(WASHINGTON) — A bipartisan group of senators reached a deal on Wednesday to move forward with legislation that would ban stock trading by members of Congress.
The bill would ban lawmakers from buying and selling stocks 90 days after the measure is signed into law, according to a statement shared with ABC News.
The measure would also require elected officials, their spouses and dependent children to unload stock holdings and other related assets beginning in 2027.
The punishment for a failure to divest such holdings would be the monthly salary of the sanctioned official or 10% of the value of the assets at issue, whichever amount is greater, according to a summary of the legislation.
The measure also raises the penalty from $200 to $500 for failure to disclose stock holdings under a previous law that requires such information be made public.
The agreement was reached by Sen. Jon Ossof, D-Ga., Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.
“The public should be confident that federal elected officials are making decisions that are in the best interests of the American people, not their own personal finances,” Peters said in a statement on Wednesday.
Echoing that sentiment, Merkley urged his colleagues to support the measure.
“Members of Congress are elected to serve the public — not their stock portfolios,” Merkley said in a statement. “The whole Senate should pass this bill and do so soon.”
Polls show widespread support for stock trading limits on Capitol Hill.
More than three-quarters of Americans support a ban of stock trading by members of Congress, according to a poll conducted by left-leaning firm Data for Progress in 2022. A rightwing advocacy group Convention of States Action found the same result in a poll it conducted that year.
The measure will be taken up for consideration at a meeting of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on July 24.
“There is no reason why members of Congress ought to be profiting off of the information that only they get and the rest of the American people don’t get,” Hawley said in a statement. “This bill takes a giant step forward.”
(WASHINGTON) — New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has introduced articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.
Ocasio-Cortez has long criticized multiple conservative members of the Supreme Court, but the rhetoric of impeachment was amped up in the wake of recent rulings, including the court’s decision on presidential immunity.
“The unchecked corruption crisis on the Supreme Court has now spiraled into a Constitutional crisis threatening American democracy writ large,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. “Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito’s pattern of refusal to recuse from consequential matters before the court in which they hold widely documented financial and personal entanglements constitutes a grave threat to American rule of law, the integrity of our democracy, and one of the clearest cases for which the tool of impeachment was designed.”
Ocasio-Cortez specifically criticized gifts Thomas received from his friend, billionaire Harlan Crow.
“Clarence Thomas, in his conduct as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors, by refusing to report the source, description, and value of gifts, and by failing to report of real estate property,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in the articles, going on to list gifts he did not reportedly reveal.
Thomas acknowledged in his latest annual financial report, released in June, that he had “inadvertently omitted” reimbursement for food and lodging expenses for the July 2019 travel.
The articles against Thomas, who was nominated to the Supreme Court by George H.W. Bush in 1991, also cites Thomas’ “refusal to recuse from matters concerning his spouse’s legal interest in cases before the court” and “refusal to recuse from matters involving his spouse’s financial interest in cases before the court.”
As far as Alito, who was nominated by George W. Bush in 2005, Ocasio-Cortez cites his “refusal to recuse from cases in which he had a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party in cases before the court” and “failure to disclose financial income, gifts and reimbursements, property interests, liabilities, and transactions, among other information.”
Several other justices, including Neil Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor and John Roberts have also been criticized for monetary or personal ties to businesses and groups with cases before the court.
Congress has the authority to remove a federal judge for “‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors” through a vote of impeachment by the House of Representatives and a trial and conviction by the Senate, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Article III of the Constitution adds that judges “shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour.”
A simple majority vote is required for the House to adopt the articles — 218 votes — for impeachment.
Right now, Republicans hold 219 seats and Democrats hold 213.
Only one Supreme Court justice has ever been impeached, according to the Federal Judicial Center.
Associate Justice Samuel Chase was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1804, “on charges of arbitrary and oppressive conduct of trials,” the center states. However, he was acquitted by the U.S. Senate in 1805 and remained on the bench.
(WASHINGTON) — With just days until former President Donald Trump is expected to reveal his vice presidential pick, on Wednesday he commented on the characteristics he likes about each candidate on his shortlist — while also highlighting some potential challenges.
Trump joined Fox News radio host Brian Kilmeade on his podcast on Wednesday morning where he discussed an array of topics including his thoughts on his top vice presidential contenders.
Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are considered to be the contenders to be Trump’s running mate, though advisers have repeatedly cautioned that Trump has discussed other options and they have denied knowing who his final pick will be.
After dispatches circulated about Trump’s reported disdain for facial hair, which campaign advisers poked fun at, Trump dismissed the idea that Vance’s facial hair would complicate his chances of earning the No. 2 spot.
“No,” Trump said laughing about the idea he had a problem with Vance’s appearance. “He looks like a young Abraham Lincoln,” he quipped.
Trump, however, did reveal that there were certain complications regarding Rubio and Burgum that are factoring into his decision-making process.
On Rubio, Trump acknowledged that it would be “complicated” picking him because they were from the same state, while saying it doesn’t necessarily mean that he was out of the running.
“No, but it does make it more complicated … There are people that don’t have that complication,” Trump said of the Florida senator, who introduced him at his rally in Doral, Florida Tuesday night.
Trump was referring to the 12th Amendment to the Constitution that states that presidential and vice presidential candidates running on the same ticket “shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves,” which would be applicable to Trump and Rubio, who reside in Palm Beach and Miami, respectively.
This means that if Trump selected Rubio as his running mate, the 30 crucial electors from Florida could not vote for both Trump and Rubio, while electors from other 49 states could.
On the podcast, Trump said the issue can be “fairly easily fixed,” but noted “it’s not like picking some people, where it’s very easy” and added that forgoing delegates from Florida would be “very risky.”
During an interview with NBC News’ Miami station Tuesday night, Trump suggested if Rubio isn’t picked as his vice president, “he certainly will” play a role in his possible second administration.
For Burgum, abortion has become an issue of focus as Trump weighs his decision. The North Dakota governor has backed one of the strictest laws in the country — signing a six-week state abortion ban last April. Trump indicated his signature could be a “little bit” of an issue as he moves forward with his selection.
“Well, it’s a little bit of an issue. It’s a pretty strong ban. You know, I think Doug is great, but it is a strong ban. He’s taken a very strong stance. Or the state has, I don’t know if it’s Doug, but the state has, so it’s an issue,” Trump said.
Campaign advisers have claimed Trump’s announcement will be known before the start of the Republican National Convention, which begins on Monday in Milwaukee. Though Trump has said he would much rather build suspense and wait until convention week.
“No, not tomorrow, I’ll make it close to the convention,” said Trump to Kilmeade when asked if he would reveal his pick on Thursday. “I would love to do it, the, you know, it used to be picked during the convention … it made the convention, frankly, more interesting”
One factor not in play, claimed Trump, was the consideration of a last-minute Democratic ticket switch up.
“I don’t think it does,” said Trump when asked if he was considering another candidate due to the fact that Vice President Kamala Harris might not be the vice presidential nominee — instead the presidential nominee — should Biden choose to step aside.
“Whether we plan for him or anyone else, the planning, I think it’s the same,” he added, projecting confidence regardless of the Democratic ticket.
“I think I’m pretty well set in my own mind, but you know, you got some good people, and I have changed a little bit, but you have, they’re all great — anyone would be fantastic.”
(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) — Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Arkansas has been home to one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. Now abortion-rights advocates are petitioning to get a proposed amendment on the November ballot that would allow voters to decide whether abortion care should be enshrined in the state constitution.
Chelsea and Thomas Stovall are among the volunteers canvassing Arkansas streets, asking for people to sign a petition that would allow voters to decide if abortion should be legal in Arkansas.
“As soon as we found out about the ballot initiative, we were some of the first to come and sign up,” said Chelsea Stovall. “It wasn’t enough to change anything so we had to get more involved.”
Abortion rights is a personal issue for the couple. In 2022, the Stovalls were excited to be expecting their third child, but at a 20-week appointment they learned that their daughter had a fatal fetal anomaly and would not survive.
Chelsea Stovall did not qualify for the one exception to Arkansas’ abortion ban: to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency. As a result, the couple had to spend thousands of dollars and travel hundreds of miles to Illinois to terminate their pregnancy.
“It is painful to relive that over and over again,” Chelsea Stovall told “Nightline.” “But I think it’s so necessary to get people to understand that this is affecting real people.”
