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Whitaker’s appearance at the 9:30 a.m. hearing ended a subpoena standoff between Democrats and the Justice Department, but he drew a strict line about what questions he would answer. “I do not intend to talk about my private conversations with the president nor White House officials,” Whitaker said several times as Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., pressed him about his communications with the president concerning the probe by special counsel Robert Mueller.

A day before the hearing, the committee voted to authorize Nadler to subpoena Whitaker after the acting attorney general declined to answer certain questions submitted in advance about communications with White House officials and Whitaker’s refusal to recuse himself from supervising Mueller’s investigation, contrary to the recommendation of the top Justice Department’s ethics adviser.

Whitaker, who had been appointed last November by President Trump after Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned under pressure, threatened to not testify before the committee if he was subpoenaed. Whitaker finally agreed to appear when Nadler agreed to not issue him with a subpoena, according to a statement by a Justice Department spokesperson.

In his opening remarks before Whittaker’s testimony, ranking member Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., called the hearing “a “dog and pony show,” mockingly suggesting “we just set up a popcorn machine in the back.”

Source : AP

President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address Tuesday night, a speech that was, in equal measure, surprisingly bipartisan and deeply divisive — reflective of the deep contradictions that sit at the heart of his presidency.

Within just a few paragraphs, Trump swerved from calls for unity and shared victory to blasting Democrats on their opposition to his proposed border wall. In one breath, he touted the low unemployment rate. In the next, he insisted that if Democrats wanted peace and prosperity, then they could not carry on “partisan investigations.”It was vintage Trump — in all its incongruity, unpredictability, exaggeration and occasional moments of surprising grace.

Source : AP

The Pentagon announced Sunday the deployment of 3,750 more active-duty troops to the U.S. border with Mexico.

The deployment will raise the total active duty forces to approximately 4,350.

“Additional units are being deployed for 90 days, and we will continue to evaluate the force composition required to meet the mission to protect and secure the southern border,” the Pentagon said.

Roughly 2,400 active duty forces are currently at the border. A large number are going home and being replaced by the new deployment.

The announcement comes as a congressional committee seeks to reach a deal on border security funding to avert another partial government shutdown.

Source : AP