Trump news - live: Fox News lawsuit reveals Trump was blocked from on-air call during Capitol riot

Donald Trump says he will visit East Palestine, Ohio, two weeks after a freight train laden with toxic materials derailed and leaked into the community.

“Biden and FEMA said they would not be sending federal aid to East Palestine. As soon as I announced that I’m going, he announced a team will go,” Mr Trump said on Truth Social.

Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson allegedly called former president Donald Trump a “demonic force” who could “destroy” him if he misstepped, in texts to his producer.

“He’s the undisputed world champion of that. He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong,” Carlson texted his Fox News producers, according to court filings in the Dominion defamation case. He called Mr Trump “a demonic force, a destroyer,” adding, “But he’s not going to destroy us.”

The $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems over the network’s coverage of the 2020 presidential election has been termed as an assault on the First Amendment by the attorneys for the channel.

Fox News repeatedly broadcast lies about Mr Trump’s vote-rigging claims that it knew were “total bs”, Dominion Voting Systems said in a filing made public on Thursday.

Dominion wrote: “From the top down, Fox knew ‘the dominion stuff’ was ‘total bs’. Yet despite knowing the truth – or at minimum, recklessly disregarding that truth – Fox spread and endorsed these ‘outlandish voter fraud claims’ about Dominion even as it internally recognised the lies as ‘crazy’, ‘absurd’, and ‘shockingly reckless’”.

Key Points

• ‘Insane, lying, complete nut’: Fox News stars rejected election conspiracy theories while network pushed them

• The biggest revelations from Dominion’s Fox News lawsuit filing

• Fox News says Dominion case is about ‘freedom of the press and freedom of speech'

• Tucker Carlson called Trump a ‘demonic force’, lawsuit reveals

• Kari Lake suffers another court defeat in baseless bid to overturn Arizona election results

Republicans to adopt loyalty pledge for debate participants

17:53 , Graeme Massie

Republican presidential candidates will be blocked from the debate stage this summer if they do not sign a pledge to support the GOP’s ultimate presidential nominee, according to draft language set to be adopted when the Republican National Committee meets next week.

The proposal sets up a potential clash with former President Donald Trump, who has raised the possibility of leaving the Republican Party and launching an independent candidacy if he does not win the GOP nomination outright. While RNC officials and Trump aides downplay that possibility, such a move could destroy the GOP’s White House aspirations in 2024 and raise existential questions about the party’s future.

“After the primary, it is imperative to the health and growth of our Republican Party, as well as the country, that we all come together and unite behind our nominee to defeat Joe Biden and the Democrats,” RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a statement to The Associated Press when asked about the loyalty pledge.

As many as a dozen Republicans are expected to enter the 2024 presidential contest as the GOP braces for an all-out civil war in the months ahead.

Much of the party is eager to move past Trump and his divisive politics, but in reality, Republican leaders have few, if any, tools to control the former president given his popularity with the GOP’s most passionate voters. RNC leaders are hopeful that a loyalty pledge, while ultimately unenforceable, would generate some shared commitment to unity, albeit a fragile one, as the presidential primary season takes off.

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Republicans to adopt loyalty pledge for debate participants

Nikki Haley fires back at Don Lemon after CNN host claims she’s not in her ‘prime’

17:20 , Graeme Massie

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has hit back at Don Lemon after the CNN host said that the former South Carolina governor was not “in her prime.”

Ms Haley, who announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination for president earlier this week, responded to Mr Lemon’s remarks on Friday on Fox News.

“This is something that I have faced all of my life. It was Don Lemon yesterday, it was Whoopi Goldberg the day before,” she said. “There will be somebody else tomorrow. I have always made the liberals’ heads explode. They can’t stand the fact that a minority conservative female would not be on the Democratic side, because they know I pull independents, they know I pull suburban women, they know I pull minorities over to what we are trying to do.”

Ms Haley announced her candidacy earlier this week, making her the first candidate to challenge former president Donald Trump for the nomination in 2024. Prior to that she won two term as governor South Carolina before Mr Trump nominated her to serve as the US ambassador to the United Nations.

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Nikki Haley fires back at Don Lemon after CNN host claims she’s not in her ‘prime’

Trump says he will visit East Palestine after two weeks of silence

16:31 , Graeme Massie

Mr Trump confirmed on his platform Truth Social that he will travel on Wednesday to the community with a population of 4,700.

Trump says he will visit East Palestine after 2 weeks of silence on train derailment

The biggest revelations from Dominion’s Fox News lawsuit filing

16:00 , Megan Sheets

Fox News is facing a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, a Denver-based manufacturer of voting machines, over its coverage of the 2020 presidential election and then-president Donald Trump’s bogus claims that the contest was “rigged” to ensure victory for Joe Biden.

In a 192-page court filing published on Thursday containing private messages from many of Fox’s biggest stars, Dominion argues: “From the top down, Fox knew ‘the Dominion stuff’ was ‘total bs’.”

“Yet despite knowing the truth – or at minimum, recklessly disregarding that truth – Fox spread and endorsed these ‘outlandish voter fraud claims’ about Dominion even as it internally recognised the lies as ‘crazy’, ‘absurd’ and ‘shockingly reckless’,” the filing said.

Attorneys for Fox, however, have argued that Dominion has advanced only “novel defamation theories” and is seeking a “staggering” figure in damages aimed at winning headlines, silencing protected speech and enriching its owner, Staple Street Capital Partners, and its investors.

A Fox spokesperson said in a statement in response to Thursday’s filing: “There will be a lot of noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners, but the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v Sullivan.”

