Trump courts fans at Las Vegas UFC event as he continues DeSantis attacks - latest news

Donald Trump made a surprise appearance Saturday evening in Las Vegas, where he attended a UFC match alongside his longtime adviser Roger Stone.

Photos posted by Mr Stone and others at the event showed Mr Trump greeting actor Mel Gibson and celebrity chef Guy Fieri. He also got a handshake from one of the fighters, Dricus Du Plessis.

Meanwhile, the former president is teasing that he might choose to participate in the 2024 Republican primary debates despite having previously asked why he should bother with such a commanding lead.

The former president posted on Truth Social: “Steve Cortes, the Ron DeSanctimonious top political strategist, thinks that Ron should get out NOW, while the getting is still good. He also said … Trump is the best Presidential debater ever, and can’t be beaten at the debate game.”

He added: “Well, based on that, maybe I should enter the debates - But, then again, when you have a 40 to 50 point lead over the field, maybe I shouldn’t???”

Mr Trump posted other attacks on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Saturday as he headed from Iowa to campaign in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Key Points

• Trump hits out DeSantis fundraising and teases about debate participation

• Iowa GOP sets date for 2024 caucus

• First GOP debate next month faces threats of boycott as lower-polling candidates scramble to qualify

• Trump visits Dairy Queen in Council Bluffs, Iowa

• Trump speaks in Iowa: ‘We must redouble our efforts to ensure anyone who comes to America shares our values'

Voices: The Freedom Caucus booting Marjorie Taylor Greene looks worse for them than it does for her

01:00 , John Bowden

After a whirlwind few weeks for the far-right House Freedom Caucus, The Independent’s Eric Garcia explains what is really going on behind the scenes with Marjorie Taylor Greene’s expulsion.

The Freedom Caucus booting Marjorie Taylor Greene is worse for them than for her

Judge rules Trump can be made to give evidence in lawsuit from ex-FBI agent

00:00 , John Bowden

A District of Columbia federal judge on Thursday said former president Donald Trump can be made to give evidence in a deposition as part of a lawsuit against the Department of Justice by ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok.

Andrew Feinberg has the details.

Trump can give evidence in lawsuit from ex-FBI agent, judge says

Comment: What bringing Trump back would mean for Ukraine – and conflict in the rest of the world

23:15 , John Bowden

Mary Dejevsky writes:

Joe Biden’s visit to the UK this weekend, when he will meet the prime minister and the king, could serve as a welcome reminder about where political power – and responsibility – currently resides on both sides of the Atlantic.

I say this, because some of the recent running on arguably the most urgent international issue of the day has been made by someone who has no power whatever, but eyes a return. Step forward (as if he needed any invitation to do so) Donald Trump, who spoke at some length this week about wanting a peaceful outcome in Ukraine, even if this entailed territorial concessions on the part of Kyiv.

Read on...

What bringing Trump back would mean for Ukraine – and the rest of us | Mary Dejevsky

Trump’s encounter with Guy Fieri at UFC fight sparks mixed reactions

22:34 , John Bowden

Donald Trump attended an Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Las Vegas on Saturday night after a volunteer event for his Nevada primary campaign.

While the former president was met with cheers from the crowd and high-fived supporters at the T-Mobile Arena for UFC 290, his interactions with some of the notable names present caused a mixed reaction online.

Read more:

Trump’s encounter with Guy Fieri at UFC fight sparks mixed reactions

Trump lawyer Alina Habba leaves his defence team in New York fraud case

21:15 , John Bowden

Donald Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba has stepped down from her role defending the former president in the fraud lawsuit filed against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Ms Habba has taken up a new role with Mr Trump’s Save America leadership political action committee.

The Independent has more on the changing dynamics of Mr Trump’s legal team:

Trump lawyer Alina Habba leaves his defence team in New York fraud case

DeSantis nervously laughs when asked about campaign ‘failure to launch’ in Fox News interview

20:39 , John Bowden

Ron DeSantis is once again facing awkward questions (and giving awkward responses) around the subject of his poll numbers, which have stagnated and dropped in some cases amid Donald Trump’s two criminal indictments.

The latest journalist to question Mr DeSantis on the issue did so on Fox News, and appeared to suggest that it was all over for him.

“What’s going on with your campaign?” Sunday Morning Futures host Maria Bartiromo asked. “There was a lot of optimism about you running for president earlier in the year. … What happened?!”

Watch the governor’s response here:

DeSantis nervously laughs when asked about 2024 ‘failure to launch’ in Fox interview

Trump Jr swoons over Elon Musk post calling Mark Zuckerberg a ‘cuck'

19:45 , John Bowden

Just when you thought the Elon Musk v. Mark Zuckerberg rivalry couldn’t get any more childish, too.

Donald Trump high-fives fans at UFC 290 in Las Vegas

19:15 , John Bowden

Former US president Donald Trump attended UFC 290 on Saturday night, emerging to cheers and high-fiving fans at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Mr Trump is known to be friends with UFC president Dana White, who has supported the 77-year-old during his past campaigns, and who walked Trump to his seat on Saturday night. He was also seen talking to actor Mel Gibson, and celeb chef Guy Fieri.

At one point, the former president walked over to the commentary desk, briefly interrupting analysts Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier while they were speaking.

Donald Trump high-fives fans at UFC 290 in Las Vegas

Judge rules Don Jr can be subpoenaed in Trump Organization case

18:51 , John Bowden

A judge allowed for Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen to introduce one of the former president’s sons as a witness in his case against the Trump Organization, according to his attorneys.

Mr Cohen’s team had asked to use testimony from Donald Trump Jr in his case, as he served as a Trump Organization executive vice president.

“We would like to introduce testimony about what Mr Trump Jr. paid his lawyers in the exact same matters,” said Mr Cohen’s attorney, Hunter Winstead.

Jury selection will begin on 17 July, Mr Winstead told reporters.

Kelly Rissman reports.

More bad news for Trump as judge rules his son can be subpoenaed in Cohen case

Here’s what you need to know as the GOP gears up to investigate Hunter Biden

17:54 , John Bowden

The Republican chairmen of three key House committees are joining forces to probe the Justice Department’s handling of charges against Hunter Biden after making sweeping claims about misconduct at the agency.

Leaders of the House Judiciary, Oversight and Accountability, and Ways and Means committees opened a joint investigation into the federal case into President Joe Biden‘s youngest son days after it was announced last month that he will plead guilty to the misdemeanour tax offences as part of an agreement with the Justice Department.

Read more:

Top Republicans are gearing up to investigate the Hunter Biden case. Here's what to know.

ICYMI: Appeals court ethics panel recommends Rudy Giuliani be disbarred

16:50 , John Bowden

A disciplinary committee in Washington DC has recommended Rudy Giuliani be disbarred in the nation’s capital for his spurious efforts to overturn the results for the 2020 presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump.

The former New York City mayor led Mr Trump’s campaign of disinformation and conspiracies in an effort to alter the election results, and made numerous claims for which he later was revealed on tape to have admitted he had no evidence to make.

