Trump news - live: Madison Cawthorn facing House Ethics Committee investigation
Former president Donald Trump is facing a bipartisan backlash after he shared a post on his social media platform Truth Social seemingly calling for "civil war" in the United States.
Mr Trump "retruthed" a user's "civil war" comment on former Fox Nation host Lara Logan's post, which was a screengrab of El Salvadorian president Nayib Bukele's criticism of America.
"The most powerful country in the world is falling so fast, that it makes you rethink what are the real reasons," Mr Bukele wrote on Twitter. “Something so big and powerful can’t be destroyed so quickly, unless the enemy comes from within."
Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans tore into the 45th president for "calling for a civil war" following the 6 January Capitol insurrection.
"Any of my fellow Republicans wanna speak out now? Or are we just wanting to get through 'just one more election first'," asked Rep Adam Kinzinger.
Key Points
GOP candidates prepare for primaries tomorrow
Giuliani meets with Jan 6 committee for over nine hours
Michigan official claims Trump called for her execution
ICYMI: Kellyanne Conway eviscerates Jared Kushner
04:30 , John Bowden
Kellyanne Conway is holding nothing back in her new memoir, due out Tuesday, which examines her work for the 2016 Trump campaign and later Trump presidency.
And one of her top targets for criticism is Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, whom she faulted for not hesitating to work on numerous projects despite having little to no experience in the matters at hand. Mr Kushner worked on a number of projects for his father from 2017-2021, including Middle East peace efforts.
“There was no subject he considered beyond his expertise. Criminal justice reform. Middle East peace. The southern and northern borders. Veterans and opioids. Big Tech and small business,” Ms Conway wrote.
“If Martian attacks had come across the radar, he would have happily added them to his ever-bulging portfolio,” she added.
Read more in The Independent from Maroosha Muzaffar:
Kellyanne Conway skewers ‘shrewd and calculating’ Jared Kushner in new book
ICYMI: Mike Pence could challenge Trump in 2024
03:00 , John Bowden
Former Vice President Mike Pence is making his presence felt in Georgia, on the eve of the state’s primary, on behalf of Gov Brian Kemp. Mr Kemp is likely to prevail on Tuesday against a Trump-backed primary challenger.
The move is a sign that Mr Pence is getting bolder with his public break from Donald Trump and his efforts to make a name for himself in the party. Now, in an interview with The New York Times, Mr Pence is refusing to rule out a primary bid against his old boss.
Read more from The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg:
Pence wont rule out running against Trump in 2024
ICYMI: Madison Cawthorn faces ethics probe
01:00 , John Bowden
Less than a week after losing his Republican primary in North Carolina’s 11th district, Madison Cawthorn is now facing a new scandal.
The House Ethics Committee says it is investigating the freshman, lame-duck congressman for allegedly promoting a cryptocurrency in which he had a business interest as well as for an alleged relationship with a male staffer - whom he has described as his third cousin.
Read more from The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg:
Madison Cawthorn facing investigation by House Ethics Committee
Secret Service spent $1.75m at Trump-owned properties, watchdog says
Tuesday 24 May 2022 00:00 , John Bowden
Donald Trump’s choice to frequently stay at his own properties while president resulted in a windfall for his company, according to Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington.
The group, through Freedom of Information Act requests, learned that the Secret Service spent more than $1.75 million at Trump properties to protect the president over the course of four years.
Read more from The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg:
Secret Service spent $1.75m at Trump-owned properties, watchdog says
Ted Cruz complains about Pete Davidson getting ‘all these hot women’
Monday 23 May 2022 23:00 , John Bowden
Ted Cruz has a truly nauseating complaint about departing Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson: The latter is too successful at dating.
Mr Davidson is currently dating Kim Kardashian, ex-wife of Kanye West.
Read more in The Independent from Bevan Hurley:
Ted Cruz complains about Pete Davidson getting ‘all these hot women’
Washington DC sues Facebook over tactic used by 2016 Trump campaign’s data firm
Monday 23 May 2022 22:00 , John Bowden
Washington DC’s attorney general is suing Facebook over the mass-gathering of data by Cambridge Analytica, the data firm which was contracted by the Trump campaign in 2016 for its digital efforts.
The lawsuit was announced on Monday.
“This lawsuit is not only warranted, but necessary, and sends a message that corporate leaders, including CEOs, will be held accountable for their actions,” DC attorney general Karl Racine said in a statement.
