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WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Thursday honored an Oscar-winning actor, a bluegrass-country singer, a conservative think tank and others with two of the most prestigious national awards in the arts and humanities. It was first time Trump has awarded the National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal. Honorees included Jon Voight, a Hollywood actor who is an outspoken backer of Trump. Voight, one of four winners of the National Medal of Arts, later accompanied Trump to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to pay tribute to the remains of two U.S. service members who were killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan this week. “Each of todays recipients has made an outstanding contribution to American society, culture and life,” Trump said. “They exemplify the genius, talent and creativity of our exceptional nation.” Voight, who stars in the Showtime drama “Ray Donovan,” won the best actor Oscar for his portrayal of a troubled Vietnam War veteran in the 1978 film “Coming Home”..

President Donald Trump signed a short-term spending measure to avert a government shutdown—just hours before the midnight deadline. Trump signed the bill to fund the federal government through Dec. 20. The House had passed the continuing resolution earlier this week before sending it to the Senate, which approved the bill before it was sent to Trumps desk on Thursday evening. The Senate passed it 74-20 earlier in the day. Some lawmakers have remarked to media outlets that with the Thanksgiving holiday looming, they will only have about 15 working days to come up with a new deal before the Christmas break. Last December, a battle over border wall funding, which Democrats largely oppose, triggered a 35-day government shutdown that lasted until the next year. “I am optimistic that the passage of the continuing resolution today is something Congress can build from, a sign that appropriators from both sides of the aisle are ready to work together to settle government funding by the end..

Californias Supreme Court ruled unanimously Nov. 21 that a law requiring presidential and gubernatorial candidates to release their tax returns in order to appear on the primary ballot there violates the states constitution. Senate Bill 27, which was sponsored by Democrats and became chapter 121 of the California Elections Code after being signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 30, requires presidential candidates to file their income tax returns for the five most recent taxable years with the secretary of state in order to have their names listed on a primary election ballot. The secretary of states office would make redacted versions of the returns available to the public on its website within five days. The bill lays out the same requirements for the candidates for governor but applies to primary elections, not general elections. California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye delivers her State of the Judiciary address before a joint session of the Legislature at the Ca..

U.S. lawmakers conducting the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry have yet to discover any direct evidence of the central allegation against President Donald Trump, even after a parade of witnesses and weeks of depositions and hearings. The leader of the inquiry, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), has long alleged that Trump sought to boost his reelection chances by withholding foreign aid from Ukraine to pressure the nations leader to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. The evidence that witnesses have shared to date adds up to a pyramid of hearsay that rests primarily on just two original sources: U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker. Under cross-examination on Nov. 20, Sondland said that no one had told him that the hold on aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations and that he simply presumed that the connection existed. Volker, who had contact with both..

In an unprecedented move, a White House spokesperson said President Donald Trump wants the impeachment trial to go forward in the Senate because he would receive due process and hopes Vice President Joe Biden will be a witness. “President Trump wants to have a trial in the Senate because its clearly the only chamber where he can expect fairness and receive due process under the Constitution,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement, reported the Reuters news agency on Thursday evening. “We would expect to finally hear from witnesses who actually witnessed, and possibly participated in corruption—like Adam Schiff, Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and the so-called whistleblower, to name a few,” Gidley added, referring to House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Schiff (D-Calif.), the leader of the impeachment inquiry into the president. The focus of the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry is a July 25 phone call in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Z..

Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who launched his Democratic presidential bid last week, canceled a campaign event after only two people showed up. Patrick arrived at Morehouse College in Atlanta on Wednesday night for a campaign event hosted by New Deal Democrats, according to ABC News. He was told almost no one had shown up for his scheduled talk. The two who did show up in the audience told ABC they were asked to attend by the event organizers. Julian Hemmings, the president and founder of the New Deal Democrats, confirmed with Newsweek via email that only two people showed up at the event, adding that the two did not include organizers and members of the press. According to an earlier campaign announcement, Patrick was expected to meet with student leaders and editorial boards of Atlantas student newspapers at 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, just 75 minutes before the fifth Democratic primary debate began at Tyler Perry Studios, which is not far from Morehouse College. Hemming..

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) decried House Democrats obstruction of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal, alleging that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has repeatedly promoted the idea that the deal is close to being voted on. “Speaker Pelosi has refused to allow a vote,” McConnell said from the Senate floor, reported The Hill. “In public, House Democrats insist and insist and insist that they care about more things than simply impeaching the president. They insist that they want to work together and legislate. But actions speak louder than words.” “This has been the House Democrats wild goose chase. … Every time the Trump administration meets the Speaker halfway, she tries to move the goalpost another 10 yards,” he added. Democrats are focused on impeaching President Donald Trump and are struggling with other measures, the top Republican in Congress said. “It appears theres no governing priority, no matter how bipartisan, no matter how beneficial to American f..

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that he did not watch the impeachment testimony given by Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union. “I didnt see a single thing today. I was working…Im not going to recuse myself from this. I know precisely what American policy was with respect to Ukraine. I was working on it, and Im incredibly proud of what we accomplished,” Pompeo told reporters in Brussels after a NATO meeting on Nov. 20. “We delivered remarkable outcomes for the Ukranian people and I hope that were able to continue to do so. We got them the defensive systems they needed, we got them the resources, the previous administration refused to do that.” Pompeo said that he was proud of what the Trump administration has accomplished, singling out President Donald Trump. “Im proud, Im proud that President Trump led that effort to get our policy on Ukraine right. We not only planned for it, we not only laid out a plan forward, but we executed and delivered on it. Well c..

Issued on: 22/11/2019 – 02:29Modified: 22/11/2019 – 02:29 President Donald Trump wants an impeachment trial to go forward in the U.S. Senate because he would receive due process there and he expects Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden would be among the witnesses, a White House spokesman said on Thursday. Advertising Read more "President Trump wants to have a trial in the Senate because its clearly the only chamber where he can expect fairness and receive due process under the Constitution," spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement. "We would expect to finally hear from witnesses who actually witnessed, and possibly participated in corruption – like Adam Schiff, Joe Biden, Read More – Source

Enlarge / Louisiana state agencies were taken offline during the response to a Ryuk ransomware attack but are now largely up and running again thanks to backups.Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Getty Images via Getty Images In October, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a warning of increased targeting by ransomware operators of "big game"—targets with deep pockets and critical data that were more likely to pay ransoms to restore their systems. The past week has shown that warning was for good reason. On November 18, a ransomware attack caused Louisiana's Office of Technology Services to shut down parts of its network, including the systems of several major state agencies. These included the governor's office, the Department of Health (including Medicare systems), the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Department of Transportation. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards activated the state's cybersecurity response team...