Tag Archives: Politics

US Justice Department Lawyer Refuses To Rule Out 3rd Trump Term

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Emil Bove, an embattled senior Justice Department official who represented President Donald Trump at his New York hush money trial, has refused to rule out a third presidential term for any president, including his boss, according to his written responses to a Senate committee questionnaire.

Bove, currently associate deputy US attorney general, is under consideration for a lifetime judgeship on the US Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote Thursday on whether to advance the nomination to the full chamber for approval. To aid the committee members in their decision, Bove recently provided his responses to written questions from the group totalling 165 pages, which were obtained by HuffPost.

Trump’s former attorney was asked at multiple points for his stance on whether it would be permissible for a president to run for a third term, even though the 22nd Amendment of the US Constitution explicitly prohibits it. He offered the same answer each time.

“As a nominee to the Third Circuit, it would not be appropriate for me to address how this Amendment would apply in an abstract hypothetical scenario,” Bove responded. He quoted the text of the amendment: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”

Bove went on: “To the extent this question seeks to elicit an answer that could be taken as opining on the broader political or policy debate regarding term limits, or on statements by any political figure, my response, consistent with the positions of prior judicial nominees, is that it would be improper to offer any such comment as a judicial nominee.”

CBS News first reported on the questionnaire Friday.

Bove has been under scrutiny in recent weeks ever since a Justice Department whistleblower said he has been leading an effort to mislead federal judges and undermine their direct orders.

The whistleblower, former DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni, alleged that Bove told lawyers like himself to say “fuck you” to federal judges who ruled against the Trump administration. Reuveni was fired in April after admitting in court that the administration deported Maryland immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia in error.

Bove formerly served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York until late 2021. Last summer, he was part of a team that represented Trump in a personal capacity as he was tried and ultimately found guilty on 34 New York state felony counts.

In his responses to the senators, Bove did not recall which cases relating to the Jan. 6, 2021, attempted insurrection he had worked on as a prosecutor for the Southern District of New York.

Asked whether he wished to denounce the violent events of Jan. 6, Bove declined, saying the incident “is a matter of significant political debate.”

HuffPost reached out to the Justice Department for comment from Bove.

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Even Some Reform Voters Think Nigel Farage Is An ‘A******e’, So What Is His Appeal?

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Nigel Farage is the very definition of a Marmite politician.

His opponents harbour feelings for him which range between contempt and outright hatred, while his supporters believe he can do no wrong.

The Reform UK leader’s ability to divide opinion was demonstrated at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, when opposing MPs heckled him as he tried to ask Keir Starmer about the small boats crisis.

At one point, a Reform MP could be heard shouting “will you shut up” at his detractors as Farage continued to make his point.

Moments like that do Farage no harm at all. He presents himself as the anti-establishment politician speaking up on behalf of ordinary voters. How better can that be demonstrated than by MPs from the governing party trying to drown him out in the Commons?

And while Reform UK suffer blows which would be hugely damaging for other parties, they continue to lead in the polls and take council seats off their opponents.

In the past week alone, their number of MPs was once again reduced from five to four following James McMurdock’s decision to sit as an independent following allegations about his business dealings prior to entering politics.

And yet, a new poll published on Friday by Techne UK showed Reform’s lead over Labour is actually growing, with the Tories languishing 11 points behind Farage’s party in third place.

According to Luke Tryl of the More in Common think-tank, voters’ misgivings about Farage and his party are outweighed by their unhappiness with both Labour and the Tories.

He said: “There is a difference between Reform’s previous voters are their newer voters. Their previous voters are much more ideologically motivated, their newer voters are much more likely to say they are disillusioned by mainstream parties. They are the group I like to call the ‘roll the dice’ voters.

“We did a focus group in Lanark before that by-election, which Labour gained from the SNP but was a reasonably close three-way race.

“I spoke to someone who was voting for Nigel Farage, who said ‘personally I think the guy’s an arsehole, but I’m going to give him a shot because he can’t be any worse than the others’.

“I think that’s the attitude which is driving it. Lots of people say they don’t have any confidence in any politician of any party, but we may as well roll the dice on something new.”

There is no doubt that Labour’s less-than-stellar start to life in government has helped Farage.

Voters who backed Keir Starmer a year ago and are backing Reform “are more likely to say that they’ve switched because the government have failed to get immigration under control”, said Tryl.

He added: “It isn’t that the government hasn’t done a lot of popular things, but they’re drowned out by winter fuel, prisoner releases, farmers’ tax and the benefits cuts – they have defined in the public’s mind that the government has done so far.

“The government isn’t protecting the people that the public would like them to.”

