Iran: Trump announces new, 'hard-hitting' sanctions – as it happened
President at the White House signs executive order that he says will hurt Iran's economy - follow the latest live
1.12am BST
12.46am BST
Carrying on in a longstanding tradition of this administration, the White House sent oversight committee chairman Elijah Cummings a letter today declining "the invitation to make Ms. Conway available for testimony before the Committee".
WH declines the invitation to make Kellyanne Conway available to testify. pic.twitter.com/jW1oGtoF2n
12.06am BST
President Trump had more to say to the Hill on the sexual assault allegations against him from journalist and advice columnist E Jean Carroll:
NEW: @POTUS accuses Jean Carrol of "totally lying" about her allegation against him in our exclusive @thehill @HillTVLive interview. "I'll say it with great respect: No. 1, she's not my type. No. 2, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" https://t.co/oGVirhY9b8
11.45pm BST
The article on journalist and advice columnist E Jean Carroll's sexual assault allegations against President Trump mysteriously disappeared on the New York Post website on Friday afternoon; the wire story by the Associated Press was also scrubbed.
Today, CNN is reporting that former editor-in-chief Col Allan - a longtime Trump supporter and "old lieutenant of Rupert Murdoch who returned to the conservative tabloid as an adviser in early 2019" - ordered that the story be removed.
Some news: Murdoch lieutenant Col Allan ordered the removal of the New York Post's story on Jean Carroll's sexual assault allegation against Trump, sources tell me and @garveyshuffle https://t.co/GTh4z7N2eZ
11.15pm BST
Hundreds of children were moved out of a Texas Border Patrol station where they were held with inadequate food, water and sanitation for weeks. At this station, a legal team interviewed 60 children and documented kids forced to take care of kids, no clean clothing, weeks of no baths and poor nutrition.
This morning, my office was informed that only 30 children remain in the Clint Border Patrol station in El Paso County.
Last week, @hrw lawyers found 255 children in beyond alarming conditions in the same station. pic.twitter.com/tmBC3M0aqP
JUST IN: 249 of the children are now in the ORR shelter system according to Evelyn Stauffer, a spokeswoman for the agency. https://t.co/gdhsc2GgkH
10.55pm BST
In 2016, President Obama announced the creation of Stonewall National Monument outside the Stonewall Inn in New York, site of the 1969 riot that launched the gay rights movement. It was the first-ever national monument for the LGBT community.
Since Obama left office, however, the Trump administration has been fighting to keep the rainbow gay pride flag off of federal lands, according to a cache of internal emails gathered by E&E News.
To avoid flying a gay pride flag on federal property, the Trump administration gifted the flag and flagpole outside the Stonewall National Monument to the New York Parks department, internal emails show. https://t.co/4iakYguSQ0
10.22pm BST
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed what she told President Trump in asking him to delay the immigration raids:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi on what she told President Trump about ICE raids that have now been delayed: "Children are scared. You're scaring the children of America, not just in those families but their neighbors and their communities. You're scaring the children" pic.twitter.com/rnmUztMLan
Related: 'Death by a thousand cuts': Trump raid delay prolongs migrants' agony
10.18pm BST
Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson had to tweet out a statement on vaccines today after calling mandatory vaccinations "too draconian" and "too Orwellian" - and then lightly walking that back the next day on the View by expressing a mistrust in "big pharma".
Marianne Williamson leans in to vaccine skepticism in NH: "To me, it's no different than the abortion debate. The US government doesn't tell any citizen, in my book, what they have to do with their body or their child."
+ added vaccine mandates are too "draconian" & "Orwellian"
2020 hopeful @marwilliamson says she misspoke by calling mandatory vaccines "draconian."
"I am not anti-vaccine," she says. "The days of blind faith in big pharma are over ... the idea that our government agencies are doing the proper oversight." https://t.co/w5zYj3pE2G pic.twitter.com/XVotSAMMLL
Marianne Williamson just tweeted and deleted this statement on vaccines pic.twitter.com/BhfjWmviTV
10.04pm BST
Hey all, Vivian Ho on the west coast taking over for Lauren Gambino. Happy Monday.
9.57pm BST
9.33pm BST
The US Treasury Department inspector general will investigate the delay in putting abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.
Treasury Dept's inspector general tells Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that the office will dig into the Trump administration's decision to delay putting abolitionist Harriet Tubman's image on the $20 bill pic.twitter.com/VEVXpgW8XX
9.00pm BST
Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to increase transparency for the cost of health services.
The order directs the Department of Health and Human Services to require hospitals and insurers to disclose negotiated rates for services and to provide patients with an explanation of out-of-pocket costs before receiving their services.
8.44pm BST
With 10 candidates on one debate stage, the evening will be less like a debate and far more like a lightening round of questions and answers.
Among the topics we expect the candidates to be asked about are their healthcare plans, how they would combat climate change and why a candidate believes he or she can beat Trump.
Requests for questions *not* to ask at the Dem debates:
1) "Why aren't you polling better?"
