Trump news - live: California threatens to leave president off 2020 ballot papers unless tax returns published as William Barr feud continues on Capitol Hill

Follow the latest updates from Washington

Kamala Harris asks William Barr whether Trump or White House asked him to open an investigation

California is threatening to leave Donald Trump off the 2020 ballot unless he publishes five years of income tax returns, just as the president is attempting to put a lid on the Mueller report that has dogged his presidency.

The threat from the blue state comes in the wake of attorney general William Barr's divisive testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, which has inspired a war of words on Capitol Hill and seen House speaker Nancy Pelosi brand America’s top legal official “a liar”.

The Democratic-led House is considering holding Mr Barr in contempt of Congress over misleading statements he made, his refusal to show up on Thursday to a planned hearing, and for failing to deliver the full Mueller report alongside underlying evidence to Congress.

Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load

Key Points

• California threatens to leave Trump off 2020 ballot papers without tax returns
• Barr wars intensify as Nancy Pelosi brands attorney general 'a liar'
• House Democrats negotiating Robert Mueller appearance before Congress
• Five top Democrats would beat Trump in 2020, new poll finds

[3 May 2019 08:55 · Joe Sommerlad]

Hello and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the Donald Trump administration.

[3 May 2019 09:17 · Joe Sommerlad]

Following an acrimonious couple of days in Washington resulting from attorney general William Barr's appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to defend his handling of the Mueller report and his no-show at the House yesterday, Donald Trump is attempting to move the narrative on.

You know, get back to policy and principle. The things that really matter.

Except that's not at all what the Mueller report said.

And, call me cynical, but it seems odd the president should so suddenly want to strike a grown-up tone just as his AG finds himself under siege from hostile Democrats.

Here's one theory to explain Trump's latest about-turn:

Or could it, perhaps, have something to do with this?

Here's Chris Riotta with more on CNN's new poll.

[3 May 2019 09:27 · Joe Sommerlad]

Things got ugly for Barr yesterday after he declined to appear before the House Judiciary Committee.

Jerry Nadler's panel went ahead without him anyway, leaving an empty chair. Tennessee Democrat Steve Cohen also brought along a glass statue of a chicken and bucket of KFC, which he shared with colleagues, to taunt the attorney general for his cowardice.

More seriously, Chairman Nadler warned that the House could hold Barr in contempt of Congress over misleading statements he made before the House Appropriations Committee on 9 April as Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the United State's top legal official "a liar" and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer threatened action.

Here's Clark Mindock's report.

[3 May 2019 09:40 · Joe Sommerlad]

The Democrats will now press ahead in their efforts to deal directly with FBI special counsel Robert Mueller, the man best qualified to discuss his own 22-month investigation and the 448-page report but who has seldom been heard to speak.

We know he's unhappy about the reception of his magnum opus (and Republican cries of "No collusion!") after The Washington Post and New York Times published reports of a letter Mueller sent to Barr on 27 March - three days after the AG's four-page memo summarising his conclusions was released - in which he criticised its lack of context.

​​

Barr told the Appropriations Committee he had no idea how Mueller regarded his work in early April, a claim made nonsense of by the emergence of the above.

[3 May 2019 10:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

As for the Republicans, they appear to be going after Jerry Nadler - accusing him of lying, not Barr.

Here's House minority leader Kevin McCarthy and White House spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders attempting to parry.

Gadzooks, is this a metaphor I see before me?

[3 May 2019 10:15 · Joe Sommerlad]

President Trump spoke in the White House Rose Garden yesterday for the National Day of Prayer and thanked God for guidance during the "witch hunt".

"As God promises in the Bible, those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on the wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; and they will walk and not be faint," Trump said.

"That’s something that Mike and I think about all the time. Right, Mike?" Trump said, referring to his devout vice-president Mike Pence.

"What do you think, Mike? I think so. Hey, we deserve it."

[Cue lightning bolt from the Heavens.]

Not everyone's buying it.

[3 May 2019 10:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

President Trump described potential 2020 rival Kamala Harris as "probably very nasty" in an interview with Trish Regan of Fox Business on Wednesday night after the California Democrat subjected William Barr to a rough time at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and called on him to resign.

"We have a president of the United States whose primary interest I think that has been clear as a result of what we know as a result of the Mueller report, his primary interest has been to obstruct justice,” Harris responded in conversation with CNN. 

[3 May 2019 10:45 · Joe Sommerlad]

The Trump campaign appointed former Fox broadcaster Kimberly Guilfoyle, girlfriend of Don Jr, to its 2020 staff this week. 

Here she is meeting Jovi Val, a former Proud Boy turned authentic Third Reich Nazi.

Here's a little background on this odious buffoon from Greg Evans of Indy100 fame, concerning his recent egging by an anti-fascist protester on the streets of New York.

[3 May 2019 11:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump nominated two men for the board of the Federal Reserve last month: Herman Cain and Stephen Moore.

Both have now dropped out of the running.

Cain, a fast food company executive whose 2012 presidential run was derailed by sexual harassment allegations, lacked Republican support while Moore has been disgraced by the resurfacing of misogynistic comments. Sad!

Here's more from Lily Puckett.

[3 May 2019 11:15 · Joe Sommerlad]

Democrats on Capitol Hill yesterday passed their first climate change bill since regaining control of the House of Representatives, ordering Donald Trump to renege on his move to withdraw the US from the 2015 Paris accords at the end of his first term.

It also requires the president to meet US obligations agreed to by the Obama administration under the Paris Agreement of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

The bill passed 231-190, with just three Republicans crossing the divide.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, however, warns it shall not pass, dismissing the gesture as "political theatre".

Even if it were to be allowed to reach the upper chamber for debate and went on to secure an unlikely Republican rebellion, President Trump would simply veto it as soon as it landed on his desk - as he did the recent motion of disapproval against his national emergency declaration - rather than row back on a campaign promise.

But that's not the point. The move allows the Democrats to capitalise on the urgency introduced to the subject by progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her Green New Deal, dragging global warming back into the national spotlight in time for 2020 and placing renewed pressure on the Trump White House to revise its view before the last grains of sand tumble through the hourglass.

I wonder why senior Republicans are so stubbornly hostile to climate activism anyway...