Mr Giuliani had “no factual basis, and consequently no legitimate legal grounds” to challenge the results of the election in states that Mr Trump lost, while his “frivolous” pursuit to undermine the outcome and disenfranchise voters “seriously undermined the administration of justice,” according to the committee’s report.

Alex Woodward has the details.

Disciplinary committee recommends Rudy Giuliani be disbarred

Christie hammers Trump on ABC

16:15 , John Bowden

The former New Jersey governor was on ABC News as well as Fox on Sunday, where Mr Christie — a former cable news contributor himself — has waged much of his war against Donald Trump.

Chris Christie insists he’s not just a ‘spoiler’ for Trump’s campaign

15:09 , John Bowden

Former New Jersey Gov Chris Christie was confronted by Fox’s Shannon Bream on Sunday — the topic being whether he really has a path to the GOP nomination, or whether he’s just running to stop Donald Trump.

Watch his response:

14:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump inadvertently reveals he’s never been to a Dairy Queen in viral video

ICYMI: Mar-a-Lago CCTV showed prosecutors Trump was hiding more documents

14:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Federal investigators knew Donald Trump was most likely concealing classified documents among the myriad boxes of presidential records and other paraphernalia stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate, because of surveillance footage obtained by subpoena, according to a less redacted version of the affidavit used to secure a search warrant for his property last year.

The version of the affidavit was made public late Wednesday on the order of US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who has been hearing arguments from a coalition of news organisations that have been seeking access to a fully unredacted version of the affidavit.

Andrew Feinberg filed this report.

Prosecutors knew Trump was hiding more documents thanks to Mar-a-Lago CCTV tapes

Farmers for Trump hats not made in America

13:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump hits out DeSantis fundraising and teases about debate participation

12:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Three more post-lunch Truth Social missals from Donald Trump on the 2024 campaign trail today, both attacking Ron DeSantis.

In the first, the former president claims DeSantis’s donors have fled “do [sic] to his terrible, and still falling, poll numbers”.

In the second, he says that DeSantis’s top political strategist believes the Florida governor should drop out of the race and then teases that he may — or may not — take part in the Republican Party primary debates.

He adds that he would rather go head-to-head with Mr DeSantis.

Trump points out that obvious cardboard cutout of him is cardboard cutout

11:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday afternoon to make it clear that a photo circulating of January 6 defendant Taylor Taranto standing with a cardboard cutout of the former president was indeed a cardboard cutout and not actually him.

He wrote:

Mr Trump linked to a Gateway Pundit article that features the photo prominently at the top. It appears to come from one of Mr Taranto’s social media accounts and is clearly him at an event, holding a glass of red wine and standing with a cardboard cutout of the former president.

Here’s some of our recent coverage of Mr Taranto and how Mr Trump and former President Barack Obama fit into the bizarre case that stretches well beyond the January 6 Capitol riot.

Man arrested near Obama home threatened other prominent lawmakers, officials say

Trump vows to keep ‘communists and markers’ out of the US

10:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump fumbled his words while speaking at his largest campaign event in Iowa on Friday.

The former president appeared in Council Bluffs in the western part of the state that hosts the first caucus in approximately just over five months.

Speaking about immigration, Mr Trump was relaying a campaign promise to deny entry to leftist ideologues when he accidentally referred to them as “communists and markers” rather than Marxists.

Read on...

Trump vows to keep ‘communists and markers’ out of the US in latest gaffe

Comment: What bringing Trump back would mean for Ukraine – and conflict in the rest of the world

09:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Mary Dejevsky writes:

Joe Biden’s visit to the UK this weekend, when he will meet the prime minister and the king, could serve as a welcome reminder about where political power – and responsibility – currently resides on both sides of the Atlantic.

I say this, because some of the recent running on arguably the most urgent international issue of the day has been made by someone who has no power whatever, but eyes a return. Step forward (as if he needed any invitation to do so) Donald Trump, who spoke at some length this week about wanting a peaceful outcome in Ukraine, even if this entailed territorial concessions on the part of Kyiv.

Read on...

What bringing Trump back would mean for Ukraine – and the rest of us | Mary Dejevsky

‘What the hell is a Blizzard?’

08:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump inadvertently reveals he’s never been to a Dairy Queen in viral video

DoJ Trump probes have cost more than $9m

07:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Special Counsel Jack Smith‘s investigations of President Donald Trump‘s retention of classified records and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election have cost more than $9m over the first several months, according to documents released Friday.

Read more...

Trump investigations into classified papers and 2020 election have cost more than $9m

Here’s what you need to know as the GOP gears up to investigate Hunter Biden

05:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The Republican chairmen of three key House committees are joining forces to probe the Justice Department’s handling of charges against Hunter Biden after making sweeping claims about misconduct at the agency.

Leaders of the House Judiciary, Oversight and Accountability, and Ways and Means committees opened a joint investigation into the federal case into President Joe Biden‘s youngest son days after it was announced last month that he will plead guilty to the misdemeanour tax offences as part of an agreement with the Justice Department.

Read on...

Top Republicans are gearing up to investigate the Hunter Biden case. Here's what to know.

Judge rules Don Jr can be subpoenaed in Trump Organization case

04:00 , Oliver O'Connell

A judge allowed for Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen to introduce one of the former president’s sons as a witness in his case against the Trump Organization, according to his attorneys.

Mr Cohen’s team had asked to use testimony from Donald Trump Jr in his case, as he served as a Trump Organization executive vice president.

“We would like to introduce testimony about what Mr Trump Jr. paid his lawyers in the exact same matters,” said Mr Cohen’s attorney, Hunter Winstead.

Jury selection will begin on 17 July, Mr Winstead told reporters.

Kelly Rissman reports.

More bad news for Trump as judge rules his son can be subpoenaed in Cohen case

Fox News host gives blunt assessment of poll numbers to DeSantis

03:00 , Oliver O'Connell

A host at the usually Ron DeSantis-friendly Fox News asked the Florida governor about his low poll numbers as former President Donald Trump still dominates the Republican primary polls.

Mr DeSantis is currently the runner-up in the GOP polling, but he’s behind Mr Trump by a substantial margin with recent polls showing Trump leading by 27 percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Here’s what Will Cain asked Mr DeSantis:

Fox News host doesn’t hold back on Ron DeSantis’ poll numbers

Voices: The Freedom Caucus booting Marjorie Taylor Greene looks worse for them than it does for her

02:00 , Oliver O'Connell

The Independent’s Eric Garcia explains the real divide between Rep Greene and the Freedom Caucus.

The Freedom Caucus booting Marjorie Taylor Greene is worse for them than for her

Judge rules Trump can give evidence in lawsuit from ex-FBI agent

01:00 , Oliver O'Connell

A District of Columbia federal judge on Thursday said former president Donald Trump can be made to give evidence in a deposition as part of a lawsuit against the Department of Justice by ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok.

Andrew Feinberg hasthe details.

Trump can give evidence in lawsuit from ex-FBI agent, judge says

Christie says Trump took secret documents so he could keep pretending he was president

Sunday 9 July 2023 00:00 , Oliver O'Connell

While Mr Trump’s former secretary of defence Mark Esper said he thought the former president may have kept the documents to further his own financial wellbeing in some way, Mr Christie had his own theory to put forward.

