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
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
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
Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr suggest buying MSNBC: ‘Funniest idea ever’
Elon Musk has indicated that he may be interested in buying the liberal cable news network MSNBC.
Donald Trump Jr. shared a post on X following news that the network’s parent company Comcast is spinning off cable TV channels into a separate company.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
‘Funniest idea ever’: Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr suggest buying MSNBC
‘The most entertaining outcome, especially if ironic, is most likely’
Trump accused of opening door to financial corruption with transition
As President-elect Donald Trump makes his transition to the White House, it’s not just his cabinet picks garnering scrutiny — it’s now also his funding as he’s keeping the donors funding the transition effort a secret.
Trump has not yet signed an agreement with the outgoing Biden administration — a requirement laid out in the Presidential Transition Act that places restrictions on the amount of fundraising cash in exchange for more than $7 million in federal funds for the “orderly transfer” of power.
Because Trump hasn’t signed the agreement, he doesn’t have to work within the confines of the fundraising limits or disclose what interest groups are funding his transition to the White House, The New York Times first reported.
Kelly Rissman has the story.
Trump accused of risking financial corruption as transition donors kept secret
Trump hasn’t signed a transition agreement requiring the disclosure of donor names and limiting the contribution amount, ‘opening Trump’s team to financial corruption with no public transparency even before he takes office,’ Sen. Elizabeth Warren said
Report: Trump team believed Gaetz was too ‘blackmail-able’ to be attorney general
Matt Gaetz’s past was too likely to come back to bite him. That was the belief inside Trump’s inner circle as the former Florida Congressman’s nomination to be attorney general came to an end, according to Rolling Stone.
One Trump adviser told the outlet that if Gaetz had become the leader of the Department of Justice, he would probably have become “the single most blackmail-able person to ever serve as attorney general of the United States … and that’s not a risk you want to take when the whole job is going after criminals.”
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
Trump team believed Gaetz was too ‘blackmail-able’ to be attorney general: report
Former Florida Congressman may be up for major role in Trump’s second White House, avoiding Senate confirmation process
Don Jr is helping Trump pick most controversial cabinet of modern times
Donald Trump Jr. has emerged as the most influential Trump family member in the transition as the president-elect builds the most controversial cabinet in modern U.S. history, according to a half dozen sources with knowledge of his role, elevating inexperienced loyalists over more qualified candidates for top positions in his administration.
Trump, who fiercely prizes loyalty, has long relied on family members for political advice, but which relative has his ear is known to vary.
This time, it is Don Jr., who has helped cabinet contenders sink or rise to the fore - from championing Senator JD Vance as Trump’s running mate to blocking former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from joining the cabinet, according to the sources, who include donors, personal friends and political allies.
Don Jr. is due to join conservative venture capital fund 1789 Capital, although one of the sources said he will continue to host his politics-focused podcast and support candidates that espouse Trump’s brand of politics.
He will provide advice to his father in the White House, the source added, although they cautioned that Don Jr. was unlikely to be involved in day-to-day deliberations.
Don Jr. and the Trump-Vance transition team did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition to ensuring candidates are loyal to his father, Don Jr. typically seeks out contenders who embrace an anti-establishment worldview, including protectionist economic policies, and a reduction in military interventions and overseas aid, according to a handful of the sources and Don Jr.’s own comments on social media site X and in public.
Two of the candidates Don Jr. championed may face a rocky confirmation process in the Senate: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump plans to nominate as the top U.S. health official, and Tulsi Gabbard, who Trump plans to nominate as intelligence chief.
Kennedy is an environmental activist who has spread misinformation on vaccines. Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, implied that Russian President Vladimir Putin had valid grounds for invading Ukraine and stirred controversy when she met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the midst of his bloody crackdown on dissidents in 2017.
COMMENT: Trump’s energy secretary will be more than an environmental disaster
Chris Wright, reporting from Baku, writes:
When I was young, I wasn’t even the only Chris Wright at my local dentist. I had horrible teeth as a child, but whenever I went for a check-up, I’d have to tell them my address as there were three of us in the neighbourhood.
Even last month at my local swimming pool, I found out that not only am I not the only Chris Wright on its books, but also that staff had the gall to ask if I was the Chris Wright born in the 1960s or the 1990s…?
But the most annoying mistaken identity moment happened this week at Cop29.
Read on...
Donald Trump’s energy secretary will be more than an environmental disaster
The president-elect has chosen the climate change-denying boss of a fracking giant to steer US energy strategy. But that’s not even the oddest thing about his selection, says Chris Wright, at the Cop29 climate conference in Baku
Sen. Schmitt says ‘it’s a slur’ to call Gabbard a Russian asset
During his appearance on Meet the Press this morning, Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri said it was a “slur” to call Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s pick as director of national intelligence, a Russian asset.
NBC’s Kristen Welker played a clip of former UN ambassador Nikki Haley saying of Gabbard, a veteran and former Democrat rep: “This is not a place for a Russian, Iranian, Syrian, Chinese sympathizer. DNI has to analyze real threats. Are we comfortable with someone like that at the top of our national intelligence agencies?”
Welker asked Schmitt if he was comfortable and whether he would vote for Gabbard’s confirmation.
He replied: “I think it’s — it’s really interesting that anybody that has a different political view now is being cast as a Russian asset. It’s totally ridiculous. Tulsi Gabbard has served in our military. She served as a congresswoman from Hawaii, as a Democrat, I might add, part of this unique coalition that President Trump has put together and won and got that mandate. But I think it’s insulting. It’s a slur, quite frankly.’
He continued: “You know, there’s no evidence that she’s an asset of another country. She served this country honorably, and by the way, she cares deeply about our Constitution and civil liberties and making sure people aren’t being targeted by these intelligence agencies. So again, I think this is a reformer who can come in, who maybe is not part of the same Washington cocktail party circuit that people in the intel community are used to, but maybe that’s exactly what we need right now. President Trump listened to the American people when they screamed about these issues. They want to be heard. They feel like Washington is broken. And I think bringing somebody in like Tulsi Gabbard is welcome news.”
ICYMI: Trump picks Scott Bessent for treasury as he announces flurry of cabinet picks
President-elect Donald Trump announced a flurry of nominations on Friday night, revealing his choices to lead the Treasury Department, the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the FDA, the CDC, the Office of the Surgeon General, and the Department of Labor.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
Trump picks Scott Bessent for treasury as he announces flurry of cabinet picks
President-elect announced nominations to lead several departments and agencies as he continues to staff his next administration
Watch: Trump NSA Waltz says ‘we are in hand in glove’ with Biden administration on US adversaries
Incoming Trump National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told Fox News Sunday today that they are “hand in glove” with the outgoing Biden administration regarding “our adversaries” and that they are wrong to think they can play one administration off against another.
COMMENT: Why the Trump and Musk partnership is here to stay
John Sopel writes:
We’ve all been there. That infatuation moment. That time at the outset of a relationship when you can’t think about anyone else, don’t want to be with anyone else. Every minute without them is a minute wasted; where you find yourself engaging in their hobbies because if they love them, so must you, too.
And broadly speaking, that is where we are in that most unlikely of bromances: that of Elon and Don.
Read on...
A fine bromance: why the Trump and Musk partnership is here to stay
From date nights to living under the same roof – this bromance is one for the ages, writes Jon Sopel. And that’s a problem for us all...
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments