Hunter Biden went to a federal courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware to formally accept an agreement with prosecutors, which was expected to resolve the long-running investigations into his conduct. But in a surprise move, the presiding judge turned down the deal and ordered the two parties to make changes, delaying the resolution of the case. It was also revealed that federal investigators are continuing a separate inquiry into his business activities – a fact welcomed by the GOP, which has been looking to prove that Joe Biden and his son are corrupt. Back in Washington DC, Republican lawmakers aggressively questioned homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who may soon be the target of impeachment, while elsewhere, lawmakers tried to determine if the US government has found evidence of aliens.

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Here’s what else happened today:

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• Mayorkasdefended his handling of the southern border from criticism by the GOP, saying his security strategy “is working”.

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• The Federal Reservehas raised interest rates to their highest level in 22 years in their ongoing campaign to stop inflation.

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• Rudy Giulianiadmitted that statements he made about two Georgia election workers alleging they perpetrated fraud in the 2020 election were false.

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• At the last minute, a top House Republican tried to derail the plea agreement federal prosecutors reached with Hunter Biden.

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• Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, briefly appeared unable to speak at a press conference. He had suffered a concussion in April.

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The health of senate minority leader Mitch McConnell is back under scrutiny after an alarming moment during a Republican press conference this afternoon in which he abruptly stopped speaking and had to be led away.

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Video of the incident was posted to Twitter by NBC congressional reporter Frank Thorp, who said the Kentucky senator, 81, “appeared to be unable to restart talking”.

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Flag: McConnell just stopped abruptly during his opening statement during the gop leadership presser and appeared to be unable to restart talking. He then stepped away and walked away with Barrasso: pic.twitter.com/f1kFUjggzm

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) July 26, 2023

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McConnell was hospitalized in April after suffering concussion when he tripped and fell during a private dinner at a hotel in Washington DC. In 2019, he tripped and fell at his home in Kentucky, suffering a shoulder fracture.

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Thorp said that McConnell was led off by his friend and colleague John Barrasso, Republican senator for Wyoming, and later returned to watch the conclusion of the press conference.

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Asked what had happened, McConnell reportedly said: “I’m fine”.

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The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates to a 22-year high on Wednesday as it continued its fight against rising inflation, my colleague Dominic Rushe writes.

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The decision to increase rates by a quarter-percentage point to a range of 5.25% to 5.5% comes after the Fed paused its rate-rising cycle last month.

“,”elementId”:”adad33ef-32bf-45eb-aece-456f3ac71dc8″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

US inflation has now declined for 12 straight months and is currently running at an annual rate of 3%, down from over 9% in June last year. The Fed has raised rates from near zero in an attempt to cool the economy and bring prices down.

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The US economy has remained robust despite the 11 rate rises the Fed has now implemented – its most aggressive rate-rising cycle in 40 years. Hiring has slowed but remains strong and the unemployment rate is still close to a record low.

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Read the full report here:

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The president’s son had been expected to formally agree with federal prosecutors on a resolution to two tax charges and one gun charge brought against him. Instead, he pleaded not guilty to the counts, after a judge raised issues with the deal.

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Here’s the New York Times with an explanation of the surprise turn of events:

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Judge Maryellen Noreika has delayed a decision on whether to accept the plea agreement between federal prosecutors and Hunter Biden — demanding that the two sides make changes in the deal clarifying her role and insert language that limits the broad immunity from prosecution offered to Biden on his business dealings. Biden’s lawyers estimated it would take about two weeks.

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After a grueling three-hour hearing, Hunter Biden entered a plea of not guilty on the tax charges, which he will reverse if the two sides redo their agreement to the judge’s satisfaction.

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Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to federal tax and gun charges, after a plea deal that was intended to resolve the allegations fell apart in court, Reuters reports.

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The plea came after the federal judge presiding over the hearing in Wilmington, Delaware said she needed more time to evaluate the deal reached by the president’s son with prosecutors. Prior to the hearing, Biden had agreed to admit guilt to the tax charges, and avoid the gun charge as long as he satisfied certain conditions as part of the deal with the government.

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Hunter Biden went to a federal courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware to formally accept an agreement with federal prosecutors, which was expected to resolve the long-running investigation into him. But amid questioning from a federal judge, the deal was revised to more narrowly cover the conduct of the president’s son, with a prosecutor making clear that he remains under investigation – a development Republicans, who are keen to prove corruption on the part of Joe Biden and his family, are sure to welcome. Back in Washington DC, GOP lawmakers are aggressively questioning homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who may soon be the target of an impeachment push, and while trying to determine if the US government has found evidence of aliens.