A five-week trial is scheduled to begin on 17 April.

Here, The Independent’s Joe Sommerlad gives a brief overview of some of the most astonishing claims in the new filing, which collects private text messages from prominent anchors like Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham and owner Rupert Murdoch discussing coverage of the 2020 election’s aftermath:

The biggest revelations from Dominion’s Fox News lawsuit filing

Fox News blocked Trump from calling in to show after Capitol riot

15:20 , Megan Sheets

Fox News executives barred Donald Trump from calling in to a show as his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, a court filing revealed.

The revelation came in a bombshell 200-page filing from Dominion Voting Systems as part of its defamation lawsuit against Fox News.

The filing states that Mr Trump had tried to call in to Lou Dobbs’ show on the Fox Business Network.

The network’s president Lauren Petterson testified that executives determined it would be “irresponsible” to put him on air.

She said that doing so “could impact a lot of people in a negative way”.

A source told CNN the House select committee that investigated the Capitol riot was aware of Mr Trump’s call to the network.

Fox reporter told she had to do better job ‘respecting our audience’ by not fact checking false claims

15:00 , Megan Sheets

On 19 November, a memo to executives said that “the lack of any meaningful editorial guidance” at Newsmax “may be a positive for them at least in the short term,” adding that that kind of “conspiratorial reporting might be exactly what the disgruntled [Fox News] viewer is looking for.”

“Do not ever give viewers a reason to turn us off,” Fox executive Ron Mitchell wrote. “Every topic and guest must perform … ‘No unforced errors’ in content – example: Abruptly turning away from a Trump campaign press conference.”

The next day, while the network played the entirety of Mr Giuliani’s post-election press conference, then-White House correspondent Kristin Fisher fact checked claims from Ms Powell and Mr Giuliani.

She said that her boss Bryan Boughton immediately called her to tell her that “higher-ups at Fox News were also unhappy” and that she “needed to do a better job of – this is a quote – ‘respecting our audience.’”

“Punished for doing my job,” she texted after the call.

Trump planning to visit East Palestine after train derailment

13:57 , Megan Sheets

Donald Trump is gearing up to visit East Palestine, Ohio, as it continues to grapple with the consequences of a train derailment earlier this month.

The former president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, announced the plans via Twitter on Friday night.

“Breaking News: Trump will visit East Palestine, Ohio next week,” he wrote. “If our “leaders” are too afraid to actually lead real leaders will step up and fill the void.”

Mr Trump appeared to confirm the report on Truth Social, writing: “Great people who need help, NOW!”

Fox News reported that Mr Trump will meet with East Palestine residents on Wednesday, almost three weeks after the 3 February derailment.

Fox reporter’s fact check tweet deleted after executive pushback

13:15 , Alex Woodward

In a group message thread on 12 November 2020, Tucker Carlson shared a tweet from now-former Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich “fact checking” one of Trump’s tweets alleging voter fraud, on which she correctly stated that “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”

“Please get her fired,” Mr Carlson wrote. “Seriously … What the f****? actually shocked … It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It’s measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down. Not a joke.”

Sean Hannity texted his team that he “just dropped a bomb”.

Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott told executives that Mr Hannity is “standing down on responding but not happy about this and doesn’t understand how this is allowed to happen from anyone in news.”

“[Ms Heinrich] has serious nerve doing this and if this gets picked up, viewers are going to be further disgusted,” she added.

Ms Heinrich’s tweet was deleted.

Ingraham producer complains of false election claims broadcast on Fox News

12:30 , Alex Woodward

On 12 November 2020, as Dominion claims began circulating on other networks and across social media, Laura Ingraham producer Tommy Firth texted an executive that “this dominion shit is going to give me a f****ing aneurysm”.

“As many times as I’ve told Laura bs, she sees s***posters and Trump tweeting about it,” he said.

That night, Mr Dobbs brought Mr Giuliani on his broadcast.

“The endgame to a four-and-a-half year-long effort to overthrow the president of the United States,” Mr Dobbs said on his programme.

Fox sent Mike Lindell a gift

11:45 , Joe Sommerlad

The MyPillow tycoon, one of Fox’s key advertisers, quickly emerged as one of the most passionate exponents of the Big Lie so the network grew anxious when Mr Lindell criticised them during an interview with Newsmax.

Ms Scott duly sent him a gift with a handwritten note, hoping to win him over, a legal filing alleges.

Fox executives appeared to punish reporters for doing their job

11:00 , Alex Woodward

While facing calls from within the company to “protect the brand” following outrage with the Arizona results and how to address “grieving” viewers, Fox executives criticised truthful reporting and commentary and appeared to punish reporters for doing their job, according to the lawsuit.

While former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany amplified bogus claims of election fraud, Neil Cavuto told viewers that “she’s charging the other side as welcoming fraud and illegal voting” and that “unless she has more details to back that up, I can’t in good countenance continue to show you this.”

Fox leadership – on “war footing” with competing Newsmax – said that his on-air remarks constituted a brand threat. Mr Carlson also complained separately of brand “vandalism”.

Jeanine Pirro considered ‘crazy’ by colleagues

10:15 , Joe Sommerlad

Ms Pirro’s producers stated on 7 November that they believed she was “angling for a job somewhere else”, fearing her exchanges with guests over whether or not the election was stolen would not be productive.

“They took her off cuz she was being crazy,” texted producer Justin Wells. “Optics are bad. But she is crazy.”

