Trump flees New York amid tax probe – Follow Biden news

Donald Trump’s policy which stopped companies being criminally prosecuted for preventable bird deaths has been reversed.

The Biden administration on Monday did a U-turn on the rule imposed by the former president, which had drastically weakened the government’s power to enforce a century-old law that protects most American bird species.

Mr Trump’s move halted enforcement under the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which was most notably used to achieve a $100m settlement from BP after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster killed more than one million birds from 93 species.

Donald Trump’s allies have hit out at Meghan Markle over her Oprah Winfrey interview.

“Here’s the question Oprah should have asked Harry & Meghan: isn’t the whole point of the Royal Family that it’s *not* about you but about your country? It’s about service to the UK and the Commonwealth,” tweeted former White House senior adviser Stephen Miller.

Twitter has filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claiming the Republican used his office to retaliate against it for banning the account of Donald Trump following the riot at the US Capitol. 

Days after the deadly January insurrection, Mr Paxton announced an investigation into Twitter and four other major technology companies for what he called “the seemingly coordinated de-platforming of the president”.

The attorney general’s office demanded that the companies produce a variety of records related to their content moderation policies and troves of internal communications. 

Twitter responded on Monday with a federal lawsuit alleging Mr Paxton is seeking to punish it for taking Mr Trump‘s account offline – a decision the social media company says is protected free speech.

It asks a judge to declare the decision to be under the ambit of the First Amendment and to, in essence, halt Mr Paxton’s investigation. 

“Paxton made clear that he will use the full weight of his office, including his expansive investigatory powers, to retaliate against Twitter for having made editorial decisions with which he disagrees,” lawyers for the company wrote in the suit filed in a Northern California court. 

Spokespersons for Mr Paxton’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AP. 

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has dismissed a cease-and-desist letter from Donald Trump’s attorney asking the GOP to stop using the former president’s name in fundraising efforts.

Responding to the letter from the former president’s lawyer, Alex Cannon, RNC chief counsel Justin Riemer said that the committee “has every right” to use the Trump name. 

Defending the practice, Mr Riemer said that the committee “has every right to refer to public figures as it engages in core, First Amendment-protected political speech, and it will continue to do so in pursuit of these common goals.”

John Kerry, the US special envoy for climate, travelled to Brussels on Tuesday to discuss transatlantic cooperation with European officials in the wake of Joe Biden’s decision to rejoin the global effort to curb climate change.

He will meet with the EU Commission vice-president in charge of climate action, Frans Timmermans, and discuss preparations for the next UN climate summit in Glasgow in November.

He will also talk with Ursula von der Leyen and join a weekly commission meeting on transatlantic climate action.

On Monday, he visited London for talks with Boris Johnson, Cop26 president Alok Sharma, Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

On 22 April, Mr Biden will also host a leaders’ summit on climate change.

Joe Biden has ordered his administration to review federal rules guiding colleges in how they handle allegations of campus sexual assaults. 

In an executive order, Mr Biden directed the education department to examine rules that the Trump administration issued around Title IX, the federal law that forbids sex discrimination in education.

Mr Biden directed the agency to “consider suspending, revising or rescinding” any policies that fail to protect students. 

Mr Biden also signed a second executive order formally establishing the White House Gender Policy Council, which his transition team had announced before he took office. 

“The policy of this administration is that every individual, every student is entitled to a fair education – free of sexual violence – and that all involved have access to a fair process,” Jennifer Klein, co-chair and executive director of the Gender Policy Council, told reporters at a White House briefing. 

Missouri’s Roy Blunt on Monday became the fifth Republican senator to announce he will not seek reelection, a retirement wave that portends an ugly campaign period next year and gives Democrats fresh hope in preserving their razor-thin Senate majority.

History suggests Republicans are still well-positioned to reclaim at least one chamber of Congress next year.

But officials in both parties agree that the surge of GOP departures will make the Republicans’ challenge more difficult in the Senate. 

A huge wind farm off the Massachusetts coast is edging closer to federal approval, setting up what the Biden administration hopes will be a model for an increase in offshore wind power generation along the US east coast. 

The Vineyard Wind project, south of Martha’s Vineyard near Cape Cod, would create 800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 400,000 homes.

If approved, the $2bn project would be the first utility-scale wind power development in federal waters.

Vineyard Wind is significantly farther offshore than Cape Wind, a previous Massachusetts offshore wind project that failed amid opposition from the Kennedy family and businessman William Koch, among others, who considered it a bird-killing eyesore.

Supporters say Vineyard Wind, located nearly 15 miles offshore, is better situated than Cape Wind and uses superior technology with fewer and larger turbine blades.

Under a preferred alternative being considered, the project’s giant turbines will be located at least 1 nautical mile apart, allowing fishing boats easier movement around the blades, officials said. 

The Interior Department said on Monday it had completed an environmental analysis of Vineyard Wind, with a decision on whether to approve the project expected as soon as next month.

US president Joe Biden’s two dogs have reportedly been returned to the Biden family home in Delaware after displaying “aggressive behaviour” at the White House.

