Trump, Primary Rivals Mostly Ignore Case Against Him During Key Event

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DES MOINES, IOWA — Donald Trump and his top rivals for the GOP presidential nomination took the stage one by one Friday night to address an influential gathering of Iowa Republicans, with none of the top-tier hopefuls mentioning that new federal charges had been filed against the former president just a day earlier. Instead, Trump’s competitors mostly reserved their sharpest criticism for President Joe Biden and a Democratic Party they argued had lost touch with mainstream America — failing to pounce on additional counts over Trump’s retention of classified documents that might have otherwise been an opportunity to cut intomore

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White House, Congress Disagree About Proposed US Missile Defense Plan

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Differences are emerging between Congress and the White House concerning missile defense policy, as outlined in the proposed annual defense bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act. The $874 billion budget passed by the House on Friday calls for the military to maintain a “credible nuclear capability” to deter adversaries, while developing and deploying layered defense systems that can defeat complex missile threats “in all phases of flight.” In a statement last week, the White House criticized this section of the proposed NDAA on grounds that it would “undermine U.S. strategic deterrence” with China and Russia. “The Administration stronglymore

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FBI Director Rejects Claims of Political Bias Within the Bureau 

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FBI director Christopher Wray defended his agency against Republican accusations of political bias Wednesday, dismissing claims he was “protecting” Democratic President Joe Biden’s family while going after former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and other conservatives.   “Absolutely not,” Wray retorted during a combative House Judiciary Committee hearing when asked by Republican member and staunch Trump supporter Matt Gaetz if he was “protecting the Bidens.”   “The FBI does not, has no interest in protecting anyone politically,” Wray said.   The hearing marked Wray’s first appearance before the oversight panel since Republicans recaptured the House of Representatives following the 2022 midterm elections.   Wray,more

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Former Trump Supporter Sues Fox News for Defamation

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A former Donald Trump supporter who became the center of a conspiracy theory about January 6, 2021, filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Wednesday, saying the network made him a scapegoat for the U.S. Capitol insurrection.  Raymond Epps, a former Marine who said he was forced from his Arizona home because of threats, is asking for unspecified damages and a jury trial.  He filed his lawsuit in Superior Court in Delaware, the same court where Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox for lies broadcast following the 2020 presidential election. Shortly before a trial was to begin this spring, Foxmore

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Iowa Republicans Pass Bill Banning Most Abortions After About 6 Weeks; Governor to Sign Friday

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Iowa’s Republican-led Legislature passed a bill banning most abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy during a marathon special session Tuesday that continued late into the night. Governor Kim Reynolds immediately said in a statement she would sign the bill Friday.  The bill passed with exclusively Republican support in a rare, one-day legislative burst lasting more than 14 hours over the vocal — and sometimes tense — objections from Democratic lawmakers and abortion rights advocates protesting at the Capitol.   Just after 11 p.m., lingering protesters in the gallery booed and yelled “shame” to state senators in the minutes after themore

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Trump Can Be Held Liable in Writer’s Defamation Lawsuit After Justice Department Reverses Course

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The Justice Department on Tuesday said that Donald Trump can be held personally liable for remarks he made about a woman who accused him of rape — a reversal of its position that Trump was protected because he was president when he made the remarks.  In a letter filed with the judge presiding over a defamation lawsuit that columnist E. Jean Carroll brought in Manhattan federal court in 2020, the department says it no longer has “a sufficient basis” to conclude that Trump was motivated in his statements about Carroll’s claims by more than an insignificant desire to serve themore

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Biden, Sunak to Discuss Ukraine Ahead of NATO Summit

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The war in Ukraine will be high on the agenda Monday as U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meet in London as allies prepare for the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.  It will be the leaders’ sixth meeting in six months. In June, Biden hosted Sunak at the White House, committing to the Atlantic Declaration to cooperate on advanced technologies, clean energy, and critical minerals to counter China’s clout around the world.    Biden is also due to meet Monday with Britain’s King Charles before traveling to Vilnius, where it remains unlikely NATO will welcome Sweden as itsmore

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Biden Heads to UK, Seeks to Bolster ‘Close Relationship’

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THE WHITE HOUSE – President Joe Biden will seek to grow his “close relationship” with the United Kingdom, the White House says, when he pays his first visit to newly crowned King Charles III and meets with Britain’s political leader to strengthen the bond between the two nations ahead of a critical NATO summit that could determine the course of the conflict in Ukraine. London is the first stop on Biden’s three-nation tour, which begins Monday. He will then go to Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, for a summit of NATO leaders, and then to Helsinki, the capital city of NATO’s newest member,more

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Americans Divided Over Supreme Court Decision on Affirmative Action

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Americans are divided by the Supreme Court overturning decades of precedent supporting affirmative action in college admissions, a policy that advantaged otherwise disadvantaged students from racial or ethnic minority groups.  “Unfortunately, race still matters in our society and affirmative action is essential in guaranteeing that everyone — not just the advantaged — benefit from an education that can serve as a pathway to upward mobility,” Coalition for a Diverse Harvard board member Michael Williams told VOA. Harvard University, along with the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, were sued by Students for Fair Admissions, a nonprofit organization against racial classificationsmore

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Putin ‘Somewhat Weakened’ by Mutiny, Trump Says

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WASHINGTON – Former U.S. President Donald Trump, a longtime admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Thursday that Putin has been “somewhat weakened” by an aborted mutiny and that now is the time for the United States to try to broker a negotiated peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine. Speaking expansively about foreign policy in a telephone interview with Reuters, the front-runner in opinion polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination also said China should be given a 48-hour deadline to get out of what sources familiar with the matter say is a Chinese spy capability on the island ofmore