Tucker Carlson invited conspiracy theorist on show after bashing false election claims

09:30 , Alex Woodward

On 19 November 2020, Tucker Carlson ended his broadcast by saying that “maybe Sidney Powell will come forward soon with details on” her election fraud claims. “We are certainly hopeful that she will.”

On 24 November, Ms Powell appeared on two programmes on the network, hosted by Mr Dobbs and Mr Hannity.

“The machine ran an algorithm that shaved votes from Trump and awarded them to Biden,” Ms Powell said in a series of false claims on Mr Hannity’s prime-time broadcast. “They used the machines to trash large batches of votes that should have been awarded to President Trump. And they used a machine to inject and add massive quantities of votes for Mr Biden.”

On 6 January, 2021, following a violent revolt at the US Capitol fuelled by the fraudulent election narrative, Mr Carlson wrote in a message to his producer that Mr Trump is “a demonic force, a destroyer. But he’s not going to destroy us.”

On January 26, Mr Carlson invited prolific election fraud conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell on his broadcast.

Trump lawyer forwarded ‘wackadoodle’ election conspiracy tip

08:45 , Joe Sommerlad

Sidney Powell, AKA The Kraken, forwarded an email she had received from an anonymous tipster to Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo, which she herself admitted was “pretty wackadoodle”, alleging that Dominion’s machines were the “one common thread” tying together “voting irregularities in a number of states.”

The sender also apparently believed that the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had been “purposefully killed at the annual Bohemian Grove camp… during a weeklong human hunting expedition” and wrote: “Who am I? And how do I know all of this?... I’ve had the strangest dreams since I was a little girl… I was internally decapitated, and yet, I live… The Wind tells me I’m a ghost, but I don’t believe it.”

Elsewhere, Mr Carlson accused Ms Powell of lying and called her a “f***ing b****” and Ms Ingraham said of her: “Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto Rudy.”

‘Sidney Powell is lying by the way’

08:00 , Alex Woodward

On a broadcast of Sunday Morning Futures on 8 November 2020, Fox News personality Maria Bartiromo hosted Sidney Powell.

“I know there were voting irregularities. Tell me about that,” Ms Bartiromo said on the network.

Ms Powell falsely said Dominion used “algorithms” as part of a “massive and coordinated effort to steal” the 2020 presidential election from Mr Trump.

Ms Bartiromo did not tell her viewers the source of those claims, which Ms Powell shared with her in an email one day earlier that even she said came from a person she described as a “wackadoodle”.

“Who am I? And how do I know all of this? … I’ve had the strangest dreams since I was a little girl … I was internally decapitated, and yet, I live. … The Wind tells me I’m a ghost, but I don’t believe it.”

That email, which was also shared with Lou Dobbs, alleged that Dominion was the “one common thread” in specious claims about “voting irregularities”.

In her deposition, Ms Bartiromo agreed that the email was “nonsense”.

Ms Powell had repeatedly claimed on the network and in other public appearances that votes were “flipped” and “dumped” and that the machines could “shift votes in real time”.

“We’ve identified mathematically the exact algorithm they used and planned to use from the beginning to modify the votes in this case to make sure Biden won,” she said.

Fox News, meanwhile, had received more than 3,863 emails from Dominion to correct those claims.

“In other words, Dominion did not simply deny the charges. It provided public evidence demonstrating those charges were false (and inherently improbable),” according to the lawsuit. “Fox’s hosts, producers, and executives had the facts in their inboxes.”

On 16 November, Mr Carlson told his producer Alex Pfeiffer that “Sidney Powell is lying. F****ing b****.”

Two days later, Mr Carlson told Ms Ingraham that “Sidney Powell is lying by the way. caught her. It’s insane.”

“Sidney is a complete nut,” Ms Ingraham said. “No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy.”

“It’s unbelievably offensive to me,” Mr Carlson replied. “Our viewers are good people and they believe it.”

Senior figures embarrassed by Giuliani’s antics

07:15 , Joe Sommerlad

It was not just Rupert Murdoch who had doubts about former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to push the election fraud narrative.

A legal filing collected messages from Fox stars concerned about his appearances, with Sean Hannity observing on 11 November 2020: “Rudy is acting like an insane person.”

Laura Ingraham said on 12 December that he was “such an idiot” and Lou Dobbs’s producer, John Fawcett, said on 3 January 2021 that the veteran politician was “so full of s***”.

‘We’re playing with fire, for real'

06:30 , Alex Woodward

On 7 November 2020, Fox News predicted that Mr Biden had won the presidential election. Rupert Murdoch and Fox personalities began to see the writing on the wall.

“Do the executives understand how much credibility and trust we’ve lost with our audience? We’re playing with fire, for real,” Tucker Carlson texted his producer. “An alternative like Newsmax could be devastating to us.”

Pentagon was aware of suspected spy balloons during Trump admin, report says

04:15 , Graeme Massie

A small number of intelligence staff at the Pentagon were tracking several objects during the Trump administration. Those objects are now thought to have been balloons, according to a new report.

The existence of the objects wasn’t reported to the White House because it was unclear what they were, former staffers have told The Wall Street Journal.

The Biden White House chose to share previous incidents with the public after shooting down a Chinese spy balloon earlier this month. The Biden administration didn’t state where the previous objects had been flying and said they may have been undetected by the Trump administration.

But it now seems that some officials at the Pentagon during Donald Trump’s presidency were aware of the incidents and that they were connected to China, according to the Journal. The theory was that China was using the objects to test systems jamming radar near military sites in the US.

The information gathered regarding the incidents during the Trump administration was restricted to a simple assessment in the summer of 2020 and wasn’t distributed widely, the report said.

