(WASHINGTON) — A Republican congresswoman’s effort to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in inherent contempt for refusing to turn over audio tapes of special counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Joe Biden failed on Thursday.
Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s measure was rejected in a 204 to 210 vote.
Four Republicans — Reps. John Duarte, David Joyce, Michael Turner and Tom McClintock — voted with Democrats to take down the measure. There were a number of Republicans absent from the vote.
The resolution, which was introduced as privileged on the House floor Wednesday night by Rep. Luna, aimed to fine Garland $10,000 per day until he complied with a congressional subpoena.
The vote came after two Democratic efforts to table, or effectively kill, the measure late Wednesday were unsuccessful. It also comes after House Republican leaders urged Rep. Luna at a closed-door GOP conference meeting earlier this week to not bring it up for a vote this week.
But Rep. Luna forged ahead with her effort anyway with the blessing of former President Donald Trump.
A Department of Justice spokesperson, ahead of the vote, said, “This is unconstitutional. We are confident our arguments would prevail in court.”
House Republicans voted on June 12 to hold Garland in contempt of Congress over the Biden-Hur audio recordings. Just one Republican, Rep. David Joyce of Ohio, voted against that contempt effort. A few weeks later, on July 1, the House Judiciary sued the Department of Justice to obtain the audio.
The Justice Department declined to prosecute Garland for contempt of Congress, citing what it called longstanding policy against prosecuting an attorney general. House Speaker Mike Johnson, in response, said the House would “move to enforce the subpoena of Attorney General Garland in federal court.”
What is inherent contempt?
According to the Congressional Research Service, the inherent contempt power can involve the arrest of the individual who fails to comply with a subpoena or a monetary fine.
“Such a fine would potentially have the advantage of avoiding a court proceeding on habeas corpus grounds, as the contemnor would never be jailed or detained,” the report states.
History of inherent contempt
Inherent contempt was last in the news when House Democrats threatened to hold Trump administration officials accountable as they sought Trump’s tax records.
At the time, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, much like Speaker Johnson today, urged patience but left it on the table as an option to keep readily available.
“So, in inherent contempt you send a subpoena, they don’t honor it then hold them in contempt and if they do not comply then you can fine them,” Pelosi explained in May 2019. “And then you can hold them accountable for the money that you fine them.”
The inherent contempt process has not been successfully executed in Congress since 1934 — when the Senate arrested William MacCracken Jr., a Washington aviation industry lawyer, for refusing to cooperate with a Senate investigation. This case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in 1935 that Congress had acted constitutionally.
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is facing a critical point in his reelection bid as Democratic calls for him to exit the 2024 race continue to mount despite his efforts to shut them down.
A poor debate performance against Donald Trump reignited questions about Biden’s age and fitness to carry out his campaign and serve another four years. Biden has defiantly insisted he is staying the course, telling lawmakers this week he is not going anywhere.
Trump, who has kept a relatively low-profile as anxious Democrats publicly and privately air concerns, returned to the campaign trail on Tuesday with a rally in Florida.
Senate Democrats met with top Biden campaign officials behind closed doors Thursday for about two hours trying to lay out the path to victory for the president.
One senator said the meeting was ‘tense’ at times.
A number of senators expressed concerns about the president being shielded by his advisers, two sources with knowledge of the meeting told ABC News.
Some senators stated they were being put in “difficult,” “impossible” or “untenable” positions by having to defend the president to constituents back home after the debate, especially for those senators in tough races, according to the sources.
No Biden campaign polling was shared with senators but instead Biden’s advisers laid out a strategy, including showcasing the president’s record, going after Trump, campaigning on a second-term agenda and building out the coalition of voters, sources said.
One senator who spoke to ABC News said, “I needed to see hard data that showed a path to success in November and we did not get that.”
“I continue to have concerns that only Joe Biden can address, not his campaign staff,” the senator said.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott and Allison Pecorin
Jul 11, 4:40 PM EDT 13th House Democrat calls on Biden to bow out
Arizona Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton became the 13th House member to openly call on Biden to leave the race Thursday.
Stanton touted Biden’s years of work in his statement but said the president’s “most defining legacy, though, is as a fierce defender of American democracy.
“The Democratic Party must have a nominee who can effectively make the case against Trump, and have the confidence of the American people to handle the rigors of the hardest job on the planet for the next four years,” Stanton said.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
Jul 11, 4:17 PM EDT 12th House Democrat joins calls for Biden to step aside
Democratic Rep. Ed Case of Hawaii became the latest House member to call on the president to cease his reelection run.
Case released a statement Thursday saying, “Difficult times and realities require difficult decisions.”
“This has nothing to do with his character and record. If it did, there would be no decision to make,” he said. “This is solely about the future, about the President’s ability to continue in the most difficult job in the world for another four-year term.”
-ABC News’ John Parkinson
Jul 11, 3:38 PM EDT Macron says he’s ‘happy’ to have Biden as president
A foreign pool reporter at the third working session at the NATO summit taking place in Washington asked French President Emmanuel Macron what his impression of Biden was.
“I don’t understand your question about President Biden. He is my counterpart, he is the President of the United States, and we are happy to have him as the president of the United States,” Macron replied.
Macron spent ample time with Biden just a month ago during his visit to France.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
Jul 11, 3:34 PM EDT Wisconsin radio station admits it edited Biden interview at request of campaign
The Wisconsin radio station that hosted Biden last week for an interview edited the conversation at the request of the campaign, cutting out two of Biden’s soundbites, the station said in a statement Thursday.
“On Monday, July 8th, it was reported to Civic Media management that immediately after the phone interview was recorded, the Biden campaign called and asked for two edits to the recording before it aired. Civic Media management immediately undertook an investigation and determined that the production team at the time viewed the edits as non-substantive and broadcast and published the interview with two short segments removed,” Civic Media said.
Specifically a line from the interview “… and in addition to that, I have more Blacks in my administration than any other president, all other presidents combined, and in major positions, Cabinet positions,” was removed.
A piece of dialogue referencing Donald Trump’s call for the death penalty for the Central Park Five, “I don’t know if they even call for their hanging or not, but he—but they said […] convicted of murder,” was also removed.
