Trump news – live: Trump wants taxpayers to pay Mar-a-Lago special master costs as nominees submitted to judge

Oliver O'Connell,Johanna Chisholm and Josh Marcus
·54 min read
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In a legal filing regarding the appointment of a special master to review the Mar-a-Lago papers uncovered in the FBI search of Donald Trump’s Florida home, it transpires that the former president wants half the costs paid for by the US taxpayer. The Department of Justice would like Mr Trump to cover the appointee’s compensation. Both sides have submitted two names as nominees to fill the role.

Meanwhile, a Florida federal judge has tossed out the wide-ranging lawsuit the ex-president filed against Hillary Clinton and a host of other figures associated with the investigation into whether his presidential campaign had improper ties to the Russian government.

In other legal trouble, the fallout continues in a case where New York prosecutors allege We Build the Wall Inc, a nonprofit that aimed to fund Mr Trump’s signature border wall, ripped off its donors. Trump advisor Steve Bannon has been hit with money laundering and fraud charges.

Mr Trump has added his voice with those mourning Queen Elizabeth II. He told British broadcasters he and the Queen had “great chemistry” and that she liked all of her prime ministers.

Key points

Biden formally accepts invitation to Queen’s funeral

19:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Per the White House:

“This morning, President Biden formally accepted an invitation to attend the State Funeral Service of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on September 19. He will be accompanied by the First Lady.”

No word yet on if anyone else will be in the US delegation.

Jan 6 committee: More public hearings later this month

19:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The January 6 committee is planning to resume public, televised hearings on Capitol Hill later this month as the lawmakers’ investigation continues to acquire witness testimony and relevant documents.

Lawmakers on the panel spent much of July laying out in public for the first time the extent of Donald Trump and his team’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election even when it became clear that a massive, armed crowd was present or gathering in Washington and the potential for violence was high.

John Bowden has more details.

Jan 6 committee planning more public hearings later this month

Former Pence chief of staff says ‘baffling’ why documents were at Mar-a-Lago

19:12 , Oliver O'Connell

In an appearance on Howard Kurtz’ Fox News show MediaBuzz, former chief of staff to Mike Pence, Marc Short says he find it “baffling” as to why such documents as found by the FBI were at Mar-a-Lago.

He also questions why former President Donald Trump’s lawyers were misleading when they signed documentation saying everything had been returned.

Mr Short, who was with Pence on January 6th, said he still considers himself a Trump supporter and won’t criticise ex-president directly, rather blames his aides for poorly serving him.

Watch below:

Lindsey Graham says Trump could make one of ‘biggest political comebacks ever’

19:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Lindsey Graham is predicting that former president Donald Trump could mount one of the most unique and successful presidential campaigns in history should he choose to run in 2024.

The on-again-off-again Trump supporter and South Carolina senator made the prediction this week in a new interview with CNBC.

John Bowden reports.

Lindsey Graham: Trump could make one of ‘biggest political comebacks ever’ in 2024

Harris dodges on Democrats helping election deniers win GOP primaries

18:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Vice President Kamala Harris isn’t taking a side in the debate over whether her party should be helping pro-Trump candidates win GOP primaries against more moderate Republicans.

Democrats, particularly the party’s House of Representatives campaign arm, have taken searing criticism in recent weeks as FEC reports reviewed by news outlets have shown that the party is actively involved in efforts to back far-right candidates against more moderate Republicans in primary races around the country.

John Bowden reports.

Kamala Harris dodges on Democrats helping election deniers win GOP primaries

Will Biden bring Trump to London for the Queen’s funeral?

18:00 , Oliver O'Connell

President Joe Biden’s plans of attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II are rife with speculation about Donald Trump accompanying the delegation.

“I don’t know what the details are yet but I will be going,” the president had confirmed on Friday after Buckingham Palace announced the passing of the monarch at Balmoral, her longtime home in Scotland.

The funeral, expected to take place around 19 September in the same church where the Queen was crowned in 1953, will attract presidents, prime ministers and leaders from across the globe.

Namita Singh reports.

Could Biden bring Trump to Britain for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral?

ICYMI: Kris Kobach resigns from We Build the Wall after Bannon charged

17:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The Republican former secretary of state of Kansas who is running for state attorney general has resigned from the board of directors of We Build the Wall Inc, a nonprofit organisation facing allegations of money laundering, conspiracy and fraud after allegedly defrauding thousands of people who financially supported the group’s mission of building a wall along the US-Mexico border.

Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist who was convicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress earlier this year, was charged in New York on 8 September in connection with the alleged scheme.

Board member Kris Kobach, who also served as the group’s chief counsel, told the Kansas City Star on Friday that he has resigned from both roles, one day after Bannon surrendered to charges in New York.

Alex Woodward reports.

Kris Kobach resigns from We Build the Wall after Steve Bannon charges

Explainer: The intel review of documents at Trump's estate

17:00 , Oliver O'Connell

The discovery of hundreds of classified records at Donald Trump‘s home has thrust U.S. intelligence agencies into a familiar and uncomfortable role as the foil of a former president who demanded they support his agenda and at times accused officers of treason.

While the FBI conducts a criminal investigation, the office that leads the intelligence community is also conducting a review — currently on pause pending a court order — of the damage that would result from disclosure of the documents found at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

Read more:

EXPLAINER: The intel review of documents at Trump's estate

Fighting bogus claims a growing priority in election offices

16:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Election officials preparing for the rapidly approaching midterm elections have one more headache: trying to combat misinformation that sows distrust about voting and results while fueling vitriol aimed at rank-and-file election workers.

Fighting bogus claims a growing priority in election offices

Former White House lawyer warns Trump ‘in serious legal water’, could be barred from running in 2024

15:57 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump administration White House lawyer Ty Cobb believes the former president is “in serious legal water” and that the investigation into the Mar-a-Lago papers is part of a broader inquiry into crimes relating to the Capitol riot and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

He also thinks that the former president’s actions on January 6 could see him barred from running for the presidency ever again.

Former Trump lawyer Ty Cobb warns ex-president ‘in serious legal water’

Debate moderator hits back at Boebert attacks

15:32 , Oliver O'Connell

A far-right congresswoman infamous for spreading racist lies about her political enemies decided to take on a debate moderator instead of her opponent on Saturday.

Rep Lauren Boebert clashed with her Democratic opponent Aaron Fritsch in a televised debate Saturday evening in her Colorado district but reserved some of her most memorable attacks for the moderator, Edie Sonn, who is a local official.

John Bowden reports.

Debate moderator hits back at Boebert attacks: ‘This debate is not about me!’

Biden lays wreath at the Pentagon to mark 9/11

14:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Joe Biden has marked the 21st anniversary of 9/11 by laying a wreath at the Pentagon.