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Pentagon was aware of suspected spy balloons during Trump admin, report says

Former deputy White House press secretary called Lou Dobbs a ‘digrace'

03:30 , Alex Woodward

Tony Fratto, a former deputy White House press secretary under George W Bush and a communications consultant to Dominion, wrote directly to Fox executives on 16 November 2020.

“[Dominion], as you know, has received a great deal of attention on [Fox News] and from the president. An enormous amount of misinformation actually, completely and verifiable wrong information is finding its way on-air,” he wrote. “I think this situation is crossing dangerous lines.”

That same night, Mr Fratto forwarded part of a transcript from Mr Dobbs’ broadcast.

“More f****ing lies, he wrote. “Honestly. He is a disgrace.”

Murdoch tells Fox CEO to ‘help any way we can’ in Georgia

02:45 , Joe Sommerlad

Rupert Murdoch emailed Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott on 16 November 2020 with a link to a Wall Street Journal article about Fox’s right-wing rival network Newsmax.

“These people should be watched, if sceptically,” he told her, before advising her to devote coverage to the Georgia Senate runoff and the promotion of GOP candidates Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, both of whom would ultimately lose to Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.

Mr Murdoch continued: “Trump will concede eventually and we should concentrate on Georgia, helping any way we can. We don’t want to antagonise Trump further, but [Rudy] Giuliani taken with a large grain of salt. Everything at stake here.”

Jeanine Piro taken off Fox News because ‘she was being crazy'

02:00 , Alex Woodward

On 7 November 2020, Fox Business News President Lauren Petterson and others at the network were made aware that 4chan users were calling on users to “spread” baseless election fraud claims and conspiracy theories.

That same day, an editorial in Mr Murdoch’s The New York Post called on Mr Trump to “stop the ‘stolen election’ rhetoric” and get “Rudy Giuliani off TV”.

The network took some measures to prevent those claims from circulating in the days that followed, including canceling Ms Piro’s broadcast at one point. Producer Justin Wells said that “they took her off cuz she was being crazy”.

“Optics are bad. But she is crazy,” he said.

Carlson called Trump ‘demonic force’

01:15 , Joe Sommerlad

In an anxious text to his producer Alex Pfeiffer about the dangers of displeasing Mr Trump over its coverage of the Capitol riot on 6 January, Mr Carlson describes him as “a demonic force, a destroyer”, adding: “But he’s not going to destroy us.”

“What he’s good at is destroying things. He’s the undisputed world champion of that. He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong.”

Murdoch wrote ‘if Trump becomes a sore loser we should watch Sean [Hannity] especially'

00:30 , Alex Woodward

Rupert Murdoch wrote that “if Trump becomes a sore loser we should watch Sean [Hannity] especially and others don’t sound the same.”

That message was forwarded to Meade Cooper, the executive vice president of the network’s primetime programming, which includes programmes hosted by Mr Hannity, Mr Carlson and Ms Piro, among others

Ms Cooper testified that, as of 6 November, 2020, “going on television to say that the election is being stolen … would not be based in fact at that point.”

But that same day, Sidney Powell appeared on Lou Dobbs Tonight to float a version of a bogus election manipulation conspiracy theory.

Her appearance prompted Mr Baier to immediately ask Fox President Jay Wallace: “What is this? Oh man.”

Murdoch considered having stars appear together to declare Biden the winner

Friday 17 February 2023 23:45 , Joe Sommerlad

Rupert Murdoch reportedly considered asking Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham to give a joint prime-time address together in which they publicly declared that Joe Biden had won the White House legitimately and that fraud had played no part in the outcome.

Doing so “would go a long way to stop the Trump myth that the election stolen,” he told CEO Suzanne Scott on 5 January 2021, according to Dominion’s filing.

Murdoch told Fox News CEO it would be ‘very hard to credibly cry foul everywhere’ with Trump swing state losses

Friday 17 February 2023 23:00 , Alex Woodward

A statement from a spokesperson for Fox claims that “Dominion has mischaracterized the record, cherry-picked quotes stripped of key context and spilled considerable ink on facts that are irrelevant under black-letter principles of defamation law.”

After Fox personality Maria Bartiromo posted unfounded allegations of voter manipulation on social media on 5 November, Brett Baier alerted executives about fact-checking such claims.

The following day, Rupert Murdoch told Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott it would be “very hard to credibly cry foul everywhere” with Mr Trump’s losses in several swing states.

Carlson asked for Fox’s White House correspondent to be fired

Friday 17 February 2023 22:30 , Joe Sommerlad

In a message purportedly sent to a group chat including Ms Ingraham and Mr Hannity on 12 November, Mr Carlson pointed out a tweet from the network’s White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich in which she fact-checked a post by Mr Trump alleging voter fraud, pointing out that “top election infrastructure officials” had declared: “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised.”

Mr Carlson reacted by saying: “Please get her fired. Seriously… What the f***? I’m actually shocked… It needs to stop tonight immediately, like tonight. It’s immeasurably hurting the company. The stock price is down. Not a joke.”

Fox News hosts ‘understood the threat to them personally’ after Arizona call

Friday 17 February 2023 22:00 , Alex Woodward

On 5 November, as the network predicted that Mr Biden won the state of Arizona, a prediction made before other news networks, top personalities at Fox News “understood the threat to them personally,” according to a lawsuit between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems.

“We worked really hard to build what we have. Those f*****s are destroying our credibility. It enrages me,” Tucker Carlson wrote to his producer Alex Pfeiffer on 5 November.