Read more...

Chris Christie says Trump took documents so he could keep pretending he was president

ICYMI: Ethics board recommends Rudy Giuliani be disbarred

Saturday 8 July 2023 23:00 , Oliver O'Connell

A disciplinary committee in Washington DC has recommended Rudy Giuliani be disbarred in the nation’s capital for his spurious efforts to overturn the results for the 2020 presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump.

Mr Giuliani had “no factual basis, and consequently no legitimate legal grounds” to challenge the results of the election in states that Mr Trump lost, while his “frivolous” pursuit to undermine the outcome and disenfranchise voters “seriously undermined the administration of justice,” according to the committee’s report.

Alex Woodward has the details.

Disciplinary committee recommends Rudy Giuliani be disbarred

Comment: What bringing Trump back would mean for Ukraine – and conflict in the rest of the world

Saturday 8 July 2023 22:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Mary Dejevsky writes:

Joe Biden’s visit to the UK this weekend, when he will meet the prime minister and the king, could serve as a welcome reminder about where political power – and responsibility – currently resides on both sides of the Atlantic.

I say this, because some of the recent running on arguably the most urgent international issue of the day has been made by someone who has no power whatever, but eyes a return. Step forward (as if he needed any invitation to do so) Donald Trump, who spoke at some length this week about wanting a peaceful outcome in Ukraine, even if this entailed territorial concessions on the part of Kyiv.

Read on...

What bringing Trump back would mean for Ukraine – and the rest of us | Mary Dejevsky

Full story: Iowa GOP sets date for 2024 caucus

Saturday 8 July 2023 21:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The official kick-off date for the 2024 presidential nominee selection season has been chosen by the state party.

Iowa Republican Party sets date for 2024 caucus

Who’s ahead nationally in the GOP primary polls?

Saturday 8 July 2023 21:17 , Oliver O'Connell

According to the latest aggregated data from FiveThirtyEight.com the current average polling nationally in the Republican Party primary is as follows:

1. Trump: 52%

2. DeSantis: 23.3%

3. Pence: 6.5%

4. Ramaswamy: 3.9%

5. Haley: 3.9%

6. Scott: 3.7%

7. Christie: 2.6%

8. Hutchinson: 1.3%

9. Burgum: 0.2%

10. Suarez: 0%

[Full methodology]

Newsom urges DoJ to investigate Florida over ‘unconscionable’ transportation of migrants

Saturday 8 July 2023 21:00 , Oliver O'Connell

California Gov Gavin Newsom has called on the Department of Justice to investigate Florida’s transportation of migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard last year.

Mr Newsom, a Democrat and regular antagonist of Gov Ron DeSantis (R-FL), sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling on the DOJ to investigate the transportation of migrants that Mr DeSantis touted ahead of his re-election campaign.

Eric Garcia reports.

Newsom urges DoJ to investigate ‘unconscionable’ transportation of migrants

Caitlyn Jenner slams homophobic DeSantis ad

Saturday 8 July 2023 20:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump vows to keep ‘communists and markers’ out of the US

Saturday 8 July 2023 20:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump fumbled his words while speaking at his largest campaign event in Iowa on Friday.

The former president appeared in Council Bluffs in the western part of the state that hosts the first caucus in approximately just over five months.

Speaking about immigration, Mr Trump was relaying a campaign promise to deny entry to leftist ideologues when he accidentally referred to them as “communists and markers” rather than Marxists.

Read more:

Trump vows to keep ‘communists and markers’ out of the US in latest gaffe

Biden heads to Europe with a king and a war on his agenda

Saturday 8 July 2023 20:10 , Oliver O'Connell

President Joe Biden leaves on Sunday for Europe, where he will spend four days in three nations tending to alliances that have been tested by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The first stop is London, where Biden will meet with King Charles III for the first time since his ascension to the throne. After that is the centerpiece of the trip, the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Alliance leaders will debate the war and revise plans for dealing with Russian aggression.

The final stop is in Helsinki, where Biden is expected to celebrate the expanding alliance, with Finland as the newest member of NATO.

His national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the trip would “showcase the president’s leadership on the world stage.”

A look at Biden’s agenda and the issues he will face:

Biden is heading to Europe. A king and a war are on his agenda

Trump hits out DeSantis fundraising and teases about debate participation

Saturday 8 July 2023 19:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Three more post-lunch Truth Social missals from Donald Trump on the 2024 campaign trail today, both attacking Ron DeSantis.

In the first, the former president claims DeSantis’s donors have fled “do [sic] to his terrible, and still falling, poll numbers”.

In the second, he says that DeSantis’s top political strategist believes the Florida governor should drop out of the race and then teases that he may — or may not — take part in the Republican Party primary debates.

He adds that he would rather go head-to-head with Mr DeSantis.

Trump feels need to point out that obvious cardboard cutout of him is cardboard cutout

Saturday 8 July 2023 19:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday afternoon to make it clear that a photo circulating of January 6 defendant Taylor Taranto standing with a cardboard cutout of the former president was indeed a cardboard cutout and not actually him.

He wrote:

Mr Trump linked to a Gateway Pundit article that features the photo prominently at the top. It appears to come from one of Mr Taranto’s social media accounts and is clearly him at an event, holding a glass of red wine and standing with a cardboard cutout of the former president.

Here’s some of our recent coverage of Mr Taranto and how Mr Trump and former President Barack Obama fit into the bizarre case that stretches well beyond the January 6 Capitol riot.

Man arrested near Obama home threatened other prominent lawmakers, officials say

Christie says Trump took secret documents so he could keep pretending he was president

Saturday 8 July 2023 19:00 , Oliver O'Connell

While Mr Trump’s former secretary of defence Mark Esper said he thought the former president may have kept the documents to further his own financial well-being in some way, Mr Christie had his own theory to put forward...

Chris Christie says Trump took documents so he could keep pretending he was president

Iowa GOP sets date for 2024 caucus

Saturday 8 July 2023 18:26 , Oliver O'Connell

Iowa Republicans have voted to hold their first-in-the-nation caucuses on 15 January 2024.

This is the earliest start to the presidential nominating process since 2012, when caucusgoers gathered on 3 January.

The State Central Committee of the Iowa GOP met today and voted unanimously for the date.

Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann issued the following statement in response: “The Republican Party of Iowa is proud to announce that we will officially hold our 2024 First-in-the-Nation Caucus on January 15, 2024.

“After our state legislature and governor took needed action earlier this year to preempt Iowa Democrats’ plans to derail the Iowa Caucus by running a de facto primary election instead, we are also proud to affirm that Iowa will continue to honour our half-century-old promises to the other carve-out states.

“We remain committed to maintaining Iowa’s cherished First-in-the-Nation Caucuses, and look forward to holding a historic caucus in the coming months and defeating Joe Biden come November 2024.”

Raskin says he's not running for open US Senate seat

Saturday 8 July 2023 18:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Maryland Rep Jamie Raskin, a congressman from the suburbs of the nation’s capital, announced Friday he will not run for the US Senate seat that is opening with the retirement of Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland.

Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Reform Committee who is in his fourth term, had been weighing a run for the rarely open Senate seat but said in a statement on Friday evening that he would instead seek reelection in the House.

