Trump suffers Mar-a-Lago defeat as he claims Jan 6 rioters are treated ‘unconstitutionally’

Donald Trump promised to build his presidential campaign around the rioters who stormed the Capitol on 6 January, while claiming that the people facing charges and prison time over the violent insurrection are being treated “unconstitutionally”.

“People have been treated unconstitutionally, in my opinion, and very, very unfairly, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it,” he said in a video screened on Thursday night at a fundraiser for families of those charged in attacking the Capitol. The country, he cautioned, “is going communist.”

Earlier the former president took to Truth Social to defend hosting the rapper formerly known as Kanye West at Mar-a-Lago, writing that “the story in AP, written by the untalented and very unreliable Jill Colvin, who I unfortunately got to know at the White House, is Fake News”.

Mr Trump didn’t mention Ye’s latest antisemitic comments on Infowars in which he praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

“I see good things about Hitler,” Ye told host Alex Jones.

Late on Thursday, an appeals court dealt a blow to Mr Trump in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.

Key points

• Trump companies ‘cultivated a culture of fraud and deception,’ prosecutor says

• Matt Hancock calls Trump an ‘awful man’ and a ‘plonker'

• Trump was aware of Trump Organization’s alleged tax-evasion efforts, Manhattan prosecutor tells jury

• Oath Keepers and Proud Boys went to Capitol ‘in response to the numerous calls to action by Trump'

• Trump’s rightward lurch ‘makes it easier for Republican leaders to break away from him'

Trump excoriates Karl Rove

Thursday 1 December 2022 07:05 , John Bowden

Donald Trump attacked GOP strategist Karl Rove in a late-night Truth Social meltdown on Wednesday evening, and bizarrely claimed that his candidates did better than ones endorsed by Mr Rove. It was not clear which candidates he was talking about.

Far-right provacateur claims he set up dinner with Trump and white supremacist ‘to make Trump’s life miserable’

Thursday 1 December 2022 08:05 , John Bowden

Donald Trump’s meeting with one of the US’s most prominent racists came as a result of the plans and schemes of Milo Yiannopoulos, a disgraced ex-Breitbart News editor who now appears to be running the 2024 politcal efforts of rapper Kanye West.

The former president has claimed in the days since the meeting to not have known Mr Fuentes or the extent of his hateful views before sitting down with him. Regardless, he faces a torrent of criticism from members of both parties in a scandal reminiscent of the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally-turned-riot in Charlottesville, Virginia — which Mr Fuentes coincidentally attended.

That torrent of incoming fire appears to be the result of Mr Yiannopoulos’s efforts to “make Trump’s life miserable”, an explanation he gave to NBC News on Tuesday. A former right-wing provocateur who toured the country hosting events with a small entourage in front of young, right-wing audiences, Mr Yiannopolous lost his funding and political connections thanks to comments he made in 2017. Those comments appeared to condone paedophilia and evoked massive backlash.

Read more from John Bowden:

Milo Yiannopolous says he set up dinner with Fuentes ‘to make Trump’s life miserable’

Thursday 1 December 2022 09:00 , John Bowden

In his same Truth Social rant targeting Karl Rove, Donald Trump turned his fire on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

“Also 12-0 in Senate Endorsements against the Broken Old Crow, Mitch McConnell, who has, by the way, a 6 % Approval Rating - Not exactly great news for the Republican Party!” he wrote on Truth Social.

Mr McConnell was publicly warning for months after a handful of Mr Trump’s candidates won narrow primaries against conservative rivals that the untested newcomers selected by the former president could cost the GOP a chance at a Senate majority. With all but one races concluded, he appears to have been correct.

Oath Keepers conviction is a win for Department of Justice in Jan 6 probes

Thursday 1 December 2022 10:00

The seditious conspiracy convictions of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and another leader in the far-right extremist group show that jurors are willing to hold accountable not just the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but those who schemed to subvert the 2020 election.

Tuesday’s verdict, while not a total win for the Justice Department, gives momentum to investigators just as the newly named special counsel ramps up his probe into key aspects of the insurrection fueled by President Donald Trump’s lies of a stolen election.

Sedition trial win bolsters Justice Dept. in Jan. 6 probe

Fuentes/West: Kevin McCarthy misrepresents Trump’s denials

Thursday 1 December 2022 11:04 , John Bowden

Reporters on Tuesday pressed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy about his false claim that former president Donald Trump denounced white supremacist Nick Fuentes four times.

“I don’t think anybody should be spending any time with Nick Fuentes,” he said. “He has no place in this Republican Party. I think President Trump came out four times and condemned him and didn’t know who he was.”

Mr Trump has not in fact denounced Mr Fuentes; he has simply said that he did not know who Mr Fuentes was.

Read more in The Independent:

Reporters press Kevin McCarthy over claims Trump denounced Nick Fuentes after dinner

Republican governor holds fundraisers as he eyes 2024 bid

Thursday 1 December 2022 12:00

Term-limited Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan was holding fundraisers for future political activity Wednesday at events where the Republican is expected to talk about his eight years as governor, as well as plans for the future.

Hogan, who leaves office in January, has positioned himself to run as a legitimate alternative to former President Donald Trump, who already has announced he’s running for president in 2024.

Hogan to gather with supporters amid White House speculation

Trump calls Manhattan DA case against him “bulls***”

Thursday 1 December 2022 12:36 , Andrew Naughtie

The Manhattan District Attorney’s tax fraud case against the Trump administration is now headed for closing arguments after a trial that saw former top executives and longtime accountants taking the stand despite the former president’s outrage at his company being investigated.

Pending an outcome, Mr Trump’s response has been to try and delegitimize the trial based on claims that the case has “collapsed” – it has not – and a general characterization of the DA’s office as a failing operation.

Another notorious extremist joins nascent West campaign

Thursday 1 December 2022 13:00 , Andrew Naughtie

Along with Nick Fuentes and Milo Yiannopoulos, Kanye West appears to have picked up another comrade from the world of online racist extremism: Owen Benjamin, who was banned from most mainstream platforms during the Trump presidency for his antisemitic, racist and homophobic remarks. He went on to become a notable proponent of Covid-19 misinformation within the far-right echo chamber.

Rabbi who spoke at Trump inauguration laments West-Fuentes dinner

Thursday 1 December 2022 13:30 , Andrew Naughtie

Writing for the Hollywood Reporter, Rabbi Marvin Hier, who spoke at Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, has given a wrenching response to the former president’s dinner with two avowed antisemites, explaining in unsparing terms just how serious a matter it is:

Read the full column below.

Is Marco Rubio running for president again?

Thursday 1 December 2022 14:00 , Andrew Naughtie

Florida Senator Marco Rubio lasted longer than most other Republican candidates in the 2016 presidential primary, but not before being roundly humiliated by Donald Trump, who derided him as “li’l Marco” and defeated him by a landslide in his home state, which was supposed to serve as a delegate firewall. However, he managed re-election to the Senate that year, as he did this November – but having moved like many other senators to be broadly behind Mr Trump and his agenda, a telltale sign has emerged that he may be considering another campaign:

While Mr Trump has announced he is running again, his flaccid launch, permanent state of legal crisis and continued missteps have more than ever opened up the idea that challenging him might be worth a try. Andrew Feinberg has this look at how the 2024 field is shaping up so far.

