White House gives federal agencies 30 days to enforce TikTok ban

WASHINGTON — The White House on Monday gave federal agencies 30 days to purge Chinese-owned video-snippet sharing app TikTok from all government-issued devices, setting a deadline to comply with a ban ordered by the US Congress.

Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young in a memorandum called on government agencies within 30 days to "remove and disallow installations" of the application on agency-owned or operated IT devices, and to "prohibit internet traffic" from such devices to the app.

The ban does not apply to businesses in the United States not associated with the federal government, or to the millions of private citizens who use the hugely popular app.

However, a recently introduced bill in Congress would "effectively ban TikTok" in this country, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

"Congress must not censor entire platforms and strip Americans of their constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression," ACLU senior policy counsel Jenna Leventoff said in a release.

"We have a right to use TikTok and other platforms to exchange our thoughts, ideas, and opinions with people around the country and around the world."

Owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, TikTok has become a political target due to concerns the app can be circumvented for spying or propaganda by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The company did not immediately respond to the White House guidance.

China's foreign ministry slammed the ban.

"We firmly oppose the wrong practice of the United States to generalize the concept of national security, abuse state power, and unreasonably suppress firms from other countries," spokeswoman Mao Ning said Tuesday.

The law signed by US President Joe Biden last month bans the use of TikTok on government-issued devices. It also bans TikTok use in the US House of Representatives and Senate.

National security concerns over alleged Chinese spying have grown over the past month after a Chinese balloon traversed US airspace and was eventually shot down.

CANADA, EU BANS

The Canadian government on Monday banned TikTok from all of its phones and other devices, citing fears about how much access Beijing has to user data.

Effective Tuesday, "the TikTok application will be removed from government-issued mobile devices. Users of these devices will also be blocked from downloading the application in the future," the government said in a statement.

The European Commission banned the app from its equipment too.

TikTok has repeatedly rejected accusations it shares data or cedes control to the Chinese government. 

TikTok's breakneck rise from a niche video-sharing app to global social media behemoth has brought plenty of scrutiny, particularly over its links to China.

The company was forced to admit ByteDance employees in China had accessed Americans' data but it has always denied turning over personal information to the Chinese authorities.

TikTok has moved to soothe US fears, announcing in June 2022 that it would store all data on American users on US-based servers.

Bans have not halted TikTok's growth.

With more than one billion active users, it is the sixth-most used social platform in the world, according to the We Are Social marketing agency.

Although it lags behind the likes of Meta's long-dominant trio of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, its growth among young people far outstrips its competitors.

Agence France-Presse

Biden to call for three-month suspension of federal gas tax as prices skyrocket

WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden will ask Congress Wednesday to suspend the federal gas tax for three months as skyrocketing prices cause widespread anger among Americans just months before crucial mid-term elections. 

The White House wants to discontinue the tax of 18 cents per gallon (3.78 liters) until September and will call on US states, which also tax at the pump, to do the same to "provide direct relief to American consumers who have been hit with Putin's price hike," a senior administration official said.

The official noted that prices had gone up almost $2 a gallon since Russian President Vladimir Putin began building up forces on the Ukrainian border earlier this year.

Federal taxes on gas and diesel help fund the Highway Trust Fund, which maintains roads and supports public transport, but Biden will call on Congress to ensure the fund does not suffer from the lost revenue.

"With our deficit already down by a historic $1.6 trillion this year, the president believes that we can afford to suspend the gas tax to help consumers while using other revenues to make the Highway Trust Fund whole for the roughly $10 billion cost," the official said.

Facing growing public anger over the rising cost of gas, several states including New York and Connecticut have already suspended fuel taxes, while others have delayed planned tax increases.

Biden has taken steps to alleviate the pain at the pump after Putin's February 24 invasion of Ukraine led to soaring fuel prices not just in the United States but worldwide, exacerbating inflation already on the rise.

Those measures include releasing a million barrels of oil per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, negotiating the release of an additional 60 million barrels from international partners and expanding access to biofuels.

But with average gas prices across the country near $5 a gallon, the Biden administration is keen to lessen the pain consumers feel over rising prices ahead of November mid-term elections that could see the Democrats lose control of Congress.

Agence France-Presse

US eyes trade deal-lite as Southeast Asian leaders gather

WASHINGTON—The United States is preparing a scaled-back version of a trade pact as Southeast Asian nations gather in Washington, where President Joe Biden is seeking to show solid commitment in the face of a rising China.

Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will meet Biden for dinner Thursday at the start of a two-day summit, part of a renewed US focus on Asia after months of intense effort on Ukraine.

Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration had made clear that its top priority was competition with China due to its rapid technological advances and rising assertiveness both at home and abroad.

Kurt Campbell, the top White House official on Asia, said the United States would raise areas of cooperation with ASEAN leaders including fighting the Covid pandemic and disaster relief.

He also said he expected "substantial interest" by Southeast Asian nations in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, or IPEF, the latest acronym-branded US trade initiative, which was mentioned late last year by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Indonesia.

"We're quite confident that we're going to be able to have a substantial launch with a very broad range of potential players," Campbell said at the US Institute of Peace.

Koji Tomita, Japan's ambassador to Washington, told a separate event that he expected IPEF to be unveiled formally a week later when Biden visits Tokyo and Seoul.

Former president Barack Obama had proposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, billing it as a high-standards deal that would let the United States lead the emerging trade order in Asia.

His successor Donald Trump trashed the deal, calling free trade unfair to US workers. Biden, seeing the shifting US political mood, has made clear he is in no rush for trade deals -- and China is now seeking to enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership's successor.

NOT SEEKING 'NEW COLD WAR'

Experts briefed on IPEF said it would formally commit the United States to work with partners on key economic priorities including ensuring smooth supply chains, fighting corruption and promoting green energy.

Unlike traditional trade deals, it would not guarantee market access to the United States, the world's largest economy -- the usual sweetener to persuade nations to make concessions.

Campbell said Biden knew that any initiative needed to be "fundamentally based on the needs and desires of the people of Southeast Asia."

