Trump news – live: Trump ‘prepares first tweet’ in Twitter return and formally demands Facebook reinstatement

Donald Trump is reportedly poised to return to Twitter as part of his 2024 campaign and representatives have petitioned Facebook parent Meta for his account on that platform to be reinstated, according to reporting by NBC News.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s former “fixer” Michael Cohen has met with New York prosecutors as part of an investigation into the Trump Organization’s involvement in paying hush money to Stormy Daniels.

Mr Trump’s former personal attorney arrived for a meeting with the Manhattan district attorney’s office on Tuesday, leaving roughly 90 minutes later where he told CNN he would likely be meeting with investigators again.

The apparent ramping up of the probe comes as newly-released logs reveal who paid a visit to Mr Trump’s White House in the days running up to the January 6 Capitol riot.

The visitor logs, which were obtained by the House select committee investigating Jan 6, reveal the president met with several far-right election deniers and conspiracy theorists including Sidney Powell.

The former president also continues to sound off about the parallel investigations into the discovery of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago and classified documents at President Joe Biden’s home and an office he once used.

Key points

• Trump preparing return to Twitter and Facebook, report says

• Trump boasts he kept classified folders as ‘cool’ keepsakes

• Trump calls on GOP to play hardball on debt limit and get back what McConnell ‘gave up’

• Trump moans Biden got the ‘nice guy’ prosecutor, he got ‘Radical Left Trump HATING Lunatic’

• Trump says he will ‘handle that’ if DeSantis runs against him in 2024

Trump poised to return to Twitter as campaign demands Facebook reinstatement, report says

14:26 , Oliver O'Connell

While Donald Trump was granted access to his Twitter account back on 19 November following the takeover of the company by Elon Musk and the decision to reverse the ban imposed on the former president in the wake of the Capitol riot, he has to tweet.

That could all change according to reporting by NBC News, which states that his 2024 campaign advisers have been workshopping ideas for his first tweet.

In addition, the campaign has also approached Facebook parent Meta to unblock his account on that platform which was also suspended two years ago.

“We believe that the ban on President Trump’s account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse,” Trump’s campaign wrote in its letter to Meta on Tuesday, according to a copy reviewed by NBC News.

The campaign would like a meeting to discuss reinstatement. Meta has said it will announce a decision in the coming weeks.

Since his ban from the principal social media platforms, Mr Trump founded his own — Truth Social — but does not enjoy the audience and bully pulpit he had on the other sites. While he has 4.8 million followers on Truth Social, he had 88 million on Twitter and 34 million on Facebook.

Voices: The dangerous troll under the Republican House bridge

22:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Noah Berlatsky writes:

Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has repeated his intention to keep Democratic representatives Eric Swalwell, Adam Schiff, and Ilhan Omar off the House intelligence committee. The move is widely seen as revenge for Democrats removing Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar. It is also, though, a reiteration of Republican commitment to government by trolling.

Read on:

The dangerous troll under the Republican House bridge | Opinion

Trump wants Obama questioned on classified papers

22:11 , Oliver O'Connell

In a busy day of Truth Social posts, former president Donald Trump wonders:

Why aren’t they asking President Obama what’s going on with his Administration? Crooked Hillary took and illegally deleted and acid washed 33,000 Emails AFTER getting a Subpoena for those Emails from the United States Congress, and who knows how many Classified Documents Joe took, especially pertaining to Ukraine and China. Maybe Trump Hating Special “Prosecutor” Jack Smith, who is doing the dirty work for his Marxist Democrat friends, should do the right thing for our Country!

He adds in a follow-up post:

Our Country has become the Investigation Capital of the World. Actually, that’s all we do, and it’s only good for our many enemies. They could not be happier as they brilliantly plot our demise!!!

Trump claims he kept classified folders as ‘cool’ keepsakes

22:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump insisted on Wednesday in posts on Truth Social that many of the documents marked “classified” found at Mar-a-Lago — of more than 300 in total — were in fact empty folders marked “classified” that he had taken as “cool” keepsakes.

Mr Trump went on to reiterate his baseless accusation claiming that federal law enforcement agents would plant more classified documents among the seized materials in order to further incriminate him.

