Trump news: Judge says ‘plausible’ ex-president incited Jan 6 riot as Mar-a-Lago docs referred to DoJ

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It has been a difficult week for the former president and his family.

The 15 boxes of White House records stored at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence contained classified national security information, the National Archives. The Justice Department has been informed as this puts Mr Trump in violation of a number of federal criminal statutes.

Meanwhile, former first lady Melania Trump has attacked the press for covering a Florida investigation into a charity event she hosted. And in Washington, the 6 January committee investigating the Capitol riot is reportedly also considering a subpoena for Ivanka Trump if she doesn’t cooperate with its inquiry.

Meanwhile, in a major turn in the New York authorities’ long-running investigation into Mr Trump’s affairs — a probe he described as “racist” and a “political witch hunt” — a judge on Thursday refused to quash subpoenas and depositions filed against Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr, and Ivanka Trump in the New York probe into the Trump Organization’s business practices, meaning all three will have to testify.

Further to that, on Friday afternoon, a federal judge has rejected Mr Trump’s bid to toss out conspiracy lawsuits against him for allegedly sparking the Capitol riot, saying the allegations were “plausible”.

As far as Mr Trump, the right-wing media and much of the GOP are concerned, however, the real scandal is a debunked story that Hillary Clinton “spied” on him. In a speech yesterday, Ms Clinton derided the story: “It is one thing to have political disagreements, those are natural and healthy. But it is an entirely different thing altogether to lose a shared sense of truth, facts and reality itself.”

Key Points

• Trump took classified materials to Mar-a-Lago when he left office
• Trump’s political future – and even his freedom – may be threatened by documents found at Mar-a-Lago
• Judge rejects Trump bid to quash Jan 6 conspiracy lawsuits
• Fox News maintains laser focus on Hillary Clinton
• Trump, Don Jr and Ivanka must testify in New York probe of his business practices, court rules

[18 February 2022 09:13 · Andrew Naughtie]

‘Kraken’ lawyer doesn’t want her phone records released

Sidney Powell, one of the more extreme participants in the effort to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in 2020 in the courts, is working hard to shield her communications data from the 6 January committee, suing Verizon to stop them complying with a subpoena. She claims that releasing the material would violate both attorney-client privilege and her First Amendment rights to freedom of association.

Ms Powell, who was officially cut loose by the Trump legal team after a bizarre press conference shortly after the election but who made it into the Oval Office for a meeting at which she was reportedly suggested as an officially appointed special counsel who would “investigate” the election result, is being sued for Dominion Voting Systems for roughly $1bn over her false claims about the company’s machines. She also faces disbarment for bringing baseless cases in multiple courts.

Alex Woodward has more:

[18 February 2022 09:45 · Andrew Naughtie]

Fox bristles as Clinton ignores shouted question

After her speech in New York last night, Hillary Clinton walked calmly off the stage to hearty applause – but as told by Fox News’s Sean Hannity, she was in fact “bolting” away from one of his colleagues who demanded she explain why she called the confected row over the Durham filing a “fake scandal”.

The inaccuracies in Fox’s portrayal of the investigation have been spelled out by numerous outlets – The Independent among them. Here’s Andrew Feinberg taking a run at it.

[18 February 2022 10:15 · Andrew Naughtie]

Kinzinger: Trump is “rigging the game” with anti-Cheney machinations

Earlier this week, Donald Trump endorsed a plan to limit voting in Wyoming primaries to registered members of the different parties – meaning that only registered Republicans would be able to vote on whether to renominate his arch-enemy Liz Cheney for her own House seat, thwarting any effort to save her by anti-Trump organisers. Wyoming is such safe Republican territory that it is hard to imagine any Republican nominee losing the seat, meaning that keeping Ms Cheney away from the nomination is Mr Trump’s best shot at evicting her from Congress. (Among those endorsing a challenger to Ms Cheney is the ouse GOP’s minority leader, Kevin McCarthy.)

According to Ms Cheney’s Trump critic colleague Adam Kinzinger, this is not a sign that Mr Trump is winning the argument.

Here’s the Trump statement that set the story off:

The Wyoming State Senate is considering SF0097, introduced by Patriot Senator Bo Biteman, to protect the integrity of Wyoming primary elections. This critically important bill ensures that the voters in each party will separately choose their nominees for the General Election, which is how it should be! It makes total sense that only Democrats vote in the Democrat primary and only Republicans vote in the Republican primary. This bill has my Complete and Total Endorsement and Support. Every Member of the Wyoming Senate should vote for SF0097. Thank you! 

[18 February 2022 10:45 · Andrew Naughtie]

Where was Kamala Harris on 6 January?

It has already been established that then-vice president elect Kamala Harris came worryingly close to a pipe bomb laid outside the DNC headquarters on 6 January 2021. But a new court filing sheds new light on her movements that day, explaining that she had to call off a planned return to the Capitol after the riot began.

[18 February 2022 11:14 · Andrew Naughtie]

Donald Trump, nightmare defendant

Law professor and former US attorney Barb McQuade last night explained on MSNBC why Donald Trump is the worst kind of client for a lawyer to take on.

“Donald Trump is a lawyer’s nightmare client because most lawyers will tell their client shut-up, don’t say anything, don’t speak publicly, because you might say something that contradicts our legal strategy...

“He’s spent most of his career kind of having it both ways – avoiding speaking under oath, and yet using his platform to speak publicly to say things that are self-serving. This is the moment where the rubber meets the road, and he has to either answer questions truthfully under oath or invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.”

Watch her analysis below:

[18 February 2022 11:45 · Andrew Naughtie]

Democratic senator recovering from stroke in DC

New Mexico Senator Ben Ray Luján, who suffered a stroke a few weeks ago, last night shared a picture of himself recovering in Washington, DC – an encouraging indication that he expects to return to work on Capitol Hill soon.

[18 February 2022 12:24 · Andrew Naughtie]

The intensity of Fox News’s Clinton fixation

CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy has totted up the number of times Fox News mentioned Hillary Clinton yesterday, and the numbers speak for themselves:

[18 February 2022 13:00 · Andrew Naughtie]

What’s behind Kevin McCarthy’s turn against Liz Cheney?

By endorsing Liz Cheney’s primary challenger, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy has taken a drastic step – one that indicates just how intolerant of dissent the top tier of the Republican Party has become. Nonetheless, the Wyoming representative is benefiting from the support of major donors, as well as other Republicans with huge fundraising clout – not least Mitt Romney.

[18 February 2022 13:43 · Andrew Naughtie]

Minnesota congressman dies after battle with cancer

Republican Minnesota Congressman Jim Hagedorn has died at the age of 59. He was serving his second term in the House of Representatives when his kidney cancer returned from remission last summer. A statement on his passing has been posted by his wife.

[18 February 2022 14:15 · Andrew Naughtie]

Confederate flag-carrying Jan 6 rioter to appear in court

One of the most recognisable Capitol rioters is set to appear in court today. Kevin Seefried was pictured carrying a giant Confederate flag through the building during the riot, thereby bringing an icon of anti-union, pro-slavery seditionism into the heart of American Democracy.

According to the US Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, he faces charges of “Knowingly Entering or Remaining in any Restricted Building or Grounds Without Lawful Authority; Violent Entry and Disorderly Conduct on Capitol Grounds”. Read his indictment here.