Who is running for president in 2024?

DeSantis aides keep quiet on Trump’s racist dinner party

Thursday 1 December 2022 14:30 , Andrew Naughtie

While many Republican leaders have condemned Donald Trump’s dinner with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes, many of them have stopped short of castigating the former president himself – including one of his most notable rivals.

Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor widely considered Mr Trump’s most obvious challenger for the 2024 nomination, has so far held back on any criticism of Mr Trump himself over the debacle at Mar-a-Lago. And now, Rolling Stone reports that he and his aides have made a concerted effort to avoid taking on Mr Trump directly, the thinking being that the media and certain other Republicans will do the job for them and save them what could be a messy fight.

Lofgren: Jan 6 panel will release "everything”

Thursday 1 December 2022 15:31 , Andrew Naughtie

The January 6 select committee is set to release all its evidence – including transcripts of testimony – along with its final report by the end of this month, according to one of its members.

Appearing on CNN, Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren said that the panel is keen to make sure it does not leave its findings open to attack by the Republican leadership now taking control of the House.

“They’ve been pretty clear that they’d like to undermine the work that we’ve done,” she said, “but we’re going to prevent that. We’re going to release all the information we’ve collected so it cannot be selectively edited and spun.”

Read more:

January 6 panel to release all evidence and transcripts alongside final report

Jan 6 rioter claims he got drunk before attack

Thursday 1 December 2022 16:00 , Andrew Naughtie

The hundreds of January 6 defendants who have tried to convince judges to extend them leniency have made a number of arguments, the most common being some version of the claim that they “got caught up” in the events at the Capitol having turned up simply to protest peacefully.

Others, however, are taking a different tack:

Herschel Walker hasn’t answered reporters’ questions in nearly two months

Thursday 1 December 2022 16:30 , Andrew Naughtie

Republican candidate Herschel Walker has not taken questions from reporters on the trail in nearly two months as the Georgia Senate race sets to conclude in a runoff next week.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Mr Walker’s last conversation with reporters was in early October. It remains unclear if he will gaggle with journalists again on the trail before the race concludes on 6 December, but at his events, he is being kept further and further away from the media:

Herschel Walker hasn’t answered reporters’ questions in nearly two months

Mr Walker lost a vote from one of his would-be Republican state colleagues, Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, who said he walked out of the ballot box after queueing for an hour only to fail to vote for either Mr Walker or Mr Kemp.

Mr Walker’s campaign manager is not amused at the news.

Jan 6 investigators subpoena filmmaker’s footage

Thursday 1 December 2022 17:00 , Andrew Naughtie

Filmmaker Alex Holder’s documentary about the 2020 presidential election and Donald Trump’s effort to overturn it got plenty of press this summer, containing as it did footage of interviews with core members of the Trump inner circle before and after the attack on the US Capitol. It has since faded from prominence somewhat given the sheer quantity of evidence and testimony unveiled by the January 6 select committee – but now it seems Mr Holder is having a moment of relevance again, with Justice Department investigators subpoenaing him for raw footage he shot on the day of the riot itself:

Catch up: Why House Democrats want Trump’s tax returns

Thursday 1 December 2022 17:30 , Andrew Naughtie

Donald Trump has lost his fight to stop House Democrats obtaining his tax returns just in time for the Ways and Means Committee to pore over them before Republicans take back the majority in January.

If you’re just arriving to the story, John Bowden has this explainer on what’s going on and why Mr Trump has fought so hard and so long to keep his finances private.

Why do Democrats care about Donald Trump’s tax returns?

January 6 panel to release all evidence and witness transcripts alongside final report this month

Thursday 1 December 2022 18:15 , Andrew Naughtie

6 select committee is set to release all its evidence – including transcripts of testimony – along with its final report by the end of this month, according to one of its members.

Appearing on CNN, Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren said that the panel is keen to make sure it does not leave its findings open to attack by the Republican leadership now poised to take control of the House.

“They’ve been pretty clear that they’d like to undermine the work that we’ve done,” she said, “but we’re going to prevent that. We’re going to release all the information we’ve collected so it cannot be selectively edited and spun.”

Confirming that “everything” would be released, Ms Lofgren declined to commit to a precise publication date, explaining that the vagaries of the official legislative printing process meant pinning one down is not possible; however, she did confirm that the report should be expected by the end of this month. She also said the committee is preparing to release the report in an “interactive” form, though what this will entail she did not say.

The committee’s summer hearings saw the panel screen video of testimony from a variety of witnesses close to Donald Trump himself, among them former attorney general Bill Barr, former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, and Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka.

Read more:

January 6 panel to release all evidence and transcripts alongside final report

VIDEO: Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Plea to Stall Democrats on His Tax Returns

Thursday 1 December 2022 19:00 , Gustaf Kilander

House panel says lax screening helped facilitate PPP fraud

Thursday 1 December 2022 19:45 , The Associated Press

Financial technology firms abdicated their responsibility to screen out fraud in applications for a federal program designed to help small businesses stay open and keep workers employed during the pandemic, a report by a House investigations panel said Thursday.

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis launched its investigation of the firms in May 2021 after public reports that the firms were linked to disproportionate numbers of fraudulent loans issued under the Paycheck Protection Program.

Former President Donald Trump rolled out the Paycheck Protection Program to help small businesses stay open and keep their workers employed. President Joe Biden maintained the program and directed money to more low-income and minority-owned companies. All told, $800 billion was spent on the program.

The financial technology firms reviewed PPP applications for lenders, which would ultimately distribute PPP money to businesses.

The report said two start-ups, Blueacorn PPP and Womply Inc. — which reviewed one in every three funded PPP loans in 2021 — were connected to significant percentages of PPP loan applications with indicators of fraud.

It said the firms used questionable screening procedures and business practices in reviewing the loans, leading to “the needless loss of taxpayer dollars,” the report said. The firms “took billions in fees from taxpayers while becoming easy targets for those who sought to defraud the PPP.”

Hogan raises money amid speculation of White House bid

Thursday 1 December 2022 20:30 , The Associated Press

Term-limited Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan raised money and launched a political action committee on Wednesday amid speculation he will run for president in 2024, telling hundreds of supporters he’ll make a decision after he leaves office in January.

Hogan has positioned himself to run as an alternative to Donald Trump. The former president already has announced he’s running for president in 2024.

The governor acknowledged the speculation about his political future in a speech to supporters.

“Next year, I’m going to sit down and talk to my family, talk to my friends and determine how I can best serve our great nation,” Hogan said.

Hogan, who has been a fierce critic of Trump, would be an underdog in a Republican primary, a point he noted that in his speech.

“I know there is no shortage of naysayers, but I’ve always been an underdog, and people have always counted us out, but every single time, we’ve beaten the odds,” Hogan added.

The Republican candidate Hogan endorsed for governor, Kelly Schulz, lost the GOP primary for governor in Maryland to Trump-endorsed Dan Cox. Cox, however, went on to lose by a large margin in the November general election to Democrat Wes Moore.

