We are now closing this live blog and moving to our dedicated blog for the midterm primary races in California, Iowa, New Jersey, South Dakota, New Mexico and Montana. You can follow all the updates here:
Key events
Trump pushing Iran to make firmer nuclear commitments in initial deal – report
Donald Trump is demanding that Iran put specific nuclear concessions down in writing as part of a preliminary agreement aimed at pushing through the drawn-out deadlock in talks to end his war, ABC News is reporting citing US officials and another source familiar with the matter.
According to ABC News’s sources, Iranian negotiators previously gave verbal assurances that the regime would agree to certain terms related to Tehran’s nuclear program, but Trump determined on Friday that those commitments weren’t strong enough.
As we reported earlier, Marco Rubio told the Senate foreign relations committee today: “[Iran] have to commit to very specific negotiations on … the highly enriched uranium that still is buried deep in a mountain somewhere. They have to agree on negotiating severe and long-term limitations and/or cancellation of enrichment activity in their country.”
He went on: “For example, they have to commit to say ‘we will dispose of the enriched uranium. And the question now is ‘What are the mechanisms by which we do so?’ That can be negotiated.”
The day so far
It’s been a busy day, so here’s a quick rundown of the main headlines:
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Acting attorney general Todd Blanche confirmed that the Trump administration has abandoned plans to create a $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” fund meant to compensate the president’s allies after fierce political backlash and setbacks in the courts. “We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche said, adding that this will remain true even after a federal court’s order to block the fund expires on 12 June. It followed swirling reports from GOP leadership that the fund was indeed dead and “off the table”.
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However, Blanche later added that the DOJ would continue granting immunity to Trump, his family members and his businesses from IRS investigations. “Nothing has changed with that,” Blanche said, denying representative Rosa DeLauro’s statement that the tax order would give “blanket immunity” to Trump and his associates from future investigations on tax matters (the measure could save Trump over $100m, according to a New York Times analysis). My colleague Sam Levine has this report.
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Meanwhile, Trump’s decision to appoint Bill Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence set off alarm bells in Washington, as a staunch Trump loyalist with little government experience who has shown an eagerness to retaliate against the president’s political rivals will now sit atop the US intelligence community. Among Republican critics were John Thune, the Senate majority leader, who told reporters that “we don’t need a weaponized” national intelligence director and Pulte would have “a lengthy road ahead of him” if he were nominated to take the post on a permanent basis. Here’s our story.
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Also today, homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin repeatedly refused to commit to following the numerous court orders from judges who have ruled that the Department of Homeland Security has acted illegally. In his first appearance before lawmakers since his confirmation in March, Mullin told the Senate appropriations committee that the DHS “will never break the constitution, and we’re not going to break the law”, but declined to commit to saying he would abide by rulings from judges. More on that here.
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Donald Trump angrily yelled and cursed at Benjamin Netanyahu over the Israeli prime minister’s threats to resume airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, Axios reported today. “What the fuck are you doing?” the US president reportedly shouted at Netanyahu during the phone call yesterday. “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” Read more on that here.
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And finally, Trump announced that he will attend and speak at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ dinner on 24 July, after the original event was thrown into chaos by a shooting. More on that here.
Chris Stein
in Washington
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner just exited the headquarters of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee after meeting for just shy of two hours.
Dozens of reporters waited outside along with a group of protesters, but Platner departed the meeting via a side door, and did not speak to the press.
Provision ‘forever’ barring IRS from auditing Trump’s past tax returns to remain in place, Blanche says
Per my colleague Sam Levine, while the federal government is abandoning an effort to create a $1.8bn secretive fund to compensate Donald Trump’s allies, it is maintaining an agreement that prohibits the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from auditing Trump, his family and related entities.
After confirming that the Trump administration is “not moving forward with the fund, period,” acting attorney general Todd Blanche later added that the DOJ would continue granting immunity to Trump and his family members on tax matters before the agreement was reached last month.
“Nothing has changed with that,” Blanche said, denying representative Rosa DeLauro’s statment that the tax order would give “blanket immunity” to Trump and his associates from future investigations.
Blanche confirms Trump administration has abandoned $1.8bn fund meant to compensate president’s allies
Acting attorney general Todd Blanche has said that the Trump administration is scrapping plans to create a $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” fund meant to compensate the president’s allies after fierce political backlash and setbacks in the courts.
“We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche said, adding that this will remain true even after a federal court’s order to block the fund expires on 12 June.
Blanche continued to defend the principle behind the idea, but confirmed that it had been abandoned:
The reasons for the fund is something that President Trump talked about for a long time, which is the fact that there were a lot of people in this country who had their government weaponized against them. The reasons for the fund, I think, remain as important as they were before, but we are not moving forward with the fund.
His confirmation during his House committee appearance comes in response to mounting pressure from Republicans for reassurances that the justice department’s plans were off the table before they would move forward with legislation funding Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies.
