Trump news – live: Trump gave Bob Woodward Kim Jong un letters as Jan 6 probe targets Secret Service testimony
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The House Oversight Committee has released new documents showing that Donald Trump often charged “exorbitant” fees to Secret Service agents staying in his hotels.
According to the panel, the charges included rates of more than $1,000 a night to stay in his former hotel just blocks from the White House – meaning that his organisation directly profited from public money.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has recommended that former Trump advisor and far-right agitator Steve Bannon should be given a custodial sentence and a fine after being found guilty of contempt of Congress.
Like several key figures from the Trump circle, Mr Bannon refused to testify to the 6 January select committee despite a subpoena, instead trying in vain to claim his conduct after the election was covered by executive privilege. He was found guilty of contempt in July.
Among the many others facing trial in connection to the Capitol riot are top members of the extremist Oath Keepers militia group. Their seditious conspiracy trial is now underway; jurors were yesterday shown explicit texts between founder Stewart Rhodes and attorney Kellye SoRelle, who is facing separate charges herself.
Key points
Kinzinger says Jan 6 panel will pursue Secret Service testimony
Steve Bannon ‘should face jail’ over contempt of Congress, DoJ says
Trump charged ‘exorbitant’ rates when putting Secret Service in his own hotels
Trump faces backlash over US Jews comments
Trump claims that National Archives ‘lost’ nuclear secrets but they ‘don’t care’
Audio reveals Trump showed Kim Jong-Un letters to Bob Woodward
19:04 , Oliver O'Connell
A recording from a new audiobook by Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward reported by CNN on Tuesday reveals that former President Donald Trump gave the journalist copies of letters from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
“Nobody else has them, but I want you to treat them with respect,” Mr Trump says on the recording. “And don’t say I gave them to you, okay?”
Abe Asher has the story.
Audio reveals Trump showed Kim Jong-Un letters to Bob Woodward
Kellyanne Conway endorses Dr Oz
18:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Former Trump senior aide Kellyanne Conway has joined her one-time boss in endorsing Dr Oz in the Pennsylvania Senate race.
She wrote on Twitter that this rival Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman is “the most dangerous man in Pennsylvania, apart from the criminals he released”.
Fetterman the most dangerous man in Pennsylvania, apart from the criminals he released. Vote @DrOz https://t.co/kNW9tOEpNF
— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) October 18, 2022
Trump aides “bullied CDC staff” to downplay Covid
18:00 , Oliver O'Connell
A damning new report from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus investigating the Trump administration’s response to the Covid crisis unearthed new details that describe how top aides in the White House bullied Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff in service of the former president’s political goals.
“Evidence obtained by the Select Subcommittee documents how Trump Administration officials usurped control of CDC communications and blocked public health officials from providing accurate information about the coronavirus to the American people,” the report released on Monday by the committee, which is being led by Democratic Rep Jim Clyburn, began.
In its third investigation into the government response to the coronavirus pandemic, the panel also uncovered evidence that showed how the Trump administration systematically, and oftentimes with great success, attempted to stifle the scientific integrity of the federal agency tasked with handling the public health response.
Johanna Chisholm reports.
Trump aides bullied CDC staff to downplay Covid-19 threat, House investigation shows
Trump asked about Kanye West comments
17:34 , Oliver O'Connell
Former President Donald Trump was asked about Kanye West’s recent attack on his son-in-law Jared Kushner and other anti-Semitic statements.
Mr Trump was being interviewed by Salem News’s Larry O’Connor over the phone in an interview released today, Mediaite reports.
The former president claims to have not seen the statements and instead talks about how West was always nice to him and the MAGA movement...
“He’s been saying some really offensive things lately about your own son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and about Jewish people. Jewish Americans writ large. Could you react to that? Because is this the guy that you knew?” Mr O’Connor asked.
“Well, I haven’t really seen the statements he’s made. I did watch the Tucker Carlson interview and he was really nice to me. Beyond anybody, he was. He was great to me,” Mr Trump replied, mentioning the interview West did on Fox News.
He continued: “And he was great, really, to MAGA, to the MAGA movement, which was very impressive. I was, you know, not surprised. I always got along with him. I liked him. I’ve always gotten along with him.”
Mr Trump then added: “So I don’t really know what statements he made. Sometimes he’ll make a statement and a lot of people will think it’s worse, than he means it to be. But I think that, you know, I was I was certainly very you know, what I’m talking about. He was really high on a guy named Donald Trump.”
Kinzinger says Jan 6 panel will pursue Secret Service testimony
17:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Illinois Representative Adam Kinzinger on Monday suggested members of the agency charged with protecting presidents and their facilities may have engaged in misconduct in the run-up to the January 6 attack and tried to hide it afterwards.
The January 6 select committee member was speaking to CNN on The Situation Room when he told host Wolf Blazer something appears to be amiss at the US Secret Service.
Andrew Feinberg has the story.
Adam Kinzinger says ‘there is something going on’ at Secret Service
Fox Business hosts scorn Biden impeachment talk
16:40 , Andrew Naughtie
Senior members of the House GOP leadership, Elise Stefanik in particular, are becoming increasingly bellicose in their promises to investigate the Biden administration during the next Congress should they get a majority – and their plans may even extend to impeaching the president himself.
The supposed offences they would impeach him for are not always clear, but they remain at least publicly committed to the idea. Yet even some of the party’s dedicated media outriders are expressing scepticism about it, and openly wondering what gain is to be had.
Fox hosts Stuart Varney and Brian Kilmeade trash Elise Stefanik's proposal to impeach Biden of GOP gains control of House.
Varney: "I think that's a rotten idea!"
Kilmeade: "For the most part, it's a waste of time... it's bad for the country." pic.twitter.com/OWmevqqPRD— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) October 18, 2022
Trump back on fake election conspiracy theories in re-Truthing spree
16:10 , Andrew Naughtie
Donald Trump is awake and Truthing – or rather, re-Truthing in the parlance of Truth Social, where he is busily sharing furious and sometimes deluded posts by other users pushing false claims about the theft of the 2020 election, Hunter Biden and others.
This is typical of the occasional sessions where he appears to scour his bespoke semi-cloistered platform for sympathetic content, however obscure or dubious its origin. Most posts are being retruthed without comment, but he’s adding his own words here and there.
Netanyahu holds back on Trump’s comments about Jews
15:40 , Andrew Naughtie
Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu was pressed on Mr Trump’s latest antisemitic comments while promoting his memoir on MSNBC’s Morning Joe today.
“Well, you know, he has a Jewish son-in-law and his daughter converted to judaism, his grandchildren are raised as Jews,” said the former prime minister, adding that in his estimation, Mr Trump’s antisemitic comment “reflects his frustration” for not getting “credit for the things he did”.
Oath Keepers leader’s Jan 6 shopping list revealed
15:10 , Andrew Naughtie
As the Oath Keepers’ trial continues, jurors have been shown a map illustrating founder Stewart Rhodes’s journey to Washington, DC in advance of the January 6 attack – and alongside it, a list of items he bought to bring with him as the group convened in advance of the election certification.
An illustration entered into evidence yesterday:
Stewart Rhodes' cross-country shopping spree en route to Washington, D.C.: triggers, sights, magazines, scope mounts, an AR rifle (arranged), night vision devices, etc. pic.twitter.com/0tqgjTxX8X— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 18, 2022
The details of Trump’s bills to the Secret Service
14:40 , Andrew Naughtie
Former President Donald Trump’s frequent trips to his properties ended up being the windfall that ethics experts long expected them to be, according to new documents obtained by Congress.
The records were obtained as part of an investigation by the Democrat-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating how the Trump family profited from Donald Trump’s four years in power. The documents were released publicly on the committee’s website.
In one instance, Secret Service agents were billed $1,185 per night to stay at the president’s now-shuttered hotel in downtown Washington DC located at the historic Old Post Office building, just a few blocks from the White House itself.
John Bowden reports.
Trump earned $1,185 per night by putting Secret Service in his own hotel rooms
Love in a hateful place: Oath Keepers trial takes an explicit turn
14:08 , Andrew Naughtie
Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and Kellye SoRelle, the group’s legal counsel, appear to have been sharing more than just an ideology.
Federal prosecutors revealed during the Oath Keepers’ trial on Monday that Mr Rhodes and Ms SoRelle had been exchanging text messages that suggest the two were involved in a romantic relationship.
