Trump impeachment leader Schiff says he’s seeking seat in Senate
LOS ANGELES — Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who rose to national prominence as the lead prosecutor in President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, said Thursday he is running for the Senate seat held by long-serving Democrat Dianne Feinstein.
The 2024 race is quickly emerging as a marquee Senate contest, even though the 89-yearold Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress, has yet to announce if she will seek another term, though her retirement is widely expected.
Schiff is jumping in two weeks after Rep. Katie Porter became the first candidate to declare her campaign for the safe Democratic seat.
Schiff, a former federal prosecutor, made clear he intends to anchor his candidacy to his role as Trump’s chief antagonist in Congress.
In his campaign kickoff video, Schiff said the “biggest job of his life” was serving as impeachment manager, and he promised to continue to be a “fighter” for democracy.
“If our democracy isn’t delivering for Americans, they’ll look for alternatives, like a dangerous demagogue who promises that he alone can fix it,” Schiff said of Trump, who has announced his 2024 campaign for the presidency.
Feinstein, a former San Francisco mayor who joined the Senate in 1992, said this week that she will make a decision about 2024 in the “next couple of months.”
In recent years, questions have arisen about Feinstein’s cognitive health and memory, though she has defended her effectiveness in representing a state that is home to nearly 40 million people.
Schiff said Thursday that he had spoken to Feinstein a day earlier to inform her about his plans.
The National Archives has asked former U.S. presidents and vice presidents to recheck their personal records for any classified documents following the news that President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence had such documents in their possession, two people familiar with the matter said Thursday.
Classified docs check:
The Archives sent a letter to representatives of former presidents and vice presidents extending back to Ronald Reagan to ensure compliance with the Presidential Records Act, according to the two people who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The act states that any records created or received by the president are the property of the U.S. government and will be managed by the archives at the end of the administration.
The Archives sent the letter to representatives of former Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Reagan, and former Vice Presidents Pence, Biden, Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Dan Quayle, they said.
Haiti police protest: Outraged rebel police officers paralyzed the Haitian capital city of Port-auPrince on Thursday, roaring through the streets on motorcycles in protest killings of police officers by gangs.
More than 100 protesters blocked roads, shot guns into the air, and broke through gates in the capital’s airport and the prime minister’s house, with tensions escalating during the day.
Gangs have killed at least 10 officers in the past week. A video likely recorded by gangs and acknowledged by police Thursday shows the naked and bloodied bodies of six officers stretched out on the dirt with their guns on their chests.
The deaths enraged members of Fantom 509, an armed group of current and former police officers that has demanded better conditions for officers.
Footage of the attack on former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband will be released to the public after a judge denied prosecutors’ request to keep it secret.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stephen Murphy ruled on Wednesday that there was no reason to keep the footage secret, especially after prosecutors played it in open court during a preliminary hearing last month, according to Thomas Burke, a San Francisco-based lawyer who represented several news agencies in their attempt to access the evidence.