Mr Biden attended the solemn service in steady rain in Washington DC, and is expected to deliver remarks soon after 9am.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Mr Biden planned to recognise the impact the 2001 attacks had on the US and the world and honour the nearly 3,000 people killed that day in his remarks.

Biden lays wreath at the Pentagon to mark 9/11

Biden lays wreath at Pentagon on 9/11 anniversary

14:26 , Oliver O'Connell

Former Trump aide claims ex-president carried secret documents in jacket pocket

14:15 , Oliver O'Connell

A former White House press secretary claimed seeing Donald Trump carry sensitive records in his jacket pocket during his presidency.

Alleging mishandling of classified documents, Stephanie Grisham told USA Today that he would put some of the presidential records in his jacket pocket in the presence of staffers who did not have security clearance to see them.

“I saw him mishandle presidential records” a lot, she told the outlet, adding that Mr Trump did so in front of officials without clearance to see them and he either did not care or had no idea about the potential national security threat posed by the documents.

Namita Singh reports.

Trump carried secret documents in jacket pocket, former press aide claims

Trump wants half special master costs paid for by taxpayers

13:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The Department of Justice wants Donald Trump to pay for the special master assigned to review the documents seized during the FBI’s search of his Palm Beach home, but the former president insists that the American taxpayer should cover half the costs.

Trump demands taxpayers pay for special master to wade through Mar-a-Lago documents

‘There was nobody like her!’: How Trump reacted to the Queen’s death

12:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump “truthed” his reaction to Queen Elizabeth II’s passing on Thursday, minutes after the news was announced by Buckingham Palace.

The former president, who met the Queen in 2019, commented on the Queen’s “generous friendship, great wisdom, and wonderful sense of humor”, adding that she was a “beautiful lady”.

John Bowden followed the president’s tributes to the Queen.

Trump reacts to Queen Elizabeth’s death: ‘There was nobody like her!’

US appeals ruling on Mar-a-Lago special master

11:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The Justice Department is appealing a judge’s decision to name an independent arbiter to review records seized by the FBI from former President Donald Trump‘s Florida home.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday granted the Trump team’s request for a so-called special master and temporarily blocked the Justice Department from using for investigative purposes the thousands of records taken from Mar-a-Lago during the Aug. 8 search.

That order has the likely impact of slowing the pace of the investigation into the presence of classified documents at the Florida property.

Trump documents probe: US appeals ruling on special master

What did the Queen tell Trump about her prime ministers?

10:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has revealed what Queen Elizabeth II told him about all the prime ministers who served under her.

Writing for DailyMail.com, the former president spoke of the Queen’s grace, charm and nobility, and how she “fully exemplified the traits of dignity, steadfastness, resolve, duty, and patriotic devotion”.

Read on:

Donald Trump reveals what the Queen told him about UK prime ministers

Ex-Trump aide Stephen Miller subpoenaed in DoJ probe

09:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Former Trump administration official Stephen Miller has been subpoenaed as part of a broadening Department of Justice investigation into the January 6 riots.

Mr Miller was one of 12 people associated with the former president to receive subpoenas this week to appear before a federal grand jury, the New York Times reported.

Bevan Hurley has the latest.

Ex-Trump aide Stephen Miller subpoenaed in Justice Department probe

What’s the one thing Hillary Clinton would ask Melania Trump?

08:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Hillary Clinton gave a stinging response when asked on a TV show what one question would she like to ask Melania Trump.

The former secretary of state appeared on Cohen’s Bravo show Watch What Happens Live with her daughter Chelsea Clinton to promote their Apple TV show Gutsy.

Graeme Massie reports on how Ms Clinton answered the question.

Hillary Clinton’s stinging response when given one question for Melania Trump

Trump claims he and Queen ‘talked all night long’ during UK trip

06:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump spoke with British broadcaster Nigel Farage to share more of his thoughts about Queen Elizabeth II, whom he called an “extraordinary woman” that he had “good chemistry” with.

“Well it is a sad day. It’s sad all over the world,” said the former president when asked by Mr Farage on GB News on Thursday night what his immediate impressions were upon learning of the monarch’s passing. “She was a woman that was extraordinary.... she did it so long so well,” he added, noting that “she never made any mistakes.”

Mr Farage specifically brought up the time when the former president met with the Queen in 2019 and asked what he remembered from that well-documented meeting.

Trump claims he and Queen Elizabeth ‘talked all night long’ during his trip to UK

Hillary Clinton throws shade at ‘eternal blowhard’ Ted Cruz

04:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Hillary Clinton threw some shade at Ted Cruz during a talk show appearance on Thursday night and branded him “the eternal blowhard”.

The former secretary of state appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen alongside her daughter Chelsea Clinton to discuss their new Apple TV show Gutsy.

In the lighthearted segment, host Andy Cohen asked the 2016 presidential candidate to name the “biggest blowhard” who had served in the US Senate throughout history.

Rachel Sharp has the story.

Hillary Clinton brands Ted Cruz ‘the eternal blowhard’

Trump demands taxpayers foot half bill for Mar-a-Lago special master

03:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The Department of Justice wants Donald Trump to pay for the special master assigned to review the documents seized during the FBI’s search of his Palm Beach home, but the former president insists that the American taxpayer should cover half the costs.

Trump demands taxpayers pay for special master to wade through Mar-a-Lago documents

Might Biden bring Trump to the Queen’s funeral?

02:30 , Oliver O'Connell

President Joe Biden’s plans of attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II are rife with speculation about Donald Trump accompanying the delegation.

“I don’t know what the details are yet but I will be going,” the president had confirmed on Friday after Buckingham Palace announced the passing of the monarch at Balmoral, her longtime home in Scotland.

The funeral, scheduled to take place on 19 September will attract presidents, prime ministers and leaders from across the globe.

Namita Singh reports.

Could Biden bring Trump to Britain for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral?

Georgia urged to replace voting machines

01:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A group of computer and election security experts is urging Georgia election officials to replace the state’s touchscreen voting machines with hand-marked paper ballots ahead of the November midterm elections, citing what they say are “serious threats” posed by an apparent breach of voting equipment in one county.

The 13 experts on Thursday sent a letter to the members of the State Election Board and to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who’s a non-voting member of the board. It urges them to immediately stop using the state’s Dominion Voting Systems touchscreen voting machines. It also suggests they mandate a particular type of post-election audit on the outcome of all races on the ballot.

Read more:

Computer experts urge Georgia to replace voting machines

Kris Kobach resigns from We Build the Wall after Bannon charged with conspiracy

Sunday 11 September 2022 00:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The Republican former secretary of state of Kansas who is running for state attorney general has resigned from the board of directors of We Build the Wall Inc, a nonprofit organisation facing allegations of money laundering, conspiracy and fraud after allegedly defrauding thousands of people who financially supported the group’s mission of building a wall along the US-Mexico border.

Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist who was convicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress earlier this year, was charged in New York on 8 September in connection with the alleged scheme.

Alex Woodward is following the case for The Independent.

Kris Kobach resigns from We Build the Wall after Steve Bannon charges

Lincoln Project doubles down goading Donald Trump after lawsuit threat

Saturday 10 September 2022 23:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The Lincoln Project has doubled down on its fiery response to a lawsuit threat from Donald Trump, mocking the former president as a “cuck”.

The pugnacious anti-Trump fundraising group had previously dared Mr Trump to make good on his promise to sue over its latest campaign advert, which accused him of funneling campaign money into his own pockets and referred to his supporters as “suckers”.

Mr Trump blasted the Project on his personal social network Truth Social early on Thursday morning, calling them “perverts and lowlifes” and claiming he would sue them for “false advertising”.

Io Dodds reports on the war of words between the former president and anti-Trump group.

Lincoln Project doubles down goading Trump after fiery response to his lawsuit threat

Walker and Warnock tied in Georgia Senate race

Saturday 10 September 2022 22:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A new poll shows that Democrat Senator Raphael Warnock has slipped behind Republican challenger Herschel Walker with two months left in Georgia’s marquee Senate race.

InsiderAdvantage and FOX 5 conducted the poll between 6 September and 7 September and sampled 550 likely voters.

Eric Garcia looked at the latest polling.

New poll shows Walker and Warnock tied in Georgia Senate race

Police officer beaten on Jan 6 criticises Pennsylvania troopers for posing with Trump

Saturday 10 September 2022 21:45 , Oliver O'Connell

A US Capitol Police Officer who was beaten and subjected to racist threats during the Jan 6 riot hit out at the dozens of Pennsylvania State Police troopers who posed for a photograph with former President Donald Trump last weekend.

Mr Trump was in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania last Saturday for a rally to support favoured Republican candidates like Doug Mastriano. During his visit, he posed for a photograph with 31 uniformed troopers and five non-uniformed men in front of a Pennsylvania State Police banner for Troop P Wilkes-Barre.

Abe Asher has the story.

Police officer beaten on Jan 6 criticises Pennsylvania troopers who posed with Trump

‘They ain’t got no shame’: Biden mocks Republicans

Saturday 10 September 2022 21:00 , Oliver O'Connell

President Joe Biden mocked Republicans for taking credit for legislation they oppose while speaking at a Democratic National Committee summer meeting at National Harbor, Maryland, this week.

On Thursday, the president blasted Republicans for not voting for the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats’ recent bill meant to tackle climate change and reduce prescription drug prices.

Democrats passed the bill last month through a process called budget reconciliation, which allowed it to pass on a party-line vote since they only have 50 Senate seat, while Vice President Kamala Harris broke the tie.

Eric Garcia reports.

Biden does mocking impression of Republicans: ‘They ain’t got no shame’

Former Trump lawyer Ty Cobb believes ‘very high’ chance former president will face indictment

Saturday 10 September 2022 20:43 , Oliver O'Connell

Former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb says he thinks there is a “very high” chance that former President Donald Trump will face an indictment.

Mr Cobb, who represented the White House during former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign’s contacts with Russia, told CBS News’s The Takeout podcast that he believes the former president is likely to face legal consequences for actions related to the Capitol riot and the alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“It is about the bigger picture, the January 6 issues, the fake electors, the whole scam with regard to the ‘big lie’ and the attempts to … cling to the presidency in a desperate fashion,” Mr Cobb said.

Congress’ secrets in sealed rooms, lock bags and the stark contrast with Mar-a-Lago

Saturday 10 September 2022 20:25 , Oliver O'Connell

Security-sealed rooms. Lock bags. And in the most rare of circumstances, the ability to handcuff a document pouch to a messenger to transport the nation’s secrets.

These are some of the ways Capitol Hill keeps classified documents secured, an elaborate system of government protocols and high-level security clearances that stands in stark contrast to the storage room stash of secrets at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Read more:

Not Mar-a-Lago: Congress' secrets in sealed rooms, lock bags

Lindsey Graham claims 2024 could see Trump make one of ‘biggest political comebacks ever’

Saturday 10 September 2022 19:55 , Oliver O'Connell

Lindsey Graham is predicting that former president Donald Trump could mount one of the most unique and successful presidential campaigns in history should he choose to run in 2024.

The on-again-off-again Trump supporter and South Carolina senator made the prediction this week in a new interview with CNBC.

“If you lose again, the history about who you are and what you did dramatically changes,” the senator says he told Mr Trump. “If you come back, it will be one of the greatest political comebacks in American history. And if you get four more years, you can do big stuff.”

John Bowden reports.

Lindsey Graham: Trump could make one of ‘biggest political comebacks ever’ in 2024

Proud Boys Hawaii leader pleads guilty for role in Capitol riot

Saturday 10 September 2022 19:25 , Oliver O'Connell

The founder of the Hawaii Proud Boys chapter and a Texas man who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and posed for a picture in front of a door on which one of them had written: “Murder the Media” each pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to a felony charge in connection with the riot.

Read more:

Proud Boys Hawaii leader, friend plead guilty in Jan. 6 riot

After legal threat, The Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson posts fiery video aimed at Trump

Saturday 10 September 2022 18:55 , Oliver O'Connell

Rick Wilson of the Lincoln Project said he welcomed former president Donald Trump’s threats to sue the group of former Republican strategists who have released ads that sharply criticised him.

Mr Trump threatened legal action on his social networking platform Truth Social over a new ad, which aired on a local Fox affiliate and not Fox News proper.

“The Perverts and Lowlifes of the Lincoln Project are back on, where else, Fox News,” Mr Trump said. “I thought they ran away to the asylum after their last catastrophic campaign, with charges made against them that were big time sleaze, and me getting many more votes in 2020 than I got in 2016.”

Eric Garcia reports.

‘Go for it b****!’: Lincoln Project launches fiery video at Trump after legal threat

Judge throws out Trump’s lawsuit against Hillary Clinton for ‘defying logic”

Saturday 10 September 2022 18:25 , Oliver O'Connell

A Florida federal judge has tossed out the voluminous and wide-ranging lawsuit ex-president Donald Trump filed against his 2016 election rival and a host of other figures associated with the investigation into whether his presidential campaign had improper ties to the Russian government.

US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks on Thursday dismissed the former president’s case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled, against most of the myriad defendants named in the lawsuit.

Andrew Feinberg reports for The Independent.