"He does not want to descend Southeast Asia or Asia into a new Cold War," he said.

"I think we recognize quite clearly that any initiative that is simply designed for competition is likely to have difficulty gaining altitude in Asia."

China for more than a decade has been ASEAN's largest trading partner, despite widespread territorial rifts between Beijing and members of the bloc, especially Vietnam and the Philippines.

Evan Feigenbaum, a former senior State Department official, told a recent congressional hearing that the United States has historically enjoyed its privileged place in Asia due to both its security and economic leadership, only one of which remains.

"Even though America's economic role is growing in absolute terms, it is receding in relative terms, which means that, to lead, we should be leaning harder on the other pillar of our economic leadership, which was to be a rule writer and standard setter," said Feigenbaum, now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Labor advocacy group Trade Justice has already voiced alarm at IPEF, saying many Southeast Asian nations did not have adequate treatment of workers.

Trade diplomacy has long been at the forefront of US interactions with Southeast Asia, often seen as a victim of its own success given its perceived stability.

But the Washington summit also comes after a year of intense US pressure on Myanmar, once hailed as a model of democratic transition, following its military coup.

US officials say they will seek to show support for democratic forces in Myanmar and may represent the country with an empty chair during the summit.

Agence France-Presse

Sweeping new vaccine mandates for 100 million Americans

WASHINGTON (AP) — In his most forceful pandemic actions and words, President Joe Biden on Thursday announced sweeping new federal vaccine requirements affecting as many as 100 million Americans in an all-out effort to increase COVID-19 vaccinations and curb the surging delta variant.

Speaking at the White House, Biden sharply criticized the roughly 80 million Americans who are not yet vaccinated, despite months of availability and incentives.

“We’ve been patient. But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us,” he said, all but biting off his words. The unvaccinated minority “can cause a lot of damage, and they are.”

Republican leaders — and some union chiefs, too — said Biden was going too way too far in trying to muscle private companies and workers, a certain sign of legal challenges to come.

Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina said in a statement that “Biden and the radical Democrats ... have declared war against capitalism (and) thumbed their noses at the Constitution.”

AFL-CIO National President Everett Kelley insisted that “changes like this should be negotiated with our bargaining units where appropriate.”

The expansive rules mandate that all employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly, affecting about 80 million Americans. And the roughly 17 million workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated.

Biden is also signing an executive order to require vaccination for employees of the executive branch and contractors who do business with the federal government — with no option to test out. That covers several million more workers.

Biden announced the new requirements in a Thursday afternoon address from the White House as part of a new “action plan” to address the latest rise in coronavirus cases and the stagnating pace of COVID-19 shots that has raised doubts among the public over his handling of the pandemic.

Just two months ago Biden prematurely declared the nation’s “independence” from the virus. Now, despite more than 208 million Americans having at least one dose of the vaccines, the U.S. is seeing about 300% more new COVID-19 infections a day, about two-and-a-half times more hospitalizations, and nearly twice the number of deaths compared to the same time last year.

“We are in the tough stretch and it could last for a while,” Biden said of the current state of the pandemic.

After months of using promotions to drive the vaccination rate, Biden is taking a much firmer hand, as he aides blamed people who have not yet received shots for the sharp rise in cases that is killing more than 1,000 people per day and imperiling a fragile economic rebound.

In addition to the vaccination requirements, Biden moved to double federal fines for airline passengers who refuse to wear masks on flights or to maintain face covering requirements on federal property in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

Biden announced that the federal government will work to increase the supply of virus tests, and that the White House has secured concessions from retailers including Walmart, Amazon, and Kroger to sell at-home testing kits at cost beginning this week.

The administration was also sending additional federal support to assist schools in safely operating, including additional funding for testing. And Biden will call for large entertainment venues and arenas to require vaccinations or proof of a negative test for entry.

The requirement for large companies to mandate vaccinations or weekly testing for employees will be enacted through a forthcoming rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that carries penalties of $14,000 per violation, an administration official said. The White House did not immediately say when it would take effect, but said workers would have sufficient time to get vaccinated.

The rule would also require that large companies provide paid time off for vaccination.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will extend a vaccination requirement issued earlier this summer — for nursing home staff — to other healthcare settings including hospitals, home-health agencies and dialysis centers.

Separately, the Department of Health and Human Services will require vaccinations in Head Start Programs, as well as schools run by the Department of Defense and Bureau of Indian Education, affecting about 300,000 employees.

Biden’s order for executive branch workers and contractors includes exceptions for workers seeking religious or medical exemptions from vaccination, according to Psaki. Federal workers and contractors will have 75 days to get fully vaccinated. Workers who don’t comply will be referred to their agencies’ human resources departments for counseling and discipline, to include potential termination.

“We would like to be a model” to other organizations and business around country, Psaki said of the federal workforce.

An AP-NORC poll conducted in August found 55% of Americans in favor of requiring government workers to be fully vaccinated, compared with 21% opposed. Similar majorities also backed vaccine mandates for health care workers, teachers working at K-12 schools and workers who interact with the public, as at restaurants and stores.

Biden has encouraged COVID-19 vaccine requirements in settings like schools, workplaces and university campuses, and the White House hopes the strengthened federal mandate will inspire more businesses to follow suit. On Thursday, the Los Angeles Board of Education was expected to vote on requiring all students 12 and older to be fully vaccinated in the the nation’s second-largest school district.

Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, said in late July it was requiring that all workers at its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, as well as its managers who travel within the U.S. be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 4. But the company stopped short of requiring shots for its frontline workers.

CVS Health said in late August it would require certain employees who interact with patients to be fully vaccinated by the end of October. That includes nurses, care managers and pharmacists.

In the government, several federal agencies have previously announced vaccine requirements for much of their staffs, particularly those in healthcare roles like the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Pentagon moved last month to require all servicemembers to get vaccinated. Combined, the White House estimates those requirements cover 2.5 million Americans. Thursday’s order is expected to impact nearly 2 million more federal workers and potentially millions of contractors.

