Jan 6 hearings – live: Trump slumps in GOP polls as panel zeroes in on ‘signal’ to Oath Keepers and Proud Boys

Oliver O'Connell,Andrew Naughtie,Shweta Sharma and Bevan Hurley
·25 min read
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As the 6 January committee hearings detail his behaviour in the months leading up to the attack on the US Capitol, Donald Trump is apparently losing support among Republican voters.

The former president is now pulling in the support of only around half of the party’s base, according to new polling, opening up room for primary challengers in 2024 should he decide to run.

Meanwhile, the committee is set to hold a hearing today focusing on how the crowd that attacked the Capitol was convened, and in particular extremist groups such as the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. At the centre of the hearing will be Mr Trump’s infamous tweet from 19 December 202: “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”

A hearing planned for Thursday has been pushed back to an unspecified later date as the panel continues to receive a deluge of new information.

Key Points

Kinzinger explains hearing delay

11:20 , Andrew Naughtie

The Jan 6 committee hearing scheduled for Thursday this week has been bumped back, with details on precisely who and what will be featured at the session still unclear.

Speaking to CNN last night, panel member Adam Kinzinger confirmed that the reason for the delay is the sheer volume of information coming in, and reiterated that the committee will be using its remaining hearings to spell out what Donald Trump was doing during the riot. “Spoiler alert,” said the congressman: “Not much.”

See his remarks below.

ICYMI: Former Trump AG Bill Barr subpoenaed in Fox News defamation case

10:39 , Josh Marcus

Former Attorney General Bill Barr was subpoenaed over the weekend by a court hearing the defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News over claims the network aired defamatory claims about the company after the 2020 election.

Mr Barr was sent the subpoena after a court order signed on Friday and dated for Saturday; his summons follows that of former NewsCorp board member James Murdoch, son of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.

It’s unknown exactly what testimony attorneys for Dominion will seek from Mr Barr, but it will most likely centre around his fall 2020 declaration that the 2020 election had been free of the kind of widespread fraud or abuse that could have affected the results in a meaningful way.

John Bowden with the full report.

Former Trump AG Bill Barr subpoenaed in Fox News defamation case

Lindsey Graham says Trump tweets were ‘good for business’ and like ‘crack cocaine’

09:39 , Josh Marcus

Lindsey Graham became a die-hard ally of Donald Trump during his time in office.

In a forthcoming book from Washington journalist Mark Leibovich, the US Senator from South Carolina compared the former president’s tweets to “crack cocaine” and said they were “good for business.”

“And he knows he’s good for business. What’s going to happen next? Stay tuned. Any tweet he sends is like crack cocaine for this guy,” Mr Graham reportedly says in the book, Thank You for Your Servitude: Donald Trump’s Washington and the Price of Submission, which comes out on Tuesday.

Mr Graham also said the president’s social media presence was “entertaining as hell.”

Perhaps the entertainment has ended now, however, as a Georgia judge has ordered Mr Graham to testify in front of a grand jury as part of an investigation into Donald Trump’s attempts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election by pressing state officials to manipulate the results.

Lindsey Graham ordered to testify in Trump grand jury election probe

Right-wing militia wanted to speak with White House in weeks before January 6: report

08:39 , Josh Marcus

In the weeks before the January 6 insurrection, the leader of the right-wing Oath Keepers milita group tried to get in touch with the White House, NBC News reports.

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes asked the group’s general counsel Kellye SoRelle, a volunteer for Lawyers for Trump during the 2020 election, to make the connection.

“He was hitting me up for a contact,” she told NBC. “He didn’t have any access points.”

She also said Mr Rhodes was preparing an open letter calling on Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, which he hoped she would pass to the White House.

Ms SoRelle has already spoken with the January 6 committee, and her testimony could feature in tomorrow’s hearings.

How the January 6 committee plans to tie Trump to rioters

07:39 , Josh Marcus

The central argument of the January 6 investigation is that Donald Trump is ultimately responsible for the violence at the Capitol.

As the hearings continue on Tuesday, the select committee plans to make its case in a few ways.

Investigators plan to show that at least one pro-Trump changed its plans after Mr Trump tweeted that he wanted a “big protest” that would be “wild” on January 6.

Additionally, the committee has evidence that Mr Trump had exchanges via intermediaries with violent vigilante groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, Axios reports.

Elon Musk turns on Trump after he called Tesla boss a ‘bulls*** artist’

06:42 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has turned on Donald Trump after the former president called him “another bulls*** artist” for cancelling his deal to buy Twitter and for not voting for him.

