Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

As it happenedended

Trump news: Congress could formally demand impeachment evidence from Mueller report as release deadline looms

Read along below for our coverage as Democrats begin their attempt to force the release of the Mueller report

Clark Mindock
New York
,Joe Sommerlad
Tuesday 02 April 2019 13:42 EDT
Comments
Fox News graphic claims that Trump is cutting funding to '3 Mexican countries'

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Donald Trump could still face impeachment proceedings as the House Judiciary Committee prepares to demand attorney general William Barr release the full Mueller report into the president's ties to Russia, as the latter looked set to miss the 2 April deadline for its publication.

Chairman Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat, will ask his team to vote on a resolution to issue subpoenas on Wednesday, as reports emerge the Trump administration defied official advice in giving high-level security clearances to the president’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

President Trump has meanwhile raged on Twitter against the amount of aid given to Puerto Rico since it was hit by Hurricane Maria in 2017, attacking the island’s “incompetent and corrupt” politicians and declaring, “the place is a mess – nothing works”. He is also pushing forward once again with an effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which is more commonly known as Obamacare.

Mr Barr has said that he plans on delivering the Mueller report to Congress by mid-April, but has signalled that the document could be heavily redacted in spite of his promise to be transparent with the report.

And, anticipating that Mr Barr would not deliver the report on Tuesday, activists groups are preparing protests for later in the week to try and set focus on the attorney general's handling of the report.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, testimony got fiery in Congress over Mr Kushner's security clearance, with representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez comparing giving the Trump family security clearances to transmitting America's nuclear codes via Instagram direct messages.

Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load

Some perspective on Trump's Twitter weirdness from experienced observer Philip Bump of The Washington Post.

Chris Cillizza of CNN is meanwhile using Wallace and Gromit to explain the Trump presidency.

Joe Sommerlad2 April 2019 14:50

Here's the response from Jerrold Nadler and his fellow congressional chairmen to Donald Trump's insults today.

The letter below to attorney-general William Barr warns they will begin issuing subpoenas tomorrow if he does not release the Mueller report.

And here's a reminder of the House Oversight Committee's upcoming actions in response to White House whistleblower Tricia Newbold, who stated officials' advice was ignored on granting Ivanka and Jared high-level clearance.

Joe Sommerlad2 April 2019 15:00

Here's House speaker Nancy Pelosi's response to the Joe Biden controversy.

Joe Sommerlad2 April 2019 15:10

More from Rick Reilly's book: Trump has a nickname of his own.

Joe Sommerlad2 April 2019 15:20

Donald Trump is really upset about the cost of the Mueller report, and has suggested that democrats aren't talking about the report anymore following the news from last week.

That is clearly not true, given the multiple efforts in Congress to force the release of the report.

Clark Mindock2 April 2019 15:37

Mr Trump's potential 2020 challengers have been making their first quarter fundraising totals public, with Bernie Sanders so far leading the way.

Mr Sanders' campaign announced an $18.2m fundraising haul during the first three months of the year, setting him apart by far from the others in the race.

Meanwhile, senator Kamala Harris raised $12m during the first three months, and South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg raised an astonishing $7m.

We'll keep you posted when we see more fundraising figures.

Clark Mindock2 April 2019 15:57

Representative Adam Schiff says that he and his fellow democrats will not settle for a heavily redacted and edited version of the Mueller report, which attorney general William Barr has been asked to turn in on Tuesday.

Clark Mindock2 April 2019 16:20

While Donald Trump would like the release of the Mueller report from the special counsel's office to the Justice Department to mark a turning point in his presidency, the polling conducted since the big day has appeared to have little impact on his approval rating, according to Five Thirty Eight.

Since the day before the report was released to the Justice Department, Mr Trump's approval rating has shifted upwards just 0.2 per cent, to get him to a 42.1 per cent approval rating.

It looks like it may take a bit more public information before the president sees a significant shift, if he ever sees one at all. It is also possible that American voters just aren't that caught up in the Russia storyline, and that they don't trust the White House on the issue as it stands.

Clark Mindock2 April 2019 16:50

A coalition of progressive groups across the US are planning on mobilizing to protest when attorney general William Barr fails to meet a Democrat-set deadline to turn the Mueller report over to Congress.

The activists with Stand Up America, MoveOn.org, Indivisible, and Public Citizen, are planning a "Nationwide Day of Action" on Thursday to protest if Mr Barr fails to meet the deadline on Tuesday.

The group notes that Mr Barr has indicated he could redact a significant chunk of the report, and that it is unclear whether he will make an effort to be completely transparent. The goal of the protests is to force his hand a bit.

Mr Barr, for his part, once promised transparency but has since indicated he reserves the right to redact portions of the report. He as indicated he would turn the report over to Congress by mid-April.

Clark Mindock2 April 2019 17:25

Here's a video of representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's fiery questioning in the House today during a hearing on White House security clearances.

Clark Mindock2 April 2019 18:00

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in