Read more from The Independent’s Nathan Place:
DC attorney general personally sues Mark Zuckerberg
Kellyanne Conway flames Trump critic husband as ‘sinister’ and ‘cheating by tweeting’ in new memoir
Monday 23 May 2022 21:00 , John Bowden
Former White House counselor and Trump campaign 2016 manager Kellyanne Conway tore into her husband, Washington DC attorney and commentator George Conway, in her upcoming memoir. Here’s The Deal is set to release tomorrow.
In it, she blames Mr Conway for his frequent sniping at Mr Trump from Twitter and other venues, which she said often came while they were in close proximity to one another.
"I had two men in my life,” she writes in one section. “One was my husband. One was my boss, who happened to be president of the United States. One of those men was defending me. And it wasn’t George Conway. It was Donald Trump."
Read more from The Independent’s Josh Marcus:
Kellyanne Conway flames Trump critic husband George Conway as ‘sinister’ in new book
House Ethics Committee investigating cryptocurrency and sex allegations against Madison Cawthorn
Monday 23 May 2022 19:13 , David Taintor
Andrew Feinberg reports on the latest headache for Rep Madison Cawthorn, who lost his primary election last week:
House Ethics Committee probing cryptocurrency and sex claims against Madison Cawthorn
Pence breaks with Trump in Georgia primary
Monday 23 May 2022 18:30 , John Bowden
Mike Pence is joining the effort aimed at halting Donald Trump’s attempts to oust Georgia’s governor and install David Perdue, the state’s former US senator who has maintained that victory was “stolen” from Mr Trump in the state in 2020.
The former vice president is on the ground in the state on the eve of Georgia’s primary elections stumping for incumbent Brian Kemp, who earned Mr Trump’s ire in 2020 by refusing to call on the state legislature to launch an investigation into the 2020 election or overturn the state’s results.
Mr Perdue’s campaign appears to be trailing the incumbent by a significant margin and as a result Tuesday could represent the first major defeat of the former president in the 2022 election season.
Mo Brooks claims ‘honest mistake’ for mailers touting Trump endorsement
Monday 23 May 2022 17:36 , John Bowden
Mo Brooks’s campaign in Alabama is claiming an “honest mistake” after a state news site obtained two mailers from the candidate that were received by voters in recent days touting an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, who pulled his support for Brooks after the candidate called on voters to move on from complaints about the 2020 election.
Mr Trump’s Save America PAC issued a statement about the issue on Monday, writing: “Can’t do that, Mo!”, in a press release.
Mr Brooks’s campaign responded to the Alabama Political Reporter: “No mail would be or has been approved to go out with old or inaccurate information. The only letters using the endorsement were approved way before anything changed. Either the mail-house messed up sending an old mailer or USPS messed up delivering something that was supposed to be delivered months ago. Either way, it’s an honest mistake that wasn’t supposed to happen.”
From North Carolina: How a swing state Democrat is campaigning
Monday 23 May 2022 17:10 , Andrew Naughtie
Cheri Beasley is the Democratic nominee to take a run at North Carolina’s open Senate seat, and having made it through last week’s primary, she is now on the air with an ad funded by Senate Democrats’ campaign operation.
The ad is a glimpse at the kind of messaging Democrats are using in states and districts Donald Trump won or nearly won in the last election. Many in the party are worried that slogans like “defund the police” have hurt them among voters who rank crime high on their list of concerns, and Ms Beasley’s ad takes the opposite approach to say the least...
After leaving North Carolina off its initial ad buys, Democratic Super PAC Senate Majority PAC has booked $1.4 million in pro-Cheri Beasley ads over the next three weeks.
The first spot presents Beasley as tough on violent crime, highlighting a death sentence she handed down. pic.twitter.com/X8DMtD7xHm— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) May 23, 2022
Kinzinger lays into Trump fans alluding to “civil war"
Monday 23 May 2022 16:41 , Andrew Naughtie
Adam Kinzinger, who aside from being one of Donald Trump’s staunchest Republican critics is also a military pilot, has called out fans of the former president who are defending him after he shared a Truth Social post about “civil war”...
Here is another “patriot” who wants a civil war. I guarantee you she wouldn’t last in one. How can I tell? Her feed is filled with victimhood angst… and shes never seen war. It’s just like camping right!
