Trump news – live: Trump Organization found guilty of tax fraud as Jan 6 panel to make DoJ criminal referrals

Two subsidiaries of former president Donald Trump’s eponymous real estate and licensing company, the Trump Organization, have been found guilty of all charges stemming from what prosecutors described as a sweeping, multi-decade tax fraud scheme.

Jurors rendered a guilty verdict on all of the 15 charges included in an indictment filed last year against the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation, as well as its long-time chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg.

Meanwhile, January 6 committee chairman Rep Bennie Thompson has told reporters that they will be making criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.

He did not go into further detail adding that the committee investigating the 2021 Capitol riot still had to discuss the matter further.

Elsewhere, Republican senators continue to distance themselves from the former president’s remarks where he called for parts of the Constitution to be terminated but stopped short of saying whether the unprecedented proposals should disqualify him from running in 2024.

However, Senate Minority Whip John Thune admitted that for other potential candidates this was “a golden opportunity”.

Key points

• January 6 Committee to make criminal referrals

• Republicans rebuke Trump’s Constitution remarks, but stop short of disqualifying him from 2024

• Trump denies calling for the ‘termination’ of the Constitution despite statement

• Elon Musk dismisses Trump’s proposal to terminate parts of Constitution

• January 6 special counsel issues first subpoenas

The many investigations Donald Trump is facing

12:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump is under several congressional, civil and criminal investigations, which range from his business interests and allegations of tax fraud to his efforts to undermine the 2020 presidential election and fuel violence at the US Capitol.

The former president, his family business, real estate interests and political allies are under scrutiny from federal investigators, state attorneys and members of Congress.

On 6 December, a jury in New York City found Mr Trump’s eponymous real estate and licensing company guilty on all 15 charges against it, what prosecutors have argued stemmed from a decades-long scheme to avoid paying payroll taxes by compensating top executives with untaxed benefits.

Alex Woodward has compiled a partial list of the key probes involving Mr Trump and where they currently stand after the former president formally announced his 2024 White House bid.

Jan 6, Mar-a-Lago and a golf course: The investigations Donald Trump is facing

Donald Trump says the US is a ‘mess’ as his own company is found guilty of tax fraud

11:36 , Johanna Chisholm

Donald Trump took to Truth Social to decry how he was the victim of a “THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME” after two subsidiaries of the former president’s eponymous real estate and licensing company, the Trump Organization, were found guilty of all charges stemming from what prosecutors described as a sweeping, multi-decade tax fraud scheme.

“THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME CONTINUES, OVER & OVER AGAIN, & THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY AREN’T GOING TO TAKE IT MUCH LONGER. A GIANT POLITICAL SCAM!!!” posted the ex-president in a late Tuesday night rant.

The messages shared on the former president’s Truth Social account came hours after jurors rendered a guilty verdict on all of the 15 charges included in an indictment filed last year against the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation, as well as its long-time chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg.

“OUR COUNTRY IS IN BIG TROUBLE. WHAT A MESS!”

With Herschel Walker’s loss in Georgia, Trump’s record sinks for winning in swing states where he endorsed candidates

11:15 , Johanna Chisholm

Ahead of the 2022 midterms, Donald Trump touted himself as a kingmaker for the Republican Party.

Now, with Georgia’s Senate runoff election finally coming to a close as Democrat Sen Raphael Warnock became the projected winner on Tuesday night, a full post-mortem of the former president’s endorsements can be tabulated.

According to Allan Smith, a political reporter with NBC News, of the 16 races for governor, senator and secretary of state held in swing states that Joe Biden won, only two of the one term president’s endorsed candidates took home a victory - Joe Lombardo beat out his Democratic rival in Nevada’s governor race and Ron Johnson won the Senate race in Wisconsin.

With Trump-backed Herschel Walker losing in the Georgia Senate runoff on Tuesday, that makes for a total of 14 defeats in competitive races for the former president.

What was Twitter’s role in the Hunter Biden laptop story? Probably not what you’d think

11:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Recently minted Twitter owner Elon Musk says the company’s prior management team’s work liaising with political campaigns and the US government amounted to an egregious violation of the US Constitution’s freedom of speech guarantees.

Former president Donald Trump says the company’s October 2020 decision to temporarily restrict sharing of an unflattering story about Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden proves the last presidential election (which he lost) was tainted by “massive and widespread fraud and deception” that should be remedied by “termination” of the US Constitution and reinstating him as president.

