AS IT HAPPENED: Trump spends $4 billion to stop offshore wind farms

A US Senate committee has voted to hold former top health official Anthony Fauci in contempt.

Fauci will be referred to the Department of Justice for possible criminal consequences after he refused to answer questions during a committee hearing earlier this week.

Fauci was citing his Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions.

But in a novel legal argument, Republican Senator Rand Paul argued that because he had received a pardon from Joe Biden, the right did not apply.

“Fauci has a sweeping pardon protecting him from prosecution, yet he still refuses to answer Congress’s subpoena,” Paul said.

“That is not caution, it is contempt for the American people’s right to the truth.”

The vote was held on party lines, with all Republicans in favour and all Democrats opposed.

“The American people want Congress to focus on lowering costs and ending unnecessary wars,” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said.

“Not obsessing over the pandemic and smearing Dr. Fauci—who devoted 50+ years to public service under Presidents of both parties—with unproven conspiracies.”

A senior figure in the Iranian administration has mocked Donald Trump over his negotiation strategy.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator with the US, expressed his exasperation in a post on X.

“‘Massive attack coming… wait, never mind, they want to negotiate,’” he wrote.

“That’s theatre diplomacy on loop.

“Using bullying + broken promises + fake news as leverage is a failed strategy.

“Acknowledge the facts and fulfill your commitments. We don’t need more theatre.”

A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta to pay $US567 million ($806 million) to address harms to young people from its platforms in the second phase of a landmark trial.

Judge Bryan Biedscheid said in a ruling late Thursday that the bulk of the money — $US420 million ($597 million) — will be used for treatment services for young people.

The rest will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years.

The new penalty is in addition to the $US375 million ($533 million) in civil penalties that jurors ordered against Meta in March after determining the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

Saudi Arabia is bracing for “multiple coordinated attacks” by Iraqi militias working with Iran-backed Houthis, a Saudi official told CNN, as the Middle East conflict threatens to continue to broaden in the region.

The official cited “multiple intelligence reports” from Saudi Arabia and regional countries that the Iraqi militias “in coordination with the Houthis” are planning to attack the Gulf nation “in the very near future” under the guidance of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The official expressed alarm, saying that the reports come as Saudi Arabia is encouraging de-escalation, and when negotiations seem to be heading in the right direction.

President Donald Trump claimed in the early hours of Thursday morning the United States has “massive amounts” of munitions, following reports from various media, including CNN, on the Pentagon’s depleted stockpile.

“The U.S. has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types. Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed,” Trump posted on Truth Social overnight.

He did not specify which munitions he was referring to.

An offshore wind company said Thursday that it reached a $1.2 billion settlement with the Trump administration to walk away from projects under development off New York, California and Louisiana.

This latest agreement brings the total amount spent on such settlements to nearly $4 billion.

RWE US Offshore said its leases represented years of planning, investment and partnership with federal agencies, but it determined there was no path forward to permit the projects for the foreseeable future.

In exchange for $1.22 billion, RWE is relinquishing the wind power leases that could have provided about seven gigawatts of power, enough for more than 5 million homes.

It does not have any remaining US offshore wind leases.

President Donald Trump, who often talks about his hatred of wind power, has said his goal is to not let any “windmills” be built.

Hello and welcome to our live rolling coverage of US politics and the conflict with Iran, this Friday August 7.

The Trump administration has spent nearly $4 billion in buybacks as it looks to end the development of offshore wind farms on both sides of the country.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains low, and Donald Trump has privately complained that reports of the Pentagon’s dwindling munitions stockpile make the US appear weak in negotiations.

Thank you for reading.