Biden’s measures should help, but what’s really needed is a change in mindset for many people, said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, vice dean at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

“There is an aspect to this now that has to do with our country being so divided,” said Sharfstein. “This has become so politicized that people can’t see the value of a vaccination that can save their lives. Our own divisions are preventing us from ending a pandemic.”

American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union of federal employees, said that while it strongly encourages vaccinations, workers should have a say in new mandates affecting them.

“Put simply, workers deserve a voice in their working conditions,” said national President Everett Kelley. “We expect to bargain over this change prior to implementation, and we urge everyone who is able to get vaccinated as soon as they can do so.”

Larry Cosme, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, called the mandate for federal workers “ill conceived,” saying, “Vaccination should be promoted through education and encouragement – not coercion.”

More than 177 million Americans are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, but confirmed cases have shot up in recent weeks to an average of about 140,000 per day with on average about 1,000 deaths, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most of the spread — and the vast majority of severe illness and death — is occurring among those not yet fully vaccinated. So-called breakthrough infections in vaccinated people occur, but tend to be far less dangerous.

Federal officials are moving ahead with plans to begin administering booster shots of the mRNA vaccines to bolster protection against the more transmissible delta variant. Last month Biden announced plans to make them available beginning on Sept. 20, but only the Pfizer vaccine will likely have received regulatory approval for a third dose by that time.

Officials are aiming to administer the booster shots about eight months after the second dose of the two-dose vaccines.

Associated Press writers Anne D’Innocenzio, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Hannah Fingerhut contributed.

-Associated Press-

Biden 'First Dogs' arrive at White House

WASHINGTON - Joe Biden's dogs Champ and Major have moved into the White House, reviving a long-standing tradition of presidential pets that was broken under Donald Trump.

The pooches can be seen trotting on the White House grounds in pictures retweeted by First Lady Jill Biden's spokesman Michael LaRosa, with the pointed obelisk of the Washington Monument in the background.

"Champ is enjoying his new dog bed by the fireplace, and Major loved running around on the South Lawn," LaRosa told CNN in a statement Monday.

The Biden's dogs, both German shepherds, follow the pawprints of presidential pets that included Barack Obama's Bo, a black Portuguese water dog and George W. Bush's Scottish terrier, Barney. 

Trump, a famously finicky germaphobe, broke with that convention -- as he did with many presidential traditions -- and never had a pet in his White House.

"How would I look walking a dog on the White House lawn," Trump asked, with a grimace, in a video included in a Biden campaign ad.

Agence France-Presse

Biden to hit reset on US fight against COVID-19

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden on Wednesday will immediately reset the nation's response to the COVID-19 crisis when he heads to the Oval Office after being sworn in to lead a country reeling from its worst public health crisis in more than a century.

As part of a first sweep of executive actions, Biden will order that all federal employees wear masks and make face coverings mandatory on federal property. He will establish a new White House office to coordinate the coronavirus response and halt the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization, a process initiated by the outgoing president, Donald Trump.

The orders signal that Biden aims to fulfill his campaign promise to make COVID-19 relief a top priority and will mark a sharp divergence from the Trump administration's pandemic response, which critics say was ineffectual, uncoordinated and at least partly responsible for the death of more than 400,000 Americans.

He will begin work on his executive actions after a scaled-back inauguration ceremony unlike any other in US presidential history, with the National Mall covered in a "field of flags" instead of the typical crowds, who were not permitted because of the risk of contagion.

"We can overcome the deadly virus," Biden said in his inaugural address, which called for unity in a nation gripped by tense political divide.

Biden was also poised to nominate an acting US surgeon general as soon as Wednesday, a person familiar with the decision told MSNBC, following the resignation of Trump appointee Jerome Adams.

Biden's actions, particularly the mask mandate, are intended to set an example for state and local officials to rein in the virus, which has hobbled the US economy. The United States has reported nearly 200,000 new COVID-19 cases and 3,000 deaths per day on a seven-day rolling average, according to Reuters data. More than 123,000 Americans were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday.

Scientists and public health experts have said face masks can help prevent the spread of the highly contagious novel coronavirus, but the coverings have become a flashpoint in American life reflecting the nation's larger political divide.

Trump, who contracted COVID-19 last autumn, had eschewed their use at all but a handful of events and continued to hold crowded, largely maskless campaign rallies while Biden's campaign initially stuck to virtual events before expanding to other masked and socially distant gatherings.

There were few face masks as Trump departed Washington Wednesday morning. In remarks to the crowd at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Trump again painted his administration as a victim of the virus and listed a series of accomplishments such as tax cuts, deregulation and stock market gains before addressing COVID-19 deaths.

"We got hit. Nobody blames us for that. The whole world got it," he said of the pandemic's toll on the economy. He later touted the development of a vaccine as a "miracle" before paying his respects to people and families impacted by the virus.

-reuters-

Investors celebrate Biden winning US presidency

NEW YORK - Investors and financial executives took a big sigh of relief on Saturday after major networks declared Democrat Joe Biden winner of the US presidential election, offering some certainty after days of conflicting reports about who might run the White House next term.

Although current President Donald Trump said he would fight the results in court, Wall Streeters who offered comments felt there was little doubt Biden would ultimately succeed after election predictors including the Associated Press, NBC and Edison Research, upon which Reuters relies, called the presidency for Biden.

"Biden is good news for the markets," Christopher Stanton, chief investment officer at Sunrise Capital Partners, said on Saturday. "We're all so tired of the whipsaw that came with the Trump tweets."

Republicans have filed several lawsuits over ballot counting already and Trump said his campaign will file more. The Republican National Committee has been trying to raise at least $60 million to fund legal challenges brought by Trump, Reuters reported on Friday.

Apart from those battles, investors have been worried about the people Biden might appoint to his Cabinet, and whether the U.S. Senate would go to Republicans or Democrats.

A Republican Senate would offer a check on Biden's appointments, forcing him to opt for more moderate selections. Expected run-offs in two Senate races in Georgia could muddy that scenario.

