Trump news - latest: Georgia DA says Trump 2020 election probe is ‘ready to go’ in hint at looming indictment

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said that the investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia is “ready to go” – in a hint suggesting a potential indictment could be imminent.

“The work is accomplished,” she told WXIA over the weekend. “We’ve been working for two and half years. We’re ready to go.”

DA Willis said that there will be people unhappy with the outcome of the probe and praised the actions of local officials who ramped up security around the courthouse in Georgia last week.

The DA previously indicated that any charging decisions would likely come in August.

Separately, an indictment may also come soon in DOJ special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the election and into the January 6 Capitol riot.

This comes after Mr Smith’s office added additional charges against the former president in the case involving his handling of classified documents on leaving the White House. Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira was charged in the case last week, becoming the third defendant.

He appeared in court on Monday, and will be formally arraigned next week. He has not entered a plea.

Key points

• Georgia DA says Trump 2020 election probe is ‘ready to go’

• Mar-a-Lago worker Carlos Oliveira to appear in court today

• Trump goes after Special Counsel Jack Smith

• Trump attempts to link his legal woes to Hunter Biden

• Only four out of dozens of former Trump cabinet members say he should be re-elected

Biden rejects Trump decision to move Space Command from Colorado to Alabama

10:15 , Joe Sommerlad

Joe Biden has rejected his predecessor Donald Trump’s plans to move US Space Command’s headquarters to Alabama and elected to keep it in Colorado amid a fight with state senator Tommy Tuberville.

General James Dickinson, who leads Space Command, reportedly convinced Mr Biden that moving the headquarters from Colorado Springs to Alabama would affect readiness.

Eric Garcia has the latest.

Biden rejects Trump decision to move Space Force from Colorado to Alabama

Trump’s Save America PAC ‘running out of cash'

09:45 , Joe Sommerlad

Donald Trump’s Save America PAC is reportedly running out of cash as a result of the extensive legal bills his campaign is facing as it fights fires on several fronts.

The PAC began last year with $105m but is now down to just $4m after paying off costly legal fees picked up defending Mr Trump in a variety of cases concerning everything from his business practices and personal history to his retention of classified documents since leaving the White House, according to The New York Times.

The newspaper reports that the PAC has made the unsual step of requesting that a $60m donation it made to another Trump-affiliated PAC, Make America Great Again Inc, be refunded so that it can balance its books.

That money had been intended for spending on TV commercials to promote Mr Trump’s latest bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Trump trolls DeSantis with ‘awkward’ video of Florida governor wiping his nose with hand while greeting people

09:30 , John Bowden

Former president Donald Trump mocked Ron DeSantis, his chief rival in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, on Sunday evening by posting a video of the Florida governor wiping his nose with his hand while greeting people.

Mr Trump posted the video on his Truth Social site, which featured the children’s song “One of These Things is Not Like the Other” with Mr DeSantis talking with supporters while holding a beer. The video was created on the right-wing video site Rumble by the pro-Trump Dilley Meme Team.

Watch here:

Trump trolls DeSantis with ‘awkward’ video of Florida governor wiping his nose

Leading anti-abortion group rips DeSantis for not pushing for national ban

08:30 , John Bowden

A leading anti-abortion organization criticized Republican Ron DeSantis on Monday for not supporting a national ban on the procedure, calling the Florida governor’s position “unacceptable” as he seeks the GOP nomination for president.

The president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, an influential player in conservative politics, took issue with DeSantis’ statements in a recent interview in which he declined to back a national abortion ban. SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser said the anti-abortion movement and Americans across the U.S. deserve a president who will “boldly advocate” for a ban on abortion at 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Sara Burnett has the story in The Independent:

Leading anti-abortion group rips DeSantis for not pushing for national ban

Mar-a-Lago IT worker got target letter from DOJ, report says

07:30 , John Bowden

The Mar-a-Lago IT supervisor identified as “Trump Employee 4” in the latest indictment against former president Donald Trump and his alleged co-conspirators was reportedly informed that he’s a target of the ongoing Justice Department probe into alleged mishandling of classified records by the ex-president.