VIDEO: Treasury Making Trump Taxes Available To House Committee

Thursday 1 December 2022 21:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg sentenced to 11 years in prison for charges including sex trafficking a minor

Thursday 1 December 2022 22:00 , Graeme Massie

Joel Greenberg, a friend and business associate of US Representative Matt Gaetz, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for sex trafficking a minor and stalking a political opponent.

Greenberg became a person of public interest after the Justice Department announced it was investigating minor sex trafficking allegations against Mr Gaetz.

Mr Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and no charges have been brought against the lawmaker.

Greenberg pleaded guilty to six federal crimes, which include sex trafficking of a minor, identity theft, stalking, wire fraud, and conspiracy to bribe a public official, according to court records.

Read more:

Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg to serve 11 years in prison for sex trafficking minor

Appeals court says FBI can use all documents seized in Mar-a-Lago search and ends special master review

Thursday 1 December 2022 22:45 , Andrew Feinberg

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has reversed a Florida federal judge’s ruling that has prohibited the FBI from using nearly all documents seized during the 8 August search of former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club to further the criminal probe into the ex-president.

Read more:

House Judiciary Committee Republicans delete “Kanye. Elon. Trump.” tweet after West’s praise of Hitler

Thursday 1 December 2022 23:00 , Eric Garcia

The Twitter account for the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee deleted a tweet that said “Kanye. Elon. Trump.” after rapper Kanye West praised Adolf Hitler.

The Judiciary Republicans tweeted the first names of Mr West, Tesla executive Elon Musk and former president Donald Trump on 6 October of this year. But that was before Mr West began tweeting antisemitic remarks, including saying he wanted to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.”

But Matt Gertz of Media Matters tweeted on Thursday that the tweet was taken down amid Mr West, who now goes by the name Ye, appearing on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s show and praising the late Nazi leader.

“You’re not Hitler, you’re not a Nazi, so you don’t deserve to be demonised,” Mr Jones said. In response, Mr West praised Mr Hitler.

“Well, I see good things about Hitler also,” he said. “I am done with the classifications. Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler.”

Read more:

House Judiciary Committee Republicans deletes “Kanye. Elon. Trump.” tweet

Trump Organization defence lawyer scolded for using struck testimony in closing argument at tax fraud trial

Friday 2 December 2022 00:00 , The Associated Press

Closing arguments at the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial got off to a rocky start Thursday as a lawyer for the company was caught showing jurors portions of witness testimony that had previously been stricken from the official court record.

Prosecutors objected to the display about an hour into lawyer Susan Necheles’ presentation. The judge, Juan Manuel Merchan, admonished Necheles and halted arguments so she could remove any other precluded testimony from a slideshow she was showing to jurors.

Necheles said she didn’t intend to show any testimony that had been stricken as a result of a sustained objection. Merchan noted that the objections themselves had been removed from the excerpts Necheles showed, but not the objectionable testimony.

Necheles resumed her closing argument after a half-hour break. Merchan briefly discussed the transcript issue with jurors and Necheles proceeded to show them the correct version, prefacing her remarks with a mea culpa: “Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for that error.”

The transcript kerfuffle was just the latest dust-up involving Trump Organization lawyers. Earlier this week, Merchan scolded the defense for submitting hundreds of pages of court papers just before midnight Sunday.

The Trump Organization, the entity through which former President Donald Trump manages his real estate holdings and other ventures, is accused of helping some top executives avoid paying income taxes on company-paid perks, such as apartments and luxury cars.

Read more:

Trump Organization defence lawyer scolded for closing argument at tax fraud trial

Trump defends hosting Kanye at Mar-a-Lago and stays silent on latest antisemitic rant

Friday 2 December 2022 01:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump defended hosting the rapper formerly known as Kanye West at Mar-a-Lago, writing on Truth Social on Thursday that “the story in AP, written by the untalented and very unreliable Jill Colvin, who I unfortunately got to know at the White House, is Fake News”.

“We have very strong security, especially with the extremely talented Secret Service Agents on premises, but when I know someone, as I did Ye, we’re not going to have my guests strip searched, thrown against walls, and otherwise physically beaten. The anonymous sources don’t exist. Stories to the contrary are FAKE NEWS!”

Mr Trump didn’t mention Ye’s latest antisemitic comments on Infowars in which he praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

“ I see good things about Hitler,” Ye told host Alex Jones.

“The Jews...I love everyone, and the Jewish people are not going to tell me ‘You can love us and you can love what we are doing to you with the contracts, and you can love what we are pushing with the pornography’, but this guy that invented highways, invented the very microphone that I use as a musician, you can’t say out loud that this person ever did anything good and I am done with that,” he added. “I am done with the classifications. Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler.”

Ron DeSantis opts for ‘calculated silence’ on Trump’s dinner with antisemites

Friday 2 December 2022 02:00 , Andrew Buncombe

Florida governor Ron DeSantis is taking a calculated decision not to attack Donald Trump over his controversial dinner with a white supremacist, according to a new report.

While a number of senior Republicans – among them Mike Pence and Mitch McConnell – have criticised the former president for meeting with Nick Fuentes, and Kanye West, both of whom have been accused of expressing racist and antisemitic views, Mr DeSantis has let it be known to his top aides not to weigh in.

Yet the report in Rolling Stone says the decision by the 44-year-old Mr DeSantis, who recently stormed to reelection with a 20-point margin, has nothing to do with helping Mr Trump, who last month announced his third bid for the presidency.

Rather, Mr DeSantis, believed to be considering his own run to become Republican nominee in 2024 and possibly confront Mr Trump in the primary, has calculated the media focus on the story will damage the former president, without the Florida governor using up his political capital, or potentially angering Republicans whose support he would need in any presidential run.

Read more:

Ron DeSantis opts for ‘calculated silence’ on Trump dinner with antisemites

‘DeSantis team doesn’t see upside in kicking off the fight with Trump this early'

Friday 2 December 2022 03:00 , Andrew Buncombe

Florida governor Ron DeSantis is taking a calculated decision not to attack Donald Trump over his controversial dinner with a white supremacist, according to a new report.

“In ongoing discussions following his reelection, including this week, I’ve been asked to keep my powder dry,” Dan Eberhart, a longtime GOP donor and formerly a major backer of Mr Trump, told the magazine.

“My understanding is that the DeSantis team doesn’t see upside in kicking off the fight with Trump this early, even if it may be inevitable. Wading into the Fuentes fiasco just isn’t worth it for them.”

Mr Eberhart, who is now backing Mr DeSantis, added: “The media will harpoon Trump without Team DeSantis lifting a finger.”

Mr Trump has sought to brush off the controversy over the visit to Mar-a-Lago of the 24-year Mr Fuentes, a very popular livestreamer and YouTuber who often expresses views that are racist and antisemitic. He was accompanied by West, who has said several times he is suffering from mental health issues.

VIDEO: Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Plea to Stall Democrats on His Tax Returns

Friday 2 December 2022 04:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Tax fraud case only trial to arise from Manhattan district attorney’s three-year investigation

Friday 2 December 2022 05:00 , The Associated Press

Closing arguments at the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial got off to a rocky start Thursday as a lawyer for the company was caught showing jurors portions of witness testimony that had previously been stricken from the official court record.