For now, though, investors said they were happy with the election finally being called after what seemed like unending tension as ballots were counted following Election Day on Tuesday.

"Markets are going to like it because Biden is not going to go too far left," said Jim Awad, senior managing director of Clearstead Advisors. "It’s going to be a centrist government, not a government by tweet."

The financial industry was not reacting in a bubble: major cities from New York to San Francisco erupted in celebration on Saturday. Though Trump undoubtedly has significant support throughout the country, including on Wall Street, 2020 has been a difficult year for the United States.

The coronavirus pandemic has taken a huge toll on the country, killing some 236,250 people so far, while social unrest over the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, has only hardened divisions that already existed.

Many voters were hoping for a decisive election that would offer some calm, whichever candidate they cast ballots for.

JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, who heads the largest U.S. bank and is a leading voice for the financial industry, called for unity and calm.

"Now is a time for unity," Dimon said in a statement. "We must respect the results of the U.S. presidential election and, as we have with every election, honor the decision of the voters and support a peaceful transition of power."

Robert Wolf, a major Democratic donor and former UBS Group AG executive who now runs 32 Advisors, was less demure: "I am ecstatic, relieved and deeply hopeful for the future of this country," he said in a text message.

During his campaign, Biden issued a series of left-of-center policy proposals that made Wall Street cringe regarding taxes and regulations. The proposals were seen as a carrot for progressive voters who preferred other candidates, but few now believe he will actually get them passed, since Republicans may win the Senate and Biden is not showing a landslide win.

As such, it is not clear whether Biden's Cabinet choices will be seen as market-friendly. The picks are important, because some of those officials will likely be involved in economic stimulus packages the White House will have to negotiate with Congress and will have extensive powers to craft Wall Street regulations.

Current US Federal Reserve governor and former McKinsey consultant Lael Brainard's name has been floated as a potential Treasury Secretary, while Biden has already tapped former derivatives market regulator and Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker Gary Gensler for advice on financial regulation.

Major US stock indexes registered their biggest weekly gains since April this week, as investors bet that Biden would win and Republicans would hold onto the Senate, a scenario that could prevent any major tax increases or regulatory tightening that pinches companies.

Nonetheless, investors have worried that the candidates could contest results for weeks or months. If Trump gains traction with his challenges, it could shake asset prices.

"Investors need to be prepared for some volatility," said Jason Ware, chief investment officer at Albion Financial Group. "There is certainly a risk to stock prices if we get bad tweets. The good news is that it would be short-lived and we are changing hands to someone who I believe is a lot more capable."

-reuters-

Bezos, Zuckerberg join White House phone calls on reopening U.S. economy

Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon.com Inc, and Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Inc's CEO, on Wednesday participated in White House conference calls about how to reopen the U.S. economy in light of the coronavirus pandemic, company representatives said.

The phone calls followed an announcement Tuesday by President Donald Trump about the formation of advisory groups on how to open up the country, which include other top U.S. executives such as Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook and JPMorgan Chase & Co chief Jamie Dimon.

Business leaders told Trump the country needs much more coronavirus testing before the public would be confident enough to participate in reopening the economy, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The president, on Twitter, called the calls "very productive", adding that corporate leaders were "all-in on getting America back to work, and soon."

Some 94 percent of Americans have been under government stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which causes the potentially lethal respiratory illness COVID-19. The orders, including mandatory business closures, have battered the U.S. economy and left millions of Americans unemployed.

Trump has turned to Corporate America to help plot a course forward. He has often sought business leaders' assistance, as with a previously announced drive-through testing program with prominent retailers including Walmart Inc.

However, relations between the White House and Amazon - the world's largest online retailer - have at times appeared strained. Trump, for instance, has described the Bezos-owned Washington Post as Amazon’s “chief lobbyist.” The top editor of the newspaper, which has published articles critical of the president, has said Bezos has no involvement in its news coverage. (Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin and Katie Paul in San Francisco Editing by Chris Reese and Jonathan Oatis)

-reuters-

Trump taps senior aide who defied impeachment subpoena for 5G post

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump has named Robert Blair to be the special representative for international telecommunications policy and work on the administration's 5G efforts under White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, the White House said in a statement on Monday.

As the senior adviser to the White House chief of staff, Blair defied a subpoena from a House of Representatives committee as part of its impeachment inquiry into whether Trump improperly pressed Ukraine to investigate his domestic political rival, Joe Biden.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has also called for Blair to testify in the Senate's expected impeachment trial, though Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, has not accepted that demand.

Blair will continue to serve as an assistant to the president and senior adviser to the White House chief of staff, the White House said.

Blair's new role comes amid an international campaign by the United States against Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. Washington has been seeking to convince allies to exclude the firm from their 5G networks over fears the company could spy on customers for Beijing.

Citing national security concerns, the Trump administration put the company on a trade blacklist in May, barring companies that make goods in the United States from selling to it without a special license.

Reuters reported last month that the Commerce Department is considering toughening export restrictions on the firm, which is the world's second largest smartphone supplier.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Democrat Kamala Harris ends 2020 White House bid

WASHINGTON—Democrat Kamala Harris announced Tuesday she is ending her 2020 White House bid following a period of campaign turmoil and disappointing fundraising that saw her fail to break out of a crowded field.

"I've taken stock and looked at this from every angle, and over the last few days have come to one of the hardest decisions of my life," the senator from California told supporters in an email. 

"My campaign for president simply doesn't have the financial resources we need to continue."

Harris, 55, was the only African-American woman seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.

She rocketed toward the top of the field with a promising campaign launch in January, but saw her prospects slide in recent months as she struggled to define her positions on various domestic issues including health care.

Harris is one of the biggest names to date to drop out of the race, along with former congressman Beto O'Rourke of Texas and New York mayor Bill de Blasio. 

After stagnating in fifth place in the polls, with about 3.4 percent support, she was bumped to sixth spot out of 16 candidates after billionaire former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg recently threw his hat in the presidential contest.

"I'm not a billionaire. I can't fund my own campaign," she wrote to supporters. "As the campaign has gone on, it's become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete."

It was a biting and unveiled swat at some of her rivals, including Bloomberg and billionaire activist Tom Steyer, and a telling revelation about the piles of cash a candidate needs to mount a viable campaign in today's overheated political environment.

Harris has been one the fiercest critics of Donald Trump among the 2020 candidates, directly attacking the embattled president and repeatedly calling for his impeachment.

She also challenged Democratic front-runner Joe Biden head on in the party's first presidential debate, a move that proved a strategic mistake as her support slid while Biden's largely held steady.

Harris quickly received accolades from other candidates on Twitter after her premature exit from the race.

"Her campaign broke barriers and did it with joy. Love you, sister," said fellow Senator Cory Booker, the other black candidate in the 2020 race. 

Harris was the third candidate to drop out in recent days, along with low-polling Democrats Montana Governor Steve Bullock and former congressman Joe Sestak.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'You will fail': Trump spokeswoman says Obama aides left mean notes in White House

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's spokeswoman claimed Tuesday that Barack Obama staffers left behind catty notes in White House offices for the incoming administration, telling them "you will fail."

Press secretary Stephanie Grisham's comment, first made to a CNN reporter, prompted swift denials from ex-Obama officials and a torrent of online mockery from Trump opponents.

"We came into the WH, I’ll tell you something. Every office was filled with Obama books and we had notes left behind that said 'you will fail,' 'you aren’t going to make it,'" a tweet from CNN's Abby Phillip quoted Grisham as saying.

"This is a complete and utter lie," tweeted Obama administration lawyer Daniel Jacobson.

"Quite the opposite -- we left them briefing books to try to help with the transition as much as possible," he said.

Jon Wolfsthal, a former senior director at Obama's National Security Council, called it "an outrageous lie.... Shameless and disgusting.@PressSec should be fired."

Faced by the heated denials -- and snarky online gags about the "you will fail" prediction proving true -- Grisham said her remark had been over-played.

"I don't know why everyone is so sensitive!" she told AFP.

Grisham said she "certainly wasn’t implying every office had that issue" and recalled finding a "lovely note" for her in the White House East Wing.

"I just saw it as kind of a prank, and that it was something that always happened," Grisham said.

A famous case of such humor was the reported practical joke by aides of president Bill Clinton who are said to have removed the "W" key from White House computers ahead of George W. Bush taking office.

sms/jm

source: news.abs-cbn.com

First impeachment transcripts go public as White House stonewalls

WASHINGTON - Witness transcripts in the impeachment probe into Donald Trump were made public for the first time Monday, with the former US ambassador to Kiev telling investigators she felt threatened by the president in his call to Ukraine's leader.

Democrats are entering an open phase of a congressional probe into potential abuse of power by Trump that has divided Washington as Republicans seek to defend him and his opponents press their effort to remove him from office.

The release of Marie Yovanovitch's deposition came as the White House hardened its opposition to the inquiry, with Trump's top national security lawyer defying a subpoena to testify early Monday.

The probe is examining how Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate his Democratic rival Joe Biden, including by withholding $391 million in military aid that had been approved by Congress to help the US ally defend itself against Russian aggression.

Yovanovitch, who had urged Ukraine to do more to fight corruption, testified last month that she was ousted in May over "false claims" spread by questionable actors allied to Trump.

According to her deposition, she was alarmed by the deepening involvement of Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in Ukrainian affairs, and in particular his efforts to get Kiev to investigate Biden.

She said she was "shocked" when she read the summary of Trump's July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump said the ambassador was "going to go through some things."

"I was very concerned. I still am," Yovanovitch says.

"Did you feel threatened?" an investigator asks Yovanovitch in the transcript. 

"Yes," she replies.

Yovanovitch said Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov told her in February after speaking with Giuliani that it would be "dangerous" for Ukraine to become involved in US politics.

"He told me I really needed to watch my back," Yovanovitch said.

The release is the first of what House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff said would be several key depositions. 

He also released testimony from Michael McKinley, a former senior advisor to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who resigned in September after concluding that the department was not defending top diplomats.

He said he asked Pompeo three times to defend Yovanovitch, eventually telling him that "this situation isn't acceptable." But the secretary was essentially non-responsive.

In his 37 years as a diplomat he had "never seen" efforts to use the State Department and its missions "to procure negative political information for domestic purposes," McKinley told investigators.

[BOLD] 'Irregular back channel'

The depositions demonstrate "the contamination of US foreign policy by an irregular back channel that sought to advance the president's personal and political interests, and the serious concerns that this activity elicited across our government," Schiff and the chairs of two other panels leading the investigation said in a statement.

Schiff said testimony would be released Tuesday from two more key witnesses, then-special representative on Ukraine Kurt Volker and US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland.

They were in text message chains in which diplomats expressed misgivings about the prospective quid pro quo of political investigations for military aid.

Prior to the release of the first transcripts, Trump sought to attack their credibility by suggesting, without evidence, that Schiff would "change the words that were said to suit the Dems' purposes."

Meanwhile John Eisenberg, Trump's deputy counsel for national security affairs, defied a congressional subpoena, a sign of renewed White House stonewalling.

Eisenberg is reported to have been on the July 25 call. But Trump said Monday there was "no reason" for witnesses to answer questions by investigators.

"This is just another Democrat Hoax that I have had to live with from the day I got elected," the president said.

Robert Blair, an assistant to the president and senior advisor to the acting chief of staff, also refused to testify.

Trump senior associate counsel Michael Ellis and White House budget office associate director for energy Brian McCormack were due for depositions too.

But Schiff said the White House instructed them not to appear, a clear signal that "their testimony would be further incriminating of the president."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US court blocks another Trump immigration initiative

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump has suffered a new legal setback after a federal judge temporarily blocked a measure that would have required immigrants to prove they had health insurance or could afford medical care.

US District Judge Michael Simon issued a 28-day restraining order during a rare Saturday session in his courtroom in Portland, Oregon, according to a copy of the decision seen by AFP. 