“,”elementId”:”11ad4af0-e828-4ebb-99a5-4cf5ba976d43″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Here’s what else has happened so far today:

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• Mayorkasdefended his handling of the southern border from criticism by the GOP, saying his security strategy “is working”.

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• Rudy Giulianiadmitted that statements he made about two Georgia election workers alleging they perpetrated fraud in the 2020 election were false.

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• At the last minute, a top House Republican tried to derail the plea agreement federal prosecutors reached with Hunter Biden.

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Federal prosecutors and Hunter Biden have agreed on a revised plea agreement that will cover only certain conduct over a five-year period, CNN reports.

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The changes came after the court hearing intended to resolve the long-running investigations of the president’s son was unexpectedly recessed after the judge questioned the deal’s terms.

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Here are more details, from CNN:

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ANOTHER UPDATE: Prosecutors & Hunter Biden have now agreed to a revised plea deal.

Deal covers 2014-2019 — only includes conduct related to tax offenses, drug use and gun possession.

Two sides have agreed that this does not shield Hunter Biden from potential future charges. https://t.co/zJv7hSSZ8W

— Zachary Cohen (@ZcohenCNN) July 26, 2023

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Elsewhere in Washington DC today, a House subcommittee is holding a hearing that seems like it could resolve one of the most enduring myths about the US government: has it made contact with aliens or recovered crashed spacecraft?

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No definitive answers have emerged yet from the hearing, which centers on testimony from a whistleblower who has alleged a government cover-up. The Guardian’s Leonie Chao-Fong is covering it live, and you can follow along here:

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Hunter Biden is in federal court in Delaware to plead guilty to tax charges as part of a deal to avoid jail time, but the Washington Post reports that the hearing has unexpectedly paused after a judge questioned the terms of the agreement Joe Biden’s son reached with prosecutors.

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From the Post’s report:

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The hearing hit a snag when U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika pressed Biden about whether he would still plead guilty if it was possible additional charges might be filed against him in the future.

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When Biden answered no, he would not, the judge ordered a break in the proceeding for the two sides to sort out whether his guilty plea would essentially immunize him from potential future tax or gun charges. At every plea deal hearing, a judge is responsible for ensuring a defendant understands both what they are admitting and what they are agreeing to as part of a guilty plea. It wasn’t immediately clear how significant a stumbling block the immunity question may pose to the plea.

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Democratic representative Hank Johnson of Georgia asked Mayorkas about the kind of impact that white nationalist rhetoric of invasion and replacement has on minority communities, citing various attacks including the Tree of Life massacre and El Paso Walmart shooting.

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“When an act of hate occurs, it’s not just the community that is impacted. The adverse impact is felt across of this nation, One of the most prominent terrorism-related threats that we face in [DHS] is what we time period ‘home violent extremism,’” Mayorkas mentioned.

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“It’s white nationalist extremism, is it not?” Johnson interjected.

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In response, Mayorkas mentioned:

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“There are numerous ideologies that underlie the acts of violence. White nationalism is one among them however we don’t deal with the ideology itself. We deal with its connectivity to violence and our effort to stop that violence. We see a various vary of ideologies of hate, anti-government sentiments, private grievances, false narratives [that] gasoline acts of violence on this nation. It’s the connectivity to violence.”

n

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Johnson went on to ask: “When elected officers repeat nice substitute rhetoric, together with the language of invasion, are they placing a goal on the backs of immigrants and other people of colour?”

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Mayorkas replied:

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It actually fuels the menace panorama that we encountered.”

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“I’m not sure exactly what you do at the DHS other than great harm on your watch,” Louisiana Republican representative Mike Johnson told Mayorkas, before going on to ask him to define what misinformation is within the context of online censorship.

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Johnson criticized DHS and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, saying that it was censoring American conservative speech online.

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“What is disinformation? Who determines what’s inaccurate? Who determines what’s false? Do you understand the problem here? The reason the framers of our constitution did not create an exception for ‘false information’ from the first amendment is because they didn’t trust the government to determine what it is. And you have whole committees of people in your agency trying to determine what they… define as false or misinformation.”

n

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Mayorkas pushed back and replied:

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“That is not true. That is not what we do. We disclose the tactics that adverse nation states are utilizing to weaponize information.”