John Bowden has the details.

Trump boasts he kept classified folders as ‘cool’ keepsakes in TruthSocial rant

Kushner warned Trump against going down rabbit hole of bogus election claims

21:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Jared Kushner warned Donald Trump against listening to the outside lawyers he’d gathered around himself during his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, telling his father-in-law that his legal team was sending him on “a funky ride”.

In his new book on the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency, The Fight of his Life, author Chris Whipple writes that Mr Kushner “chose to make himself scarce” in the days leading up to the January 6 attack on the Capitol because he “knew there was nothing there” when it came to Mr Trump’s claims to be the victim of a stolen election.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.

Kushner warned Trump against going down rabbit hole of bogus election claims

Awkward video shows Trump ducking fan’s high five

21:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has been captured on video awkwardly avoiding a high five after taking a photo with a group of supporters during what appears to be a round of golf at his private Florida club.

Lawyer Ron Filipkowski shared the footage on Twitter, in which the former president smiles for the camera and gives a thumbs up before climbing back into his golf cart, without high-fiving the supporter next to him, whose arm is grabbed by a man, preventing him from touching Mr Trump.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

Awkward video shows Trump ducking a high five from admirer

Trump to preside over memorial service for Diamond

20:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has announced that he will preside over the memorial service for Diamond of the political vlogging duo Diamond and Silk.

“They were with me from the beginning and they never wavered,” Mr Trump said.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Trump to preside over memorial service for Diamond of vloggers duo Diamond and Silk

New bizarre low in Santos allegations

20:00 , Oliver O'Connell

A former acquaintance of Congressman George Santos appeared on CNN on Tuesday and delivered the latest round of seemingly unending allegations of dishonesty piling up around the freshman Republican from New York.

Gregory Morey-Parker claimed that the Republican representative would use a false last name on some GoFundMe campaigns in an effort to pass off as Jewish, which Mr Morey-Parker explained was part of a scheme to entice Jewish Americans to donate to the campaigns.

John Bowden filed this report.

Santos targeted Jewish donors in GoFundMe scam, former friend claims

Edward Snowden dismisses Marjorie Taylor Greene as she tries to agree with him

19:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Edward Snowden brutally shot down Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene as she tried to agree with him on media “lies” on Twitter.

Maroosha Muzaffar has the story.

Edward Snowden shoots down Marjorie Taylor Greene as she tries to agree with him

Lincoln Project battles MAGA narrative on Biden documents

19:00 , Oliver O'Connell

In its efforts to fight the rot of political dialogue by equating the Biden and Trump documents cases, the anti-Trump conservative group The Lincoln Project lays out why they are different in a tweet thread this morning.

The group states that ultra-MAGA talking points are endangering the political conversation and that the media has a bad habit of normalising bogus narratives from the right-wing ecosystem.

“We’re fighting bothsidesism (bias that presents an issue as balanced even when the evidence doesn’t support it),” the group tweeted.

“The right-wing media trying to equate Biden’s handling of classified documents with Trump’s malintent rots the political dialogue - and one of the Lincoln Project’s missions is to stop it.”

Setting out the facts as they stand in an attempt to help people set the record straight, the tweet thread continues:

1. No intent: There is no evidence President Biden ever actively knew about these documents.

2. Zero Coverup: President Biden has made no bizarre claim to have retroactively declassified these documents with his mind (you know, like the insane Trump excuse).

3. Total Cooperation: President Biden has completely cooperated with the investigation from the onset, including fully accepting the newly appointed special counsel.

“Disinformation can come in many different forms, and even small equivocations can damage the long-term health of our democracy,” the group concludes before directing followers to previous content on how to battle the right-wing ecosystem.

Trump to attend memorial service for Diamond of ‘Diamond and Silk’

18:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has announced he will be at the memorial service for Diamond of ‘Diamond and Silk’ this Saturday.

Kushner claims ‘knock-down, drag-out screaming matches’ with Trump over 2020 election schemes

18:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Former president Donald Trump’s son-in-law and one-time White House adviser, Jared Kushner, has described heated confrontations with the then-president over his allegations of voter fraud and attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 election.