How bout we stop the “civil war” lust. Buy some GI Joes or something https://t.co/QnRfTIQ8Ek— Adam Kinzinger🇺🇦🇺🇸✌️ (@AdamKinzinger) May 23, 2022
If you find a “civil war” chickenhawk, look at their feed. It Will be filled with anger over gas prices, masks, and vaccines. If that makes them uncomfortable, there is no way they would last a war.
So don’t let them start one or talk tough.— Adam Kinzinger🇺🇦🇺🇸✌️ (@AdamKinzinger) May 23, 2022
Fashion police: Trump rants at Birx about credibility and scarves
Monday 23 May 2022 16:10 , Andrew Naughtie
Dr Deborah Birx has long been slated by Trump critics for not only standing by his side during the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic but for celebrating his supposed acumen in various interviews even as the crisis raged out of control and the then-president suggested the virus could be cured by ingesting disinfectant or “bringing light inside the body”.
Mr Trump himself, however, is no fan either, especially not since Dr Birx published a book about her experiences in the administration.
Meanwhile on Truth Social this morning, Trump is slamming Dr. Birx and her scarf collection. Birx just came out with a book about the WH Covid response and talks about issues with Trump during the pandemic, like his comment about injecting bleach. pic.twitter.com/PIOOq4MRY9
— Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) May 23, 2022
Pence gives strongest indication yet of 2024 plans
Monday 23 May 2022 15:38 , Andrew Naughtie
Mike Pence has essentially been on low-key speaking tour of the US ever since the end of his vice presidency, and while he has shied away from explicitly and directly condemning Donald Trump in public, he has stuck to his guns about his actions on 6 January 2021, when he eventually oversaw the certification of the electoral college votes in Joe Biden’s favour.
That has left the door open to speculation about Mr Pence’s possible intentions to make a presidential run of his own. And now, the New York Times’s Jonathan Martin reports that the ex-vice president has given his clearest indication yet that a campaign may be on the table.
NEW: 💥
The rupture is complete
Pence tells me he’s open to running v Trump in ‘24 - will go “where we’re called” - and heads goes to Ga today to join ranks against Trump’s vengeance tour
Trump spox says Pence is “desperate to chase his lost relevance”https://t.co/iLfQN0eFvA— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) May 23, 2022
Pence has been targeting Trump over what many Repubs believe are the former prez’s worse impulses:
🥊1/6 (speeches hitting Trump by name)
🥊Charlottesville (Pence went to Heyer memorial)
🥊The ‘22 vengeance tour (today in Ga)— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) May 23, 2022
Speaking explicitly about his role on 1/6, Pence told me
“I have been very moved traveling around the country how much people have made a point to express appreciation, it has been very humbling to me.”— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) May 23, 2022
Mr Pence is today campaigning in Georgia for Brian Kemp, the incumbent governor who refused to endorse the lie that the election was stolen. Mr Kemp looks set to cruise to victory over a Trump-backed challenger, David Perdue.
Trump still complaining about slow Pennsylvania count
Monday 23 May 2022 15:10 , Andrew Naughtie
The Pennsylvania senate matchup between Dr Mehmet Oz and Dave McCormick has still not yielded a result, and Donald Trump is growing steadily more frustrated. He has called on Dr Oz, whom he endorsed over the objections of many conservatives, to declare victory prematurely in an attempt to delegitimize the mail-in ballots that have contributed to the slow count.
Here’s one of the recent Truth Social posts giving a flavour of the ex-president’s disdain:
ICYMI: Conway says Trump considered dropping out after 2016 Access Hollywood tape
Monday 23 May 2022 14:40 , Andrew Naughtie
Back in late 2016 when the notorious Access Hollywood tape hit the media, it briefly looked as if leading Republicans might try and force Donald Trump off their presidential ticket, replacing him with Mike Pence and drafting in another vice presidential candidate to take on Hillary Clinton without Mr Trump’s baggage.
Of course, the effort ultimately came to nothing. But according to former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, who was helping lead the campaign at the time, the ex-president himself considered backing out of the race. In her telling, Ms Conway responded: “You actually can’t unless you want to forfeit and throw the whole damn thing to Hillary... I know you don’t like to lose, but I also know you don’t like to quit.”
Read more from Graeme Massie.
Trump considered quitting 2016 race over Access Hollywood tape, Kellyanne Conway says
Trump rants about Twitter as Musk sale stumbles on
Monday 23 May 2022 14:10 , Andrew Naughtie
Donald Trump has said he will not be returning to Twitter even if Elon Musk reinstates his account there, instead insisting that Truth Social is the place for conservatives to be if they want to hear from him directly (though he only started posting on the platform after Mr Musk’s buyout became news).