According to CNN, the employee in question is named Yuscil Taveras. The outlet said Mr Taveras, who is not charged with any crime at this point, subsequently met with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team of prosecutors and gave evidence that was used to obtain the superseding indictment against Mr Trump, co-defendant Walt Nauta and a newly-added third co-defendant: Mar-a-Lago maintenance supervisor Carlos De Oliveira.

Read more:

Mar-a-Lago IT worker got target letter from DOJ, report says

Mar-a-Lago property manager makes first court appearance

06:30 , John Bowden

Carlos de Oliveira, Donald Trump’s property manager at Mar-a-Lago, made his first court appearance on Monday after being charged last week with crimes related to Mr Trump’s allegedly illegal retention of classified documents and presidential records.

Mr Oliveira did not enter a plea, and was released on $100,000 bond. He is accused of conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements to investigators. His arraignment will take place next Thursday.

Mar-a-Lago property manager makes first court appearance in Trump documents case

Former Georgia official compares nominating Trump to ‘peeing your pants’

05:30 , John Bowden

Former Georgia lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan likened picking Donald Trump to be the 2024 GOP nominee to “peeing in your pants” during an appearance on CNN over the weekend.

The former Republican official attacked the ex-president, who is facing the possibility of more criminal charges at the hands of a prosecutor in the state, over his electability in a contest against Joe Biden.

Read more:

Former Georgia official compares nominating Trump to ‘peeing your pants’

Georgia DA says Trump 2020 election probe is ‘ready to go’ in strongest hint yet of looming indictment

04:30 , John Bowden

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said that the investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia is “ready to go” – in a hint suggesting a potential indictment could be imminent.

“The work is accomplished,” she told WXIA over the weekend. “We’ve been working for two and half years. We’re ready to go.”

DA Willis said that there will be people unhappy with the outcome of the probe and praised the actions of local officials who ramped up security around the courthouse in Georgia last week.

“I think that the sheriff is doing something smart in making sure that the courthouse stays safe,” she said.

“I’m not willing to put any of the employees or the constituents that come to the courthouse in harm’s way.”

The DA previously indicated that any charging decisions would likely come in August.

Georgia DA says Trump 2020 election probe is ‘ready to go’

Who is Jack Smith? Special counsel coming for Trump is no stranger to high-profile prosecutions

03:30 , John Bowden

Jack Smith, the experienced war crimes prosecutor who unveiled an unprecedented federal indictment against former US president Donald Trump, is no stranger to high-profile probes of public figures.

Andrew Feinberg dives deep into the professional background of the newest Trumpworld bogeyman for The Independent:

Special counsel who indicted Trump is no stranger to high-profile prosecutions

Joe Biden, America's oldest sitting president, needs young voters to win again. Will his age matter?

02:30 , John Bowden

At 24, Alberto Rodriguez has grandparents younger than Joe Biden. But he’s more interested in the 80-year-old president’s accomplishments than his age.

“People as young as me, we’re all focusing on our day-to-day lives and he has done things to help us through that,” Rodriguez, a cook at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, said of Biden’s support among young voters. Rodriguez pointed specifically to federal COVID-19 relief payments and government spending increases on infrastructure and other social programs.

Voters like him were a key piece of Biden’s winning 2020 coalition, which included majorities of young people as well as college graduates, women, urban and suburban voters and Black Americans. Maintaining their support will be critical in closely contested states such as Nevada, where even small declines could prove consequential to Biden’s reelection bid.

His 2024 campaign plans to emphasize messages that could especially resonate with young people in the coming weeks as the anniversary of the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act approaches in mid-August. That legislation includes provisions that the White House will embrace to argue that Biden has done more than any other president to combat climate change.

Such efforts, however, could collide with Biden’s personal reality — like when he recalled that, while attending a St. Patrick’s Day parade at age 14, he appeared in a photo with President Harry S. Truman.

Read more:

Joe Biden, America's oldest sitting president, needs young voters to win again. Will his age matter?

