Jul 9, 2019

House Democrats to target Trump administration with subpoenas for 12 Mueller witnesses

Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

The House Judiciary Committee will vote on Thursday to subpoena the Trump administration on two fronts: their ongoing investigations into President Trump's potential obstruction of justice and his administration's immigration policies.

The big picture: These subpoenas "will jolt two of the Democrats' highest-profile oversight investigations into Trump and his administration and are certain to further inflame relations with the White House," reports the Washington Post.

Regarding obstruction of justice, they would be authorized to subpoena 12 former and current officials from the Trump administration, including Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Regarding immigration, the committee would be authorized to subpoena documents relating to family separation practices, the holding of children and family and discussion of presidential pardons for Department of Homeland Security officials.

Go deeper: The 10 episodes of potential Trump obstruction listed in the Mueller report

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Fadel Allassan

25 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Virginia governor announces removal of Richmond's Robert E. Lee statue

Photo: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced on Thursday that the state will remove the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond's historic Monument Avenue.

Why it matters: It's a watershed moment for Virginia, which has been at the center of a years-long national debate about whether Confederate monuments should be displayed publicly. That discussion reached a boiling point when protests about a statue of Lee in Charlottesville turned violent in 2017.

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Jonathan Swan, Alayna Treene

1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

RNC expands convention search across the Sun Belt

Donald Trump, Mike Pence and their families on the last night of the Republican National Convention in Ohio in 2016. Photo: David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images.

The Republican National Committee is planning site visits over the next 10 days to more than a half-dozen cities — across the South and into Texas and Arizona — as it scrambles for a new convention host, people familiar with the internal discussions tell Axios.

Driving the news: The RNC's executive committee voted Wednesday night to allow most of the convention to move — with only a smaller, official portion remaining in Charlotte — after North Carolina's governor said the coronavirus pandemic would mean a scaled-back event with social distancing and face coverings.

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Ben Geman

2 hours ago - Energy & Environment

Oil faces tough road back from coronavirus

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Oil companies in the battered shale patch are starting to bring back some production as prices climb, but a new report underscores how the pandemic is taking a heavy financial toll despite signs of revival.

Driving the news: Fourteen North American producers have filed for bankruptcy thus far during the second quarter, per a tally from the law firm Haynes and Boone, which closely tracks the sector's finances.

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