Hope Hicks, a Trump top communications aide for eighteen months in 2017/18 tap danced through seven hours of a house judiciary committee interrogation about her time in the White House, with White House lawyers accompanying her steering her away from answering questions 155 times. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said little was learned … Read more
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s (alleged) press secretary has resigned, though in recent times after being caught out in a litany of lies, obfuscations and misspeaks, she has rarely spoken to the majority of the media. Born 13 August 1982 in Hope, Arkansas, she is the daughter of Mick Huckabee former Republican Governor of Arkansas and … Read more
Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s top aide, is under warning from an independent federal agency that oversees compliance with the Hatch Act that she has repeatedly violated the law by criticizing Democratic presidential candidates while speaking in her official capacity. They recommend she should be removed. Previously, when asked about the issue in late May, she … Read more
One of the most high profile miscarriages of justice in the USA in recent times in 1989 was the Central Park Five – five underage black and Hispanic teenagers were charged with rape and attempted murder despite their DNA not being found on the victim; and confessions were coerced out of them. Trump took out … Read more
The Cuba freeze is back on in earnest, upending Obama’s normalizing of relations in 2014 after 54 years of hostility. Trump’s slash-and-burn approach to anything his predecessor achieved has now resulted in further travel and other restrictions being slapped on. Not only is it contemptibly petty-minded, self-defeating and stupid as a policy driver, it’s downright … Read more
The battle between Congress demanding oversight of the president’s actions and a stonewalling Trump has moved up a notch. The non-appearance of Don McGahn, former White House counsel, called to testify under subpoena about the Mueller investigation, had been directed by Trump. House Judiciary Chair Jerrold Nadler has promised to take legal action. McGahn … Read more
Disgraced media mogul Conrad Black who was convicted of fraud and obstructing justice in 2007 and jailed for more than three years in the US has been granted a full pardon by Trump, about whom Black wrote a glowing biography last year. Trump describes him as a “friend” and mentions others who had vouched … Read more
Tit-for-tat increases in trade tariffs between Beijing and Washington have sent the Dow Jones into a screaming slide downwards and alarmed even Republican politicians with agricultural voters. The Washington Post announced that Trump ‘has no idea what he’s doing’ and said this was just his standard technique when nearing completion on a deal, … Read more
Ben Shapiro, the American right-wing political commentator, had a well-publicized spat on air with interviewer Andrew Neil last week and stomped off in the huff. He’s not that well known to Brits but in the US he has more than 2 million Twitter followers, 600,000 YouTube subscribers, and his videos rack up millions … Read more
The Middle Eastern war drums are beating louder – again – with John Bolton in Washington stoking up the rhetoric – again – for an attack on Iran; and the Iranians saying they may now back away from the nuclear restriction deal. This is their response to Trump’s shock move a year ago … Read more