Trump news – live: Trump posts vicious tirade against special counsel as first 2024 campaign event announced

Donald Trump has attacked the special counsel investigating him in vicious and personal terms in a new multi-part rant on Truth Social.

Calling special counsel Jack Smith a “thug”, Mr Trump also attacked the prosecutor’s wife.

“Jack Smith(?), is a Trump Hating THUG whose wife is a serial and open Trump Hater, whose friends & other family members are even worse,” Mr Trump wrote on his social media platform.

Meanwhile, former Trump campaign officials have been slapped with fresh subpoenas as part of the Department of Justice’s investigation into the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.

The staffers received the subpoenas early last month requiring them to hand over information on more than 20 different subjects including communications about Dominion voting machines, according to The Washington Post.

The revelation comes as the former president continues to fume about the discovery of classified documents from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president at a think tank in Washington, DC.

And after what has been characterised as a lacklustre start to his 2024 bid for reelection, it has been announced that Mr Trump will hold his first campaign event in South Carolina later this month.

Key points

• Trump launches vicious personal tirade against ‘thug’ special counsel investigating him

• Trump to hit 2024 campaign trail in South Carolina later this month

• Trump fumes over classified documents found at Biden think tank

• Trump baselessly accuses Biden of sharing secrets with China

• Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg sentenced to five months in jail

GOP lawmakers call for special counsel in tit-for-tat over Biden classified papers

16:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Republican senators are demanding that Attorney General Merrick Garland name a special prosecutor to investigate how Obama-era documents bearing classification markings ended up in two locations linked to President Joe Biden.

Andrew Feinberg reports for The Independent from Washington, DC.

Republicans call for special counsel in tit-for-tat over Biden document finds

Trump launches vicious personal tirade against ‘thug’ special counsel investigating him

15:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has attacked the special counsel investigating him in vicious and personal terms in a new multi-part rant on Truth Social.

Calling special counsel Jack Smith a “thug”, Mr Trump also attacked the prosecutor’s wife.

David Taintor reports.

Trump attacks special counsel investigating him in vicious and personal tirade

Biden special counsel reveals details of second set of classified documents

15:28 , Oliver O'Connell

Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, has released a statement saying that President Joe Biden’s lawyers found “a small number” of documents with classification markings in his Wilmington house's garage, and one more document in “an adjacent room” in storage.

Here’s the full statement:

As we stated previously, we are fully cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in possession of the Archives.

Following the discovery of government documents at the Penn Biden Center in November 2022, and coordinating closely with the Department of Justice, the President's lawyers have searched the President's Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, residences - the other locations where files from his Vice-Presidential office might have been shipped in the course of the 2017 transition. The lawyers completed that review last night.

During the review, the lawyers discovered among personal and political papers a small number of additional Obama-Biden Administration records with classified markings. All but one of these documents were found in storage space in the President's Wilmington residence garage. One document consisting of one page was discovered among stored materials in an adjacent room. No documents were found in the Rehoboth Beach residence.

As was done in the case of the Penn-Biden Center, the Department of Justice was immediately notified, and the lawyers arranged for the Department of Justice to take possession of these documents.

The White House will continue to cooperate with the review by the Department of Justice.

What is the key difference between Biden and Trump’s classified papers?

15:00 , Oliver O'Connell

News analysis: Andrew Feinberg explains how President Joe Biden’s attorneys reacted to discovering documents with classification markings in a locked office once used by the president will go a long way toward keeping the Department of Justice off his back.

The key difference between Biden and Trump’s classified papers

Trump’s defamation lawsuit claims CNN tried to ‘sabotage’ campaign with comparisons to Hitler and Nazism

14:30 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against CNN accuses the network of baselessly comparing the former president and his Make America Great Again movement to the rise of Nazism in 1930s Germany.

But the former president’s lawyers have unironically suggested in a recent filing that journalists are “an enemy of democracy” and invited the courts to strip First Amendment protections by revisiting landmark precedent in a decades-old US Supreme Court case, with Mr Trump’s lawsuit providing a “perfect vehicle” to tear it down.

The lawsuit also suggests that the network is responsible for the “rise of disinformation” without addressing Mr Trump’s own wave of bogus claims, including the so-called “big lie” baselessly alleging a conspiracy theory to steal the 2020 presidential election from him, a phrase that is central to his battle with the news network.