In a new “truth” posted to the platform but also shared via email with supporters who don’t use it, Mr Trump has delivered another rant about Twitter that manages to fold in criticism of one of his most hated enemies: New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has successfully had the president fined for refusing to turn over documents in accordance with a subpoena.
Jan 6 hearings slowly coming into view
Monday 23 May 2022 13:35 , Andrew Naughtie
The first of the 6 January committee’s long-awaited series of public hearings will come on 9 June, but details of what the sessions will entail have so far been scant. But now the Guardian reports that the committee plans to hold a total of six sessions, the first and last of which will be broadcast at 8pm ET for the benefit of prime-time TV viewers:
According to the draft schedule, the June public hearings will explore Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, starting and ending with prime time hearings at 8pm on the 9th and the 23rd. In between, the panel will hold 10am hearings on the 13th, 15th, 16th and 21st.
The select committee appears to be planning for the hearings to be extensive affairs. The prime time hearings are currently scheduled to last between 1.5 and 2 hours and the morning hearings between 2 and 2.5 hours.
A select committee member will lead each of the hearings, the sources said, but top investigative lawyers who are intimately familiar with the material will primarily conduct the questioning of witnesses to keep testimony tightly on track.
Read the report below.
Current plan is to start and end with prime time hearings at 8pm ET on June 9 and June 23, with four hearings in between at 10am ET. Counsel leading the hearings will flash through texts and photos in real time as witnesses testify. https://t.co/rR99bIvw4K
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) May 23, 2022
Conway on Kushner: “No subject he considered beyond his expertise"
Monday 23 May 2022 12:56 , Andrew Naughtie
Jared Kushner’s role at the centre of the Trump administration saw him getting involved in all sorts of policy areas, from Middle East diplomacy (where some major breakthroughs were made) to the Covid-19 emergency response (where his efforts to procure PPE for the government proved disastrous).
Now, Mr Kushner has been slated by Kellyanne Conway, who describes him in her new book “as someone who, as the president’s son-in-law, knew that no matter how disastrous a personnel change or legislative attempt may be, he was unlikely to be held accountable for it”.
Mr Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump were often mocked for their sometimes imperious behaviour on foreign visits, where they appeared alongside or even on behalf of Donald Trump at important events that usually do not host family members.
Kellyanne Conway skewers ‘shrewd and calculating’ Jared Kushner in new book
Ted Cruz spurns other right-wingers on Ukraine
Monday 23 May 2022 12:22 , Andrew Naughtie
There is an open rift in the Republican Party over how invested the US should be in the fate of Ukraine. Some are specifically sceptical of sending huge quantities of financial aid, as 86 senators voted to do last week, but others have more intense objections, with figures like Tucker Carlson questioning why the US should care about Ukraine at all.
The correlation between intensity of conservatism and bearishness is, however, not perfect: among those at the more orthodox anti-Russian end of the scale is none other than Ted Cruz, who has put out a muscular statement explaining why he views Ukraine as worth standing up for.
The reason we should support our Ukrainian allies is because it protects American national security, it keeps America safer, and it prevents our enemies from getting stronger.
https://t.co/yZE13rb2e6— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 23, 2022
Georgia gubernatorial candidate suggests firing squads for traitors
Monday 23 May 2022 11:50 , Andrew Naughtie
Georgia’s gubernatorial primary tomorrow looks to have been locked up by incumbent Brian Kemp, who has been largely untroubled by a primary challenge from Donald Trump’s preferred candidate, former senator David Perdue. But the two men aren’t the only Republicans in the field.
Running alongside them (and far behind in the polls) is Kandiss Taylor, a far-right candidate who this weekend suggested executing sheriffs by firing squad if they failed to do the people’s will. As extremism expert Mark Pitcavage notes, that idea (which revolves around a false claim about the constitution) has deep roots in hardcore far-right anti-government movements.
This is basically the same argument of the Posse Comitatus--the anti-gov't (and often white supremacist) extremist group of the 70s-80s: that you could kill sheriffs or other officials who didn't follow their interpretation of the Constitution. https://t.co/pEuZXpnvkE
— Mark Pitcavage (@egavactip) May 22, 2022
From the original Posse "blue book": pic.twitter.com/S1mwhtBXjP
— Mark Pitcavage (@egavactip) May 22, 2022
Also, re the statement "the Constitution says when you commit treason, it's death by firing squad. I didn't write it - it's in there."