But national security experts and former social media executives who spoke to The Independent in the days following Mr Musk’s leaking of internal company documents to a sympathetic former Rolling Stone journalist say the limited excerpts of the documents revealed in a lengthy Twitter thread late Friday show nothing out of the ordinary — and nothing even close to what Mr Musk alleges.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

The truth of Twitter’s role in Hunter Biden laptop story and it’s not what you think

January 6 Committee will make criminal referrals to Justice Department

10:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The chairman of the House select committee investigating the January 6 riot at the US Capitol has told reporters that the committee will make criminal referrals.

Representative Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the committee, told reporters that the committee had not narrowed down which people would be referred to the US Department of Justice.

Eric Garcia reports.

January 6 Committee will make criminal referrals

Trump failed to disclose $19.8m loan as president

10:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump did not disclose a $19.8m loan from a South Korean conglomerate with links to North Korea when he was the president, according to a new report.

Shweta Sharma has the details.

Donald Trump failed to disclose $19.8m loan while he was president, report says

With Lara Trump out, Trump laments losing Fox News as an ally

09:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump lamented losing Fox News as an ally on his Truth Social social media platform after his daughter-in-law was dropped by the network.

Lara Trump, the wife of Mr Trump’s son Eric Trump, was let go as a commentator for the network.

Maroosha Muzaffar has the story.

Trump laments losing Fox News as an ally after network ends Lara Trump’s contract

ICYMI: Top Republican ‘vehemently disagrees’ with Trump’s call to terminate Constitution

09:00 , Oliver O'Connell

A senior Republican congressman said he “vehemently disagrees” with Donald Trump’s bizarre assertion that the Constitution should be suspended so he can be reinstated as president.

Mike Turner, the ranking GOP member on the House Intelligence Committee, was asked about Mr Trump’s latest Truth Social rant on Face the Nation on Sunday.

Bevan Hurley reports.

Top Republican ‘vehemently disagrees’ with Trump’s call to terminate Constitution

Youngkin 2024?

08:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Glenn Youngkin swept into office as a Republican sensation with a fresh formula for victory as the GOP contemplated its future beyond Donald Trump.

But one year after Youngkin became the first Republican in more than a decade to win the Virginia governorship, some in his party believe the shine of his national star is being tested just as he quietly contemplates a 2024 presidential run.

Youngkin's early shine faces test as he eyes White House bid

Trump Organization found guilty on criminal tax fraud charges

08:00 , Maroosha Muzaffar

A New York City jury has convicted two subsidiaries of former president Donald Trump’s eponymous real estate and licensing company, the Trump Organization, on charges stemming from what prosecutors described as a sweeping, multi-decade scheme to avoid paying payroll taxes by compensating top executives with untaxed benefits such as housing and automobiles.

Jurors rendered a guilty verdict on all of the charges included in an indictment filed last year against the Trump Corporation, the Trump Payroll Corporation, and the Trump Organization’s long-time chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg.

Read the full story by Andrew Feinberg here:

Trump Organization found guilty on criminal tax fraud charges

Voices: The media should apologize for ignoring the Hunter Biden laptop story — despite Elon Musk’s Twitter stunt

07:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Andrew Buncombe writes:

It is never too late to say you are sorry. And many of us in the media, most of us perhaps, would do well to offer such an apology over the way we initially covered — or did not cover — the Hunter Biden laptop story, a tale we thought false but which later proved to be at least partly true.

Do you remember the details?

Read on:

We should apologize for ignoring the Hunter Biden laptop story — despite Musk’s stunt

Madison Cawthorn cleared of inappropriate relationship with congressional staffer but fined over crypto coin

07:00 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Madison Cawthorn has been cleared of having an improper relationship with a member of his congressional staff after he became embroiled in a string of scandals in the run-up to his primary election earlier this year.

The right-wing Republican congressman, who lost his re-election bid, was cleared of the improper relationship and of claims of nepotism by the House Ethics Committee.

Read the full story by Graeme Massie here:

Madison Cawthorn cleared of inappropriate relationship with congressional staffer

In a surprising red state poll, Trump trails Liz Cheney

06:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A surprising new poll from Republican stronghold Utah signals trouble ahead for Donald Trump - with voters favouring Liz Cheney over the former president for 2024.

Johanna Chisholm reports.

Trump trails Liz Cheney for 2024 in surprising new red state poll

Voices: Trump Organization has been found guilty and the January 6 committee believes it has evidence of criminality. What now for Donald?

06:00 , Maroosha Muzaffar

This could be the beginning of a bigger nightmare for the former president — yet he remains the most likely Republican nominee for 2024, writes Andrew Buncombe

The Trump Organization has been found guilty — this is just the beginning

Trump slammed over comments on Constitution

05:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Former President Donald Trump faced rebuke Sunday from officials in both parties after calling for the “termination” of parts of the Constitution over his lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

Trump rebuked for call to suspend Constitution over election

And here’s what the Biden administration had to say: “You cannot only love America when you win.”