The Independent’s Alex Woodward has the full story:

Trump’s defamation suit claims CNN tried to ‘sabotage’ him with Hitler comparisons

Georgia lawmakers push back on testifying in Trump probe

14:00 , Rachel Sharp

Georgia state lawmakers are pushing back on a state court ruling that forced some of them to testify during an investigation into whether former President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in the state.

The state House and Senate adopted rules Wednesday that say legislative privilege — a legal concept rooted in the U.S. and Georgia constitutions that says lawmakers shouldn’t face questioning for activities relating to making laws — should shield communications with people outside the legislature. Most majority Republicans voted in favor and most Democrats voted against.

Crucially, the language is only part of legislative rules. It’s not clear if it would hold up in court, and judges nationwide have typically limited sweeping claims of legislative privilege.

Read more here:

Georgia lawmakers push back on testifying in Trump probe

Trump’s ‘stand back and stand by’ comments allowed in court at Proud Boys’ trial

13:30 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump’s comments telling the far-right hate group the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” are likely to come up in the trial against several of the group’s leaders.

During a presidential debate with Joe Biden in 2020, Mr Trumo said: “Proud Boys – stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what. I’ll tell you what. Somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem.”

On Wednesday, a federal judge ruled that prosecutors can use the footage of the then-president making the inflammatory comments during the trial of five members of the far-right group.

District Judge Timothy Kelly said that the comments show “an additional motive to advocate for Mr Trump (and) engage in the charged conspiracy” to try to stop the certification of the electoral college votes in favour of President Joe Biden.

Former group leader Enrique Tarrio and four others have been charged with seditious conspiracy and other crimes over the 6 January Capitol riots. The trial starts on Thursday.

ICYMI: Trump’s longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg to be jailed for five months for tax fraud scheme

13:00 , Alex Woodward

The former longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization has been sentenced to five months in jail after pleading guilty to several tax crimes stemming from a sweeping investigation into Donald Trump’s business empire.

Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 violations of New York tax law in August after prosecutors accused him of participating in a years-long “systemic” fraud scheme and a “sweeping and audacious illegal payment” arrangement in which Trump companies paid him generous benefits – including free rent, luxury car leases, and private school tuition for his grandchildren – that were not reported for tax purposes.

Read more:

Trump’s longtime chief financial officer jailed for five months for tax fraud scheme

Trump continues to fume over Biden documents

12:40 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump continues to fume about the discovery of classified documents from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president at a think tank in Washington DC.

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, he hit out at Karl Rove after the Fox News contributor pointed out key differences between the discoveries of documents associated with Mr Biden and Mr Trump.

“Karl Rove was, as usual, wrong when he stated that then V.P. Biden’s HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL papers, which were in his office for many years, were in any way similar to the Secret Service guarded, & otherwise very secure, Mar-a-Lago papers,” he wrote.

Late on Wednesday night, he then took to Truth Social again, posting a video of a Tucker Carlson monologue about the documents discoverye.

Alabama attorney general could prosecute women who take abortion drugs. Opponents say it’s ‘plainly unlawful’

12:00 , Alex Woodward

Days after the federal agencies made it easier to access abortion pills, Alabama’s chief law enforcement officer said women who use abortion medication can be prosecuted.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the state could prosecute people who use abortion drugs not under the state’s anti-abortion law but with an older “chemical endangerment of a child” statute initially designed to protect children from meth lab fumes.

The state’s Human Life Protection Act, enacted in the aftermath of the US Supreme Court decision to strike down Roe v Wade and a constitutional right to abortion care, outlaws nearly all abortions and criminalizes providers. It explicitly exempts abortion patients from prosecution.

Read more:

Women who take abortion pills can be prosecuted, Alabama attorney general says

Trump accused of having ‘racist obsession’ with Elaine Chao after repeatedly posting offensive nickname

11:38 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump has been accused of having a “racist obsession” with former cabinet member Elaine Chao after repeatedly posting an offensive nickname for her on Truth Social.

Trump tormenter George Conway posted eight screen grabs of posts the one-term president has made in the last two weeks about Mitch McConnell’s Taiwan-born wife.

“Trump’s racist obsession with Elaine Chao is really something. Almost every day now he mentions her,” tweeted Mr Conway, who is Kellyanne Conway’s husband, on Wednesday.