The former president’s remarks came after Mr Musk announced on Friday he would not buy the social media platform and accused the company of misleading him about its nature.

“Elon, Elon is not gonna buy Twitter,” Mr Trump told supporters in Anchorage on Sunday, saying that he had said that before.

“Well, he might later who the hell knows what’s going to happen? He’s got a pretty rotten contract, elegant, his contract, not a good contract.”

He also blasted Mr Musk for saying that he would vote for a Republican for the first time.

Sravasti Dasgupta reports.

Elon Musk turns on Trump after he called Tesla boss a ‘bulls*** artist’

Mueller probe official says DOJ needs to ‘rethink’ approach on January 6 investigation

05:39 , Josh Marcus

Andrew Weissman, a senior prosecutor who worked on the Mueller investigation into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia, says the Department of justice is taking the wrong approach to its January 6 cases.

As it stands now, Mr Weissman wrote in an opinion piece in today’s New York Times, the DOJ is conducting a “classic ‘bottom up’ investigation” on January 6, arresting low-level offenders, pressuring them to flip on higher-ups, and following the evidence up the chain. Then January 6 hearings in Congress, however, should shift this paradigm, he argues.

He writes:

The hearings should inspire the Justice Department to rethink its approach: A myopic focus on the Jan. 6 riot is not the way to proceed if you are trying to follow the facts where they lead and to hold people “at any level” criminally accountable, as Attorney General Merrick Garland promised.

The evidence gathered in the hearings describes a multiprong conspiracy — what prosecutors term a hub and spoke conspiracy — in which the Ellipse speech by President Trump and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol were just one “spoke” of a grander scheme.

Read the full piece here.

It seems the DOJ may already be taking this thinking to heart, as Eric Garcia reports.

Federal authorities search home of Trump-era Department of Justice official

Biden has edge over Trump in 2024 poll

04:39 , Josh Marcus

A new poll has some good news and some bad news for Donald Trump.

The good news is that Democrats and voters at large are trashing his 2020 rival Joe Biden, with a new New York Times / Siena College poll finding that Americans are giving the president a dismal 33 per cent approval rating. The same poll found that nearly two-thirds of Democrats would rather have someone other than Mr Biden seek the White House in 2024.

The bad news for Mr Trump is that even in spite of Mr Biden’s low popularity, and the more than three-quarters of registered voters in the poll who said they felt the US is moving in the wrong direction, Mr Biden still beats the ex-president in a hypothetical 2024 ballot.

The survey found that Mr Biden had a three per cent advantage over Mr Trump, beating him out 44 per cent to 41 per cent among respondents.

Judge won't delay trial for Trump ex-adviser Steve Bannon

03:39 , Josh Marcus

A federal judge on Monday declined to delay the upcoming trial of Steve Bannon, an adviser to former President Donald Trump who faces contempt charges after refusing for months to cooperate with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Bannon is still scheduled to go on trial next week despite telling the House committee late Saturday that he is now prepared to testify. It’s unclear whether Bannon will again refuse to appear before the committee with the trial pending.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols also ruled against several requests by Bannon’s attorneys to seek the testimony of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or the committee chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi. And Nichols barred Bannon’s attorneys from arguing before a jury that the committee violated House rules in demanding Bannon’s appearance, that Bannon defied the subpoena on the advice of his defense counsel or at Trump’s order.

Nichols also said he could address during jury selection any concerns about pretrial publicity due to the committee’s ongoing hearings. If it proves impossible to pick an unbiased jury, the judge said he would reconsider a delay.

Judge won't delay trial for Trump ex-adviser Steve Bannon

Trump tells rally climate change ‘not the worst thing in the world’ because it will mean ‘more beachfront property'

02:39 , Josh Marcus

Donald Trump has never been particularly concerned with climate change—he once famously claimed it was a hoax “created for and by the Chinese”—but over the weekend, he took this blasé attitude about the planetary crisis to new lengths.

He told a crowd at an Anchorage, Alaska, rally that the US has “bigger problems” than rising sea levels.

“We’ll have a little more beachfront property — that’s not the worst thing in the world,” he said.

While the remarks are surely meant to fire up his base more than convey any meaningful political or scientific priorities, they also ignore that Mr Trump personally owns a great deal of oceanfront property that’s under threat from sea-level rise.

Here’s what The Independent’s Louise Boyle found about the former president’s climate risk.

