Trump news - live: Ex-president hails ‘fearless election denier’ Kristina Karamo for taking over Michigan GOP
On Sunday, Donald Trump congratulated one of his supporters, Kristina Karamo, following her takeover of the Michigan Republican Party. He called her a “fearless election denier” in a Truth Social post.
“If Republicans (and others!) would speak the truth about the Rigged Presidential Election of 2020, like FoxNews should, but doesn’t, they would be far better off,” the ex-president complained.
And Fox News blocked Donald Trump from making an on-air call to the right-wing news channel during the January 6 attack by his supporters on the US Capitol, court filings from Dominion lawyers revealed this week.
“The afternoon of January 6, after the Capitol came under attack, then-President Trump dialed into Lou Dobbs’ show attempting to get on air,” Dominion lawyers wrote in their legal brief.
“But Fox executives vetoed that decision. Why? Not because of a lack of newsworthiness. January 6 was an important event by any measure. President Trump not only was the sitting President, he was the key figure that day.”
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 attorneys for the channel.
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
Tucker Carlson called Trump a ‘demonic force’, lawsuit reveals
09:46 , John Bowden
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
Fox News blocked Trump from calling in to show after Capitol riot
08:46 , John Bowden
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.
06:46 , John Bowden
Former US president Jimmy Carter will “spend his remaining time at home” receiving hospice care, it has been announced.
The 98-year-old, who was president for one term between 1977 and 1981, made the decision after a series of hospital stays, the Carter Center announced on Saturday.
“After a series of short hospital stays, former US president Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention,” the Carter Center said in a statement.
The news prompted an outpouring of support on Twitter for Mr Carter, who has been a relentless champion and house-builder for Habitat for Humanity since leaving office.
Jimmy Carter, 98, receiving hospice care at Georgia home
Nikki Haley says Ron DeSantis didn’t go ‘far enough’ with Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
05:46 , John Bowden
The Trump rival told the crowd at a town hall in New Hampshire that conversations about gender should be banned in elementary schools altogether.
Her remarks come after worldwide outrage was sparked by the murder of a transgender girl in Britain — though police have cautioned that they are unsure of a motive yet for her death.
Nikki Haley says DeSantis didn’t go ‘far enough’ with Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
Trump planning to visit East Palestine after train derailment
04:46 , John Bowden
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.
Trump says he will visit East Palestine after 2 weeks of silence on train derailment
Nikki Haley fires back at Don Lemon after CNN host claims she’s not in her ‘prime’
03:46 , John Bowden
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.
Meanwhile, The Daily Beast reported on Sunday that Lemon has been cut from CNN’s morning show lineup — and his future with the network is in doubt.
Read more:
Nikki Haley fires back at Don Lemon after CNN host claims she’s not in her ‘prime’
Bernie Sanders calls Nikki Haley’s demand for politicians over 75 to take mental competency tests ‘absurd’
02:46 , John Bowden
Bernie Sanders has slammed Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley’s suggestion that politicians over the age of 75 should receive a mental competency test - calling it “absurd”.
Haley, 51, made the demand as she launched her campaign to win the GOP nomination and criticised 76-year-old Donald Trump and 80-year-old Joe Biden.
But Mr Sanders, who himself is 81, refuted the idea as he appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday morning.
Read more:
Bernie Sanders calls Nikki Haley’s demand for mental competency tests ‘absurd’
The biggest revelations from Dominion’s Fox News lawsuit filing
01:45 , John Bowden
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
Trump ridiculed for pretending he has been ‘exonerated’ by Georgia grand jury over his bid to overturn election
00:46 , John Bowden
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.
Read more:
Trump ridiculed for pretending he has been ‘exonerated’ by Georgia grand jury
Romney, outspoken about his own party, weighs reelection run
Sunday 19 February 2023 23:46 , John Bowden
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
Sunday 19 February 2023 22:45 , John Bowden
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 hails ‘fearless election denier’ for taking over Michigan GOP
Sunday 19 February 2023 21:46 , John Bowden
On Sunday, Donald Trump congratulated one of his supporters, Kristina Karamo, following her takeover of the Michigan Republican Party. He called her a “fearless election denier” in a Truth Social post.
“If Republicans (and others!) would speak the truth about the Rigged Presidential Election of 2020, like FoxNews should, but doesn’t, they would be far better off,” the ex-president complained.