Read more here:

Trump accused of having ‘racist obsession’ with former cabinet secretary Elaine Chao

Voices: Biden needs to apologise about the classified documents

11:00 , Rachel Sharp

Joe Biden needs to apologise immediately.

He should call the Washington press corps to the East Room of the White House and say that he is sorry.

He should make clear he does not know how classified material was discovered in an office he once used after leaving the vice presidency, but that now, as president, the buck stops with him.

He should then shut up about the matter, at least until the investigation ordered by Attorney General Merrick Garland into what happened, is completed.

What Biden should not do is what he did in Mexico City earlier this week, at a joint press conference with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, and waffle on about how surprised he was, but that he was taking the matter seriously.

Opinion: Biden needs to apologise about those classified documents immediately

Trump 2024 campaign officials face fresh Jan 6 subpoenas

10:30 , Rachel Sharp

Officials working on Donald Trump’s third campaign for the White House have been slapped with fresh subpoenas as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, it has been revealed.

The staffers received the subpoenas early last month requiring them to hand over information on more than 20 different subjects, according to The Washington Post.

Among the information requested is any communications about the Dominion and Smartmatic voting machines.

The voting machine companies were the targets of baseless, right-wing conspiracy theories about election fraud.

The DOJ is also requesting information about organisations associated with Mr Trump and details about whether a third party is paying for the legal representation of the individuals subpoenaed.

Does the classified papers stash make Biden as bad as Trump? Here is the key difference

10:00 , Andrew Feinberg

To hear Republicans react to reports that attorneys working for President Joe Biden had discovered — and promptly reported — the presence of documents bearing classification markings at a Washington DC think tank where he kept an office before launching his 2020 presidential campaign, one might think Christmas came early in the new year.

But there remains a key difference between the two cases:

The key difference between Biden and Trump’s classified papers

Why five Proud Boys are on trial two years after January 6

09:30 , Alex Woodward

Two days before the attack on the US Capitol, the now-former chairman of the far-right nationalist gang the Proud Boys was arrested in Washington DC moments after stepping off a plane from Miami.

Enrique Tarrio was wanted by police after he admitted to tearing down and burning a Black Lives Matter flag outside a historically Black church in the nation’s capital during December riots connected to a protest supporting Donald Trump’s bogus claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

On 6 January, 2021, Tarrio watched the insurrection unfold from a hotel in Baltimore. Two years later, he is among five members of the self-described “Western chauvinist” gang charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the mob’s assault.

After jurors found two members of the far-right militia group the Oath Keepersguilty of seditious conspiracy against the government in November, federal prosecutors are now hoping to convict another high-profile group of rioters connected to the January 6 assault.

Read more:

‘Burn that city to ash’: Why five Proud Boys are on trial two years after January 6

Every lie disgraced incoming Congressman George Santos has been accused of making, so far

08:30 , John Bowden

It can be difficult keeping up with the list of fictions that George Santos has been accused of telling, admitted telling, or merely been caught spinning red-handed following a contradictory statement.

But, do not fret: The Independent is here, and we’re keeping track of the whole list of lies even as it continues to grow — both in number and in the sheer scale of the humiliation that it presents for not just Mr Santos, who remains adamant that he will serve two years in office as representative for New York’s third district, but for the Republican House caucus as a whole.

Home state Republicans and Democrats alike are calling for his resignation from Congress while major conservative groups are vowing not to work with him. Still, he has found a niche for himself among the GOP’s far-right Maga caucus, among fellows like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz.

Read more:

Every lie disgraced incoming Congressman George Santos has been accused of

Republicans blame poor border security for America’s fentanyl crisis, but experts tell a different story

07:30 , Richard Hall

Joe Biden arrived in Mexico this week for a summit with president Andres Manuel López Obrador aimed at addressing the record amounts of illicit fentanyl being smuggled across the border into the US.

The fentanyl crisis has wreaked havoc in the United States, turning an already catastrophic opioid epidemic even deadlier. Of the estimated 107,622 fatal drug overdoses in the US in 2021 — the highest number ever recorded — fentanyl was responsible for two thirds of deaths.

Republicans have sought to cast the fentanyl deaths as a border security problem, and blamed Mr Biden for not stopping shipments from coming into the country. That claim became a key theme of November’s midterm attacks on Democrats.