Judge throws out Trump’s Hillary Clinton lawsuit for ‘defying logic”

Romney urged Biden to take on Trump

Saturday 10 September 2022 17:55 , Oliver O'Connell

Senator Mitt Romney urged Joe Biden to run for president in 2020 to defeat Donald Trump on the night of the 2018 midterm elections, a new book claims.

The call was reported in Gabriel Debenedetti’s forthcoming book The Long Alliance: The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama, which will be released next week, The Guardian reports.

Eric Garcia has the story.

Romney urged Biden take on Trump in 2018 private call: “You have to run”

Stephen Miller subpoenaed in Justice Department probe

Saturday 10 September 2022 17:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Former Trump administration official Stephen Miller has been subpoenaed as part of a broadening Department of Justice investigation into the January 6 riots.

Mr Miller was one of 12 people associated with the former president to receive subpoenas this week to appear before a federal grand jury, the New York Times reported.

Bevan Hurley has the latest.

Georgia GOP candidates split on Trump’s election lies

Saturday 10 September 2022 17:25 , Oliver O'Connell

When asked about his decision to rebuff Donald Trump and certify Joe Biden‘s narrow victory in his state, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says he has no option but to defend his actions.

“We are all held accountable by the voters,” the Republican said as he seeks a second term, noting that he hears from voters who backed Trump’s effort to overturn the election and those aghast at the former president’s actions.

“I give them the facts,” Raffensperger said, because “Americans and Georgians are smart people.”

Yet other Georgia Republicans take a different tack.

Read more:

GOP candidates in Georgia split over Trump's election lies

Trump reveals what the Queen told him about UK prime ministers

Saturday 10 September 2022 17:11 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has revealed what Queen Elizabeth II told him about all the prime ministers who served under her.

Writing for DailyMail.com, the former president spoke of the Queen’s grace, charm and nobility, and how she “fully exemplified the traits of dignity, steadfastness, resolve, duty, and patriotic devotion”.

Noting that during her 70-year reign she counseled 15 prime ministers and 13 presidents, Mr Trump wrote that spending time with her was “one of the most extraordinary honours of my life”.

Donald Trump reveals what the Queen told him about UK prime ministers

Prosecutors say more classified papers may be missing in Trump probe

Saturday 10 September 2022 16:55 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump‘s team might be still holding back some of the classified records removed from the White House during the former president’s last days in office, US prosecutors have warned.

The prosecutors demanded an investigation into what they called a potential national security risk with the former president allegedly not returning all the papers even after searches at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports.

More classified documents may be missing in Trump probe, US prosecutors say

Ex-US prosecutor from NY derides Trump-era meddling in new book

Saturday 10 September 2022 16:25 , Oliver O'Connell

In a new book, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan for half of Donald Trump’s presidency says he was repeatedly pressured by Justice Department officials to use his office to aid them politically, including by investigating former Secretary of State John Kerry.

Former U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman wrote in his upcoming book, “Holding the Line,” due to be published Tuesday, that he mostly resisted the pressure from Washington, according to the The New York Times, which obtained an advance copy.

In book, ex-US prosecutor from NY derides Trump-era meddling

Dinesh D’Souza ‘2,000 Mules’ book removed from shelves

Saturday 10 September 2022 16:05 , Oliver O'Connell

Conservative commentator and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza’s book version of his widely debunked election conspiracy film 2,000 Mules has been pulled from shelves due to an unspecified “publishing error.”

However, upon reviewing the book’s contents, groups named in its pages as conspirators in D’Souza’s election fraud conspiracy theories said the statements he made are potentially “libelous.”

Graig Graziosi reports.

Dinesh D’Souza ‘2,000 Mules’ book removed from shelves

‘We had great chemistry’: Trump claims he and Queen Elizabeth ‘talked all night long’

Saturday 10 September 2022 15:51 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump spoke with British broadcaster Nigel Farage to share more of his thoughts about Queen Elizabeth II, whom he called an “extraordinary woman” that he had “good chemistry” with.

Joanna Chisholm has the story.

Trump claims he and Queen Elizabeth ‘talked all night long’ during his trip to UK

More wild behaviour from Trump ally Rudy Giuliani comes to light

Saturday 10 September 2022 15:25 , Oliver O'Connell

Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, is known for being a bit, well, all over the place, and a new book claims things turned ugly at a 2016 party.

The attorney went on “unhinged” rants about Muslim people at a dinner party he attended in 2016 at the same time when he was being considered by his former boss to head a commission on “radical Islamic terrorism”.

The former mayor of New York was attending a law firm dinner where Geoffrey Berman, a former US attorney for the southern district of New York (SDNY) and author of a forthcoming memoir about his legal battles with the Trump administration, described Mr Giuliani as behaving erratically towards people he perceived were Muslim and drinking heavily.

“It was unbelievable,” Mr Berman writes. “Rudy was unhinged. A pall fell over the room.”

Johanna Chisholm with the full story.

Giuliani behaved in drunken and Islamophobic manner at law firm dinner, book claims

Trump demands taxpayers pay for special master to wade through Mar-a-Lago documents

Saturday 10 September 2022 14:53 , Oliver O'Connell

The Department of Justice wants Donald Trump to pay for the special master assigned to review the documents seized during the FBI’s search of his Palm Beach home, but the former president insists that the American taxpayer should cover half the costs.

Will Biden bring Trump to Queen’s funeral?

Saturday 10 September 2022 14:18 , Oliver O'Connell

President Joe Biden’s plans of attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II are rife with speculation about Donald Trump accompanying the delegation.

“I don’t know what the details are yet but I will be going,” the president had confirmed on Friday after Buckingham Palace announced the passing of the monarch at Balmoral, her longtime home in Scotland.

The funeral, expected to take place around 19 September in the same church where the Queen was crowned in 1953, will attract presidents, prime ministers and leaders from across the globe.

Namita Singh reports on the speculation as to who will attend as part of the US delegation.

Could Biden bring Trump to Britain for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral?

ICYMI: Apparently Trump and Queen Elizabeth had ‘great chemistry'

Saturday 10 September 2022 10:45 , Josh Marcus

Donald Trump spoke with British broadcaster Nigel Farage to share more of his thoughts about Queen Elizabeth II, whom he called an “extraordinary woman” that he had “good chemistry” with.

“Well it is a sad day. It’s sad all over the world,” said the former president when asked by Mr Farage on GB News on Thursday night what his immediate impressions were upon learning of the monarch’s passing. “She was a woman that was extraordinary.... she did it so long so well,” he added, noting that “she never made any mistakes.”Mr Farage specifically brought up the time when the former president met with the Queen in 2019 and asked what the former president remembered from that well-documented meeting.