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“No sir, no sir. That is not true,” responded Johnson, referring to a Louisiana federal court opinion on the Missouri vs Biden case which accused the Biden administration of censoring conservative free speech online.

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“The court found specifically, it’s a finding of fact that is not disputed by the government defendants, the Biden administration, your agency, the FBI, or DHS, not in the litigation. They determined you and all of your cohorts made no distinction between domestic speech and foreign speech.

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So don’t stand there and tell me under oath that you only focused on adversaries around the world and foreign actors,” Johnson added, his voice rising.

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Ken Buck, a Republican representative of Colorado asked Mayorkas about the the China-Mexico fentanyl pipeline that has been entering the country and the rising fentanyl overdose deaths currently plaguing the US.

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“The fentanyl killing thousands of Americans every year as a direct result of your dereliction when people die of fentanyl poisoning. It is your fault,” said Buck as he went on to ask Mayorkas what his response would be to the families of fentanyl victims in the US.

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Mayorkas replied:

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“We grieve the loss of any life as a result of the toxicity, the devastation… The challenge of fentanyl is not new. It has been escalating for more than five years…. This is a scourge and all of us have to work together to combat…

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I stand by my statement…that China does bear responsibility because many of the precursor chemicals and the pill press equipment that is used to manufacture fentanyl does originate from there. This is a complex problem. We are taking it to the criminals…”

n

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“We must fix our broken immigration system, fund continuing protection of local communities, disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations,” Mayorkas said.

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In response to a question on what the limit on allowing illegal migrants entering the country is, Mayorkas said:

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“Our approach of expanding lawful pathways for people to reach the border and delivering consequences for those who arrive at our border is working…”

n

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Viewers of final yr’s January 6 committee hearings could keep in mind Ruby Freeman and her mom Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, two Georgia election staff who gave emotional testimony about how lies advised by Donald Trump’s allies primarily ruined their lives.

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Moss and Freeman have sued Rudy Giuliani, one of many former president’s most boisterous attorneys, over the harm executed by the false statements, and because the Guardian’s Michael Sainato reviews, Giuliani simply admitted that none of what was mentioned concerning the election staff was true:

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n

A court docket submitting by Rudy Giuliani in response to a lawsuit filed towards him by two Georgia election staff, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, included a concession: Giuliani admitted to creating defamatory statements towards the employees.

n

The employees complained in court docket that Giuliani has failed to supply data of the trade between then president Donald Trump and Giuliani, who served as Trump’s lawyer on the time within the wake of his 2020 presidential election loss. The election staff had been cited by Giuliani after which Trump for instance of election fraud in Georgia the place they had been accused of manipulating ballots – regardless of the claims being repeatedly debunked by Georgia election officers and federal investigators.

n

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Hunter Biden has arrived at the federal courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware to enter his guilty plea to tax charges, the Associated Press reports, as part of a deal that will resolve a long-running investigation against him and avoid jail time.

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Republicans have decried the agreement reached with the US attorney in Delaware as a “sweetheart deal” for the president’s son, and continue their campaign to prove that he and Joe Biden are corrupt. In an unusual move, the New York Times reports that a top House Republican lawmaker filed a brief in the case that asks the judge to refuse the deal, arguing it is “tainted”.

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Here’s more from their story:

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n

On the eve of Hunter Biden’s court appearance to enter into a plea deal for misdemeanor tax crimes that would allow him to avoid prison time, House Republicans and conservative groups sought to intervene in the case, urging a judge to throw out the agreement he reached with prosecutors.

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The highly unusual legal maneuvering — which experts said was unlikely to succeed — illustrated the lengths that House Republicans and their allied groups have been willing to go to as they have tried to use Mr. Biden’s legal and personal troubles to inflict political damage on his father, President Biden.

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Representative Jason Smith of Missouri, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, filed a brief in Federal District Court in Wilmington, Del., where Hunter Biden’s plea deal is to be considered by a judge on Wednesday.

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The committee has heard testimony from two Internal Revenue Service investigators who claim to be whistle-blowers and have told the panel that the younger Mr. Biden received preferential treatment from the Justice Department. Mr. Smith’s brief asked the judge to consider the testimony in deciding whether to approve the agreement.

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Another brief was filed by the Heritage Foundation, the conservative research group, which has started an operation dedicated to aiding the Republican investigations into President Biden.