Raskin announced in April that he had completed chemotherapy for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with a 90 per cent prognosis of no relapse and that his cancer was in remission. It was the second time Raskin had been diagnosed with cancer. He previously battled colorectal cancer in 2010.

Raskin, 60, played a leading role in recent years as House Democrats twice impeached then-President Donald Trump and investigated Trump’s role in the January 6 insurrection. He was the lead impeachment manager when the House impeached Trump one week after the attack.

So far, Rep David Trone and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks have announced candidacies for the Democratic primary for the Senate seat. Montgomery County council member Will Jawando also is running.

‘What the hell is a Blizzard?’

Saturday 8 July 2023 17:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Remember the controversy when Trump and Sarah Palin ate New York pizza slices with knives and forks?

Same vibe right here:

Trump inadvertently reveals he’s never been to a Dairy Queen in viral video

Saturday 8 July 2023 17:23 , Oliver O'Connell

Judge rules Trump can give evidence in lawsuit from ex-FBI agent

Saturday 8 July 2023 17:00 , Oliver O'Connell

A District of Columbia federal judge on Thursday said former president Donald Trump can be made to give evidence in a deposition as part of a lawsuit against the Department of Justice by ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok.

Andrew Feinberg has the details.

Trump can give evidence in lawsuit from ex-FBI agent, judge says

Trump underlines size and seriousness of allegations against him

Saturday 8 July 2023 16:40 , Oliver O'Connell

In complaining about the $9m cost of the investigations into his actions relating to the 2020 election and his hoarding of classified documents, former president Donald Trump managed to score something of an own-goal by comparing them to the probe into the discovery of a small number of classified papers in the possession of Joe Biden.

If Special Counsel Jack Smith has racked up costs of $9m it is simply because of the sprawling nature of the investigation, across multiple states, and that it is two-pronged (the documents and the alleged 2020 election interference).

One of Trump’s latest posts highlights how serious allegations are against him, versus the limited nature of the Biden probe:

It may not be the point he was trying to make, but it’s the most self-evident conclusion from the figures released by the Justice Department.

Saturday 8 July 2023 16:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Smith has also been digging into efforts by Trump and his allies to undo President Joe Biden’s election victory.

Since Smith’s appointment, he has cast a broad net in demanding interviews and testimony related to fundraising, Trump’s rally that preceded the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and communications between Trump associates and election officials in battleground states.

In December, Smith subpoenaed local election officials in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Pennsylvania, asking for communications with or involving Trump, his 2020 campaign aides and a list of allies who were involved in his efforts to try to overturn the results of the election.

The Justice Department also released details on Friday about spending on the investigation led by former Maryland U.S. Attorney Robert Hur into the presence of documents with classified markings found at President Joe Biden’s home in Delaware and at an office in Washington. Hur’s team spent about $600,000 and another $570,000 was spent in Justice Department support expenses in the first roughly two months of that probe.

In comparison, Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether the 2016 Trump campaign had colluded with Russia to tilt the outcome of the election in his favor cost roughly $32 million, according to Justice Department documents. The Mueller investigation resulted in roughly three dozen criminal charges, including convictions of a half-dozen Trump associates.

Meanwhile, Special Counsel John Durham’s recently concluded four-year investigation into possible government mistakes and misconduct in the probe into potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign cost more than $9 million. Durham’s report, released in May, said that the FBI rushed into its Russia investigation and relied too much on raw and unconfirmed intelligence. Durham’s investigation led to prosecutors securing a guilty plea from a little-known FBI employee but losing the only two criminal cases they took to trial.

AP

Jack Smith’s investigations involving Trump have cost more than $9m

Saturday 8 July 2023 16:10 , Oliver O'Connell

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations of former President Donald Trump’s retention of classified records and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election have cost more than $9 million over the first several months, according to documents released Friday.

The special counsel’s office spent more than $5.4 million on things like employees’ salaries, travel and transportation, rent, supplies and materials from Smith’s appointment by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 through the end of March, Justice Department statement of expenditures show.

Justice Department agencies spent another $3.8 million to support the special counsel. Those expenses include the cost of the protective details for the special counsel’s office as well as hours worked by agents and analysts on the probes.

Trump was indicted last month on 37 felony counts alleging he illegally kept classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and refused government demands to give them back. Trump and his valet, Walt Nauta — who was charged alongside the former president — have both pleaded not guilty.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and slammed the prosecution as an attempt to hurt his bid to reclaim the White House in 2024.

AP

DeSantis confronted with lagging poll numbers on Fox News

Saturday 8 July 2023 15:50 , Oliver O'Connell

A host at the usually Ron DeSantis-friendly Fox News asked the Florida governor about his low poll numbers as former President Donald Trump still dominates the Republican primary polls.

Mr DeSantis is currently the runner-up in the GOP polling, but he’s behind Mr Trump by a substantial margin with recent polls showing Trump leading by 27 percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Watch the clip here:

Fox News host doesn’t hold back on Ron DeSantis’ poll numbers

Trump slams DeSantis, declaring himself ‘most pro-farmer president’ ever

Saturday 8 July 2023 15:46 , Oliver O'Connell

Campaigning in Iowa, former President Donald Trump attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as an enemy of corn-based ethanol in his largest campaign event in the leadoff caucus state in nearly four months.

Trump, appearing Friday in Council Bluffs in the western part of the state, criticized his top 2024 Republican presidential rival for voting as a member of Congress to oppose the federal mandate for the fuel additive that Iowa leads the nation in producing.

Trump declared himself “the most pro-farmer president that you’ve ever had” at the event, which was aimed at promoting his administration’s agricultural record and touting his oversight of clawbacks of regulations on farmers. “I fought for Iowa ethanol like no president in history,” he said.

On a rainy Friday, Trump spoke to more than 1,000 Iowans and Nebraskans packed into the event hall inside Mid-America Center, with hundreds more huddled under umbrellas in line outside the arena.

As a congressman from Florida, DeSantis co-sponsored a bill in 2017 that would have immediately ended the renewable fuel standard, a position consistent with fiscal conservatives who see such mandates as government overreach.

“Iowa also needs to know that Ron DeSanctus totally despises Iowa ethanol and ethanol generally,” Trump said, intentionally mispronouncing his rival’s name as he routinely does. “He’s been fighting it for years. Don’t forget, as a congressman he was voting against it, and fighting for years to kill every single job.”

DeSantis’ campaign described the attack as a distortion. “As president, Governor Ron DeSantis will be a champion for farmers and use every tool available to open new markets,” campaign press secretary Bryan Griffin said in an emailed statement

AP

Voices: The Freedom Caucus booting Marjorie Taylor Greene looks worse for them than it does for her

Saturday 8 July 2023 15:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Eric Garcia writes:

Ms Greene’s trash-talking members of the Freedom Caucus might have sealed her fate with the bomb-throwers – Mr Harris said her calling Rep Lauren Boebert (R-CO) a “little bitch” tickled many in and out of the Beltway. But the real divide is much deeper and shows how in the end, Ms Greene could be more effective at enacting a conservative agenda while the Freedom Caucus would prefer to simply complain and remain ideologically pure.