The family’s two German Shepherds, 3-year-old Major and 13-year-old Champ, were moved into the White House in January following Mr Biden’s inauguration.

But a source cited by CNN said the dogs were moved back to Wilmington, Delaware, last week after a “biting incident” involving Major and a member of White House security.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, has spoken about the unique challenges of having a teaching job while also serving as the second gentleman.

“I’ve learned teaching is really hard,” Mr Emhoff said.

“The amount of work that you have to put in and the extra effort, especially during Covid, doing over Zoom.” 

He told reporters about conversations he has with his wife after a day at work: “I talk about how it’s going, how I’m trying to reach the students, and how they’re responding to me.

“And look, it’s odd the second gentleman is their teacher.

“But we kind of dispensed with that.

“It was maybe five minutes in the first class.”

Joe Biden‘s nominees for the No 2 and No 3 Justice Department jobs face the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, and will likely be questioned on topics from civil rights to protecting the United States from domestic extremist attacks.

Lisa Monaco, a former prosecutor who also served as homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to Barack Obama, is Mr Biden‘s pick for deputy attorney general – a sweeping role that entails overseeing the department’s criminal and national security matters as well as its 93 U.S. attorneys.

Vanita Gupta is nominated as associate attorney general, a job that oversees the department’s civil and civil rights divisions, as well as antitrust, environmental, grant-making and community policing matters.

Both women have garnered bipartisan support for their nominations, though Ms Gupta has drawn some opposition from conservative groups over her progressive views on criminal justice reform and is expected to face a tougher confirmation battle than Ms Monaco.

A federal judge has refused to release the so-called “QAnon Shaman” after an ill-advised appearance on the news show 60 Minutes.

Jacob Chansley had applied to be released from detention ahead of his trial for his involvement in the violent insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January.

However, in his ruling published on Monday, Judge Royce Lamberth cited the TV interview as evidence that Mr Chansley does not understand the severity of his actions.

Several million people stand to save hundreds of dollars in health insurance costs, or more, under the Democratic coronavirus relief legislation on track to pass Congress

Winners include those covered by “Obamacare” or just now signing up, self-employed people who buy their own insurance and don’t currently get federal help, laid-off workers struggling to retain employer coverage, and most anyone collecting unemployment. 

Also, potentially many more could benefit if about a dozen states accept a Medicaid deal in the legislation.

Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Opal Tometi has reportedly called for a boycott of the Royal Family following Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s controversial interview with Oprah Winfrey. 

Ms Tometi told news outlet TMZ on Tuesday that people should stop standing-by the Royal Family, and called for a boycott of the institution, over claims by the couple that their son’s skin tone was called into question. 

The lawyers tapped to investigate sexual harassment allegations against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo both have experience handling high-profile cases involving men accused of abusing their power.

One of the attorneys, Joon Kim, was a federal prosecutor who directed investigations that sent one of Mr Cuomo’s top aides to prison on a bribery conviction and led to the conviction of another on charges connected to a massive economic development project that Mr Cuomo championed.

The other investigator, Anne L Clark, is an employment lawyer who once represented a woman in sexual harassment lawsuit filed against a powerful New Jersey politician.

New York Attorney General Letitia James appointed the pair on Monday to look into accusations against the Democratic governor made by several women, including three former staffers in his administration.

A man from Montana who is charged with shoving a metal police barricade into police officers during the 6 January Capitol riots was arrested in New York after being deported from Kenya, reports said.

Isaac Steve Sturgeon, 32, was identified through police body camera video and photographs posted to social media.  The FBI said Mr Sturgeon, who owns a lawn care business, traveled to Kenya on 24 January and was deported from that country to New York.

Prosecutors said Mr Sturgeon faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. 

Joe Biden has reinstated the official presidential portraits of former Presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton to their prominent place in the White House after they were moved during the Donald Trump administration, a report has said.

According to CNN, the two paintings have been rehung back on display in the Grand Foyer of the executive mansion, from which they were moved in July 2020.

Joe Biden appeared to forget the name of his defence secretary Lloyd Austin in a speech on Monday, and instead referred to the cabinet member as the “guy who runs that outfit over there.”

“I want to thank Sec…—, the former general, I keep calling him ‘General.’ My — the guy who runs that outfit over there,’ the US president said. “I want to make sure we thank the secretary for all he’s done.”

The apparent moment of forgetfulness came as Mr Biden announced the promotion of two women to the positions of four-star general commands at a ceremony at the White House on International Women’s Day.

Days after the Republican National Committee (RNC) dismissed a cease-and-desist letter from Donald Trump’s attorney asking for fundraising campaigns to stop drop his name, the former US president criticised supporters for raising money for “RINOS” — or “Republicans in name only”.

“No more money for RINOS,” said the statement issued on Monday night, which referred to “Republicans in name only.”

“They do nothing but hurt the Republican Party and our great voting base—they will never lead us to Greatness,” said Mr Trump, who instead urged supporters to “Send your donation to Save America PAC at DonaldJTrump.com”.

It comes as Republicans remain split on their stance towards Mr Trump, who last week criticised the Wall Street Journal for calling on the party to leave him behind.