“Well we were going to spend just a short period of time and we just got along really well and we spent a lot more time then people thought and it was really quite something,” he said. “We had a good chemistry. And then as you remember that evening there was a big celebration and I sat next to the Queen, and we just talked all night long. She was incredible. She was incredible to speak to and so sharp. Her mind was so sharp and just to be with her was something very special.”

Johanna Chisholm has the story for The Independent.

Trump claims he and Queen Elizabeth ‘talked all night long’ during his trip to UK

Yup, the Lincoln Project and Trump still hate each other

Saturday 10 September 2022 09:45 , Josh Marcus

The Lincoln Project has doubled down on its fiery response to a lawsuit threat from Donald Trump, mocking the former president as a “cuck”.

The pugnacious anti-Trump fundraising group had previously dared Mr Trump to make good on his promise to sue over its latest campaign advert, which accused him of funneling campaign money into his own pockets and referred to his supporters as “suckers”.

Mr Trump blasted the Project on his personal social network Truth Social early on Thursday morning, calling them “perverts and lowlifes” and claiming he would sue them for “false advertising”.

After no more details were forthcoming, Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson said on Friday: “Donald Trump hasn’t ‘truthed’ for 20 hours. Cuck.”

Since then Mr Trump has posted several more “truths”, but none concerning the advert.

More from our full story.

Lincoln Project doubles down goading Trump after fiery response to his lawsuit threat

A shocking behind-the-scenes video emerges about Trump ally’s hopes for January 6

Saturday 10 September 2022 08:45 , Josh Marcus

Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for governor Doug Mastriano reportedly led a prayer for former president Donald Trump to “seize the power” a week before the January 6 riot, Rolling Stone reported.

Mr Mastriano, a state senator, apparently made the remarks during a Zoom call with Christian nationalists.

“I pray that… we’ll seize the power that we had given to us by the Constitution, and as well by You, providentially,” he said. “I pray for the leaders also in the federal government, God, on the Sixth of January that they will rise up with boldness.”

On the call, Mr Mastriano held up letters he sent to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell and prayed for Congress to “disregard” certified election results.

Eric Garcia has the details.

Trump-backed PA GOP candidate prayed for MAGA to ‘seize the power’ on Jan. 6

Why Chelsea Clinton thinks old friend Ivanka Trump went to ‘the dark side'

Saturday 10 September 2022 07:45 , Josh Marcus

Chelsea Clinton has said that her friendship with Ivanka Trump ended when “she went to the dark side”.

Ms Clinton was interviewed on Bravo’s What Happens Live with Andy Cohen alongside her mother, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Host Andy Cohen asked the younger Ms Clinton about her relationship with the daughter of former president Donald Trump, whom her mother notably ran against and lost to in the 2016 election.

“We were friends,” Ms Clinton said of Ms Trump. “She is not the person I called when I was curious about something for my kids or if I was debating a life decision, but we were definitely friends ... and then she went to the dark side.”

Catch up with Gustaf Kilander’s full report.

Chelsea Clinton says ex-friend Ivanka Trump ‘went to the dark side’

Hillary Clinton seems like she’s having a better summer than another former First Lady

Saturday 10 September 2022 06:45 , Josh Marcus

Hillary Clinton gave a stinging response when asked on a TV show what one question would she like to ask Melania Trump.

“How’s your summer going?” she bluntly told host Andy Cohen she would ask the former first lady in the wake of the FBI’s raid of her and Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and the seizure of top secret documents.

The former secretary of state appeared on Cohen’s Bravo show Watch What Happens Live with her daughter Chelsea Clinton to promote their Apple TV show Gutsy.

The former presidential candidate was also asked what question she would ask Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, whose wife Ginni Thomas has been linked to the attempt to overthrow Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over Mr Trump.

More from Graeme Massie.

Hillary Clinton’s stinging response when given one question for Melania Trump

Kamala Harris says people ‘rightly’ want Donald Trump to be prosecuted

Saturday 10 September 2022 05:45 , Josh Marcus

Vice-president Kamala Harris says she’s cautious to appear as though she’s telling the independent Justice Department what to do, but hinted that the American people may “rightly” want Donald Trump to be prosecuted.

“Our country is a country that has gone through different periods of time where the unthinkable has happened,” she told NBC News on Friday, when asked whether the former president should face charges on any number of the ongoing investigations against him.

“I think that’s potentially gonna always be the case in our country that people are gonna demand justice — and they rightly do,” she said, adding that “justice has been served” every time Americans really needed it to be.

Watch her remarks on the subject, via NBC.

Justice Department subpoenas two top Trump aides

Saturday 10 September 2022 04:45 , Josh Marcus

The Department of Justice has subpoenaed two top Trump White House officials as part of its investigation into the extent of the former president’s involvement in a scheme to submit fake electors to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 win.

The DoJ has contacted more than a dozen people this week including Brian Jack, the White House political director at the time, and Stephen Miller, Mr Trump’s influential speechwriter and policy aide, The New York Times reports.

NYC officials to mayor: dump Trump’s golf deals

Saturday 10 September 2022 03:45 , Josh Marcus

New York City officials want the Big Apple to cut its ties with Donald Trump’s company over a controversial Saudi-backed golf tournament.

This week, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and council member Shekar Krishnan pressed mayor Eric Adams to void a contract with the Trump Organization to host an October stop of the Aramco Team Series at his course in the Bronx.

They argued that the ties to Saudi Arabia, all well as the constant legal trouble of Donald Trump and his company, make it “untenable for the City to continue to do business with this operator.”

It’s not the first time the former president’s golf business has come under scrutiny for Saudi ties.

He ran into similar arguments when one of his courses hosted a stop of the LIV tour in New Jersey.

More wild behaviour from Trump ally Rudy Giuliani comes to light

Saturday 10 September 2022 02:45 , Josh Marcus

Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, is known for being a bit, well, all over the place, and a new book claims things turned ugly at a 2016 party.

The attorney went on “unhinged” rants about Muslim people at a dinner party he attended in 2016 at the same time when he was being considered by his former boss to head a commission on “radical Islamic terrorism”.

The former mayor of New York was attending a law firm dinner where Geoffrey Berman, a former US attorney for the southern district of New York (SDNY) and author of a forthcoming memoir about his legal battles with the Trump administration, described Mr Giuliani as behaving erratically towards people he perceived were Muslim and drinking heavily.

“It was unbelievable,” Mr Berman writes. “Rudy was unhinged. A pall fell over the room.”

Johanna Chisholm with the full story.

Giuliani behaved in drunken and Islamophobic manner at law firm dinner, book claims

Lincoln Project doubles down goading Donald Trump after fiery response to his lawsuit threat

Saturday 10 September 2022 01:45 , Josh Marcus

The Lincoln Project has doubled down on its fiery response to a lawsuit threat from Donald Trump, mocking the former president as a “cuck”.