It's not.
To be fair, millions of Americans have a false understanding of the treason clause: pic.twitter.com/3TiwTikGs4— Mark Pitcavage (@egavactip) May 22, 2022
Ms Taylor, who has the endorsement of unhinged Trump backer Mike Lindell, also insisted that separation of church and state – a core founding principle of the American republic – was an aberrant idea, declaring to her supporters that “the church runs the state of Georgia”.
GA GOP Gov candidate Kandiss Taylor today: “We’re gonna do a political rally and we’re gonna honor Jesus .. They’re not gonna tell us ‘separation of church and state.’ We are the church! We run this state! .. The church runs the state of Georgia!” pic.twitter.com/CP19s4KKSL
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) May 22, 2022
Is Mo Brooks bouncing back from Trump’s un-endorsement?
Monday 23 May 2022 11:15 , Andrew Naughtie
Alabama congressman and Senate candidate Mo Brooks was sinking in the GOP primary polls even before Donald Trump dropped him, a choice the president chalked up to Mr Brooks’ call for supporters to “move on” from talking constantly about the 2020 election and focus on winning in the future. However, Mr Brooks has benefited from ample outside ad spending, as well as high name recognition, to stay in the race, and he now appears to be rising again in the polls.
Alongside the big-spending Club for Growth, which has poured millions of dollars into supporting him, Mr Brooks has attracted support from other right-wing heavy hitters like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ted Cruz, who will be campaigning for him in Alabama today.
Thank you so much for your endorsement, @TedCruz. Conservatives need to come together to drain the Swamp and fight Joe Biden’s radical socialist agenda. And I’m ready to fight in the Senate! pic.twitter.com/ns2V5I3eqC
— Mo Brooks (@MoBrooks) May 22, 2022
If Mr Brooks wins, it will prove again that Mr Trump’s favour does not perfectly track candidates’ performance – though the fact that Mr Brooks has still campaigned with pictures of himself speaking at the White House on 6 January 2021 indicates that catering to the Trump base is still very much his method.
The primary vote is tomorrow. Read more about the race below.
GOP primary race for Alabama Senate seat turns bitter
Trump pays $110,000 fine after being held in contempt
Monday 23 May 2022 10:30 , Andrew Naughtie
Former president Donald Trump has paid the $110,000 fine he was hit with after being held in contempt by a New York judge for failing to turn over documents to investigators.
The former president was held in contempt on 25 April after failing to comply with a subpoena that he hand over papers to investigators carrying out a civil financial investigation for the office of New York’s attorney general Letitia James.
The documents are related to Mr Trump’s personal finances and the financing of several of his namesake company’s properties.
Judge Arthur Engoron fined Mr Trump $10,000 a day until 6 May, and agreed several days later to lift the contempt order if the fine was paid and additional affidavits in the case were filed by Friday.
Is Trump to blame for the baby formula shortage?
Monday 23 May 2022 09:45 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
As Joe Biden and the Democratic Party’s majorities in the House and Senate continue to face heat over rising consumer prices and a sudden shortage of baby formula triggered by plant shutdown and recall centred in Michigan, some liberals are focusing their fire on another target: Donald Trump.
Infant formula in the US is dominated by domestic manufacturers; foreign manufacturers make up only a few percentage points of the total US market share for baby formula, largely due to strict Food and Drug Administration standards for both content and labelling that restricts many European companies from the market.
The former president is facing criticism from some left-leaning figures on Twitter due to a trade agreement, the 2020 United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), which established new trading rules for business and trade across North America and placed heavy restrictions on Canada’s dairy sector, long a target of criticism on the US conservative right due to its government-imposed price and import controls.
John Bowden reports.
Is Trump to blame for the baby formula shortage?
Rudy Giuliani meets with 6 January committee for over nine hours
Monday 23 May 2022 09:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Rudy Giuliani, who took the lead in Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election in his capacity as the former president’s onetime personal attorney, has met with the congressional committee investigating the Capitol riot.
On Friday, Mr Giuliani appeared for a lengthy nine-hour-long interview with the House select committee investigating the 6 January 2021 attack on Congress as lawmakers met to certify election results.
The interview was confirmed by two sources and comes after Mr Giuliani backed out of a previously scheduled appearance, CNN reported.