He then took a victory lap: “The New York Times stated that “This cements the Party’s takeover by Trump loyalists.” I don’t call them loyalists, I call them GREAT AMERICAN PATRIOTS!!!”
Top Jan 6 committee investigator says former Trump aides could be charged
Sunday 19 February 2023 20:59 , John Bowden
Members of the January 6 committee were unable to secure all the evidence and testimony they had hoped to acquire but saw reason to believe that other top aides to Donald Trump should face criminal charges not recommended by the committee in its final sessions, an investigator for the now-defunct panel says.
In an interview with The New York Timespublished Sunday, the panel’s lead investigator Timothy Heaphy said that other top aides to Mr Trump who were not targeted in referrals to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution could face criminal charges stemming from the January 6 attack.
Mr Heaphy says he believes that, had the committee had more time to gather evidence or been successful in compelling testimony from Mark Meadows, Mr Trump’s former chief of staff, there could have been more referrals.
Read more:
Top Jan 6 committee investigator says former Trump aides could be charged
Kari Lake suffers another court defeat in baseless bid to overturn Arizona election results
Sunday 19 February 2023 19:08 , John Bowden
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
Sunday 19 February 2023 18:31 , John Bowden
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
Pentagon was aware of suspected spy balloons during Trump admin, report says
Sunday 19 February 2023 17:00 , John Bowden
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.
Read more:
Pentagon was aware of suspected spy balloons during Trump admin, report says
Tucker Carlson called Trump a ‘demonic force’, lawsuit reveals
Sunday 19 February 2023 15:45 , John Bowden
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
Fox News blocked Trump from on-air call during the Capitol riot because it would be ‘irresponsible’
Sunday 19 February 2023 14:47 , John Bowden
Fox News blocked Donald Trump from making an on-air call to the right-wing news channel during the January 6 attack by his supporters on the US Capitol.
Mr Trump called into the Lou Dobbs shown Fox Business after the fatal riot, according to court filings in the $1.6bn defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems against the network.
“The afternoon of January 6, after the Capitol came under attack, then-President Trump dialed into Lou Dobbs’ show attempting to get on air,” Dominion lawyers wrote in their legal brief.
“But Fox executives vetoed that decision,” Dominion’s filing continued. “Why? Not because of a lack of newsworthiness. January 6 was an important event by any measure. President Trump not only was the sitting President, he was the key figure that day.”
Read more:
Fox News blocked Trump from on-air call during the Capitol riot
Kari Lake suffers another court defeat in baseless bid to overturn Arizona election results
Sunday 19 February 2023 22:01 , John Bowden
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
Republicans to adopt loyalty pledge for debate participants
Sunday 19 February 2023 12:02 , 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.
Read more:
Republicans to adopt loyalty pledge for debate participants
Who is Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who could take down Trump?
Sunday 19 February 2023 11:04 , Graeme Massie
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
The Georgia phone call that could bring down Donald Trump: ‘I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break’
Sunday 19 February 2023 10:04 , Graeme Massie
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
Nikki Haley fires back at Don Lemon after CNN host claims she’s not in her ‘prime’
Sunday 19 February 2023 09:03 , 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.
Read more:
Nikki Haley fires back at Don Lemon after CNN host claims she’s not in her ‘prime’
Biden's Trump-focused campaign could be risky if GOP shifts
Sunday 19 February 2023 08:06 , Graeme Massie
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
Romney, outspoken about his own party, weighs reelection run
Sunday 19 February 2023 07:03 , Graeme Massie
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
Trump ridiculed for pretending he has been ‘exonerated’ by Georgia grand jury over his bid to overturn election
Sunday 19 February 2023 06:02 , Graeme Massie
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
Trump’s attorney hires his own attorney in classified documents probe
Sunday 19 February 2023 05:09 , Graeme Massie
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
Kari Lake suffers another court defeat in baseless bid to overturn Arizona election results
Sunday 19 February 2023 04:03 , Graeme Massie
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
‘Insane, lying, complete nut’: Fox News stars rejected election conspiracy theories while network pushed them
Sunday 19 February 2023 03:06 , Graeme Massie
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.
Read more:
Fox News stars rejected election conspiracy theories while network pushed them
Tucker Carlson called Trump a ‘demonic force’, lawsuit reveals
Sunday 19 February 2023 02:02 , Graeme Massie
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