Read more:

Is an ‘open border’ to blame for America’s fentanyl crisis?

Trump lashes out after Fox analyst compares Biden think tank documents to FBI’s Mar-a-Lago haul

06:30 , Andrew Feinberg

A comparison of the dozen Obama-era documents at a Washington DC think once used by Joe Biden lawyers with the massive cache of classified material retrieved during an FBI search of former president Donald Trump’s home has left the twice-impeached ex-president more than a bit irate.

Mr Trump took to his Truth Social platform to lash out at Karl Rove, the former George W Bush White House official and GOP strategist, after Mr Rove unfavourably compared the matter of the ongoing probe into Mr Trump’s alleged unlawful retention of national defence information with the review of what Mr Biden’s lawyers reported to the National Archives in November.

Speaking on Fox News late Tuesday, Mr Rove said the “differences” between the two cases are significant.

Read more:

Trump lashes out after Fox analyst compares Biden documents to FBI’s Mar-a-Lago haul

GOP opens long-promised investigation into Biden family

05:30 , Farnoush Amiri

House Republicans on Wednesday opened their long-promised investigation into President Joe Biden and his family, wielding the power of their majority to demand information from the Treasury Department and former Twitter executives as they lay the groundwork for public hearings.

“Now that Democrats no longer have one-party rule in Washington, oversight and accountability are coming,” Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement.

The Republican-led committee sent a series of letters requesting financial information from the Treasury Department about financial transactions by members of the Biden family that were flagged as suspicious activity. Those reports are routine, with larger financial transactions automatically flagged to the government, and are not evidence on their own of misconduct.

Read more from the AP:

GOP opens long-promised investigation into Biden family

George Santos defiant in face of New York Republicans calling on him to resign

03:30 , Andrew Feinberg

Representative George Santos is refusing to heed calls for his resignation from top figures in the Nassau County Republican Party who have demanded he step down from Congress just days after he was sworn in to represent New York’s third Congressional District.

Asked whether he would resign in light of the numerous scandals surrounding him, he told ABC News on Wednesday: “I will not”.

In a tweet posted later that day, he doubled down on his recalcitrance, writing that he “was elected to serve the people of [the third Congressional District] not the party [and] politicians”.

Read more:

George Santos defiant in face of New York Republicans calling on him to resign

GOP pushes abortion restrictions as they begin new Congress

01:30 , Mary Clare Jalonick

House Republicans are moving toward early action on abortion with their new majority, voting on two measures Wednesday that make clear they want further restraints after the Supreme Court overruled the federal right to an abortion last year.

The new GOP-led House is voting on one resolution to condemn attacks on anti-abortion facilities, including pregnancy crisis centers, and on legislation that would impose penalties if a doctor refused to care for an infant born alive after an abortion attempt.

Neither is expected to pass the Democratic-led Senate, but Republicans say they are making good on promises to address the issue along with other legislative priorities in the first days in power.

Read more from the AP:

Republicans push anti-abortion measures with new majority

Georgia lawmakers push back on testifying in Trump probe

00:30 , Jeff Amy

Georgia state lawmakers are pushing back on a state court ruling that forced some of them to testify during an investigation into whether former President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in the state.

The state House and Senate adopted rules Wednesday that say legislative privilege — a legal concept rooted in the U.S. and Georgia constitutions that says lawmakers shouldn’t face questioning for activities relating to making laws — should shield communications with people outside the legislature. Most majority Republicans voted in favor and most Democrats voted against.

Read more from the AP:

Georgia lawmakers push back on testifying in Trump probe

How the gas stove became the newest player in the Republican culture war

Wednesday 11 January 2023 23:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Republicans have chosen a ubiquitous kitchen appliance as their freshest source of fury in the culture war – the humble gas stove.

“I’ll NEVER give up my gas stove. If the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands. COME AND TAKE IT!!” a possibly joking Ronny Jackson, the former presidential physician, now a GOP congressman from Texas, thundered on Twitter on Tuesday.

Read more on the latest front of the right’s culture war:

How the gas stove became the newest player in the Republican culture war

Kevin McCarthy: George Santos won’t be expelled

Wednesday 11 January 2023 22:15 , John Bowden

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy spoke to reporters on Wednesday about George Santos, the newly-seated congressman from New York, who has admitted to faking virtually every part of his background.