Mr Kushner recalls the “knock-down, drag-out screaming matches” with Mr Trump in author Chris Whipple’s new book The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House, Mediaite reports.

“With all due respect, I’m not going to like what you are doing, and you’re going to be screaming at me,” Mr Kushner reportedly told his father-in-law while arguing about debunked claims of voter fraud.

“Look, when you’re out of here, a lot of people will scatter,” he reportedly yelled at Mr Trump, according to the book.

“I’m with you until you hit the dirt — so you may want to listen to what I’m saying,” Mr Kushner added.

Mr Kushner also warned Mr Trump that some of his election lawyers including Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell were taking him “on a funky ride”.

Watch: Trump says China buying up ‘crown jewels’ of US economy in campaign-style video

18:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has posted a campaign-style video to Truth Social about Chinese ownership of US economic interests.

He writes: “When I'm president, I will ensure that America's future remains firmly in American hands, not in China's. We need to enact aggressive new restrictions on Chinese ownership of any vital infrastructure in the United States, including energy, technology, telecommunications, farmland, natural resources, medical supplies, and other strategic national assets.”

Watch:

Poll: Trump leads DeSantis by 17 points

18:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Former president Donald Trump holds a 17 point lead over his next nearest rival for the Republican Party ticket according to a new poll conducted by Morning Consult and released on Wednesday morning.

The hypothetical GOP primary poll put Mr Trump at 28 per cent and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 31 per cent, with former vice president Mike Pence trailing at eight per cent.

Polls since the November midterm elections have generally shown Mr DeSantis closing the gap on Mr Trump.

Trump foe, former Rep Liz Cheney got three per cent of the poll, while former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas both got two per cent.

Yes, there’s a hole in Trump’s latest explanation about the documents

17:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Wouldn’t classified documents remain in their classified folders? Why would the documents be collected and the folders discarded? Doesn’t that undermine the purpose of the folders to begin with?

The FBI search inventory from Mar-a-Lago does say that they found dozens of empty classified folders, but it also lists more than 100 actual confidential, secret, and top secret documents.

But wait, there’s more...

17:00 , Oliver O'Connell

There was a bit of a delayed drop for “Page 3” of Donald Trump’s latest rant trying to explain why he feels he is being treated so much worse than President Joe Biden when it comes to the classified material found at his Palm Beach home.

He wrote on Truth Social:

Biden is being treated so smuch [sic] better than me, I’m shocked (not really!). Why aren’t they raiding his house, & how come his representatives and lawyers are allowed to work together with the Gestopo [sic] in looking for documents, when my lawyers & representatives were not allowed anywhere near the search. We weren’t even allowed to know what they took when they raided my home. “Please leave the premises,” they said, & then lugged out everything they could, including my Passports & Med Recs.

The key difference between the cases is that there was a protracted legal effort by the Trump team to not turn over the documents, whereas the Biden team alerted the appropriate authorities as documents were discovered and arranged to hand them over.

Full story: Trump preparing return to Twitter and Facebook, report says

16:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump is preparing to return to Twitter and Facebook, a report states.

As the 2024 race for the White House nears, the former president is set to once again use some of the largest and most influential social media platforms after he was booted from them following the January 6 insurrection, according to NBC News.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Trump preparing return to Twitter and Facebook, report says

Watch: Jimmy Kimmel predicts what Trump will do with his money when he dies

16:00 , Oliver O'Connell

‘You have the right to remain silent, you know’: Conway claps back at Trump over latest post

15:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Conservative lawyer George Conway reminded Donald Trump that all of his posts — be they on Truth Social or perhaps soon another platform — could come back to haunt him in a court of law.

Mr Conway, a longtime Trump foe, reminded the former president of the most basic of rights — the right to remain silent if one is suspected of a crime as set out by the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

People are protected from being compelled to give testimony that could incriminate them. Mr Trump offers written testimony on social media in written form often multiple times a day.

“You have the right to remain silent, you know. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law,” posted Mr Conway on Truth Social in response to the former president’s most recent attempt at explaining away the presence of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

“Do you understand these rights, @realDonaldTrump?”

