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NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — President Joe Biden said Wednesday it was “unlikely” that a missile that killed two in NATO-ally Poland was fired from Russia, but he pledged support for Poland's investigation into what it had called a “Russian-made” missile. Biden spoke after he convened an “emergency” meeting of the Group of Seven and NATO leaders in Indonesia Wednesday morning for consultations on the attack that killed two people in the eastern part of Poland near the Ukraine border. “There is preliminary information that contests that," Biden told reporters when asked if the missile had been fired from Russia....

President Joe Biden on Monday will raise the possibility of imposing a ‘windfall tax’ on energy companies, as his administration aims to combat high gas prices just days before the midterm elections. The White House said Biden will deliver remarks to respond ”to reports over recent days of major oil companies making record-setting profits even as they refuse to help lower prices at the pump for the American people." A person familiar with the matter said Biden will float imposing a tax on the profits of energy companies, as he seeks to pressure them to lower prices for consumers. The...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced his long-awaited plan to deliver on a campaign promise to provide $10,000 in student debt cancellation for millions of Americans — and up to $10,000 more for those with the greatest financial need — along with new measures to lower the burden of repayment for their remaining federal student debt. If his plan survives legal challenges that are almost certain to come, it could offer a windfall to a swath of the nation in the run-up to this fall’s midterm elections. Proponents say cancellation will narrow the racial wealth gap —...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Over five decades in Washington, Joe Biden knew that the way to influence was to be in the room where it happens. But in the second year of his presidency, some of Biden’s most striking, legacy-defining legislative victories came about by staying out of it. A summer lawmaking blitz has sent bipartisan bills addressing gun violence and boosting the nation’s high-tech manufacturing sector to Biden’s desk, and the president is now on the cusp of securing what he called the “final piece” of his economic agenda with the sudden resurrection of a Democrats-only climate and prescription drug...

ROME — President Biden sought to reverse key policies and approaches of former president Donald Trump during this weekend’s summit of the Group of 20, and attempted to ensure those reversals would stay in place even if there is a change in American leadership.... ...“The United States of America is the most critical part of this entire agenda,” Biden said at a Sunday news conference, responding to a suggestion that the U.S. return to global leadership remains in doubt. “Everyone sought me out...." ...But Biden’s top advisers acknowledged that world leaders approached the talks with a concern that Trump, or...

When the Democrats get caught doing not as they say, they often ignore it and act like hypocrites. But some “offenses” they’ve made so grave that they can’t get away with it. Their latest likely victim is Neera Tanden, who The New York Times suggests will be “First Cabinet-Level Casualty of the Twitter Age?” Biden nominated Tanden for Director of the Office of Management and Budget. She has a staunch left-wing background. She served as policy adviser for the Clinton White House, advised Hillary Clinton as senator and presidential candidate, served in the Obama administration, and most recently, served as...

In a late Wednesday night, post-impeachment tweet completely devoid of all self-awareness, Washington Post congressional reporter Rachael Bade flaunted how she and four other journalists from the paper were celebrating President Trump’s impeachment. “Merry Impeachmas from the WaPo team! [Paul Kane] is buying ... w/[Karoun Demirjian] [Seung Min Kim] [Mike DeBonis],” she gleefully shared in the now-deleted tweet, along with a picture of them around a restaurant table with food and at least two beers. Interestingly, three of the five newspaper writers involved with the apparent celebration (Bade, Demirjian, and Kim) are also CNN political analysts. Rightly, the supposedly objective...

Congressional Republicans have begun discussing whether they may have to vote to block President Trump’s planned new tariffs on Mexico, potentially igniting a second standoff this year over Trump’s use of executive powers to circumvent Congress, people familiar with the talks said. The vote, which would be the GOP’s most dramatic act of defiance since Trump took office, could also have the effect of blocking billions of dollars in border wall funding that the president had announced in February when he declared a national emergency at the southern border, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because...

President Trump is questioning his administration’s aggressive strategy in Venezuela following the failure of a U.S.-backed effort to oust President Nicolás Maduro, complaining he was misled about how easy it would be to replace the socialist strongman with a young opposition figure, according to administration officials and White House advisers. The president’s dissatisfaction has crystallized around national security adviser John Bolton and what Trump has groused is an interventionist stance at odds with his view that the United States should stay out of foreign quagmires. Trump has said in recent days that Bolton wants to get him “into a war”...