The Stovalls had been working to collect enough petition signatures to submit before the July 5 deadline. The amendment would restore abortion access up to 18 weeks post fertilization. After 18 weeks, abortion access would be allowed in circumstances such as fatal fetal anomaly, rape or incest, or to protect the mother’s life and health.
After the “Nightline” report aired on July 2, canvassers from Arkansans for Limited Government say they have surpassed 90,000 signatures from more than 50 counties, qualifying the amendment for November’s ballot. State officials have until August 22 to certify the measure.
Arkansas is one of the nearly dozen states where abortion rights could be up to voters this November. However, amendment supporters say it is not getting as much attention as initiatives in presidential election swing states like Arizona and Florida.
“I think we already know which way the state is going to go with regards to the presidency,” said Dr. Chad Taylor, an OB-GYN in Arkansas. “But I think what’s really important for people to know is that you can vote for whoever you want at the top of the ticket, and you can still support this amendment.”
In the two years since Roe v. Wade was overturned, six states, including Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio, have voted on ballot initiatives regarding abortion access. Voters in all six states have supported abortion rights.
The Stovalls appeared in ABC News’ “Impact x Nightline” documentary “On the Brink.” Thomas Stovall said in the 2023 special that he was once “100% against” abortions, even in cases of rape. But now, since the couple’s personal experience of losing their daughter, he has changed his mind and sees abortion as a private medical decision for families to make with their health care provider.
“It’s not that necessarily I went from one side to the other, it’s more that I had all the right information in front of me now and I know the full story,” said Thomas Stovall. “Before I only had half the story, I only had what I was raised and taught.”
As the couple now confronts the same ideas that Thomas Stovall once believed while out canvassing, the petition signing effort is sparking backlash from opponents of abortion. Some canvassers say that they have been run out of town by residents in smaller areas and even received death threats. In other places, protesters often set up near petition drives, with their own “Decline to Sign” events.
“This amendment is more extreme than Roe v. Wade,” said Jerry Cox, founder and president of Family Council, a conservative nonprofit group, which opposes the amendment. “It would obliterate all of the good laws that Arkansas has passed over the last 50 years to protect the health and safety of women.”
The amendment states that “the State of Arkansas, its officers, or its political subdivisions shall not prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict abortion services.”
“The amendment doesn’t define those words, but those are powerful words,” Cox said. He worries that the wording could negate Arkansas’ existing laws like parental notification for minors seeking abortions or mandatory waiting periods. Advocates for groups like Arkansans for Limited Government, which supports the amendment, says their lawyers disagree and do not think the amendment would impact those laws.
Family Council Action Committee is one of the seven groups opposing the abortion petition, with volunteers across the state, often reaching out through churches. But those fighting for the petition say the group has taken its efforts too far.
The committee recently posted a list of paid canvassers working to get signatures for the petition, including their names and hometowns. Some saw the action as doxxing.
“We took that as an act of intimidation,” said Gennie Diaz from Arkansas for Limited Government. “We have, unfortunately, had encounters with individuals who have threatened our volunteers and our paid canvassers, threatened to kill them. We have had to file police reports.”
Destiny Sinclair, one of the canvassers on the list, is a college student who also works a full-time job. She says she feels that Family Council has made her and everyone on the list a target.
“They doxed these canvassers, including myself, because they want to silence our voice,” said Sinclair. “And here I am using it even louder.”
Alison Guthrie, a paid canvasser who lives with her brother and disabled mother, says that Family Council potentially put her family at risk when the list went public.
“It’s taken my peace of mind. Every time I get a ring notification on my phone, I want to check and see, ‘OK, who’s at my front door?’” said Guthrie. “[I’m] out here fighting for what I believe in, but being put in danger because of what [Jerry Cox] believes in, I just don’t think is right.”
Cox believes that posting the list was necessary, he says, to be transparent with voters about who in their communities is collecting signatures. Cox stated that even though the committee could have published more information, including the canvassers’ home address and phone number, they did not.
“I don’t discount their concern, because we here at this office have had people actually threaten us,” Cox said. “I think the people have a right to know who’s getting paid to amend their constitution.”
Some volunteers believe that groups like Family Council are not the only ones working to stop the petition. State lawmakers are as well. The Arkansas State Constitution says petitions need to be signed by voters from at least 15 of the state’s 75 counties.
But last year, the Republican-controlled legislature passed a law to make it 50 of the 75 counties, even though the voters had voted down a similar measure in 2020.