Trump calls classified folders ‘cool keepsake’ while lashing out at ‘Gestapo’ FBI

15:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Another day, another protestation of innocence from former president Donald Trump regarding the trove of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.

Mr Trump argues that he kept the inexpensive folders marked “classified” or “confidential” as a “cool” keepsake before accusing the “Gestapo” — the FBI — of taking these empty folders and counting them as classified documents.

Further, the former president then floated the conspiracy theory that “Trump Hating Marxist Thugs’ would “plant documents while they’re in possession of the material”.

He ended with a defiant: “I DID NOTHING WRONG. JOE DID!”

Anger and disbelief as Greene put on Homeland Security Committee

13:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is set to join the House Homeland Security committee in a decision that is drawing disbelief and disgust from her critics who find themselves unable to fathom that a onetime 9/11 truther and spreader of countless conspiracies will now si

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.

Anger and disbelief as GOP put Marjorie Taylor Greene on Homeland Security Committee

How ominous is the debt limit problem?

12:45 , Rachel Sharp

On the brink of hitting the nation’s legal borrowing limit on Thursday, the government is resorting to “extraordinary measures” to avoid a default.

Sounds ominous, right?

But — take a breath — the phrase technically refers to a bunch of accounting workarounds. Yes, accounting.

EXPLAINER: How ominous is the debt limit problem?

Matt Schlapp denies new lawsuit claims he groped GOP strategist

12:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Prominent conservative leader Matt Schlapp has denied claims in a new lawsuit that he groped a male Republican strategist working for Herschel Walker’s failed US Senate campaign in Georgia.

Mr Schlapp, who is a close ally of Donald Trump and the chairman of the American Conservative Union, has been accused of fondling the man as they drove in his car towards an Atlanta-area hotel in October.

Graeme Massie has the latest on the scandal.

Conservative leader Matt Schlapp denies new lawsuit claims he groped GOP strategist

9/11 survivor condemns Marjorie Taylor Greene’s appointment to homeland security committee

11:45 , Rachel Sharp

A 9/11 survivor has condemned the appointment of Majorie Taylor Greene to a key House security committee – pointing out the Republican congresswoman long denied the attacks happened and instead peddled wild conspiracy theories.

Republicans said the Georgia congresswoman, who two years ago was stripped of committee assignments by Democrats after she spread QAnon conspiracies and falsely questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election, would join the House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Committee.

The committee has typically played a key role in acting as a safeguard on matters of national security, and the appointment of Ms Greene was widely seen as her reward for supporting Kevin McCarthy in his bid to be Speaker.

The Independent’s Andrew Buncombe has the full story:

9/11 survivor condemns Marjorie Taylor Greene’s appointment to homeland security

Trump accuses evangelicals of ‘disloyalty’

11:15 , Rachel Sharp

Former President Donald Trump is now accusing one of his largest support bases of “disloyalty” as it becomes clearer and clearer that he could face a competitive primary in 2024 for the Republican presidential nomination.

Mr Trump made the charge Monday evening during an interview with David Brody on Real America’s Voice, a Trump-aligned right-wing news and opinion channel.

Trump accuses evangelicals of ‘disloyalty’ after lacklustre 2024 campaign launch

Trump 'fixer' Michael Cohen meets with New York prosecutors over Stormy Daniels hush money

10:45 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump‘s former “fixer” Michael Cohen has met with New York prosecutors as part of an investigation into the Trump Organization’s involvement in paying hush money to Stormy Daniels.

Mr Trump’s former personal attorney arrived for a meeting with the Manhattan district attorney’s office on Tuesday, leaving roughly 90 minutes later where his attorny told CNN it went “very well” and that he would likely be meeting with investigators again.

“It appears that I’ll probably be meeting with them again,” said Mr Cohen.

The DA’s office is probing a $130,000 payment made to the adult film star to cover up an affair she claims she had with Mr Trump just before the 2016 election – an affair Mr Trump denies.

Mr Cohen previously cooperated with the DA’s office during its broad investigation into the Trump Organization, meeting with prosecutors more than a dozen times in the past.