Trump rehearses defence over possible election lies charges at Pennsylvania rally

01:30 , John Bowden

Former president Donald Trump floated his potential defence for the charges he may face for promoting lies about the election during a rally over the weekend in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The already-twice-impeached and twice-indicted former president now faces a potential third indictment for spreading lies about the 2020 presidential election and the attack on the Capitol that was fuelled by them.

But speaking to the crowd in Pennsylvania, a state where he lost 43 lawsuits as he tried to dispute the 2020 presidential election results, Mr Trump pushed back on the potential accusations.

“Why didn’t the corrupt Marxist prosecutors bring these radical and unjustified charges against me two and a half years ago,” Mr Trump asked the crowd. “They had two and a half years. Two and a half years. Nobody even knew they were looking at it. I don’t think they were.”

Read more:

Trump rehearses defence over possible election lies charges at Pennsylvania rally

Trump rips GOP governor of New Hampshire

Tuesday 1 August 2023 00:30 , John Bowden

Donald Trump tore into GOP governor and frequent cable news guest Chris Sununu on Monday, attacking the centrist politician in an early-afternoon Truth Social rant.

“RINO Chris Sununu recently stated that, “I’m not running for president in 2024. Beating Trump is more important.” No, he’s not running for President because he’s polling at Zero, and has no chance of winning. The people of New Hampshire have gotten wise to Chris Sununu, and they no longer like or respect him. I never liked him, but always did whatever he asked for the State, because I wanted to help New Hampshire, and I did!” Mr Trump wrote.

Trump’s team creates legal defence fund to pay for growing number of allies caught up in his legal problems

Monday 31 July 2023 23:30 , John Bowden

Donald Trump’s team is reportedly creating a legal defence fund that will assist in paying for his allies’ legal fees as the number of investigations and indictments against the ex-president increases.

The fund, supposedly set to be led by longtime Trump advisor Michael Glassner, is thought to be called the Patriort Legal Defense Fund Inc, two people familiar with the matter told The New York Times and CNN.

Since leaving office, Mr Trump has been subject to several investigations and is currently facing two indictments, one at the federal level and one in New York City.

Since January, Mr Trump’s political action committee (PAC), Save America, has reportedly spent more than $40m on legal fees for him and his former staffers or allies who have served as witnesses or provided testimony.

It is unclear what, or who, the new fund will cover, though one witness told The New York Times it will not cover Mr Trump’s own legal bills.

Read more:

Trump’s team creates legal defence fund to pay for allies caught in his legal fees

Only four out of dozens of former Trump cabinet members say he should be re-elected

Monday 31 July 2023 23:00 , John Bowden

Only four out of dozens of former Trump cabinet members say he should be re-elected in 2024.

NBC News contacted 44 of those who served in then-President Donald Trump’s cabinet between 2017 and 2021. While many declined to comment or didn’t answer, only four have publicly endorsed Mr Trump for the office he once held.

Several of them have been trying to remain as neutral as possible as the Republican primary plays out. There are those who oppose Mr Trump’s return to the presidency. Former Attorney General Bill Barr told NBC, “I have made clear that I strongly oppose Trump for the nomination and will not endorse Trump”.

Mr Barr was asked how he would cast his vote if the 2024 general election ended up being a rematch between Mr Trump and President Joe Biden.

“I’ll jump off that bridge when I get to it,” he said.

Read more:

Only four out of dozens of former Trump cabinet members say he should be re-elected

Mar-a-Lago IT worker got target letter from DOJ, report says

Monday 31 July 2023 22:28 , John Bowden

The Mar-a-Lago IT supervisor identified as “Trump Employee 4” in the latest indictment against former president Donald Trump and his alleged co-conspirators was reportedly informed that he’s a target of the ongoing Justice Department probe into alleged mishandling of classified records by the ex-president.

According to CNN, the employee in question is named Yuscil Taveras. The outlet said Mr Taveras, who is not charged with any crime at this point, subsequently met with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team of prosecutors and gave evidence that was used to obtain the superseding indictment against Mr Trump, co-defendant Walt Nauta and a newly-added third co-defendant: Mar-a-Lago maintenance supervisor Carlos De Oliveira.

Read more:

Mar-a-Lago IT worker got target letter from DOJ, report says

Trump returns to first impeachment roots by saying Ukraine aid should be linked to Biden probes

Monday 31 July 2023 21:57 , John Bowden

Donald Trump returned to the roots of his first impeachment when he suggested that aid to Ukraine should be conditioned on congressional investigations of President Joe Biden.

The former president called for Republicans in Congress to hold back on more support for Ukraine until the White House cooperates with their probes into the business dealings of Mr Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

The Saturday night tirade at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania echoed the conduct that led to Mr Trump’s first of his two impeachments when he used military aid to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to open an investigation into then-candidate Biden in 2019.

“Congress should refuse to authorize a single additional shipment of our depleted weapons stockpiles … to Ukraine until the FBI, DOJ and IRS hand over every scrap of evidence they have on the Biden Crime Family’s corrupt business dealings,” Mr Trump said on Saturday.

He argued that all Republicans who don’t join the efforts should be challenged in their primaries – Mr Trump endorsed challengers in the 2022 midterms of the Republicans who voted for his impeachment after the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

Read more:

Trump returns to impeachment by saying Ukraine aid should be linked to Biden probes

Leading anti-abortion group rips DeSantis for not pushing for national ban

Monday 31 July 2023 21:15 , John Bowden

A leading anti-abortion organization criticized Republican Ron DeSantis on Monday for not supporting a national ban on the procedure, calling the Florida governor's position “unacceptable” as he seeks the GOP nomination for president.

The president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, an influential player in conservative politics, took issue with DeSantis' statements in a recent interview in which he declined to back a national abortion ban. SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser said the anti-abortion movement and Americans across the U.S. deserve a president who will “boldly advocate” for a ban on abortion at 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Sara Burnett has the story in The Independent:

Leading anti-abortion group rips DeSantis for not pushing for national ban

Georgia DA says Trump 2020 election probe is ‘ready to go’ in strongest hint yet of looming indictment

Monday 31 July 2023 20:44 , John Bowden

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has revealed that her investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia is “ready to go” – in her strongest hint yet that a criminal indictment may be imminent.

DA Willis said in an interview over the weekend that some people will be unhappy with the outcome of the probe and praised the actions of local officials who have started ramping up security around the courthouse in downtown Atlanta.

Read more in The Independent:

Georgia DA says Trump 2020 election probe is ‘ready to go’

Mar-a-Lago property manager makes first court appearance in Trump documents case

Monday 31 July 2023 20:01 , John Bowden

Donald Trump’s employee Carlos de Oliveira appeared at a federal courthouse in Miami on Monday, where he has been indicted and will soon be arraigned on charges stemming from the growing investigation into the former president’s retention of documents from the White House.

He is one of a small handful of employees now targeted by the Justice Department as supposed collaborators in Mr Trump’s alleged scheme to harbour unauthorised mementos from his time in office at Mar-a-Lago — souvenirs which, according to the DoJ, include classified materials and presidential records that are supposed to be in the hands of the National Archives.

Read more:

Mar-a-Lago property manager makes first court appearance in Trump documents case

Voices: The GOP primary is already decided. We’re just pretending it isn’t.

Monday 31 July 2023 19:14 , John Bowden

The Independent’s Washington DC bureau chief Eric Garcia explains why Donald Trump’s continued polling dominance — especially in the states that matter — show that there’s really only one major player in the 2024 Republican primary.

The GOP primary is already decided. We’re just pretending it isn’t

Trump lawyer says he would’ve been successful in destroying evidence if he wanted to

Monday 31 July 2023 18:46 , John Bowden

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba has called Mr Trump the “most ethical American” she knows, while also saying he could have deleted the evidence if he so desired because he owns Mar-a-Lago, owns the IT, and pays his employees.