“Speaking of f****** … if you need some come on over,” Mr Rhodes texted the attorney in the days before the Capitol riot.
Ms SoRelle said she could not, but Mr Rhodes insisted that he would “drag [her] into bed later”.
Despite initially turning Mr Rhodes down, Ms SoRelle later sends him a text suggesting she was amenable to his advances.
Graig Graziosi has the grim details.
Oath Keepers’ leader and lawyer sent racy texts, prosecutor reveals
ICYMI: Trump talks to Kanye West
13:36 , Andrew Naughtie
Donald Trump and rapper Kanye West spoke on Monday as the pair face similar but unrelated accusations of antisemitism for their recent remarks about Jewish people.
The two spoke over the phone after it was announced that the Grammy-winning yet troubled and controversial artist would purchase Parler, a right-wing social media site, according to Politico, which cited a source familiar with the call.
Mr West apparently initiated the conversation and the two plan to meet in person for dinner in the near future, according to the news outlet. The rapper was banned from Twitter and Instagram after threatening to go “death con 3 on Jewish people” and alleging that Jews are behind his wife Kim Kardashian’s choice to divorce him.
John Bowden reports.
Trump and Kanye talk on the phone and plan to have dinner amid antisemitism row
Report: Trump considering appointing Greene if re-elected
12:55 , Andrew Naughtie
Rolling Stone reports that among the allies Donald Trump could appoint to his administration is none other than Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right extremist currently serving her first term in Congress.
“Wouldn’t she be great?” Trump privately said earlier this year to a confidant, one of the two people says. It is unclear what specifically Trump has in mind for the severely MAGAfied Georgia Republican, be it a White House staff position, cabinet post, or agency appointment, the sources say. But, “he loves MTG and would want her very close in a second term, that much was clear,” one source says.
The second source recalls that over the past year, the ex-president had briefly mentioned Greene’s name as someone who could be in the running to be a senior official at the Justice Department during a second Trump administration. The former president’s comment confused the source, because “I don’t think she’s a lawyer,” this person says.
Reps for Trump and Greene did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s requests for comment.
Read the report below.
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) October 18, 2022
Analysis: Marjorie Taylor Greene’s complex history with Jan 6
12:20 , Andrew Naughtie
No other member of the House of Representatives attracts controversy like extremist Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, and few others have taken as strident a stand in defence of the perpetrators of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Yet this weekend at a debate against her Democratic rival in this year’s midterms, Ms Greene made the astonishing claim that she was a “victim” of the plot to overturn the presdential election.
“You cannot accuse me of insurrection,” she told the audience at the Atlanta Press Club. “I was a victim of the January 6 riot just as much as any other member of Congress.
“That was the third day I had on the job. I had nothing to do with what happened there that day and I will not have you accuse me of that. That is wrong of you to do. You’re lying about me and you will not defame my character in that manner.”
Here’s Joe Sommerlad to take you through what she’s said about the riot in the last year and a half.
Marjorie Taylor Greene claims she was Jan 6 ‘victim’. Her past comments say otherwise
House panel reveals Trump aides blocked overly alarming information about Covid-19
11:46 , Andrew Naughtie
The House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis has steadily been delving into the inner workings of the Trump administration’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic – and in a grim new report, it details how some of the president’s staff pressured health officials to downplay reports of what was happening.
In a new report, the panel details how the administration “installed allies who bullied and retaliated against CDC scientists” as the White House tried “to retain control over coronavirus communications”. In particular it singles out Trump appointee Michael Caputo, “a close political ally who possessed no scientific or public health background”, and his senior adviser, Dr Paul Alexander, whom the report says “engaged in a persistent pattern of overruling and bullying scientists who advocated public health policies that went again the Trump Administration’s perceived political interests.”
Read more below.
Today, @COVIDOversight released a report detailing how the Trump Admin interfered with @CDCgov’s #COVID19 response to help President Trump politically by downplaying the pandemic, manipulating guidance, and attacking scientists who shared accurate info.https://t.co/uUDVHJiuMe
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis (@COVIDOversight) October 17, 2022
ADL CEO warns of climate of hate after Trump and West’s remarks on Jews
10:30 , Andrew Naughtie
Coming off Kanye West’s rantings about going “death con three on Jewish people” and Donald Trump’s admonishment to them to be more grateful for his Israel policies “before it’s too late”, Anti-Defamation League Chair Jonathan Greenblatt has been speaking out about the serious and deadly implications such discourse is already having.
He put his views across last night on MSNBC. Take a watch:
"Whether it's Jews or Asian Americans or Black Americans, we're living in a moment where hate has been so heightened and amplified... Social media is an amplifier of these issues. It has allowed anti-Semitism and other forms of hate" - @JGreenblattADL w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/wMBKJou5h8
— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) October 17, 2022
Premium: The big lesson to take from the Jan 6 committee ahead of 2024
09:45 , Andrew Naughtie
Writing for The Independent’s premium section, Chris Stevenson has this analysis of what the January 6 select committee’s hearings to date might actually mean for the midterm elections in practice.
Thursday’s vote is likely to have been a coda to the public hearings, depending on what happens regarding the subpoena, and will certainly be the last one before the November midterms. But the vice-chair of the committee, Liz Cheney, was very clear in the opening statement of the hearing that the impact of this work will be felt into the future. Not least the next presidential election in 2024.
“Our institutions only hold when men and women of good faith make them hold,” Cheney said. “We have no guarantee that these men and women will be in place next time.”
Independent subscribers can read his full piece below.
Politics Explained: The big lesson to take from the Jan 6 committee ahead of 2024
Trump earned ‘exorbitant’ $1,185 per night off Secret Service accommodation needs
09:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Former President Donald Trump’s frequent trips to his properties ended up being the windfall that ethics experts long expected them to be, according to new documents obtained by Congress.
The records were obtained as part of an investigation by the Democrat-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating how the Trump family profited from Donald Trump’s four years in power. The documents were released publicly on the committee’s website.
John Bowden reports.
Trump earned $1,185 per night by putting Secret Service in his own hotel rooms
Even Trump concerned by Kanye West acting ‘crazy’, report says
08:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump, who once posed for photos with Kanye West at Trump Tower after the rapper embraced the then-president-elect and invited him to the White House while in office, is privately rebuking the artist’s recent public tirades against Jewish people, according to Rolling Stone.
Even Trump concerned by Kanye West acting ‘crazy’, report says
Video: Roger Stone threatening Trump he’ll get his ‘f***ing brains beat in’ if he runs again
07:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Roger Stone threatened Donald Trump that he would get his “f***ing brains beat in” if he runs for president again, a clip from a documentary has revealed.
Gustaf Kilander and Andrew Feinberg report.
New video shows Roger Stone threatening Trump he’ll get his ‘f***ing brains beat in’
Kari Lake: The seemingly unstoppable rise of the Trump-backed election denier
04:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Two years after quitting her television job, this Trump-endorsed Maga champion is involved in a showdown with a Democratic opponent that pundits say is too close to call.
Andrew Buncombe reports.
The seemingly unstoppable rise of election denier Kari Lake
Jury begins deliberations in trial of Trump dossier analyst
03:30 , Oliver O'Connell
A jury in U.S. District Court in Alexandria heard closing arguments in the case against Igor Danchenko. The Russian national is accused of lying to the FBI about how he obtained information that ended up in the “Steele dossier,” a compendium of allegations that Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was colluding with the Kremlin.
Jury begins deliberations in trial of Trump dossier analyst
DoJ: Bannon deserves six-month sentence for ‘defiance and contempt'
02:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Former Trump White House aide turned right-wing podcaster Steve Bannon deserves a six-month custodial sentence for having pursued a “bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt” after receiving a House January 6 committee subpoena, the Department of Justice has said.
In a sentencing memorandum filed before US District Judge Carl Nichols, prosecutors said Bannon should be hit with the maximum sentence recommended under federal guidelines, six months in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons “for his sustained, bad-faith contempt of Congress”. The ex-Trump aide’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Friday.
Andrew Feinberg reports.
Steve Bannon deserves six-month sentence for ‘defiance and contempt’, DOJ says
Fauci describes bad feeling on day Trump suggested injecting disinfectant to cure Covid
01:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Anthony Fauci has described his trepidation ahead of the press conference when then-President Donald Trump suggested injecting disinfectant to battle Covid-19.
