Trump news - live: Peter Navarro indicted for contempt of Congress as Jan 6 counterattack plot revealed
House committee member calls Trump ‘guilty as sin’ and a ‘one-man crime wave’
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As the investigation into the attack on the US Capitol steadily yields more information about the events leading up to the 6 January attack, a memo has been released detailing a new angle on the Trump team’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election.
Written by attorney Kenneth Chesebro, it spells out a contorted multi-day plan to have Mike Pence take control of the electoral certification in the Senate, something the vice president ultimately refused to do despite intense pressure from the then-president.
Meanwhile, Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin, a member of the House 6 January committee, has said that Donald Trump will “get his comeuppance” over the attack on the US Capitol.
A recently leaked memo, reportedly sent by the Republican National Committee, reveals the inner workings of Trump loyalists’ strategy to fan the airwaves with counterprogramming ahead of the first televised hearings of the select committee investigating the 6 January Capitol riot.
Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro has now been indicted by a federal grand jury for defying the committee’s subpoenas to appear and produce documents. He was arrested and appeared in court on Friday.
The select committee is set to begin its public hearings this month.
Man arrested at US Capitol with fake badge, body armour, ammo
A Michigan man was arrested outside of the US Capitol this morning after he was found with a fake badge, a BB gun, body armour, high capacity magazines, and other ammunition.
Per the US Capitol Police:
Just before 5.00am, a US Capitol Police patrol officer started talking to a man who had parked his 2017 Dodge Charger near Peace Circle, on the West side of the Capitol.
The man was identified as 53-year-old Jerome Felipe out of Flint, Michigan.
Felipe, who is a retired police officer out of New York, presented the USCP officers with a fake badge that had “Department of the INTERPOL” printed on it. Felipe also made a statement that he was a criminal investigator with the agency.
Felipe gave officers permission to search his vehicle. The officers discovered a BB gun, two ballistic vests, several high-capacity magazines, and other ammunition in the car. No real guns were found.
Investigators are still working to determine the reason Felipe was parked near the US Capitol.
Felipe is facing charges for Unlawful Possession of High Capacity Magazines and Unregistered Ammo.
Elon Musk says Mackenzie Scott hijacked Democrats to take aim at Jeff Bezos
Elon Musk has suggested that Mackenzie Scott is donating to organisations, including Democrats, to take aim at her ex-husband, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
The exchange began on Twitter over Memorial Day. Here’s what was said:
Elon Musk accuses Mackenzie Scott of hijacking Democrats to take aim at Jeff Bezos
‘The Dems turned negative over the past 12 months – At least part of it is Mackenzie’s donation to PACs posing as charities,’ Musk claims
The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg notes that a US Magistrate Judge ordered the indictment against Peter Navarro sealed at 4.34pm on Thursday, about two hours before he gave an interview to MSNBC about his refusal to speak with the January 6 committee.
Here’s a portion of that interview:
Ron DeSantis moves to ban transgender youth and Medicaid recipients from all transition care in Florida
The administration of Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has asked a state medical board to effectively ban all transition-related healthcare for transgender young people, while another state agency issued a report to justify banning transgender people on Medicaid – the federal health programme for lower-income Americans – from accessing gender-affirming care.
The administration’s moves follows an advisory from Florida’s Department of Health to ignore federal health guidance and advise against all gender-affirming care for transgender minors in the state, including social transioning measures like changing pronouns or wearing different clothes.
Alex Woodward reports:
DeSantis moves to ban transgender people on Medicaid from all transition care
LGBT+ advocates condemn Florida’s latest measures as politically motivated, ‘deeply biased and anti-science’
Full Story - Man arrested at US Capitol with fake badge, body armour, and high capacity magazines
A man has been arrested at the US Capitol in Washington, DC with a fake badge, body armour, a BB gun, high capacity magazines and other ammunition, Capitol Police has said.
The Michigan man was detained on Friday morning outside the legislature. Just before 5am, a patrol officer started speaking to the man “who had parked his 2017 Dodge Charger near Peace Circle, on the West side of the Capitol,” United States Capitol Police (USCP) said in a statement.
Read more:
Man arrested at US Capitol with fake badge, body armour, and high capacity magazines
A man has been arrested at the US Capitol in Washington, DC with a fake badge, body armour, a BB gun, high capacity magazines and other ammunition, Capitol Police has said.
Biden and Musk trade barbs over US economy
Joe Biden and Elon Musk have traded barbs about the health of the US economy after the Tesla boss said he had a “super bad” feeling about the future.
Mr Biden responded to the Tesla and SpaceX boss reportedly telling executives he wanted to cut 10 per cent of the electric vehicle company’s workforce, by saying “Lots of luck on his trip to the moon.”
The president’s joke came after he listed all the investments that other automakers were currently making in electric vehicle production plants across the US.
Graeme Massie reports:
Biden and Musk trade barbs as president wishes him ‘lots of luck’ on Moon trip
The men have had a long-running public fued and have frequently traded insults
Report: Pence chief of staff warned VP would be in danger on 6 January
Former vice president Mike Pence’s chief of staff warned that the vice president faced a great security risk before the 6 January riot as former president Donald Trump would turn against him, The New York Times reported.
Marc Short, who served as Mr Pence’s chief of staff, reportedly met with the vice president’s lead Secret Service agent Tim Giebels to warn that the president would turn his ire toward the vice president for not overturning the 2020 presidential election results, which could endanger Mr Pence.
Eric Garcia reports from Washington, DC:
Pence chief of staff warned vice president would be in danger on 6 January
Revelations come as part of New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman’s soon-to-be-released book.
Navarro did not self surrender
NBC News reports that Peter Navarro did not self-surrender today, but was taken into custody during an arrest operation.
His arraignment is currently underway.
Navarro opts to represent himself
Peter Navarro is representing himself in court and alleges “prosecutorial misconduct” because he was not able to make a phone call when he was arrested and found himself in a jail cell without the ability to contact a lawyer.
It appears he was arrested at the airport at what was supposed to be the start of a trip to Nashville for a TV appearance.
Alleging that there is collusion between the White House and Congress to strip Trump of executive privilege, he says his arrest is a “pre-emptive strike” against the civil lawsuit he has already filed which he wants to move forward before he is arraigned.
“This is not America,” he says, calling the Jan 6 investigation a “sham committee” that is “working in collusion with the White House.”
Navarro rails against treatment and restrictions
“This is not the way that America is supposed to function,” Mr Navarro says. “No American should be treated the way these people treated me today.”
The government is not going to ask for pretrial detention but does want him to report weekly by phone, notify authorities of travel within the US, and surrender his passport.
Mr Navarro says these restrictions are excessive and he is not a flight risk. The Justice Department argues there are standard restrictions and in this case, it is for someone not complying with a lawful order.
The presiding judge says he does not think turning in the passport is necessary but notifying about domestic travel is no burden as it can be done by text or email.
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