The pugnacious anti-Trump fundraising group had previously dared Mr Trump to make good on his promise to sue over its latest campaign advert, which accused him of funneling campaign money into his own pockets and referred to his supporters as “suckers”.

Mr Trump blasted the Project on his personal social network Truth Social early on Thursday morning, calling them “perverts and lowlifes” and claiming he would sue them for “false advertising”.

After no more details were forthcoming, Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson said on Friday: “Donald Trump hasn’t ‘truthed’ for 20 hours. Cuck.”

Io Dodds has the details for The Independent.

Lincoln Project doubles down goading Trump after fiery response to his lawsuit threat

Kris Kobach resigns from We Build the Wall after Bannon and group charged with conspiracy

Saturday 10 September 2022 01:15 , Josh Marcus

The Republican former secretary of state of Kansas who is running for state attorney general has resigned from the board of directors of We Build the Wall Inc, a nonprofit organisation facing allegations of money laundering, conspiracy and fraud after allegedly defrauding thousands of people who financially supported the group’s mission of building a wall along the US-Mexico border.

Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist who was convicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress earlier this year, was charged in New York on 8 September in connection with the alleged scheme.

Board member Kris Kobach, who also served as the group’s chief counsel, told the Kansas City Star on Friday that he has resigned from both roles, one day after Bannon surrendered to charges in New York.

Alex Woodward has the story.

Kris Kobach resigns from We Build the Wall after Steve Bannon charges

Should Biden invite Trump to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral?

Saturday 10 September 2022 00:45 , Josh Marcus

Joe Biden has confirmed that he will attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.

Biden confirms he will attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral

But should he invite Donald Trump?

A number of US presidents had cordial relationships with the Queen during her 70-year reign.

Queen Elizabeth's long and special relationship with America

That’s including Mr Trump, or at least, so he claims.

Trump claims he and Queen Elizabeth ‘talked all night long’ during his trip to UK

“President Obama, when he was in office, invited president Bush, president Clinton, president Carter to go with him to Nelson Mandela’s funeral as part of the delegation, so there is protocol for having US presidents invite other presidents,” Jeff Zeleny of CNN said on Friday. “Who knows, maybe in the spirt of forgiving and giving, president Biden will invite president Trump onto Air Force 1.”

Panelists recently discussed the matter on CNN. Watch more of their conversation below.

Former lawyer Ty Cobb calls Trump a ‘deeply wounded narcissist’ facing ‘high’ chance of indictment

Saturday 10 September 2022 00:15 , Josh Marcus

Ty Cobb, who served Donald Trump as a White House lawyer, says his former boss is both a huge narcissist and in huge legal trouble.

The attorney told CBS on Friday that the former president is guided solely by self-interest and revenge.

“I believe former President Trump to be a deeply wounded narcissist, and he is often incapable of acting other than in his perceived self-interest or for revenge,” Mr Cobb said. “I think those are the two compelling instincts that guide his actions.”

These instincts caused Mr Trump, in his former attorney’s view, to peddle election lies, pressure state officials to tamper with the vote, stand by during January 6, and try to influence the congressional investigation into the Capitol riot, all as part of a “desperate” attempt to stay in power.

Mr Cobb said he never saw the president tear up top secret material, but that should be the least of Mr Trump’s concerns. The attorney said the president’s attempts to undercut the 2020 elections and the January 6 scandal could place him at “very high” chance of being indicted.

Read more about Mr Cobb’s time in the White House from our past reporting.

Trump's top lawyer Ty Cobb retiring from White House role

Officer beaten on January 6 rages against now-deleted Trump post about loving police

Friday 9 September 2022 23:45 , Josh Marcus

A US Capitol Police Officer who was beaten and subjected to racist threats during the Jan 6 riot hit out at the dozens of Pennsylvania State Police troopers who posed for a photograph with former President Donald Trump last weekend.

Mr Trump was in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania last Saturday for a rally to support favoured Republican candidates like Doug Mastriano. During his visit, he posed for a photograph with 31 uniformed troopers and five non-uniformed men in front of a Pennsylvania State Police banner for Troop P Wilkes-Barre.

Mr Trump then shared the photograph to his page on the social media platform Truth Social. The post got the attention of Pennsylvania Gov Tom Wolf, who appoints the police commissioners who oversee state troopers.

“That’s unacceptable. It alienates a lot of people,” Mr Dunn toldHuffPost. “Taking a formal picture at a rally where he’s literally attacking the FBI and the DOJ, your brothers and sisters in law enforcement, by the way … that’s a slap in the face.”

Abe Asher has more.

Police officer beaten on Jan 6 criticises Pennsylvania troopers who posed with Trump

Hillary Clinton’s stinging response when offered chance to ask one question of Melania Trump

Friday 9 September 2022 23:17 , Josh Marcus

Hillary Clinton gave a stinging response when asked on a TV show what one question would she like to ask Melania Trump.

“How’s your summer going?” she bluntly told host Andy Cohen she would ask the former first lady in the wake of the FBI’s raid of her and Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and the seizure of top secret documents.

The former secretary of state appeared on Cohen’s Bravo show Watch What Happens Live with her daughter Chelsea Clinton to promote their Apple TV show Gutsy.

Read the full report from Graeme Massie.

Hillary Clinton’s stinging response when given one question for Melania Trump

ICYMI: Trump reacts to Queen Elizabeth’s death: ‘There was nobody like her!’

Friday 9 September 2022 20:15 , Johanna Chisholm

Donald Trump “truthed” his reaction to Queen Elizabeth II’s passing on Thursday, minutes after the news was announced by Buckingham Palace.

The former president, who met the Queen in 2019, commented on the Queen’s “generous friendship, great wisdom, and wonderful sense of humor”, adding that she was a “beautiful lady”.

“Melania and I are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Together with our family and fellow Americans, we send our sincere condolences to the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom during this time of great sorrow and grief,” he wrote in a series of “truths”.

The former president continued: “Melania and I will always cherish our time together with the Queen, and never forget Her Majesty’s generous friendship, great wisdom, and wonderful sense of humor. What a grand and beautiful lady she was—there was nobody like her!”

Continue reading about Trump and Queen Elizbaeth II’s relationship here with this report from John Bowden:

Trump reacts to Queen Elizabeth’s death: ‘There was nobody like her!’

ICYMI: The Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson launches fiery video at Trump after legal threat

Friday 9 September 2022 19:45 , Johanna Chisholm

Rick Wilson of the Lincoln Project said he welcomed former president Donald Trump’s threats to sue the group of former Republican strategists who have released ads that sharply criticised him.