The chief medical adviser to the president and the director of the National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases since 1984 spoke to ABC News ahead of his retirement from government service at the end of 2022.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
Fauci shares bad feeling on day Trump suggested injecting disinfectant to cure Covid
Is 2022 a 2020 sequel or a preview of 2024 for Biden and Trump?
Tuesday 18 October 2022 00:30 , Oliver O'Connell
This year’s midterm elections are playing out as a strange continuation of the last presidential race — and a potential preview of the next one.
Donald Trump, who refused to exit the stage after his defeat, has spent months raging against Joe Biden, reshaping downballot campaigns that normally function as a straightforward referendum on the incumbent president.
The result is an episode of political shadowboxing with little precedent, as the current president and his immediate predecessor — and possible future challenger — crisscross the country in support of their party’s candidates.
For Biden and Trump, 2022 is 2020 sequel — and 2024 preview?
Chris Christie mocks Trump for prop Resolute Desk
Monday 17 October 2022 23:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says that Donald Trump’s ego may never recover from the blow dealt to him by Joe Biden in 2020.
In an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday the former Trump ally mocked his fellow 2016 contender over a photo recently posted by the president showing him behind a large, wooden desk at Mar-a-Lago that bears striking resemblances to the massive Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.
Christie mocks Trump for prop Resolute Desk: He ‘can’t believe he’s not president’
ICYMI: Trump tells US Jews they should appreciate what he’s achieved in Israel
Monday 17 October 2022 23:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has said that US Jews should appreciate what he’s achieved for Israel “before it’s too late”.
Mr Trump claimed that Evangelicals have been more appreciative of his support for Israel and that he could “easily” be prime minister of the country because of his strong support there.
“No President has done more for Israel than I have,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday morning. “Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the US.”
Gustaf Kilander reports on the former president’s latest controversial remarks.
Trump tells US Jews they should appreciate what he’s achieved in Israel
Trump jabs at McConnell on Truth Social
Monday 17 October 2022 22:30 , Oliver O'Connell
The former president went after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Truth Social earlier today, posting:
Just read in, of all places, The New York Times, that the Broken Old Crow, Mitch McConnell, has lost every single time to me in his cherished Senate races. I am 42-0 over the last two cycles, & never even tried to run up the score by opposing Todd Young of Indiana, or John Thune of South Dakota - They may be RINO’s, and puppets of Mitch, but they are just fine. Do I also get credit for endorsing Mitch himself, who was heading for a landslide LOSS until he begged me to Endorse him. Sadly, I did!
Trump claims National Archives ‘lost’ nuclear secrets
Monday 17 October 2022 22:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has claimed that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) “lost” nuclear secrets but that they “don’t care”.
The former president also asserted that NARA had “lost” “massive amounts of information from past Presidents”.
Gustaf Kilander reports on Trump’s wild accusations.
Trump claims that National Archives ‘lost’ nuclear secrets but they ‘don’t care’
Trump sons wanted Truth social stake as ‘handout'
Monday 17 October 2022 21:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump wanted a stake in the former president’s media company despite little to no involvement, a co-founder of Trump Media & Technology Group has said.
Speaking to The Washington Post, Will Wilkerson outlined infighting and possibly illegal actions at the company.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
Trump’s sons Donald Jr and Eric wanted stake in Trump Social as a ‘handout’
Republican hopefuls turn to Pence to broaden appeal before election
Monday 17 October 2022 21:15 , Oliver O'Connell
The final weeks of this year’s intensely competitive midterm elections suggest that the former vice president’s fortunes have shifted as he lays the groundwork for his own potential 2024 White House campaign.
Read more:
GOP hopefuls turn to Pence to broaden appeal before election
Cheney hints Jan 6 committee may hold further public hearings
Monday 17 October 2022 20:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Liz Cheney has hinted that there may be more January 6 committee public hearings to come in the wake of a subpoena being issued for Donald Trump.
The Republican lawmaker made the remarks at Notre Dame on Friday, the day after the committee dramatically voted to subpoena the one-term president.
Graeme Massie reports.
Liz Cheney hints Jan 6 committee may hold more public hearings
Trump pushed Truth Social executives to give their shares to Melania
Monday 17 October 2022 20:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump pressured Truth Social executives to hand over their shares in his right-wing social media platform to former first lady Melania Trump, according to a whistleblower.
Graeme Massie reports.
Trump pressured Truth Social executives to hand over their shares to Melania
Antisemitic: White House condemns Trump comments on American Jews
Monday 17 October 2022 19:45 , Oliver O'Connell
The White House has slammed former president Donald Trump’s claim that American Jews should be more like evangelical Christians and appreciate him more because of his policies towards Israel.
The ex-president made the widely-condemned comments on his Truth Social website over the weekend.
Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.
White House condemns Trump remarks on American Jews as ‘anti-semitic’ and ‘insulting’
Racy texts between Oath Keepers’ leader and lawyer revealed during sedition hearing
Monday 17 October 2022 19:20 , Oliver O'Connell
And Graig Graziosi reports on the latest unexpectedly racy developments from the trial:
Oath Keepers’ leader and lawyer sent racy texts, prosecutor reveals
ICYMI: The Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial so far
Monday 17 October 2022 19:00 , Oliver O'Connell
With court proceedings against the Oath Keepers continuing in Washington, DC, Alex Woodward looks at everything we’ve learned about the trial to date.
What we learned from the Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial so far
Mike Lee mocked for opinion column celebrating himself
Monday 17 October 2022 18:40 , Oliver O'Connell
Utah Senator Mike Lee is being roasted for writing an opinion piece in the Salt Lake Tribune in which he praises himself in the third person.
“Since taking office, Senator Mike Lee has earned a reputation as a principled conservative. He believes elected officials are responsible for keeping the federal government within its constitutionally limited role,’ writes Sen Mike Lee,” a plug for the article on social media states.
The awkward phrasing brought cackles of derision on social media.
Bevan Hurley has the story.
Mike Lee roasted for opinion column celebrating himself
Trump charged ‘exorbitant’ rates when putting Secret Service in his own hotels
Monday 17 October 2022 18:23 , Oliver O'Connell
Former President Donald Trump’s frequent trips to his properties ended up being the windfall that ethics experts long expected them to be, according to new documents obtained by Congress.
The records were obtained as part of an investigation by the Democrat-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating how the Trump family profited from Donald Trump’s four years in power. The documents were released publicly on the committee’s website.
John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.
Trump earned $1,185 per night by putting Secret Service in his own hotel rooms
Marjorie Taylor Greene on the Jan 6 riot
Monday 17 October 2022 18:00 , Andrew Naughtie
Extremist Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene yesterday described herself as a “victim” of the 6 January attack on the US Capitol. But as Joe Sommerlad writes, she in fact has a long record not just of defending the people who carried it out, but of propagating exactly the false claims and calls to action that have helped drive threats to public officials and institutions.
What Marjorie Taylor Greene has previously said about the Capitol riot
ICYMI: Even Trump concerned about Kanye West’s antisemitism
Monday 17 October 2022 17:30 , Andrew Naughtie
Donald Trump, who once posed for photos with Kanye West at Trump Tower after the rapper embraced the then-president-elect and invited him to the White House while in office, is privately rebuking the artist’s recent public tirades against Jewish people, according to Rolling Stone.
The former president has reportedly confided in multiple people close to him that the rapper’s social media blasts, in which he said he planned to go “death con 3” on “JEWISH PEOPLE,” have led him to believe that West is acting too “crazy” and he should seek out professional “help”.
Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Rolling Stone that the one-term president is intentionally avoiding commenting on the scandals that have erupted since the rapper began railing against the Jewish community.
Oliver O’Connell reports.
Even Trump concerned by Kanye West acting ‘crazy’, report says
Trump offers up new Mitch McConnell rant
Monday 17 October 2022 17:00 , Andrew Naughtie
Donald Trump’s loathing of Mitch McConnell is hardly a secret, but he has steadily grown more and more openly aggressive in it. His current beef is Mr McConnell’s reported opposition to most of Mr Trump’s chosen Senate candidates, many of whom are struggling to catch up or stay even in the polls in what werre once thought eminently winnable races.
Trial hears Oath Keepers were caught on hours of CCTV around time of Jan 6 riot
Monday 17 October 2022 16:45 , Andrew Naughtie
Court proceedings are underway in the seditious conspiracy trial of several members of the extremist Oath Keepers, who are accused of plotting to commit acts of violence against the federal government. Among the most disquieting evidence is footage of the group’s members mustering at a hotel in the DC area where they are alleged to have stored weapons for the use of what they called a “Quick Reaction Force”.