Biden administration attacks Trump for calling to terminate Constitution

A devastating day for Donald Trump: ‘Greed and cheating’ and expanding criminal probes target former president

05:29 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Donald Trump has spent decades trying to avoid criminal attachments, accusing his political enemies of launching spurious investigations despite a growing list of credible accusations of wrongdoing.

Less than three weeks after he formally declared his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, a launch fuelled by grievances and his failure to overturn the election he lost just two years ago, and largely seen as an attempt to shield himself from looming criminal investigations, his eponymous family business was branded as a felon.

Read the full story by Alex Woodward here:

Trump faces ‘greed and cheating’ convictions and expanding criminal probes

Musk dismisses Donald Trump’s call to ‘terminate’ parts of the US Constitution

04:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Tech titan-turned-online provocateur Elon Musk has weighed in on Donald Trump’s proposal to “terminate” parts of the US Constitution to overturn the 2020 election.

The Tesla chief executive wrote on Twitter, a social media platform he recently acquired for $44bn, that he agreed with the Democrats and the select number of Republicans who had come out swinging against the one-term president for suggesting that the landmark legal document be amended to suit him.

Johanna Chisholm reports.

Elon Musk dismisses Donald Trump’s call to ‘terminate’ parts of the US Constitution

ICYMI: Trump calls for himself to be reinstated as president by falsely claiming fraud overrides Constitution

03:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump called for himself to be reinstated as president or for the 2020 election to be run again during a Saturday morning social media posting storm on Truth Social.

Trump again calls to be reinstated as president claiming FBI and social media fraud

Growing number of Republicans want new leadership

02:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Republican voters appear to be shifting their gaze from Donald Trump as new polling shows the twice-impeached ex-president remaining at the centre of GOP politics was a significant motivating factor for voters who turned out for Democrats in last month’s midterm elections.

A survey of 1,160 registered voters obtained by The Independent reveals that the attention still given to Mr Trump and his self-styled “Make America Great Again” movement a full two years after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden helped drive voters to the polls with the intent of stopping his allies from winning offices at the state and federal level.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Growing number of Republicans want new leadership for GOP, poll finds

After Trump Organization guilty verdict, what now for Donald?

01:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Today’s verdict in a Manhattan court might just be the beginning of a much bigger nightmare for Trump, Andrew Buncombe writes. After an investigation into the events of January 6 2021 that has spread over two years and revealed many jolting details about that day of chaos and violence, the investigating committee’s members believe it has evidence of criminality.

The Trump Organization has been found guilty — this is just the beginning

The terrible, not-very-good start to the Trump 2024 campaign

00:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Kyle Cheney, senior legal affair reporter at Politico, notes that it’s hard to imagine a worse first month of a presidential campaign than that of Trump 2024.

It was a sentiment shared across social media.

The myriad of investigations Donald Trump still faces

Tuesday 6 December 2022 23:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump is under several congressional, civil and criminal investigations, which range from his business interests and allegations of tax fraud to his efforts to undermine the 2020 presidential election and fuel violence at the US Capitol.

The former president, his family business, real estate interests and political allies are under scrutiny from federal investigators, state attorneys and members of Congress.

On 6 December, a jury in New York City found Mr Trump’s eponymous real estate and licensing company guilty on all 15 charges against it, what prosecutors have argued stemmed from a decades-long scheme to avoid paying payroll taxes by compensating top executives with untaxed benefits.

Alex Woodward has prepared this partial list of the key probes involving Mr Trump and where they currently stand, now that the former president has formally announced his 2024 White House bid.

Jan 6, Mar-a-Lago and a golf course: The investigations Donald Trump is facing

Madison Cawthorn: Outgoing lawmaker cleared of inappropriate relationship with congressional staffer

Tuesday 6 December 2022 22:05 , Oliver O'Connell

Madison Cawthorn has been cleared of having an improper relationship with a member of his congressional staff after he became embroiled in a string of scandals in the run-up to his primary election earlier this year.

However, the House Ethics Committee did order Mr Cawthorn to pay more than $15,000 for improperly promoting a cryptocurrency.

Graeme Massie has the details.

Madison Cawthorn cleared of inappropriate relationship with congressional staffer

Fox Business host shreds Trump’s electoral record

Tuesday 6 December 2022 21:35 , Oliver O'Connell

Once a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, Fox Business host Stuart Varney gave a blistering takedown of the former president and his standing in the Republican Party.

