Trump news – live: White House visitor logs uncovered in Jan 6 probe as Trump dismisses DeSantis

Donald Trump has issued a warning to Ron DeSantis if the Florida Governor decides to run against him in the 2024 presidential race.

Speaking on conservative podcast “The Water Cooler” on Monday, Mr Trump said he had heard Mr DeSantis “might want to run” against him.

“We’ll handle that the way I handle things,” he said, without divulging what exactly he meant.

The former president also continued to sound off on his Truth Social platform on Monday about the parallel investigations into the discovery of a large trove classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago home and the discovery of a small number of classified documents from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president at his home and an office he once used.

In his latest rant, he hit out at what he called the “BOXES HOAX” and described the probe into him holding onto classified documents – as well as a probe into his role in the January 6 Capitol riot – a “Gestapo type operation”.

Meanwhile, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has spoken out to reveal that Mr Trump once advised him to take secret documents home with him.

Key points

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

• Trump continues to protest innocence over classified documents

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

• Judge unseals Trump deposition in E Jean Carroll case

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

Trump issues warning to DeSantis about 2024

11:15 , Rachel Sharp

Donald Trump has issued a warning to Ron DeSantis if the Florida Governor decides to run against him in the 2024 presidential race.

Speaking on conservative podcast “The Water Cooler” on Monday, Mr Trump said he had heard Mr DeSantis “might want to run” against him.

“We’ll handle that the way I handle things,” he said, without divulging what exactly he meant.

Mr Trump then went on to try to take credit for the Florida governor’s success in the November midterms.

“I got him elected, pure and simple,” he claimed.

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

16:00 , Oliver O'Connell

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

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

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

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

Politico has compiled the entries into a searchable format.

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

15:45 , Oliver O'Connell

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

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

Gustaf Kilander reports.

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

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

15:15 , Rachel Sharp

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

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

Keep yourself updated with our running list:

Every lie disgraced incoming Congressman George Santos has been accused of

Fox News contributor says network wants to move past Trump

14:45 , Rachel Sharp

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

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

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

Watch the segment below:

Fox News contributor says network wants to move past Trump

Trump refuses to give endorsement in RNC chairperson race

14:15 , Rachel Sharp

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

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

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

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

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

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

13:45 , John Bowden

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

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

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

Read more from Josh Marcus:

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

GOP House oversight chairman brands George Santos a ‘bad guy’ who told ‘despicable’ lies

13:15 , John Bowden

House Republican Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has harshly condemned freshman Republican Representative George Santos and his multiple fabrications.

The newly-minted chairman, a Republican from Kentucky, responded to a question from host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday about the fact that seven House Republicans have said Mr Santos should step down.

His criticism was sharp, but the GOP congressman wouldn’t go as far as saying that his colleague should step down.

Watch the interview:

GOP House oversight chairman calls George Santos ‘bad guy’ who told ‘despicable’ lies

Kellyanne Conway warns Trump not to repeat ‘disastrous mistakes’

12:45 , John Bowden

Kellyanne Conway has warned Donald Trump not to repeat his “disastrous mistakes” as he prepares for the 2024 campaign to get underway in earnest. Her arguments come in a new op-ed for The New York Times.

The Trump 2016 campaign manager argued that Mr Trump “upended the fiction of electability” when he beat popular vote winner Hillary Clinton. Ms Conway compared Mr Trump to Barack Obama, who beat the then-New York senator in the 2008 Democratic primary.

She further argued that Democrats have “done precious little to learn and understand what drives the 74 million fellow Americans who were Trump-Pence voters in 2020 and not in the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021”.

Read more:

Kellyanne Conway warns Trump not to repeat ‘disastrous mistakes’

Giuliani says Trump told him to take classified files home

12:15 , John Bowden

Rudy Giuliani said that former president Donald Trump once advised him to take secret documents home with him, Business Insider reported.

The former New York City mayor and attorney for the former president made the revelation when speaking on his WABC77 radio show entitled Uncovering the Truth with Rudy Giuliani & Dr. Maria Ryan.

Mr Giuliani said that he was working on “vetting” some “very rich people” by going through their tax returns for Mr Trump.

“I — you know, I never, ever, ever, ever, ever, knowingly, and I never got caught — but I don’t remember ever taking a doc,” said the president’s former lawyer.