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Hunter Biden’s lawyers tried to stop Mr. Smith from filing his brief, saying that he had no standing and that the materials included in the filing should be filed under seal because they contain confidential taxpayer information.

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The judge overseeing the case, Maryellen Noreika, agreed to seal the filing, but not before The New York Times was able to obtain a copy. The brief argued that the plea deal was “tainted,” citing the testimony of the two I.R.S. officials.

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“The situation here is not that the Justice Department exercised charging or plea negotiation discretion, but the presence of credible allegations that the investigation, charging decisions and plea negotiations were tainted by improper conduct at various levels of the government,” wrote Theodore A. Kittila, a lawyer who filed the brief on behalf of Mr. Smith.

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It will not be a friendly crowd that greets homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas when he appears before the House judiciary committee at 10am. The panel is dominated by Republicans who have made promises to improve border security and stop irregular migration a major part of their platform, and with the party openly mulling impeaching Mayorkas, expect the hearing to amount to a full-bore attack on his leadership by the GOP.

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Punchbowl News obtained part of Mayorkas’s opening statement, which indicates he’ll defend the Biden administration’s border policies in his appearance.

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Here’s what he’ll say:

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Our approach to managing the border securely and humanely, even within our fundamentally broken immigration system, is working. Unlawful entries between ports of entry along the southwest border have consistently decreased by more than half compared to the peak before the end of Title 42.

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Under President Biden’s leadership, we have led the largest expansion of lawful, safe, and orderly pathways for people to seek humanitarian relief under our laws, at the same time imposing tougher consequences on those who instead resort to the ruthless smuggling organizations that prey on the most vulnerable.

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We secured the first increase in Border Patrol Agent hiring in more than a decade and our campaign to disrupt and dismantle human smuggling networks has resulted in the arrest of nearly 14,000 smugglers.

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Good mornings, US politics blog readers. It’s become clear that Republicans controlling the House of Representatives want to impeach someone. The question is: who? While they may ultimately decide to bring charges against Joe Biden, another prime target is Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, who has been in the party’s crosshairs practically since he started the job over the situation at the US southern border. There has been an influx of irregular migrants ever since Biden took office for a variety of reasons, but Republicans have sought to pin the blame on Mayorkas, and gone as far as to threaten the rare step of impeaching the cabinet secretary.

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At 10am eastern time, Mayorkas will sit for what is expected to be a pretty rough hearing in front of the House judiciary committee. Expect the GOP to continue making its impeachment case, but you may also hear some Democrats express frustration with Mayorkas over the Biden’s administration’s hardline efforts to deter migration.

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Here’s what else is happening today:

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• Hunter Biden will appear in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware to plead guilty to tax-related charges as part of a deal with prosecutors to end a long-running investigation into his finances and conduct. Republicans have attacked the agreement as a “sweetheart deal”, and continue to try to prove that he and his father are corrupt.

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• UFOs or as the government calls them, UAPS, will be the subject of a House oversight subcommittee hearing beginning at 10 am eastern time.

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• The Federal Reserve is expected to later today decide to again increase interest rates, the latest sign that America’s battle against inflation is not over, despite substantial progress in recent months.

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Key occasions

Present key occasions solely

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This weblog has closed. Learn extra concerning the Hunter Biden story right here:

Closing abstract

Hunter Biden went to a federal courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware to formally settle for an settlement with prosecutors, which was anticipated to resolve the long-running investigations into his conduct. However in a shock transfer, the presiding decide turned down the deal and ordered the 2 events to make modifications, delaying the decision of the case. It was additionally revealed that federal investigators are persevering with a separate inquiry into his enterprise actions – a truth welcomed by the GOP, which has been seeking to show that Joe Biden and his son are corrupt. Again in Washington DC, Republican lawmakers aggressively questioned homeland safety secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who could quickly be the goal of impeachment, whereas elsewhere, lawmakers tried to find out if the US authorities has discovered proof of aliens.

Right here’s what else occurred as we speak:

• Mayorkas defended his dealing with of the southern border from criticism by the GOP, saying his safety technique “is working”.

• The Federal Reserve has raised rates of interest to their highest stage in 22 years of their ongoing marketing campaign to cease inflation.

• Rudy Giuliani admitted that statements he made about two Georgia election staff alleging they perpetrated fraud within the 2020 election had been false.