Discussing today’s Georgia Senate runoff election, Varney showed how Trump-back candidates had lost in vital races for the party and added that the latest suggestion from the twice-impeached president that the Constitution should be terminated in order for Mr Trump to take power again “plays right into Democrats’ hands”.

Referring to the GOP’s Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker, whom Trump encourage to run, Varney said: “If Walker wins, Trump will take all of the credit, guaranteed. If Walker loses, Trump will blame Walker for not inviting Trump into the state.”

Watch the segment below via Mediaite.

New York AG statement on Trump Organization verdict

Tuesday 6 December 2022 21:30 , Oliver O'Connell

New York Attorney General Letitia James:

“We can have no tolerance for individuals or organizations that violate our laws to line their pockets. I commend Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team for their successful prosecution of the Trump Organization, and I was proud to assist in this important case. This verdict sends a clear message that no one, and no organization, is above our laws.”

Trump Organization found guilty on all criminal tax fraud charges

Tuesday 6 December 2022 20:57 , Oliver O'Connell

A New York City jury has convicted two subsidiaries of former president Donald Trump’s eponymous real estate and licensing company, the Trump Organization of charges stemming from what prosecutors described as a sweeping, multi-decade scheme to avoid paying payroll taxes by compensating top executives with untaxed benefits such as housing and automobiles.

Jurors rendered a guilty verdict on all of the 15 charges included in an indictment filed last year against the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation, as well as its long-time chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg.

Andrew Feinberg reports on this breaking story.

Trump Organization found guilty on criminal tax fraud charges

Voices: Yes, this might be the end of Donald Trump... but we’ve been here before

Tuesday 6 December 2022 20:35 , Oliver O'Connell

As the January 6 committee says it will be making criminal referrals to the Department of Justice (but has not said specifically who), the prospect of a former president being criminally charged has crept closer.

But, as Andrew Buncombe writes, we have been here before, many times.

Yes, this might be the end of Donald Trump but we’ve been here before

Family of Capitol officer who died after Jan 6 attack refuse to shake hands with GOP leaders

Tuesday 6 December 2022 20:10 , Oliver O'Connell

The family of a US Capitol Police officer who received a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor for his service during a violent riot inside the halls of Congress refused to shake hands with Republican leadership who presented the family with the award during a formal ceremony.

Alex Woodward has the story.

Family of Capitol officer who died after riot refuses to shake hands with GOP leaders

DoJ subpoenas three states for Trump communications connected to Jan 6 attack

Tuesday 6 December 2022 19:46 , Oliver O'Connell

A recently appointed special counsel at the US Department of Justice has issued subpoenas for documents in three states that were central to former president Donald Trump’s attempt to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election

Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed officials in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin for communications with the former president, his campaign and others within his circle.

Alex Woodward has the story.

Justice Department subpoenas three states for Trump communications connected to Jan 6

McConnell comments on Trump calls for termination of Constitution

Tuesday 6 December 2022 19:22 , Oliver O'Connell

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has commented on former President Donald Trump’s calls for the termination of the Constitution.

“Anyone seeking the presidency who thinks that the constitution should somehow be suspended or not followed seems to me would have a very hard time being sworn in as the President of the United States,” he said.

The Independent’s Eric Garcia notes that Mr McConnelll doesn’t say Mr Trump’s comments disqualify him from running for the presidency.

Jury deliberations continue in Trump Organization tax fraud trial

Tuesday 6 December 2022 19:10 , Oliver O'Connell

Jurors started deliberating Monday in the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial, weighing charges that former President Donald Trump’s company helped executives dodge personal income taxes on perks such as Manhattan apartments and luxury cars.

The deliberations follow a monthlong trial that featured testimony from seven witnesses, including longtime Trump Organization finance chief Allen Weisselberg and Senior Vice President and Controller Jeffrey McConney. An outside accountant who spent years preparing tax returns for Trump and the company also testified.

Read on:

Trump Organization tax fraud trial in jury's hands

Trump pays tribute to ‘great’ Kirstie Alley

Tuesday 6 December 2022 18:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has paid tribute to the late Kirstie Alley.

Alley died of cancer at the age of 71. She was a vocal supporter of the former US President.

On Monday (5 December), Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Kirstie was a great person who truly loved the USA. She will be missed!!!”

Peony Hirwani reports.

Trump pays tribute to ‘great’ Kirstie Alley

Mar-a-Lago papers: Trump facing peril

Tuesday 6 December 2022 18:10 , Oliver O'Connell

As a businessman and president, Donald Trump faced a litany of lawsuits and criminal investigations yet emerged from the legal scrutiny time and again with his public and political standing largely intact.