Mullin refuses to commit to following ‘politicized’ court orders for DHS
Ealier, homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin repeatedly refused to commit to following the numerous court orders from judges who have ruled that the Department of Homeland Security has acted illegally, suggesting – in true Trumpian fashion – that the courts are politicized.
In his first appearance before lawmakers since his confirmation in March, Mullin told the Senate appropriations committee that the DHS “will never break the constitution, and we’re not going to break the law”. But he also declined to commit to saying he would abide by rulings from judges.
“If we didn’t think courts were politicized, then I would probably be able to answer that, but we see courts over and over again that use their bench for their political opinion, not just the rule of law,” he said.
Asked by ranking member Chris Murphy what he meant, Mullin said: “What I’m saying is we’ll enforce the law and we’re never going to break the constitution.”
Murphy pulled him up on that, saying that Mullin was stating that he would not follow court orders. Mullin said Murphy was “putting words” in his mouth and again said he would not break the constitution.
“This is a really important discussion for us to have, because this is – whether you want to believe it or not – at the root of our disagreement,” Murphy said. “It is very hard for us to figure out how to fund an agency that is violating the law.”
In her opening remarks directed at acting attorney general Todd Blanche, Democratic representative Rosa DeLauro wasted no time in slamming the proposed “slush fund to pay out violent criminals who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers [in the January 6, 2021 US Capitol attack]”.
“This administration has engaged in what are perhaps the most brazen acts of flagrant corruption I’ve ever seen,” said DeLauro, of Connecticut, calling the fund a “corrupt payout scheme for the president and his allies”.
Citing the federal court order blocking the fund from paying out any claims, “I am not at all convinced that this administration has given up,” she said, adding the Blanche had “left [himself] a lot of room” in his opening statement.
Citing the lack of oversight, standards and transparency over the fund, as well as Blanche’s background as Trump’s former personal lawyer, DeLauro said it was “unconscionable” that taxpayer dollars could be used “to pay off just about anyone for just about anything”, including people who were convicted of violence during the Capitol attack.
She added that it was “staggering” and “shameful” given the number of Americans struggling to pay for food, utilities, gas, childcare and healthcare.
Further to that, earlier Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer refused to share details with reporters at his weekly news conference, saying only: “I met with Graham Platner today. We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.”
Chris Stein
in Washington
I’m outside the headquarters of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in DC, where Graham Platner, whose campaign for Maine’s Senate seat has been upended by revelations that he sent sexually explicit texts to women outside his marriage, is reportedly meeting with top lawmakers.
I haven’t spotted anyone in office yet, but there is a group of demonstrators standing outside the building’s driveway carrying signs reading, “Graham is a fraud”, and otherwise criticizing his candidacy. One man is shirtless and wearing a towel around his waist — clearly a nod to one of the photos Platner is accused of sending on the app Kik, a private messaging platform some use for sexting.
Now, they’re chanting: “Delete your Kik!”
Blanche to face lawmakers after GOP leaders state Trump’s $1.8bn ‘anti-weaponization’ fund ‘off the table’
At the top of the hour, we will hear from acting attorney general Todd Blanche as he testifies to the House appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice, science, and related agencies. He’s expected to face questions about the DOJ’s so-called “anti-weaponization” fund, among other issues.
Yesterday, the justice department announced it would comply with a recent court ruling blocking the contentious $1.8bn fund to compensate his allies, which has faced fierce bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill since it was announced two weeks ago.
Multiple outlets reported yesterday that Donald Trump may be mulling a retreat from the idea amid the growing political backlash. Other reports indicated only that the DOJ paused the program to comply with a court order. Perhaps Blanche will tell us more.
Republicans have expressed concerns over a lack of oversight and the possibility that individuals convicted in connection with violence during the 6 January 2021 riot at the US Capitol could receive payouts. Many are also alarmed at the optics of using taxpayer dollars for payouts to political allies during a cost-of-living crisis.
Democrats have derided the fund as a $1.8bn “Maga slush fund”, slamming it as “corruption in broad daylight”.
Senate Republicans, who have rarely broken with Trump, threatened to revolt and join forces with Democrats to block the fund.
Earlier today, House speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that he had told Trump they didn’t have the numbers. “I believe it is off the table for consideration,” he said, though he defended the idea behind the fund as “very noble”.
I told him it was a difficult prospect right now given our vote tallies. Look, I understand the intent behind it was a very noble thing. The government clearly was weaponized against Americans, the Department of Justice itself was. I don’t think it was fully understood and that’s what made it a difficult thing.
Senate majority leader John Thune, who has in contrast been an outspoken critic of the fund and called on the White House to “shut it down”, said he expected the plan to be binned following a “robust” conversation with Blanche today.
Asked if he believed the fund was dead, Thune said:
After speaking with the acting attorney general, that is correct.
Thune added that Blanche had previewed for him what he planned to say at his testimony this afternoon regarding the fund.
I think his statements are going to be very definitive, very clear, and create the certainty that I hope all of our members and House members need.