The new health-coverage requirement had been set to take effect on Monday.

The immigration-defense groups that had sought the injunction said the new US requirement would have been particularly onerous for low-income migrants and would unfairly favor others from wealthier countries.

The White House decried the ruling.

"It is wrong and unfair for a single district court judge to thwart the policies that the President determined would best protect the United States health care system," press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement. 

The presidential proclamation of October 4 said that only immigrants who would not "financially burden the United States health care system" would be granted visas. 

The fight against illegal immigration has been a key pillar of Trump's policies.

Several of his immigration decisions have been blocked in court. 

The Republican administration has regularly appealed adverse decisions to the Supreme Court, which twice this summer found in Trump's favor. 

But Judge Simon's 18-page ruling seemed to leave the administration with limited room to craft a dissent. 

He listed at least 5 reasons that an individual's health insurance status could not be used as the sole determiner of a person's admissibility.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

New impeachment witness rocks White House

WASHINGTON - A decorated Iraq War veteran rocked the White House Tuesday with devastating testimony on Donald Trump's alleged extortion of Ukraine as Democrats laid out plans for the public phase of the impeachment inquiry threatening his presidency.

The Democratic-led House is investigating Trump over his bid to pressure Ukraine into digging up dirt on election rival Joe Biden -- and accusations he conditioned nearly $400 million in military aid on the political favor.

National Security Council Ukraine expert Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman said in written testimony for his closed-door deposition he witnessed Trump and a senior diplomat pressuring Ukraine for that help.

In explosive prepared testimony, Vindman recounted listening to Trump pressure Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on the now infamous July 25 phone call that sparked the impeachment probe.

His opening statement, released late Monday, offers some of the strongest evidence yet for accusations that Trump abused his office and broke election law to gain Kiev's support for his re-election.

DECORATED WAR VETERAN

Vindman arrived on Capitol Hill Tuesday in full military dress uniform, as Trump blasted him on Twitter as a "Never Trumper" -- his label for Republicans who fundamentally oppose the president.

"How many more Never Trumpers will be allowed to testify about a perfectly appropriate phone call," he asked.

"Was he on the same call that I was? Can't be possible!"

Republicans mobilized to undercut Vindman's credibility, questioning his loyalty by noting he moved to the US from the Soviet Union at the age of three and suggesting he is part of an effort by the US national security bureaucracy to undermine Trump.

"Donald Trump is innocent. The deep state is guilty," said Republican lawmaker Matt Gaetz, one of the president's most strident defenders in Congress.

FIRST WHITE HOUSE WITNESS

The first White House official to testify and a Purple Heart recipient after being wounded in Iraq, Vindman has proved a much more difficult witness for Republicans to dismiss, however, than previous civilian government figures.

The veteran, who ignored White House orders to defy a congressional subpoena to testify, said alarm bells rang during a July 10 meeting with Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and a Kiev official.

Vindland said Sondland pressured the official to open corruption investigations into a debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine helped Democrats against Trump in the 2016 election.

He also pushed for a probe into Biden over links between the Democrat's son and a Ukraine energy company, Burisma.

"Following this meeting, there was a scheduled debriefing during which Amb. Sondland emphasized the importance that Ukraine deliver the investigations into the 2016 election, the Bidens and Burisma," Vindman said.

"I stated to Amb. Sondland that his statements were inappropriate, that the request to investigate Biden and his son had nothing to do with national security," he added.

Vindland confirmed the public record of the Trump-Zelensky call, in which Trump responded to Zelensky's request for military aid by asking for "a favor though" before pressing for the investigations of the 2016 story and the Bidens.

"I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a US citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the US government's support of Ukraine," Vindman said.

"I realized that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Bidens and Burisma, it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play."

NEXT STEPS FOR IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

After interviewing 10 witnesses behind closed doors over the past five weeks, Democrats have drawn up rules for the next stage of the impeachment inquiry that will include public hearings.

"The evidence we have already collected paints the picture of a president who abused his power by using multiple levers of government to press a foreign country to interfere in the 2020 election," senior House Democrats said in a statement.

For the second stage, the House Intelligence Committee will take testimony in open session, with Republicans having a chance to counter with their own witnesses.

In the third stage, the compiled evidence will be sent to the House Judiciary Committee for review, where the White House will have the opportunity to challenge it and present its own evidence.

Then, if the evidence is strong enough, the committee will draw up articles impeachment to be voted on by the whole House, where Democrats have a strong majority.

The White House dismissed the process Tuesday as a "sham," claiming that the Democrats were refusing its basic due process rights. The House vote could take place before or shortly after the New Year.

If impeachment passes, Trump will go on trial for removal in the Senate. The House is expected to vote on the rules on Thursday.

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source: news.abs-cbn.com

Ukraine envoy testifies Trump linked military aid to investigations, lawmaker says

WASHINGTON — William Taylor, the United States’ top diplomat in Ukraine, told impeachment investigators privately Tuesday that President Donald Trump held up vital security aid for the country and refused a White House meeting with Ukraine’s leader until he agreed to make a public pronouncement pledging to investigate Trump’s political rivals.

In testimony that Democrats in attendance called the most damaging account yet for the president, Taylor provided an “excruciatingly detailed” opening statement that contradicted in blunt and unsparing terms the quid-pro-quo pressure campaign that Trump and his allies have long denied.

When he objected to that effort, Taylor said in his opening statement obtained by The New York Times, one of the president’s allies sought to explain Trump’s actions by noting that he was a businessman, and saying that, “when a businessman is about to sign a check to someone who owes him something, he said, the businessman asks that person to pay up before signing the check.”

Taylor’s testimony directly contradicted repeated assertions by Trump and his Republican allies that there was never a quid pro quo involving investigations into Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company that employed Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, and other Democrats.

That is not true, Taylor told the committee. He said the president had explicitly made it clear that Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, would not be invited to the White House or secure much-needed security aid unless the Ukrainian leader made a public announcement that his country would start the investigations that Trump so badly wanted.