Newly revealed visitor logs show who was visiting Trump ahead before Capitol riot

08:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump was continuing to rally his allies and fight tooth and nail to cling on to the presidency during his final weeks in the White House, and nowhere is that more evident than in the visitor logs obtained by the January 6 committee.

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.

Newly revealed visitor logs show who was visiting Trump ahead of Jan 6 riot

Trump to be joined by Graham, McMaster at first public campaign event

06:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Former President Donald Trump will be joined by two of his highest-profile South Carolina supporters — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Gov. Henry McMaster — at the first public campaign event of his 2024 White House bid later this month in the early voting state.

Trump to be joined by Graham, McMaster at Jan. 28 SC event

Boebert and Greene got into heated fight in the bathroom during speaker vote

04:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Representatives Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene reportedly feuded in the restroom during the protracted speaker vote earlier this month.

The Republican congresswomen were on opposite ends of the GOP fight over the speakership. Ms Greene steadfastly supported Kevin McCarthy, who ultimately won the gavel, while Ms Boebert opposed him.

Multiple sources told The Daily Beast that on 3 January, the first day of the new Congress, Ms Greene and Ms Boebert engaged in a screaming match in the ladies’ bathroom in the Speaker’s lobby.

Eric Garcia has the story.

Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene feuded in the bathroom during speaker vote

Ivana Trump gifted former nanny $1m condo in her will

03:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Ivana Trump, the former wife of Donald Trump, left behind an estate worth an estimated $34m when she died last July, willing her children Ivanka, Eric, and Donald Trump, Jr, a $26.5m townhouse in New York City, and giving a Florida condo worth over $1m to her former nanny.

The former president, meanwhile, got nothing, according to Forbes, which reported on the contents of the probate documents.

The reported snub is not entirely a surprise.

Ivana Trump gifted former nanny $1m condo in her will, while Donald gets nothing

Hacker Guccifer who infiltrated Clinton and Bush emails slams DC ‘hypocrisy’

02:45 , Oliver O'Connell

The infamous Romanian hacker known as Guccifer, who managed to break into the online correspondence of the Bush and Clinton political dynasties, fueling years of right-wing conspiracies, declared his project a “failure,” according to his first US interview since getting out of prison in 2021.

Josh Marcus reports.

Hacker who found Clinton email slams DC ‘hypocrisy’ in first interview since prison

Sarah Huckabee Sanders dodges Trump 2024 endorsement

01:45 , Oliver O'Connell

The new Republican governor of Arkansas and former aide of Donald Trump, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, appeared to dodge the question when she was asked whether she would be endorsing the former president’s bid for the 2024 election.

In an interview on Fox News on Sunday, Ms Sanders was questioned by Shannon Bream on whether she plans to support Mr Trump, who she served as White House Press Secretary before 2020.

Stuti Mishra has the story.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders dodges question on endorsing Trump in 2024

Schiff calls for threat assessment of Biden’s handling of classified papers

00:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Longtime Trump foe Adam Schiff says that the handling of classified documents discovered at President Joe Biden’s home and former office must be assessed to see if it endangered US national security.

Adam Schiff calls for intelligence assessment of Biden handling of classified papers

Who is the most powerful person going into 2024 election cycle?

Tuesday 17 January 2023 23:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Meet the Press anchor Chuck Todd has argued that US Attorney General Merrick Garland is the most powerful person ahead of the 2024 election.

Both the political fate of President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump depend on special counsel investigations headed by people appointed by Mr Garland.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

‘Meet the Press’ anchor reveals the ‘most powerful person’ shaping the 2024 election

Graham and McMaster to join Trump at first public campaign event

Tuesday 17 January 2023 22:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Former President Donald Trump will be joined by two of his highest-profile South Carolina supporters — US Senator Lindsey Graham and Governor Henry McMaster — at the first public campaign event of his 2024 White House bid later this month in the early-voting state.