“I think [it’s] because they know that if it gets on the ballot, the people will vote for it,” said Veronica McClane, a long-time volunteer canvasser.
Despite the challenges, canvassers like Chelsea and Thomas Stovall say that they are determined to try.
“I just want to shake people and wake them up. Like, ‘do you not know what’s going on?’” said Chelsea Stovall. “It should be an easy thing. Just give the people the right to choose. Give them the right to vote.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is facing a crisis 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:
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) — Actor George Clooney, who just weeks ago hosted a fundraiser for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, called for the president to exit the 2024 race in a New York Times op-ed published Wednesday.
“I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals. In the last four years, he’s won many of the battles he’s faced,” Clooney wrote.
“But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. 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. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
Clooney’s comments go against Biden’s claims that the debate was just one “bad night” or a “bad episode,” as he told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos in Biden’s first post-debate television interview.
Also, the stinging language lands Clooney among the growing chorus of Democrats — from elected officials to high-profile donors — asking the president to allow another, younger nominee to lead the Democratic Party’s ticket.
“Would it be messy? Yes. Democracy is messy,” wrote Clooney. “But would it enliven our party and wake up voters who, long before the June debate, had already checked out? It sure would.”
“The short ramp to Election Day would be a benefit for us, not a danger,” Clooney continued. “It would give us the chance to showcase the future without so much opposition research and negative campaigning that comes with these ridiculously long and expensive election seasons.”
A Biden campaign official did not respond directly to the op-ed, but pointed ABC News to Biden’s recent comments insisting he is remaining in the race, including his Monday letter to Democratic lawmakers where he said he’s “firmly committed” to staying in the race to the end.
Biden praised Clooney’s character at a 2022 White House reception for the Kennedy Center Honorees — a group that included Clooney.
“One thing I respect most about George — and I mean this sincerely — is his deep empathy,” Biden said, adding that “he always remembers where he came from.”
After describing Clooney’s advocacy work, including on guns, Biden said, “He knows the work remains unfinished, yet he is unrelenting and undaunted. That’s character in real life. And that’s George Clooney.”
ABC News’ Chris Donovan contributed to this report.
Former U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi speaks to members of the press on Capitol Hill March 12, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images, FILE)
(WASHINGTON) — Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, appearing on MSNBC on Wednesday morning, declined to directly answer when asked if President Joe Biden had her support as he seeks reelection amid debate between Democrats on his viability as a candidate.
“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” Pelosi told “Morning Joe” co-host Jonathan Lemire. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”
“I think overwhelming support of the caucus — it’s not for me to say, I’m not the head of the caucus anymore — but, he’s beloved, he is respected and people want him to make that decision,” Pelosi added.
Biden, in a defiant statement to congressional Democrats on Monday, has said he’s “firmly committed” to staying in the race to the end.
Lemire followed up by asking Pelosi directly, “Do you want him to run?”
“I want him to do whatever he decides to do,” Pelosi responded. “And that is the way it is. Whatever he decides to go with.”
“I said to everyone — let’s just hold off. Whatever you’re thinking, either tell somebody privately, but you don’t have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week. But I am very proud of the president,” Pelosi added.
The Biden campaign’s response to Pelosi’s comments was, “He’s running.”
Pelosi led House Democrats for the first two years of the Biden administration, helping pass some of his signature policy achievements such as the bipartisan infrastructure law and gun safety legislation. As a Democratic leader who has worked closely with Biden, Pelosi’s thoughts on the president’s ability to hold the office could carry a lot of weight in an election year where Biden’s rematch with former President Donald Trump is expected to be a close contest.
ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, in Biden’s first post-debate television interview, repeatedly pressed the president what he would do if Democratic leaders such as Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and Pelosi were to tell him they were worried his presence in the race would impact the party’s chances of controlling the House and Senate.
Biden told Stephanopoulos, “Well, it’s, like, they’re not gonna do that.”
Schumer on Tuesday simply told reporters multiple times, “I’m with Joe” — but declined to engage in broader questions on Biden’s path forward.
Jeffries, who earlier this week said he still supported Biden and that his position remained unchanged, huddled behind closed doors on Tuesday with House Democrats to discuss Biden’s path forward.