The GOP leader seemed to dismiss the notion that he would refuse to seat Mr Santos, but a number of Republicans are beginning to say that he should not receive any committee assignments at all. Mr McCarthy himself has said that Mr Santos will not sit on some of the more important panels.

"Is there a charge against him? You know, in America today, you’re innocent until proven guilty,” said Mr McCarthy on Wednesday.

"The voters made the decision and he has a right to serve here," the speaker added.

Trump lashes out after Fox analyst compares Biden think tank documents to FBI’s Mar-a-Lago haul

Wednesday 11 January 2023 21:37 , John Bowden

A comparison of the recent find of a dozen Obama-era documents at a Washington, DC think tank by President Joe Biden’s lawyers with the massive cache of classified material retrieved during an FBI search of former president Donald Trump’s home has left the twice-impeached ex-president more than a bit irate.

Mr Trump took to his Truth Social platform to lash out at Karl Rove, the former George W Bush White House official and GOP strategist, after Mr Rove unfavourably compared the matter of the ongoing probe into Mr Trump’s alleged unlawful retention of national defence information with the review of what Mr Biden’s lawyers reported to the National Archives in November.

Andrew Feinberg has more:

Trump lashes out after Fox analyst compares Biden documents to FBI’s Mar-a-Lago haul

Trump releases video rehashing beef with FBI

Wednesday 11 January 2023 20:36 , John Bowden

Donald Trump released a video message to his supporters and followers on Truth Social Wednesday afternoon in which he rambled for several minutes about a supposed massive campaign of censorship against “the American people and frankly, against me.”

In the video, Mr Trump speaks over an American flag background for several minutes about how the nation’s highest law enforcement agency is supposedly working with “high-placed” former defence officials at various social media platforms to silence dissenting opinions on his election fraud conspiracies and a wide range of other issues.

ICYMI:

Wednesday 11 January 2023 20:00 , John Bowden

The former longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization has been sentenced to five months in jail after pleading guilty to several tax crimes stemming from a sweeping investigation into Donald Trump’s business empire.

Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 violations of New York tax law in August after prosecutors accused him of participating in a years-long “systemic” fraud scheme and a “sweeping and audacious illegal payment” arrangement in which Trump companies paid him generous benefits – including free rent, luxury car leases, and private school tuition for his grandchildren – that were not reported for tax purposes.

Alex Woodward has been following the trial for The Independent.

Trump’s longtime chief financial officer jailed for five months for tax fraud scheme

‘Burn that city to ash’: Why five Proud Boys are on trial two years after January 6

Wednesday 11 January 2023 19:30 , John Bowden

On 6 January, 2021, Proud Boys founder Enrique Tarrio watched the insurrection unfold from a hotel in Baltimore. Two years later, he is among five members of the self-described “Western chauvinist” gang charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the mob’s assault.

After jurors found two members of the far-right militia group the Oath Keepersguilty of seditious conspiracy against the government in November, federal prosecutors are now hoping to convict another high-profile group of rioters connected to the January 6 assault.

The Independent is following this high-profile case:

‘Burn that city to ash’: Why five Proud Boys are on trial two years after January 6

Dr Oz campaign ended with tens of millions in debt

Wednesday 11 January 2023 19:00 , John Bowden

Dr Mehmet Oz’s failed bid for US Senate in Pennsylvania ended with the campaign more than $27m in debt, mostly the result of loans cut by Dr Oz himself.

It will be difficult for him to raise any money to cover those debts, meaning that the Trump-backed bid to protect GOP control of Pennsylvania’s Senate seat amounted to a massive financial loss for the candidate himself.

Before his popular daytime show ended in 2022, Dr Oz was pulling in around $20m yearly according to financial disclosure forms filed as part of his Senate run.

George Santos remains defiant amid new calls for his ouster

Wednesday 11 January 2023 18:31 , John Bowden

Embattled Congressman George Santos tweeted that he would not resign on Wednesday after the chairman of his home county’s Republican Party organisation disavowed him and called for him to step down at a fiery press conference.

“I was elected to serve the people of #NY03 not the party & politicians, I remain committed to doing that and regret to hear that local officials refuse to work with my office to deliver results to keep our community safe and lower the cost of living,” wrote the newly-seated congressman.