Read on...

The Freedom Caucus booting Marjorie Taylor Greene is worse for them than for her

What you need to know as the GOP gears up to investigate the Hunter Biden case

Saturday 8 July 2023 15:10 , Oliver O'Connell

The Republican chairmen of three key House committees are joining forces to probe the Justice Department’s handling of charges against Hunter Biden after making sweeping claims about misconduct at the agency.

Leaders of the House Judiciary, Oversight and Accountability, and Ways and Means committees opened a joint investigation into the federal case into President Joe Biden‘s youngest son days after it was announced last month that he will plead guilty to the misdemeanour tax offences as part of an agreement with the Justice Department.

Here’s what you need to know about the emerging investigation:

Top Republicans are gearing up to investigate the Hunter Biden case. Here's what to know.

Judge rules Don Jr can be subpoenaed in Trump Organization case

Saturday 8 July 2023 14:50 , Oliver O'Connell

A judge allowed for Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen to introduce one of the former president’s sons as a witness in his case against the Trump Organization, according to his attorneys.

Mr Cohen’s team had asked to use testimony from Donald Trump Jr in his case, as he served as a Trump Organization executive vice president.

Kelly Rissman reports.

More bad news for Trump as judge rules his son can be subpoenaed in Cohen case

Watch: Trump tells crowd he will deny entry to all ‘markers'

Saturday 8 July 2023 14:21 , Oliver O'Connell

Except Sharpies?

Ethics board recommends Rudy Giuliani be disbarred for ‘destructive’ attempts to undermine 2020 results

Saturday 8 July 2023 14:00 , Alex Woodward

A disciplinary committee in Washington DC has recommended Rudy Giuliani be disbarred in the nation’s capital for his spurious efforts to overturn the results for the 2020 presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump.

Mr Giuliani had “no factual basis, and consequently no legitimate legal grounds” to challenge the results of the election in states that Mr Trump lost, while his “frivolous” pursuit to undermine the outcome and disenfranchise voters “seriously undermined the administration of justice,” according to the committee’s report.

Read more:

Disciplinary committee recommends Rudy Giuliani be disbarred

Chris Christie says Trump took secret documents so he could keep pretending he was president

Saturday 8 July 2023 13:00 , Independent Staff

Republican presdential hopeful Chris Christie took aim at his rival Donald Trump over the latter’s legal troubles - suggesting Mr Trump had held on to classfied documents because “he wants to pretend he’s still president”.

Mr Christie made the comments in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, in which a number of people who have had working relationships with Mr Trump weighed in on his legal issues.

The former president, who is running for a second term in the White House, has been indicted on 37 federal charges related to the mishandling of classified documents – some of which pertain to matters of national security. Mr Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has previously described the case against him as “a political persecution like something straight out of a fascist or communist nation”.

Read more:

Chris Christie says Trump took documents so he could keep pretending he was president

Trump can give evidence in lawsuit from ex-FBI agent, judge says

Saturday 8 July 2023 12:00 , Andrew Feinberg

A District of Columbia federal judge on Thursday said former president Donald Trump can be made to give evidence in a deposition as part of a lawsuit against the Department of Justice by ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok.

Mr Strzok, who served as the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division and supervised parts of the probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, filed a lawsuit against the department in August 2019, a year after he was fired from his position following what he described as “unrelenting pressure from President Trump and his political allies in Congress and the media” including “constant tweets and other disparaging statements by the President, as well as direct appeals from the President to then- Attorney General Jefferson Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray” to have him terminated.

While the government has said Mr Trump’s public statements had no bearing on the decision, Mr Strzok had sought to depose the ex-president as part of the discovery process.

Read more:

Trump can give evidence in lawsuit from ex-FBI agent, judge says

Trump goes to Iowa Dairy Queen

Saturday 8 July 2023 11:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump reverts to rhetoric about ‘forgotten’ people, echoes ‘silent majority’ phrase popularized by Nixon

Saturday 8 July 2023 10:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump claims he saved small businesses by cutting regulations

Saturday 8 July 2023 09:00 , Gustaf Kilander

First GOP debate next month faces threats of boycott as lower-polling candidates scramble to qualify

Saturday 8 July 2023 08:00 , Jill Colvin

Seven weeks before the premiere debate of the 2024 GOP primary, anxiety is building that the event could prove messy and divisive for the party.

Some candidates, like former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, are struggling to meet fundraising and polling requirements to make it on stage. He and others are pushing back on a loyalty pledge the Republican Party is insisting candidates sign to participate. And the race’s frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, is considering boycotting and holding a competing event instead.

That’s turning what is typically the highly anticipated opener of the election season into a source of uncertainty for the candidates and broader party. The frustration is particularly acute for candidates who hoped to use the forum as a powerful opportunity to confront Trump and try to blunt his momentum.

“If the outcome of all of these machinations is a very limited field and no Trump in the first debate, it’s hard to see how that can be successful,” Hutchinson said in an interview. Still, he said he was confident he will make it to the stage, even though he said he has only received contributions from “over” 5,000 donors.

“We’re not there yet. We’ve got a ways to go. And we fully intend to get there,” he said.

Read more:

First GOP debate next month faces threats of boycott as lower-polling candidates scramble to qualify

Trump speaks in Iowa: ‘We must redouble our efforts to ensure anyone who comes to America shares our values'

Saturday 8 July 2023 07:00 , Gustaf Kilander

QAnon’s leader died in a dirt bike crash. Now his followers are pushing conspiracy that he’s still alive

Saturday 8 July 2023 06:00 , Rachel Sharp

QAnon’s conspiracy theories are both bizarre and baseless: from the claim that Democrats are running a sex-trafficking ring through a pizza parlour, to the theory that Donald Trump is leading the fight against a cabal of paedophiles, and the story that JFK is returning from the dead more than 50 years after his assassination.

Now, the cult’s latest wild conspiracy centres around the death of its own leader.

Michael Protzman, the 60-year-old QAnon leader, died on 30 June after suffering “multiple blunt force injuries” in a dirt bike accident.

Protzman, who was known to his followers as Negative 48, was driving a dirt bike at the Meadow Valley Motocross track in Millville, Minnesota, when he crashed.

Around a week later he died from his injuries at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, the clinic confirmed to VICE News.

Read more:

QAnon leader dies – but followers push conspiracy theory he’s still alive

VOICES: What putting Trump back in the White House would mean for Ukraine – and conflict in the rest of the world

Saturday 8 July 2023 05:00 , Mary Dejevsky

Joe Biden’s visit to the UK this weekend, when he will meet the prime minister and the King, could serve as a welcome reminder about where political power – and responsibility – currently resides on both sides of the Atlantic.

I say this, because some of the recent running on arguably the most urgent international issue of the day has been made by someone who has no power whatever, but eyes a return. Step forward (as if he needed any invitation to do so) Donald Trump, who spoke at some length this week about wanting a peaceful outcome in Ukraine, even if this entailed territorial concessions on the part of Kyiv.