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Biden Refutes Top-Down Economic Policy with ‘Bidenomics’

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Here comes “Bidenomics,” President Joe Biden’s self-named plan to forge an economic future “for families and communities that have long been written off and left behind.” On Wednesday, he visited Chicago — a legendary city in the nation’s once-booming industrial and agricultural heartland — to introduce Bidenomics to the world. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Washington. Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report. …

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FBI, Homeland Security Ignored ‘Massive Amount’ of Intelligence Before Jan. 6, Senate Report Says

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The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security downplayed or ignored “a massive amount of intelligence information” ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S Capitol, according to the chairman of a Senate panel that on Tuesday released a new report on the intelligence failures ahead of the insurrection.    The report details how the agencies failed to recognize and warn of the potential for violence as some of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters openly planned the siege in messages and forums online.  Among the multitude of intelligence that was overlooked was a December 2020 tip to the FBImore

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White House Takes a Bet on ‘Bidenomics’ Amid Americans’ Pessimism on Economy

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Ahead of President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign, the White House is promoting the term “Bidenomics” to make the case that his policies to “grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out” have succeeded in taming inflation and lowering unemployment. “The share of working-age Americans in the workforce is higher now than it has been for 15 years,” Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council, said Tuesday during a news briefing. “While we have more work to do, inflation has been coming down for 11 months in a row.” She touted 13 million jobsmore

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Crowded, Diverse Republican Presidential Field Expands

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Former President Donald Trump and current Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held dueling events in the early primary state of New Hampshire on Tuesday, as campaigning among the dozen or more Republicans seeking the presidency next year escalates. DeSantis was on the stump in the town of Hollis, just before Trump spoke 65 kilometers (40 miles) to the north in Concord, the state capital. The two rivals’ common target on Tuesday: President Joe Biden, who at the age of 80 is running for a second term. “If this election is about Biden’s failures and our vision for the future, we aremore

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Trump Discussed ‘Highly Confidential’ Document in Audio Recording

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An audio recording obtained by news organizations reveals U.S. President Donald Trump discussing secret documents about a plan to attack Iran as he spoke to a writer after leaving office in 2021.  Federal prosecutors cited parts of the conversation in an indictment last month on charges that he illegally retained classified government documents and then conspired to obstruct a federal investigation.    CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times released the audio clip Monday in which Trump references reports that Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley feared Trump would manufacture a conflict with Iran after losingmore

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Supreme Court Unfreezes Louisiana Redistricting Case that Could Boost Power of Black Voters

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The Supreme Court on Monday lifted its hold on a Louisiana case that could force the state to redraw congressional districts to boost Black voting power.  The order follows the court’s rejection earlier in June of a congressional redistricting map in Alabama and unfreezes the Louisiana case, which had been on hold pending the decision in Alabama.  In both states, Black voters are a majority in just one congressional district. Lower courts had ruled that the maps raised concerns that Black voting power had been diluted, in violation of the landmark federal Voting Rights Act.  About a third of Louisiana’smore

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The Supreme Court’s Decisions Coming on Contentious Issues Such as Gay Rights, Religious Freedom

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The Supreme Court is getting ready to decide some of its biggest cases of the term. The high court has 10 opinions left to release over the next week before the justices begin their summer break. As is typical, the last opinions to be released cover some of the most contentious issues the court has wrestled with this term including affirmative action, student loans and gay rights.  Here’s a look at some of the cases the court has left to decide from the term that began back in October:  AFFIRMATIVE ACTION   The survival of affirmative action in higher education ismore

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Biden to Host Modi for Talks, State Dinner

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U.S. President Joe Biden hosts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks Thursday at the White House. “The visit will strengthen our two countries’ shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous, and secure Indo-Pacific and shared resolve to elevate the technology partnership, including in defense, clean energy, and space,” the White House said ahead of the meeting. In a rare move for the Indian leader, Modi and Biden are scheduled to appear at a joint news conference Thursday. Modi is also due to give an address to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress. Thursday’s events close with a statemore

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US Not Backing Down on Biden’s Xi Dictator Comment

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The White House is not backing down on comments made by President Joe Biden likening Chinese President Xi Jinping to a dictator. “It should come as no surprise that the president speaks candidly about China and the differences that we have — we are certainly not alone in that,” a senior administration official said in a statement sent to VOA on Wednesday. At a California fundraiser for his 2024 presidential campaign Tuesday, Biden said Xi was unaware and embarrassed over a suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over American territory that the U.S. military shot down in February. “That’s what’s amore

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Biden Says Risks Posed by AI to Security, Economy Must be Addressed

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The risks of artificial intelligence to national security and the economy need to be addressed, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday, adding he would seek expert advice. “My administration is committed to safeguarding Americans’ rights and safety while protecting privacy, to addressing bias and misinformation, to making sure AI systems are safe before they are released,” Biden said at an event in San Francisco. Biden met a group of civil society leaders and advocates who have previously criticized the influence of major tech companies, to discuss artificial intelligence. “I wanted to hear directly from the experts,” he said. Severalmore

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Blinken Highlights Need for Direct Engagement in US, China Talks

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday the United States and China have an obligation to manage their relationship responsibly, and that he told Chinese leaders during meetings in Beijing that direct engagement is the best way to ensure disagreements do not turn into conflict.      Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Blinken said he had candid and substantive discussions Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi.      “I would expect additional visits by senior U.S. officials to China over the coming weeks,” Blinken said during a news conference. He added that Washington welcomes further visits bymore

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