Some members described the meeting as “rough” and sobering, according to multiple participants. Others described feeling powerless to change course amid Biden’s defiance.
After the meeting, a seventh House Democrat — New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill — publicly called on Biden to exit the race.
But others, including Rep. Jerry Nadler and Rep. Jim Clyburn, expressed support for Biden.
“Right now, President Biden is the nominee. We support the Democratic nominee,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said at a press conference.
Senate Democrats also met for their own conference meeting on Tuesday.
Sen. Michael Bennet, during an interview with CNN, said in the meeting he expressed to colleagues his belief that Biden will not defeat Trump this November.
“Donald Trump is on track, I think to win this election and maybe win it by a landslide and take with him the Senate and the House,” Bennet said. “For me, this is not a question about polling, it’s not a question about politics, it’s a moral question about the future of our country and I think it’s critically important for us to come to grips with what we face if together we put this country on the path of electing Donald Trump again.”
Multiple sources confirmed to ABC that Sens. Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown conveyed similar concerns about Biden’s ability to win during the meeting. Brown and Tester are both facing difficult reelection campaigns of their own this cycle.
The Biden campaign pushed back on Bennet’s comments, saying the race was always going to be close and is “far from over.”
Former U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi speaks to members of the press on Capitol Hill March 12, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images, FILE)
(WASHINGTON) — Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, appearing on MSNBC on Wednesday morning, declined to directly answer when asked if President Joe Biden had her support as he seeks reelection amid debate between Democrats on his viability as a candidate.
“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” Pelosi told Morning Joe co-host Jonathan Lemire. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”
“I think overwhelming support of the caucus — it’s not for me to say, I’m not the head of the caucus anymore — but, he’s beloved, he is respected and people want him to make that decision,” Pelosi added.
Biden, in a defiant statement to congressional Democrats on Monday, has said he’s “firmly committed” to staying in the race to the end.
Lemire followed up by asking Pelsoi directly, “Do you want him to run?”
“I want him to do whatever he decides to do,” Pelosi responded. “And that is the way it is. Whatever he decides to go with.”
“I said to everyone — let’s just hold off. Whatever you’re thinking, either tell somebody privately, but you don’t have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week. But I am very proud of the president,” Pelosi added.
Pelosi led House Democrats for the first two years of the Biden administration, helping pass some of his signature policy achievements such as the bipartisan infrastructure law and gun safety legislation. As a Democratic leader who has worked closely with Biden, Pelosi’s thoughts on the president’s ability to hold the office could carry a lot of weight in an election year where Biden’s rematch with former President Donald Trump is expected to be a close race.
ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, in Biden’s first post-debate television interview, repeatedly pressed the president what he would do if Democratic leaders such as Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and Pelosi were to tell him they were worried his presence in the race would impact the party’s chances of controlling the House and Senate.
Biden told Stephanopoulos, “Well, it’s, like, they’re not gonna do that.”
Schumer on Tuesday largely declined to engage in questions on Biden’s path forward, simply telling reporters multiple times: “I’m with Joe.”
Jeffries, who earlier this week said he still supported Biden and that his position remained unchanged, huddled behind closed doors on Tuesday with House Democrats to discuss Biden’s path forward.
Some described the meeting as “rough” and sobering, according to multiple participants. Some described feeling powerless to change course amid Biden’s defiance.
After the meeting, a seventh House Democrat — New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill — publicly called on Biden to exit the race.
Senate Democrats also met for their own conference meeting on Tuesday.
Sen. Michael Bennet, during an interview with CNN, said during the meeting he expressed to colleagues his belief that Biden will not defeat Trump this November.
“Donald Trump is on track, I think to win this election and maybe win it by a landslide and take with him the Senate and the House,” Bennet said. “For me, this is not a question about polling, it’s not a question about politics, it’s a moral question about the future of our country and I think it’s critically important for us to come to grips with what we face if together we put this country on the path of electing Donald Trump again.”
Multiple sources confirmed to ABC that Sens. Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown conveyed similar concerns about Biden’s ability to win during the meeting. Brown and Tester are both facing difficult reelection campaigns of their own this cycle.
The Biden campaign pushed back on Bennet’s comments, saying the race was always going to be close and is “far from over.”
