Trump scores major legal victory as election interference and classified docs cases are abandoned: Live updates
President-elect was handed legal wins as he works to fill his cabinet
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump, the president-elect, was handed another legal win on Monday when federal prosecutors asked a judge in D.C. to dismiss the federal election interference indictment against him and an appeals court judge to abandon their attempt to re-instate the classified documents case.
Citing the precedent that prevents a sitting president from being charged, Jack Smith said he and his team would treat Trump as a current president and asked that the federal cases be abandoned.
Smith stressed that the reason for the motion had nothing to do with the strength of the case.
The indictment accused Trump of pushing false claims of voter fraud after the 2020 presidential election in an attempt to overturn results and return to power. Prosecutors claimed Trump engaged in a so-called fake electors scheme to do so. Ultimately, his actions, according to Smith, inspired a mob of supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6.
Shortly after, Smith filed a motion to abandon the appeal in the 11th Circuit to reinstate docs case against Trump, which was initially dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon. However, the appeal to re-instate the case against co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira remains.
Trump sought to delay or dismiss the case against him, along with the other criminal cases he faced.
GOP senators warned they must ‘step up’ to approve Trump Cabinet picks or face recess appointments
Trump reportedly plans to kick trans troops out of the military within days of inauguration
America’s first trans member of Congress isn’t taking Nancy Mace’s rage bait
Trump’s Cabinet and staff tracker: Here’s who is among the White House appointments so far
Megyn Kelly takes swipe at Hegseth not being marriage material while defending him from sexual assault allegations
Speaking of Trump’s preferred defense secretary, here’s Katie Hawkinson with some rather odd criticism of him in the process of trying to brush aside the sexual assault allegation raised against him by woman he met at a conservative conference in Monterey, California, in 2017.
Hegseth has denied wrongdoing in the case.
Megyn Kelly defends defense secretary pick Hegseth from sexual assault allegations
A woman accused Pete Hegseth of sexually assaulting her in Monterey, California in 2017
Pete Hegseth under scrutiny over past statements about international allies
Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, is facing questions about his suitability about the role given his past comments about America’s international allies, The Guardian reports, citing quotes from a book by the former Fox weekend man criticising Nato and the UN and expressing his belief contention that US troops should not be bound by the Geneva conventions.
“Why do we fund the anti-American UN?” Hegseth asks in his 2020 book American Crusade.
“Why is Islamist Turkey a member of Nato?”
Of the North Atlantic military alliance, he writes: “Nato is not an alliance; it’s a defense arrangement for Europe, paid for and underwritten by the United States.
He continues: “Europe has already allowed itself to be invaded. It chose not to rebuild its militaries, happily suckling off the teat of America’s willingness to actually fight and win wars.
“The defense of Europe is not our problem; been there, done that, twice.
“Nato is a relic and should be scrapped and remade in order for freedom to be truly defended. This is what Trump is fighting for.”
Meanwhile, here’s some new polling from Reuters/Ipsos revealing that 72 percent of the US public disagree with him on the question of female soldiers being deployed in combat roles.
America’s first trans member of Congress isn’t taking the rage bait
With Republicans determined to make her arrival in Washington DC a spectacle, Sarah McBride is calmly shutting down their provocations as a “distraction” from their agenda.
America’s first openly transgender member of Congress has been far from the most vocal of candidates on the Democratic side since the party’s disastrous Election Day but the incoming representative from Delaware nevertheless finds herself in the center of the House GOP’s crosshairs.
And she isn’t taking the rage bait.
Here’s John Bowden’s profile.
America’s first trans member of Congress isn’t taking Nancy Mace’s rage bait
Sarah McBride opens up about losing her husband to cancer as she shoots down anti-trans attacks
Why Trump’s most radical cabinet pick might be a man you’ve never heard of
The incoming president has made a series of wild selections to run his key government departments, writes Alan Rusbridger.
Matt Gaetz may have crashed and burned in his bid to become attorney general, but there are plenty of others who will offer Trump both loyalty and extreme ideologies.