“It’s a hard needle to thread, but I really think many on ‘our side’ are being reckless demagogues right now,” Mr Pfeiffer responded.

“Of course they are,” Mr Tucker replied. “We’re not going to follow them. … What [Trump’s] good at is destroying things. He’s the undisputed world champion of that. He could easily destroy us If we play it wrong.”

Fox News host Bret Baier texted friend ‘there is NO evidence of fraud’ on Election Day

Friday 17 February 2023 21:30 , Alex Woodward

On 3 November, 2020, Election Day, Fox News host Bret Baier texted a friend that “there is NO evidence of fraud. None. Allegations – stories. Twitter. Bull****.”

Two days later, after host Lou Dobbs aired a segment based on a provably false tweet from Mr Trump about votes being switched to Mr Biden, Fox Business News President Lauren Petterson wrote in an email: “Jesus Christ. Does anyone do a f***ing simple Google search or read emails?”

Anchors livid over (correct) decision to call Arizona for Biden

Friday 17 February 2023 21:00 , Joe Sommerlad

Fox’s high-profile anchors privately bemoaned the network’s biggest election night call, according to the filing, with Mr Hannity complaining in a text on 12 November 2020: “In one week and one debate they destroyed a brand that took 25 years to build and the damage is incalculable.”

He later allegedly told Fox and Friends host Steve Doocey: “You don’t p*** off the base.”

Mr Carlson told him, “I’ve heard from angry viewers every hour of the day all weekend, including at dinner tonight”, to which Mr Hannity responded: “Same same same. Never before has this ever happened.”

Ingraham producer said ‘this Dominion s*** is going to give me a f***ing aneurysm'

Friday 17 February 2023 20:30 , Alex Woodward

One producer for Fox News personality Laura Ingraham at one point wrote to an executive that “this Dominion s*** is going to give me a f***ing aneurysm”.

Mr Trump’s false narrative of widespread voter fraud and manipulation of mail-in ballots – which he began before a single ballot was even cast in that year’s elections – created the pretext for his bogus claims that the election was rigged against him.

Testimony and messages from Fox News employees show that the newsroom was well aware of his false claims but publicly failed to explain them, while also failing to explain the processes for mail-in ballots and state laws that outlined procedures for sorting and tallying the votes.

Fearing ongoing viewer backlash after the network predicted Joe Biden would win the state of Arizona and, later, the 2020 presidential election, network hosts and executives sought to balance evidence-free claims about “irregularities” to keep viewers enthralled with conspiracy theories against their own private admissions that, in their words, was “nonsense” and “bull****.”

‘Insane, lying, complete nut’: Fox News stars rejected election conspiracy theories while network pushed them

Friday 17 February 2023 20:00 , Alex Woodward

Top personalities, executives and producers at Fox News privately condemned “reckless” claims from election fraud conspiracy theorists they dismissed as “crazy” and “insane”.

But they were repeatedly invited on air on some of the most-watched cable news programmes in the country, where they amplified bogus statements about the 2020 presidential election and a voting machine company that has accused the network of defamation in a $1.6bn lawsuit.

A 192-page, partially redacted filing in Dominion Voting Systems’s lawsuit against Fox News reveals behind-the-scenes irritation with false claims made by Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, based on text messages, emails and depositions from programme hosts, producers and executives, including owner Rupert Murdoch.

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Fox News stars rejected election conspiracy theories while network pushed them

The biggest revelations from Dominion’s Fox News lawsuit filing

Friday 17 February 2023 19:30 , Joe Sommerlad

US conservative media giant Fox News is facing a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, a Denver-based manufacturer of voting machines, over its coverage of the 2020 presidential election and then-president Donald Trump’s bogus claims that the contest was “rigged” to ensure victory for Joe Biden.

In a 192-page court filing published on Thursday containing private messages from many of Fox’s biggest stars, Dominion argues: “From the top down, Fox knew ‘the Dominion stuff’ was ‘total bs’.”

“Yet despite knowing the truth – or at minimum, recklessly disregarding that truth – Fox spread and endorsed these ‘outlandish voter fraud claims’ about Dominion even as it internally recognised the lies as ‘crazy’, ‘absurd’ and ‘shockingly reckless’,” the filing said.

Attorneys for Fox, however, have argued that Dominion has advanced only “novel defamation theories” and is seeking a “staggering” figure in damages aimed at winning headlines, silencing protected speech and enriching its owner, Staple Street Capital Partners, and its investors.

Read more:

The biggest revelations from Dominion’s Fox News lawsuit filing

Fox News says Dominion case is about ‘freedom of the press and freedom of speech'

Friday 17 February 2023 19:00 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Attorneys for Fox News argued the lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems advanced “novel defamation theories” and is seeking a “staggering” damage figure aimed at generating headlines, chilling protected speech and enriching Dominion’s private equity owner Staple Street Capital Partners and its investors.

“Dominion brought this lawsuit to punish FNN for reporting on one of the biggest stories of the day – allegations by the sitting president of the United States and his surrogates that the 2020 election was affected by fraud,” stated the Fox News counterclaim. “The very fact of those allegations was newsworthy.”

A Fox spokesperson said in a statement: “There will be a lot of noise and confusion generated by Dominion ... but the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v. Sullivan.”

A five-week trial is scheduled to begin on 17 April.

Tucker Carlson called Trump a ‘demonic force’, lawsuit reveals

Friday 17 February 2023 18:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Tucker Carlson allegedly called former president Donald Trump a “demonic force” who could “destroy” him if he missteps, in his texts to his producer.