President Joe Biden speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School on July 05, 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Republican lawmakers say the Biden administration is refusing to release a set of audio recordings that could help settle the debate over whether President Joe Biden’s faltering performance at last month’s presidential debate was just a one-off “bad night,” as he has repeatedly claimed.
“We all know why they don’t want to turn over the audio because it will … show exactly what we all saw on the debate stage a couple weeks ago,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, told reporters on Tuesday. “That is something they want to cover up.”
The recordings capture Biden’s two-day interview last October with then-special counsel Robert Hur, who ultimately concluded that while Biden improperly retained classified documents, he shouldn’t be charged with any crimes because — unlike former president Donald Trump, who was indicted for allegedly hoarding hundreds of classified documents and then trying to cover it up — Biden cooperated with investigators and would likely convince a jury that he made “an innocent mistake.” Trump, meanwhile, has denied all charges.
Nearly two years ago, caches of classified documents from Biden’s time in the Obama administration and the Senate were found in his Delaware home and in private offices elsewhere, prompting Hur’s probe.
In his recorded interview with investigators, Biden appeared to be a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” and that’s how he would likely appear to a jury, Hur wrote in his final report.
Democrats and the White House immediately blasted Hur for making what they insisted were unfair and inaccurate conclusions. Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, demanded the audio recordings, claiming that to fulfill their oversight responsibilities they wanted to assess for themselves the evidence that Hur used to reach his conclusions.
White House Counsel Ed Siskel later said Republicans had no “legitimate need” for the recordings and likely only wanted them to “chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan political purposes.”
In response to Republican demands, the Justice Department released a transcript of Biden’s interview to Congress, but Biden — at Attorney General Merrick Garland’s behest — asserted executive privilege over the recordings to shield them from release.
Then the presidential debate happened — raising new questions over whether Biden could handle another four years as commander-in-chief.
“Most of us are concerned … about President Biden’s health,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, told CBS News on Sunday. “I want those tapes released.”
As early as this week, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., could try to push forward a resolution she drafted to hold Garland in “inherent contempt” of Congress, which Luna has said would draw on rarely-used legislative branch authority to fine Garland $10,000 a day until he hands over the recordings.
Her effort is controversial even within Republican ranks, and it’s unclear if it would succeed. But if it did, the Justice Department could try to challenge it in court.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment for this story, and the White House counsel’s office did not respond to questions from ABC News, including whether Biden would now consider allowing the recordings to be released.
What could the recordings show?
Testifying before lawmakers in March, Hur said that the recordings of Biden’s interview — which began the day after Hamas launched its large-scale attack on Israel — “were part of the evidence, of course, that I considered in coming to my conclusions.”
Hur’s conclusions were blunt: The president showed “diminished faculties and faulty memory” during his five hours with Hur’s team, at times exhibiting “limited precision and recall,” Hur wrote in his final report.
Even six years earlier, in recorded conversations with a ghostwriter that Hur obtained, Biden was “often painfully slow, with Mr. Biden struggling to remember events and straining at times to read and relay his own notebook entries,” Hur wrote. “In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse.”
Hur, in his final report, wrote, “It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict [Biden] … of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”
Republicans say Americans who are worried about Biden’s fitness for office deserve more than a written report and a transcript.
Last week, the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee filed a federal lawsuit in Washington to obtain the recordings, saying that there are “inherent limits of a cold transcript” and that audio recordings can provide “verbal and nonverbal context” such as tone and pace.
“The audio recordings, not the cold transcripts, are the best available evidence of how President Biden presented himself during the interview,” the lawsuit says. “The Committee thus needs those recordings to assess the Special Counsel’s characterization of the President, which he and White House lawyers have forcefully disputed.”
Republican lawmakers aren’t the only ones pushing for the recordings to be released.
In March, the conservative groups Judicial Watch and The Heritage Foundation filed federal lawsuits in Washington seeking the recordings and other case materials under the Freedom of Information Act. Shortly afterward, CNN filed a similar lawsuit, which a dozen other news organizations, including ABC News, then joined.
“The subsequent release of the interview transcript has made it possible for the press and public to somewhat assess Hur’s description of Biden for themselves,” the lawsuit says. “Transcripts, however, are no substitute for recordings, which reveal ‘intonations, hesitancies, inflections, and tone of voice.'”
It’s unclear if any of the legal cases could be resolved before the presidential election in November.
A ‘chilling’ effect?