Taylor testified that he was told of Trump’s demands for investigations during a telephone call with Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union and a Trump campaign donor, who Taylor described as part of a “highly irregular” diplomatic effort aimed at pressuring Ukraine.

“Ambassador Sondland said that ‘everything’ was dependent on such an announcement, including security assistance,” Taylor told lawmakers. “He said that President Trump wanted President Zelenskiy ‘in a public box’ by making a public statement about ordering such investigations.”

Taylor added that: “During that phone call, Ambassador Sondland told me that President Trump had told him that he wants President Zelenskiy to state publicly that Ukraine will investigate Burisma and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. election,” Taylor said.

One lawmaker described the testimony as drawing a “direct line” between U.S. foreign policy and Trump’s own political goals.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who sat in on the deposition as a member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said that Taylor relied in part on detailed “notes to the file” that he had made as he watched the pressure campaign unfold. His testimony shed new light on the circumstances around a previously revealed text message in which Taylor wrote to colleagues that he thought it was “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

He “drew a very direct line in the series of events he described between Trump’s decision to withhold funds and refuse a meeting with Zelenskiy unless there was a public pronouncement by him of investigations of Burisma and the so-called 2016 election conspiracy theories,” Wasserman Schultz said.

In his statement, Taylor placed the reason for the hold on Ukrainian aid directly on Trump, relating a July 18 call with the Office of Management and Budget, where a staff member said the directive had come from the president to the acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney.

“In an instant I realized one of the key pillars of our strong support for Ukraine was threatened,” Taylor said in his testimony.

The intelligence whistleblower’s complaint that prompted the impeachment inquiry said that Trump’s effort to pressure Zelenskiy to open an investigation of Burisma was part of a concerted effort to use the power of his office to enlist foreign help in the 2020 election. Taylor was the latest in a string of career diplomats and current and former administration officials who have defied a White House blockade of the impeachment inquiry and submitted to closed-door depositions with investigators digging into whether Trump abused his power to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political adversaries.

The president sought to discredit the inquiry with attention-grabbing rhetoric early Tuesday as Taylor made his way to Capitol Hill to testify, comparing the impeachment investigation against him to a “lynching.” His comment on Twitter drew bipartisan outrage in public as the ambassador made his case behind closed doors. 

Wasserman Schultz said that in addition to referencing his notes, Taylor “had very specific recall of things,” including what she said were “meetings, phone calls, what was said.”

Several Democrats who participated in Taylor’s questioning described his testimony. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., shook his head after exiting the deposition, saying “what he said was incredibly damning to the president of the United States.”

Wasserman Schultz called it “one of the most disturbing days” she has had in Congress, and added: “I have not seen a more credible witness than this.”

Republicans accused Democrats of exaggerating, but they declined to share details of the testimony.

“I don’t know that any of us, if we are being intellectually honest, are hearing revelations that we were not aware of,” said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C. “The bottom line is no one has yet to make the case for why the aid was withheld or even if the Ukrainians knew about it.”

Still, by Democrats’ account, Taylor’s testimony provided the most extensive picture yet of the scope of the president’s effort to pressure Ukraine and the players who were involved in the effort on Trump’s behalf.

“It’s like if you had a big, 1,000-piece puzzle on a table,” Wasserman Schultz said. “This fills in a lot of pieces of the puzzle.”

Taylor became a star witness in the Democratic impeachment probe after a colleague, Kurt Volker, the special envoy to Ukraine, revealed texts they exchanged. In some of the text chains, as Taylor expressed his concerns about an apparent quid pro quo, Sondland sought to take the conversation offline, telling Taylor to “call me.”

Wasserman Schultz said Taylor provided new context for and details about the exchanges with Sondland, including a phone call that occurred after the texts.

In his lengthy opening statement and in questioning afterward, Taylor laid out a meticulous timeline of events during his time in the administration.

Taylor’s habit of keeping notes throughout his tenure has given the inquiry a boost, allowing him to recreate crucial conversations and moments even as the administration seeks to block Congress from reviewing documents related to its dealings with Ukraine.

Taylor has shared his notes with the State Department but has not produced copies of them for lawmakers conducting the impeachment inquiry, a person familiar with his testimony said.

The State Department objected to Taylor’s appearance before the committee, according to an official working on the impeachment inquiry. In response, the House Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena Tuesday morning to compel his testimony, and Taylor complied, according to the official.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Democrat Biden calls for Trump's impeachment

WASHINGTON - Democratic White House hopeful Joe Biden called Wednesday for Donald Trump's impeachment, saying the president "betrayed" the United States, but Trump dug in, predicting that the Supreme Court would have to resolve the fight.

"To preserve our constitution, our democracy, our basic integrity, he should be impeached," Biden told supporters at a rally in New Hampshire, adding his voice to that of other Democratic contenders.

"He's shooting holes in the constitution, and we cannot let him get away with it," added Biden.

Meanwhile a poll by Fox News, a TV channel generally viewed as sympathetic to the president, showed that "a new high" of 51 percent of voters want Trump impeached and removed from office.

Trump, however, gave no sign of buckling under pressure from the Democratic party probe into his alleged bid to damage Biden by strong-arming Ukraine to investigate the former vice president.

Having threatened a constitutional crisis by refusing to cooperate with the congressional investigation, Trump predicted that the row would end up "being a big Supreme Court case."

He told reporters in the White House that his Republican party was being "treated very badly."

Democrats accuse Trump of stonewalling and obstruction.

"No one is above the law, not even President Trump," the Democratic majority leader in the House, Steny Hoyer, said Wednesday.

IMPEACHMENT BECOMES CAMPAIGN MESSAGE

On Twitter, which Trump is using to bombard the public with conspiracy theories about a "deep state" aiming to eject him, the president argued that the whistleblower behind the impeachment case had been shown to be partisan and inaccurate.

"The Whistleblower's facts have been so incorrect about my 'no pressure' conversation with the Ukrainian President, and now the conflict of interest and involvement with a Democrat Candidate, that he or she should be exposed and questioned," Trump tweeted.