Read more from Eric Garcia:

Giuliani says Trump told him to take classified files home

Trump sounds off on ‘boxes hoax'

11:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump continued to sound off on his Truth Social platform on Monday night about the parallel investigations into the discovery of a large trove classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago home and the discovery of a small number of classified documents from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president at his home and an office he once used.

In his latest rant, he hit out at what he called the “BOXES HOAX” and described the probe into him holding onto classified documents – as well as a probe into his role in the January 6 Capitol riot – a “Gestapo type operation”.

“The FBI (Fake Bureau of Investigation) & the Department of Injustice, together with the Trump Hating Thug, Jack Smith, are interviewing, harassing, and subpoenaing people that work for me relative to the BOXES HOAX, & the “Peacefully & Patriotically” speech I made at the January 6th protest of the Rigged and Stollen Presidential Election, where so many have been treated horribly and Unconstitutionally,” he wrote.

“This is a Gestapo type operation! Are they doing this to the Biden people? I don’t think so!”

Former top law enforcement officials have told The Independent there are key differences between the Mr Trump and Mr Biden investigations, saying that the probe focusing on Mr Trump involves conduct far more serious than anything his successor could conceivably be accused of.

GOP lawmaker confronted by CNN for ‘only caring about’ Biden and not Trump classified documents

10:15 , John Bowden

Rep James Comer was asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday whether he and other Republicans were holding Joe Biden to a double standard after refusing to criticise former president Donald Trump for his stash of classified material at Mar-a-Lago.

The question came as the GOP, including Mr Comer, have vowed to investigate whether Mr Biden mishandled classified materials as they take power in the House.

Mr Comer is set to lead at least some of that effort as the incoming chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the House’s main investigative body. But he and other Republicans have faced questions about their reactions to the Biden saga given that the discovered stash of documents at Mr Biden’s DC think tank and Wilmington abode currently numbers far fewer in total than the trove obtained by the FBI when it raided Mr Trump’s home last September.

Watch the exchange and read more in The Independent:

GOP lawmaker confronted on CNN over statements about Trump’s classified documents

George Santos linked to Trump donor with ties to sanctioned Russian oligarch, report finds

09:15 , John Bowden

The cousin of a sanctioned Russian oligarch may have deeper ties than previously reported to newly-seated Congressman George Santos, who currently sits at the centre of a political firestorm over a largely-faked resume that propelled his congressional bid.

Mr Santos received maximum campaign contributions of $5,800 each from Andrew Intrater and his wife, along with tens of thousands more to campaign committees associated with the Long Island lawmaker since 2020, according to The Washington Post.

But Mr Intrater – the American citizen cousin of Russian billionaire energy investor Viktor Vekselberg – also invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into Mr Santos’s former employer, Harbor City Capital, which federal regulators have accused of running a “classic Ponzi scheme” to defraud investors.

Special counsel Robert Mueller had investigated Mr Intrater’s interactions with Michael Cohen, a former attorney for Mr Trump, as part of his probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and potential links between his campaign and the Kremlin.

Read more in The Independent:

George Santos linked to Trump donor with ties to sanctioned Russian oligarch

DeSantis’s critical race theory attacks fail to resonate with most parents, poll shows

08:15 , John Bowden

The GOP’s all-out attack on the visibility of LGBT+ Americans in the nation’s public school systems appear to be resonating with only a small sliver of parents across the country, raising questions about what effects that campaign will have in 2024.

A new survey from Hart Research Associates polled parents of school-aged children who are registered to vote across the US — the findings were definitive on the issue of critical race theory, the favoured boogeyman of conservatives like Florida’s Ron DeSantis.

Read more in The Independent:

Poll shows DeSantis’s critical race theory attacks fail to resonate with most parents

Biden condemns ‘fiscally demented’ congressional Republicans for IRS and tax agenda

07:15 , John Bowden

President Joe Biden has pledged to strike down a “fiscally demented” tax agenda from House Republicans, which would strip funding to and ultimately abolish the federal tax agency, explode the deficit by tens of billions and shift the nation’s tax burdens on lower-income Americans.

His fiery remarks came as part of a speech on wealth inequality and civil rights marking Martin Luther King Jr Day; the murdered civil rights champion spoke frequently about wealth disparity and poverty in America before he was killed.