• On the final minute, a prime Home Republican tried to derail the plea settlement federal prosecutors reached with Hunter Biden.

• Mitch McConnell, the highest Republican within the Senate, briefly appeared unable to talk at a press convention. He had suffered a concussion in April.

As chair of the Home oversight committee, James Comer has led the marketing campaign of investigations into Joe Biden’s administration, and significantly his son Hunter Biden.

In a press release launched after the shock in as we speak’s court docket listening to, which resulted in a federal decide rejecting, for now, a plea deal between Hunter and federal prosecutors, Comer mentioned the settlement must be taken off the desk for good:

Right now District Decide Noreika did the suitable factor by refusing to rubberstamp Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal. However let’s be clear: Hunter’s sweetheart plea deal belongs within the trash. Final week we heard from two credible IRS whistleblowers concerning the Division of Justice’s politicization and misconduct within the Biden legal investigation. Right now, the Division of Justice revealed Hunter Biden is below investigation for being a overseas agent.

The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly has extra on as we speak’s developments in Hunter Biden’s long-running authorized troubles:

Reporters on the scene shared extra particulars concerning the well being scare involving Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s prime Republican.

CNN says an aide to the chief downplayed the issue he instantly skilled in talking to the press earlier as we speak, nothing he later took their questions:

From a McConnell aide: “He felt mild headed and stepped away for a second. He got here again to deal with Q and A, which as everybody noticed was sharp.” https://t.co/MnuUzkpmLo

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 26, 2023

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From a McConnell aide: “He felt mild headed and stepped away for a second. He got here again to deal with Q and A, which as everybody noticed was sharp.” https://t.co/MnuUzkpmLo

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 26, 2023

Senate Republican convention chair John Barrasso later mentioned he was “involved” about McConnell, however didn’t suppose his well being was deteriorating:

Sen. Barrasso, who helped McConnell depart the rostrum after freezing up, tells reporters “I’ve been involved for the reason that first time he was injured plenty of months in the past, I proceed to be involved.” However he denies that McConnell’s situation is worsening.

“No new considerations,” he provides pic.twitter.com/gKRuYEBLxd

— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) July 26, 2023

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Sen. Barrasso, who helped McConnell depart the rostrum after freezing up, tells reporters “I’ve been involved for the reason that first time he was injured plenty of months in the past, I proceed to be involved.” However he denies that McConnell’s situation is worsening.

“No new considerations,” he provides pic.twitter.com/gKRuYEBLxd

— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) July 26, 2023

We’ve simply handed hour 5 of homeland safety secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s look earlier than the Home judiciary committee, the place, because the Guardian’s Mary Yang and Joan E Greve report, Republican lawmakers have repeatedly made clear they imagine he’s failing at his job and must be impeached. Right here is their rundown of the listening to to date:

Republican lawmakers grilled Alejandro Mayorkas, the embattled US secretary of homeland safety, throughout a Home judiciary committee oversight listening to on Wednesday.

Mayorkas, who has been the goal of a GOP-led congressional investigation over his dealing with of the US-Mexico border, confronted a collection of robust questions relating to his tenure as head of the division, which broadly oversees US immigration and border insurance policies. The listening to got here as some Home Republicans have threatened to question Mayorkas, the primary Latino and immigrant to go the Division of Homeland Safety, over his alleged mismanagement of the border.

Mayorkas supplied a pre-emptive rebuttal to Republicans’ assaults in his opening assertion, noting that illegal crossings on the southern border have decreased by greater than half in contrast with the height earlier than the top of the pandemic-era coverage generally known as Title 42.

McConnell’s well being below scrutiny after he stops talking abruptly at press briefing

Richard Luscombe

The well being of senate minority chief Mitch McConnell is again below scrutiny after an alarming second throughout a Republican press convention this afternoon during which he abruptly stopped talking and needed to be led away.

Video of the incident was posted to Twitter by NBC congressional reporter Frank Thorp, who mentioned the Kentucky senator, 81, “gave the impression to be unable to restart speaking”.

Flag: McConnell simply stopped abruptly throughout his opening assertion in the course of the gop management presser and gave the impression to be unable to restart speaking. He then stepped away and walked away with Barrasso: pic.twitter.com/f1kFUjggzm

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) July 26, 2023

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Flag: McConnell simply stopped abruptly throughout his opening assertion in the course of the gop management presser and gave the impression to be unable to restart speaking. He then stepped away and walked away with Barrasso: pic.twitter.com/f1kFUjggzm

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) July 26, 2023

McConnell was hospitalized in April after struggling concussion when he tripped and fell throughout a non-public dinner at a resort in Washington DC. In 2019, he tripped and fell at his residence in Kentucky, struggling a shoulder fracture.