Trump to be joined by Graham, McMaster at Jan. 28 SC event

Anger and disbelief as Greene put on Homeland Security Committee

Tuesday 17 January 2023 22:17 , Oliver O'Connell

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is set to join the House Homeland Security committee in a decision that is drawing disbelief and disgust from her critics who find themselves unable to fathom that a onetime 9/11 truther and spreader of countless conspiracies will now si

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.

Anger and disbelief as GOP put Marjorie Taylor Greene on Homeland Security Committee

Self-styled ‘MAGA King’ may be ‘mastermind’ behind shootings targeting political rivals

Tuesday 17 January 2023 22:00 , Oliver O'Connell

After Solomon Peña lost his election for the New Mexico state legislature in a landslide last November, he vowed he would never concede defeat.

“I am the Maga king,” he wrote in a 9 November Twitter post.

Now he’s accused of hiring four men to carry out shooting attack on the homes of Democrat lawmakers.

Bevan Hurley has been following the story.

‘Maga king’ who attended Jan 6 rally behind shootings of political rivals, police say

Trump accuses evangelicals of ‘disloyalty’

Tuesday 17 January 2023 21:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Former President Donald Trump is now accusing one of his largest support bases of “disloyalty” as it becomes clearer and clearer that he could face a competitive primary in 2024 for the Republican presidential nomination.

Mr Trump made the charge Monday evening during an interview with David Brody on Real America’s Voice, a Trump-aligned right-wing news and opinion channel.

John Bowden has the story.

Trump accuses evangelicals of ‘disloyalty’ after lacklustre 2024 campaign launch

Michael Cohen meets with Manhattan DA investigators

Tuesday 17 January 2023 21:00 , Oliver O'Connell

CBS News reports that Michael Cohen, former lawyer and “fixer” for Donald Trump is meeting with investigators from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

This could be a sign that their investigation of the former president may be gaining momentum.

Mr Cohen confirmed that he was asked for an interview by investigators for the DA, Alvin Bragg, as he arrived for the meeting at a government office building.

“They’re calling me in for the 14th time, so we’ll see what happens,” Mr Cohen said, adding that he hasn’t met with investigators since the current district attorney took office more than a year ago. “This is my first time meeting with Alvin Bragg.”

The investigation into Mr Trump and his company began in 2018 under Mr Bragg’s predecessor Cyrus Vance and first focused on alleged “hush money” payments arranged by Mr Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

It ultimately became a wider probe of Mr Trump’s finances.

Goldman schools Jordan over ‘dumb questions’ about FBI, Trump and Biden classified documents

Tuesday 17 January 2023 20:46 , Oliver O'Connell

When Ohio Republican Rep Jim Jordan tried drawing attention to alleged disparities between how former President Donald Trump was treated over his trove of classified documents versus how President Joe Biden has been, he might not have thought he was about to be schooled at the hand of new Democrat rep and Trump impeachment officer, Daniel Goldman.

Mr Jordan asked on Twitter: “Why was President Trump’s home raided but not President Biden’s? Why did the FBI take pictures of President Trump’s so-called classified documents but not President Biden’s?”

He added: “Americans are tired of the double standard.”

Mr Goldman, who represents downtown Manhattan and northern parts of Brooklyn, responded: “1) because Trump obstructed justice by failing to comply with a subpoena. Biden volunteered all docs. 2) It’s standard procedure for the FBI to photograph everything they find during a search warrant.”

He added: “In the future, feel free to reach out to me directly with your questions.”

Mr Goldman didn’t stop there. In a follow-up tweet, he wrote: “And before you ‘investigate the FBI’ to obstruct their investigations into you and others, you might want to brush up on the FBI Manual of Investigative Operations and Guidelines (MIOG) so you don’t ask any more dumb questions.”

Ouch.

Matt Schlapp denies new lawsuit claims he groped GOP strategist

Tuesday 17 January 2023 20:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Prominent conservative leader Matt Schlapp has denied claims in a new lawsuit that he groped a male Republican strategist working for Herschel Walker’s failed US Senate campaign in Georgia.

Graeme Massie has the latest.