Mr Trump threatened legal action on his social networking platform Truth Social over a new ad, which aired on a local Fox affiliate and not Fox News proper.

“The Perverts and Lowlifes of the Lincoln Project are back on, where else, Fox News,” Mr Trump said. “The Perverts should not be allowed to ‘false advertise,’ and Fox News should not allow it to happen,” he said. “See you all in Court!!!”

In response, Mr Wilson took Mr Trump up on his challenge, saying in a video: “Go for it! Go for it, b****,” he said. “Come at me. I can’t wait. We’re delighted by the thought you would try to sue us, Donald.”

Read the full report from my colleague Eric Garcia here with The Independent:

‘Go for it b****!’: Lincoln Project launches fiery video at Trump after legal threat

Trump-backed Dr Oz continues to challenge Democratic opponent to debate

Friday 9 September 2022 19:30 , Johanna Chisholm

Dr Mehmet Oz, the Republican candidate for Pennsylvania Senate, continued to frustrate against his Democratic opponent for not engaging with him in a televised debate.

The TV celebrity took to his Twitter in a series of posts on Friday to vent about Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman not committing to a date where the two could duke it out on the debate stage.

“John Fetterman says he is well, but refuses to stand on the debate stage. Pennsylvanians deserve to know the truth,” tweeted Dr Oz while sharing a video of a campaign spokesperson saying the same thing.

“Tonight would have been another opportunity for John Fetterman to debate the issues in front of Pennsylvanians on @69News - he declined,” he tweeted before that.

The Oz campaign has been accused in recent weeks by the Fetterman campaign of attacking the Democrat for his health after he suffered a stroke in the springtime and was forced to stop public campaigning for several weeks.

Donald Trump says Queen was ‘extraordinary’ woman who he had ‘good chemistry’ with

Friday 9 September 2022 18:58 , Johanna Chisholm

Donald Trump spoke with British broadcaster Nigel Farage on Thursday to share more of his reactions to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who he attributed as being an “extraordinary woman” that he had “good chemistry” with.

“Well it is a sad day. It’s sad all over the world,” said the former president when asked by Mr Farage on GB News what his immediate impressions were when learning of the monarch’s passing. “She was a woman that was extraordinary.... she did it so long so well,” he added, noting that “she never made any mistakes.”

Mr Farage specifically brought up the time when the former president met with the Queen in 2019 and asked what the former president remembered from that well-documented meeting and what it meant to him now.

“Well we were going to spend just a short period of time and we just got along really well and we spent a lot more time then people thought and it was really quite something,” he said. “We had a good chemistry. And then as you remember that evening there was a big celebration and I sat next to the Queen, and we just talked all night long. She was incredible. She was incredible to speak to and so sharp. Her mind was so sharp and just to be with her was something very special.”

Mr Trump also discussed how his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, who was born in Scotland, was a “tremendous” fan of the Queen.

“She loved anything to do with the Queen. When the queen was on, my mother would be there watching,” he said.

Romney secretly urged Biden take on Trump back in 2018, book claims

Friday 9 September 2022 18:45 , Johanna Chisholm

Senator Mitt Romney urged Joe Biden to run for president in 2020 to defeat Donald Trump on the night of the 2018 midterm elections, a new book claims.

The call was reported in Gabriel Debenedetti’s forthcoming book The Long Alliance: The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama, which will be released next week, The Guardian reports.

Mr Romney lost to Mr Biden and Mr Obama in 2012 when he was the Republican presidential nominee with then-Representative Paul Ryan as his running mate.

On election night in 2018, Mr Biden called numerous candidates, but also spoke to Mr Romney, who had won the Senate election in Utah. Despite the fact Mr Trump endorsed Mr Romney in 2012, Mr Romney emerged as the most prominent critic of the president within the Republican Party.

“You have to run,” Mr Romney said, according to Mr Debenedetti.

Contine reading this report from Eric Garcia here:

Romney urged Biden take on Trump in 2018 private call: “You have to run”

Marjorie Taylor Greene makes plea to “ladies ... be a mom"

Friday 9 September 2022 18:30 , Johanna Chisholm

Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene took to her Twitter early on Friday morning to make a seemingly simple plea to her followers: “Ladies, Be a Mom.”

The Republican lawmaker seemed to be making an apparent reference to being pro-life, a stance that she has publicly made on multiple occasions. Hours after the Supreme Court made its decision to overturn Roe v Wade, she stood outside the court and reacted to reporters by saying: “I am so happy. It’s a blessing. It’s a miracle.”

She added in the tweet that women should try to be a mother, “anyway you can”.

“It’s the most challenging, happiest, joyful, craziest, rewarding, fulfilling, exhausting, thrilling, and most fun adventure you will ever have in your entire life. And it last a lifetime.”

She later retweeted a person’s story about how their own mother had made the decision not to go through with their “right” to an abortion “in the early days of Roe”.

“At times it was hard. We were on food stamps, ADC, she had an abusive marriage, etc. But 49 years later she would say now I’m the best “mistake” she ever made,” the woman tweeted, which Ms Greene reshared without comment.

Donald Trump Jr calls reporter ‘sick’ for asking about violence against media being normalised under his father

Friday 9 September 2022 18:15 , Johanna Chisholm

Donald Trump Jr lambasted a reporter who asked a sheriff in Las Vegas a question about his father normalising violence against the media during his tenure as president as being “sick in the head”.

The reporter, who is off-screen in the clip, was asking the sheriff the question about violence against journalists during a press conference for murdered Las Vegas journalist Jeff German, who officials have since arrested Democratic official Robert Telles in relation to the murder.

“Do you condemn Donald Trump’s normalisation of violence against journalists?” the reporter can be heard asking the sheriff at the press briefing, to which the sheriff promptly replies: “No, I think this is an inappropriate venue to speculate on that or opine on that.”

Mr Trump, offended at his father’s name being dragged into a news story that involved a Democratic Clark County Public Administrator, wasted no time in voicing those concerns on Twitter.

“A Democrat politician allegedly murders a reporter and the leftwing media tries to blame Trump,” he tweeted. “These people are sick in the head.”

Read more about the how the colleagues of murdered Las Vegas journalist Jeff German helped track down his killer in this report from my colleague Rachel Sharp.

How Jeff German’s journalist colleagues helped track down his killer

Former Trump White House lawyer thinks FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago could be related to Jan 6

Friday 9 September 2022 18:00 , Johanna Chisholm

A former Trump administration White House lawyer believes that the FBI raid on the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence could be connected to a broader criminal investigation that the Department of Justice is conducting into the 6 January riot and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

“It is about the bigger picture, the Jan. 6 issues, the fake electors, the whole scam with regard to the ‘big lie’ and the attempts to…cling to the presidency in a desperate fashion,” said attorney Ty Cobb in an episode of the CBS podcast The Takeout.