“He’s the undisputed world champion of that. He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong,” Carlson texted his Fox News producers, according to court filings in the Dominion defamation case. He called Mr Trump “a demonic force, a destroyer,” adding, “But he’s not going to destroy us.”

The $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems over the network’s coverage of the 2020 presidential election has been termed as an assault on the First Amendment by the attorneys for the channel.

Fox News repeatedly broadcast lies about Mr Trump’s vote-rigging claims that it knew were “total bs”, Dominion Voting Systems said in a filing made public on Thursday.

Dominion wrote: “From the top down, Fox knew ‘the dominion stuff’ was ‘total bs’. Yet despite knowing the truth – or at minimum, recklessly disregarding that truth – Fox spread and endorsed these ‘outlandish voter fraud claims’ about Dominion even as it internally recognised the lies as ‘crazy’, ‘absurd’, and ‘shockingly reckless’”.

Read more:

Tucker Carlson called Trump a ‘demonic force’, lawsuit reveals

Biden strong among Democrats as progressives worry about MAGA

Friday 17 February 2023 18:00 , AP

Celina Vasquez, founder of the progressive group Texas Latinas List, said Biden’s reelection appeal is built on his experience, not simply defeating Trump again.

“My generation, and the generation behind me, we’ve seen the dangers and the disaster of the MAGA Republicans,” said Vasquez, whose organization promotes engagement by Texas Hispanic women at all levels of political office. MAGA is the acronym for the 2016 Trump campaign’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” and has since become a general synonym for a descriptor of Trump policies and supporters.

Biden’s political standing within his own party is perhaps stronger than it has ever been. After Democrats showed surprising resilience during last fall’s elections, no major challenger has emerged to compete against the president in the party’s upcoming primary.

Younger alternatives to Biden and Trump begin to emerge

Friday 17 February 2023 17:30 , AP

Trump remains a leading figure within the GOP and exercises tremendous influence among primary voters. Still, the field of Republican presidential candidates is beginning to expand with his former U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, announcing her candidacy. Polling suggests that GOP voters are open to backing someone other than Trump.

Beyond Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could be a leading Trump alternative. More moderate challengers, such as former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, may soon emerge. Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, and secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, might run. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott is planning to visit Iowa, fueling speculation about his political future.

All offer younger alternatives to both Biden and the 76-year-old Trump, and can promise fresher approaches to Washington, a point Haley made explicitly in her campaign kickoff. But so many choices could split the anti-Trump vote, perhaps allowing the former president to prevail in a fractured primary field.

Kari Lake suffers another court defeat in baseless bid to overturn Arizona election results

Friday 17 February 2023 17:00 , Eric Garcia

Former Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake suffered another legal defeat when the Arizona Court of Appeals rejected her attempt to overturn November’s election results.

Ms Lake, whom former president Donald Trump endorsed, refused to concede to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs.

Like Mr Trump, the former news anchor has claimed election fraud and sought to have the election results overturned.

But Chief Judge Kent Cattani issued the ruling saying the court found no such evidence of fraud.

Read more:

Kari Lake suffers court defeat in baseless bid to overturn Arizona election results

Trump’s attorney hires his own attorney in classified documents probe

Friday 17 February 2023 16:30 , Eric Garcia

Former president Donald Trump’s attorney retained an attorney as prosecutors ramp up their probe into Mr Trump’s handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, two sources told Reuters.

Evan Corcoran reportedly retained Michael Levy, a white-collar lawyer based in Washington. Mr Corcoran’s firm Silverman Thompson Slutkin & White hired Mr Levy to represent Mr Corcoran. Mr Levy is a principal at Ellerman Enzinna Levy

Mr Corcoran appeared in January before a grand jury for US Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into classified documents the former president took to his Palm Beach, Florida estate, a person familiar with the appearance told Reuters.

Read more:

Trump’s attorney hires his own attorney in classified documents probe

Trump ridiculed for pretending he has been ‘exonerated’ by Georgia grand jury over his bid to overturn election

Friday 17 February 2023 16:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump took to Truth Social to claim that he had received a “total exoneration” from the Georgia grand jury investigating his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.

“Thank you to the Special Grand Jury in the Great State of Georgia for your Patriotism & Courage. Total exoneration. The USA is very proud of you!!!” Mr Trump wrote on Thursday.

“The long awaited important sections of the Georgia report, which do not even mention President Trump’s name, have nothing to do with the President because President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong,” he claimed. “The President participated in two perfect phone calls regarding election integrity in Georgia, which he is entitled to do - in fact, as President, it was President Trump’s Constitutional duty to ensure election safety, security, and integrity.”

“Between the two calls, there were many officials and attorneys on the line, including the Secretary of State of Georgia, and no one objected, even slightly protested, or hung up. President Trump will always keep fighting for true and honest elections in America!” he wrote.

Twitter users were quick to mock his claims:

Trump ridiculed for pretending he has been ‘exonerated’ by Georgia grand jury

‘They all know Trump’s a pathologically lying sociopath'

Friday 17 February 2023 15:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Conservative lawyer and Trump critic George Conway criticised Fox News after the revelations that some of their most high-profile hosts bashed Mr Trump’s election fraud claims in private.

Romney, outspoken about his own party, weighs reelection run

Friday 17 February 2023 15:00 , AP

He twice voted in favor of convicting former President Donald Trump in impeachment trials. He excoriated his fellow senators who objected to certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. He even scolded New York Rep. George Santos for his audacity in grabbing a prominent seat at the State of the Union speech after admitting to fabricating much of his biography.

After four years in Washington, Republican Mitt Romney has established himself as a rare senator willing to publicly rebuke members of his own party.