And it seems there is plenty of footage for the prosecution to point to...
The FBI agent says "conservatively" that there are 80 to 90 hours of CCTV footage of them.
In another video, she says, Oath Keepers defendants Thomas Caldwell, Jessica Watkins and Donovan Crowl appear to salute each other.
It's dated Jan. 7, 2021, she notes.— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 17, 2022
The jury have also been shown evidence of a very different kind.
HAPPENING NOW: Prosecutors just walked jurors through a series of sexually explicit text messages between Stewart Rhodes and Kellye SoRelle, showing their relationship went a bit, uh, beyond attorney-client.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) October 17, 2022
Trump: “MAGA doesn’t Vote for stupid people with big mouths"
Monday 17 October 2022 16:12 , Andrew Naughtie
Donald Trump is awake and truthing, and has kicked off his day with a rant against a Colorado Senate candidate who is trying to distance himself from the former president as he takes on incumbent Democrat Michael Bennet.
But the argument Mr Trump is putting forward doesn’t make exactly the case he intended.
Anti-Defamation League CEO on Trump’s Jewish gratitude demand
Monday 17 October 2022 15:42 , Andrew Naughtie
Donald Trump is still catching flak for his suggestion that American Jews owe him more credit for his Israel policies and should start extending it “before it is too late”. Here’s a take on the import of his words from Jonathan Greenblat, head of the Anti-Defamation League:
.@JGreenblattADL describing Trump’s statement about American Jews to @brikeilarcnn: “All of this is rather confusing, but it is a clear part of a pattern..when the President says ‘before it's too late,’ it sounds like a threat in an environment where Jews already feel threatened”
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) October 17, 2022
Trump announces Texas rally later this week
Monday 17 October 2022 15:16 , Andrew Naughtie
Donald Trump is to give one of his periodic campaign rallies in Texas this Saturday, per an email sent out by his Save America PAC. He will appear in Robstown at 7pm ET and will presumably be joined by at least some of the state’s Republican candidates and incumbents, though their names are not mentioned.
Instead, the email simply promises that Mr Trump will deliver “remarks in support of his unprecedented effort to advance the MAGA agenda by energizing voters and highlighting the slate of 33-0 Trump Endorsed America First candidates in the Great State of Texas.”
DoJ recommends jail time for Bannon in Jan 6 contempt case
Monday 17 October 2022 14:28 , Andrew Naughtie
Former Trump White House aide turned right-wing podcaster Steve Bannon deserves a six-month custodial sentence for having pursued a “bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt” after receiving a House January 6 committee subpoena, the Department of Justice has said
In a sentencing memorandum filed before US District Judge Carl Nichols, prosecutors said Mr Bannon should be hit with the maximum sentence recommended under federal guidelines, six months in custody of the Bureau of Prisons “for his sustained, bad-faith contempt of Congress”.
The Justice Department also asked Judge Nichols to impose a $200,000 fine because Mr Bannon refused to cooperate with a pre-sentencing probe into his finances.
Andrew Feinberg reports.
Steve Bannon deserves six-month sentence for ‘defiance and contempt’, says DOJ
Kinzinger: Trump secret service agents still haven’t testified
Monday 17 October 2022 14:00 , Andrew Naughtie
Appearing on ABC News yesterday, Adam Kinzinger revealed that members of Donald Trump’s Secret Service detail who called Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony a lie still have not testified to his panel despite offering to do so months ago.
“They claim they’d come and speak to us,” he said. “They won’t do it. They have yet to come in.”
Watch his interview below.
On ABC, @AdamKinzinger updates us on "the former Secret Service members who claimed that Cassidy Hutchinson was lying [about] that conversation of what happened in the limo."
"They claimed they’d...speak to us. They won’t do it. They have yet to come in." https://t.co/3SeNrm2FTa— Will Saletan (@saletan) October 17, 2022
Trump concerned about Kanye West’s antisemitic rantings: report
Monday 17 October 2022 13:30 , Andrew Naughtie
Even as he faces criticism himself for demanding gratitude from American Jews, Donald Trump is reportedly concerned that his erratic supporter Kanye West may have gone off the deep end with his far more disturbing comments in recent weeks – specifically that he intends to go “death con 3” on “JEWISH PEOPLE”.
According to a report from Rolling Stone, people close to Mr Trump say he has been concerned for Mr West’s state of mind, saying he has been acting “crazy” and needs “professional help”.
Read the report here.
Trump persists in wind turbine obsession
Monday 17 October 2022 13:00 , Andrew Naughtie
Donald Trump’s loathing of all things wind power well predates his presidency, and appears to stem in large part from a row with the Scottish Government over an offshore wind farm built near his Aberdeenshire golf course. Yesterday, amid all the other controversies swirling around him, he found time for another rant against his least favourite form of energy, which he has previously suggested can cause cancer (it does not).
‘Holy s***’: Fauci describes bad feeling on day Trump suggested injecting disinfectant to cure Covid
Monday 17 October 2022 12:30 , Andrew Naughtie
Anthony Fauci has described his trepidation ahead of the press conference when then-President Donald Trump suggested injecting disinfectant to battle Covid-19.
The chief medical adviser to the president and the director of the National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases since 1984 spoke to ABC News ahead of his retirement from government service at the end of 2022.
“And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that?” Mr Trump said in the White House briefing room on 23 April 2020.
“Where were you when President Trump floated the idea of injecting disinfectant?” ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked Dr Fauci.
“I was at the White House, yes. I didn’t want to go up on there with this because I had a bad feeling about when Homeland Security brought this guy in, he briefed the people in the Situation Room beforehand. And as soon as I heard it, I said, holy s***, this is going to go bad. Why don’t I bow out of this one?” Dr Fauci said.
Read more:
Fauci shares bad feeling on day Trump suggested injecting disinfectant to cure Covid
Trump documentary maker calls former president message to US Jewish population ‘irresponsible and dangerous’
Monday 17 October 2022 11:55 , Andrew Naughtie
Alex Holder, whose documentary about the aftermath of the 2020 election shed light on the Trump family’s behaviour leading up to the Capitol attack and the atmosphere in the White House after it, has joined the chorus of condemnation following Mr Trump’s tweet directed at American Jews:
Irresponsible and dangerous. As a Jew, I experienced this language firsthand while interviewing Trump. https://t.co/A03WJ2uJHu
— Alex Holder (@alexjholder) October 16, 2022
Didn’t your father attempt a coup… and invite a film crew along to document it? https://t.co/hjJGs9umgw
— Alex Holder (@alexjholder) October 16, 2022
Mr Holder’s film, Unprecedented, added relatively little of substance to the already well-understood accoutn of the “Stop the Steal” campaign and its consequences, but its footage of interviews with the Trump family, Mike Pence and others offered a rare chance to hear about it from the horses’ mouths. Read more from Andrew Buncombe:
The little known British filmmaker came to be at the centre of case against Trump
GOP hopefuls turn to Pence to broaden appeal before election
Monday 17 October 2022 11:20 , Andrew Naughtie
In Donald Trump’s assessment, Mike Pence “committed political suicide” on Jan. 6, 2021.
By refusing to go along with the former president’s unconstitutional push to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Pence became a leading target of Trump’s wrath and a pariah in many Republican circles.
But the final weeks of the intensely competitive 2022 election suggest the former vice president’s fortunes have shifted as he lays the groundwork for his own potential campaign for the White House in 2024.
The man who was booed last year at a conservative conference is now an in-demand surrogate for Republican candidates, including some who spent their primaries obsessively courting Trump’s endorsement, in part by parroting Trump’s election lies.
Pence has been traveling the country, holding events and raising millions for candidates and Republican groups, including signing fundraising solicitations for party committees.
Read more:
GOP hopefuls turn to Pence to broaden appeal before election
Reporters say Trump’s impeachments ‘could have gone the other way'
Monday 17 October 2022 10:45 , Gustaf Kilander
The authors of a new book on Donald Trump’s impeachments have said that they “could have gone the other way”.
“There’s sort of two things we’re going to be challenging here in this book in our reporting,” Politico’s Rachel Bade said of Unchecked: The Untold Story Behind Congress’ Botched Impeachments of Donald Trump on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday.