In another tweet, Trump dismissed the impeachment process as a Democratic bid to influence the election, saying "their total focus is 2020, nothing more."

But Trump, who broke with precedent by campaigning for reelection almost from the moment he took office in 2017, is himself pouncing on the impeachment as the new cornerstone of his 2020 effort.

He and the Republican Party have pushed hard to raise funds off the back of their accusation of unfair treatment from the Democratic lower house in Congress.

And on Thursday and Friday, Trump will take that message to his core supporters when he holds campaign rallies in Minneapolis and in Louisiana.

Even if the House impeaches Trump, it remains unlikely that the Republican-led Senate would convict him in the subsequent trial.

However, Trump's already turbulent presidency would be forever associated with the impeachment.

UKRAINIAN PHONE CALL 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formally launched the impeachment inquiry last month after revelations Trump pressured Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in a July 25 phone call.

In the call, Trump asked Zelensky to look into what the US leader said were corrupt business deals involving Biden.

Democrats say that Trump tried to coerce Zelensky by holding back US military aid to Ukraine. Trump says there was no quid pro quo and that his only desire is to combat corruption.

He subsequently said publicly he would also like China to investigate Biden, something critics say bolsters the allegation that Trump is seeking foreign help to discredit opponents.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration blocked a potentially major witness, ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, from testifying before Congress. Democrats then slapped Sondland with a subpoena to appear on October 16.

"The failure to produce this witness, the failure to produce these documents" was "additional strong evidence of obstruction," House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff said.

Later the same day, the White House announced in a lengthy legal statement that it rejected any cooperation with the Democrats at all.

Lawmakers want to hear on Friday from another key witness: former US ambassador to Kiev Marie Yovanovitch, who is scheduled to appear before the House Intelligence Committee.

US media has reported that Trump removed her from her post because she opposed his efforts to get Ukraine to investigate Biden.

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source: news.abs-cbn.com

House Democrats subpoena White House for documents in Trump impeachment probe

WASHINGTON - US House Democrats on Friday subpoenaed the White House for documents they want to see as part of their impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump.

The chairmen of 3 House of Representatives committees said they want documents related to a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that is at the heart of their inquiry.

The three said they were forced to issue the subpoena after the White House failed to produce documents they requested in a Sept. 9 letter.

"We deeply regret that President Trump has put us - and the nation - in this position, but his actions have left us with no choice but to issue this subpoena," said Representatives Elijah Cummings of the Oversight Committee, Adam Schiff of the Intelligence Committee and Eliot Engel of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

They gave the White House until Oct. 18 to produce the information, including who else besides Trump was on the phone call with Zelenskiy.

"This subpoena changes nothing - just more document requests, wasted time, and taxpayer dollars that will ultimately show the President did nothing wrong," White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement.

White House lawyers believe Trump, a Republican, can ignore lawmakers' demands until the Democratic-controlled House holds a full vote of the chamber to formally approve of the impeachment inquiry, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Earlier, the committees asked Vice President Mike Pence to hand over documents relating to a meeting he held with Zelenskiy and the call between Zelenskiy and Trump.

They gave Pence until Oct. 15 to produce any records relating to the July call and a meeting he held with Zelenskiy on Sept. 1.

According to a partial transcript of the call, Trump asked Zelenskiy the "favor" of investigating former US Vice President Joe Biden, a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, and his son, Hunter Biden, who had served on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma.

At the time, the Trump administration was withholding hundreds of millions in aid for Ukraine and Democrats said they suspect Trump was using US foreign policy and taxpayer money for his personal political gain. Trump is running for re-election.

"Recently, public reports have raised questions about any role you may have played in conveying or reinforcing the president's stark message to the Ukrainian president," Cummings, Schiff and Engel wrote in a letter to Pence.

A spokeswoman for Pence said the broad nature of the request showed that it was not "serious."

SECURITY ASSISTANCE

When Pence met with Zelenskiy, the 2 discussed the $250 million in security assistance that the US Congress had approved but that the Trump administration had not disbursed.

The investigation could lead to the approval of articles of impeachment - or formal charges - against Trump in the House. A trial on whether to remove him from office would then be held in the US Senate. Republicans who control the Senate have shown little appetite for ousting Trump.

A cache of diplomatic texts Democrats received as part of their impeachment inquiry showed US officials pressured the Ukrainian government to launch investigations that might benefit Trump's personal political agenda in exchange for a meeting of the 2 countries' leaders.

Kurt Volker, who resigned last week as Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, gave the messages to the House committees in a closed-door meeting on Thursday, and the chairmen released them later in the day.

ROMNEY PUSHES BACK

Trump has said Biden and his son are "corrupt" but has shown no evidence to back that up. The president on Thursday went a step further in his attacks on Biden when he called on China to investigate the former vice president and his son, who had business interests there.

US senator and former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said on Friday it was "wrong and appalling" for Trump to push other nations to investigate Biden.

"When the only American citizen President Trump singles out for China's investigation is his political opponent in the midst of the Democratic nomination process, it strains credulity to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated," Romney said on Twitter.

Trump said on Friday he would not tie a much-anticipated trade deal with China to his desire for Beijing to investigate Joe Biden.

"One thing has nothing to do with the other," he said.

Biden leads in most opinion polls among the 19 Democrats seeking the party's nomination. His campaign has blasted Trump's efforts as desperate.

In a signal of how Kiev will handle investigations being watched in Washington, Ukrainian prosecutors said they would review 15 old probes related to Burisma's founder but added that they were unaware of any evidence of wrongdoing by Biden's son.

The White House plans to argue that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, must have the full House vote to formally approve an impeachment inquiry, a source familiar with the effort said.

Without a vote, White House lawyers believe Trump, who has called the impeachment probe a "hoax," can ignore lawmakers' requests, the source said, meaning the federal courts would presumably have to render a decision and potentially slow the march toward impeachment.

A White House letter arguing Pelosi must hold a House vote will probably be sent to Capitol Hill next week, an administration official said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com