But the Utah senator’s outspoken stances, along with his willingness to work with Democrats, have angered some Republicans in the deep-red state he represents and led them to cast about for someone to try to dethrone him a primary race next year.

The 75-year-old said he hasn’t made a decision on whether to run for reelection in 2024 and doesn’t expect to until the start of summer.

“I’m sort of keeping my mind open,” Romney said in an interview. “There’s no particular hurry. I’m doing what I would do if I’m running with staffing and resources, so it’s not like I have to make a formal announcement.”

Read more:

Romney, outspoken about his own party, weighs reelection run

Biden's Trump-focused campaign could be risky if GOP shifts

Friday 17 February 2023 14:30 , The Associated Press

President Joe Biden built his 2020 White House run around promises to beat Donald Trump “like a drum.” As Biden gears up for an expected reelection campaign, he insists he can do it again.

But what if Trump isn’t next year’s Republican nominee?

Though the GOP primary race is only just beginning, a general election pitting Biden against any other Republican could look very different from one against Trump, with Democrats perhaps seeing enthusiasm to stop Trump at all cost evaporate.

Biden’s continually low approval ratings and polling showing that many Americans — even a majority of Democrats — don’t want him to seek a term that won’t end until he’s age 86 may also begin taking a bigger toll.

“I believe that, both for Biden and for Trump, going up against a new nominee would be more challenging than facing each other,” said Julián Castro, a former Obama administration housing chief who ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary.

Read more:

Biden's Trump-focused campaign could be risky if GOP shifts

Trump ally Kari Lake loses election lawsuit

Friday 17 February 2023 14:00 , Rachel Sharp

An Arizona appeals court has rejected Republican Kari Lake’s challenge of her defeat in the Arizona governor’s race to Democrat Katie Hobbs, denying her request to throw out election results in the state’s most populous county and hold the election again.

In a ruling on Thursday, the Arizona Court of Appeals wrote Lake, who claimed problems with ballot printers at some police places on Election Day were the result of intentional misconduct, presented no evidence that voters whose ballots were unreadable by tabulators at polling places were not able to vote.

The court said that even a witness called by Lake to testify had confirmed that ballots that couldn’t initially be read could at polling places still ultimately have their vote counted.

And while a pollster who testified on behalf of Lake claimed the polling place problems had disenfranchised enough voters to change the outcome in Lake’s favor, the court said his conclusion were baseless.

The appeals court wrote Lake’s appeal failed because the evidence supports the conclusion that “voters were able to cast their ballots, that votes were counted correctly, and that no other basis justifies setting aside the election results.”

Shortly after the ruling, Lake tweeted: “I told you we would take this case all the way to the Arizona Supreme Court, and that’s exactly what we are going to do. Buckle up, America!”

Lake, who lost to Hobbs by just over 17,000 votes, was among the most vocal 2022 Republicans promoting former President Donald Trump’s election lies, which she made the centerpiece of her campaign. While most of the other election deniers around the country conceded after losing their races in November, Lake did not.

AP contributed to this report

Marjorie Taylor Greene offers bizarre defence for ‘antisemitic’ space laser theory about Rothschilds

Friday 17 February 2023 13:30 , Rachel Sharp

Marjorie Taylor Greene has said that her 2018 Facebook post was not antisemitic as she didn’t know the Rothschilds were Jewish and never used the phrase “Jewish space lasers”, a conspiracy theory for which the Georgia Republican was widely mocked.

Ms Greene appeared on an episode of Donald Trump Jr’s podcast “Triggered with Don Jr”, and the two discussed her controversial Facebook post which was later deleted.

“Some reporter had written an article about the post I had made in 2018 and he titled it “Jewish space later”. That’s how I got labelled with it. But I have never... never even said Jewish,” Ms Greene said.

The comments referred to her lengthy Facebook post five years ago in which she said that deadly wildfires in California at that time were not natural and claimed people have seen “lasers or blue beams of light causing the fire” from space.

Read the full story:

Marjorie Taylor Greene offers bizarre defence for ‘antisemitic’ space laser theory

The Georgia phone call that could bring down Donald Trump: ‘I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break’

Friday 17 February 2023 13:00 , John Bowden

By the end of 2024, Donald Trump could be facing two very different prospects: he could be sitting in the White House – or a Georgia prison.

That’s because, since February 2021, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been investigating the former president’s attempts to influence the state’s election results. In January, a grand jury convened by Ms Willis concluded its work, leaving the prosecutor in the unprecedented position of deciding whether Donald Trump will be the first former president in US history to be prosecuted for a criminal offence.

On Thursday, portions of the grand jury’s work became public, offering new clues about the former president’s fate in Georgia.

Read more on the backstory of the phone call below:

‘I need 11,000 votes’: The Georgia phone call that could bring down Donald Trump

Who is Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who could take down Trump?

Friday 17 February 2023 12:30 , John Bowden

A phone call between Mr Trump and Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger was published by The Washington Post late at night on 3 January, 2021.

Hours later, Fani Willis would walk into her first day on the job as Fulton County’s district attorney, an office that is now spearheading a criminal investigation into Mr Trump, with the phone call serving as a central damning piece of evidence against him.

The closely watched case against the former president could result in racketeering charges similar to those that Ms Willis has made a career out of bringing against dozens of others.

Alex Woodward profiles Fulton County’s top law enforcement official for The Independent:

Who is Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who could take down Trump

Fox News hosts and bosses privately slammed Trump’s election lies, court papers reveal

Friday 17 February 2023 12:06 , Rachel Sharp

Fox News hosts and bosses privately slammed Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential election, according to new court documents in Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against Fox Corp and its cable-TV networks.