“They want working class folks to be paying another 10, 20 per cent of their taxes depending on where they live and how they spend their money,” the president argued of Republicans. “And they’re going to reduce taxes for the super wealthy.”

Read more:

Biden condemns ‘fiscally demented’ congressional Republicans for IRS and tax agenda

Trump attacks Biden over Wilmington visitor logs

06:15 , John Bowden

Donald Trump criticised Joe Biden in a Truth Social post on Monday after his family revealed that the president’s Wilmington, Delaware residence (where a handful of classified documents dating back to his time as vice president were found) does not track visitors meeting Mr Biden or his family in any kind of logs.

Such a measure is not required under any federal law, but has become a talking point for conservatives who have jumped on the revelation that Mr Biden or his team may have mishandled classified materials in the wake of a similar investigation being launched into Mr Trump last year.

“The White House just announced that there are no LOGS or information of any kind on visitors to the Wilmington house and flimsy, unlocked, and unsecured, but now very famous, garage. Maybe they are smarter than we think! This is one of seemingly many places where HIGHLY CLASSIFIED documents are stored (in a big pile on the damp floor). Mar-a-Lago is a highly secured facility, with Security Cameras all over the place, and watched over by staff & our great Secret Service,” wrote the former president.

He added: “I have INFO on everyone!”

Read more:

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

Hacker Guccifer who infiltrated Clinton and Bush emails slams DC ‘hypocrisy’ in first interview out of prison

05:15 , John Bowden

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

Marcel Lehel Lazar, who served more than four years in federal prison in Pennsylvania, told The Intercept he set out to discover what he felt must be a hidden reason for America’s ongoing political dysfunction. He says he remains more mystified by the gridlock that defines modern American politics than ever before.

“Look at the last 20 years of politics of United States,” Mr Lazar he told the outlet. “It’s all lies, and it went so low in the mud. You know what I’m saying? It stinks.”

Read more:

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

Sarah Huckabee Sanders dodges question when asked if she will endorse Trump in 2024

04:16 , John Bowden

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

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

Watch how she responded:

Sarah Huckabee Sanders dodges question on endorsing Trump in 2024

GOP House oversight chairman brands George Santos a ‘bad guy’ who told ‘despicable’ lies

03:16 , John Bowden

House Republican Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has harshly condemned freshman Republican Representative George Santos and his multiple fabrications.

The newly-minted chairman, a Republican from Kentucky, responded to a question from host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday about the fact that seven House Republicans have said Mr Santos should step down.

“He's a bad guy,” Mr Comer said. “This is something that’s really bad. He’s not the first politician unfortunately to make it to Congress to lie.”

Read more from Eric Garcia about the growing effort by conservatives to distance themselves from the admitted fibster:

GOP House oversight chairman calls George Santos ‘bad guy’ who told ‘despicable’ lies

GOP action on mail ballot timelines angers military families

02:15 , John Bowden

Republicans in Ohio have significantly shortened the window for mailed ballots to be received, even though there's no evidence that the extended timeline has led to fraud or any other problems.

That change is angering active-duty members of the military and their families because of its potential to disenfranchise them.

Read more in The Independent:

GOP action on mail ballot timelines angers military families

Trump complains about security of Biden’s home despite fake heiress, intruder and white nationalist at Mar-a-Lago

01:15 , John Bowden

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

The criticism of the supposed lax security (a questionable claim given that Mr Biden is the sitting president) at the Wilmington residence is somewhat less convincing coming from Mr Trump.

The former president only recently claimed that he had taken a meeting late last year with arguably America’s most prominent white nationalist figure, Nick Fuentes, at Mar-a-Lago, because he supposedly did not know who Mr Fuentes was when the latter joined rapper Ye, better known as Kanye West, to his own meeting with Mr Trump.

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

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

00:15 , John Bowden

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

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

Keep yourself updated with our running list:

Every lie disgraced incoming Congressman George Santos has been accused of

Video emerges of George Santos introducing himself as ‘Anthony Devolder’ at a pro-Trump LGBTQ event

Monday 16 January 2023 23:15 , John Bowden

Member of Congress George Santos is under fire yet again after an old video surfaced on social media where the Republican can be heard introducing himself as "Anthony Devolder".