Mr Trump is charged with violations of the Espionage Act and an array of other criminal counts over his harbouring of presidential records at Mar-a-Lago and other locations. He has plead not guilty.

Take a look at his attorney’s newest defence, rolled out this Sunday on Fox News:

Trump lawyer says he would’ve been successful in destroying evidence if he wanted to

Former Georgia official compares nominating Trump to ‘peeing your pants’

Monday 31 July 2023 18:10 , John Bowden

Former Georgia lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan likened picking Donald Trump to be the 2024 GOP nominee to “peeing in your pants.”

The former Republican official attacked the ex-president in an appearance on CNN over the weekend.

Watch his appearance here:

Former Georgia official compares nominating Trump to ‘peeing your pants’

Trump says charges from Jan 6 probe coming ‘any day now’

Monday 31 July 2023 17:23 , John Bowden

Former president Donald Trump on Monday said he expects he will soon face a second set of federal criminal charges from the Washington, DC grand jury that has been investigating his efforts to remain in office against the will of voters despite losing the 2020 election.

Writing on his Truth Social website, Mr Trump said he assumes Special Counsel Jack Smith, who he referred to as “deranged,” will announce an indictment against him “any day now” with charges pertaining to a speech the then-president delivered on the day a riotous mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol in hopes of blocking certification of his 2020 election loss.

Follow this story in The Independent:

Trump says charges from Jan 6 probe coming ‘any day now’

Mar-a-Lago property manager makes first court appearance

Monday 31 July 2023 16:39 , John Bowden

Carlos de Oliveira, Donald Trump’s property manager at Mar-a-Lago, made his first court appearance on Monday after being charged last week with crimes related to Mr Trump’s allegedly illegal retention of classified documents and presidential records.

Mr Oliveira did not enter a plea, and was released on $100,000 bond. He is accused of conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements to investigators. His arraignment will take place next Thursday.

Mar-a-Lago property manager makes first court appearance in Trump documents case

Trump’s team creates legal defence fund to pay for growing number of allies caught up in his legal problems

Monday 31 July 2023 16:27 , Ariana Baio

Donald Trump’s team is reportedly creating a legal defence fund that will assist in paying for his allies’ legal fees as the number of investigations and indictments against the ex-president increases.

The fund, supposedly set to be led by longtime Trump advisor Michael Glassner, is thought to be called the Patriort Legal Defense Fund Inc, two people familiar with the matter told The New York Times and CNN.

Since leaving office, Mr Trump has been subject to several investigations and is currently facing two indictments, one at the federal level and one in New York City.

Since January, Mr Trump’s political action committee (PAC), Save America, has reportedly spent more than $40m on legal fees for him and his former staffers or allies who have served as witnesses or provided testimony.

It is unclear what, or who, the new fund will cover, though one witness told The New York Times it will not cover Mr Trump’s own legal bills.

Read more:

Trump’s team creates legal defence fund to pay for allies caught in his legal fees

Judge rejects Trump suit to block Fulton County DA's election probe

Monday 31 July 2023 15:44 , John Bowden

A Georgia judge has rejected former president Donald Trump’s attempt to block Fulton County DA Fani Willis from bringing indictments against him or anyone else based on the results of a special grand jury investigation into his effort to overturn his 2020 election loss in the Peach State.

In March, Mr Trump sued to have Ms Willis barred from indicting him based on any evidence uncovered during the special grand jury probe and asked to have Ms Willis disqualified from any further investigation or prosecution of his alleged interference in the election he lost to President Joe Biden.

Read more in The Independent:

Judge rejects Trump suit to block Fulton County DA’s election probe

Trump trolls DeSantis with ‘awkward’ video of Florida governor wiping his nose with hand while greeting people

Monday 31 July 2023 14:30 , John Bowden

Former president Donald Trump mocked Ron DeSantis, his chief rival in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, on Sunday evening by posting a video of the Florida governor wiping his nose with his hand while greeting people.

Mr Trump posted the video on his Truth Social site, which featured the children’s song “One of These Things is Not Like the Other” with Mr DeSantis talking with supporters while holding a beer. The video was created on the right-wing video site Rumble by the pro-Trump Dilley Meme Team.