“The first one is that Trump’s acquittal, both of them, were inevitable. We find ... a whole bunch of pivotal moments where things could have gone the other way. Moderate Democrats - or moderate Republicans who, behind the scenes, were freaking out about Trump’s behaviour and came so close to voting to impeach or convict,” Ms Bade added. “But for certain things that Democrats had done that alienated them or times when Democrats put pressure on their own investigators not to do a full investigation, to try to make the strongest case possible to the public that Trump was dangerous. And so we challenge that.”
“The second sort of preconceived notion we challenge is that there’s this sort of sentiment out there that Republicans just sort of turned a blind eye to everything Trump did and that’s why he got away with everything while Democrats were doing the best they can to make the strongest case publicly,” she said. “But, again, we find a lot of examples where Democrats were putting their political concerns over strategic fact-finding to just try to lay out the case and - and privately they have told us that ... they did half-baked impeachments and that they didn’t make the strongest case possible, and some of them have regrets.”
Chris Christe says Trump kept secret documents as ‘trophy'
Monday 17 October 2022 10:00 , Gustaf Kilander
Chris Christe has said that he believes that former President Donald Trump kept secret documents at Mar-a-Lago as a “trophy”.
“None of us ... who know him are surprised. He wanted to keep these documents as a trophy. That’s what they were, more than anything,” the former New Jersey governor said on ABC’s This Week.
“They’re a trophy that he walks around and says, look, I’ve got this. I’ve got this classified document or that, because ... he can’t believe he’s not president,” he added.
“He can’t believe he still doesn’t get these documents, and he needs to display to everybody down at Mar-a-Lago or up in Bedminster during the summer he still has some of those trappings. The replica Resolute Desk in Mar-a-Lago and all the rest of those things are things that are assuaging ... his disappointment and his disbelief that he’s not the president anymore,” Mr Christie said.
Maggie Haberman says Truth Social revelations are ‘staggering’
Monday 17 October 2022 09:15 , Graeme Massie and Gustaf Kilander
Journalist Maggie Haberman has said that the revelation that Donald Trump pressured Truth Social executives to hand over their shares in his right-wing social media platform to former first lady Melania Trump is “staggering”.
Will Wilkerson, one of the first employees of Trump Media & Technology Group, claims the former president called co-founder Andy Litinsky in a Florida coffee shop and made the demand of him.
The Washington Post says that Mr Trump made the request, which was worth millions of dollars, despite having already been given 90 per cent of the company’s shares.
Mr Wilkerson says that Mr Litinsky refused, telling the former president that “the gift would have meant a huge tax bill he couldn’t pay.
“Trump didn’t care. He said, ‘Do whatever you need to do.”
Mr Wilkerson filed a whistleblower complaint in August with the Securities and Exchange Commission, alleging securities violations involving the Trump Media and Digital World merger.
“This is a real problem,” Ms Haberman said on ABC’s This Week. “There’s an ongoing SEC investigation. We know that this entity of his is under scrutiny and the SEC is playing by real rules. This is not some organization that he can go lobby or negotiate with or use his normal, you know, tricks of the trade.”
“This bit about pressuring someone to give Melania Trump shares is staggering. It’s very hard to explain away. He has significant legal problems. People should not forget this SEC investigation,” she added.
Trump ‘can’t believe he’s not president,’ Chris Christie says
Monday 17 October 2022 08:30 , Gustaf Kilander
Trump “can't believe he's not president,” @GovChristie tells @GStephanopoulos.
“The replica Resolute Desk in Mar-a-Lago and all the rest of those things...are assuaging his disappointment and his disbelief that he's not the president anymore.” https://t.co/wwBtptLxo4 pic.twitter.com/kNfcuXV1rR— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 16, 2022
Former DNC chair predicts possible Trump Jan 6 testimony would include pleading the fifth amendment
Monday 17 October 2022 07:45 , Gustaf Kilander
On possibility of former Pres. Trump testifying before the Jan. 6 Committee, @DonnaBrazile says: “Even if he shows up we all know that he's going to practice how to say, ‘I’ll take the Fifth’ or 'my attorneys have told me not to talk.’” https://t.co/fLWG1gu6Mm pic.twitter.com/yBuuObJ18u
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 16, 2022
Trump faces backlash over US Jews comments
Monday 17 October 2022 07:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Donald Trump is facing criticism for his comments about US Jews, and his suggestion that they should support him more for moving the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Many reacting on social media viewed his comments as a threat to the community.
“Nothing to see here. Just a former US president using threatening language about American Jews at a time when antisemitism is on a global rise,” Yaakov Katz, editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post wrote.
Others said that his comments cannot, and should not, be ignored. Alexander Vindman, a retired US army colonel, warned that Mr Trump “is executing the fascist playbook to turn his mob on Jews.” He added: “Has a single Republican denounced Trump threatening American… Jewish Americans?”
Christie blasts Republicans deferring to Trump in presidential race
Monday 17 October 2022 07:00 , Gustaf Kilander
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has slammed Republicans who say they won’t run for president if Donald Trump chooses to do so.
“If your decision to run for president depends on what someone else does, you have no business being president. You have to be willing to say ‘I have the skills, the ability and the desire to help change the country for the better regardless of who runs,’” Mr Christie told Fox News. “If you think you’re the best person to do that, then you shouldn’t care who else runs. I certainly don’t.”
Kinzinger says voters have to stand up to protect democracy in face of election denialism
Monday 17 October 2022 06:15 , Gustaf Kilander
As election deniers run for offices across the country, Jan. 6 Committee member Rep. Kinzinger says threat to democracy won't "go away organically.”
“This is going to take the American people really standing up and making the decision the truth matters.” https://t.co/AnBcm6DHka pic.twitter.com/fIbzsMFvVR— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 16, 2022
“The torch has been passed—yes to DOJ—but also to the American people.”
Jan. 6 Committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger tells @GStephanopoulos that it’s up to voters to “stop this from...happening again.” https://t.co/gqQyiyf1VV pic.twitter.com/hhoYkuVPdf— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 16, 2022
Do ties to secretive cult may explain Tulsi Gabbard’s perplexing political journey?
Monday 17 October 2022 21:40 , Oliver O'Connell
Bevan Hurley writes that Tulsi Gabbard’s upbringing in an offshoot of the Hare Krishna movement with strict devotion to a secretive guru sheds light on her apparent fondness for Vladimir Putin.
Tulsi Gabbard’s ties to secretive cult may explain her perplexing political journey
Nancy Pelosi rejected efforts to impeach Trump on night of Jan 6, reporters say
Monday 17 October 2022 05:30 , Gustaf Kilander
Speaker Nancy Pelosi shut down an effort by members of Congress on January 6 to try to impeach fmr. Pres. Trump that night, POLITICO's Rachael Bade says of the reporting in "Unchecked," the book she co-authors. pic.twitter.com/bk6N5uphQI
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 16, 2022
Reporter says Jan 6 panel work is ‘corrective action’ after ‘pulling punches’ during impeachments
Monday 17 October 2022 04:45 , Gustaf Kilander
"We're seeing corrective action," The Washington Post's Karoun Demirjian, co-author of "Unchecked,” says of the Jan. 6 committee. Demirjian says the panel's work pulling in GOP witnesses is a recognition “they pulled some punches" in the impeachment trials of fmr. Pres. Trump. pic.twitter.com/ZaIZunR5Be
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 16, 2022
Lincoln Project co-founder calls for organisation to be ‘reformed or shut down’ after documentary alleges missing funds
Monday 17 October 2022 04:36 , Maroosha Muzaffar
A co-founder of the Lincoln Project, the super PAC founded by Republican strategists known for its viral ads tearing into Donald Trump, is calling for the organisation to be “reformed or shut down,” as a new a Showtime documentary delves into the numerous financial scandals and interpersonal conflicts that have dogged the controversial organisation.
Read the full story by Josh Marcus here:
Lincoln Project co-founder calls for group to be ‘reformed or shut down’
Chris Christie mocks Trump for prop Resolute Desk: He ‘can’t believe he’s not president’
Monday 17 October 2022 04:28 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says that Donald Trump’s ego may never recover from the blow dealt to him by Joe Biden in 2020.
In an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday the former Trump ally mocked his fellow 2016 contender over a photo recently posted by the president showing him behind a large, wooden desk at Mar-a-Lago that bears striking resemblances to the massive Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
Mr Christie said that the president’s choice of decoration showed that Mr Trump still needed to think of himself as commander-in-chief, which he argued was the underlying reason why he and his team had held on to documents, including classified materials, rather than turn them over to the National Archives.