He added: “I will NOT resign!”

Nassau GOP chairman unloads on George Santos

Wednesday 11 January 2023 17:45 , John Bowden

Joseph Cairo, chairman of the Nassau County Republican Party, was unsparing of his criticism of George Santos at a press conference on Wednesday.

“He has no place in the Nassau County Republican Party, nor should he serve in public service or as an elected official. He’s disgraced the House of Representatives and we do not consider him one of our congresspeople,” the chairman said.

“By all accounts, he seems incapable and unwilling to take full responsibility for his lies and fabrications. Beyond all that, he is under local, state and federal investigations as serious questions have arisen about his campaign finances. There’s absolutely no way Mr. Santos can be an effective member of congress of Congress and represent the people who elected him. The longer he remains in office, the longer the residents of the Third Congressional District will suffer,” Mr Cairo added.

George Santos defiant in face of New York Republicans calling on him to resign

Nassau County GOP calls for George Santos to step down from Congress

Wednesday 11 January 2023 16:56 , John Bowden

The Republican Party of Nassau County, New York, has called on George Santos to resign from Congress.

It’s a major move to sever ties from the top GOP organisation in Mr Santos’s district — and will make reelection a massive undertaking, given the likelihood that the local party will field a challenger against him.

"George Santos' campaign last year was a campaign of deceit, lies and fabrication," the party’s chairman said on Wednesday at a press conference.

Trump lashes out after Fox analyst compares Biden think tank documents to FBI’s Mar-a-Lago haul

Wednesday 11 January 2023 16:05 , John Bowden

A comparison of the recent find of a dozen Obama-era documents at a Washington, DC think tank by President Joe Biden’s lawyers with the massive cache of classified material retrieved during an FBI search of former president Donald Trump’s home has left the twice-impeached ex-president more than a bit irate.

Mr Trump took to his Truth Social platform to lash out at Karl Rove, the former George W Bush White House official and GOP strategist, after Mr Rove unfavourably compared the matter of the ongoing probe into Mr Trump’s alleged unlawful retention of national defence information with the review of what Mr Biden’s lawyers reported to the National Archives in November.

Andrew Feinberg has more:

Trump lashes out after Fox analyst compares Biden documents to FBI’s Mar-a-Lago haul

Another racist Trump attack against Mitch McConnell’s wife

Wednesday 11 January 2023 15:45 , John Bowden

Donald Trump launched another Truth Social barrage against Joe Biden over his admission that roughly a dozen classified documents were found at his DC-based think tank. And this time, he’s dragging in to the story Elaine Chao, his former secretary of Transportation.

It’s totally unclear why she would have anything to do with this story, but that didn’t stop Mr Trump from launching one of his trademark racist attacks against his own ex-secretary.

“Biden’s documents are HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL, many pertain to UKRAINE, where Hunter was “raking in the dough,” and FUNDED BY CHINA, which gave $55 Million to Biden, through Penn, and probably had easy access. Was the Old Crow’s boss, China loving Coco Chow, involved? Just asking?” Mr Trump wrote.

Republicans who stayed silent on Mar-a-Lago papers now slam Biden

Wednesday 11 January 2023 15:15 , John Bowden

A number of Republican politicians who tried to dismiss the discovery of classified materials during an FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago are now claiming to be outraged by a similar situation that has arisen with the discovery of classified materials by Joe Biden’s attorneys at a DC think tank.

It’s a sudden change of heart that reveals the very political side of Washington politicians’ response to allegations of mismanagement by one of their own.

John Bowden reports.

Republicans who stayed silent on Trump taking classified documents now slam Biden

Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial to begin Wednesday

Wednesday 11 January 2023 14:45 , Alex Woodward

It’s a big week in federal court in Washington DC with several high-profile trials underway connected to the attack on the US Capitol, including two seditious conspiracy trials and a trial for the man charged with putting his feet up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk and leaving her an obscene note.

Opening arguments in a seditious conspiracy trial for five members of the far-right gang the Proud Boys – including former leader Enrique Tarrio – begin on Thursday.

A second group of members of the far-right anti-government militia group the Oath Keeper also are facing charges of seditious conspiracy in a trial that resumes on Wednesday.