Watch here:

Trump trolls DeSantis with video of governor wiping his nose while greeting people

Trump, amid legal perils, calls on GOP to rally around him as he threatens primary challenges

Monday 31 July 2023 14:00 , Jill Colvin, AP

At a moment of growing legal peril, Donald Trump ramped up his calls for his GOP rivals to drop out of the 2024 presidential race as he threatened to primary Republican members of Congress who fail to focus on investigating Democratic President Joe Biden and urged them to halt Ukrainian military aid until the White House cooperates with their investigations into Biden and his family.

“Every dollar spent attacking me by Republicans is a dollar given straight to the Biden campaign,” Trump said at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Saturday night. The former president and GOP frontrunner said it was time for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and others he dismissed as “clowns” to clear the field, accusing them of “wasting hundreds of millions of dollars that Republicans should be using to build a massive vote-gathering operation” to take on Biden in November.

Read more:

Trump, amid legal perils, calls on GOP to rally around him as he threatens primary challenges

Mar-a-Lago IT worker hit with target letter from DOJ in classified documents probe

Monday 31 July 2023 13:30 , Rachel Sharp

A Mar-a-Lago IT worker has been hit with a target letter from the DOJ as part of its probe into Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents on leaving the White House.

Sources told CNN that Yuscil Taveras, who oversees the surveillance cameras at the Florida club, received a letter from federal prosecutors telling him he was a target of the investigation after Mr Trump was first indicted in the case in early June.

Mr Taveras has met with investigators in the case though it is unclear if he is cooperating with prosecutors.

The Mar-a-Lago staffer has not been charged with any crime.

He was mentioned – named only as Trump Employee 4 – in the superseding indictment issued last week.

Trump rehearses defence over possible election lies charges at Pennsylvania rally

Monday 31 July 2023 13:00 , Eric Garcia

Former president Donald Trump floated his potential defence for the charges he may face for promoting lies about the election during a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The already-twice-impeached and twice-indicted former president now faces a potential third indictment for spreading lies about the 2020 presidential election and the attack on the Capitol that was fuelled by them.

But speaking to the crowd in Pennsylvania, a state where he lost 43 lawsuits as he tried to dispute the 2020 presidential election results, Mr Trump pushed back on the potential accusations.

“Why didn’t the corrupt Marxist prosecutors bring these radical and unjustified charges against me two and a half years ago,” Mr Trump asked the crowd. “They had two and a half years. Two and a half years. Nobody even knew they were looking at it. I don’t think they were.”

Read more:

Trump rehearses defence over possible election lies charges at Pennsylvania rally

RECAP: More charges filed against Trump

Monday 31 July 2023 12:30 , Rachel Sharp

Only four out of dozens of former Trump cabinet members say he should be re-elected

Monday 31 July 2023 12:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Only four out of dozens of former Trump cabinet members say he should be re-elected in 2024.

NBC News contacted 44 of those who served in then-President Donald Trump’s cabinet between 2017 and 2021. While many declined to comment or didn’t answer, only four have publicly endorsed Mr Trump for the office he once held.

Several of them have been trying to remain as neutral as possible as the Republican primary plays out. There are those who oppose Mr Trump’s return to the presidency. Former Attorney General Bill Barr told NBC, “I have made clear that I strongly oppose Trump for the nomination and will not endorse Trump”.

Mr Barr was asked how he would cast his vote if the 2024 general election ended up being a rematch between Mr Trump and President Joe Biden.

“I’ll jump off that bridge when I get to it,” he said.

Read more:

Only four out of dozens of former Trump cabinet members say he should be re-elected

Carlos Oliveira to appear in court today

Monday 31 July 2023 11:30 , Rachel Sharp

An employee of Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago estate, Carlos De Oliveira, is expected to make his first court appearance Monday on charges accusing him of scheming with the former president to hide security footage from investigators probing Trump’s hoarding of classified documents.