Read the full story by John Bowden here:
Christie mocks Trump for prop Resolute Desk: He ‘can’t believe he’s not president’
‘I’m definitely thinking about it’: Former Trump ally Chris Christe mulls 2024 run
Monday 17 October 2022 04:00 , Gustaf Kilander
Former Trump ally and New Jersey Governor Chris Christe is considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 in the Trump-critic lane of the party.
“I’m definitely thinking about it. I haven’t made any final decisions about what I’m going to do or not do and I won’t make any final decision until next year,” Mr Christie told Fox News while campaigning in North Scituate in Rhode Island.
“Once you’ve run for president and you’ve had the opportunity to meet folks all across the country, and you see what’s going on in this country now, it’s hard to turn your back on that,” he added. “So I’m going to continue to be a force, whether it’s as a candidate or in supporting other candidates … to try and make the country better.”
He was asked if there’s any space for a Trump critic in a GOP primary.
“Of course, there is,” he said. “I disagree with the premise that [the GOP is] dominated by Donald Trump. I don’t think that it is. What it’s dominated by are conservative principles that we want to stand for.”
“We want to win again. The problem here as you know is that we haven’t done much winning since 2016,” he said. “It’s time to start winning again and that’s the kind of approach if I run that I would bring. We need to nominate someone who can win a general election. Not someone who will go down in flames in one.”
DOJ ‘appears to be pursuing’ Jan 6 investigation ‘pretty hard,’ Kinzinger says
Monday 17 October 2022 03:15 , Gustaf Kilander
“The Justice Department appears to be pursuing this pretty hard,” Jan. 6 Committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger tells @GStephanopoulos after panel votes to subpoena former Pres. Donald Trump. https://t.co/XNA7ujXQke pic.twitter.com/bi0Y1iQFwM
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 16, 2022
Journalist challenges perception that Trump’s impeachment acquittals were ‘inevitable’
Monday 17 October 2022 02:30 , Gustaf Kilander
‘That’s going to be a negotiation’: Kinzinger responds to Trump suggestion of live testimony
Monday 17 October 2022 01:45 , Gustaf Kilander
Asked if it would be acceptable for former Pres. Trump to come testify live before the Jan. 6 Committee, GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger tells @GStephanopoulos: “I think that’s going to be a negotiation.” https://t.co/a4Xc0dQf77 pic.twitter.com/79XITMq2nI
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 16, 2022
‘I’m rather appalled, quite frankly’: Former Archivist of the United States blasts Trump claims
Monday 17 October 2022 01:00 , Gustaf Kilander
The former Archivist of the United States under President George HW Bush has said he’s worried about Donald Trump trying to delegitimize the National Archives and Records Administration.
Don Wilson told Insider about his concerns after Mr Trump claimed that Mr Bush took millions of files to a “Chinese restaurant-slash-bowling alley” with a “broken front door and broken windows”.
“I’m rather appalled, quite frankly,” Mr Wilson told the outlet. “Obviously either his advisers, speech writers, or someone doesn’t really get their facts right. And then I guess he thinks they make a good sound bite, but they’re completely false.”
“Reports that indicate or imply that those Presidential records were in the possession of the former Presidents or their representatives, after they left office, or that the records were housed in substandard conditions, are false and misleading,” NARA told Insider in a statement.
Jan 6 panel member Adam Kinzinger says Donald Trump ‘is required by law to come in’ after subpoena
Monday 17 October 2022 00:15 , Gustaf Kilander
“We made a decision—in front of the American people, not behind closed doors—to begin the process of subpoenaing the former president. He is required by law to come in,” Jan. 6 Committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger tells @GStephanopoulos. https://t.co/QdQ20lE3G7 pic.twitter.com/KqLlTVx4wR
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 16, 2022
Former North Carolina GOP governor says Republicans don’t want Trump and Democrats are ‘running away’ from Biden
Sunday 16 October 2022 23:30 , Gustaf Kilander
WATCH: Paul Ryan calls Trump “unelectable” and @PatMcCroryNC says Ryan isn’t alone.
“They can’t say it because they don’t want to upset the core 30% who [are] with Trump regardless.”
But Democrats don’t want to campaign with Biden, either, McCrory says. @MariaTeresa disagrees. pic.twitter.com/CavjbmkkBu— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) October 16, 2022
Pro-Trump election denier Kari Lake refuses to say she’ll accept result of her own Arizona race if she loses
Sunday 16 October 2022 22:45 , John Bowden
Former reporter Kari Lake was on CNN this Sunday facing questions from Dana Bash when she dodged multiple inquiries regarding whether she would accept the result of the election if she lost.
After sparring over Ms Lake’s false claims about the 2020 election for several minutes, Bash pivoted and asked whether Ms Lake would accept the result of next month’s midterms in Arizona, where she is facing Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs in the governor’s race.
Deflecting several time, Ms Lake answered finally: “I’m going to win the election and I’m going to accept that result.”
It’s an important question given Ms Lake’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election and her frequent mention of that view on the campaign trail — but the Republican candidate was furious with Bash for bringing it up over other issues like the economy or immigration.
“You want to have me on here and talk 2020 election, and you’re the one who accuses me of constantly talking about it?” she asked.
Bash responded: “I would never bring this up, ever, had you not been bringing this up, consistently, on the campaign trail.”
Read more:
Election denier Kari Lake refuses to say she’ll accept result of her own Arizona race
Bernie Sanders says working class Trump voters are worth trying to win over but slams ‘extreme’ right wing supporters
Sunday 16 October 2022 22:00 , Gustaf Kilander
WATCH: After Sen. Sanders (I-Vt.) advocated to court Trump voters in 2016 and 2020, are those voters worth winning over now?@SenSanders: “There are some extreme right-wing voters who are racists ... homophobes, xenophobes. ... I don’t think you are ever going to get them.” pic.twitter.com/X6cfBwMXWG
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) October 16, 2022
Fauci reflects on long career and Trump Covid response in ABC exit interview
Sunday 16 October 2022 21:15 , Gustaf Kilander
“I just want people to know that I gave it everything I had."
As Dr. Anthony Fauci prepares to step down from government service, he sits down with @jonkarl to reflect on his career and the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. https://t.co/YV9LiuMgHr pic.twitter.com/RxQ1Yojus2— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 16, 2022
Trump claims that National Archives ‘lost’ nuclear secrets but they ‘don’t care’
Sunday 16 October 2022 20:30 , Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump has claimed that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) “lost” nuclear secrets but that they “don’t care”.
The former president also asserted that NARA had “lost” “massive amounts of information from past Presidents”.
Mr Trump took to Truth Social on Sunday morning to say that “NARA has ‘lost’ massive amounts of information from past Presidents, including classified and nuclear secrets all over the place, and they don’t care, they only care about going after ‘Trump,’ even though we’ve done everything right as per the Presidential Records Act and the Clinton ‘Socks’ Case”.
The “Clinton Socks Case” is a reference to interviews President Bill Clinton did with author Taylor Branch while in the White House, with recordings of the interviews at one point being stored in a sock drawer, according to a 2007 CBS News story.
Mr Trump also posed a 2012 story by the investigative non-profit Center for Public Integrity concerning boxes of secret documents going missing.
Read more:
Trump claims that National Archives ‘lost’ nuclear secrets but they ‘don’t care’
Trump’s sons Donald Jr and Eric wanted stake in Trump Social as a ‘handout’, former executive claims
Sunday 16 October 2022 19:45 , Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump wanted a stake in the former president’s media company despite little to no involvement, a co-founder of Trump Media & Technology Group has said.
Speaking to The Washington Post, Will Wilkerson outlined infighting and possibly illegal actions at the company.
“They were coming in and asking for a handout,” he said regarding the president’s sons. “They had no bearing in this company … and they were taking equity away from hard-working individuals.”
“The Washington Post published a story rife with knowingly false and defamatory statements and other concocted psychodramas,” the Trump Media & Technology Group said in a statement, according to Insider.
A computer log concerning the daily activities of the company put together by the co-founders states that they were advised that Mr Trump Jr “needs a bedtime story and some love”.
The log also shows how they got used to dealing with former President Donald Trump’s “sudden reversals and rage,” as described by The Post.