The station acknowledged that the moves fell short of “journalistic interview standards,” but the station said it stands by host Earl Ingram, who conducted the interview.
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin, Will McDuffie, Fritz Farrow and Gabriella Abdul-Hakim
Jul 11, 1:57 PM EDT Jeffries refuses to comment on Biden’s candidacy, says House Democrats’ conversations ongoing
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries remained tight-lipped on Biden’s candidacy as he continued to take the temperature of the House Democratic caucus.
“Throughout this week, as House Democrats, we have engaged in a process of talking to each other. Those conversations have been candid, comprehensive, and clear eyed and they continue until that process concluded,” Jeffries said during a news conference Thursday.
“House Democrats, Senate Democrats and President Biden are unified on the affirmative agenda that we have for the American people,” the New York congressman added.
Jeffries responded “no” when asked if Biden is a liability for vulnerable House Democrats.
Jul 11, 12:56 PM EDT More House Democrats signal doubt on Biden
New York Rep. Ritchie Torres posted a statement on X Thursday expressing more doubts about Biden’s viability on the presidential ticket.
Torres, who represents the Bronx, said the president “simply had one bad debate performance reflects a continuing pattern of denial and self-delusion
“The notion that the President is going to be saved by this interview or that press conference misses the forest for trees,” he said.
Ohio Rep. Greg Landsman said he is inching “close and closer” to calling on Biden to step aside in an interview Thursday on CNN.
“It’s becoming increasingly likely that this is, this may be just too high of a hill for him to climb,” he said.
Landsman said Biden’s letter to congressional Democrats on Monday did not help.
“The question is about the future of the country,” he added.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
Jul 11, 12:55 PM EDT Biden campaign lays out path forward in new internal memo
The Biden campaign is laying out what it sees as its path forward to Joe Biden winning reelection in a new memo shared internally with campaign staff on Thursday by Jen O’Malley Dillon and Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a source familiar with the campaign told ABC News.
The memo, first reported by the AP, acknowledges anxieties but claims they still have “multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes.”
The memo was revealed after Democrats had demanded Biden and his campaign show how it planned to win despite Biden’s poor poll numbers.
The campaign said it will focus on winning the “blue wall” states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, and believes that the “sunbelt states are not out of reach.”
The memo states the race remains a margin-of-error race in key battleground states, despite calls for Biden to step down citing internal data.
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow and Will McDuffie
Jul 11, 12:31 PM EDT Senators discuss upcoming briefing by top Biden campaign officials
Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. spoke with ABC News Thursday morning about Thursday’s scheduled lunch between Democratic senators and top Biden campaign officials.
Welch, who is, so far, the only Democratic senator to call for Biden to step aside, said the path forward involved the president persuading voters, not advisers persuading senators.
“It’s a show me not tell me issue. I think for Americans it’s not so much about individual senators or members of Congress,” Welch said. “It’s really about the challenge of everyday campaign.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., told ABC News he’s putting a bit more weight into Thursday’s meeting with the Biden officials.
“We are very interested to hear how they make their case,” he said.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott and Allison Pecorin
Jul 11, 11:29 AM EDT 10th House Democrat calls on Biden to step aside
Michigan Rep. Hillary Scholten has added her name to the growing list of House Democrats who are calling on Biden to end his presidential election bid.
The congresswoman said in a statement posted on X Thursday that it “is essential that we have the strongest possible candidate leading the top of the ticket — not just to win, but to govern.”
“The people of Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District elected me to represent them with integrity. They elected a Congresswoman they trust to speak the truth, even when it’s hard. They voted for someone who would put America’s future first and stand up for what is right. That’s what I am doing now,” Scholten, who represents Grand Rapids, said.
She is the 10th sitting House Democrat to call for Biden to step aside.
Scholten noted that if Biden stayed in the race, she would “respect his decision,” and still vote for him.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
Jul 11, 10:07 AM EDT Biden press conference slides back an hour
The White House announced Thursday morning that the much-anticipated Biden’s press conference will now start at 6:30 p.m. local time in Washington, instead of the previous 5:30 p.m. start time.
Biden has a busy day of meetings tied to the NATO summit ahead of the press conference, including a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The presser will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, and is his first solo press conference in eight months.
Jul 10, 9:39 PM EDT White House confirms time Biden will speak to media Thursday
President Joe Biden will take questions from the media on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. ET, his first press conference since the controversy over his candidacy erupted following his debate performance.
Biden has had fewer pressers with the media than his predecessors and the last time he took questions solo was back in November 2023.
The upcoming press briefing is being held at the Washington Convention Center, where Biden will spend a third day at the 2024 NATO Summit.
Jul 10, 2024, 7:35 PM EDT First senator joins growing calls for Biden to drop out
Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont called for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race in a Washington Post op-ed published Wednesday evening.
Welch is the first Senate Democrat to officially call for Biden to step aside.
“I understand why President Biden wants to run. He saved us from Donald Trump once and wants to do it again. But he needs to reassess whether he is the best candidate to do so. In my view, he is not,” Welch wrote.
“I deliver this assessment with sadness. Vermont loves Joe Biden. President Biden and Vice President Harris received a larger vote percentage here than in any other state. But regular Vermonters are worried that he can’t win this time, and they’re terrified of another Trump presidency,” he said.
Jul 10, 2024, 6:47 PM EDT Ninth Democrat calls for Biden to withdraw from the race
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., became the ninth Democrat to call on Biden to end his reelection bid.
Blumenauer, a senior member of the House Ways and Means and Budget committees, commended the president for his accomplishments, claiming in a statement released Wednesday that Biden “will be recorded in history as the most successful president in the last 50 years.”
However, the congressmen added that, in his mind, “We will all be better served if the president steps aside as the Democratic nominee and manages a transition under his terms.”
“The next six months will be critical in the implementation of President Biden’s landmark accomplishments that will define his legacy for generations to come. He should devote his energy and undivided attention to issues of war and peace, the climate crisis, and rebuilding and renewing America,” Blumenauer said, in part.
