Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

As it happenedended1582066182

Trump news - live: President gives out controversial pardons as new report undermines White House rationale for Soleimani killing

Follow the latest updates

Clark Mindock
New York
,Joe Sommerlad
Tuesday 18 February 2020 17:04 GMT
Comments
Kellyanne Conway says Bloomberg's sexist comments 'far worse' than Trump's

Donald Trump has again lashed out at Barack Obama, accusing the 44th president of “trying to take credit for the Economic Boom taking place under the Trump Administration” in response to his predeccessor’s tweet remembering his signing of the Recovery Act in 2009 at the onset of the Great Recession.

Democratic 2020 front-runner Bernie Sanders has meanwhile hit back at rival Michael Bloomberg following criticism of his supporters by posting a picture on Twitter of the former New York mayor golfing with the president, suggesting there is little real difference between the two men. Mr Sanders is surging ahead in the polls while Mr Bloomberg has just qualified for his first primary debate.

Away from the 2020 race, the president’s ex-national security adviser John Bolton has expressed fears the White House will “suppress” his forthcoming memoir, The Room Where It Happened, telling a university audience in North Carolina the ongoing review process could interfere with his “effort to write history”.

And, Mr Trump signed off on several high-profile and contentious pardons, drawing the ire of former prosecturs who worked on those caes.

Among them was a former NYPD commissioner with ties to Rudy GIuliani, a former Democratic governor of Illinois and the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers NFL team.

Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load

1582052347

BREAKING: Trump commutes Blagojevich sentence

The president has commuted the sentence for former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, saying that he "served eight years in jail. It's a long time to go."

Trump's decision came roughly a year after he received harsh blowback for floating the idea.

Blagojevich was sentenced to prison for soliciting bribes, including for the Senate seat that was left open by Barack Obama when he became president in 2008.

He had been lobbying the president strongly, and drew parallels to his circumstances to those of the president's during his impeachment trial.

Clark Mindock18 February 2020 18:59
1582053164
Clark Mindock18 February 2020 19:12
1582053380

Two more pardons added

This time it is Michael MiMilken, a financier, and Bernard Kerik, the former police commissioner for the New York police.

Kerik was convicted on tax fraud and lying to the government. Milken was an investment banker known in the 1980s as the "junk bond king", and had fought for years to reverse his conviction for securities fraud.

Clark Mindock18 February 2020 19:16
1582054354

Bloomberg reverses Obama-era financial criticisms

Now that he is running to become the standard bearer of a Democratic Party marked by a considerable degree of suspicion towards the financial industry, the billionaire candidate has reversed his own criticism of Obama-era Wall Street rules.

Bloomberg, who built a fortune estimated by some to be worth $64 billion by selling financial products, has released a plan that would reverse the Trump administration's attacks on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law that expanded the power of federal financial watchdogs in the wake of the 2008 recession.

"“Given how profoundly the 2008 crisis undermined faith in the establishment -- and given how close it brought the world to economic collapse -- authorities everywhere should be doing all in their power to fix the flaws it revealed,” the plan says.

Clark Mindock18 February 2020 19:32
1582055500

Warren signals tomorrow's debate may get interesting:

After Mike Bloomberg qualified for the debate, here is what Elizabeth Warren had to say:

Clark Mindock18 February 2020 19:51
1582056704

Jane Sanders defends the movement's supporters

Not all supporters are "Bernie Bros" she said, noting the strength of the movement and the relatively small number of caustic supporters who have made waves online.

Clark Mindock18 February 2020 20:11
1582057894

And the search results say...

Clark Mindock18 February 2020 20:31
1582059104

Democrat steps down amid 'Bernie bro' bullying

The treasurer of Pennsylvania's Young Democrats has stepped down amid what she described as bullying from supporters of Bernie Sanders.

Read about it right here:

Clark Mindock18 February 2020 20:51
1582060164

Trump's latest tweets

Attacking Mike Bloomberg!

Electioneering on Twitter!

Attacking the mayor of the city he's about to visit!

Clark Mindock18 February 2020 21:09
1582060980

Amid pardon spree, president gives himself a new title

Trump called himself the "chief law enforcement officer" in the country, even though that title is generally reserved for the attorney general, who is William Barr.

The White House website even describes the attorney general post as such (though the president does technically oversee the entire cabinet).

“I’m actually, I guess, the chief law enforcement officer of the country,” Trump told reporters. “I could be involved if I wanted to.

Clark Mindock18 February 2020 21:23

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