Trump’s ruthless response to Pence’s danger on Jan 6 exposed in filing; Harris visits birthplace of GOP: Live

While Republican nominee fields his latest legal problems, Kamala Harris is heading to the birthplace of the GOP to campaign with anti-Trump conservative Liz Cheney

Melania Trump confirms her support for abortion rights

Donald Trump has lashed out at Special Counsel Jack Smith after he outlined a sprawling criminal case against the Republican presidential nominee over his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Smith’s latest filing in a Washington DC federal court was unsealed by Judge Tanya Chutkan on Wednesday and detailed the former president’s alleged “increasingly desperate efforts” to cling to power with “knowingly false claims of election fraud”.

Responding on Truth Social, Trump furiously – and baselessly – claimed the allegations are an “obvious attempt by the Harris-Biden regime to undermine and Weaponize American Democracy, and INTERFERE IN THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.”

While the Republican nominee fields his legal problems, Kamala Harris is heading to the birthplace of the GOP to campaign with anti-Trump Republican Liz Cheney.

The Vice President will be joined by the former Wyoming representative in Ripon, Wisconsin – the site of political meetings in 1854 that led to the formation of what became the Republican Party.

Meanwhile, Melania Trump has publicly voiced her support for abortion rights in her new memoir and in a new post on X – despite her own husband’s pivotal role in rolling back protections.

Key Points

• Donald Trump ‘pursued multiple criminal means to overturn election’ new special counsel filing claims
• Trump protests innocence, accuses DOJ of election interference
• Trump posts furious and defiant reaction to election subversion filing
• Kamala Harris to campaign with Liz Cheney in birthplace of the GOP
• Melania defends ‘fundamental’ right to abortion in memoir despite husband bringing about demise of Roe v Wade
• JD Vance again refuses to answer 2020 question as Tim Walz presses his advantage

[3 October 2024 10:40 · Joe Sommerlad]

JD Vance again refuses to answer 2020 question as Tim Walz presses his advantage

On the campaign trail in Auburn Hills, Michigan, yesterday, Trump’s running mate again declined to admit that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election fairly, instead preferring to – you guessed it – attack the media.

Over in York, Pennsylvania, his Democratic rival Tim Walz addressed the same issue he raised at the close of their debate and said Vance’s refusal to answer so simple a question should “absolutely disqualify” him and his boss from higher office.

[3 October 2024 10:20 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump says he will ‘absolutely’ revoke temporary protection status for Springfield’s Haitian migrants

Also taking to the airwaves last night was the Republican nominee himself, keen to air his grievances against Jack Smith to NewsNation’s Ali Bradley.

He again called the Justice Department Special Counsel “a deranged person”, said his latest filing amounted to “pure election interference” and its unsealing by Judge Chutkan nothing less than the “weaponization of the government”.

Of course it is.

More worryingly, he also pledged to deport Springfield’s Haitian migrant population should he return to the White House.

There are around 15,000 Haitians in Springfield, for the record, at least 12,000 of whom are in the United States legally, as the CBS fact-checkers reminded JD Vance during Tuesday’s vice presidential debate.

Rhian Lubin reports.

[3 October 2024 10:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Melania surprised it took so long for husband to be impeached as rivals feared his ‘peace through strength’

Speaking of the former first lady, she was interviewed by Fox News’s Sean Hannity last night, during which this interesting exchange took place.

“What stunned me is when you actually said that when they first impeached him, ‘I’m surprised it took so long’,” Hannity said, alluding to a passage in her new memoir.

“I did because I saw how they treat him, how the media was against him. I think they are afraid of his strength – he was leading this country with peace through strength,” she responded.

“So as soon as he announced that he’s running for president, everything changed. I saw it and I said, ‘You know, this will not be very pleasant,’ but I knew that he’s into it, what he’ll need to deal with.

“And as soon as they announced his presidency, and then when he won, they start already talking about impeachment… I always said to him, ‘What is next?’

“Every event that happened, I’m thinking, ‘What is next? What are they trying to do?’You always fear the worst, and that happened.”

Here’s more from James Liddell.

[3 October 2024 09:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

Melania defends ‘fundamental’ right to abortion in memoir despite Trump bringing about demise of Roe v Wade

The former first lady reportedly offers vocal support for abortion rights in her “deeply personal” new memoir, despite her own husband’s instrumental role in rolling back abortion protections.

“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body?” Melania Trump writes in the forthcoming Melania, according to a review copy obtained by The Guardian.

“A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.”

Josh Marcus has more.

[3 October 2024 09:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump, January 6 and a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election: The federal investigation explained

A sprawling Justice Department probe into the former president and his allies yielded four criminal charges in a stunning indictment outlining a path to power at whatever cost, Alex Woodward reports.

