Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis rejects ‘false’ misuse of funds claims after Trump ally subpoenas her – US politics live | US Congress

Biden arrives at Dover air base to honor three US troops killed in Jordan attack

Only a quarter of Americans say they feel the economy is starting to recover from the problems of the past few years, according to a new poll released as new figures show the US job market added 353,000 new jobs in January, defying fears of a downturn.

The CNN poll released today shows 26% of Americans say they feel the economy is beginning to recover, up from 20% last summer and 17% in December 2022.

But nearly half, 48%, say they believe the US economy is still in a downturn, citing inflation and the cost of living, as well as expenses such as food and housing.

Overall, more than half, 55%, of Americans say they feel Joe Biden’s policies have worsened the country’s economic conditions. The poll found split views along partisan lines: of those who say the economy is recovering, nearly three-quarters say Biden policies have helped. Out of those who say things are getting worse, 83% blame the president’s policies.

Border bill text to be released over weekend, says lead negotiator

The Democratic congressman Dan Goldman has said he is “disgusted” by the news that the House judiciary committee has subpoenaed Fani Willis.

A statement from the New York congressman reads:

I am utterly disgusted but sadly not surprised by Chairman Jordan’s latest attempt to subvert our country’s rule of law by weaponizing Congress’s authority to interfere in an ongoing criminal prosecution for nakedly political purposes.

In his blatant attempt to save Donald Trump, his party’s indicted criminal defendant presidential nominee, from legal peril, Chairman Jordan has yet again abused the authority of the Judiciary Committee to attempt to undermine a state prosecution.

Make no mistake, this is the true ‘weaponization of the federal government,’ unlike Chairman Jordan’s Select Subcommittee of the same name in which he has wasted countless hours peddling baseless conspiracy theories to no avail.

Fani Willis dismisses subpoena claims as ‘false’ and ‘baseless’

George Chidi

A verdict in the civil fraud case brought by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, against Donald Trump could come by mid-February.

A spokesperson for the New York state office of court administration said:

It’s looking like early to mid-February, as a rough estimate, and subject to modifications. But that’s the working plan now.

Judge Arthur Engoron will issue a written decision on fraud claims against Trump and his co-defendants and no news conference will be held, the spokesperson added.

James has argued that Trump and his business associates should pay $370m for decades of financial fraud, as well as a permanent ban from participating in New York’s real estate industry, or from serving as a director or officer at a corporation or legal entity in the state.

The attorney general had previously requested $250m when first filing a civil fraud lawsuit against Trump. The former president has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, alleging he is the subject of a political witch-hunt.

The Republican chair of the House committee on homeland security, Mark Green of Tennessee, has penned an op-ed defending his decision to push for the impeachment of the homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas.

This comes House Republicans voted on Wednesday to recommend two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas for a “willful and systematic” refusal to enforce immigration laws, a charge unseen against a cabinet official in nearly 150 years.

Writing in The Washington Examiner, Green argues that the case for impeachment is “strong and compelling” and blames Mayorkas’ “breach of public trust” as a primary factor of the “unprecedented crisis” at America’s borders. He writes:

Mayorkas continues to refuse to follow immigration laws, even after being exhorted to do so. Giving DHS more money will just further facilitate the mass catch-and-release policies that brought us here, while appropriating less provides the secretary a disingenuous excuse for refusing to comply with the law. The legislative process is no use when the secretary is disobeying the laws already on the books – laws that also work well when properly enforced, as demonstrated by past administrations of both parties. And the Senate cannot confirm a new secretary until the previous one is removed.

He adds:

A failure to impeach Mayorkas would send the signal to this and future administrations that officials can simply ignore the law with impunity, knowing that the only recourse is through replacing an entire presidential administration.

Mayorkas has dismissed the impeachment process against him as “politically motivated”.

Jim Jordan’s subpoena of Fani Willis follows allegations that the Fulton county district attorney’s office retaliated against an employee who tried to stop what she said was misuse of federal funds.

Jordan cites a report from the right-wing outlet Washington Free Beacon as saying that the employee was “abruptly terminated” after she told Willis that a campaign aide was misusing federal grant funding earmarked for a youth gang prevention effort.