Jul 10, 2024, 6:39 PM EDT AFL-CIO calls on Democrats to unite behind Biden
The AFL-CIO for the second time in a week put out a statement in support of President Joe Biden after unanimously voting to reaffirm their support for the Biden-Harris ticket, saying that they are the “most pro-union administration in our lifetimes.”
The union, which endorsed the Biden-Harris campaign in June 2023, urged Democrats to support Biden saying, “The labor movement is united behind President Biden and Vice President Harris. We urge his party and the American people to join us.”
“The message from today’s meeting couldn’t have been clearer: Right now, it’s time to come together around a vision of a country where everyone has a fair shot with a living wage, affordable health care, retirement security, and time to do the things we love like spending time with family and friends and pursuing our interests and passions. These are fundamental to, as the president reiterated to our meeting, building the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not the top down,” the AFL-CIO Executive Council said in a statement.
Jul 10, 5:46 PM EDT Newsom says he won’t challenge Harris, reiterates support for Biden
California Gov. Gavin Newsom was again asked about the future of President Biden’s campaign and whether he’d challenge Vice President Kamala Harris if she took the ticket during a news conference on the ongoing wildfires Wednesday.
Newsom stood by comments he made in 2023 when he said he would not run against Harris.
The governor reiterated that he is still backing Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee.
“I think I’ve had 100 media outlets asking the same question, and I think that I’ve amply answered my support for the president and the support I saw on the ground was demonstrable,” he said.
Newsom said he didn’t read the full comments that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave on MSNBC where she said, “It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run.”
He also said he had not read George Clooney’s New York Times op-ed that called on Biden to bow out.
Jul 10,4:48 PM EDT Morale ‘very low’ at White House as staff frustrated by Clooney op-ed: Source
Morale “is very low in the building,” a person who works regularly with senior level White House staff told ABC News Wednesday.
Some in President Joe Biden’s inner circle, including senior adviser Anita Dunn and chief of staff Jeff Zients, are said to be very frustrated and upset by George Clooney’s op-ed in the New York Times in which he calls on Biden to step aside, the source said.
The donor class is also deeply divided, a Democratic adviser told ABC News.
Although small donations continue to pour in and the very largest donors are doubling down, the huge swath of donors in the middle are holding back, according to the adviser. That group of donors, which gives anywhere from five to eight figures, are on pause, which is very damaging since they’re a major part of the donor ecosystem, the adviser said.
This adviser adds that the hand-wringing in the meantime has been very harmful to the campaign.
Another Democratic fundraiser says while a strong performance at the solo press conference Thursday could help the situation, many donors believe the crisis around Biden just won’t go away.
The doubts raised by members of Congress, the comments from Nancy Pelosi, and the op-ed from George Clooney are all fueling a flurry of discussions among donors about what to do if Biden drops out.
-ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang
Jul 10, 3:33 PM EDT Biden to hold one-on-one interview with NBC’s Lester Holt
President Joe Biden will hold a one-on-one interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt Monday, the network announced.
This will mark the second TV interview Biden has held since last month’s presidential debate.
Holt will interview Biden earlier in the day while he’s in Austin, Texas, and the full interview will air at 9 p.m. ET, the network announced.
Jul 10, 3:24 PM EDT Republican presses top officials on Biden’s mental fitness
In back-to-back House Financial Services Committee hearings with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, both regular, annual hearings on their agency’s policies, Republican Mike Lawler of New York redirected from questions about inflation and tariffs on Russia to ask each official about their personal interactions with the president.
Yellen said she wouldn’t describe the content of her meetings with the president or say when she last met with him because it was “private,” but she called Biden “extremely effective.”
“The president is extremely effective in the meetings that I’ve been in with him, that includes many international meetings that are multi hour, like his meetings with President Xi [Jinping of China],” she said.
“Madam secretary, have there been any discussions among Cabinet secretaries about invoking the 25th Amendment?” Lawler asked.
“No,” Yellen said resolutely. The 25th Amendment states that the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet can together remove power from the president if he or she is incapacitated.
Powell, asked by Lawler if he’s “noticed any mental or cognitive decline” in meetings with the president, said “no.”
But Powell noted that he’d only interacted with the president twice in the last two years — once for a meeting and once to shake his hand at a state dinner, which Powell said was normal for presidents and Federal Reserve chairs, given the independence of the agency.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Jul 10, 3:23 PM EDT Concern over Biden’s future grows among Democratic senators
Multiple Senate Democrats spoke candidly with ABC News about concerns they have about Biden’s viability and said they want to continue discussions about the best path forward.
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he is worried about “an existential threat to the country if Donald Trump wins,” and added “every day is critical” as Biden weighs his path forward.
“I have confidence in Joe Biden doing what’s right for America. What he believes is right for America is to defeat Donald Trump and he’ll be a pretty good judge of whether that will be possible,” Blumenthal said. “We can all advise him we can raise concerns ultimately the decision is his and I am going to continue to raise concerns but I do think we need to ultimately unify because the existential threat here is Donald Trump.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, associated himself with the comments of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi made on MSNBC Wednesday, in which she appeared to leave the door open for the president to step aside.
“I thought Speaker Pelosi nailed it pretty well this morning,” Whitehouse told ABC News. He repeatedly avoided answering additional questions about whether Biden should resign before reiterating his support for Pelosi’s comments.
Although Sen. Dick Durbin told ABC News Durbin he was “very concerned” about Biden’s chances, he added that he’s always known the race would be close.
“I believe we wage the right campaign and make a point of what we’ve achieved under this president we will see him reelected,” Durbin said.
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who expressed worries about Biden’s future during a closed-door meeting among Senate Democrats Tuesday, told ABC News he was hearing legitimate concerns from voters.
“My job is to listen to them my job is to go to hearings like this to fight for lower drug prices to fight for Ohio workers,” Brown said.
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin and Rachel Scott
Jul 10, 2:07 PM EDT 8th House Democrat calls on Biden to step aside
New York Rep. Pat Ryan, a moderate Democrat, is now calling on Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee.
“Trump is an existential threat to American democracy; it is our duty to put forward the strongest candidate against him,” Ryan wrote on X. “Joe Biden is a patriot but is no longer the best candidate to defeat Trump. For the good of our country, I am asking Joe Biden to step aside — to deliver on his promise to be a bridge to a new generation of leaders.”