Conservative leader Matt Schlapp denies new lawsuit claims he groped GOP strategist

Sarah Huckabee Sanders dodges question on Trump’s 2024 bid

Tuesday 17 January 2023 20:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The new Republican governor of Arkansas and former aide of Donald Trump, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, appeared to dodge the question when she was asked whether she would be endorsing the former president’s bid for the 2024 election.

Stuti Mishra reports.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders dodges question on endorsing Trump in 2024

Newly revealed visitor logs show who visited Trump before Jan 6

Tuesday 17 January 2023 20:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump was continuing to rally his allies and fight tooth and nail to cling on to the presidency during his final weeks in the White House, and nowhere is that more evident than in the visitor logs obtained by the January 6 committee.

The acquisition of the logs was itself an accomplishment for the panel, which fought a legal battle against the former president to obtain them from the National Archives. Mr Trump opted in early 2017 to make the records private, reversing an Obama-era policy.

The logs were published in the committee’s final trove of documents last month; their appearance was first noted by Politico which published an article containing a searchable database of the visitor logs.

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.

Newly revealed visitor logs show who was visiting Trump ahead of Jan 6 riot

Trump criticises Biden home security despite Mar-a-Lago’s record

Tuesday 17 January 2023 19:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump unloaded on President Joe Biden in a Truth Social rant posted on Monday morning, continuing his ongoing criticism of his successor for a classified documents scandal that has enveloped the Biden administration with inescapable similarities to the investigation that currently involves Mr Trump himself.

John Bowden reports.

Trump slams security at Biden’s home despite fake heiress at Mar-a-Lago

Ivana Trump gifted former nanny $1m condo in her will

Tuesday 17 January 2023 19:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Ivana Trump, the former wife of Donald Trump, left behind an estate worth an estimated $34m when she died last July, willing her children Ivanka, Eric, and Donald Trump, Jr, a $26.5m townhouse in New York City, and giving a Florida condo worth over $1m to her former nanny.

The former president, meanwhile, got nothing, according to Forbes, which reported on the contents of the probate documents.

Josh Marcus has the story.

Ivana Trump gifted former nanny $1m condo in her will, while Donald gets nothing

Boebert and Greene got into heated fight in bathroom during speaker vote

Tuesday 17 January 2023 18:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Representatives Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene reportedly feuded in the restroom during the protracted speaker vote earlier this month.

The Republican congresswomen were on opposite ends of the GOP fight over the speakership. Ms Greene steadfastly supported Kevin McCarthy, who ultimately won the gavel, while Ms Boebert opposed him.

Eric Garcia has the story.

Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene feuded in the bathroom during speaker vote

Ohio centrist GOP lawmaker to take another run at Senate in 2024

Tuesday 17 January 2023 18:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Republican state Senator Matt Dolan said on Tuesday that he is again running for US Senate as the GOP tries in 2024 to flip the Ohio seat long held by Democrat Sherrod Brown, who is expected to seek reelection.

Mr Dolan, a centrist Republican from the Cleveland suburb of Chagrin Falls and a member of the family that owns baseball’s Cleveland Guardians, is the first of his party to jump into that race.

He cast himself as tough but pragmatic when he ran for Ohio’s open US Senate seat last year, but came in behind Josh Mandel and Trump-backed JD Vance in the primary.

Ohio lawmaker Dolan running for US Senate again in 2024

GOP lawmaker defends wanting to raise Social Security age

Tuesday 17 January 2023 17:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Republican Representative Rick Allen of Georgia defended his position on raising the age when seniors can receive Social Security by saying people want to work longer.

Eric Garcia reports from Washington, DC.

Republican seeking to raise Social Security age defends position after blowback

Boebert sparks outrage with MLK day post

Tuesday 17 January 2023 17:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Lauren Boebert has been lambasted for a tweet in which she quoted Dr Martin Luther King on the federal holiday honouring his legacy.

The far-right Colorado Republican tweeted a quote from Dr King on Monday.

It didn’t take long for Twitter users to slam Ms Boebert for invoking the memory of Dr King.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

Lauren Boebert sparks outrage with MLK day post

McCarthy gives awkward response to claims Santos staffer impersonated his aide

Tuesday 17 January 2023 16:30 , Oliver O'Connell

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy responded to reports that one of George Santos’s staffers had passed themselves off as his chief of staff in campaign calls to Republicans on Tuesday, and declined still to make a forceful condemnation of the newly elected congressman.