In the court papers, filed on Thursday, several emails, text messages and testimony revealed how Rupert Murdoch, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and other top Fox executives and TV personalities reacted to Mr Trump’s false claims that the election was stolen from him.

In an email sent on 19 November – days after President Joe Biden was declared the winner – Mr Murdoch said Mr Trump’s claims were “really crazy stuff. And damaging”.

Mr Carlson, meanwhile, sent a text message to his producer saying that Mr Trump’s attorney Sydney Powell “is lying”.

“Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy,” Laura Ingraham also messaged the Fox host.

“It’s unbelievably offensive to me. Our viewers are good people and they believe it,” Mr Carlson replied.

VOICES – The grand jury report proved what everyone – including Trump – already knew

Friday 17 February 2023 11:45 , John Bowden

The release of some of the evidence heard by a Georgia grand jury investigating the actions of Trump and others, came to the same conclusion as the committee investigating January 6, that there was no election fraud, writes The Independent’s Andrew Buncombe.

Read on in The Independent’s Voices section:

The grand jury report proved what everyone – including Trump – already knew

Mike Pence to fight special counsel subpoena

Friday 17 February 2023 10:45 , John Bowden

Former Vice President Mike Pence will fight a subpoena from the Justice Department for his testimony in the investigation surrounding Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Axios reported the news on Tuesday, citing a source close to Mr Pence.

Mr Pence is supposedly set to address the issue this week when he appears in Iowa, site of the first 2024 GOP caucus. That could indicate that Mr Pence will also go through with plans for a presidential campaign, which have been widely reported.

Read more:

Pence to fight special counsel subpoena on 2020 election

Grand jury recommends perjury indictment(s)

Friday 17 February 2023 09:45 , John Bowden

The most important information included in Thursday’s report: One or more witnesses were suspected of lying to the grand jury in Fulton County.

What does this mean? In public statements, District Attorney Fani Williams has indicated that the grand jury recommended more than one indictment.

A number of Mr Trump’s lawyers including John Eastman, currently facing an effort by the California State Bar to punish him as well, could be targeted with indictments for lying under oath. But there’s no information about what specifically the witness or witnesses in question lied about, nor any recommendations for crimes actually related to an effort to overturn the results.

Read more:

Four key takeaways from the partial release of Fulton County grand jury report

Resurfaced footage shows Nikki Haley saying states can secede after announcing 2024 launch

Friday 17 February 2023 08:45 , John Bowden

Footage has resurfaced of Nikki Haley saying that states can secede from the US.

Ms Haley announced her 2024 launch on Tuesday, making her the first Republican to take on Donald Trump.

Not long after the announcement, Patriot Takes shared a video from 2010 of Ms Haley speaking about potential secession.

“I think that they do,” she said of states having the right to secede.

“I mean, the constitution says that.”

Nikki Haley and Donald Trump trade barbs as Republican nominating contest heats up

Friday 17 February 2023 07:45 , John Bowden

New Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley did not mention former President Donald Trump by name during her campaign kickoff event in Charleston, South Carolina on Wednesday morning — but there was little mistaking what she meant when she said that the country’s politicians are past their primes.

Donald Trump, meanwhile, is making no attempt at subtlety: On Wednesday, his office published a blistering memo accusing Ms Haley (among other things) of fondness for Hillary Clinton, the former president’s bitter 2016 rival.

Read more in The Independent from Abe Asher:

Nikki Haley and Donald Trump trade barbs as Republican nominating contest heats up

Support for a Biden-Trump rematch in 2024 dwindling with both Democrats and Republicans, new poll shows

Friday 17 February 2023 06:45 , John Bowden

Voters in both major US political parties are looking for fresh faces to run for president in 2024, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll

A majority of Democratic voters, at 52 per cent, do not want Mr Biden to seek a second term, while 40 per cent of Republican voters do not want Mr Trump to seek another term in 2024.

Eric Garcia digs in to the latest poll results:

Support for a Biden-Trump rematch in 2024 dwindling with Democrats and Republicans

JD Vance slammed for delayed reaction to Ohio train derailment: ‘Gibberish’

Friday 17 February 2023 05:45 , John Bowden

Ohio Senator JD Vance is facing criticism for taking 10 days to issue a statement about a train derailment near East Palestine that forced thousands of residents to flee their homes due to a toxic chemical spill.

The 3 February crash sparked a large fire and left hazardous materials including vinyl chloride, a volatile odorless gas, and phosgene seeping into the water supply.

Ten days later, Mr Vance said in a statement released on his Twitter page that he was “horrified” by the crash. But many Twitter users took issue with the lack of specific promises for action in the text. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has yet to comment on the crash at all, despite joining Mr Vance at a rally in the region just a few months ago.

Bevan Hurley has more:

JD Vance slammed for delayed reaction to Ohio train derailment: ‘Gibberish’

Justice Department won’t charge Matt Gaetz for sex trafficking

Friday 17 February 2023 01:45 , John Bowden

Justice Department officials have reportedly said they will not seek sex trafficking charges against Florida Representative Matt Gaetz after a multi-year probe into whether he violated US law by allegedly paying for sex with underage girls.

Citing “a source familiar with the matter,” CNN reported on Wednesday that the department had informed a witness who testified in the probe that charges against the Florida Republican would not be forthcoming.

Andrew Feinberg is following this story for The Independent:

Justice Department won’t charge Matt Gaetz for sex trafficking