Thorp mentioned that McConnell was led off by his pal and colleague John Barrasso, Republican senator for Wyoming, and later returned to look at the conclusion of the press convention.

Requested what had occurred, McConnell reportedly mentioned: “I’m positive”.

Fed raises curiosity by 0.25 proportion factors to highest stage in 22 years

The US Federal Reserve raised rates of interest to a 22-year excessive on Wednesday because it continued its struggle towards rising inflation, my colleague Dominic Rushe writes.

The choice to extend charges by a quarter-percentage level to a variety of 5.25% to five.5% comes after the Fed paused its rate-rising cycle final month.

US inflation has now declined for 12 straight months and is at the moment operating at an annual charge of three%, down from over 9% in June final yr. The Fed has raised charges from close to zero in an try to chill the economic system and convey costs down.

The US economic system has remained strong regardless of the 11 charge rises the Fed has now carried out – its most aggressive rate-rising cycle in 40 years. Hiring has slowed however stays robust and the unemployment charge continues to be near a document low.

Learn the complete report right here:

Republicans are more than happy {that a} federal decide rejected Hunter Biden’s plea deal as we speak.

Right here’s the view from an lawyer for the GOP-controlled Home committee that made a last-minute try and disrupt the deal:

Ted Kittila, lawyer for GOP-led Home Methods and Means Committee, reacts to Hunter Biden’s plea deal listening to:

“The court docket’s gonna take a while to overview the plea settlement … [Judge Maryellen Noreika] did an excellent job ensuring this was a understanding and intelligible plea.”pic.twitter.com/tW14n3bark

— The Recount (@therecount) July 26, 2023

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Ted Kittila, lawyer for GOP-led Home Methods and Means Committee, reacts to Hunter Biden’s plea deal listening to:

“The court docket’s gonna take a while to overview the plea settlement … [Judge Maryellen Noreika] did an excellent job ensuring this was a understanding and intelligible plea.”pic.twitter.com/tW14n3bark

— The Recount (@therecount) July 26, 2023

The Biden administration has typically prevented the subject of Hunter Biden, and at her ongoing briefing to reporters, White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre preempted all questions concerning the president’s son:

WH Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre preempts questions on Hunter Biden, after he pleaded not responsible to tax fees:

“I do know many individuals have been following the information … For something additional … I'd refer you to the Division of Justice and to Hunter's representatives.” pic.twitter.com/dAU4pMLpx4

— The Recount (@therecount) July 26, 2023

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WH Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre preempts questions on Hunter Biden, after he pleaded not responsible to tax fees:

“I do know many individuals have been following the information … For something additional … I would refer you to the Division of Justice and to Hunter’s representatives.” pic.twitter.com/dAU4pMLpx4

— The Recount (@therecount) July 26, 2023

What simply occurred with Hunter Biden’s plea deal?

The president’s son had been anticipated to formally agree with federal prosecutors on a decision to 2 tax fees and one gun cost introduced towards him. As a substitute, he pleaded not responsible to the counts, after a decide raised points with the deal.

Right here’s the New York Times with an evidence of the shock flip of occasions:

Decide Maryellen Noreika has delayed a call on whether or not to simply accept the plea settlement between federal prosecutors and Hunter Biden — demanding that the 2 sides make modifications within the deal clarifying her function and insert language that limits the broad immunity from prosecution supplied to Biden on his enterprise dealings. Biden’s attorneys estimated it might take about two weeks.

After a grueling three-hour listening to, Hunter Biden entered a plea of not responsible on the tax fees, which he’ll reverse if the 2 sides redo their settlement to the decide’s satisfaction.

Hunter Biden pleads not responsible to tax, gun fees

Hunter Biden has pleaded not responsible to federal tax and gun fees, after a plea deal that was supposed to resolve the allegations fell aside in court docket, Reuters reviews.

The plea got here after the federal decide presiding over the listening to in Wilmington, Delaware mentioned she wanted extra time to guage the deal reached by the president’s son with prosecutors. Previous to the listening to, Biden had agreed to confess guilt to the tax fees, and keep away from the gun cost so long as he happy sure circumstances as a part of the cope with the federal government.