DeSantis news – latest: Florida governor most popular with rich Republicans as he defends move to fly migrants to California

DeSantis on campaign trail hoping to raise national profile as 2024 race hots up

Ron DeSantis snaps at reporter who asked why he wasn’t taking questions from the public

Florida governor Ron DeSantis appears to be the preferred Republican candidate among right-leaning millionaires, according to the latest CNBC Millionaire Survey, although his arch-rival and front-runner Donald Trump is seemingly also picking up support among wealthy Americans.

The poll shows that 32 per cent of Republicans with qualifying millionaire status currently support Mr DeSantis, a drop from 54 per cent at the end of 2022, while Mr Trump now has the backing of 28 per cent, up from 17 per cent last year.

Meanwhile, the governor has met with sheriffs in Arizona and defended his state’s recent decision to fly migrants from the US-Mexico border to Sacramento, California, a move widely derided as a cruel political stunt but which he insisted was above board because the west coast state had essentially invited them with its liberal immigration policies.

“I think the border should be closed. I don’t think we should have any of this,” Mr DeSantis said. “But if there’s a policy to have an open border, then I think the sanctuary jurisdictions should be the ones that have to bear that.”

Key Points

• Inside the bitter rivalry between Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom
• Millionaires support Ron DeSantis but Trump support growing, says poll
• California investigating whether DeSantis involved in flying asylum-seekers from Texas to Sacramento
• Showtime documentary on DeSantis’s Guantanamo Bay career mysteriously dropped
• DeSantis wraps up first early states tour with attack on Biden

[7 July 2023 06:29 · Maroosha Muzaffar]

Chris Christie says Trump took secret documents so he could keep pretending he was president

Chris Christie said that former president Donald Trump retained classified documents after leaving the White House because he wanted to keep feeling like a president.

In an interview with CNN, Mr Christie stated that the former president’s actions as being driven purely by ego.

He said Mr Trump yearned to sustain the facade of being president. “Look at what I still possess, look at what I still know,” he said, referring to Mr Trump’s retention of classified documents.

“I think he could not and still cannot to this day deal with the fact that he’s the only person outside the state of Delaware to ever lose to Joe Biden, and he wants to pretend he’s still president.

“He wanted to continue to pretend he was president and show these things to people and say, ‘Look what I still have, look what I still know,’” Mr Christie added.

[7 July 2023 06:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

Pence mocked for saying ‘I don’t really buy into the rich need to pay their fair share’

Former Vice President Mike Pence has been mocked for saying the quiet part out loud about taxing the rich, during a campaign stop.

“I don’t really buy into the rich need to pay their fair share,” he told an audience of potential Republican primary voters.

Mr Pence appeared alongside Iowa Republican Representative Randy Feenstra at the Wells Visitor Center and Ice Cream Parlor in Le Mars, Iowa, on Wednesday when he was asked by an attendee about billionaires such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos avoiding taxes while ordinary people are “stuck footing the bill”.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

[7 July 2023 05:55 · Maroosha Muzaffar]

Trump can be deposed in ex-FBI agent's lawsuit, judge says

A federal judge yesterday ruled that Donald Trump can be subjected to a deposition in the lawsuit filed by ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok against the Justice Department.

Mr Strzok alleges that his termination following the Russia investigation was a result of the former president’s personal vendetta against him.

Additionally, the ex-FBI agent claims that the Justice Department unlawfully disclosed text messages he exchanged with former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who is also pursuing legal action.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson approved the request to depose Mr Trump, considering the deposition’s limited scope and the former President’s apparent availability for other ongoing civil litigation, as indicated by his schedule.

Mr Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

[7 July 2023 05:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Watch: Christie reacts to Trump calling special counsel ‘crackhead'

[7 July 2023 05:29 · Maroosha Muzaffar]

Special counsel zeroing in on bizarre 2020 Oval Office meeting when Trump hosted conspiracy theorists, report says

The team led by special counsel Jack Smith has indicated their ongoing attention on an eventful meeting that occurred in the Oval Office during the closing days of the Trump administration, it was reported.

According to CNN, investigators have questioned multiple witnesses — both in front of the grand jury and during interviews about the bizarre Oval Office meeting.

The investigation has been ongoing for several months, the report said.

Some witnesses have been asked about the meeting earlier, while others, including Rudy Giuliani, have faced inquiries more recently, it was reported.

[7 July 2023 04:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Kari Lake a ‘shameless, ruthless demagogue’ according to Trump adviser

So maybe not the running mate she hopes to be?

[7 July 2023 03:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Earlier: Walt Nauta pleads not guilty in classified documents case

Nearly a month after former president Donald Trump was arraigned on the 38-count federal indictment that he and his longtime aide Walt Nauta are facing for allegedly unlawfully retaining national defence information and obstructing justice, the ex-president’s co-defendant has pleaded not guilty to charges of having assisted Mr Trump in concealing classified documents from the government.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.