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Conway says Biden's "complicit" in Obama admin immigrant deportations

Activists including 50 immigrants protest against former Vice President Joe Biden in Philadelphia Wednesday. Photo: Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway tied the Obama administration's immigration record to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on "Fox News Sunday," as she defended President Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.

Details: Conway told Fox News host Chris Wallace that immigration enforcement "happened under President Obama," when Biden was vice president. "Just this week, you saw massive protests at Joe Biden’s Philadelphia headquarters ... and those people are angry that he was complicit in the Obama-Biden deportation," she said.

The big picture: ICE has deported more immigrants this fiscal year than any full fiscal year of Trump's presidency, but it hasn't reached President Obama's early deportation levels, Department of Homeland Security figures obtained by Axios show.

Why it matters: With four months left in the fiscal year, it puts Trump's deportations in perspective and shows the reality behind the anti-immigrant pledges that have come to define his presidency, Axios' Stef W. Kight and Alayna Treene note.

What he's saying: In video captured by Politico, Biden defended the Obama administration's immigration record when confronted by protesters in New Hampshire on Friday. He said he wouldn't apologize if anyone deported had committed a felony, but he would apologize for deportations if the immigrants "were engaged in a misdemeanor and/or their family was separated."

Go deeper: Joe Biden on the issues, in under 500 words

Go deeper

Jonathan Swan
6 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Scoop: Gina Haspel threatened to resign over plan to install Kash Patel as CIA deputy

CIA Director Gina Haspel. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

CIA Director Gina Haspel threatened to resign in early December after President Trump cooked up a hasty plan to install loyalist Kash Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), as her deputy, according to three senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

Why it matters: The revelation stunned national security officials and almost blew up the leadership of the world's most powerful spy agency. Only a series of coincidences — and last minute interventions from Vice President Mike Pence and White House counsel Pat Cipollone — stopped it.

Go deeper (3 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 7 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Health: Coronavirus deaths reach 4,000 per day as hospitals remain in crisis mode — CDC warns highly transmissible coronavirus variant could become dominant in U.S. in March.
  2. Politics: Biden says, "We will manage the hell out of" vaccine distribution — Biden taps ex-FDA chief to lead Operation Warp Speed amid rollout of COVID plan — Widow of GOP congressman-elect who died of COVID-19 will run to fill his seat.
  3. Vaccine: Battling Black mistrust of the vaccines — "Pharmacy deserts" could become vaccine deserts — Instacart to give $25 to shoppers who get vaccine.
  4. Economy: Unemployment filings explode again — Fed chair: No interest rate hike coming any time soon —  Inflation rose more than expected in December.
  5. World: WHO team arrives in China to investigate pandemic origins.
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Lachlan Markay
8 hours ago - Politics & Policy

John Weaver, Lincoln Project co-founder, acknowledges “inappropriate” messages

John Weaver aboard John McCain's campaign plane in February 2000. Photo: Robert Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

John Weaver, a veteran Republican operative who co-founded the Lincoln Project, declared in a statement to Axios on Friday that he sent “inappropriate,” sexually charged messages to multiple men.

  • “To the men I made uncomfortable through my messages that I viewed as consensual mutual conversations at the time: I am truly sorry. They were inappropriate and it was because of my failings that this discomfort was brought on you,” Weaver said.
  • “The truth is that I'm gay,” he added. “And that I have a wife and two kids who I love. My inability to reconcile those two truths has led to this agonizing place.”
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow

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