A staffer named Sam Miele is accused of posing at Mr McCarthy’s chief of staff Dan Meyer and soliciting donations from supporters in 2021 — an accusation that could potentially have legal implications depending on what was actually said during the calls.

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.

Kevin McCarthy gives awkward response to claims Santos staffer impersonated his aide

Trump admin visitor logs show who was at White House in run-up to Jan 6

Tuesday 17 January 2023 16:00 , Oliver O'Connell

White House visitor logs from the Trump administration were purposely hidden from view by the former president while in office. However, now a selection covering key dates leading up to the Capitol riot has come to light among the supporting documents relating to the House select committee’s investigation of January 6.

The spreadsheet of entries covers seven full days of White House visitor manifests — 12,14, 18, 21 December 2020, and 3, 4, 5 January 2021.

While not exhaustive, the logs reveal who visited 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where they went in the building (the West Wing, Oval Office, the residence), and whether they met with then-president Donald Trump.

It’s an eclectic mix of political and non-political figures, Fox New personalities, donors, governors, and people familiar from the probe into the Capitol riot.

Politico has compiled the entries into a searchable format.

DeSantis 2024? Trump says he’ll ‘handle’ it

Tuesday 17 January 2023 15:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has said that he’ll “handle” Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis if he chooses to run against the former president for the 2024 GOP nomination.

“I got him elected, pure and simple. And there was no reason to go wild about endorsing him ... So, now I hear he might want to run against me. So, we’ll handle that the way I handle things,” Mr Trump told the rightwing podcast The Water Cooler on Monday in a phone interview.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Trump says he will ‘handle that’ if DeSantis runs against him in 2024

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

Tuesday 17 January 2023 15:15 , Rachel Sharp

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.

Keep yourself updated with our running list:

Every lie disgraced incoming Congressman George Santos has been accused of

Fox News contributor says network wants to move past Trump

Tuesday 17 January 2023 14:45 , Rachel Sharp

Fox News and the rest of the conservative-leaning side of the media wants to “move on” from Donald Trump, a recent Fox panellist claimed.

"There’s no doubt that the majority of conservative media — Fox first and foremost — has a strong desire to move on from Donald Trump and are not paying enough attention and giving him enough airtime and ink as they used to," NPR journalist and Fox News contributor Mara Liasson argued on MediaBuzz on Sunday.

But Liasson added that it’s a “different question” whether conservative voters are also tiring of Mr Trump.

Watch the segment below:

Fox News contributor says network wants to move past Trump

Trump refuses to give endorsement in RNC chairperson race

Tuesday 17 January 2023 14:15 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump has refused to give an endorsement in the race for the role of Republican National Committee chairperson.

Incumbent chair Ronna McDaniel is facing competition from attorney Harmeet Dhillon in what has shaped up to be a close race.

Speaking on conservative podcast “The Water Cooler” on Monday, Mr Trump refused to throw his support behind either candidate.

“Well, I can honestly say I like both of them. I mean, I get along with both of them. I haven’t taken a stance, you know. Let them fight it out,” he said.

He then added that Ms Dhillon had “done a great job” representing him as a member of his legal team.

Ivana Trump gifted former nanny $1m condo in her will, while Donald gets nothing

Tuesday 17 January 2023 13:45 , John Bowden

Ivana Trump, the former wife of Donald Trump, left behind an estate worth an estimated $34m when she died last July, willing her children Ivanka, Eric, and Donald Trump, Jr, a $26.5m townhouse in New York City, and giving a Florida condo worth over $1m to her former nanny.

The former president, meanwhile, got nothing, according to Forbes, which reported on the contents of the probate documents.

The acrimonious dissolution of their relationship and resulting divorce became New York tabloid fodder, amid Mr Trump’s extra-martial affair with Marla Maples, whom he later married. She is buried in a small grave at Mr Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Read more from Josh Marcus:

Ivana Trump gifted former nanny $1m condo in her will, while Donald gets nothing