The tax fraud case is the only trial to arise from the Manhattan district attorney’s three-year investigation of Trump and his business practices.

The Trump Organization’s longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, has admitted that he came up with the long-running scheme on his own, that he did so to save money on his own personal income taxes, and that neither Trump nor Trump’s family knew what he was doing.

Prior to the interruption, Necheles was using excerpts from Weisselberg’s three days of testimony to underscore her argument that the executive was only intending to benefit himself, not the Trump Organization, and that the company shouldn’t be blamed for his transgressions.

VIDEO: Trump’s Tax Returns Are Handed Over to House Committee

Friday 2 December 2022 06:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Worker pleads guilty in election equipment tampering case

Friday 2 December 2022 07:00 , The Associated Press

A former elections manager who prosecutors say assisted in a security breach of voting equipment in a Colorado county pleaded guilty on Wednesday under a plea agreement that requires her to testify against her former boss.

Sandra Brown is one of two employees accused of helping Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters allow a copy of a hard drive to be made during an update of election equipment last year in search of proof of the false conspiracy theories spun by former President Donald Trump.

Brown, 45, pleaded guilty to attempting to influence a public servant, a felony, and official misconduct, a misdemeanor, but will not be sentenced until right after she testifies at Peters’ trial next year so her performance on the witness stand can be considered.

“There were things going on that I should have questioned and I didn’t,” Brown told Judge Matthew Barrett.

In August, Peters’ chief deputy, Belinda Knisley, also pleaded guilty under a deal that required her to testify against Peters. She only pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts and was immediately sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation.

Peters gained national prominence by promoting conspiracy theories about voting machines and lost a bid to become the Republican candidate for Colorado’s secretary of state, who oversees elections, earlier this year. She is charged with three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, criminal impersonation, two counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, one count of identity theft, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with the secretary of state.

Nonprofits strain to support voters in Georgia Senate race

Friday 2 December 2022 19:20 , The Associated Press

When the closely watched Georgia Senate race went to a runoff, nonprofit organizations that educate voters strained to ramp up operations again after Election Day.

“It’s not just, ‘Find new canvassers and recruit new volunteers.’ It’s also, ‘Find new money,’” said Kendra Cotton, CEO of New Georgia Project — founded by Stacey Abrams, the Democrat who lost her second campaign to become the state’s governor last month. The project’s goal was to raise $1 million to inform voters about the runoff, help them find out where and how to vote through phone banking and text banking, as well as voter protection at the polls. As of Monday, they have raised $797,000.

Grassroots groups have missed the mark in educating donors, Cotton said, explaining that she’ll hear from even high dollar donors that they don’t need to donate to her group because they’ve already given to Abrams or to Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock, who will take on Republican challenger Herschel Walker in the runoff.

Many don’t understand, she said, that their political donations do not trickle down and that grassroots nonprofits cannot work with campaigns or advocate for candidates.

However, the group believes their efforts are essential, especially in this case. Many voters don’t know there is a runoff and are confused about whether they are eligible to vote in it, Cotton said. Canvassers will say, “’Yes, ma’am or yes sir, you might have already voted on November 8th, but there is another election on December 6th,’ and they’re like, ‘What the hell? Between who?’” Cotton said.

Read more:

Nonprofits strain to support voters in Georgia Senate race

“I had never heard of the mam,’ Trump tells Fox News Nick Fuentes

Friday 2 December 2022 08:00 , Andrew Buncombe

Mr Trump has sought to brush off the controversy over the visit to Mar-a-Lago of the 24-year-old Nick Fuentes, a very popular livestreamer and YouTuber who often expresses views that are racist and antisemitic. He was accompanied by Kanye West, who has said several times he is suffering from mental health issues.

“I had never heard of the man,” Mr Trump told Fox News, of Mr Fuentes. “I had no idea what his views were, and they weren’t expressed at the table in our very quick dinner, or it wouldn’t have been accepted.”

The former president added that West, who has changed his name to Ye wanted to speak with him for “advice”, saying he had heard the artist and supporter had “had difficulties, including financial difficulties”.

A white nationalist and a 2024 rival: What happened at Trump’s dinner with Nick Fuentes and Kanye West?

Friday 2 December 2022 09:00 , Joe Sommerlad, Andrew Naughtie

Donald Trump once again finds himself in hot water – this time even incurring the disapproval of his fellow Republicans – for sitting down to dinner at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, with the increasingly wayward Kanye West and the rapper’s “campaign adviser” Nick Fuentes.

Mr West, an acclaimed rapper now going by the name Ye who recently torpedoed his music career by launching into a string of bizarre antisemitic rants on social media, causing his commercial sponsors to desert him in droves, has previously sought out Mr Trump at Trump Tower in New York City and at the White House during his presidency on a whim.

Now plotting a hopelessly unlikely presidential run in 2024 – theoretically pitching him against Mr Trump – West again sought out the one-term president and former luxury real estate magnate, this time for advice on that project.

They sat down to dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday 22 November with another man in attendance, the notorious white nationalist and Holocaust-denier Mr Fuentes, whom Mr Trump has subsequently claimed not to have previously known or recognised.

Read more:

What happened at Trump’s dinner with Nick Fuentes and Kanye West?

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Ivanka has abandoned him and Melania has White House PTSD: What Trump’s family really think of a second term

Friday 2 December 2022 10:00 , Joe Sommerlad

Donald Trump announced a new run for the White House in 2024 on Tuesday evening, unmoved by some disastrous midterm elections results in which many of his most high-profile candidates lost their races.

While the Republican Party had been loudly predicting a “red wave” on Election Day, flooding the House of Representatives and Senate with conservatives in order to effectively disable Joe Biden’s legislative agenda, what actually happened was less a wave, more a light splash.

The Democrats instead retained control of the upper chamber of Congress while the GOP appears likely to obtain only a tiny majority in the House, sparking an outbreak of acrimonious finger-pointing, excuses and scapegoating among right-leaning lawmakers. Marjorie Taylor Greene has talked of a “civil war” erupting between traditional Republicans and the Maga movement, with much of the blame laid squarely at Mr Trump’s Palm Beach door.

Strategists were quick to turn on the 45th president after his stranglehold over their party failed to yield the results he promised, with a number of the election-denying novelty candidates he had endorsed like Dr Mehmet Oz, Kari Lake and Herschel Walker unable to storm to victory.

Read more:

Ivanka Trump statement: What do Trump’s family really think of a second term?

Republicans attack Trump for meeting with Fuentes

Friday 2 December 2022 11:00 , Andrew Buncombe

Republicans have attacked Mr Trump’s decision to meet with Mr Fuentes, who has been a leading voice in the so-called “Stop the Steal” moment, and who attended the now notorious far right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

“There is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “And anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view, in my judgment, are highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States.”

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy said: “I don’t think anybody should be spending any time with Nick Fuentes. He has no place in this Republican Party. I think President Trump came out four times and condemned him and didn’t know who he was.”

Former vice president Mike Pence, who is another possible challenger in 2024, voiced a similar criticism.

“Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an antisemite and Holocaust denier a seat at the table,” Mr Pence said.

“And I think he should apologise for it, and he should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric without qualification.”

VOICES: Three of the last ‘normal’ Republican senators make their last stand

Friday 2 December 2022 12:00 , Eric Garcia

This week, the Senate voted to pass the Respect for Marriage Act to officially codify protections for same-sex and interracially-married couples across the country. It came thanks to months of hard negotiating by a bipartisan coterie, including Democrats Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, as well as Republicans Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Rob Portman of Ohio and Susan Collins of Maine.

Unsurprisingly, every Democrat present voted for the legislation (Senator Raphael Warnock was back in Georgia fighting Herschel Walker to secure a full term). But along with the three who negotiated it, more than a few Republicans present voted to codify same-sex marriage: Joni Ernst of Iowa, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Mitt Romney of Utah, Todd Young of Indiana; and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.

That breakdown is incredibly telling. Of the ten Republicans who voted for the legislation, three – Mr Portman, Mr Blunt and Mr Burr – are retiring at the end of this Congress. In these times, all of them count as what some today would consider “normal Republicans”.

Read more:

Three of the last ‘normal’ Republican senators make their last stand

Donald Trump promises to defend Jan 6 rioters during campaign, labels arrests ‘unconstitutional'

Friday 2 December 2022 12:40 , Johanna Chisholm

Donald Trump promised to build his presidential campaign around the rioters who stormed the Capitol on 6 January, while claiming that the people facing charges and prison time over the violent insurrection are being treated “unconstitutionally”.

“What they’ve done to torment people and go after people like never before, I don’t think anything like this has ever happened in our country before certainly not to this extent,” said the former president in a video screened on Thursday night at a fundraiser for families of those charged in attacking the Capitol. “And you look at other groups which have done terrible things and virtually nothing happened to them. So it’s a very unfair situation and we’re going to be as you know looking into it and talking about it very, very strongly in the coming weeks months and over the next period of a year, year and half, during the campaign.”

“People have been treated unconstitutionally, in my opinion, and very, very unfairly, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it,” he said. The country, he cautioned, “is going communist.”

Trump lashes out at Kanye West as aides rush to reinstate guardrails at Mar-a-Lago

Friday 2 December 2022 13:00 , Andrew Feinberg

The backlash over former president Donald Trump’s pre-Thanksgiving meal with antisemitic rapper Kanye West and white nationalist Nick Fuentes has led the twice-impeached ex-president’s aides to revive a 2020-era measure used to keep him from embarrassing himself while Mr Trump is reportedly blaming the disgraced musician for the negative press.

According to a source who spoke to NBC News, Mr Trump has directed his anger at Mr West, who just two years ago waged a third-party presidential campaign aimed at siphoning votes off from Joe Biden to help the then-president win reelection.

“He tried to f*** me. He’s crazy. He can’t beat me,” the ex-president said, referring to Mr West’s stated intention to mount another campaign for the presidency with an eye towards the 2024 general election.

According to reports, it was Mr West who brought Mr Fuentes, a Holocaust denier and white nationalist who has long been one of Mr Trump’s most vocal supporters, to the ex-president’s Mar-a-Lago club last week.

Read more:

Trump lashes out at Kanye West as aides rush to reinstate guardrails at Mar-a-Lago

Judges seemed to mock Trump attorneys’ arguments in Mar-a-Lago case

Friday 2 December 2022 13:30 , Johanna Chisholm

The three-judge panel that on Thursday reversed a Florida federal judge’s ruling that prohibited the FBI from using nearly all documents seized during the raid of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club seemed to mock the arguments put forward by the former president’s attorneys.

In the 21-page opinion, released Thursday afternoon, the judges wrote that the collection of some of the former president’s personal effects that were mixed in alongside government records made it all the more relevant - and important - that the courts supervise the handling of the materials.

“Plaintiff’s counsel noted that the seized items included ‘golf shirts’ and ‘pictures of Celine Dion,’” the judges wrote. “While Plaintiff may have an interest in these items and others like them, we do not see the need for their immediate return after seizure under a presumptively lawful search warrant.”

Trump fires off series of Truth Social posts – but ignores Kanye scandal

Friday 2 December 2022 13:50 , Johanna Chisholm

Donald Trump fired off a series of Truth Social posts on Thursday night – but continued to ignore the escalating scandal surrounding Kanye West.

Last week, Mr Trump hosted the antisemitic rapper and white nationalist Nick Fuentes for dinner at Mar-a-Lago.

The meeting led to widespread condemnation of the former president including from several top Republicans who called on Mr Trump to condemn Mr Fuentes and his white supremacist beliefs.Following West’s latest round of antisemitism, Mr Trump has failed to comment.

He posted several articles and rants on his Truth Social platform on Thursday night – none of them addressing the controversy.

In one post, he attacked an Associated Press reporter for revealing that his aides are pushing to reinstate practices meant to keep him from meeting with embarrassing guests at his club or elsewhere.

He suggested that the story was “fake news” because of the “very strong security” at his club, but said he was “not going to have [his] guests stripped searched,” especially when he knows someone as he did Mr West.

Over the next few hours, he posted a series of links to articles including one taking aim at Senator Mitch McConnell titled: “Ditch Mitch?”

Another post included a link to a blog with the title: “Donald Trump 2022: Forged in a crucible of hot white fire.”

Ron DeSantis opts for ‘calculated silence’ on Trump’s dinner with antisemites

Friday 2 December 2022 14:10 , Johanna Chisholm

Florida governor Ron DeSantis is taking a calculated decision not to attack Donald Trump over his controversial dinner with a white supremacist, according to a new report.

While a number of senior Republicans – among them Mike Pence and Mitch McConnell – have criticised the former president for meeting with Nick Fuentes, and Kanye West, both of whom have been accused of expressing racist and antisemitic views, Mr DeSantis has let it be known to his top aides not to weigh in.

Yet the report in Rolling Stone says the decision by the 44-year-old Mr DeSantis, who recently stormed to reelection with a 20-point margin, has nothing to do with helping Mr Trump, who last month announced his third bid for the presidency.

Rather, Mr DeSantis, believed to be considering his own run to become Republican nominee in 2024 and possibly confront Mr Trump in the primary, has calculated the media focus on the story will damage the former president, without the Florida governor using up his political capital, or potentially angering Republicans whose support he would need in any presidential run.

Read the full report from Andrew Buncombe here:

Ron DeSantis opts for ‘calculated silence’ on Trump dinner with antisemites

Obama eviscerates Trump-backed Walker while stumping for Warnock fir Georgia Senate runoff

Friday 2 December 2022 14:30 , Johanna Chisholm

Just weeks after stumping in Georgia for Sen Raphael Warnock in his midterm race against Trump-endorsed Herschel Walker, Barack Obama returned to the Peach State to - once more - energize the Democratic base ahead of next week’s runoff election.

The former president received raucous laughter when he used part of his time at the pulpit to poke fun at Sen Warnock’s Republican challenger, as he listed off a series of inane comments that former NFL player had made in just recent weeks.

“We all know some folks in our lives who, we don’t wish them ill will, they say crazy stuff ... but you don’t give them serious responsibility,” Mr Obama began.

