Trump news: Kevin McCarthy says ex-president accepted responsibility for Jan 6 in new audio

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McCarthy recorded saying Trump accepted ‘some responsibility’ for Jan 6 riot

A newly released audio recording from January 2021 features House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy telling Republican members that Donald Trump “bears responsibility for his words and actions” around the 6 January riot – and that the then-president told him “he does have some responsibility for what happened”.

Mr McCarthy yesterday denied a New York Times report that said he had considered urging Mr Trump to step down in the aftermath of the riot – but not long after his statement was put out, audio of that conversation was released, confirming that the report was accurate and that Mr McCarthy’s denial was false.

Liz Cheney’s office has denied leaking the earlier recording of a discussion between the congresswoman and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in which the two discussed whether Donald Trump should resign after the events of 6 January 2021.

On the recording, Mr McCarthy tells Ms Cheney – now a member of the 6 January committee – that he would suggest Mr Trump resign from office in the face of a looming impeachment.

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[22 April 2022 05:45 · Shweta Sharma]

Trump Jr says he's 'with Obama on this one' over big tech

Donald Trump Jr, who is likely to meet the Jan 6 committee in the coming days, took the opportunity to hit out at Democrats using former president Barack Obama’s keynote speech on the perils of disinformation.

On Thursday, Mr Obama said there is a need to rein in big tech companies in a bid to address “weakening of democratic institutions around the world”.

“You mean do exactly what the Democrat controlled Main Stream Media has been doing for decades!?! Yea. I’m actually with you on this one,” Trump Jr said in a tweet.

In his speech, Mr Obama said: “It’s not necessary for people to believe disinformation in order to weaken democratic institutions. You just have to flood a country’s public square with enough raw sewage, you just have to raise enough questions[...] that citizens no longer know what to believe.”

[22 April 2022 06:45 · Shweta Sharma]

Trump groups collect $124m ahead of midterm elections

At least $124m has been amassed by Donald Trump’s network of political advocacy groups by the end of March, a significant stockpile for the former president for the midterm elections.

The collection has surpassed the funds of the Republican National Committee itself, which reported nearly $45m as cash on hand at the end of March, according to the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission.

One of the biggest Trump groups, Save America PAC, amassed more than $5m in the same period. It accounts for over $112m of the Trump network’s combined cash on hand.

[22 April 2022 07:30 · Shweta Sharma]

Trump Jr to meet with Jan 6 committee

Donald Trump Jr will meet with lawmakers on the January 6 committee who are seeking his voluntary testimony, sources on the committee told ABC News on Thursday.

The eldest son of the former president was a top figure in Mr Trump’s reelection campaign, unlike his sister Ivanka and her husband who served inside the administration.

ABC News reported on Thursday that Donald Trump Jr is set to meet with members of the House January 6 select committee within the next few days for a voluntary interview.

According to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to ABC, Mr Trump has not been served with a subpoena and agreed to give evidence before the panel after he was asked to do so.

[22 April 2022 08:15 · Shweta Sharma]

McCarthy likely to face calls for resignation: Rachel Maddow

MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow said she expects calls for GOP leader Kevin McCarthy to resign after she released an explosive audio recording confirming a New York Times report.

“I don’t mean to be pollyanna about this at all, or naïve,” Ms Maddow said. “But it seems to me that I expect a sort of level — from politicians, in particular — of saying one thing in public and saying it another way in private. Certainly speaking more harshly, less diplomatic terms in private.”

Yet she said she does not expect public officials and politicians “to flat out lie” when it is on the record.

“I think this creates a real problem for Mr McCarthy, I think he must at least apologise, I would not be surprised if there are calls for his resignation, for him lying and denying that he did this when in fact he did it,” she said.

[22 April 2022 08:45 · Shweta Sharma]

Conservative expert says audio is ‘epic embarrassment for Republicans’

Reacting to the latest audio released of Kevin McCarthy, conservative expert AB Stoddard said it was a “breathtaking failure” on the part of the Republican politician.

“It’s an amazing, breathtaking failure on the part of Kevin McCarthy, simply because he has tried to ascend to the speakership for so long,” Ms Stoddard said on MSNBC.

She called it an “epic embarrassment for Republicans”.

[22 April 2022 09:30 · Shweta Sharma]

Audio: McCarthy said he would urge Trump to resign

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy told fellow GOP lawmakers shortly after the 6 January, 2021, Capitol insurrection that he would urge then-President Donald Trump to resign, according to audio posted by The New York Times and aired on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show.

In the recording of a 10 January House Republican Leadership call posted by the Times on Thursday night, McCarthy is heard discussing the Democratic effort to remove Trump from office and saying he would tell Trump, “I think it will pass and it would be my recommendation he should resign.”

Read full report

[22 April 2022 10:06 · Andrew Naughtie]

Kinzinger rips McCarthy over taped comments

Adam Kinzinger, who sits with Liz Cheney on the 6 January select committee, has laid into Kevin McCarthy over the audio that shows him saying exactly what he denied saying just an hour before the recording was released.

[22 April 2022 10:35 · Andrew Naughtie]

McCarthy’s Jan 6 denial still live...

Before the audio of his post-insurrection call with Liz Cheney was released, Kevin McCarthy issued a strident written denial that the reported version was accurate. And even after the recording was played on MSNBC, the statement is still live on his official Twitter feed:

[22 April 2022 11:03 · Andrew Naughtie]

Analysis: Can Trump run for president again?

Almost nobody doubts that Donald Trump is seriously considering running for president in 2024, and the string of rallies he’s held in recent months have made it seem almost like the campaign is already underway. There are even reports saying he had to be talked out of announcing a second run as early as last year for fear that he could scramble the Republicans’ messaging in the midterm elections.

However, despite his towering polling advantage among the Republican base and his enormous fundraising ability, Mr Trump doesn’t have a completely clear path to the nomination or the presidency, not least because of multiple legal problems that still threaten to escalate.

Graeme Massie picks over the challenges the former president might face.

[22 April 2022 11:40 · Andrew Naughtie]

Two men plead guilty in Bannon-linked border wall scam

Two men have pleaded guilty in a long-running wire fraud case related to We Build The Wall, a fundraising group co-founded by Trump advisor and far-right instigator Steve Bannon.

Mr Bannon was pardoned by the former president for his part in the crowdfunding effort, whose donations were siphoned off for personal use by staff. However, Mr Trump was only able to pardon him on the federal charges he faced; he is still under investigation for state-level offences.

Sravasti Dasgupta has the story.