Trump claims sea level rise means more homes by the ocean. Let’s look at Mar-a-Lago

Criminal lawyer’s advice to Steve Bannon: ‘Don’t try to outsmart federal prosecutors'

01:39 , Josh Marcus

Legal observers say Steve Bannon is in way over his head, as the former Trump advisor faces both a contempt of Congress trial and an interview with the January 6 committee in the next two weeks.

“As a former criminal defense lawyer and appellate defender, I can offer people a tip: Don’t try to outsmart federal prosecutors . . . . . .particularly if you are someone like Steve Bannon,” wrote attorney Teri Kanefield on Twitter on Monday.

She’s not the only raising their eyebrow at the recent maneuvers from Mr Bannon, who has now agreed to speak with the January 6 committee after months of stonewalling, just days before a scheduled trial on contempt of Congress was set to start.

Judge won't delay trial for Trump ex-adviser Steve Bannon

“The Defendant’s sudden wish to testify is not a genuine effort to meet his obligations but a last-ditch attempt to avoid accountability,” a federal judge wrote on Monday of Mr Bannon’s claims, in a ruling that held the former Trump ally still needs to face trial, even if he decides to testify in Congress.

The Department of Justice, for their part, feel confident in their case against Mr Bannon. They told the court on Monday they believe they can finish the trial in a single day.

Steve Bannon worries about contempt trial rout: ‘What’s the point in going to trial?’

Tuesday 12 July 2022 00:39 , Josh Marcus

Steve Bannon seems to be preparing for a blowout in his upcoming contempt of Congress trial.

The Trump advisor has been refusing since last autumn to comply with subpoenas from the January 6 committee, and a contempt trial kicks off next Monday.

Ahead of the case beginning, a federal judge tore apart many of the potential defences Mr Bannon might use in a hearing today.

US District Judge Carl Nichols said neither Mr Bannon’s position as a former White House official nor past precedent on congressional subpoenas was a valid reason to ignore the requests from the January 6 committee.

The magistrate also held that Mr Bannon can’t go through with attempts to subpoena House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or January 6 committee chairman Bennie Thompson.

“What’s the point in going to trial here if there are no defenses?” Mr Bannon’s attorney David Schoen said after the ruling was announced.

Lindsey Graham must testify in Trump grand jury election probe, judge orders

Monday 11 July 2022 23:26 , Josh Marcus

A judge in Georgia has ordered US Senator Lindsey Graham to testify in front of a grand jury as part of an investigation into Donald Trump’s attempts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election by pressing Georgia officials to manipulate the results.

On 11 July, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered that the Republican senator from South Carolina must testify on 2 August as a “necessary and material witness” to the grand jury probe.

Attorneys for the senator previously told The Independent that he will not comply with a grand jury subpoena, claiming that Fulton County investigators told him he is “simply a witness” and “neither a subject nor target of the investigation” and dismissed the probe as “all politics” and a “fishing expedition”.

Alex Woodward has the full story for The Independent.

Lindsey Graham ordered to testify in Trump grand jury election probe

Trump lawyer hangs Steve Bannon lawyer our to dry on January 6 hearings

Monday 11 July 2022 22:39 , Josh Marcus

Donald Trump is a man known for prizing personal loyalty at all costs, but it seems the plight of his former advisor Steve Bannon is not high on his priority list.

In a court filing on Monday, Washington prosecutors said Mr Trump had never invoked executive privilege to stop the advisor from testifying before the January 6 committee.

According to the filing, Trump attorney Justin Clark was interviewed by the FBI on 29 June and told officials the former Trump advisor was clear to respond to the committee, even though Mr Bannon has claimed since October that he can’t comply with the January 6 committee’s subpoena requests.

The biggest revelations of the January 6 hearings so far

Monday 11 July 2022 21:39 , Josh Marcus

The blockbuster hearings about the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol are set to resume on Tuesday.

Here are some of the biggest revelations from the committee so far, as reported by The Independent.

Trump knew he lost election but he pushed ‘nuts’ fraud claims anyway

Trump defended rioters chanting ‘Hang Mike Pence’, witness tells Jan 6 committee

Jan 6 police officers cry in hearing as committee shows video of violence

Trump told DOJ to say election stolen, ‘leave the rest to me’, Jan 6 witness says

ICYMI: Why this Georgia case could be the ‘greatest threat’ Trump faces

Monday 11 July 2022 20:45 , John Bowden

While much of Washington and the media are focused on the January 6 hearings and the explosive testimony of witnesses like Cassidy Hutchinson, another investigation is slowly churning along related to Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Richard Hall takes a look at the grand jury probe in Georgia that one expert toldThe Independent could represent the “single greatest legal threat” to Mr Trump and his fellow travellers.

