Monday, Dec. 2
á
President Donald Trump announced tariffs on steel and aluminum from Brazil and Argentina and
threatened harsher penalties on dozens of popular French products. The
administration said the moves were necessary because U.S. trading partners were
acting unfairly.
á The Washington Post reported that Attorney General William Barr has said he disagrees with the Justice DepartmentŐs inspector general, who says in an upcoming report that the FBI had enough information in July 2016 to justify an investigation into members of the Trump campaign.
á A North Dakota company that Trump had urged be hired for border wall construction was awarded a $400 million contract to build a segment of the wall in Arizona, despite the fact that officials have said the companyŐs bids did not meet standards.
Tuesday, Dec. 3
á
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
ruled 2-1 that Deutche Bank and Capital One should
comply with subpoenas from the House Financial Services and House Intelligence
committees seeking information about TrumpŐs finances, upholding a lower court
decision in May.
á
The Justice Department asked the U.S. Supreme
Court to reinstate the executions of four federal prisoners after the U.S.
Court of Appeals for D.C. found that the departmentŐs plans to use lethal
injections of pentobarbital likely violated the Federal Death Penalty Act.
á
Trump, in London for a meeting of NATO, said he
will host the next G-7 meeting at Camp David after his first pick, his own
National Doral Miami sparked widespread, bipartisan criticism.
á
The Senate confirmed Sarah Pitlyk
for the U.S. District Court in St. Louis, despite the fact she was deemed Ňnot
qualifiedÓ by the American Bar Association because of the absence of any trial
or litigation experience. Pitlyk was also criticized
for her opposition to abortion, surrogacy and in vitro fertilization.
Wednesday, Dec. 4
á
Three of four constitutional scholars who
testified before the House Judiciary Committee said TrumpŐs behavior, as
outlined in a Report by the House Intelligence Committee approved Tuesday, was
impeachable.
á
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it
had finalized a rule tightening work requirements from the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program, which it estimated would cut 688,000 adults from
food stamps.
á
The chair of the House Committee on Homeland
Security called for an investigation into the $400 million border wall contract
awarded Monday to North Dakota-based Fisher Sand and Gravel.
á
U.S. Attorney John Durham, the prosecutor Barr
picked to lead a review of the 2016 investigation into possible coordination
between the Trump campaign and Russia said he could not offer evidence to
support the suspicions of some that the case was a setup by American
intelligence officers.
Thursday, Dec. 5
á
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said she would
ask the appropriate committee chairs to begin drafting articles of impeachment
for Trump.
á
Two documentary film organizations sued the
Trump administration over its rule put into effect this year that requires
foreigners to disclose their social media accounts — including
pseudonymous ones — when they apply for visas. The suit argues that
forcing people from authoritarian countries to disclose the pseudonyms they use
to discuss political matters could endanger them.
Friday, Dec. 6
á
The U.S. Supreme Court, with no dissents,
refused to let the Justice Department resume federal executions, denying the
departmentŐs request on Tuesday to do so for five executions it had scheduled
for December and January.
á
The Department of Labor announced that the
unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% in October, matching a half-century low.
á
White House Counsel Pat Cipollone
told the House Judiciary Committee that Trump will not send lawyers to the
committeeŐs hearing on Monday, when it will hear evidence on the investigation
into the presidentŐs toward Ukraine.
á
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg issued a one-week
stay of the lower courtŐs ruling Tuesday that Deutche
Bank and Capital One Must turn over financial records of Trump in response to
subpoenas from two House committees.
Saturday, Dec. 7
á The staff of the House Judiciary Committee issued a 55-page report outlining in Constitutional terms what the panel believes to be an impeachable offense.
á The White House confirmed a prisoner swap with Iran in which Iran released American Xiyue Wang, a Princeton graduate conducting research in Iran and charged with espionage, and the U.S. released Masoud Soleimany, and Iranian scientist convicted of violating American trade sanctions against Iran.
Sunday, Dec. 8
á
Rep. Jerry Nadler, chair of the House Judiciary
Committee, said on Meet the Press that articles of impeachment would be coming
this week.