Year: 2017

House Republicans announced they would put off the release of their tax bill until Thursday, which is a one-day delay, saying they had “a few finishing touches to do.” House Budget Chairwoman Diane Black said they […]

U.S. Businesses Added 235,000 Jobs in October

Private survey showed that U.S. businesses have added a solid 235,000 jobs in October. The survey is partly reflecting a rebound from the previous month when hiring was held back by several hurricanes, the Associated Press […]

After New York City Attack, Trump’s Supporters Want Travel Ban

President Donald Trump tweeted that he had ordered Homeland Security to step up the Extreme Vetting Program in the wake of the attack in New York City, which left eight people dead and caused many […]

Academic Suspected of Being Middleman in Russia’s Election Interference

A London-based academic, Joseph Mifsud, is suspected of being the link between Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos and the Russian government. The CNN reports that he had told a business contact that the Russians had […]

North Korea Is Holding Drills as Trump Scraps Visit to Border

North Korea is holding unprecedented blackout and mass evacuation drills amid heightened tensions with the United States and ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to South Korea. Trump was supposed to visit Korean demilitarized zone […]

Several Democrats to File Articles of Impeachment against Trump

Luis Gutiérrez, Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee, said that he and several other colleagues on the panel were preparing to file articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. They are planning to do […]

U.S. Argues against ACLU Accessing American Accused of Fighting for ISIS

According to a motion filed in federal court on Monday, the Trump administration is opposed to the ACLU representing the U.S. citizen apprehended in Syria who has been accused of fighting for ISIS. The response […]

Nuclear Arsenal Plan Requiring $1.2tn Raises Concerns

President Donald Trump’s plan to remake the U.S. nuclear arsenal is estimated to require $1.2 trillion, which is considerably higher than previous figures, according to the Congressional Budget Office report. These predictions have raised concerns […]

Lawmakers Want More Information from Facebook, Google and Twitter on Russia’s Interference in 2016 Election

Lawmakers from both parties on the Senate Judiciary Committee gathered Facebook, Google and Twitter officials on Tuesday and expressed frustration with their response to the use of the platforms by Russia in the presidential election. The lawmakers […]

Trump to Discuss DACA Fix with Republicans

President Donald Trump is set to meet with top GOP senators Thursday to discuss a potential fix to the DACA program which was repealed by the administration earlier this year. Half a dozen top Republicans […]

Mueller to Interview Hope Hicks

White House communications director Hope Hicks will allegedly be interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller somewhere in mid-November. An administration official also said Mueller’s team is likely to interview several other White House officials beginning […]

Trump Urges Tougher Vetting After New York Attack

President Donald Trump tweeted on Tuesday that the U.S. “must not allow ISIS to return” following the New York attack where a motorist killed over eight pedestrians and cyclists. The act is currently being investigated […]

Senate Republicans Refuse Possibility of Defunding Mueller’s Probe

Senate Republicans refuse the idea of defunding the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller which is looking at Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Moscow. They wouldn’t support […]

Paul Manafort Owns Multiple Passports and Poses Flight Risk

Paul Manafort, former chairman of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and his business associate Richard Gates are at risk of fleeing, prosecutors believe. “The defendants pose a risk of flight based on the serious nature of […]

Republican Senators Disregard Calls for Bill Protecting Mueller from Trump

Senate Republicans are dismissing demands made by Democrats to pass a bill which would protect Robert Mueller from being fired by President Donald Trump. The special counsel is currently investigating Russian meddling with last year’s […]

Senate Republicans United on Tax Policy Change

The controversy which is beginning to develop in the House on tax deductions will not be an issue in the upper chamber, Senate GOP members say. They add that the Senate Republican conference is united […]

Declassified Document Reveals CIA Investigated whether Hitler Survived World War II

Adolf Hitler survived World War II and lived in Colombia for several months in 1954, recently declassified document from the CIA indicates. The document is part of the files related to the assassination of President […]

Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Ban on Transgender Service Members

A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender service members. The judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the ban was based […]

FBI Opens Inquiry into Whitefish Energy Contract

According to a source familiar with the inquiry, the FBI has started a preliminary probe into Whitefish Energy Holdings’ $300 million contract secured by Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority to rebuild the island’s power grid. […]

George Papadopoulos Pleads Guilty to Lying to the FBI

Former foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trump’s campaign, George Papadopoulos, pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI. According to the court documents, Papadopoulos was charged with willfully and knowingly making false statements to […]

Democrat Warns Against Preemptive Military Strike on North Korea

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has warned that should President Donald Trump conduct a preemptive military strike on North Korea without congressional approval, “there would be no end to the ability to make war without Congress,” […]

White House Chief of Staff Kelly Defends Confederate Statues

White House chief of staff John Kelly says it is a mistake to remove Confederate-tied symbols and discard markers of historical importance, The Hill reports. Kelly also argued that it’s a “dangerous” practice to retroactively […]

Kelly Says He Won’t Apologize to Frederica Wilson

Chief of Staff John Kelly said on Monday that he stood by his accusation of Congresswoman Frederica Wilson of politicizing the death of a soldier, adding that he refused to apologize to her. His comment […]

White House Downplays Rumors about Plans to Dismiss Mueller

The White House on Monday said it had no plans to dismiss Special Counsel Robert Mueller, after he delivered the first indictments in his investigation regarding Russia’s interference in last year’s presidential elections, The Hill […]

U.S. Forces Capture Key Militant in Benghazi Attack

The American special operations forces captured a militant in Libya accused of playing instrumental role in the Benghazi attacks and President Donald Trump identified him as Mustafa al-Imam. The aim of the operation was to […]

Airbus in Talks with U.S. Regulators about Compliance Violations

European plane maker Airbus notified U.S. regulators about shortfalls reporting certain defense-related deals, adding to its global compliance woes, The Wall Street Journal reports. The company said it would miss delivery targets for one of […]

Facebook Estimates that 126mn People Saw Russian-backed Content

Facebook estimates that 470 Russian-backed accounts connected to a single pro-Kremlin firm, the Internet Research Agency, produced more than 80,000 posts on the social network between January 2015 and August 2017- reaching approximately 126 million […]

Trump Furious as Mueller Investigation Reaches Former Aides

The recent developments in the Russia investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller has once again reignited President Donald Trump’s anger at the controversy clouding his presidency. According to a Republican close to the White […]

National Security Officials: No Need to Update 9/11 War Law

Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, two top national security officials opposed rewriting a 16-year-old law used by the government as a justification for the military operations against Islamist militants. According to them, the […]

October 30, 2017 Focus Washington

Jared Kushner Made Unannounced Trip to Saudi Arabia

Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and senior adviser took an unannounced trip to Saudi Arabia together with other senior White House advisers. This was his third trip this year and the aim of it […]