[3 October 2024 08:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

‘What does injured mean?’: Fury as Trump downplays severity of brain injuries suffered by 109 US soldiers

Donald Trump is facing backlash for downplaying the traumatic brain injuries suffered by 109 U.S. service members after an Iranian ballistic missile attack in 2020.

The Republican presidential candidate made the remarks at a campaign press event on Tuesday after a reporter asked him if he should have been “tougher” on Iran during his time in the White House following the attack that left troops injured.

“First of all, injured, what does injured mean?” Trump replied. “You mean because they had a headache? Because the bombs never hit the fort.”

Ariana Baio reports.

[3 October 2024 07:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Full story: Trump ‘pursued multiple criminal means to overturn election’ new special counsel filing claims

Special counsel Jack Smith has outlined a sprawling criminal case against Donald Trump for his attempts to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election, detailing for the first time the former president’s “increasingly desperate efforts” to cling to power with “knowingly false claims of election fraud.”

Trump intentionally lied to voters, election officials, and his own vice president Mike Pence in what amounted to a criminal effort to stay in office, culminating in his failure to stop a mob that tried to do it with violence, according to the document filed in federal court in Washington DC on Wednesday.

Alex Woodward has been closely following the case for The Independent and has the details.

[3 October 2024 06:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trump posts furious and defiant reaction to election subversion filing

Former president Donald Trump has posted a furious and defiant reaction to the publication of the redacted Jack Smith filing in the election interference case brought against him — saying that it was an “obvious attempt by the Harris-Biden regime to undermine and Weaponize American Democracy, and INTERFERE IN THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.”

There is no evidence of any coordination between the White House and Smith.

The Republican nominee posted on Truth Social:

The release of this falsehood-ridden, Unconstitutional, J6 brief immediately following Tim Walz’s disastrous Debate performance, and 33 days before the Most Important Election in the History of our Country, is another obvious attempt by the Harris-Biden regime to undermine and Weaponize American Democracy, and INTERFERE IN THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. Deranged Jack Smith, the hand picked Prosecutor of the Harris-Biden DOJ, and Washington, D.C. based Radical Left Democrats, are HELL BENT on continuing to Weaponize the Justice Department in an attempt to cling to power. “TRUMP” is dominating the Election cycle, leading in the Polls, and the Radical Democrats throughout the Deep State are totally “freaking out.” This entire case is a Partisan, Unconstitutional, Witch Hunt, that should be dismissed, entirely, just like the Florida case was dismissed!

He added:

WHETHER NOW THE FULLY DEBUNKED RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, IRAN, IRAN, IRAN, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, 51 INTELLIGENCE AGENTS, SPYING ON MY CAMPAIGN, IMPEACHMENT HOAX NUMBER ONE, IMPEACHMENT HOAX NUMBER TWO, OR ANY OF THE OTHER SCAMS, THIS ILLEGAL ACTION TAKEN BY THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, INCLUDING THEIR RAID ON MAR-A-LAGO FOR A CASE THAT WAS DISMISSED, WILL END JUST LIKE ALL OF THE OTHERS - WITH COMPLETE VICTORY FOR “PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.” MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

The former president wasn’t done there:

Democrats are Weaponizing the Justice Department against me because they know I am WINNING, and they are desperate to prop up their failing Candidate, Kamala Harris. The DOJ pushed out this latest “hit job” today because JD Vance humiliated Tim Walz last night in the Debate. The DOJ has become nothing more than an extension of Joe’s, and now Kamala’s, Campaign. This is egregious PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT, and should not have been released right before the Election. The Democrat Party is turning America into a Third World Country that tries to censor, harass, and intimidate their Political Opponents. What they have done to our Justice System is one of the Great, All Time, Tragedies….

….The Democrat Party is guilty of the Worst Election Interference in American History. They are trying to DESTROY OUR DEMOCRACY, allowing millions of people to enter our Country illegally. They are determined to stop us from winning back the White House, sealing the Border, and MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. BUT THEY WILL FAIL, AND WE WILL SAVE OUR NATION!

[3 October 2024 05:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Vance is a better debater than Trump, Gretchen Whitmer says - but still thinks Walz triumphed

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer weighed in following the vice presidential debate on Tuesday and believes that JD Vance outperformed running mate Donald Trump when it comes to debating skills.

“JD Vance was a better debater than Donald Trump,” Whitmer said, during an appearance on late-night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, on Tuesday evening. “Donald Trump should have taken some lessons from him.”

Ariana Baio reports.

[3 October 2024 04:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Vance-Walz debate attracts 20m fewer viewers than 2020 face-off between Harris and Pence

Just under 39 million people tuned in across eight networks to watch Tuesday’s vice presidential debate between Senator JD Vance and Governor Tim Walz, falling 20 million people short of the audience draw when Vice President Kamala Harris and former Vice President Mike Pence debated in 2020.

Graig Graziosi has the details.