The Long Island representative is facing calls for resignation after admitting to a plethora of lies on his resume, starting from his high school to college and employment. The first-time representative also drew ire from Jewish groups for claiming that he was of Jewish descent and a grandchild of Holocaust survivors.

Now, a video clip posted by an anonymous Twitter account PatriotTakes, shows Mr Santos asking questions to a panel at a pro-Trump Walk Away Foundation event in 2019. The event was specifically opened to the LGBTQ community.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar has the story:

Video emerges of George Santos introducing himself as ‘Anthony Devolder’

Why the new special counsel probe is worse news for Trump than Biden

Monday 16 January 2023 22:15 , John Bowden

The appointment of a new special counsel to investigate Joe Biden is actually bad news for Donald Trump, Justice Department veterans tell Andrew Feinberg.

Former top law enforcement officials who spoke to The Independent about the new investigation into the Joe Biden documents instead maintained that the probe focusing on Mr Trump involves conduct far more serious than anything his successor could conceivably be accused of.

Read more:

Why Trump, not Biden, faces more peril from the new special counsel probe

Don’t repeat ‘disastrous mistakes’ of 2020, Kellyanne Conway warns Trump

Monday 16 January 2023 21:45 , John Bowden

Kellyanne Conway has warned Donald Trump not to repeat his “disastrous mistakes” as he prepares for the 2024 campaign to get underway in earnest.

“Any repeat by the 2024 Trump campaign of the disastrous mistakes in personnel, strategy and tactics of the 2020 Trump campaign may lead to the same 2020 result,” the former White House counsellor wrote in an opinion piece for The New York Times.

Gustaf Kilander reports from Washington, DC.

Kellyanne Conway warns Trump not to repeat ‘disastrous mistakes’

Buttigieg: In the spotlight for better or worse

Monday 16 January 2023 21:15 , John Bowden

The nation’s transportation secretary usually holds one of the most public-facing roles in any presidential administration. A core aspect of the Cabinet job is to travel the country, doling out millions of public dollars and attending ribbon-cutting ceremonies for new bridges and overpasses and ports.

Even by those standards, Pete Buttigieg has spent an inordinate amount of time in the national spotlight delivering the largesse of the big infrastructure and domestic spending bills. But at the same time, the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and onetime mayor of South Bend, Indiana, also has been the public face of a string of transportation-related crises, all amid steady speculation about his future political prospects.

Read on:

Buttigieg finds himself in the spotlight for better or worse

Fox News contributor says there’s ‘no doubt’ network is moving on from Trump

Monday 16 January 2023 20:45 , John Bowden

Fox News contributor Mara Liasson has said that there is “no doubt” that conservative media outlets have “a strong desire to move on from Donald Trump”.

Speaking on Sunday’s episode of Fox News’ “Media Buzz”, Ms Liasson said that it is clear that Fox News – a longtime ally of the former president – isn’t wanting to give Mr Trump as much airtime as in the past.

“There’s no doubt that the majority of conservative media – Fox first and foremost – has a strong desire to move on from Donald Trump and are not paying enough attention and giving him enough airtime, I think, as they used to,” she said.

It comes as Mr Trump is making his third bid for the White House.

Trump says US has become an ‘Investigation Nightmare’

Monday 16 January 2023 20:15 , John Bowden

In a follow-up that continues the strange formatting of labelling Truth Social posts as “Page 1”, “Page 2” etc, the former president summed up his argument succinctly: “I DID NOTHING WRONG, AND JOE DID.”

He then complained: “Our Nation has become an “Investigation Nightmare,” despite the many other problems we have, which are many.”

Mr Trump continued: “It is NOW time for the USA to stop these RIDICULOUS INVESTIGATIONS, and that includes those D.C. inspired Local & State Which Hunts, and get back to the business of properly running our Country!”

Protestations of innocence don’t pair well with calls to stop the investigation into the thing you are accused of doing — or all the investigations into the things you are accused of doing — if you are innocent and all the evidence shows that (as he says), then there should be nothing to worry about.

And yes, he misspelled “witch”.

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

Monday 16 January 2023 19:45 , John Bowden

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

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

Josh Marcus has the story:

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

Trump complains about security of Biden’s home despite fake heiress, intruder and white nationalist at Mar-a-Lago

Monday 16 January 2023 18:45 , John Bowden

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

But his criticism of the supposed lax security (a questionable claim given that Mr Biden is the sitting president) at the Wilmington residence is somewhat less convincing coming from Mr Trump.