Read more:

Why Trump has reason to be worried about a criminal investigation in Georgia

January 6 committee to hold hearing next week

Monday 11 July 2022 20:20 , John Bowden

The January 6 committee announced that it would hold a hearing next week, a move that came on Monday afternoon shortly after the panel’s lawmakers rescheduled what was going to be their final, primetime public hearing on Thursday.

“The committee continues to receive new and important information on a daily basis. it’s important that our members and investigators have time to assess,” said the panel in a statement to The Independent.

Bill Barr subpoenaed in Fox News defamation case

Monday 11 July 2022 19:55 , John Bowden

Former attorney general Bill Barr, who publicly defied Donald Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen, was subpoenaed over the weekend at the request of Dominion Voting Systems in its defamation case against Fox News.

The company is seeking $1.6 bn in damages for defamatory claims it alleges were made by Fox hosts and guests after Joe Biden’s victory.

Read more from The Independent’s John Bowden:

Trump claims he ‘doesn’t even recognise’ Cassidy Hutchinson as he braces for two more Jan 6 hearings

Monday 11 July 2022 18:35 , John Bowden

Donald Trump tried to further disassociate himself from the brutal testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson on Sunday and questioned how much access she really had in the White House.

In a multi-post rant on Truth Social, he claimed he “doesn’t even recognise” the former aide to his ex-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who testified that her boss personally told her that he feared it would get “real, real bad” on January 6.

Read more from The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg:

Trump claims he ‘doesn’t even recognise’ Cassidy Hutchinson in Truth Social rant

Jan 6 committee reschedules final prime time hearing after receiving new information

Monday 11 July 2022 18:08 , John Bowden

The Jan 6 committee announced on Monday that its final hearing, scheduled originally for prime time on Thursday, would be postponed as lawmakers have received new information and need time to process it and continue their investigation.

Read more in The Independent from Eric Garcia:

Jan 6 committee reschedules final prime time hearing after receiving new information

Biden goes off on Republicans over congressional inaction

Monday 11 July 2022 17:50 , John Bowden

Joe Biden is calling Republicans’ bluffs and blaming them for what he sees as a total lack of interest in working with his party to address issues like inflation that require a bipartisan response.

The president issued a pair of statements Sunday night blistering his GOP foes for opposing any legislative solutions through Congress, and called on Americans to turn out in November if they wanted to see real change.

Read more from John Bowden in The Independent:

Biden hits out at Republicans for blocking his agenda in rare Twitter outburst

Inflation leads voters’ concerns

Monday 11 July 2022 17:25 , John Bowden

Inflation and the economy remains the #1 concern for voters heading in to the midterms, according to Siena College’s new poll out Monday, while issues including gun violence and abortion rights trail behind.

That’s more bad news for Joe Biden, who faces concerns about his handling of the top job as his party seeks to protect their majorities in Congress this fall.

Read more in The Independent:

Biden tells demonstrators to ‘keep protesting’ as poll shows economy trumps abortion

Buttigieg battles Fox News over husband’s tweet

Monday 11 July 2022 16:56 , John Bowden

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg held his own against a Fox anchor who questioned him about his husband Chasten’s remarks in defence of protesters who gathered outside a restaurant where Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was eating.

Pushing back against the Fox host and noting that Mr Kavanaugh never actually came into contact with the protesters, Mr Buttigieg also noted that the “right to privacy” was the basis for the Roe vs Wade ruling protecting abortion rights that Mr Kavanaugh himself tossed out last month.

Read more from The Independent’s Gino Spocchia:

Buttigieg wins praise for Fox interview

Bad news for Biden in poll gauging 2024 battle with Trump

Monday 11 July 2022 16:26 , John Bowden

Joe Biden has a lot to worry about in a new poll from The New York Times and Siena College released on Monday.

The survey shows that a majority of Democrats do not think he should run for office in 2024. Nearly two-thirds want another nominee, disastrous numbers for a president seeking reelection any year but especially dangerous given Donald Trump’s public hinting about a third White House bid.

Read more from Eric Garcia in The Independent:

Most Democrats don’t want Biden to run again, new poll shows

Trump lashes out at ‘psycho’ Liz Cheney

Monday 11 July 2022 15:08 , John Bowden

Donald Trump went on a Truth Social binge late Sunday evening, lashing out at his political enemies on the January 6 committee and elsewhere in Congress.