In his letter, Jordan wrote:

These allegations raise serious concerns about whether you were appropriately supervising the expenditure of federal grant funding allocated to your office and whether you took actions to conceal your office’s unlawful use of federal funds

Willis has come under heightened scrutiny in recent weeks after one of Donald Trump’s co-defendants in election interference case alleged Willis had an improper relationship with a special prosecutor hired to lead the case.

Fulton county DA Fani Willis subpoenaed by House GOP

Jumping back to Escobar for a moment, the Texas congresswoman recently sat down with Politico for an interview about her dual – and occasionally dueling – roles as both a leader in the Congressional Progressive caucus and a co-chair of Biden’s re-election campaign.

Should the broader security bill ever see the light of day in the House, it very well could fall to her to whip progressives against the measure that Biden has promised to sign. Similarly, progressives are vocally pressuring the administration to back a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, which the president has resisted.

Here are some highlights from the conversation, which can be listened to in full here.

Escobar called immigration “the toughest domestic policy issue” Congress faces. She noted that even in El Paso, the immigrant-friendly border city that she represents, there is the “sense that the issue has gotten so bad that something has to happen”.

“The political environment is rapidly shifting,” she said. “And I now hear many Democrats using similar terms that Republicans have used to describe immigration, about ‘closing the border’ — and that includes the president.”

To that point, she said she was “not happy” to see Biden promise to “shut down” the border, echoing hardline language used by Trump.

“That’s absolutely not language or terminology that I would use — not today, not ever,” she said. She emphasized that she is a “huge supporter of the president’s,” as evidenced by her role on his campaign. “Does that mean I agree with him on everything? I don’t.”

As far as the emerging deal being hashed out in the Senate, she fears certain policies would make the problem at the border worse, not better. “I have yet to see what’s in the Senate bill, but there are certain red lines for me,” she said, pointing to the “rapid expulsion” authority under discussion as one such red line. “I live on the border. I have daily communication with the border patrol. I talk to our shelter operators, our local government leaders … Something that has consistently not worked is rapid expulsion,” she said. “It creates more death, more persecution, more sexual assault, just horrific conditions for migrants.”

Meanwhile, Mike Johnson marked his 100th day as House Speaker with an appearance on Fox News laying out his requirements for any border deal, which, for anyone paying attention to his remarks in recent days, means no border deal at all.

“I hope it comes out soon if there’s going to be a text, but we’ve been promised this for weeks and weeks,” Johnson said of the bill, adding: “We’ll check it out. I’m not prejudging anything.”

To be sure, Johnson has repeatedly told conservatives in his conference that the bill has no chance of passing the House.

Johnson also argued in the interview that the Senate should instead take up draconian House-passed border bill that has no chance of earning 60 votes in the upper chamber.

“The House did our job. Remember, we passed the Secure the Border Act, nine months ago,” Johnson said. “It’s been sitting on Chuck Schumer’s desk collecting dust. If they want to solve the problem, he has to bring it up for a vote and send it to the president’s desk.”

Conservatives, as we mentioned, have made their views of the yet-to-be-released border deal known: they opposite it, sight unseen. Progressives are being a bit more circumspect. Many say they want to see the text first, but the details that have emerged so far are worrying them.

On a press call with reporters yesterday, several progressive representatives from the border state of Texas were alarmed that the bipartisan border deal appears to have veered so far from the humanitarian approach to immigration Democrats have long championed. And they warned that embracing draconian Republican border policy would only deepen the humanitarian tragedy playing out at the border.

“The Republican politicians who are encouraging a standoff at the southern border are undermining public safety and risking an escalation that could easily become deadly for asylum-seekers, Border Patrol agents, and innocent citizens who could get caught in the crossfire,” the US congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas said.

“Let’s be clear, immigration is a good thing,” said the congressman Greg Casar of Texas. “We can create an immigration system that is safe, orderly, and humane — but that’s the opposite of what [Texas Governor Greg] Abbott and Trump want.”

“We have to make sure at all levels that we push back and we make people accountable for the words and the language they use and the risk and the danger they put innocent communities in,” said the representative Veronica Escobar of Texas and a leader in the Congressional Progressive caucus. She added: “We can not accept the status quo and we can not accept the normalization of this language because it is indeed being normalized and we have to stop that.”

Congress awaits border deal bill as Chuck Schumer plans vote next week