In May, after Garland recommended it, Biden asserted executive privilege over the recordings.
Then, last month, the Republican majority in the House referred Garland to the Justice Department for prosecution after Garland refused to turn over the recordings despite a congressional subpoena. But the Justice Department declined to move forward with the case.
According to the Justice Department, the law enforcement interest in keeping the recordings private outweighs any other public interest.
In particular, releasing the audio recordings could “chill witness cooperation in future, high-profile investigations,” Garland has said.
“It is our view that we need witnesses to be willing to be audio recorded and they are going to be less willing to if they know it is going to be made public,” Garland told lawmakers last month.
Biden’s case, however, is unique: For him, the interviewee is the one with the authority to waive executive privilege, which would essentially give the Justice Department permission to release the recordings of himself.
Nevertheless, the Justice Department has also pointed to another law enforcement interest in keeping the recordings private: concern that enemies of the United States could manipulate them.
“If the recording of President Biden’s interview were released, there is substantial risk that malicious actors could alter the record to (for example) insert words that President Biden did not say or delete words that he did say,” a senior Justice Department official wrote in a declaration submitted in court in May.
Using widely available technologies, malicious actors could even “create an audio deepfake in which a fake voice of President Biden can be programmed to say anything that the creator of the deepfake wishes,” the official added.
Meanwhile, Garland told Republicans last month that he has “not been shown any reason why audio evidence of demeanor would make a difference in any legislative purpose that you have.”
“You have yet to suggest any law that you intend to pass or are thinking about in which the audio would make a difference over the transcript,” he said.
In their lawsuit, House Republicans called Biden’s executive privilege claim a “self-serving attempt to shield the audio recording” from becoming public.
“Any privilege that could conceivably apply to President Biden’s interview with the Special Counsel was waived when the Executive Branch released a transcript of that interview,” the lawsuit argued.
The Justice Department has until the end of next month to respond to the suit.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — At his first campaign rally in 10 days, former President Donald Trump jumped on the uncertainty of President Joe Biden’s campaign, offering Biden an opportunity to “redeem” himself through two propositions: participating in another debate this week and a golf match.
“So tonight, I’m officially offering Joe the chance to redeem himself in front of the entire world,” Trump said to a rally crowd at the Trump National Doral Golf Course in Florida. “Let’s do another debate this week so that sleepy Joe Biden can prove to everyone all over the world that he has what it takes to be president, but this time it will be man to man, no moderators.”
The former president also gave a nod to a notable moment between the two presidential contenders when they first faced off on the debate stage for the 2024 campaign cycle last month by also challenging Biden to a golf match.
Biden-Harris campaign spokesperson James Singer immediately shot down that suggestion, calling it “weird antics.”
As more Democrats start to publicly call for Biden to drop his reelection bid, Trump downplayed the challenges of having to face a different Democratic candidate if Biden decided to step down as the nominee, arguing that nobody would be able to beat him.
“Despite all the Democrat panic this week, the truth is it doesn’t matter who they nominate because we are going to beat any one of them in thundering landslides,” he said.
Trump also spent a notable amount of time during his speech attacking Vice President Kamala Harris as conversations flow about her as a potential Biden replacement on the ballot.
“You have to give him credit for one brilliant decision, probably the smartest decision he’s ever made. He picked Kamala Harris as his vice president,” he said. “If Joe had picked someone even halfway competent. They would have bounced him from office years ago, but they can’t because she’s got to be their second choice.”
The former president painted Harris as a “socialist,” going through her record as senator and vice president.
Tuesday night’s rally was a first for Trump’s youngest son, Barron, whom he introduced in the crowd.
“That’s the first time he’s done it. That’s the first time, right?” Trump said, after asking Barron Trump to stand up and praising him, saying he “might be more popular than Don and Eric.”
Meanwhile, former first lady Melania Trump — who held a pro-Trump LGBTQ group Log Cabin Republicans’ fundraiser in New York Monday night — was notably not in attendance. She has yet to attend a Trump campaign political rally this cycle.
As Trump encouraged early voting, which will kick off in two months, he told his supporters to make sure their votes were counted.
“Make sure that it gets counted. You can do that. Follow that vote because these people cheat like nobody’s ever cheated before. Frankly, they’re no good at policy, but they’re good at cheating,” Trump said.