“Since the last time I was here, Mr Walker has been talking about issues that are of great importance to the people of Georgia, like whether it’s better to be a vampire or a werewolf,” he said, while choking back his own laughter. “This is a debate, that I must confess that I once had myself when I was 7.”

“This would be funny if he weren’t running for Senate.”

Watch the full clip below here:

Trump lashes out at Kanye West as aides rush to reinstate guardrails at Mar-a-Lago

Friday 2 December 2022 14:50 , Johanna Chisholm

The backlash over former president Donald Trump’s pre-Thanksgiving meal with antisemitic rapper Kanye West and white nationalist Nick Fuentes has led the twice-impeached ex-president’s aides to revive a 2020-era measure used to keep him from embarrassing himself while Mr Trump is reportedly blaming the disgraced musician for the negative press.

According to a source who spoke to NBC News, Mr Trump has directed his anger at Mr West, who just two years ago waged a third-party presidential campaign aimed at siphoning votes off from Joe Biden to help the then-president win reelection.

“He tried to f*** me. He’s crazy. He can’t beat me,” the ex-president said, referring to Mr West’s stated intention to mount another campaign for the presidency with an eye towards the 2024 general election.

According to reports, it was Mr West who brought Mr Fuentes, a Holocaust denier and white nationalist who has long been one of Mr Trump’s most vocal supporters, to the ex-president’s Mar-a-Lago club last week.

Andrew Feinberg has the details here.

Trump lashes out at Kanye West as aides rush to reinstate guardrails at Mar-a-Lago

Trump shares support for Capitol rioters

Friday 2 December 2022 15:10 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Trump spoke in support of the January 6 rioters who stormed the Capitol in an attempt to keep him in power after he lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.

In a video sent to a fundraiser on Thursday night hosted by the Patriot Freedom Project, a group supporting families of people being prosecuted by the government, Mr Trump said that “people have been treated unconstitutionally, in my opinion, and very, very unfairly, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it”.

“It’s the weaponization of the Department of Justice, and we can’t let this happen in our country,” he added, according to The Washington Post.

Trump promises to look at ‘very unfair situation’ for Jan 6 rioters

Friday 2 December 2022 15:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump has promised to look at the “very unfair situation” that he believes many January 6 rioters are in as they’re being prosecuted by the government.

Mr Trunp sent a video to a fundraiser on Thursday night hosted by the Patriot Freedom Project, a group supporting families of people being prosecuted by the government.

The group says it’s “a non-profit organization providing legal, financial, mental-health, and spiritual support for individuals and their families — including young children — who are suffering at the hands of a weaponized justice system”.

VIDEO: Trump doubles down on support for Jan 6 rioters

Friday 2 December 2022 15:50 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump’s rightward lurch ‘makes it easier for Republican leaders to break away from him'

Friday 2 December 2022 16:10 , Gustaf Kilander

While some analysts believe Mr Trump’s outreach to the far-right is a way to head off an expected 2024 challenge from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, critics within the party believe it’s damaging to the GOP’s brand.

“It continues to damage the brand, especially with centrist and suburban voters,” former Florida Representative Carlos Curbelo told The New York Times. “But it also makes it easier for Republican leaders to break away from him and start a new chapter.”

‘Trump is doubling down on his extremist and cult leader profile'

Friday 2 December 2022 16:30 , Gustaf Kilander

New York history professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat, the author of Strongmen: From Mussolini to the Present, told The New York Times that Donald Trump is “doubling down on his extremist and cult leader profile”.

“For someone of Trump’s temperament, being humiliated by people turning away from him will only make him more desperate and more inclined to support and associate with the most extremist elements of society. There is no other option for him,” she added.

Trump allies aware ‘he’s lost the excitement of 2016'

Friday 2 December 2022 17:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Former Trump White House strategic communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin told The New York Times that “Trump’s inner orbit is keenly aware that he’s lost the excitement of 2016, and there’s a school of thought that ginning up the most die-hard part of his base is the key to bringing it back”.

“The reality is, however, that means reaching out to fringe, racist elements that have traditionally been sidelined by the mainstream of the party,” she added.

Trump plans to make support for Jan 6 rioters central to his 2024 campaign

Friday 2 December 2022 17:30 , Gustaf Kilander

In a video released Thursday, Mr Trump made clear that he plans to make his support for the January 6 rioters a central part of his 2024 campaign.

“We’re going to be, as you know, looking about it and talking about it very, very strongly in the coming weeks, months and over the next period of a year, year and a half during the campaign,” he said.

Oath Keepers and Proud Boys went to Capitol ‘in response to the numerous calls to action by Trump'

Friday 2 December 2022 18:00 , Gustaf Kilander

George Washington University extremism researcher Jon Lewis told The New York Times that the conviction of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and other Capitol rioters confirmed that Mr Trump and his allies learned how to use the rage, racism, and undemocratic views of such groups.

“The convictions of Rhodes and his co-conspirators provide evidence of what has long been recognized — that the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and the thousands who travelled to the Capitol did so in response to the numerous calls to action by Trump and others in the lead-up to January 6,” he said.

“These were the foot soldiers of the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement, who were determined to use force to prevent the certification of the electoral vote,” he added.

The Republican Jewish Coalition bashes Kanye but doesn’t mention Trump

Friday 2 December 2022 18:45 , Gustaf Kilander

The Republican Jewish Coalition, which has previously supported Mr Trump, issued a statement on Thursday saying that “conservatives who have mistakenly indulged Kanye West must make it clear that he is a pariah”.

“Enough is enough,” they added, without mentioning Mr Trump despite his recent Mar-a-Lago dinner with the rapper who has made a number of anti-Semitic comments and who appeared on Infowars where he praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

Trump was aware of Trump Organization’s alleged tax-evasion efforts, Manhattan prosecutor tells jury

Friday 2 December 2022 19:30 , Gustaf Kilander

A Manhattan prosecutor has told a jury that Donald Trump was aware of the alleged tax evasion schemes used by the Trump Organization.

Manhattan Assistant DA Joshua Steinglass told jurors that the former president “knew exactly what was going on with his top executives,” according to the New York Daily News.

After the jury had left the courtroom, Trump Organization attorney Alan Futerfas made a complaint that Mr Trump had been mentioned during close arguments.

“I guess you all shouldn’t have opened the door,” Mr Steinglass responded.

Matt Hancock calls Trump an ‘awful man’ and a ‘plonker'

Friday 2 December 2022 20:15 , Gustaf Kilander

The former UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has written in his new book that he wanted to tell Donald Trump to follow his own suggestion and “drink bleach” when he got Covid-19.

Mr Hancock calls Mr Trump an “awful, awful man” and a “plonker” in The Pandemic Diaries: The Inside Story of Britain’s Battle Against Covid, according to The Daily Mail.

Mr Hancock writes that he cried tears of joy when Mr Trump was forced out of the White House and “Trump madness” ended.

“President Trump has randomly and dangerously declared that hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment for Covid, despite a total absence of the evidence. What an awful, awful man,” Mr Hancock wrote in an entry dated 4 April 2020.