De Oliveira, Mar-a-Lago’s property manager, was added last week to the indictment with Trump and the former president’s valet, Walt Nauta, in the federal case alleging a plot to illegally keep top-secret records at Trump’s Florida estate and thwart government efforts to retrieve them.

De Oliveira faces charges including conspiracy to obstruct justice and lying to investigators.

He’s scheduled to appear before a magistrate judge in Miami nearly two months after Trump pleaded not guilty in the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.

Trump returns to first impeachment roots by saying Ukraine aid should be linked to Biden probes

Monday 31 July 2023 11:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump returned to the roots of his first impeachment when he suggested that aid to Ukraine should be conditioned on congressional investigations of President Joe Biden.

The former president called for Republicans in Congress to hold back on more support for Ukraine until the White House cooperates with their probes into the business dealings of Mr Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

The Saturday night tirade at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania echoed the conduct that led to Mr Trump’s first of his two impeachments when he used military aid to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to open an investigation into then-candidate Biden in 2019.

“Congress should refuse to authorize a single additional shipment of our depleted weapons stockpiles … to Ukraine until the FBI, DOJ and IRS hand over every scrap of evidence they have on the Biden Crime Family’s corrupt business dealings,” Mr Trump said on Saturday.

He argued that all Republicans who don’t join the efforts should be challenged in their primaries – Mr Trump endorsed challengers in the 2022 midterms of the Republicans who voted for his impeachment after the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

Read more:

Trump returns to impeachment by saying Ukraine aid should be linked to Biden probes

Georgia DA says Trump 2020 election probe is ‘ready to go’

Monday 31 July 2023 10:30 , Rachel Sharp

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said that the investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia is “ready to go” – in a hint suggesting a potential indictment could be imminent.

“The work is accomplished,” she told WXIA over the weekend. “We’ve been working for two and half years. We’re ready to go.”

DA Willis said that there will be people unhappy with the outcome of the probe and praised the actions of local officials who ramped up security around the courthouse in Georgia last week.

“I think that the sheriff is doing something smart in making sure that the courthouse stays safe,” she said.

“I’m not willing to put any of the employees or the constituents that come to the courthouse in harm’s way.”

The DA previously indicated that any charging decisions would likely come in August.

Joe Biden, America's oldest sitting president, needs young voters to win again. Will his age matter?

Monday 31 July 2023 10:00 , AP

At 24, Alberto Rodriguez has grandparents younger than Joe Biden. But he’s more interested in the 80-year-old president’s accomplishments than his age.

“People as young as me, we’re all focusing on our day-to-day lives and he has done things to help us through that,” Rodriguez, a cook at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, said of Biden’s support among young voters. Rodriguez pointed specifically to federal COVID-19 relief payments and government spending increases on infrastructure and other social programs.

Voters like him were a key piece of Biden’s winning 2020 coalition, which included majorities of young people as well as college graduates, women, urban and suburban voters and Black Americans. Maintaining their support will be critical in closely contested states such as Nevada, where even small declines could prove consequential to Biden’s reelection bid.

His 2024 campaign plans to emphasize messages that could especially resonate with young people in the coming weeks as the anniversary of the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act approaches in mid-August. That legislation includes provisions that the White House will embrace to argue that Biden has done more than any other president to combat climate change.

Such efforts, however, could collide with Biden’s personal reality — like when he recalled that, while attending a St. Patrick’s Day parade at age 14, he appeared in a photo with President Harry S. Truman.

Read more:

Joe Biden, America's oldest sitting president, needs young voters to win again. Will his age matter?

Who’s qualified for the GOP debates: Doug Burgum

Monday 31 July 2023 09:00 , AP

Burgum, a wealthy former software entrepreneur now in his second term as North Dakota’s governor, has been using his fortune to boost his campaign.

He announced a program this month to give away $20 gift cards — “Biden Relief Cards,” as a critique of President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy — to as many as 50,000 people in exchange for $1 donations. Critics have questioned whether the offer violated campaign finance law.