This view was typified by Tim, a teacher who has switched from Labour to Reform in the past 12 months.

He told a More in Common focus group that Labour was “taking money off people with benefits and making life harder for them, but still letting the energy giants have huge bonuses every year”.

And while just one-third of voters say Farage respects people like them, that is still far more than the third who feel the same way about the prime minister and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

A former Tory cabinet minister pointed outthat the normal rules of politics do not apply to Farage and Reform, and until his party and Labour wake up to that fact, nothing will change.

“The establishment parties are still playing into Reform’s hands,” he said. ”Reform are controlling the game at the moment. As we head into the summer recess, they’re still setting the agenda.

“Colleagues are getting bogged down on this nonsense about an MP leaving Reform – it doesn’t matter out there in the real world. A Reform councillor doing something appalling doesn’t matter. It might have some local impact but in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter.”

The solution, the MP said, was for Labour and the Tories to keep their promises to the electorate.

“Politicians have to do what they say they’re going to do,” he said. “You might not agree with Donald Trump, but voters like the fact that he does what he said he was going to do.”

Farage pulled off another coup by recruiting former Tory chairman Jake Berry to the Reform ranks this week.

Berry, who served under three Conservative PMs, including his close friend Boris Johnson, said the mainstream parties had “broken Britain”.

But one of his former Tory colleagues said the significance of his defection had been overstated.

The MP said: “People like Jake Berry and [former Tory minister now Reform UK mayor] Andrea Jenkyns were not popular people. They are evidence of the mistakes of the past.

“If they were defections by people who were respected then that is a different kettle of fish. But their motivations are pretty transparent – she did it to become mayor of Lincolnshire and he wants to be mayor of Lancashire.

Nevertheless, Berry’s defection undoubtedly put further wind in the Reform sails.

If more senior Tories followed, and were joined by some from Labour, then Farage will be smiling again – regardless of what some of voters think of him.

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Unite The Union Has Suspended Angela Rayner. The Only Snag Is She Isn’t A Member

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Unite has voted to suspend Angela Rayner from the union – even though she gave up her membership months ago.

Members decided to take the extraordinary step in protest at the deputy prime minister’s stance on the long-running strike by bin collectors in Birmingham.

The union, which has donated millions of pounds to Labour, also said it would “re-examine its relationship” with the party.

The move comes after Unite members debated a motion at their conference in Brighton, where they condemned the Labour-run council in Birmingham, and the government, for their approach to the bin workers.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite is crystal clear it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette.

“Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts.”

But HuffPost UK has learned that Rayner cancelled her membership of the union earlier this year, making it impossible for her to be suspended. She remains a member of Unison.

A Labour source said: “Angela’s not interested in stilly stunts, she’s interested in changing workers’ lives. Unite rejected a deal in Birmingham and their demands would have undermined equal pay, discriminating against female workers.

“Angela won’t be pushed around, and she quit Unite some months ago. Angela’s been fighting for equal pay for decades as a trade unionist and as a home care worker has experienced what it was like to be paid less as a working class woman for the same work.”

Labour peer Tom Watson, who was Rayner’s predecessor as the party’s deputy leader, said on X: “If Angie is their idea of a problem, Unite has become even more a parody of itself since Len McCluskey retired.

“Their members and officials must cringe with embarrassment at these stunts. A once proud and serious union is now just Twitter gimmick pressure group. It’s so sad.”

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If Angie is their idea of a problem, Unite has become even more a parody of itself since Len McCluskey retired. Their members and officials must cringe with embarrassment at these stunts. A once proud and serious union is now just Twitter gimmick pressure group. It’s so sad. https://t.co/Cb4cglYaUy

— Tom Watson (@tom_watson) July 11, 2025

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If Angie is their idea of a problem, Unite has become even more a parody of itself since Len McCluskey retired. Their members and officials must cringe with embarrassment at these stunts. A once proud and serious union is now just Twitter gimmick pressure group. It’s so sad. https://t.co/Cb4cglYaUy

— Tom Watson (@tom_watson) July 11, 2025

A Downing Street spokesman said the government’s priority throughout the bin dispute had “always” been Birmingham’s residents.

“As you know, Unite’s industrial action caused disruption to waste collection,” the spokesman said.

We have worked intensively with the council to tackle the backlog and clean up the streets for the residents for public health.

“We remain in close contact with the council and continue to monitor the situation as we support its recovery and transformation

“I think it’s important to look back to the context of this dispute: Unite is in dispute against Birmingham City Council’s decision to reform unfair staff structures, which were a major cause of unequal pay claims and left the council liable to hundreds of millions of pounds in claims, and that was a key factor cited in the council section 114 notice in 2023, declaring bankruptcy.”

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