Follow this case in The Independent:

Jury chosen to hear Proud Boys Jan. 6 sedition trial

Does the classified papers stash make Joe Biden as bad as Trump?

Wednesday 11 January 2023 14:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Andrew Feinberg explains that there is a key difference between how the discovery of classified documents at the former president’s home played out versus how they were discovered in the current president’s former office.

Does the classified papers stash make Joe Biden as bad as Trump?

Trump Organization CFO Weisselberg to be jailed for five months

Wednesday 11 January 2023 13:45 , Oliver O'Connell

The former longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization has been sentenced to five months in jail after pleading guilty to several tax crimes stemming from a sweeping investigation into Donald Trump’s business empire.

Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 violations of New York tax law in August after prosecutors accused him of participating in a years-long “systemic” fraud scheme and a “sweeping and audacious illegal payment” arrangement in which Trump companies paid him generous benefits – including free rent, luxury car leases, and private school tuition for his grandchildren – that were not reported for tax purposes.

Alex Woodward has been following the trial for The Independent.

Trump’s longtime chief financial officer jailed for five months for tax fraud scheme

Far-right troll Baked Alaska sentenced for role in Jan 6 riots

Wednesday 11 January 2023 13:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Far-right internet troll and streaming personality Anthime Gionet, better known as Baked Alaska, has been sentenced to 60 days in prison with two years of probation for his role in the attack on the US Capitol in 2021.

The conspiracy theorist was sentenced in US District Court in Washington DC on 10 January. He also is required to pay a $2,000 fine.

Alex Woodward has the details.

Far-right troll Baked Alaska sentenced to 60 days in prison for role in Jan 6 riots

Memos on Ukraine, Iran and UK were in Biden classified papers

Wednesday 11 January 2023 12:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The classified papers discovered in a think tank office formerly used by Joe Biden included memos on Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom which reportedly date back to Mr Biden’s second term as vice president during the Obama administration.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.

Classified papers found in Biden office included memos on Ukraine, Iran and UK

House Democrats request ethics probe into George Santos

Wednesday 11 January 2023 11:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Democratic representatives Daniel Goldman and Ritchie Torres are asking the House Committee on Ethics to investigate newly elected Republican US Rep George Santos, who entered office last week on a wave of falsehoods about his life and career.

Alex Woodward reports on the latest developments in the bizarre story of Mr Santos.

House Democrats request ethics probe into George Santos for ‘defrauding the public’

GOP asks for intelligence ‘damage assessment’ of Biden docs

Wednesday 11 January 2023 10:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee has requested that the U.S. intelligence community conduct a “damage assessment” of potentially classified documents found in the Washington office space of President Joe Biden’s former institute,

Rep. Mike Turner sent the request Tuesday to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, saying that Biden’s retention of the documents put him in “potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act.”

Read on:

GOP requests intelligence 'damage assessment' of Biden docs

Queen Elizabeth asked Meghan Markle for opinion on Trump

Wednesday 11 January 2023 09:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Queen Elizabeth II put the future Duchess of Sussex on the spot at their first meeting by asking her opinion of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to Prince Harry’s new book, Spare.

Harry revealed his grandmother’s interest in Mr Trump while describing how the Duchess, then known as Meghan Markle, first encountered the late monarch during an impromptu meeting at Prince Andrew’s home, Royal Lodge.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Queen Elizabeth pressed Meghan Markle for opinion on Trump in 2016, book claims

Proud Boys Jan 6 sedition trial set to begin in Washington

Wednesday 11 January 2023 07:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A jury has been chosen for the seditious conspiracy trial of former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four other members of the far-right extremist group charged with plotting to stop the transfer of presidential power by attacking the US Capitol after the 2020 election.

Jurors are expected to hear attorneys’ opening statements in Washington‘s federal court on Wednesday after the panel is sworn in, defense attorney Carmen Hernandez said.

Jury chosen to hear Proud Boys Jan. 6 sedition trial

Trump announces death of conservative commentator ‘Diamond’

Wednesday 11 January 2023 05:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Former president Donald Trump mourned the death of one-half of his ardent supporting duo of “Diamond and Silk”, as Diamond Lynnette Hardaway passed away on Monday night.

Namita Singh has the story.

Trump announces death of conservative commentator ‘Diamond’ of Diamond and Silk