“President trump calls me in morning to yell at me because don jr is upset,” the log said on 23 September 2021.
“Don jr calls Wes and yells at him,” it states on 24 September 2021 in reference to co-founder Wes Moss.
On 12 October last year, the log says that Mr Trump “calls in crazy mood and he tries to renegotiate the entire deal … don jr walks in room and wants to get paid”.
On 30 October, the log says Mr Trump “is pissed”.
Read more:
Trump’s sons Donald Jr and Eric wanted stake in Trump Social as a ‘handout’
‘Holy s***, this is gonna go bad’: Fauci describes bad feeling on day Trump suggested injecting disinfectant to cure Covid
Sunday 16 October 2022 19:00 , Gustaf Kilander
"Holy shit, this is gonna go bad" -- Fauci tells ABC that he had a "bad feeling" on day of briefing when Trump suggested injecting disinfectant could be Covid cure, says had he been there he would've tried to cut Trump off pic.twitter.com/eAXonYDQbN
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 16, 2022
Trump tells US Jews they should appreciate what he’s achieved in Israel ‘before it’s too late’
Sunday 16 October 2022 18:15 , Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump has said that US Jews should appreciate what he’s achieved for Israel “before it’s too late”.
Mr Trump claimed that Evangelicals have been more appreciative of his support for Israel and that he could “easily” be prime minister of the country because of his strong support there.
“No President has done more for Israel than I have,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday morning. “Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the US.”
“Those living in Israel, though, are a different story – Highest approval rating in the World, could easily be PM! US Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel – Before it is too late!” Mr Trump added.
The former consul-general for Israel in New York, Alon Pinkas, told The New Yorker for a piece outlining Mr Trump’s legacy in the country at the end of his term that “the American policy in Israel is totally symbolic”.
Read more:
Trump tells US Jews they should appreciate what he’s achieved in Israel
Trump endorses Lee Zeldin for governor of New York
Sunday 16 October 2022 17:30 , Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump has endorsed the GOP nominee for governor of New York, Lee Zeldin.
Mr Zeldin, a New York congressman, is facing incumbent Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, who entered the office after the resignation of Andrew Cuomo.
“I have watched and known Congressman Lee Zeldin for many years,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday morning. “He is a great and brilliant lawyer who was a ‘must see’ for others in Congress when they had a complex legal problem that was holding up legislation.”
“Lee was strong on the Border, Crime, our great Military & Vets (like few others!), and fought hard to protect our 2nd Amendment, and succeeded. Lee Zeldin is a WINNER who GOT THINGS DONE. He will be a GREAT Governor of New York, and has my Complete & Total Endorsement. GOOD LUCK LEE!” Mr Trump added.
Roger Stone says he’s suing filmmakers for $25m, claiming faked footage
Sunday 16 October 2022 16:45 , Gustaf Kilander
Roger Stone tells Alex Jones that the video played by the J6 Committee of him saying, “I said f*ck the voting, let’s get right to the violence,” is doctored and fake and he is suing the filmmakers for $25 million. pic.twitter.com/BKslnfco13
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) October 16, 2022
Trump claims National Archives has ‘lost’ ‘massive amounts of information from past Presidents’
Sunday 16 October 2022 16:00 , Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump took to Truth Social to claim that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has “lost” information from previous presidents.
“NARA has ‘lost’ massive amounts of information from past Presidents, including classified and nuclear secrets all over the place, and they don’t care, they only care about going after ‘Trump,’ even though we’ve done everything right as per the Presidential Records Act and the Clinton ‘Socks’ Case,” Mr Trump wrote on Saturday evening.
Donald Trump Jr claims Jan 6 subpeona was attempt to distract from inflation
Sunday 16 October 2022 15:15 , Gustaf Kilander
Junior says the J6 Committee only subpoenaed his dad to distract from inflation: “Even the son of a billionaire from Manhattan can be pissed off when he’s filling up his truck and going to the grocery store. More people are concerned about the cost of french fries.” pic.twitter.com/GxvE55HAiy
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) October 16, 2022
Trump says he could ‘easily’ be prime minister of Israel
Sunday 16 October 2022 14:40 , Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump has said that Evangelicals in the US have been more appreciative of his support for Israel and that he could “easily” be prime minister of the country because of his strong support there.
“No President has done more for Israel than I have,” Mr Trump claimed on Truth Social on Sunday morning. “Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S.”
“Those living in Israel, though, are a different story - Highest approval rating in the World, could easily be P.M.! U.S. Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel - Before it is too late!” Mr Trump added.
Trump pressured Truth Social executives to hand over their shares to Melania, co-founder claims
Sunday 16 October 2022 14:30 , Graeme Massie
Donald Trump pressured Truth Social executives to hand over their shares in his right-wing social media platform to former first lady Melania Trump, according to a whistleblower.
Will Wilkerson, one of the first employees of Trump Media & Technology Group, claims the former president called co-founder Andy Litinsky in a Florida coffee shop and made the demand of him.
The Washington Post says that Mr Trump made the request, which was worth millions of dollars, despite having already been given 90 per cent of the company’s shares.
Mr Wilkerson says that Mr Litinsky refused, telling the former president that “the gift would have meant a huge tax bill he couldn’t pay.
“Trump didn’t care. He said, ‘Do whatever you need to do.”
Mr Wilkerson filed a whistleblower complaint in August with the Securities and Exchange Commission, alleging securities violations involving the Trump Media and Digital World merger.
Read more:
Trump pressured Truth Social executives to hand over their shares to Melania
Donald Jr and Eric wanted stake in Trump media company: 'They were asking for a handout'
Sunday 16 October 2022 13:45 , Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump wanted a stake in the former president’s media company despite little to no involvement, a co-founder of Trump Media & Technology Group has said.
Speaking to The Washington Post, Will Wilkerson outlined infighting and possibly illegal actions at the company.
“They were coming in and asking for a handout,” he said regarding the president’s sons. “They had no bearing in this company … and they were taking equity away from hard-working individuals.”
“Ignoring these achievements, the Washington Post published a story rife with knowingly false and defamatory statements and other concocted psychodramas,” the Trump Media & Technology Group said in a statement, according to Insider.
Liz Cheney hints Jan 6 committee may hold more public hearings
Sunday 16 October 2022 13:02 , Graeme Massie
Liz Cheney has hinted that there may be more January 6 committee public hearings to come in the wake of a subpoena being issued for Donald Trump.
The Republican lawmaker made the remarks at Notre Dame on Friday, the day after the committee dramatically voted to subpoena the one-term president.
Ms Cheney was asked during an event at the Indiana university’s Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government why the committee had waited until the “last day” to act.
“It’s not necessarily the last day of the hearings,” she told the audience.
“I think we have felt it is very important that the investigation be conducted in a way that is rigorous and disciplined and responsible,” she added.
Liz Cheney hints Jan 6 committee may hold more public hearings
FBI official warned some agents ‘sympathetic’ Jan 6 rioters
Sunday 16 October 2022 12:02 , Gustaf Kilander
An FBI official was warned that some agents in the agency were “sympathetic” to the January 6 rioters a week after the insurrection, according to NBC News.
“There’s no good way to say it, so I’ll just be direct: from my first-hand and second-hand information from conversations since January 6th there is, at best, a sizable percentage of the employee population that felt sympathetic to the group that stormed the Capitol,” an individual wrote to Paul Abbate, who became the deputy director in February of last year.
The individual added that some agents argued that the insurrection wasn’t any different than the Black Lives Matter protests of the previous summer.
“Several also lamented that the only reason this violent activity is getting more attention is because of ‘political correctness’,” the email stated.
“I literally had to explain to an agent from a ‘blue state’ office the difference between opportunists burning and looting during protests that stemmed legitimate grievance to police brutality vs. an insurgent mob whose purpose was to prevent the execution of democratic processes at the behest of a sitting president,” the author of the email told Mr Abbate. “One is a smattering of criminals, the other is an organized group of domestic terrorists.”