In a rare move for the bar group, the New York City Bar Association is withholding a rating of Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee. The New York City Bar said Thursday that it was unable to determine whether Kavanaugh is qualified to serve on the Supreme Court “because the public record is incomplete on whether he possesses the personal integrity necessary to serve in that role.” The city bar assesses whether a Supreme Court nominee is “highly qualified,” “qualified,” or “not qualified” based on a set of several factors. It’s rare the city bar has withheld...

A source who said they were briefed on the contents of the letter said it described an incident involving Kavanaugh and a woman that took place when both were 17 years old and at a party. According to the source, Kavanaugh and a male friend had locked her in a room against her will, making her feel threatened, but she was able to get out of the room. The Guardian has not verified the apparent claims in the letter. It is not yet clear who wrote it.

It looks like I spoke too soon when I said that the Kavanaugh confirmation process never reached the nauseating lows of the Bork and Thomas hearings. The Washington Times reports that Sen. Dianne Feinstein has asked federal investigators to probe a secret complaint about Kavanaugh. The complaint, reportedly lodged by woman, pertains to an incident that supposedly occurred when Kavanaugh and the women were in high school. The woman passed her complaint to Rep. Anna Eshoo, a California Democrat. She apparently is unwilling to come forward publicly to talk about the alleged incident. Buzzfeed contacted the woman rumored to have...

The Senate Judiciary Committee was set to vote on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh today to the Supreme Court but the panel ultimate decided to postpone a vote on his nomination until next Thursday. Senate Democrats grandstanded during today's Senate Judiciary Committee — attempting to get the committee to adjourn. Knowing Democrats would attempt to stop further consideration of Kavanaugh's nomination, Republican committee chairman Sen. Charles Grassley sought and obtained a vote on a motion to delay the nomination vote for one week. The vote on Kavanaugh's nomination will now take place on SEPTEMBER 20. Republican Senate leaders now anticipate...

Today, Diane Feinstein, Senator from California, revealed that she referred a secret letter to the FBI, for a thorough investigation. In this letter, an anonymous woman claims that Brent Kavanaugh acted sexually inappropriately with her when they were both in high school. This is an extraordinarily disturbing development. And while this revelation -- known all summer and produced after he has been questioned by the full Senate -- is enough to disqualify anyone from any appointed position, there is much more to reveal. Let us all consider the momentous seriousness of this horrific accusation. There is nobody reading this column...

Democrats on Thursday alerted the FBI to decades-old sexual misconduct allegations against President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, according to reports and a person familiar with the matter. * * * Two officials briefed on the letter’s contents told The New York Times the allegations relate to possible sexual misconduct between Kavanaugh and an unidentified woman when they were both in high school.(My emphasis.)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on Thursday threw a cryptic curveball at Brett Kavanaugh, insinuating the Supreme Court nominee could be guilty of a crime even as Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee seek to delay his confirmation. The vague accusation comes after the Senate Judiciary Committee already grilled Kavanaugh and other witnesses and prepares to vote on sending his nomination to the full Senate. A spokesperson for Feinstein declined Fox News’ request to elaborate on the lawmaker’s statement, but there has been much speculation that she is referring to a secret letter that has been the subject of intrigue on...

The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dianne Feinstein of California, said Thursday that she has referred a letter concerning Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to federal authorities. "I have received information from an individual concerning the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court," Sen. Feinstein said. "That individual strongly requested confidentiality, declined to come forward or press the matter further, and I have honored that decision. I have, however, referred the matter to federal investigative authorities." Feinstein's announcement came shortly after the committee set a date to vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation. It followed a report Wednesday night...

The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday that she received a letter from an individual about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and referred it to federal investigators. “I have received information from an individual concerning the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a statement.

President Donald Trump is driving to execute the same playbook in selecting a new Supreme Court nominee that last year delivered swift confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch, following a methodical course in hopes of avoiding the lurching disorder that so often engulfs his White House. As Trump looks to reorient the nation's high court with a replacement for retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, he has left himself little room for improvisation - in part because he has delegated and outsourced much of the spadework. Using Gorsuch as a model, the president has said his next nominee will be chosen from a...