Oliver O’Connell has more.
Rudy Giuliani meets with Jan 6 committee for over nine hours
Trump responds to claim Clinton approved leak of Russia allegations
Monday 23 May 2022 06:44 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Former president Donald Trump was furious after Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager admitted in federal court on Friday that the Clinton campaign, authorised by the candidate herself, was responsible for leaking a story to journalists about the possibility of connections between him and a Russian bank.
Ms Clinton’s ex-top deputy, Robby Mook, was testifying in the trial of Michael Sussman, a former lawyer for the Clinton campaign now indicted for lying to the FBI as part of special counsel John Durham’s probe into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.
Mr Mook’s testimony on Friday concerned the publication of an article in Slate on 31 October 2016, just days before voters headed to the polls and elected Donald Trump.
“This is one of the greatest political scandals in history,” said the former president in an interview with Fox News. “For three years, I had to fight her off, and fight those crooked people off, and you’ll never get your reputation fully back.”
“Where do I get my reputation back?” he questioned, complaining: “[I]f we had real leadership, instead of people like Mitch McConnell, they would do something about it. And guys like Bill Barr. They would have done something about it.”
Ellison plotted with Trump aides on call about overturning election
Monday 23 May 2022 06:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Larry Ellison, the billionaire chairman of tech giant Oracle, was reportedly involved in a phone call that focused on the Trump campaign’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election’s legitimate results.
The call took place on 14 November 2020, less than a week after Election Day resulted in Mr Trump’s stunning defeat in previous GOP strongholds like Arizona and Georgia, The Washington Post reported.
Others on the call included Jay Sekulow, an attorney for the White House, as well as Fox News’s Sean Hannity and Sen Lindsey Graham.
Mr Ellison has never commented publicly about the 2020 election’s legitimacy, but is known to be a supporter of Donald Trump and has previously fundraised for the one-term Republican president.
John Bowden reports.
Billionaire Larry Ellison plotted with Trump aides on call about overturning election
Michigan election official claims Trump called for her execution
Monday 23 May 2022 06:09 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Michigan’s top election official has claimed Donald Trump called for to be arrested for treason and “executed” after she refused to overturn his 2020 loss to Joe Biden.
Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat who is Michigan’s state secretary, said she was told about the one-term president’s remarks from a source familiar with the White House meeting she alleges it was said in.
“It was surreal and I felt sad,” Ms Benson told NBC News.
“It certainly amplified the heightened sense of anxiety, stress and uncertainty of that time — which I still feel in many ways, because it showed there was no bottom to how far he [Trump] and his supporters were willing to stoop to overturn or discredit a legitimate election.”
Graeme Massie has more.
Top Michigan election official claims Trump called for her execution
Filing says Trump handwrote notes about overturning 2020 election
Monday 23 May 2022 05:57 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Ahead of the 6 January select committee’s hearings about the Capitol riot, a new court filing from lawyer John Eastman has revealed that Donald Trump handwrote notes about strategies to overturn the 2020 election.
Mr Eastman is trying to shield hundreds of documents from the panel’s investigation, claiming they fall under attorney-client privilege. Among those he is withholding are emailed copies of handwritten notes from the then-president “about information that he thought might be useful for the anticipated litigation” over the result.
In a 50-page brief filed last Thursday, Mr Eastman claims to have communicated with Mr Trump through “six conduits to or agents of the former president,” and argued that his communications with those individuals should also be shielded because their involvement was “necessary” to facilitate his contact with the then-chief executive.
Trump considered dropping out of 2016 race after locker room tape emerged, says Kellyanne Conway
Monday 23 May 2022 05:33 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Donald Trump considered dropping out of the 2016 presidential race after the leak of the notorious Access Hollywood tape, according to former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway’s new memoir.
On the tape, which was released just days before Americans went to the polls, the one-term president was heard boasting about his behaviour towards women.
In a 2005 conversation his TV host Billy Bush, Mr Trump was caught on tape bragging about grabbing women “by the p****, kissing women before they could stop him, and “moving on” a married woman “like a b****.”
Ms Conway writes in Here’s The Deal that Mr Trump was concerned that the Republican Party “could force him off the ticket or hold a vote to expel him”, according to an excerpt obtained by Daily Beast.
Graeme Massie reports.
Trump considered quitting 2016 race over Access Hollywood tape, Kellyanne Conway says