Ryan is the eighth House Democrat to publicly call on Biden to step aside.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
Jul 10, 2:03 PM EDT Biden gives a fist pump when asked about Pelosi’s comments
Despite her remarks, Biden suggested he still has Pelosi’s support to continue his reelection campaign.
“Is Nancy Pelosi still behind you?” Biden was asked after taking a family photo with NATO leaders.
The president didn’t say anything, but flexed his arm and fist in the air.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Jul 10, 1:58 PM EDT Debate over future of Biden’s candidacy continues
After a day of closed-door Democratic meetings where lawmakers appeared to be absorbing the sober reality that Biden would stay as the party’s presumptive nominee, new comments on Wednesday stirred fresh debate on Biden’s viability and path forward.
First, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was noncommittal on whether she wanted Biden to continue to run despite Biden insisting repeatedly that he had decided to stay in the race.
“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” Pelosi said on MSNBC. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”
Then, George Clooney, in a stinging New York Times op-ed, said Biden should step aside.
“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,” Clooney wrote. “He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
(WASHINGTON) — As concern over President Joe Biden’s fundraising prospects in the wake of his debate performance reaches a fever pitch, a number of Democratic senatorial candidates from hotly-contested races are reporting record hauls.
This week, at least six Senate candidates competing in highly targeted races are reporting that they’ve raked in millions of dollars in the second quarter of this year: Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio raised a whopping $12.8 million, Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona raised $10.4 million, Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada raised $7.6 million, Rep. Colin Allred of Texas raised $10.5 million and former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell of Florida raised $4.8 million. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, the leading Democrat seeking her state’s open Senate seat, brought in $6.45 million during the last fundraising quarter, her campaign said.
For some, like Rosen, Gallego and Slotkin, those yields are their largest thus far this cycle, according to their campaigns — with a swath of the money coming from first-time donors.
The gains come as Democratic donors — some high-profile — have said they are ready to shift money from the Biden campaign to down ballot races amid a frenzy in Washington over the possibility of a second Trump term in the White House and fear that competitive congressional races could be negatively affected by Biden staying at the top of the ticket amid concern over his age and mental cognition.
“I talked to a bunch of big donors, and they’re moving all their money to Congress and the Senate,” Endeavor CEO and Democratic donor Ari Emanuel said at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado in early July.
‘”We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate,” Hollywood icon and Democratic donor George Clooney wrote in his New York Times op-ed published on Wednesday, which called for Biden to drop out of the race.
Biden’s politically devastating debate performance came just a few days before the U.S. Supreme Court delivered the presidential immunity ruling that benefited Donald Trump. Coupled together, a national Democrat with knowledge of Senate races told ABC News, the events have triggered a surge of support for Senate Democrats from both grassroots and major donors.
In the week following the debate and the ruling, multiple major donors sent new six-figure contributions to Democratic campaigns, they said, with one major donor increasing their support this week for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee by 50%.
The DSCC has had its largest major donor fundraising month in June since 2008, the national Democrat said, with its digital and grassroots fundraising operation breaking multiple records in the days after the debate, marking its strongest online fundraising stretch this cycle.
A number of high-dollar donors are considering putting their donations to Biden on pause, as the “freakout” among donors continues to escalate. Some donors who have spoken with ABC News indicated that they were halting their financial support with uncertainty where it would go next– potentially to congressional races.
Senate Campaigns report seeing significant fundraising boosts post debate
One Senate campaign from a battleground state told ABC News that in the aftermath of the debate, a swell of major-dollar donors doubled down on their investments and small dollar donations overperformed projections by 150%.
Another Senate campaign, from a different battleground state, told ABC News that it saw a real increase in donors, both grassroots and high-dollar donors the 72 hours after the debate — “some of our strongest fundraising days.”
“It isn’t surprising that there would be a surge of donations towards Democratic senators and Senate candidates, I think that is entirely because they know that the Senate is a stopgap against the court if Donald Trump becomes president again,” said Justin Barasky, a Democratic strategist who formerly served as a senior adviser to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
“Democratic donors are watching the Supreme Court repeatedly attack fundamental freedoms, and they know the only way to ensure the court doesn’t push our country even further towards authoritarian rule is to elect as many Democratic senators as possible. The surge that has happened is not surprising, if donors are worried about the White House. It isn’t surprising that they have sort of surged money towards Dem[ocratic] Senate candidates and Senators because … they can stop a hypothetical President Trump from appointing more bad justices,” Barasky added.
For Gallego, who is likely to face Republican firebrand Kari Lake for retiring independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat in Arizona, 50% of his 119,000 donors were giving to his bid for the first time, according to his campaign.
For Rosen in Nevada, more than 33,000 donors to her campaign were first-time contributors, they said, and 96% of the donations were $100 or less. The incumbent is set to face off against Republican Sam Brown in November.
Last quarter’s fundraising haul is the most that Slotkin has raised since she jumped into the race for Michigan’s open Senate seat in February 2023, according to her campaign, with 56% of those donors new.
Slotkin said Wednesday that she’s listening to constituents and voters in Michigan before “doing anything out of emotion” regarding taking a stance on Biden remaining the party’s nominee.
“I’m going to do what’s best for the things that I can control,” Slotkin told The Detroit News. “In the end, the decision is Biden’s — only he can make this decision. All I can do is provide thoughts and input and understanding about where Michigan is, but it’s over to him.”
State of the Senate amid concern for Biden’s candidacy
Unlike House Democrats, senators from the party have remained pretty mum on Biden’s White House bid — with Sen. Peter Welch of Massachusetts, becoming the first from the upper chamber to call for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race in an op-ed on Wednesday.
But like Slotkin, some of the most vulnerable Democratic Senate candidates have attempted to distance themselves from Biden following the debate.
Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, who is one of two Democratic Senate candidates trying to hold onto seats in states where Trump won, said that Biden needs to “prove” to him that he’s up for the job.
“President Biden has got to prove to the American people — including me — that he’s up to the job for another four years. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to do what I’ve always done: Stand up to President Biden when he’s wrong and protect our Montana way of life,” Tester said in a statement to ABC News.
