Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
As it happenedended1560975594
Trump news: President fumes over Hillary Clinton’s emails in Twitter rant, as ex-aide Hope Hicks testifies before Congress
'We're watching obstruction of justice in action,' says congressman Ted Lieu of frustrated House Judiciary Committee hearing with former administration spokeswoman
The president has tweeted angrily about the hearing taking place behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, writing: “Why aren’t the Dems looking at the 33,000 Emails that Hillary and her lawyer deleted and acid washed AFTER GETTING A SUBPOENA FROM CONGRESS? That is real Obstruction that the Dems want no part of because their hearings are RIGGED and a disgrace to our Country!”
Last night, Mr Trump kicked off his 2020 re-election campaign in Orlando, Florida, tearing into his enemies in Washington and pledging to combat “criminal aliens” in a wild address at the 20,000-capacity Amway Center packed with his most ardent supporters.
Less than an hour into Ms Hicks’ interview on Wednesday, frustrated Democrats taking breaks from the meeting said she and her lawyer were following White House orders to stay quiet about her time working for Mr Trump.
She was answering some questions about her time on the campaign, however, the lawmakers said.
Trump 2020 launch: Fascist Proud Boys, baby blimps and Uncle Sam
Show all 30
“She’s objecting to stuff that’s already in the public record,” said California Democrat Karen Bass. “It’s pretty ridiculous.”
Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, called her answers “a farce.” Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, tweeted about the interview and wrote that Ms Hicks refused to answer even innocuous questions such as whether she had previously testified before Congress.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler declined to comment on the substance of the interview so far, saying “all I’ll say is Ms Hicks is answering questions put to her and the interview continues.”
Republicans had a different perspective, saying she was cooperative and that the interview was a waste of time. The top Republican on the panel, Doug Collins, said they were “simply talking about things that are already out there in public or getting the same answers over and over.”
Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events
It was so far unclear whether Democrats would take Ms Hicks or the administration to court to challenge the claim of immunity. In a letter Tuesday to Mr Nadler, White House counsel Pat Cipollone wrote that Mr Trump had directed Ms Hicks not to answer questions “relating to the time of her service as a senior adviser to the president.”
Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
Today is Juneteenth in America, a holiday commemorating the announcement of the abolition of slavery on 19 June 1865 in Texas, paving the way for the emancipation of African Americans across the former Confederate states in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell's thoughts on paying reparations to the ancestors of slaves have not gone down well at all.
He says he's against it as "none of us currently living are responsible for it" and: "We've tried to deal with the original sin of slavery by passing civil rights legislation and electing an African American president."
Also on Capitol Hill, the House Judiciary subcommittee is holding its hearing on reparations for slavery, with Hollywood actor Danny Glover and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates among those speaking.
The latter has already taken Senate leader McConnell to task for his earlier dismissal of the subject.
Here's 2020 candidate Cory Booker with some timely words, especially given the presence of the Proud Boys in Orlando to support Trump yesterday.
Democrats vying for the chance to take on Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential elections will have to first battle each other at the upcoming debates in Florida.
The robust pool of Democratic hopefuls were narrowed down for the first two debate nights based on polling and donation requirements. Still, frontrunners like Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders will be joined by a large number of relatively lesser-known candidates like Michael Bennet, Andrew Yang and Marianne Williamson, all hoping to capture the spotlight and make their case to the American people as to why they should become the next president of the United States.
Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, Democrats are grilling a diplomat about whether the Trump administration could seek war with Iran and other potential issues that may arise out of the conflict:
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies