Politics Election category, Page 67
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito says he spoke with Trump about clerk before hush-money filingVideo
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito spoke with President-elect Donald Trump about a former law clerk the day before Trump went to the high court in a push to delay the sentencing in his New York hush-money case, the justice said Wednesday. Alito said he took the call Tuesday...
Feds’ suit claims Pennsylvania city’s ‘at-large’ election system is biased against Hispanic voters
The U.S. Justice Department wants a judge to declare that a Pennsylvania city’s method of electing council members citywide instead of by districts has illegally diluted the political power of its growing Hispanic population, arguing in a lawsuit that Hazleton is violating the federal Voting Rights Act. A complaint filed...
Justice Department says it plans to release only part of special counsel’s Trump report for now
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Wednesday that it will release special counsel Jack Smith’s findings on Donald Trump’s efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election but will keep under wraps for now the rest of the report focused on the president-elect’s hoarding of classified documents at...
Sam DeMarco leaving Allegheny County Council for role in Sen. Dave McCormick’s office
Sam DeMarco is leaving his posts as an at-large Allegheny County councilman and chair of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County for a position in newly elected U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick’s office. DeMarco told TribLive he will serve as Southwest Regional director for McCormick’s office. In that position, DeMarco will...
Trump wants to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico. Can he do that?
President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would move to try to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” a name he said has a “beautiful ring to it.” It’s his latest suggestion to redraw the map of the Western Hemisphere. Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada...
Trump asks Supreme Court to block sentencing in his hush money case in New York
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to call off Friday’s sentencing in his hush money case in New York. Trump’s lawyers turned to the nation’s highest court Wednesday after New York courts refused to postpone the sentencing by Judge Juan M. Merchan, who presided over Trump’s...
Pa. Sen. John Fetterman the lone Democratic co-sponsor on GOP-led Laken Riley immigration bill
Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania is the first Senate Democrat to sign onto a Republican-led bill that would require federal authorities to detain undocumented immigrants arrested for theft-related crimes. The bill, passed Tuesday in the House, is slated to come up for a Senate vote on Friday. In addition to...
Democrat elected speaker of tied Pennsylvania House after GOP candidate bows out
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers on Tuesday returned Democratic Speaker Joanna McClinton to lead the chamber for the new session after the Republican floor leader bowed out to resolve a deadlock. Democrats won 102 seats in November, a single-vote majority, but one of their members was absent from swearing-in day after...
Judge temporarily blocks release of special counsel report on Trump cases amid simmering court fight
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the public release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on investigations into Donald Trump as an appeals court weighs a challenge to the disclosure of a much-anticipated document just days before the president-elect reclaims office. The ruling from U.S. District Judge...
Trump won’t rule out use of military force to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal
PALM BEACH, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would not rule out the use of military force to seize control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, as he declared U.S. control of both to be vital to American national security. Speaking to reporters less than two weeks...
U.S. says Sudanese rebel force has committed genocide, and it imposes sanctions on the group’s leaders
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Tuesday it has determined that Sudan’s paramilitary group and its proxies are committing genocide in the country’s civil war and that it has imposed sanctions on the group’s leader and affiliated companies. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the conflict,...
Donald Trump Jr. arrives in Greenland after his father said the U.S. should own the Danish territory
The eldest son of President-elect Donald Trump arrived in Greenland on Tuesday for a private visit that heightened speculation that the incoming U.S. administration could seek to take control of the mineral-rich Danish territory. The Danish state broadcaster reported that Donald Trump Jr.’s plane landed in Nuuk, capital of the...
Trump’s sentencing still on for Friday after judge rebuffs push for delay
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump remains on track to be sentenced this week in his hush money case after a judge on Monday denied his request to halt proceedings while he appeals a ruling that upheld the historic verdict. Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan ordered sentencing to proceed as...
Canada’s Trudeau resigns as Liberal Party leader, spelling end to time in power
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation Monday in the face of rising discontent over his leadership, and after the abrupt departure of his finance minister signaled growing turmoil within his government. Trudeau said it had become clear to him that he cannot “be the leader during the next...
Biden says Americans shouldn’t forget Capitol attack — but that there won’t be a repeat this time
President Joe Biden is decrying what he calls an “unrelenting effort” to downplay a mob of Donald Trump supporters overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to block certification of the 2020 election — seeking to contrast that day’s chaos with what he promises will be an orderly transition returning...
Congress certifies Trump’s 2024 win, without the Jan. 6 mob violence of 4 years agoVideo
WASHINGTON — Congress certified President-elect Donald Trump as the winner of the 2024 election in proceedings Monday that unfolded without challenge, in stark contrast to the Jan. 6, 2021, violence as his mob of supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Lawmakers convened under heavy security and a winter snowstorm to meet...
A small group of donors dominated these high-profile Pa. races during the 2024 election
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — A handful of groups were responsible for the vast majority of donations and independent spending in high-profile Pennsylvania elections for positions that make...
Trump weighs Jan. 6 clemency with Congress set to ratify his win
Four years after a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol to support Donald Trump’s last-gasp effort to overturn his election loss, the events of Jan. 6, 2021, have evolved into a political and cultural flashpoint — with little lasting damage to the president-elect. The attack faced bipartisan condemnation in the immediate...
How Congress will certify Trump’s Electoral College victory on Jan. 6
WASHINGTON — The congressional joint session to count electoral votes on Monday is expected to be much less eventful than the certification four years ago that was interrupted by a violent mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump who tried to stop the count and overturn the results of an...
Hillary Clinton, George Soros and Denzel Washington will receive the highest US civilian honor
WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Democratic philanthropist George Soros and actor-director Denzel Washington will be awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor on Saturday in a White House ceremony. President Joe Biden will bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 of the most famous names in politics,...
Why are flags being flown at half-staff on Inauguration Day?
President-elect Donald Trump has expressed frustration that flags will be flying at half-staff when he takes office this month. It’s an action put in place by President Joe Biden to honor the late President Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at 100. It’s not a timeline that Trump can do anything...
Judge sets Trump’s sentencing in hush money case for Jan. 10, but signals no jail time
NEW YORK — In an extraordinary turn, a judge Friday set President-elect Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case for Jan. 10 — little over a week before he’s due to return to the White House — but indicated he wouldn’t be jailed. The development nevertheless leaves Trump on...
Mexico opens possibility of receiving non-Mexican deportees from Trump
MEXICO CITY — Mexico opened the possibility Friday of receiving non-Mexican migrants deported by the United States after initially saying they would push President-elect Donald Trump to return other nationalities directly to their countries of origin. President Claudia Sheinbaum said during her daily press briefing that in cases where the...
Federal courts won’t refer Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to attorney general over ethics
WASHINGTON — The federal courts will not refer allegations that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas may have violated ethics laws to the Justice Department, the judiciary’s policymaking body said Thursday. Thomas has agreed to follow updated requirements on reporting trips and gifts, including clearer guidelines on hospitality from friends, the...
Rudy Giuliani faces contempt hearing as lawyers for election workers pursue $148M judgment
NEW YORK — Rudy Giuliani showed up Friday for a contempt hearing to decide whether he has dodged and deceived lawyers trying to recover a $148 million judgment won on behalf of two Georgia election workers. Judge Lewis J. Liman has said he may rule at the hearing whether the...