Tester and Brown, the other red-state incumbent Democrat in the Senate, during a closed-door meeting among Senate Democrats Tuesday was among a group that conveyed concerns about Biden’s ability to win in November.
Approached by ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott about that reporting, Brown was tight-lipped.
“I am hearing legitimate concerns from Ohio voters,” Brown said when asked about his confidence in Biden. “My job is to listen to them, my job is to go to hearings like this to fight for lower drug prices to fight for Ohio workers.”
Senate Democrats are largely out-performing Biden in most polls of battleground states. Though just this week, the Cook Political Report reported worsening ratings for Democrats in six close states, including Nevada and Arizona. Thus, Democratic Senate candidates will need a steady stream of fundraising in order to maintain control of the chamber.
On Thursday, Senate Democrats were holding a special caucus lunch to hear from senior Biden advisers Mike Donilon and Steve Richetti, and Biden Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon. The lunch will take place Thursday afternoon at the DSCC headquarters in Washington D.C, according to a source close to Senate Democratic leadership.
ABC News’ Allie Pecorin, Zohreen Shah, Selina Wang and Rachel Scott contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden’s campaign Thursday laid out what it views as its path to victory in an internal memo as the Democratic Party convulses over the fallout from his shocking debate last month.
The memo, obtained by ABC News, is from campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, who said that Biden’s “clearest pathway” to victory runs through the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, though it insists that states such as Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina aren’t “out of reach.”
Still, the two campaign leaders conceded that “movement” after the debate is “real” but “not a sea-change in the state of the race.”
The memo insisted that the Biden campaign is “not only prepared to win a close election, it has been designed to win a close election from the beginning” and that much of the work moving forward will be dedicated to framing the race as a choice between Biden and former President Donald Trump.
“We know, both from election results and from research, that when the choice is between Donald Trump’s extremism and Joe Biden’s record of delivering for the American people — and when Democrats have an operation capable of persuading and mobilizing voters on the ground — we win,” O’Malley Dillon and Chavez Rodriguez wrote.
The memo comes as the president and his inner circle fight back slowly growing calls for him to drop out of the 2024 race, with Democrats worrying that his debate performance — characterized by meandering answers and an empty gaze — would turn off voters who polls showed were already concerned the 81-year-old president wasn’t fit for a second term.
Speculation has spiked over how Vice President Kamala Harris would fare against Trump should Biden drop out, though other names bandied about as replacements include Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Georgia Gov. Sen. Raphael Warnock.
The Biden campaign doubled down on its assertions that Biden is best situated to take Trump on, a claim that some Democrats have scoffed at.
“There is also no indication that anyone else would outperform the president vs. Trump,” the memo said. “Hypothetical polling of alternative nominees will always be unreliable, and surveys do not take into account the negative media environment that any Democratic nominee will encounter. The only Democratic candidate for whom this is already baked in is President Biden.”
However, polling shows a steep climb ahead for Biden.
An ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll released Thursday showed a statistically tied horse race with Trump, but that 85% of Americans believe that he is too old for a second term and that 54% of Biden supporters think he should drop out of the race.
The Associated Press first reported on the Biden campaign’s memo.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden’s campaign is testing head-to-head matchups of Vice President Kamala Harris against former President Donald Trump, a source familiar with the strategy told ABC News.
It’s a strategic shift that comes with increasing scrutiny on whether Biden should end his 2024 reelection campaign, as a growing number Democrats are calling on him to step aside.
The source cast the move as a response to the fact that Trump has begun to attack Harris in his public statements and speeches.
“Donald Trump shifted his stump speech. We’d be dumb not to adjust,” the source told ABC News. “We obviously pay close attention to what he is saying.”
The New York Times was first to report on the campaign’s actions.
A new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll found Biden continues to run evenly with Trump: Americans were divided 46-47% between Biden and Trump if the election were today.
But two-thirds of Americans, including a majority of Biden’s supporters, said he should step down as his party’s presumptive nominee. On the issue of age, 85% of respondents said Biden he is too old for a second term, up a few points from April.
Were Harris to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee, the poll found Harris leading Trump 49-46% among all adults and 49-47% among registered voters.
Harris recently defended Biden as she’s hit the campaign trail.
“Now, we always knew this election would be tough,” she said on Tuesday at as the campaign launched an outreach effort to Asian American voters. “And the past few days have been a reminder that running for president of the United States is never easy.”
“But the one thing we know about our President Joe Biden, is that he is a fighter, and he is the first to say, ‘when you get knocked down you get back up,'” Harris said.
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden, facing a political crisis as Democrats question the viability of his campaign and mental fitness, will be put to the test on Thursday when he holds his first solo news conference of the year.
The high-stakes moment is an opportunity for Biden to change the narrative after his poor debate performance triggered a drumbeat of concerns in his own party that he might be too weakened to win against Donald Trump this November.
But any stumbles in the unscripted setting could add fuel to the fire, despite Biden’s repeated attempts to rebuff his critics and his insistence that he is staying in the race.
Many Democrats have said they need to see Biden clearly answer questions without faltering or losing his train of thought — what so alarmed them about his debate showing with Trump two weeks ago.
The news conference will come after Biden concludes hosting a NATO summit in Washington.
Biden kicked that off with a strong speech on the strength of the alliance, which is marking its 75th anniversary, and an announcement of new air defense capabilities for Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
But overshadowing the international gathering was Biden’s domestic political fate amid debate over his ability to lead the U.S. for another four years and the possibility of a second Trump presidency threatening NATO policy on Ukraine — and the alliance itself.
Those questions have been top of mind for congressional Democrats this week as they returned to Washington after the holiday weekend and have been huddling behind closed doors to discuss the path forward.
Biden tried to preemptively block criticism in a defiant letter to Democrats on Monday, in which he said it was time to “come together” and that he is “firmly committed” to staying in this race to the end.
But there are now nine House Democrats and one Democratic senator who have called on Biden to resign. Privately, many have expressed concern about the possibility of not only losing the presidency but also the House and Senate if Biden remains atop of the ticket.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told his colleagues he plans to relay their concerns about Biden’s campaign to Biden himself, multiple people familiar with his comments told ABC News.
Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have publicly backed Biden. Schumer simply told reporters, “I’m with Joe” when he was peppered with questions on Biden’s candidacy.
But seeming doubt from one of the most prominent Democrats in Washington, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, prompted a fresh wave of outcry and concern.
When asked during an appearance on MSNBC if Biden had her support, Pelosi said it was “up to the president to decide if he is going to run” and that she wants him to “do whatever he decides to do.”
In the whirlwind days following the debate, Democrats urged Biden to do more public appearances and off-the-cuff exchanges.
Biden sat down for his first post-debate television interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos in an effort to course correct, during which he largely dismissed broader concerns about his fitness and said he would only drop out if “Lord Almighty” told him to.
Thursday’s news conference will be Biden’s first solo one since November, though he’s held joint news conferences with various world leaders four times since then. The White House, while not stating how many questions Biden will take, said it will be more than what is allotted during a joint presser.
“He’s looking forward to it,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “And he will be taking your questions. So, that’ll be a good thing.”
U.S. President Joe Biden during the first presidential debate with former U.S. President Donald Trump, not pictured, in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Two-thirds of Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll — including a majority of Joe Biden’s own supporters — say he should step aside as his party’s presumptive nominee for president given his debate performance two weeks ago. That’s even as Biden continues to run evenly with Donald Trump, with no meaningful post-debate change in vote preferences.
Americans divide 46-47% between Biden and Trump if the election were today, almost identical to a 44-46% ABC/Ipsos poll result in April. Among registered voters (though there’s plenty of time to register) it’s an absolute tie, 46-46%.
Were Vice President Kamala Harris to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee, vote choices are 49-46%, Harris-Trump, among all adults (and 49-47% among registered voters). Harris’ 49% is slightly better than Biden’s 46%, although she doesn’t have a statistically significant lead over Trump.
This doesn’t mean Biden didn’t take on damage from the debate. Sixty-seven percent overall say he should withdraw from the race. More, 85%, now say he is too old for a second term, a new high, up from an already-broad 81% in April and 68% just more than a year ago.
Further, the poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates with fieldwork by Ipsos, finds Trump leading Biden by 30 percentage points, 44%-14%, in being seen as having the mental sharpness it takes to serve effectively as president. Trump’s lead is about as wide in being seen as having the physical health to serve, and his advantages on both have widened since April.
As the horse race shows, those views may not be determinative. Biden’s job approval rating is stable, albeit at a weak 36%. Though neither is broadly popular, Biden continues to have a better personal favorability rating than Trump. And Biden leads Trump by 17 points, 39%-22%, in being seen as more honest and trustworthy, essentially unchanged from the spring.
Both candidates face a high degree of scorn. About 4 in 10 Americans say neither has the mental sharpness or the physical health to serve effectively, and as many say neither is honest and trustworthy. Sixty percent say Trump is too old for a second term, also a new high, up from 44% in spring 2023. And in a sign of the nation’s political polarization, 50% say that given his debate performance, Trump should step aside in favor of another nominee — although, in contrast with Biden, very few of Trump’s own supporters say so.
It’s clearly Biden who suffered more reputational harm from the debate. Half of Americans say it left them with a less favorable opinion of him, versus 22% who say that about Trump’s performance. Twenty-seven percent see Trump more favorably because of the debate, versus just 7% for Biden on this measure.
Even among people who say they’ll vote for Biden in November, 81% say he is too old for another term and just 44% say he should continue in the race; 54% say he should step aside. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, more — 62% — say he should go. (For comparison, just 16% of Republicans and GOP leaners say Trump should withdraw.)
Should Biden withdraw — and he maintains he won’t — just 44% of Americans overall say they’d be satisfied with Harris as the Democratic nominee, with 53% dissatisfied. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, however, satisfaction with Harris reaches 70%, and it’s 76% among current Biden supporters.
Taken another way, in an open-ended question, Democrats and Democratic leaners were asked whom they’d like to see take Biden’s place if he withdrew. Twenty-nine percent named Harris, easily the leading choice in this group, with all others in the single digits. Still, demonstrating fragmentation, more than 30 potential candidates were named.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is facing a critical point in his reelection bid as Democratic calls for him to exit the 2024 race continue to mount despite his efforts to shut them down.
A poor debate performance against Donald Trump reignited questions about Biden’s age and fitness to carry out his campaign and serve another four years. Biden has defiantly insisted he is staying the course, telling lawmakers this week he is not going anywhere.
Trump, who has kept a relatively low-profile as anxious Democrats publicly and privately air concerns, returned to the campaign trail on Tuesday with a rally in Florida.
Here’s how the news is developing:
9:39 PM EDT White House confirms time Biden will speak to media Thursday
President Joe Biden will take questions from the media on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. ET, his first press conference since the controversy over his candidacy erupted following his debate performance.
Biden has had fewer pressers with the media than his predecessors and the last time he took questions solo was back in November 2023.
The upcoming press briefing is being held at the Washington Convention Center, where Biden will spend a third day at the 2024 NATO Summit.
Jul 10, 2024, 7:35 PM EDT First senator joins growing calls for Biden to drop out
Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont called for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race in a Washington Post op-ed published Wednesday evening.
Welch is the first Senate Democrat to officially call for Biden to step aside.
“I understand why President Biden wants to run. He saved us from Donald Trump once and wants to do it again. But he needs to reassess whether he is the best candidate to do so. In my view, he is not,” Welch wrote.
“I deliver this assessment with sadness. Vermont loves Joe Biden. President Biden and Vice President Harris received a larger vote percentage here than in any other state. But regular Vermonters are worried that he can’t win this time, and they’re terrified of another Trump presidency,” he said.
Jul 10, 2024, 6:47 PM EDT Ninth Democrat calls for Biden to withdraw from the race
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., became the ninth Democrat to call on Biden to end his reelection bid.
Blumenauer, a senior member of the House Ways and Means and Budget committees, commended the president for his accomplishments, claiming in a statement released Wednesday that Biden “will be recorded in history as the most successful president in the last 50 years.”
However, the congressmen added that, in his mind, “We will all be better served if the president steps aside as the Democratic nominee and manages a transition under his terms.”
“The next six months will be critical in the implementation of President Biden’s landmark accomplishments that will define his legacy for generations to come. He should devote his energy and undivided attention to issues of war and peace, the climate crisis, and rebuilding and renewing America,” Blumenauer said, in part.
Jul 10, 2024, 6:39 PM EDT AFL-CIO calls on Democrats to unite behind Biden
The AFL-CIO for the second time in a week put out a statement in support of President Joe Biden after unanimously voting to reaffirm their support for the Biden-Harris ticket, saying that they are the “most pro-union administration in our lifetimes.”
The union, which endorsed the Biden-Harris campaign in June 2023, urged Democrats to support Biden saying, “The labor movement is united behind President Biden and Vice President Harris. We urge his party and the American people to join us.”
“The message from today’s meeting couldn’t have been clearer: Right now, it’s time to come together around a vision of a country where everyone has a fair shot with a living wage, affordable health care, retirement security, and time to do the things we love like spending time with family and friends and pursuing our interests and passions. These are fundamental to, as the president reiterated to our meeting, building the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not the top down,” the AFL-CIO Executive Council said in a statement.
Jul 10, 5:46 PM EDT Newsom says he won’t challenge Harris, reiterates support for Biden
California Gov. Gavin Newsom was again asked about the future of President Biden’s campaign and whether he’d challenge Vice President Kamala Harris if she took the ticket during a news conference on the ongoing wildfires Wednesday.
Newsom stood by comments he made in 2023 when he said he would not run against Harris.
The governor reiterated that he is still backing Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee.
“I think I’ve had 100 media outlets asking the same question, and I think that I’ve amply answered my support for the president and the support I saw on the ground was demonstrable,” he said.
Newsom said he didn’t read the full comments that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave on MSNBC where she said, “It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run.”
He also said he had not read George Clooney’s New York Times op-ed that called on Biden to bow out.
Jul 10,4:48 PM EDT Morale ‘very low’ at White House as staff frustrated by Clooney op-ed: Source
Morale “is very low in the building,” a person who works regularly with senior level White House staff told ABC News Wednesday.
Some in President Joe Biden’s inner circle, including senior adviser Anita Dunn and chief of staff Jeff Zients, are said to be very frustrated and upset by George Clooney’s op-ed in the New York Times in which he calls on Biden to step aside, the source said.
The donor class is also deeply divided, a Democratic adviser told ABC News.
Although small donations continue to pour in and the very largest donors are doubling down, the huge swath of donors in the middle are holding back, according to the adviser. That group of donors, which gives anywhere from five to eight figures, are on pause, which is very damaging since they’re a major part of the donor ecosystem, the adviser said.
This adviser adds that the hand-wringing in the meantime has been very harmful to the campaign.
Another Democratic fundraiser says while a strong performance at the solo press conference Thursday could help the situation, many donors believe the crisis around Biden just won’t go away.
The doubts raised by members of Congress, the comments from Nancy Pelosi, and the op-ed from George Clooney are all fueling a flurry of discussions among donors about what to do if Biden drops out.
-ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang
Jul 10, 3:33 PM EDT Biden to hold one-on-one interview with NBC’s Lester Holt
President Joe Biden will hold a one-on-one interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt Monday, the network announced.
This will mark the second TV interview Biden has held since last month’s presidential debate.
Holt will interview Biden earlier in the day while he’s in Austin, Texas, and the full interview will air at 9 p.m. ET, the network announced.
Jul 10, 3:24 PM EDT Republican presses top officials on Biden’s mental fitness
In back-to-back House Financial Services Committee hearings with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, both regular, annual hearings on their agency’s policies, Republican Mike Lawler of New York redirected from questions about inflation and tariffs on Russia to ask each official about their personal interactions with the president.
Yellen said she wouldn’t describe the content of her meetings with the president or say when she last met with him because it was “private,” but she called Biden “extremely effective.”
“The president is extremely effective in the meetings that I’ve been in with him, that includes many international meetings that are multi hour, like his meetings with President Xi [Jinping of China],” she said.
“Madam secretary, have there been any discussions among Cabinet secretaries about invoking the 25th Amendment?” Lawler asked.
“No,” Yellen said resolutely. The 25th Amendment states that the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet can together remove power from the president if he or she is incapacitated.
Powell, asked by Lawler if he’s “noticed any mental or cognitive decline” in meetings with the president, said “no.”
But Powell noted that he’d only interacted with the president twice in the last two years — once for a meeting and once to shake his hand at a state dinner, which Powell said was normal for presidents and Federal Reserve chairs, given the independence of the agency.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Jul 10, 3:23 PM EDT Concern over Biden’s future grows among Democratic senators
Multiple Senate Democrats spoke candidly with ABC News about concerns they have about Biden’s viability and said they want to continue discussions about the best path forward.
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he is worried about “an existential threat to the country if Donald Trump wins,” and added “every day is critical” as Biden weighs his path forward.
“I have confidence in Joe Biden doing what’s right for America. What he believes is right for America is to defeat Donald Trump and he’ll be a pretty good judge of whether that will be possible,” Blumenthal said. “We can all advise him we can raise concerns ultimately the decision is his and I am going to continue to raise concerns but I do think we need to ultimately unify because the existential threat here is Donald Trump.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, associated himself with the comments of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi made on MSNBC Wednesday, in which she appeared to leave the door open for the president to step aside.
“I thought Speaker Pelosi nailed it pretty well this morning,” Whitehouse told ABC News. He repeatedly avoided answering additional questions about whether Biden should resign before reiterating his support for Pelosi’s comments.
Although Sen. Dick Durbin told ABC News Durbin he was “very concerned” about Biden’s chances, he added that he’s always known the race would be close.
“I believe we wage the right campaign and make a point of what we’ve achieved under this president we will see him reelected,” Durbin said.
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who expressed worries about Biden’s future during a closed-door meeting among Senate Democrats Tuesday, told ABC News he was hearing legitimate concerns from voters.
“My job is to listen to them my job is to go to hearings like this to fight for lower drug prices to fight for Ohio workers,” Brown said.