Trump companies ‘cultivated a culture of fraud and deception,’ prosecutor says

Friday 2 December 2022 21:00 , Gustaf Kilander

A Manhattan prosecutor has told a jury that Mr Trump’s companies “cultivated a culture of fraud and deception” that meant that executives could receive perks that weren’t subject to tax.

Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said that took deliberate actions to hide income from the IRS, and blamed their accountants when confronted, the New York Daily News reported.

“It’s not that the folks at the Trump corporation didn’t know what they were doing was illegal,” Mr Steinglass said. “They just didn’t care.”

Trump ‘more and more buying into the fringe conspiracy theories'

Friday 2 December 2022 22:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump appears to be drifting fully into the realm of conspiracy theories and lies as more and more of the Republican establishment leaves him behind, a former advisor has said.

Former Trump White House strategic communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin told The New York Times that “the question so many of us have asked ourselves for years about Trump is whether he actually buys what he’s selling, specifically on the election lies”.

“I think as time has passed and he’s been out of office surrounded by a ragtag group of advisers, he’s more and more buying into the fringe conspiracy theories held by a vocal minority within the GOP,” she added.

Trump lawyer tries to pin the blame on Weisselberg

Friday 2 December 2022 23:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump Corporation lawyer Susan Necheles tried to pin the blame on the Trump Organization’s former CFO Allen Weisselberg during the tax fraud case in a Manhattan court.

“We are here today for one reason and one reason only: the greed of Allen Weisselberg,” she told the jury, according to the New York Daily News. “Along the way, he messed up. He got greedy. Once he got started, it was difficult for him to stop.”

Matt Hancock says he was horrified when Trump suggested bleach to treat Covid

Saturday 3 December 2022 00:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Former UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has written in his new book that he was “horrified” when Mr Trump suggested that bleach be used to treat Covid.

“A small part of me found it funny – this is the President of the United States. The leader of the free world. A much bigger part of me was horrified,” Mr Hancock writes in The Pandemic Diaries: The Inside Story of Britain’s Battle Against Covid, according to The Daily Mail.

“You’d like to think nobody would take these wild suggestions seriously, but around the world, doctors are now genuinely having to warn people not to attempt to treat themselves with Cillit Bang,” he added.

Who is Nick Fuentes? The white supremacist, friend of Kanye West and dinner guest Trump claims he never heard of

Saturday 3 December 2022 01:00 , Andrew Buncombe

If Donald Trump had really never heard of the man with dark brown hair who showed at up his door for dinner, accompanied by none other than Kanye West, then he really should have.

The 24-year Nick Fuentes is a self-described white supremacist who spreads racist and antisemitic opinions on social media and in human interaction at events such as his America First Political Action Conference. He has denied the Holocaust, and was once apparently one of Trump’s biggest fans.

Reports suggest that at the now infamous Mar-a-Lago dinner, Fuentes paid high praise to the former president, or rather the former version of the former president - the off-the-cuff, say-it-as-it-is, rabble-rouser that jolted the nation back in 2016 and even 2020.

“You like it better when I just speak off the cuff,” Trump reportedly asked of Fuentes, to which he agreed. Trump told Fuentes his advisers had requested he make use of a teleprompter and to ad-lib less.

According to a report from Axios, at one point, Trump turned to West and said: “I really like this guy. He gets me.”

Read more:

Who’s Nick Fuentes - the notorious white supremacist Trump says he’s never heard of?

Boebert's race against Frisch in Colorado goes to recount

Saturday 3 December 2022 02:00 , The Associated Press

The Colorado Secretary of State has ordered a recount in the congressional race where Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert led Democrat Adam Frisch by just 550 votes in an unexpectedly tight race.

The Associated Press has declared the race too close to call and will await the results of the recount. The recount, which was expected, was formally announced Wednesday.

The race garnered national attention because Boebert was largely considered a lock for reelection after redistricting made the sprawling 3rd Congressional District that covers much of western Colorado more Republican.

Over a week after the polls closed, Boebert claimed victory and Frisch conceded the race. Frisch, a former city councilman from the posh ski town of Aspen, acknowledged a recount is unlikely to change the results.

In Colorado, an automatic recount is triggered when the margin of votes between the top two candidates is at or below 0.5% of the leading candidate’s vote total. That margin was around 0.34% after all the ballots were tabulated.

Read more:

Boebert's race against Frisch in Colorado goes to recount

DeSantis 2024 prospects prompt Fla. lawmakers to review law

Saturday 3 December 2022 03:00 , The Associated Press

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may need some help from the state Legislature if he proceeds with a highly anticipated bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

A “resign to run” law requires state officeholders to commit to leave their positions if they run for federal office. The measure, which has been on and off the books over the past several decades, was reinstated in 2018. But Republican leaders in the GOP-dominated Legislature have expressed openness to changing or rescinding the law when they gather again in March.

Florida House Speaker Paul Renner recently told reporters that it was a “great idea” to review the law. Senate President Kathleen Passidomo similarly said that changes to the resignation requirement would be a “good idea.”

“If an individual who is a Florida governor is running for president, I think he should be allowed to do it,” she said.

DeSantis is emerging as an early favorite of some Republican donors and activists who are seeking a conservative leader without the baggage associated with former President Donald Trump, who has already announced his 2024 White House bid. In an underwhelming year for Republicans in much of the U.S., many in the party are taking notice of DeSantis’ commanding reelection victory, including his strong performance in longtime Democratic strongholds around Miami.

Read more:

DeSantis 2024 prospects prompt Fla. lawmakers to review law

QAnon, white nationalists and hate speech: Experts reveal how the floodgates opened on Elon Musk’s Twitter

Saturday 3 December 2022 04:00 , Alex Woodward

One day after officially acquiring Twitter, the world’s wealthiest person pledged that a “content moderation council” would review the restoration of previously banned accounts. Elon Musk said that civil rights groups – as well as those who had experience “hate-fuelled violence” – would be a part of the process.

Then, on 23 November, Musk introduced a Twitter poll asking users whether he should grant “general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam”.

Extremism researchers and experts who have closely studied the spread of online hate and mis- and disinformation have warned that Mr Musk’s acquisition and the mass return of previously banned users could rapidly deteriorate the platform. Under the disingenuous banner of “free speech”, Twitter could become one of the most toxic spaces on the internet for marginalised groups, according to experts.

Without critical guardrails, the platform risks turning into a “hostile environment for people that might be subjected to abuse and the people who don’t want to see it, and that’s the vast majority of people,” according to Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

On 18 November, Mr Musk created another poll asking whether to allow Donald Trump back to the platform. The former president had been permanently suspended from Twitter “due to the risk of further incitement of violence” in the aftermath of the attack on the US Capitol fuelled by his election lies.

Read more:

QAnon, racism and ‘informational anarchy’: Experts on how Elon Musk changed Twitter

Prosecution resumes closing argument at Trump Org. trial

Saturday 3 December 2022 05:00 , The Associated Press

Prosecutors resumed their closing argument Friday in the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial, promising to share previously unrevealed details about Donald Trump’s knowledge of a tax dodge scheme hatched by one of his top executives.