As Washington gears up for two more hearings set to expose Donald Trump’s role in the January 6 attack, the ex-president swiped at Nancy Pelosi, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and other members of Congress as he wailed about why Democrats didn’t do more to protect the Capitol as his own supporters, who he personally told to be there, assaulted police officers.

“They should not be allowed to get away with it any longer!” he said of the committee, while labeling Ms Cheney a “pscycho [sic]”.

Read more from Andrew Feinberg in The Independent:

Trump claims he ‘doesn’t even recognise’ Cassidy Hutchinson in Truth Social rant

Biden looks to rewrite US foreign policy after Trump

Monday 11 July 2022 14:49 , John Bowden

Joe Biden is working to reset the US’s relationship with Middle Eastern countries after four years of Donald Trump.

The president will visit Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia as he seeks to improve the US relationship with both the Israeli government and Saudi Arabia, two countries that enjoyed a comfortable relationship with the Trump administration but pulled back from US engagement after Joe Biden took office.

But some leaders in the region are privately wondering if the “Biden doctrine” is here to stay, or merely represents a four-year break from a returning Donald Trump.

“Both of these leaders in my judgment are now looking past the Biden administration, and looking very much forward to the return of Donald Trump or his avatar,” said Aaron David Miller, an expert on Arab-Israeli peace talks. “I think it’s a complex trip, and I think we should be extremely realistic about these expectations.”

Read more in The Associated Press:

In Mideast, Biden struggling to shift policy after Trump

Trump refuses to say the word ‘vaccine’

Monday 11 July 2022 13:00 , Bevan Hurley

Donald Trump refused to use the word vaccine when talking about Covid-19 at a rally for Republican candidates in Alaska on Saturday evening.

“We did so much in terms of therapeutics and a word that I’m not allowed to mention, but I’m still proud of that word,” he told supporters in Anchorage.

“We did that in nine months and it was supposed to take five years to 12 years, nobody else could have done it but I’m not mentioning it in front of my people.”

Eric Garcia has more details.

Trump refuses to say the word ‘vaccine’ during Alaska rally

‘Give ‘em to me right now’

Monday 11 July 2022 12:30 , Bevan Hurley

Donald Trump pulled two fans up on stage dressed in shirts emblazoned with his face and demanded they “give ‘em to me right now” during Saturday’s campaign rally in Alaska.

“I love this guy’s shirt, I tell you,” he says, laughing and pointing to the man in the crowd.

“I’d love to have you get up here. Come on, get up here. Let me see. Get up here. Get this guy up here.”

Rachel Sharp has the story.

Bizarre moment between Trump and fans wearing shirts of his face

Trump goes on transphobic rant at rally in Alaska

Monday 11 July 2022 12:00 , Bevan Hurley

Donald Trump vowed to “keep men out of women’s sports” during a crude, transphobic rant at a campaign rally in Alaska on Saturday night.

“It is actually demeaning to women, and it should not be allowed,” Mr Trump said.

Trump goes on transphobic rant at rally in Alaska

Sarah Palin invokes gun imagery as she appears at Trump rally

Monday 11 July 2022 11:30 , Bevan Hurley

Sarah Palin invoked gun imagery as she urged Republicans to keep fighting during a rally in Anchorage on Saturday night – weeks after a series of mass shootings that have left dozens of people dead.

“My dad, he was all about, no, you stiffen your spine,” the former Alaska governor told a cheering crowd at the GOP rally.

“My dad’s words exactly were: ‘Don’t retreat, reload’.”

Sarah Palin invokes gun imagery at Trump rally: ‘Don’t retreat, reload’

Bannon agrees to testify before Jan. 6 committee

Monday 11 July 2022 11:00 , Bevan Hurley

Former White House strategist Steve Bannon, one of Donald Trump’s closest advisers and top supporters, has agreed to provide testimony to the January 6 committee, a panel member revealed on Sunday.

Rep Zoe Lofgren confirmed during an interview with CNN that Mr Bannon’s attorney had written to the committee stating Mr Bannon’s willingness to drop his opposition to their subpoena.

John Bowden reports.

Steve Bannon will testify before Jan 6 committee, panel member says

‘I’m not a horrific person’

Monday 11 July 2022 10:00 , Bevan Hurley

Former president Donald Trump lashed out at Twitter and Facebook executives in an interview for new documentary Unprecedented shot soon after both social media sites banned him in the wake of the violent attack on the Capitol.