“I think the biggest thing that the U.S. should be doing right now is making peace,” he said, “getting Russia and Ukraine together and making peace. You can do it.” Suggesting that Russia’s President had been somewhat weakened by the mercenary-led mutiny last month, Trump said: “This is the time to do it, to get the two parties together to force peace.”

Read more:

What bringing Trump back would mean for Ukraine – and the rest of us | Mary Dejevsky

Lincoln Project blasts Trump’s promises: ‘Biden’s administration proves they are the antithesis of their predecessors’

Saturday 8 July 2023 04:15 , Gustaf Kilander

AOC endorses Joe Biden ahead of 2024 election

Saturday 8 July 2023 03:30 , Eric Garcia

Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), one of the most outspoken progressives within the Democratic Party, announced her support for President Joe Biden’s re-election in 2024.

The self-described democratic socialist supported Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. But in an interview with Pod Save America, a podcast run by former speechwriters and aides to former president Barack Obama, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said she would support Mr Biden, given his competitors in the Democratic primary are vaccine conspiracy theorists Robert F Kennedy Jr and author Marianne Williamson.

Read more:

AOC endorses Joe Biden ahead of 2024 election

Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigations involving Trump have cost more than $9 million

Saturday 8 July 2023 02:45 , AP

Special Counsel Jack Smith‘s investigations of President Donald Trump‘s retention of classified records and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election have cost more than $9 million over the first several months, according to documents released Friday.

The special counsel’s office spent more than $5.4 million on things like employees’ salaries, travel and transportation, rent, supplies and materials from Smith’s appointment by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 through the end of March, Justice Department statement of expenditures show.

Justice Department agencies spent another $3.8 million to support the special counsel. Those expenses include the cost of the protective details for the special counsel’s office as well as hours worked by agents and analysts on the probes.

Read more:

Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigations involving Trump have cost more than $9 million

VOICES: The Freedom Caucus booting Marjorie Taylor Greene looks worse for them than it does for her

Saturday 8 July 2023 02:00 , Eric Garcia

When friends of The Independent’s Inside Washington newsletter Jordain Carney and Olivia Beavers over at Politico scooped that Rep Andy Harris (R-MD) said the hard-right House Freedom Caucus had booted out Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, my mind went back to the nascent days of this rambunctious group of conservatives.

Back in 2015, they had just claimed the scalp of House Speaker John Boehner and were making their demands known to Paul Ryan before they would vote to give him the gavel. But some Republicans weren’t impressed, including one House GOP chief of staff who said: “These guys would rather sit around Tortilla Coast eating their boogers than govern. No matter who comes up, they don’t care, it’s totally insane,” in reference to the Tex-Mex restaurant on Capitol Hill where the Freedom Caucus used to meet.

Ms Greene’s trash-talking members of the Freedom Caucus might have sealed her fate with the bomb-throwers – Mr Harris said her calling Rep Lauren Boebert (R-CO) a “little bitch” tickled many in and out of the Beltway. But the real divide is much deeper and shows how in the end, Ms Greene could be more effective at enacting a conservative agenda while the Freedom Caucus would prefer to simply complain and remain ideologically pure.

The Freedom Caucus has largely dined out on their bringing Mr Boehner to his knees. In addition, many of their founding members rose through the ranks to either join the Trump administration or become high-ranking Republicans in their own right.

Read more:

The Freedom Caucus booting Marjorie Taylor Greene is worse for them than for her

Ethics board recommends Rudy Giuliani be disbarred for ‘destructive’ attempts to undermine 2020 results

Saturday 8 July 2023 01:15 , Alex Woodward

A disciplinary committee in Washington DC has recommended Rudy Giuliani be disbarred in the nation’s capital for his spurious efforts to overturn the results for the 2020 presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump.

Mr Giuliani had “no factual basis, and consequently no legitimate legal grounds” to challenge the results of the election in states that Mr Trump lost, while his “frivolous” pursuit to undermine the outcome and disenfranchise voters “seriously undermined the administration of justice,” according to the committee’s report.

Read more:

Disciplinary committee recommends Rudy Giuliani be disbarred

Chris Christie says Trump took secret documents so he could keep pretending he was president

Saturday 8 July 2023 00:45 , Independent Staff

Republican presdential hopeful Chris Christie took aim at his rival Donald Trump over the latter’s legal troubles - suggesting Mr Trump had held on to classfied documents because “he wants to pretend he’s still president”.

Mr Christie made the comments in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, in which a number of people who have had working relationships with Mr Trump weighed in on his legal issues.

The former president, who is running for a second term in the White House, has been indicted on 37 federal charges related to the mishandling of classified documents – some of which pertain to matters of national security. Mr Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has previously described the case against him as “a political persecution like something straight out of a fascist or communist nation”.

Read more:

Chris Christie says Trump took documents so he could keep pretending he was president

Fox News host doesn’t hold back on Ron DeSantis’ poll numbers

Saturday 8 July 2023 00:15 , Gustaf Kilander

A host at the usually Ron DeSantis-friendly Fox News asked the Florida governor about his low poll numbers as former President Donald Trump still dominates the Republican primary polls.

Mr DeSantis is currently the runner-up in the GOP polling, but he’s behind Mr Trump by a substantial margin with recent polls showing Trump leading by 27 percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight.

“Why do you think despite those successes so far, it hasn’t been reflected in your polling for your 2024 run for president of the United States?” host Will Cain asked Mr DeSantis on Fox News Tonight on Thursday evening.

“And while Donald Trump is above 50 per cent – in some of these polls, 60 per cent – your numbers are somewhere between 20 per cent and 10 per cent. And they’ve stayed there for about two months. Why is it in your estimation the numbers have not reflected your success in Florida?” he added.

Read more:

Fox News host doesn’t hold back on Ron DeSantis’ poll numbers

Trump can give evidence in lawsuit from ex-FBI agent, judge says

Friday 7 July 2023 23:45 , Andrew Feinberg

A District of Columbia federal judge on Thursday said former president Donald Trump can be made to give evidence in a deposition as part of a lawsuit against the Department of Justice by ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok.

Mr Strzok, who served as the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division and supervised parts of the probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, filed a lawsuit against the department in August 2019, a year after he was fired from his position following what he described as “unrelenting pressure from President Trump and his political allies in Congress and the media” including “constant tweets and other disparaging statements by the President, as well as direct appeals from the President to then- Attorney General Jefferson Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray” to have him terminated.

While the government has said Mr Trump’s public statements had no bearing on the decision, Mr Strzok had sought to depose the ex-president as part of the discovery process.

Read more:

Trump can give evidence in lawsuit from ex-FBI agent, judge says

Trump makes bizarre abortion claims as he rallies on Iowa

Friday 7 July 2023 23:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Pence ‘confident’ of making it onto debate stage

Friday 7 July 2023 23:15 , AP

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who launched his campaign on June 7, has not yet released a tally of donors, but his campaign said it had raised “well into five digits” in the weeks since his announcement.

“Getting in late made it more difficult, but we’re confident we’ll get there,” said Pence spokesman Devin O’Malley.

As part of that effort, the campaign focused on direct mail, aided by the list it has rented from Pence’s nonprofit, Advancing American Freedom. That group had well over 40,000 donors, and Pence aides are hopeful those donors will also give to the former vice president’s campaign.

