeEducation #FightFor15 #AbolishICE #CloseTheCamps #CancelCollegeDebt #EndWarsNow etc."
But Rojas is not the only person of note Bernie has had dealings with this week...
Mitch McConnell signs onto Republican impeachment dismissal resolution and walks Trump through trial format
On impeachment, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has signed onto Republican senator Josh Hawley's resolution to change the upper chamber's rules and allow for the House articles (abuse of power and obstruction of Congress) to be dismissed over Speaker Pelosi's decision to delay handing them over.
Hawley introduced to resolution earlier this week but his party do not currently have the votes to carry it through.
McConnell meanwhile spent part of yesterday in a private meeting with Trump, according to CNN, reportedly walking the president through the trial format and discussing the probable logistics of the process with him in detail.
Leader McConnell has already greatly annoyed Democrats by openly declaring he would not be an impartial player in the trial and would be taking his direction from the White House counsel, bragging about his intentions to Sean Hannity on Fox before Christmas.
Administration announces new sanctions against Iran
Mnuchin and Pompeo are speaking now in the James Brady Briefing Room of the White House on Iran and have announced new sanctions targeting "any individual owning, operating, trading with or assisting sectors of the Iranian economy, including construction, manufacturing, textiles and mining", 17 of which concern Tehran's steel and iron manufacturers.
Eight senior officials will also face sanctions, which, taken all together, will serve to cut the regime off from billions of dollars in revenue.
"We want Iran to simply behave like a normal nation," the secretary of state says. "We believe the sanctions that we impose today further that strategic objective."
Here's Pompeo attempting to clarify/fudge the question of whether Soleimani posed an "imminent threat" and intended to target America's embassies in the Middle East.
South Korea has said it conveyed a message from Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wishing him a happy birthday, which is believed to be on 8 January.
Returning from a visit to Washington, South Korea's presidential national security director Chung Eui-yong said Trump requested that Seoul deliver the message to Kim during a meeting at the White House this week. Chung did not disclose what the message specifically said, but said Seoul sent it to Pyongyang on Thursday through "proper means".
Kim last week opened the new year expressing deep frustration over stalled nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration and vowed to bolster his nuclear arsenal as a deterrent against "gangster-like" US sanctions and pressure. The North in past months has severed virtually all co-operation with the South, while demanding Seoul break away from Washington and restart inter-Korean economic projects held back by US-led sanctions. But the Koreas still operate a liaison office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong.
Seoul had lobbied hard for the resumption of nuclear negotiations, with Chung shuttling between Pyongyang and Washington to help set up the first summit between Kim and Trump in June 2018. But negotiations have faltered since the collapse of the second Kim-Trump meeting in February last year, when the US side rejected North Korean demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.
(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Trump and Kim met again in June and agreed to resume negotiations but an October working-level meeting in Sweden broke down over what the North Koreans described as the Americans' "old stance and attitude".
Despite the standstill in talks, the duo have both described their personal relationship as good. Trump has boasted about the "beautiful" letters he has received from Kim.
North Korea has never officially confirmed Kim's birth date but, while covering a 2014 visit to the country by basketball player Dennis Rodman, state media said the former NBA star had organised an exhibition game on 8 January to celebrate Kim's birthday.
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