Within about a week of launching that effort, Burgum announced he had surpassed the donor threshold. Ad blitzes in the early-voting states also helped him meet the polling requirements.

Who’s qualified for the GOP debates: Chris Christie

Monday 31 July 2023 08:00 , AP

The former New Jersey governor opened his campaign by portraying himself as the only candidate ready to take on Trump. Christie called on the former president to “show up at the debates and defend his record.”

Christie will be on that stage, even if Trump isn’t, telling CNN this month that he surpassed “40,000 unique donors in just 35 days.” He also has met the polling requirements.

Who’s qualified for the GOP debates: Vivek Ramaswamy

Monday 31 July 2023 07:00 , AP

The biotech entrepreneur and author of “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam” is an audience favorite at multicandidate events and has polled well despite not being nationally known when he entered the race.

Ramaswamy’s campaign says he met the donor threshold earlier this year. He recently rolled out “Vivek’s Kitchen Cabinet” to boost his donor numbers even more, by letting fundraisers keep 10% of what they bring in for his campaign.

Who’s qualified for the GOP debates: Nikki Haley

Monday 31 July 2023 06:00 , AP

She has blitzed early-voting states with campaign events, walking crowds through her electoral successes ousting a longtime incumbent South Carolina lawmaker, then becoming the state’s first woman and first minority governor. Also serving as Trump’s U.N. ambassador for about two years, Haley frequently cites her international experience, arguing about the threat China poses to the United States.

The only woman in the GOP race, Haley has said transgender students competing in sports is “the women’s issue of our time” and has drawn praise from a leading anti-abortion group, which called her “uniquely gifted at communicating from a pro-life woman’s perspective.”

Bringing in $15.6 million since the start of her campaign, Haley’s campaign says she has “well over 40,000 unique donors” and has satisfied the debate polling requirements.

Who’s qualified for the GOP debates: Tim Scott

Monday 31 July 2023 05:00 , AP

The South Carolina senator has been looking for a breakout moment. The first debate could be his chance.

A prolific fundraiser, Scott enters the summer with $21 million cash on hand.

In one debate-approved poll in Iowa, Scott joined Trump and DeSantis in reaching double digits. The senator has focused much of his campaign resources on the leadoff GOP voting state, which is dominated by white evangelical voters.

Trump says DeSantis wouldn’t have won 2018 governor’s race even if ‘George Washington and Abraham Lincoln came back from the dead'

Monday 31 July 2023 04:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Who’s qualified for the GOP debates: Ron DeSantis

Monday 31 July 2023 03:15 , AP

The Florida governor has long been seen as Trump’s top rival, finishing a distant second to him in a series of polls in early-voting states, as well as national polls, and raising an impressive amount of money.

But DeSantis’ campaign has struggled in recent weeks to live up to the sky-high expectations that awaited him when he entered the race. He let go of more than one-third of his staff as federal filings showed his campaign was burning through cash at an unsustainable rate.

If Trump is absent, DeSantis may be the top target on stage at the debate.

Trump claims to be getting calls from DeSantis donors

Monday 31 July 2023 02:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit against CNN over 'the Big Lie' dismissed in Florida

Monday 31 July 2023 01:45 , AP

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit Donald Trump filed against CNN in which the former U.S. president claimed that the network’s referring to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election as “the Big Lie” was tantamount to comparing him to Adolf Hitler.

Trump had been seeking punitive damages of $475 million in the federal lawsuit filed last October in South Florida, claiming the references hurt his reputation and political career. Trump is a candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination in what is his third run for the presidency.

U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal, who was appointed by Trump, said Friday in his ruling that the former president’s defamation claims failed because the references were opinions and not factual statements. Moreover, it was a stretch to believe that, in viewers’ minds, that phrase would connect Trump’s efforts challenging the 2020 election results to Nazi propaganda or Hitler’s genocidal and authoritarian regime, the judge said.

Read more:

Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit against CNN over 'the Big Lie' dismissed in Florida

Trump says Philadelphia ‘has gone to hell'

Monday 31 July 2023 01:00 , Gustaf Kilander