But he’s perhaps never confronted a probe as perilous as the Mar-a-Lago investigation, an inquiry focused on the potential mishandling of top-secret documents. The sense of vulnerability has been heightened in recent weeks not only by the Justice Department‘s appointment of a special counsel with a reputation for aggressiveness but also by the removal of a Trump-requested independent arbiter in the case and by judges’ unequivocal rejection of his lawyers’ arguments.

It’s impossible to predict how much longer the investigation will last or whether the Justice Department will take the unprecedented step of indicting a former president and current candidate. But Trump is no longer shielded from prosecution the way he was as president, and some legal experts regard the Mar-a-Lago investigation as centered on more straightforward factual and legal questions than the prior probes he has dealt with.

Read on:

Trump faces peril in docs probe after decades of scrutiny

Watch: Family of police officer who defended Capitol refuse to shake Mitch McConnell’s hand

Tuesday 6 December 2022 17:54 , Oliver O'Connell

Family of officer who defended Capitol refuse to shake Mitch McConnell’s hand

Jan 6 special counsel issues first subpoenas

Tuesday 6 December 2022 17:52 , Oliver O'Connell

Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed local officials in Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin for any and all communications with former President Donald Trump, his campaign, and a long list of aides and allies, The Washington Post reports.

The three states were central to the former president’s attempt to remain in power after the 2020 election.

Requests for records arrived in Dane County, Wisconsin; Maricopa County, Arizona; and Wayne County, Michigan last week, and in Milwaukee on Monday, officials told the Post.

These are the first known subpoenas issued by Mr Smith, who last month was named as a special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland with purview over the January 6 Capitol attack case and the criminal investigation into Mr Trump’s possible mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Stunning details of Trump’s attempted ‘coup’ were revealed in the Jan 6 hearings... now come the criminal referrals

Tuesday 6 December 2022 17:40 , Oliver O'Connell

“January 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup, a brazen attempt, as one rioter put it shortly after January 6, to overthrow the government.”

So spoke Democratic congressman Bennie Thompson in June, as the Jan 6 committee held its first televised meeting into the events that befell the building the nation’s elected officials were sitting in just 18 months earlier, as Donald Trump and his supporters tried to prevent Joe Biden taking office.

Now the committee is preparing to make criminal referrals.

Jan 6 hearings revealed stunning details of Trump’s attempted ‘coup’

Romney calls Trump RINO

Tuesday 6 December 2022 17:22 , Oliver O'Connell

Senator Mitt Romney told reporters that Donald Trump’s calls to terminate the Constitution take him “from being MAGA to being RINO”, stressing that the Republican Party is the party of the Constitution.

Watch:

Former FBI and social media executives reject GOP allegations of improper contact between Twitter, FBI

Tuesday 6 December 2022 17:10 , Oliver O'Connell

Recently minted Twitter owner Elon Musk says the company’s prior management team’s work liaising with political campaigns and the US government amounted to an egregious violation of the US Constitution’s freedom of speech guarantees.

Former president Donald Trump says the company’s October 2020 decision to temporarily restrict sharing of an unflattering story about Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden proves the last presidential election (which he lost) was tainted by “massive and widespread fraud and deception” that should be remedied by “termination” of the US Constitution and reinstating him as president.

But national security experts and former social media executives who spoke to The Independent in the days following Mr Musk’s leaking of internal company documents to a sympathetic former Rolling Stone journalist say the limited excerpts of the documents revealed in a lengthy Twitter thread late Friday show nothing out of the ordinary — and nothing even close to what Mr Musk alleges.

Andrew Feinberg reports for The Independent.

Ex- FBI and social media execs reject claims of improper contact between Twitter, FBI

Jan 6 criminal referral news comes as Congress awards medals to officers who defended Capitol

Tuesday 6 December 2022 17:05 , Oliver O'Connell

The January 6 committee announced criminal referrals at almost the exact moment that Congress was awarding Congressional Gold Medals to officers who defended the Capitol when it came under attack.

January 6 Committee to make criminal referrals

Tuesday 6 December 2022 16:44 , Oliver O'Connell

The chairman of the House select committee investigating the January 6 riot at the US Capitol told reporters that the committee has decided to make criminal referrals, CNNreported.

Representative Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the committee, told reporters that the committee had not narrowed down which people would be referred to the US Department of Justice.

When asked if he believed any witnesses perjured themselves, the Mississippi Democrat said “that’s part of the discussion.”

The Independent’s Eric Garcia reports from Washington, DC.

January 6 Committee will make criminal referrals