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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 18:42 BST
Comments
Fox News graphic claims that Trump is cutting funding to '3 Mexican countries'

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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

Joe Biden, the former vice-president currently wondering whether "unwanted touching" allegations will end his 2020 presidential race before it's even been declared, has blamed right-wing trolls for his plight.

Given he was the Democrats' preferred candidate in the polls - ahead of Bernie Sanders and Beto O'Rourke - the timing of the accusations is undeniably very convenient indeed for his enemies, serious though they may be.

Joe Sommerlad2 April 2019 13:10

Here's Tom Embury-Dennis on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's latest burn, this time issued to Republican rival Liz Cheney, daughter of Dick.

"I see you get your news from Facebook memes."

Joe Sommerlad2 April 2019 13:20

Here's Jay Caruso for Indy Voices with more on AOC, currently the Democratic Party's lightning rod. 

Joe Sommerlad2 April 2019 13:30

OMG! The man is dead! Just let him rest in peace!

Joe Sommerlad2 April 2019 13:45

Donald Trump has attacked Democrats – and Jerry Nadler in particular – for their continuing work to get the Mueller report issued in full.

Andrew Griffin2 April 2019 13:54

House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff still working tirelessly to hound the attorney-general into releasing the Mueller report.

Tick tock Mr Barr...

Joe Sommerlad2 April 2019 14:00

Some more Dem bashing from President Trump.

I think we all wish he would get on with "properly running" the US.

There's a new nickname for Adam Schiff in here ("Shifty") and, the last we heard, the Mueller investigation cost $24m (£18.5m), not $30m (£23m). Either way, it cost the American taxpayer a hell of a lot of money so perhaps they'd like to see what they've bought.

One more thing: hasn't he always considered the opposition "totally unhinged"? Or have they just become even more so since taking delivery of the Barr letter.

Joe Sommerlad2 April 2019 14:10

  ↵

Here's Schiff's response.

Joe Sommerlad2 April 2019 14:16

Sportswriter Rick Reilly, author of the new book Commander-in-Cheat, challenges Donald Trump to a round of golf on CNN's New Day and disputes his handicap.

The book contains allegations from Alice Cooper and Samuel L Jackson, among others, saying the president routinely cheats on the green.

Joe Sommerlad2 April 2019 14:30

More evidence of the rising tide of enthusiasm for Democratic 2020 hopeful Pete Buttigieg - the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana - who has impressed with his plainspoken attacks on Trump administration hypocrisy, especially regarding veep Mike Pence.

According to a new poll from NBC News/Wall Street Journal, 54 percent of Americans surveyed said they were enthusiastic about or comfortable with an LGBT+ candidate running for president.

Joe Sommerlad2 April 2019 14:40

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