He’s also been holding a series of fundraisers, including one in Boston next week that will be hosted by top Massachusetts Republican donor Bob Reynolds, the CEO of Putnam Investments.

Trump says ‘America isn’t respected anywhere’ even as global opinions of US improving under Biden polls show

Friday 7 July 2023 23:00 , Gustaf Kilander

While Mr Trump says the US isn’t respected around the world, global opinion of the US is improving.

“In the third year of his presidency, U.S. President Joe Biden receives mostly positive reviews from publics around the world. Across 23 countries in a new Pew Research Center survey, a median of 54% express confidence in Biden, while 39% say they lack confidence in him,” the centre wrote on 27 June. “Similarly, overall views of the United States are largely positive: A median of 59% give the U.S. a favorable rating, including around seven-in-ten or more in Poland, Israel, South Korea, Nigeria, Japan and Kenya. Hungary is the only country surveyed where fewer than half see the U.S. favorably.”

VIDEO: Chris Christie Shares A New Theory On Why President Trump Kept Classified Documents

Friday 7 July 2023 22:45 , Gustaf Kilander

Refusing to give up on 2020 lies, Trump says American elections are 'in bad shape’

Friday 7 July 2023 22:30 , Gustaf Kilander

40,000 individual donors needed to appear on GOP primary debate stage

Friday 7 July 2023 22:15 , AP

The Republican National Committee has said that, in order to participate in the Aug. 23 debate in Milwaukee, candidates must have received contributions from at least 40,000 individual donors, with at least 200 unique donors in 20 or more states. They also must earn at least 1% in three high-quality national polls, or a mix of national and early-state polls, between July 1 and August 21.

Candidates will also have to sign a pledge “agreeing to support the eventual party nominee,” according to an RNC press release, and one agreeing not to participate in any non-RNC sanctioned debate for the remainder of the election cycle.

“Our criteria is very clear, we are ensuring quality polls are used to determine which candidates make the debate stage and we are confident that there will be enough polls for our candidates to qualify,” said RNC spokeswoman Emma Vaughn.

The candidates who say they have qualified so far include Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Some lesser-known candidates, such as conservative radio host Larry Elder, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, appear unlikely to make the cutoffs.

Trump doubles down on anti-immigration rhetoric: ‘We gotta get them all out'

Friday 7 July 2023 22:00 , Gustaf Kilander

First GOP debate next month faces threats of boycott as lower-polling candidates scramble to qualify

Friday 7 July 2023 21:45 , AP

Seven weeks before the premiere debate of the 2024 GOP primary, anxiety is building that the event could prove messy and divisive for the party.

Some candidates, like former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, are struggling to meet fundraising and polling requirements to make it on stage. He and others are pushing back on a loyalty pledge the Republican Party is insisting candidates sign to participate. And the race’s frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, is considering boycotting and holding a competing event instead.

That’s turning what is typically the highly anticipated opener of the election season into a source of uncertainty for the candidates and broader party. The frustration is particularly acute for candidates who hoped to use the forum as a powerful opportunity to confront Trump and try to blunt his momentum.

“If the outcome of all of these machinations is a very limited field and no Trump in the first debate, it’s hard to see how that can be successful,” Hutchinson said in an interview. Still, he said he was confident he will make it to the stage, even though he said he has only received contributions from “over” 5,000 donors.

“We’re not there yet. We’ve got a ways to go. And we fully intend to get there,” he said.

Trump visits Dairy Queen in Council Bluffs, Iowa

Friday 7 July 2023 21:33 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump speaks in Iowa: ‘We must redouble our efforts to ensure anyone who comes to America shares our values'

Friday 7 July 2023 21:30 , Gustaf Kilander

VIDEO: Cillian Murphy & ‘Peaky Blinders’ Denounce New DeSantis Campaign Video

Friday 7 July 2023 21:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Lack of support for ethanol may not be disqualifying in Iowa

Friday 7 July 2023 20:45 , AP

Trump campaigned in the Des Moines area last month, meeting with GOP state lawmakers, influential conservative pastors, campaign volunteers and a suburban Republican breakfast club. That visit came about a week before he was indicted on federal charges stemming from classified records he kept at his Florida home.

Before Friday, his last large event in Iowa was in March, when he spoke to more than 1,500 people at a theater in Davenport and also went after DeSantis on ethanol. He was due to hold an outdoor event in May in Des Moines with about 5,000 attendees expected, but his campaign called it off because of bad weather.

Although caucus campaigns have become more focused on national party priorities over the past two decades, some candidates have continued to portray support for ethanol — specifically the federal mandate that the nation’s fuel supply contain a minimum volume of renewable fuels — as a litmus test in Iowa.

As a congressman from Florida, DeSantis co-sponsored a bill in 2017 that would have immediately ended the renewable fuel standard, a position consistent with fiscal conservatives who see such mandates as government overreach.

As a candidate, Trump has promoted the executive order he signed as president increasing the retail sale of fuel containing 15% ethanol.

Recent history, however, suggests a lack of support for ethanol may not be disqualifying. In 2016, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who opposes the mandate, won Iowa’s Republican caucuses, handing Trump an early defeat in his ultimately successful White House campaign.

At Iowa event, Trump plans to go after DeSantis over ethanol

Friday 7 July 2023 20:15 , AP

Former President Donald Trump plans to headline his largest Iowa campaign event in nearly four months with a speech to thousands at an arena in the western part of the state.

Trump will use his appearance in Council Bluffs on Friday to attack his top GOP rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for opposing the federal mandate for ethanol, a renewable fuel additive that Iowa leads the nation in producing.

“DeSantis has problematic policy positions that hurt farmers and demonize ethanol,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told The Associated Press ahead of Trump’s visit. “President Trump plans to highlight that.”

The large Republican presidential field has spent a lot of time over the last few months in Iowa, the leadoff GOP caucus state. In June, more than a half dozen candidates, including DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, attended Sen. Joni Ernst’s annual “Roast and Ride” fundraiser that kicked off a busy summer campaign season.

VIDEO: DOJ says in court docs Trump revealed the Obamas' address. Is that true?

Friday 7 July 2023 19:45 , Gustaf Kilander

Federal prosecutors seek year in prison for Trump supporter willing to die during insurrection

Friday 7 July 2023 19:15 , Gustaf Kilander

VIDEO: Trump aide appears in federal court

Friday 7 July 2023 18:45 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump’s ex-press secretary says there’s ‘no way’ White House cocaine is Hunter Biden’s

Friday 7 July 2023 18:15 , Andrew Feinberg

One of former president Donald Trump’s ex-spokespersons has poured cold water on the idea that a small bag of cocaine found in the West Wing belonged to President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

Kayleigh McEnany, who served as White House Press Secretary in 2020 and 2021 before signing on as a Fox News host, said on Thursday that the offending narcotic could not have belonged to the younger Mr Biden because he and the rest of the First Family departed from the White House last Friday, two days before the drugs were found near a lower-level entrance to the West Wing.