2) "What is your plan to bring Americans together?"
3) "Say something nice about one of your opponents."
8.42pm BST
As more Democrats call for impeachment, congresswoman Frederica Wilson makes the case against it.
"America: Allow Democrats to investigate, subpoena & expose all. We can beat him @ the ballot box & when he leaves office, justice will prevail," she writes.
There's no question Trump is guilty but the current Senate will never find him guilty of anything. If the House impeaches him the Senate will exonerate him w/in days & he'll use the next year to proclaim innocence from his bully pulpit: No collusion No obstruction Witch Hunt 1/2 pic.twitter.com/vlZ9SeGFnm
8.37pm BST
Jason Miller, a former top campaign aide and a close advisor to Donald Trump, has left his job at the consulting firm Teneo just days after calling a top-ranking House Democrats a "fat f**k" on Twitter. The post has since been deleted but it appears the damage was done.
Days after going on a Twitter tirade calling Nadler a "fat f*ck," Jason Miller has left his firm Teneo, @swin24 scoops https://t.co/PsHIBOAYY5
8.14pm BST
What is it they say about life imitating art?
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Mark Hamill, Alyssa Milano to perform in play based on the Mueller report https://t.co/wa0m2coywI pic.twitter.com/zOLpz1VLvl
8.07pm BST
The first Democratic presidential debates are right around the corner and the candidates are spending every spare moment prepping.
Well, most candidates. The New York Times reported that Bernie Sanders is among the candidates "least interested in participating in intensive pre-debate drills".
Lucky to have the talented, debater Dante de Blasio helping me get ready for Wednesday! pic.twitter.com/my51wahM6S
7.46pm BST
Per @jmhansler: Pompeo did not discuss the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi with Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Monday, a senior State Department official said.
Asked by the traveling press whether Khashoggi came up, the official said, "it did not." https://t.co/HLrj5ol3ZQ
Related: Trump dismisses UN request for FBI to investigate Jamal Khashoggi's murder
7.15pm BST
Henry Kerner, the chief of the White House's Office of Special Counsel, who recommended Conway be removed for what the office said was repeated violations of the a law barring federal employees from politicizing their posts.
"Her conduct hurts both federal employees, who may believe that senior officials can act with complete disregard for the Hatch Act, and the American people, who may question the nonpartisan operation of their government," Kerner will tell a congressional panel, according to his testimony obtained by the The Daily Beast .
.@woodruffbets obtained OSC chief Henry Kerner's prepared testimony for Wednesday's hearing on Kellyanne Conway's Hatch Act violations https://t.co/teGEVClJSB
7.00pm BST
Interesting figures on the changing racial make up of state legislatures:
From 2015 to 2017, the number of women of color in state legislatures increased by only 4%. From 2017 to 2019, it increased by *33%.*
The pipeline *exploded* in the last two years & will pay dividends for decades. https://t.co/OeakxgZTHv
6.57pm BST
E Jean Carroll, the celebrated advice columnist who has accused Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her in the mid-1990s, has said she is considering bringing a complaint to the New York police department, the Guardian's Ed Pilkington writes.
In a lengthy interview with CNN on Monday, Carroll said she would be open to working with the NYPD in a criminal investigation into the attack she alleges happened in the Manhattan store of Bergdorf Goodman in late 1995 or early 1996.
Related: Trump sexual assault accuser E Jean Carroll considers police complaint
6.46pm BST
A House panel will vote on a subpoena to compel White House counselor Kellyanne Conway to testify about Office of Special Counsel recommendation that she be removed from her posting after repeated violations of the a law barring federal officials from engaging in partisan politics.
But that's not the only effort to hold Conway accountable.
Kellyanne Conway targeted by this proposed tweak from @RepDelBene to the House Financial Services fiscal 2020 spending measure pic.twitter.com/dNJIrIDlZ0
6.22pm BST
It's going to be quite a show, folks.
Park Service: Trump's 4th of July event to be 'biggest fireworks show that DC has seen' https://t.co/NcNfo99oEr
6.20pm BST
The 'fiber arts' strike back.
According to the Associated Press, an "8-million strong social network for knitters, crocheters and others in the fiber arts has banned talk of President Donald Trump and his administration."
6.01pm BST
BREAKING: Government moves more than 300 children out of Texas Border Patrol station after AP report of perilous conditions.
The AP recently reported on the alarming conditions that children are being kept in. At a border patrol station in McAllen, Texas, lawyers who had visited the children and adolescents said they were very sick with high fevers, coughing, and "wearing soiled clothes crusted with mucus and dirt after their long trip north."
5.37pm BST
UPDATE: The package along Pennsylvania Ave. has been declared safe by Secret Service and @DCPoliceDept. Pedestrian road closures will be lifted shortly.
5.29pm BST
Congressman Jim Himes has announced his support for beginning an impeachment inquiry.