The former president only recently claimed that he had taken a meeting late last year with arguably America’s most prominent white nationalist figure, Nick Fuentes, at Mar-a-Lago, because he supposedly did not know who Mr Fuentes was when the latter joined rapper Ye, better known as Kanye West, to his own meeting with Mr Trump.

John Bowden has more:

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

Giuliani says Trump told him to take classified files home

Monday 16 January 2023 18:15 , John Bowden

Rudy Giuliani said that former president Donald Trump once advised him to take secret documents home with him, Business Insider reported.

The former New York City mayor and attorney for the former president made the revelation when speaking on his WABC77 radio show entitled Uncovering the Truth with Rudy Giuliani & Dr. Maria Ryan.

Eric Garcia has the story:

Giuliani says Trump told him to take classified files home

Texas brewery faces threats after cancelling Kyle Rittenhouse event

Monday 16 January 2023 17:45 , Oliver O’Connell

A Texas brewery has called the influx of threats it has received “crazy” after it cancelled an event with Kyle Rittenhouse.

The teenager shot and killed two racial justice protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020, but he was later cleared of wrongdoing at trial.

The Southern Star Brewery in Conroe, Texas was targeted after saying on Friday that a “rally against censorship” with Mr Rittenhouse would no longer be held there. It was initially scheduled to take place later in January.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

Texas brewery calls influx of threats ‘crazy’ after canceling Kyle Rittenhouse event

GOP slammed for hypocrisy over Biden visitor logs

Monday 16 January 2023 17:15 , John Bowden

Newly-empowered House Republicans on Sunday demanded the White House turn over all information related to its searches that have uncovered classified documents at President Joe Biden‘s home and former office in the wake of more records found at his Delaware residence.

“We have a lot of questions,” said Rep James Comer, the incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. He has vowed that his committee will launch a formal probe into the matter.

But Mr Comer had little of that same energy in other interviews when asked about the significance of a much larger trove of classified material being discovered at Mar-a-Lago, home to former president Donald Trump. And his critics have noticed.

The GOP congressman was confronted about his apparently conflicting views by CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders refuses to back Trump’s 2024 bid

Monday 16 January 2023 16:45 , John Bowden

Arkansas Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has refused to back Donald Trump’s 2024 White House run, as the GOP continues to turn away from the former president.

Ms Sanders, a former aide of Mr Trump, dodged the question when asked whether she will endorse his third presidential bid in an appearance on Fox News on Sunday.

“Your bio, on your official page as Governor, describes you as a ‘trusted confidant of President Trump,’” asked Shannon Bream. “Have you talked to him about his ’24 run? Will you endorse him in that?”

Ms Sanders stressed that she has a “great relationship” with the former president but stopped short of endorsing his bid to be re-elected, saying her “focus isn’t 2024”.

“I love the president, have a great relationship with him,” she said.

“I know our country would be infinitely better off if he was in office right now instead of Joe Biden but right now, my focus isn’t 2024. It’s focusing here in Arkansas and doing what we can to empower the people of this state, and make sure that I’m delivering on the promises that I laid out over the course of the last two years.”

When pressed further, she continued to refuse to give a straight answer.

“My focus isn’t on 2024,” she said.

“It’s on what we can deliver in this legislative session. I’m not going to set an arbitrary timeline. I’m not really focused on that at all.”

Top intel Democrat isn’t letting Biden off the hook

Monday 16 January 2023 16:15 , John Bowden

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

Speaking on This Week on Sunday, Mr Schiff told Jon Karl of ABC News that Attorney General Merrick Garland made “the right move” in appointing a special counsel to investigate the discovery of the classified papers.

He remains the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee until the new leadership is resolved following the assumption of the majority by his GOP rivals. Speaker Kevin McCarthy has resolved to remove him from the influential committee.

Read on:

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

Trump attacks Biden over Wilmington visitor logs

Monday 16 January 2023 15:55 , John Bowden

Donald Trump criticised Joe Biden in a Truth Social post on Monday after his family revealed that the president’s Wilmington, Delaware residence (where a handful of classified documents dating back to his time as vice president were found) does not track visitors meeting Mr Biden or his family in any kind of logs.