Read more:

Trump’s ex-press sec’y says there’s ‘no way’ White House cocaine is Hunter Biden’s

Special counsel zeroing in on ‘unhinged’ Oval Office meeting when Trump hosted conspiracy theorists – report

Friday 7 July 2023 17:45 , Maroosha Muzaffar

The team led by special counsel Jack Smith has indicated their ongoing attention on an eventful meeting that occurred in the Oval Office during the closing days of the Trump administration, a report said.

In that meeting, former president Donald Trump considered a series of extraordinary proposals to maintain his hold on power.

Several sources told the CNN that investigators questioned multiple witnesses – both in front of the grand jury and during interviews – about the bizarre meeting. The investigation has been ongoing for several months, the report said.

Some witnesses have been asked about the meeting earlier, while others, including Rudy Giuliani, have faced inquiries more recently, it was reported.

Sources told CNN that Mr Giuliani willingly participated in interviews with investigators for two consecutive days last month. During these interviews, a variety of subjects were discussed, including the contentious meeting in December 2020 that Mr Giuliani attended.

Read more:

Special counsel zeroing in on bizarre 2020 Oval Office meeting, report says

Cillian Murphy responds to ‘homophobic’ video shared by Ron DeSantis campaign

Friday 7 July 2023 17:15 , Peony Hirwani

The team behind Peaky Blinders has denounced the “homophobic” video shared by Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign.

The video, which was posted last week, slams DeSantis’s rival 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump for vowing to “protect our LGBTQ citizens”.

The video includes clips of the former president that featured him appearing to embrace the LGBT+ community in the wake of the 2016 mass shooting at gay nightclub Pulse.

The second part of the video shifts to DeSantis and his own comments and policies on drag acts and transgender rights.

In the second half, the video appears to portray the Florida governor as masculine, with his image spliced with images of muscular, shirtless men and several Hollywood and British actors, including Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, and Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy.

Read more:

Cillian Murphy responds to ‘homophobic’ video shared by Ron DeSantis campaign

Ex-Biden chief of staff boosts employment record and takes dig at ‘but Trump’ Twitter

Friday 7 July 2023 16:45 , Gustaf Kilander

Deputy White House Press Secretary avoids question about Trump’s Truth Social posts

Friday 7 July 2023 16:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Marjorie Taylor Greene ousted from House Freedom Caucus following fight with Lauren Boebert

Friday 7 July 2023 15:45 , John Bowden

Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the House’s most vocal conservative culture warriors, is now feeling the sting of the far-right’s backlash after a perceived betrayal on her part.

The Georgia congresswoman and ally of Donald Trump was booted out of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus last month, a member told Politico on Thursday, as a rift grows between her and some of the most conservative members of her party.

At issue are two instances — Ms Greene’s vote to support a debt ceiling deal reached between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the White House, which conservatives complained was insufficient in its cuts of federal programs, and her recent spat with Rep Lauren Boebert, another member of the caucus.

The Colorado-hailing Ms Boebert recently revealed to reporters that Ms Greene had called her a “little b****” during a dispute in a bathroom off of the House floor amid their growing dispute this spring — a confrontation that was the main reason cited by Rep Andy Harris in his explanation to Politico on Thursday.

Read more:

Marjorie Taylor Greene ousted from ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus

QAnon’s leader died in a dirt bike crash. Now his followers are pushing conspiracy that he’s still alive

Friday 7 July 2023 15:15 , Rachel Sharp

QAnon’s conspiracy theories are both bizarre and baseless: from the claim that Democrats are running a sex-trafficking ring through a pizza parlour, to the theory that Donald Trump is leading the fight against a cabal of paedophiles, and the story that JFK is returning from the dead more than 50 years after his assassination.

Now, the cult’s latest wild conspiracy centres around the death of its own leader.

Michael Protzman, the 60-year-old QAnon leader, died on 30 June after suffering “multiple blunt force injuries” in a dirt bike accident.

Protzman, who was known to his followers as Negative 48, was driving a dirt bike at the Meadow Valley Motocross track in Millville, Minnesota, when he crashed.

Around a week later he died from his injuries at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, the clinic confirmed to VICE News.

Read more:

QAnon leader dies – but followers push conspiracy theory he’s still alive

VOICES: What putting Trump back in the White House would mean for Ukraine – and conflict in the rest of the world

Friday 7 July 2023 14:45 , Mary Dejevsky

Joe Biden’s visit to the UK this weekend, when he will meet the prime minister and the King, could serve as a welcome reminder about where political power – and responsibility – currently resides on both sides of the Atlantic.

I say this, because some of the recent running on arguably the most urgent international issue of the day has been made by someone who has no power whatever, but eyes a return. Step forward (as if he needed any invitation to do so) Donald Trump, who spoke at some length this week about wanting a peaceful outcome in Ukraine, even if this entailed territorial concessions on the part of Kyiv.

“I think the biggest thing that the U.S. should be doing right now is making peace,” he said, “getting Russia and Ukraine together and making peace. You can do it.” Suggesting that Russia’s President had been somewhat weakened by the mercenary-led mutiny last month, Trump said: “This is the time to do it, to get the two parties together to force peace.”

Read more:

What bringing Trump back would mean for Ukraine – and the rest of us | Mary Dejevsky

WATCH: Chris Christie reveals why he thinks Trump took secret documents

Friday 7 July 2023 14:15 , Rachel Sharp

Earlier: Walt Nauta pleads not guilty in classified documents case

Friday 7 July 2023 13:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Nearly a month after former president Donald Trump was arraigned on the 38-count federal indictment that he and his longtime aide Walt Nauta are facing for allegedly unlawfully retaining national defence information and obstructing justice, the ex-president’s co-defendant has pleaded not guilty to charges of having assisted Mr Trump in concealing classified documents from the government.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

Trump co-defendant Walt Nauta pleads not guilty in classified documents case

NBC: White House cocaine found in different place to previously reported

Friday 7 July 2023 13:15 , Oliver O'Connell

NBC News reports that multiple officials involved in the White House cocaine inquiry now say the bag of powder was found in a cubby near the West Executive entrance, not the formal West Wing lobby as was previously reported.

Investigators expect to be done with the investigation by Monday, according to two sources familiar with the process. The inquiry was previously expected to take a couple of weeks.

The area in which the cocaine was found is also heavily transited by people as it is an entrance near where some vehicles, like the vice president’s limo or SUV park.

It is one floor below the main West Wing offices and the same floor as the Situation Room and a dining area.

How can the spike in turnout from younger voters in recent elections be repeated?

Friday 7 July 2023 12:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Gustaf Kilander learns from elections coordinator Ruby Belle Booth that there’s an ‘opportunity between now and 2024 to make sure that every single young person has the information and resources they need to get registered to vote and to cast their ballot’.

This is what’s needed for high young voter turnout in 2024

Pence changes his tune on whether he would pardon Trump

Friday 7 July 2023 12:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Former Vice President Mike Pence is now taking a more vocal stand to defend his former boss, even as the ex-president continues to belittle and dismiss his former running-mate’s bid for the GOP nomination – and runs for it himself.

Mr Pence was speaking in Sioux City, Iowa, on Wednesday when he addressed the issue of pardoning Donald Trump — a question he had been outright avoiding for weeks.

Read more...

Mike Pence changes his tune on whether he would pardon Trump

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