Roger Stone claims new footage of him attacking Trumps is fake
Sunday 16 October 2022 11:02 , Gustaf Kilander
Roger Stone responds calling the footage fake. But can’t resist taking another swing at Jared and Ivanka pic.twitter.com/UG3FDHyepP
— Christoffer Guldbrandsen (@cguld) October 15, 2022
Secret Service downplayed extremist groups threats ahead of Jan 6, documents show
Sunday 16 October 2022 10:02 , Gustaf Kilander
NEW: I obtained 900 pages of docs via #FOIA from USSS about the lead up to Jan 6
One USSS intel advisory says Proud Boys "has not been known to engage in civil disobedience and their demonstrations have ended without incidents or arrests”
W/@MikeDorning https://t.co/66b6QDDBul pic.twitter.com/yaIDFkMO6i— Jason Leopold (@JasonLeopold) October 15, 2022
The Secret Service waited until a month after the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol to prepare and disseminate intel briefs for it's officers about Proud Boys & other extremist groups. pic.twitter.com/2ojkHIXphW
— Jason Leopold (@JasonLeopold) October 15, 2022
The Secret Service's Protective Intelligence Division certainly had flagged plenty of threats on social media leading up to Jan 6, like this one that's in our document cache
But when the agency identified extremist groups' protest plans for Jan 6 it downplayed the threat pic.twitter.com/djJLeV9lhE— Jason Leopold (@JasonLeopold) October 15, 2022
Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial nominee says pollsters are only calling people ‘in a certain demographic'
Sunday 16 October 2022 09:02 , Gustaf Kilander
Doug Mastriano says the polls showing him trailing are wrong because he claims pollsters are only calling people “in a certain demographic” in SE PA. pic.twitter.com/vchY0dUqtG
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) October 15, 2022
Maggie Haberman says Trump wants portrayals of ‘complete adulation’ or ‘competent strongman’
Sunday 16 October 2022 08:00 , Gustaf Kilander
According to journalist @maggieNYT, there are “two portraits of Donald Trump that Donald Trump likes.”
1. Complete adulation
2. Competent strong man
Her new book doesn’t paint either of those portraits, and “in some ways, this reality of him is more dangerous.” pic.twitter.com/G8ZWbnxSZS— The Recount (@therecount) October 15, 2022
Former Trump aide Seb Gorka claims Jan 6 footage of Pelosi was staged
Sunday 16 October 2022 07:02 , Gustaf Kilander
Seb Gorka says the Pelosi footage on J6 was all staged, complains about her taking mask off while on the phone, and says her statement that she wanted to punch Trump shows how the Democratic Party has “normalized violence in America.” pic.twitter.com/EUbWUX8d6l
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) October 15, 2022
Social Security boost seen as unlikely to help Dems at polls
Sunday 16 October 2022 06:00 , The Associated Press
The news that 70 million people will see an 8.7% boost in their Social Security checks next year came just weeks before Election Day, but it is unlikely to give Democrats the edge they are desperately seeking at the polls.
In fact, the promise of bigger payments could call even more attention to the surging prices that have been inflicting pain on households — and the reason behind Thursday’s announcement of the the program’s largest cost-of-living increase in four decades.
“It’s going to bring more money to people’s pockets, but it primes people to think about high inflation,” said Marty Cohen, a James Madison University political science professor.
“This is being done because inflation is bad, and that’s the reason for the large adjustment. It’s not an issue that Democrats want on the front burner for voters.”
Voters have ranked the economy as a higher priority than Social Security, with 71% of U.S. adults telling Pew Research Center in January that strengthening the economy was a top priority for the president and Congress versus 57% saying the same about ensuring the Social Security system is financially sound.
Read more:
Social Security boost seen as unlikely to help Dems at polls
Biden's pot pardons could boost states' legalization drive
Sunday 16 October 2022 05:02 , The Associated Press
There are few surprises expected on Election Day in solidly Republican Arkansas, where Donald Trump’s former press secretary is heavily favored in the race for governor and other GOP candidates are considered locks.
But one big exception is the campaign to make Arkansas the first state in the South to legalize recreational marijuana. A proposal to change the state’s constitution is drawing millions of dollars from opponents and supporters of legalization, with ads crowding the airwaves.
President Joe Biden‘s recent announcement that he will pardon thousands of people for simple marijuana possession has shined a new spotlight on the legalization efforts in Arkansas and four other states. Voters in Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota are also taking up measures on recreational marijuana.
Biden’s step toward decriminalizing the drug could provide a boost for legalization in some of the most conservative parts of the country, experts say.
“The most powerful elected leader in the world has publicly declared it was a mistake to criminalize people for using cannabis and I think that will go a long with voters who may be on the fence,” said Mason Tvert, partner at VS Strategies, a cannabis policy and public affairs firm.
Biden's pot pardons could boost states' legalization drive
Biden’s late push across West aims to deliver votes for Dems
Sunday 16 October 2022 04:02 , The Associated Press
President Joe Biden strode into the telephone bank at a crowded union hall and eagerly began making calls and eating doughnuts — one frosted, one glazed — as he tries every page in the political playbook to deliver votes for Democrats.
“What a governor does matters,” Biden said in a pep talk to volunteers who were making Friday night calls for gubernatorial hopeful Tina Kotek and other candidates. “It matters! It matters, it matters, it matters!”
Before leaving Portland on Saturday, the president planned to attend a reception for Kotek and give a speech about his administration’s efforts to bring down costs for Americans.
It was the final stop on a four-day swing through Oregon, California and Colorado that has encapsulated Biden’s strategy for turning out voters on Election Day, Nov. 8: flex the levers of government to help boost candidates, promote an agenda aimed at strengthening an uncertain economy and haul in campaign cash.
And this: show up for candidates when Biden can be helpful, steer clear of places where a visit from a president with approval ratings under 50% isn’t necessarily a good thing.
Read more:
Biden’s late push across West aims to deliver votes for Dems
VIDEO: Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker have fiery discussion on abortion in Georgia Senate Debate
Sunday 16 October 2022 03:00 , Gustaf Kilander
‘Rantings of a madman’: Trump derided for regurgitating disproven election lies in ‘nonsensical’ response to Jan 6 committee
Sunday 16 October 2022 02:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump’s response to a subpoena by the House select committee investigating the events of the January 6 Capitol riot has been met with derision and confusion, following its publication on Friday morning.
The former president released a four-page letter to the members of the committee — with a 10-page appendix attached — in which he regurgitated a range of disproven claims about fraud in the 2020 election.
Mr Trump also completely failed to mention the panel’s unanimous vote to subpoena him to testify under oath on his central role in the attack on the US Capitol in the final days of his presidency, as laid out over nine public hearings.
Instead, the former president began in his familiar style, writing in all caps that he still believes the 2020 election was “rigged and stolen”.
Read more:
Trump mocked for repeating disproven election lies in ‘unhinged’ reply to Jan 6 panel
New video shows Roger Stone threatening Trump he’ll get his ‘f***ing brains beat in’ if he runs again
Sunday 16 October 2022 01:00 , Gustaf Kilander and Andrew Feinberg
Roger Stone threatened Donald Trump that he would get his “f***ing brains beat in” if he runs for president again, a clip from a documentary has revealed.
Filmmaker Christoffer Guldbrandsen tweeted the short clip from A Storm Foretold on Saturday.
In the footage, Stone is on the phone in a moving car.
“I’m done with this president,” Stone says, referring to Trump. “I’m going to public supporting impeachment. I have no choice.”
“He has to go, he has to go – run again, you’ll get your f***ing brains beat in,” he adds.
The veteran GOP provocateur and former Trump adviser became so incensed by the news that he would not be granted a presidential pardon shielding him from prosecution over offences relating to the January 6 Capitol attack that he lashed out at Mr Trump’s family in extremely vulgar terms, previously released footage shows.
Documentary footage shot by Mr Guldbrandsen, a Danish filmmaker, for the upcoming film shows Mr Stone melting down on President Joe Biden’s Inauguration Day after being told Mr Trump would not issue any pardons relating to the Capitol insurrection.
Read more:
New video shows Roger Stone threatening Trump he’ll get his ‘f***ing brains beat in’
Elise Stefanik caught boasting about $12.9m hospital investment that she voted against
Saturday 15 October 2022 23:15 , Graeme Massie
Republican lawmaker Elise Stefanik has been caught touting $12.9m in funding for rural hospitals in her district that she actually voted against.
The pro-Trump congresswoman from New York welcomed the Rural Development Grants from the Department of Agriculture, calling it a “significant investment.”
But she failed to tell her constituents that the money was coming from Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which was passed by Congress in March 202, according to Politico.
Read more:
Elise Stefanik caught boasting about $12.9m hospital investment she voted against
Click here to read the full blog on The Independent's website