“Donald Trump knew exactly what was going on with his top executives,” Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Joshua Steinglass told jurors on Thursday during the first half of his closing argument, adding: “We will come back to that later.”

Steinglass spoke for about an hour on Thursday and has told the judge he expects to need a total of at least four hours to summarize the case against the former president’s company.

The Trump Organization, the entity through which Trump manages his real estate holdings and other ventures, is accused of helping executives avoid paying income taxes on company-paid perks such as Manhattan apartments and luxury cars.

Prosecutors argue that the Trump Organization is liable because two executives involved in the scheme — longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg and controller Jeffrey McConney — were “high managerial” agents entrusted to act on behalf of the company and its various entities.

Read more:

Prosecution resumes closing argument at Trump Org. trial

‘Silence is complicity’: Biden responds to Kanye West’s Hitler praise

Saturday 3 December 2022 06:00 , Andrew Feinberg

President Joe Biden on Friday called on “political leaders” to step up by “calling out and rejecting antisemitism” after disgraced rapper and prominent Donald Trump supporter Kanye West praised deceased German dictator Adolf Hitler and declared himself “a Nazi” during an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Writing on his official Twitter account, Mr Biden said he wanted to “make a few things clear”.

“The Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure. And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides,” he said.

“Silence is complicity,” he added.

Mr Biden’s comments came roughly twenty-four hours after West’s shocking interview, during which he left Jones — himself a notorious figure with a history of courting controversy — quite flummoxed by declaring that he sees “good things about Hitler” while sitting alongside Holocaust denier and white nationalist Nick Fuentes on Jones’ Infowars programme.

Read more:

‘Silence is complicity’: Biden responds to Kanye West’s Hitler praise

Obama savagely compares Herschel Walker to his seven-year-old self in ‘vampires vs werewolves’ debate

Saturday 3 December 2022 07:00 , Eric Garcia

Former president Barack Obama viciously mocked Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker for questioning whether he’d rather be a werewolf or a vampire.

Mr Obama campaigned for Democratic incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock in Atlanta on Thursday evening with just five days left before Georgia’s Senate runoff election.

“If you had forgotten what I had said the last time, it’s ok, because you just have to wait a minute, he reminds you every time he opens his mouth,” Mr Obama said about the former University of Georgia running back. “Every day he comes up with something. Every day.”

Neither Mr Walker nor Mr Warnock received a majority of the vote in the general election last month. Georgia’s law stipulates that the top two vote recipients face each other in a runoff election.

Mr Obama specifically mocked a speech Mr Walker made where he said he watched a movie late at night, likely 1985’s Fright Night, and learned that werewolves can kill vampires.

Read more:

Obama savagely mocks Herschel Walker’s ‘vampires vs werewolves’ debate

Obama pauses mid-speech to let a four-year-old boy speak at rally for Georgia runoff race

Saturday 3 December 2022 08:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Former US President Barack Obama paused his speech while campaigning for Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in the Georgia runoff to let a four-year-old boy speak.

Mr Obama paused on several occasions to interact with the child, who at one point said, “we’ve got the power”.

“He’s only four and he’s making sense,” the 44th president said, adding that the boy must be “getting straight A’s” in school.

Towards the end of his appearance, Mr Obama said that if supporters put in the work to reelect Rev Warnock, “we will be setting an example for a four-year-old right here and laying a foundation for him to build on”.

Thursday night’s rally was the second Georgia appearance for Mr Obama this election cycle, The Washington Post noted.

Read more:

Obama pauses speech to let a four-year-old boy speak at rally for Georgia runoff race

VIDEO: Trump falsely claims USA is turning ‘communist’ and ‘torturing’ people after Jan 6

Saturday 3 December 2022 09:00 , The Independent

Former UK Health Secretary says it was ‘tempting’ to tell Trump to treat Covid with bleach

Saturday 3 December 2022 10:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Former UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has written in his new book that it was “tempting” to tell Mr Trump to treat Covid with bleach.

According to The Daily Mail, Mr Hancock wrote in The Pandemic Diaries: The Inside Story of Britain’s Battle Against Covid in an entry dated 2 October 2020 that “tempting as it was to take to social media and suggest Trump try treating himself with a blast of UV light or by drinking bleach, I left it”.

Growing number of Republicans view Trump unfavourably and want new leadership for GOP, poll finds

Saturday 3 December 2022 12:00 , Andrew Feinberg

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.

The poll, which was conducted by WPA Intelligence — a conservative firm favoured by GOP mainstays such as Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee — found that a whopping 88 per cent of Democratic voters said they cast their votes with an eye toward “stopping Maga extremists”. Of that 88 per cent, a full 74 per cent responded that stopping the Maga candidates was “very important” to how they voted.

Democratic voters who came out last month were also significantly more energised by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 8 August search of Mr Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida home than the GOP voters who responded to the survey. A full 35 per cent of Democratic voters said the search was “very important” to them, while the number of Republicans who said the same about the search was just 22 per cent.

Read more:

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

Distaste for Walker provides tailwind for Warnock in Georgia

Saturday 3 December 2022 13:00 , The Associated Press

It might go without saying that Democrats generally vote against Republicans. But in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff, it can hardly be overstated how much Democratic voters — and others — are driven by not wanting Republican challenger Herschel Walker to be their U.S. senator.

Ask Raphael Warnock‘s voters what they think about the election, and it’s often criticism of Walker that first comes tumbling out.

“You’ve got a very ignorant, ignorant, ignorant fellow that’s running in Herschel Walker,” said Dennis Paris, an entertainer who lives in the Atlanta suburb of Jonesboro and voted for Warnock this week in Morrow. “I can’t see going through another thing like we had with an ignorant Trump making decisions for us, not caring about the people.”

Even many Georgia Republicans who are voting for Walker, the former University of Georgia and pro football star, say they’re not so much motivated by liking him as by disliking President Joe Biden’s administration and Warnock’s support for Biden’s policies

Tuesday’s runoff is far from settled. Warnock led Walker in the general election on Nov. 8 but came up short of a majority, necessitating another round of voting under state law.

Read more:

Distaste for Walker provides tailwind for Warnock in Georgia

Obama launches epic takedown of Herschel Walker - as polling shows voters might be done with him

Saturday 3 December 2022 14:00 , Eric Garcia

On Thursday, former president Barack Obama made one final visit to Atlanta to campaign for Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock ahead of Tuesday’s runoff election.

The two-term president returned to Georgia and brutally mocked Republican Senate nominee and former University of Georgia running back Herschel Walker. Specifically, he made fun of Mr Walker’s speech a few weeks ago where he said he would rather be a werewolf than a vampire.

“This is a debate that I must confess I once had myself - when I was seven. Then I grew up,” Mr Obama said to uproarious laughter.

Mr Warnock and Mr Walker are engaged in the final race of the 2022 midterm election. Neither candidate received a majority of the vote in last month’s general election thanks to Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver.

As a result, the two are engaged in a runoff that will take place Tuesday. The race will determine whether the Senate will remain a dead-even 50-50 where Vice President Kamala Harris breaks ties or whether Democrats will have a one-seat majority.

Read more:

Did Obama just finish off Herschel Walker’s campaign for good?