Such a measure is not required under any federal law, but has become a talking point for conservatives who have jumped on the revelation that Mr Biden or his team may have mishandled classified materials in the wake of a similar investigation being launched into Mr Trump last year.

“The White House just announced that there are no LOGS or information of any kind on visitors to the Wilmington house and flimsy, unlocked, and unsecured, but now very famous, garage. Maybe they are smarter than we think! This is one of seemingly many places where HIGHLY CLASSIFIED documents are stored (in a big pile on the damp floor). Mar-a-Lago is a highly secured facility, with Security Cameras all over the place, and watched over by staff & our great Secret Service,” wrote the former president.

He added: “I have INFO on everyone!”

Donald Trump’s war against Mitch McConnell continues

Monday 16 January 2023 15:05 , John Bowden

Late on Saturday night, Donald Trump issued a rallying call to Republicans to use the upcoming debt ceiling as leverage to “get back almost everything McConnell gave up to the Radical Left”.

The former president has spent a lot of time on Truth Social railing against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for negotiating the $1.7 trillion bipartisan government funding bill with Democrats. In recent days, that has included racist suggestions of disloyalty to America aimed at the senator’s wife, his former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

Mr Trump has also called for primary challengers against Mr McConnell and those Republicans who voted with him on the bill. But those attacks have thus far failed to resonate at all with GOP senators, who show know signs of abandoning their leader for the former president.

Fox News contributor says there’s ‘no doubt’ network is moving on from Trump

Monday 16 January 2023 14:35 , Rachel Sharp

Fox News contributor Mara Liasson has said that there is “no doubt” that conservative media outlets have “a strong desire to move on from Donald Trump”.

Speaking on Sunday’s episode of Fox News’ “Media Buzz”, Ms Liasson said that it is clear that Fox News – a longtime ally of the former president – isn’t wanting to give Mr Trump as much airtime as in the past.

“There’s no doubt that the majority of conservative media – Fox first and foremost – has a strong desire to move on from Donald Trump and are not paying enough attention and giving him enough airtime, I think, as they used to,” she said.

It comes as Mr Trump is making his third bid for the White House.

George Conway blasts GOP Rep Jim Jordan for ignoring Trump’s wrongdoing

Monday 16 January 2023 14:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Conservative lawyer George Conway slammed Ohio Republican Representative Jim Jordan over his defence of former President Donald Trump.

“Hillary Clinton mishandled classified documents. Joe Biden mishandled classified documents. But the only one who gets his home raided is President Trump — and he didn’t even do anything wrong!” Mr Jordan claimed on Twitter on Friday evening.

“You wanted to lock Hillary up. You want to impeach Biden. But the only one who you say didn’t do anything wrong is Donald Trump, who not only mishandled documents but also spent over a year refusing to give them back when asked,” the husband of former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway responded.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

George Conway blasts GOP Rep Jim Jordan for exonerating Trump’s wrongdoing

Sarah Huckabee Sanders refuses to back Trump’s 2024 bid

Monday 16 January 2023 13:50 , Rachel Sharp

Arkansas Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has refused to back Donald Trump’s 2024 White House run, as the GOP continues to turn away from the former president.

Ms Sanders, a former aide of Mr Trump, dodged the question when asked whether she will endorse his third presidential bid in an appearance on Fox News onSunday.

“Your bio, on your official page as Governor, describes you as a ‘trusted confidant of President Trump,’” asked Shannon Bream. “Have you talked to him about his ’24 run? Will you endorse him in that?”

Ms Sanders stressed that she has a “great relationship” with the former president but stopped short of endorsing his bid to be re-elected, saying her “focus isn’t 2024”.

“I love the president, have a great relationship with him,” she said.

“I know our country would be infinitely better off if he was in office right now instead of Joe Biden,.

“But right now, my focus isn’t 2024. It’s focusing here in Arkansas and doing what we can to empower the people of this state, and make sure that I’m delivering on the promises that I laid out over the course of the last two years.”

When pressed further, she continued to refuse to give a straight answer.

“My focus isn’t on 2024,” she said.

“It’s on what we can deliver in this legislative session. I’m not going to set an arbitrary timeline. I’m not really focused on that at all.”