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin and Rachel Scott
Jul 10, 2:07 PM EDT 8th House Democrat calls on Biden to step aside
New York Rep. Pat Ryan, a moderate Democrat, is now calling on Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee.
“Trump is an existential threat to American democracy; it is our duty to put forward the strongest candidate against him,” Ryan wrote on X. “Joe Biden is a patriot but is no longer the best candidate to defeat Trump. For the good of our country, I am asking Joe Biden to step aside — to deliver on his promise to be a bridge to a new generation of leaders.”
Ryan is the eighth House Democrat to publicly call on Biden to step aside.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
Jul 10, 2:03 PM EDT Biden gives a fist pump when asked about Pelosi’s comments
Despite her remarks, Biden suggested he still has Pelosi’s support to continue his reelection campaign.
“Is Nancy Pelosi still behind you?” Biden was asked after taking a family photo with NATO leaders.
The president didn’t say anything, but flexed his arm and fist in the air.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Jul 10, 1:58 PM EDT Debate over future of Biden’s candidacy continues
After a day of closed-door Democratic meetings where lawmakers appeared to be absorbing the sober reality that Biden would stay as the party’s presumptive nominee, new comments on Wednesday stirred fresh debate on Biden’s viability and path forward.
First, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was noncommittal on whether she wanted Biden to continue to run despite Biden insisting repeatedly that he had decided to stay in the race.
“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” Pelosi said on MSNBC. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”
Then, George Clooney, in a stinging New York Times op-ed, said Biden should step aside.
“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,” Clooney wrote. “He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
(WASHINGTON) — Michael Cohen asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to revive his lawsuit accusing former President Donald Trump and some Trump administration officials of retaliating against him when he sought release from federal prison.
Cohen served time after a federal judge in Manhattan sentenced him in 2018 to three years in prison for various crimes, including campaign finance violations, tax evasion and lying to Congress. He was released to home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic but sent back to prison after he balked at a condition of his release that required him to waive his ability to criticize Trump, who was president at the time. Cohen had been writing a book critical of Trump.
A judge eventually allowed Cohen to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement. However, a judge tossed out his lawsuit against the former president, and in January, a panel of appellate judges declined to revive it.
“Thus, as it stands, this case represents the principle that presidents and their subordinates can lock away critics of the executive without consequence. That cannot be the law in the country the Founders created when they threw off the yoke of the monarch,” Cohen’s petition to the Supreme Court said.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge in Alaska resigned Monday after an investigation revealed multiple and repeated instances of sexual misconduct and alleged sexual harassment in his office.
Former Judge Joshua Kindred, who was nominated by former President Donald Trump in 2019 to Alaska’s U.S. District Court and appointed the next year, “created a hostile work environment” that included several lewd comments and texts, and had an inappropriate sexual relationship with one of his law clerks, according to the findings of the probe by the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit.
The Judicial Council said in its report that Kindred, 46, had “no filter as to the topics he would discuss with the clerks.”
“He discussed his past dating life, his romantic preferences, his sex life, the law clerks’ boyfriends and dating lives, his divorce, his interest in and communications with potential romantic or sexual partners, and his disparaging opinions of his colleagues,” the report said.
The investigation, which began in November 2022, collected more than 700 text messages and interviews with several eyewitnesses, revealed several inappropriate comments by Kindred made to staffers that “lacked any connection to the clerks’ legitimate job duties and were often sexual in nature,” according to the report.
The council had asked Kindred to voluntarily resign as part of its probe. However, he may be impeached for his offenses, according to the report.
Kindred has not immediately commented about his resignation or the investigation. ABC News has attempted to reach out.
In one instance, the former judge told a clerk that an assistant U.S. attorney allegedly sent him nude photographs, according to the report.
“Judge Kindred was seeking advice from the clerk about what to do, and she told him ‘I am just a law clerk;’ she reported being ‘devastated,'” the Judicial Council said.
The report also detailed an inappropriate relationship Kindred had with one of his law clerks. The former judge sent hundreds of text messages to the clerk during an 11-month period that had nothing to do with her duties, according to the investigation.
“Judge Kindred also emphasized that this law clerk was an important and special presence in his life by making statements such as, ‘We are ride or die for life;’ ‘you’re legitimately one of my best friends and favorite human beings in the world,'” the report said.
On Oct. 3, 2022, a week after the clerk left Kindred’s office to start a new job as an assistant U.S. attorney, the former clerk met with Kindred for drinks, the report said.
Kindred allegedly later offered to give her a ride home, but said he needed to stop by his chambers. While in his chambers, Kindred allegedly kissed and grabbed her buttocks during the encounter, in which the law clerk “stated that she was intoxicated, and Judge Kindred was also likely intoxicated,” according to the report.
Kindred told investigators that the clerk invited him to drinks and that she was in love with him, according to the report, which also stated that “these denials were belied by documentary evidence and, as revealed later during Judge Kindred’s testimony to the Judicial Council, by Judge Kindred’s own admissions.”
On Oct. 7, 2022, the clerk and Kindred met again at a party, but the clerk left after Kindred kept asking her to sit with him on a couch, according to investigators.
Kindred texted the clerk asking to talk in person and they eventually went to an apartment belonging to the former judge’s friend that he claimed was an Airbnb, the report said.
The clerk claimed that when she arrived in the apartment, Kindred kept shouting to “come to the bedroom,” where he was lying on a bed, according to investigators. Per their report, the clerk told investigators the former judge performed a sex act on her.
Kindred told investigators he and the clerk had a conversation in the apartment but that they were not in bed and there were no sexual interactions, according to the report.
However, a text exchange between Kindred and the clerk had subtle references to a sexual encounter, investigators said.
“Judge Kindred could not provide an explanation for those text messages,” the report said.
“However, he emphasized: ‘I can’t reconcile them, but I’m telling you, we — all we did in that apartment that night was have a conversation. I don’t — I don’t remember the context of this, but I’ve not seen [this law clerk] naked, so that doesn’t make any sense to me. But again, I don’t — I don’t know.'”
According to the report, Kindred later admitted to the encounter during an oral argument in April with the Judicial Council after a special committee released its findings “only when specifically, and at times repeatedly, pressed with record evidence.”