What tipped the former federal prosecutor off to this possible theory was the scope of the FBI’s warrant, which he described as being “unusually large and broad”.

“It’s very, very comprehensive in terms of the types of documents that the government could take.”

“For example, you can take any box that has a document. You can take any box adjacent to a box that has it,” he told CBS chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett. “Those are pretty broad parameters.”

Listen to the full interview here.

Trump-backed Pennsylvania GOP candidate prayed for MAGA to ‘seize the power’ on Jan 6

Friday 9 September 2022 17:45 , Johanna Chisholm

Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for governor Doug Mastriano reportedly led a prayer for former president Donald Trump to “seize the power” a week before the January 6 riot, Rolling Stone reported.

Mr Mastriano, a state senator who received Donald Trump’s backing early on in his campaign for governor, apparently made the remarks during a Zoom call with Christian nationalists.

“I pray that… we’ll seize the power that we had given to us by the Constitution, and as well by You, providentially,” he said. “I pray for the leaders also in the federal government, God, on the Sixth of January that they will rise up with boldness.”

Read the full report from my colleague Eric Garcia here:

Trump-backed PA GOP candidate prayed for MAGA to ‘seize the power’ on Jan. 6

Georgia probe into Trump examines chaplain’s role in election meddling, Reuters reports

Friday 9 September 2022 17:30 , Johanna Chisholm

A police chaplain in Georgia has been named as one of the recent individuals to be scrutinised for their role in alleged election interference by Donald Trump and his allies, Reuters reported.

Steve Lee, a police chaplain from Illinois, reportedly played a central role in a failed effort to pressure Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman to admit to an election fraud that never occurred, Reuters said, citing police body camera footage, court documents, in addition to interviews with key participants.

Ms Freeman was reportedly visited at her home in Georgia by the chaplain, and on one occasion the visit prompted her to even dial out to 911 out of fear of the stranger who was banging on her door.

After being rebuffed by Ms Freeman during that first visit in December 2020, Mr Lee reportedly raised his issue up the flagpole with Harrison Floyd, who had run outreach to black voters for the ex-president’s re-election campaign in 2020.

Mr Floyd then arranged for another visit to the Georgia election worker’s home in January 2021. During this visit, Chicago publicist Trevian Kutti was present and while there he allegedly threatened Ms Freeman with jail unless she provided information on election fraud, Reuters reported last December.

Read the full briefing from Reuters here.

Most Americans see Trump’s MAGA as threat to democracy, according to new Reuters poll

Friday 9 September 2022 17:15 , Johanna Chisholm

A recent poll from Reuters and Ipsos has shed light on how most Americans view Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement. The majority - 58 per cent of respondents - view the increasingly populist and right-wing political movement as a threat to democracy.

What’s more is the poll found that one in four Republicans agreed with that statement.

The poll, which surveyed 1,003 adults including 411 Democrats and 397 Republicans after President Joe Biden’s 1 September “Soul of the Nation” speech, also found that a majority of respondents viewed the president’s speech as contributing to a further divide in the country, even though roughly half of the respondents said they didn’t watch or pay attention to it.

It also found that 60 per cent of Republican respondents don’t view Trump’s MAGA movement as being representative of the majority of their party.

Chelsea Clinton says ex-friend Ivanka Trump ‘went to the dark side’

Friday 9 September 2022 17:00 , Johanna Chisholm

Chelsea Clinton said that her friendship with Ivanka Trump ended when “she went to the dark side”.

Ms Clinton was interviewed on Bravo’s What Happens Live with Andy Cohen alongside her mother, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Host Andy Cohen asked the younger Ms Clinton about her relationship with the daughter of former president Donald Trump, whom her mother notably ran against and lost to in the 2016 election.

“We were friends,” Ms Clinton said of Ms Trump. “She is not the person I called when I was curious about something for my kids or if I was debating a life decision, but we were definitely friends ... and then she went to the dark side.”

Read the full report from my colleague Gustaf Kilander below:

Chelsea Clinton says ex-friend Ivanka Trump ‘went to the dark side’

Biden does mocking impression of Republicans: ‘They ain’t got no shame’

Friday 9 September 2022 16:45 , Johanna Chisholm

President Joe Biden mocked Republicans for taking credit for the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats’ recent bill meant to tackle climate change and reduce prescription drug prices.

Democrats passed the bill last month through a process called budget reconciliation, which allowed it to pass on a party-line vote since they only have 50 Senate seat, while Vice President Kamala Harris broke the tie.

In the remarks, delivered while speaking at a Democratic National Committee summer meeting held in Maryland, Mr Biden proceeded to mock Republicans for touting the bill’s benefits.

“I see them out there, ‘and now we’re going to build this new bridge here, we’re all for it, and by the way this new road, and by the way we’re going to have this new internet,’” he said. ““I love ’em, man. They ain’t got no shame.”

Read the full report from my colleague Eric Garcia below:

Biden does mocking impression of Republicans: ‘They ain’t got no shame’

Judge shreds Trump’s complaint, throws out Hillary Clinton lawsuit that ‘defies logic

Friday 9 September 2022 16:28 , Johanna Chisholm

A Florida federal judge has tossed out the voluminous and wide-ranging lawsuit ex-president Donald Trump filed against his 2016 election rival and a host of other figures associated with the investigation into whether his presidential campaign had improper ties to the Russian government.

US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks on Thursday dismissed the former president’s case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled, against most of the myriad defendants named in the lawsuit.

Mr Trump sued former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, and numerous ex-FBI, Justice Department, and Democratic Party figures under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act in March 2022. He sought millions of dollars in damages for having “maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative that their Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump, was colluding with a hostile foreign sovereignty”.

Read the full report from my colleague Andrew Feinberg below:

Judge shreds Trump’s complaint, throws out Hillary Clinton lawsuit that ‘defies logic

Department of Justice and Trump legal team to file list of special master candidates

Friday 9 September 2022 16:15 , Johanna Chisholm

A Friday deadline has been imposed for the Trump legal team and the Department of Justice to jointly file a list of possible candidates who could serve as a special master over the materials seized by the FBI from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August.

This week, a US district judge, appointed by Donald Trump, awarded the ex-president’s request for a third-party to review documents from the raid and filter through items that they believe should be kept from prosecutors, either because of attorney-client privilege or executive privilege.

The ruling temporarily prevents agents from reviewing the seized records as part of their criminal investigation.

At the same time that the pair of legal teams are drafting a list of hypothetical third-party candidates, the Department of Justice on Thursday has asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the Trump-appointed district judge’s order.