No emergency declaration to end US gov’t shutdown

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Donald Trump said he was holding off on declaring a state of emergency to end the partial US government shutdown that dragged into a 23rd day Sunday, as he insisted on $5.7 billion to build a Mexico border wall that congressional Democrats oppose.

Asked by Fox News why he didn't immediately declare a national emergency to secure the funds without congressional approval, Trump said he wanted to give opposition Democratic lawmakers more time to strike a deal.

''I want to give them the chance to see if they can act responsibly,'' he told Fox in an interview late Saturday.

The US government shutdown became the longest on record at midnight

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Donald Trump blasted the FBI on Saturday, insisting it acted ''for no reason & with no proof'' when it opened an investigation into whether he was acting on Russia's behalf after he fired the agency's director, James Comey, in May 2017.

The New York Times reported that the FBI launched the previously undisclosed counterintelligence investigation to determine whether Trump posed a national security threat, at the same time that it opened a criminal probe into possible obstruction of justice by the president.

The FBI investigation was subsequently folded into the broader probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election Friday, when it overtook a 21-day stretch in 1995-1996 under president Bill Clinton.

Trump fired off a series of tweets Saturday in an effort to defend his stance and goad Democrats to return to Washington and end what he called ''the massive humanitarian crisis at our Southern Border.''

''Democrats could solve the Shutdown in 15 minutes!'' he said in one tweet, adding in another, ''We will be out for a long time unless the Democrats come back from their 'vacations' and get back to work. I am in the White House ready to sign!''

But most lawmakers left town on Friday and will not return before Monday, leaving little chance for any solution to the stalemate before then.

The impasse has paralyzed Washington and possible collaboration by the Trump campaign.

No evidence has publicly emerged that Trump was secretly in contact with or took direction from Russian officials, the Times said.

''Wow, just learned in the Failing New York Times that the corrupt former leaders of the FBI, almost all fired or forced to leave the agency for some very bad reasons, opened up an investigation on me, for no reason & with no proof, after I fired Lyin' James Comey, a total sleaze!'' Trump tweeted.

According to Trump, ''the FBI was in complete turmoil... because of Comey's poor leadership'' and the way he handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private server to send some government emails. – its impact felt increasingly around the country – with the president refusing to sign off on budgets for swaths of government departments unrelated to the dispute.

As a result, 800,000 federal employees – including FBI agents, air traffic controllers and museum staff – received no paychecks on Friday.

At a White House meeting Friday Trump described an emergency declaration as the ''easy way out,'' and said Congress had to step up to the responsibility of approving funding for the wall.

''If they can't do it... I will declare a national emergency. I have the absolute right,'' he said.

Trump however acknowledged that such a move would likely trigger a legal battle ending in the Supreme Court.

''My firing of James Comey was a great day for America,'' Trump said, describing the former FBI director as ''a Crooked Cop who is being totally protected by his best friend, Bob Mueller.''

Asked in a late Saturday interview with Fox News whether he had ever worked for Russia, Trump replied: ''I think it's the most insulting thing I've ever been asked... I think it the most insulting article I've ever had written and if you read the article, you'd see that they found absolutely nothing.''

Such standard reactions from Trump ''do nothing to address the incredibly serious nature of these allegations,'' said Democratic Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.