In an interview with filmmaker Alex Holder, Mr Trump said it was “a shame” that the two most popular social networks had kicked him off after he’d used their platforms to incite a riot, and lamented that leaders from authoritarian states remain allowed to access them.

“I’m not a horrific person,” he tells the documentary.

Read Andrew Feinberg’s full story here.

‘I’m not a horrific person’: Trump complains about Twitter ban in new documentary

Trump mangles Supreme Court Justice’s name during GOP rally

Monday 11 July 2022 09:00 , Bevan Hurley

Donald Trump mangled Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s name, disrespectfully calling her “Kechangie Brown Jackson” on stage at a GOP rally in Anchorage, Alaska.

The former president, who has a history of purposely mispronouncing Black women’s names, hit out at the newly-appointed justice in front of a crowd of supporters on Saturday night.

Rachel Sharp has the details.

Trump mangles Supreme Court Ketanji Brown Jackson’s name at GOP rally

Trump drops F-bomb

Monday 11 July 2022 08:00 , Bevan Hurley

Donald Trump dropped an f-bomb during his rally in Alaska on Saturday night, prompting his supporters to break out into chants of “USA! USA!”

Mr Trump went on a rambling tale about a trip to Iraq where he said he spoke to generals about defeating Isis.

He said one of the generals told him it would take years while a second vowed to “hit ‘em in the f***ing centre”.

“I’d hit ‘em on the left. I’d hit ‘em on the right. I’d hit ‘em in the f***ing centre… Right smack,” said Mr Trump.

Seconds later, people began loudly chanting “USA! USA!”

Rachel Sharp has more.

Trump drops a rare F-bomb at Alaska rally prompting chants of ‘USA! USA!’

‘Give ‘em to me right now’

Monday 11 July 2022 07:00 , Bevan Hurley

Donald Trump pulled two fans up on stage dressed in shirts emblazoned with his face and demanded they “give ‘em to me right now” during Saturday’s campaign rally in Alaska.

“I love this guy’s shirt, I tell you,” he says, laughing and pointing to the man in the crowd.

“I’d love to have you get up here. Come on, get up here. Let me see. Get up here. Get this guy up here.”

Rachel Sharp has the story.

Bizarre moment between Trump and fans wearing shirts of his face

Trump refuses to say the word ‘vaccine’

Monday 11 July 2022 06:00 , Bevan Hurley

Donald Trump refused to use the word vaccine when talking about Covid-19 at a rally for Republican candidates in Alaska on Saturday evening.

“We did so much in terms of therapeutics and a word that I’m not allowed to mention, but I’m still proud of that word,” he told supporters in Anchorage.

“We did that in nine months and it was supposed to take five years to 12 years, nobody else could have done it but I’m not mentioning it in front of my people.”

Eric Garcia has more details.

Trump refuses to say the word ‘vaccine’ during Alaska rally

Trump’s niece says he is ‘terrified’ by the Jan 6 committee

Monday 11 July 2022 05:01 , Bevan Hurley

Mary Trump has claimed her uncle is probably “terrified” by developments in the congressional committee investigating the events of January 6, when the then-president urged an armed mob of supporters to disrupt the formal confirmation of Joe Biden’s victory, telling them to “fight like hell”.

Ms Trump, a psychologist who has been an outspoken critic of the former president, was asked on MSNBC what she thought her former relative was feeling, as Pat Cipollone, the former White House counsel, became the latest top figure to be interviewed by the panel.

“To say that Donald is terrified is accurate, it is also an understatement,” replied Ms Trump.

“I think this might be the first time in his entire life that even he can’t deny the walls that are closing in. The amount of evidence that we see coming out of these committee hearings is overwhelming.”

Oliver O’Connell has the full story.

Mary Trump says her uncle Donald can feel ‘the walls closing in’ with Jan 6 evidence

Oath Keepers leader offers to testify before Jan 6 committee

Monday 11 July 2022 04:00 , Bevan Hurley

The leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia wants to testify before the January 6 committee as long as he’s allowed to do so live and in person.

Stewart Rhodes, who is in jail awaiting trial on seditious conspiracy charges for his role in the attack on the US Capitol, wants to “confront” the panel, his attorney James Bright told Politico.

Meanwhile, on Friday the Justice Department released new details of the extensive planning it alleges Mr Rhodes and eight other members of the Oath Keepers carried out in the lead-up to the January 6 riot.

Bevan Hurley has the latest.

Oath Keepers ringleader offers to testify before Jan 6 committee