Until this year, Himes was the head of the New Dems coalition, a group of moderate lawmakers that includes many of the newest members of the majority. These are the members who Democratic leaders fear will be hurt by a political backlash to impeachment.
It is time for the House of Representatives to begin an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. /1
5.22pm BST
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is providing additional details on the sanctions on Iran.
Mnuchin says US is sanctioning specific military leaders who were responsible for shooting down the US drone last week. pic.twitter.com/abd7ZksKDv
Mnuchin says Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif will be hit with sanctions later this week - @Reuters https://t.co/ZMFxD8kIkx
5.13pm BST
The Trump administration has imposed "hard hitting" new sanctions on Tehran partly in response to Iran's downing of an American surveillance drone last week.
Trump signed an executive order that he said would continue to squeeze the economy in an effort to bring Tehran to the negotiating table.
5.02pm BST
Trump turned 73 on June 14th. He has previously said that he and Kim Jong Un "fell in love" and they enjoy sending each other snail mail in the form of "beautiful" and "excellent" letters.
*TRUMP SAYS NORTH KOREA LEADER SENT HIM BIRTHDAY WISHES
4.29pm BST
Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers are responding to an incident involving a suspicious package located on Pennsylvania Ave. Pedestrian traffic is closed along Pennsylvania Ave. between 15th and 17th streets to include Lafayette Park. pic.twitter.com/t7veePoDb7
4.16pm BST
White House pool reporter John Fritze of USA Today sends this update: "Reporters were ushered into the briefing room at around 11:15 a.m. and the door to the briefing room is now locked. Pool can see a dog sweeping the North Lawn, but not much else is visible."
HAPPENING NOW: Reporters being moved into the briefing room, White House appears to be going on lockdown.
UPDATE: @SecretService Uniformed Division Officer says "we're dealing with something on Pennsylvania Avenue" but declines to go into detail.
3.49pm BST
And then there were ... 25. Yes, 25 Democrats are seeing their party's nomination as of Sunday when former Pennsylvania congressman Joe Sestak
announced his presidential campaign.
Have you been sleeping on mass movement to draft Sestak into the race? Is there a great clamoring for yet another member of Congress to join the fray?
3.37pm BST
Former Vice President Joe Biden is also out with a new plan.
In an op-ed for the Miami Herald, headlined: Our Latin America policies are morally bankrupt. Mine reflect American values, Biden lays out his vision for immigration reform. The broad strokes of his plan includes: extending citizenship to "Dreamers" - young Americans who came to the US as children, strengthening border security by investing in screening procedures and new technology - as opposed to a wall - and easing the migrant crisis by addressing the root causes of poverty, violence and a lack of opportunity throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
Last week gave us more evidence that President Trump's morally bankrupt re-election strategy relies on vilifying immigrants to score political points while implementing policies that ensure asylum seekers and refugees keep arriving at our border," Biden writes.
"Trump threatened the imminent deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants just hours after his State Department confirmed it was cutting off aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras - the very countries from which most migrants are fleeing. It's clear Trump is only interested in using his policies to assault the dignity of the Hispanic community and scare voters to turn out on Election Day, while not addressing the real challenges facing our hemisphere."
3.26pm BST
In 2018, small dollar donations to Democratic candidates and causes skyrocketed thanks in part to a fundraising platform called ActBlue.
Republicans today announced their rebuttal: WinRed.
I am pleased to announce the launch of https://t.co/D1MY2aPC7f. This new platform will allow my campaign and other Republicans to compete with the Democrats money machine. This has been a priority of mine and I'm pleased to share that it is up and running! #KeepAmericaGreat
Related: 'Not the billionaires': why small-dollar donors are Democrats' new powerhouse
3.18pm BST
There's a flurry of Supreme Court decisions this morning:
#SCOTUS rules that federal ban on registration of "immoral" or "scandalous" trademarks violates the First Amendment, in challenge brought by designer who wanted to register the trademark for his FUCT clothing brand
#SCOTUS gives broad meaning to term "confidential" in Freedom of Information Act exemption for commercial or financial information, allowing government to withhold data revealing where food-stamp recipients purchase groceries
3.06pm BST
Senator Bernie Sanders is out with a new plan that would eliminate the entire $1.6tn of student debt in the United States.
The proposal comes days ahead of the first Democratic debate and as Sanders loses ground to his progressive presidential primary rival, senator Elizabeth Warren, who has captured voter attention with her litany of policy proposals. Warren has introduced a plan that would forgive $640 billion in student debt.
2.52pm BST
Hello and welcome to Monday's live politics coverage. Donald Trump has been busy tweeting, telling Iran he has two "very simple" requests: "No nuclear weapons and no further sponsoring of terror."
In an early-morning flurry, Trump also told other countries to protect their own Gulf oil shipments, and claimed the US has only limited interest in the region.
China gets 91% of its Oil from the Straight, Japan 62%, & many other countries likewise. So why are we protecting the shipping lanes for other countries (many years) for zero compensation. All of these countries should be protecting their own ships on what has always been....
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