The first rule of a Trump government: there are no rules
The incoming president has made a series of wild selections to run his key government departments, writes Alan Rusbridger. Matt Gaetz may have crashed and burned in his bid to become attorney general, but there are plenty of others who will offer Trump both loyalty and extreme ideologies
Joe Rogan accused of pushing Russian propaganda by Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko
Klitschko has hit out at the influential American podcaster over his recent interview with music producer Scott Storch, which saw the duo slam President Biden’s decision last week to allow Volodymyr Zelensky to use American-made long-range missiles against Russia.
Rhian Lubin has the story.
Joe Rogan accused of pushing Russian propaganda by Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko
Rogan said that Biden’s decision to let Ukraine use US long-range missiles against Russia ‘could start World War III’
Trump’s counter-terror pick Sebastian Gorka labeled a ‘conman’
The president-elect’s former national security adviser John Bolton did not hold back on the subject of Trump’s pick for counter-terrorism director when he appeared on CNN over the weekend.
“Sebastian Gorka is a con man,” Bolton told host Kaitlan Collins.
“He needs a full-field FBI background investigation about his educational claims and things like that.
“I think he is a perfect example of somebody who owes his position purely to Donald Trump, he doesn’t display loyalty, he displays fealty, and that’s what Trump wants.”
Gustaf Kilander has more.
Trump’s counter terror pick Sebastian Gorka is a ‘conman,’ John Bolton says
Former Trump national security adviser calls right-wing personality the ‘perfect example of somebody who owes his position purely to Donald Trump’
Elon Musk and Don Jr suggest buying MSNBC
The tech billionaire and Trump’s eldest son have been revelling in the idea of the former (seemingly now resident at Mar-a-Lago) buying up the liberal network and using it to parp out MAGA propaganda.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
‘Funniest idea ever’: Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr suggest buying MSNBC
‘The most entertaining outcome, especially if ironic, is most likely’
Watch: Debbie Dingell warns Democrats against constant Trump ‘tizzies’
Republican senator slams Trump’s ‘illegal’ and ‘terrible’ plan to use military for mass deportations
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has said he would break ranks and not support Trump’s “terrible” plans to use the military to carry out mass deportations.
Paul told CBS News’s Face the Nation on Sunday that he supports the president-elect’s plans to deport “the 15,000 murderers and 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators” but only through the “normal process of domestic policing.”
By contrast, Trump’s idea to use the military for mass deportations is “illegal” and would create a “terrible image,” he said.
“I will not support and will not vote to use the military in our cities. I think it’s a terrible image.
“I’m 100 percent supportive of going after the 15,000 murderers, the 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators, rapists, all these people,” Paul said. “But you don’t do it with the army because it’s illegal.”
Rhian Lubin has more.
Rand Paul slams Trump’s ‘illegal’ plan to use military for mass deportations
The Kentucky senator said he backs plans to deport ‘murderers and sexual assault predators’ but not via the military
Sherrod Brown tells Democrats: ‘Win back working-class voters or keep on losing’
The veteran Ohio Democrat lost his Senate seat earlier this month to Trump-backed businessman Bernie Moreno and has been reflecting on the defeat in conversation with CNN.
He says the left’s failure to win over the working-class is what cost him and others across the country and is likely to continue to hurt his party if it doesn’t rectify the problem fast.
“I think that we don’t appear to be fighting for them,” Brown said.
“Workers have drifted away from the Democratic Party.”
Calling for a greater emphasis on the economy and blue-collar families suffering from the rising cost of living, Brown said: “I lost, but we ran ahead of the national ticket.
“When the leader of your ticket runs 12 points behind, almost, you can’t overcome that, even though it was a close race in the end.”
He also complained that Trumpian smears against his record had also played a part in his loss.
“A lot of things made the difference. I’d say it’s the money and Trump. That kind of money, month after month after month, with nasty negative ads.
“I guess that’s how you win a race. You lie, you spend a lot of money, and then you, as my opponent, hope that your candidate, Trump in this case, would win by a lot.”
Asked if he planned to challenge for the seat being vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance, the 72-year-old said: “I’m not dismissing anything at this point.”
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