Trump news: White House slams Putin ‘scheme’ as ex-president rejects House speaker plan

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Trump calls for Putin to release dirt on the Biden family

Donald Trump poured cold water on suggestions that he could be elected speaker of the House of Representatives by Republicans after this November’s midterm elections – an idea that has been floated by some of his more hardcore congressional allies. Instead, the president said, “I wanna look at what’s happening and then we’re gonna be doing something else”.

This he did in the same interview where he called on Vladimir Putin to release dirt about the Biden family’s supposed dealings with the wife of the mayor of Moscow. His appeal to the Russian autocrat has drawn outrage given Mr Putin’s current assault on Ukraine, an American ally.

Meanwhile, it emerged that White House phone records from 6 January 2021 obtained by the committee investigating the Capitol riot feature a 7-hour gap in former President Donald Trump’s communications, a span of time that includes the assault on the building by a horde of his supporters.

Later on Tuesday, former national security adviser John Bolton said that contra the ex-president’s denials, Mr Trump was aware of the slang term “burner phone” – and that he used the term on multiple occasions.

Key points today

• Trump speaks out during war in Ukraine to call on Putin to release Hunter Biden dirt
• Bolton claims Trump knew about ‘burner phones’ despite denial over call logs gap
• Judge says Trump tried to ‘subvert this fundamental principle’ of democracy’
• 6 Jan committee report lays down reasons for contempt charges against two former Trump aides
• Former president Trump says he might run for office again

[29 March 2022 18:01 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trump posts edited Willy Wonka video to mark Clarence Thomas’ release from hospital

Donald Trump marked Clarence Thomas’ release from hospital by having his spokesperson tweet out an edited clip from the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

The former president, who is still banned from Twitter, released a short statement simply saying: “Glad to see Clarence Thomas is healthy and doing well.”

[29 March 2022 18:25 · Oliver O'Connell]

In other Clarence Thomas news...

Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined the small but growing list of Democratic lawmakers calling for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s resignation on Tuesday as the blowback continues over text messages the justice’s wife sent a top Trump official.

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.

[29 March 2022 18:50 · Oliver O'Connell]

JD Vance: ‘Nothing wrong’ with Marjorie Taylor Greene attending white nationalist conference

Ohio Republican Senate candidate JD Vance vehemently defended Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene’s speaking engagement at a white nationalist conference last month, noting that the congresswoman “is my friend and did nothing wrong”.

Ms Greene spoke in-person at the fringe-right America First Political Action Conference earlier this year, but after controversy broke about her attendance at an event, where the organiser claimed “young white men” are being forgotten, she began downplaying her involvement.

Johanna Chisholm reports.

[29 March 2022 19:20 · Oliver O'Connell]

GOP says Biden using notes sign of ’cognitive decline’, but Trump did too

Republican Kentucky Senator Rand Paul argued that President Joe Biden’s use of notes during press conferences is a sign of cognitive decline despite former President Donald Trump doing the same during some public appearances.

Gustaf Kilander reports from Washington, DC.

[29 March 2022 19:50 · Oliver O'Connell]

McCarthy will speak to Cawthorn after DC drug-fuelled orgies comment

House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has said that he will speak to North Carolina Representative Madison Cawthorn about his comments that he’s been invited to orgies in Washington, DC and that he has seen people do cocaine.

The expected reprimand comes following expressions of frustration from Republicans at Mr Cawthorn’s comments.

[29 March 2022 20:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

CBS criticised for hiring ex-Trump chief of staff Mick Mulvaney

CBS News is under fire for hiring former Donald Trump’s former acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney as its newest contributor.

Mr Mulvaney, a former congressman from South Carolina and founding member of the right-wing Freedom Caucus, made his first appearance on the network on Tuesday morning to break down a new budget proposal from President Joe Biden that includes a tax on the wealthiest American households.

[29 March 2022 20:40 · Oliver O'Connell]

‘Many people are asking’: Trump mocked for hole-in-one statement

Donald Trump on Monday claimed in a lengthy statement that he made a rare golf shot while playing with pros at his club in West Palm Beach on Saturday.

“Many people are asking, so I’ll give it to you now, it is 100 per cent true,” the 45th president of the United States said.

The mocking soon began.

“Donald Trump is claiming to have made a hole in one while golfing today. He plans to release the video in 2 weeks, along with his tax returns and healthcare plan,” said one tweet.

[29 March 2022 20:50 · Oliver O'Connell]

Bolton: Trump knew term ‘burner phone'

Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton said in an interview Tuesday, after the CBS-Post reporting about the missing hours of phone logs was published, that he recalls Donald Trump using the term “burner phones” in several discussions and that the former president was aware of its meaning.

[29 March 2022 21:05 · Oliver O'Connell]

New York AG continues quest for Trump family to testify in civil case

New York’s attorney general is asking a state appeals court to uphold a lower court ruling requiring former President Donald Trump to answer questions under oath after a civil investigation into his business practices uncovered evidence that he may have misstated the value of assets like golf courses and skyscrapers on financial statements for more than a decade.

In papers filed late on Monday, Attorney General Letitia James’ office said it has every right to question Mr Trump, who is appealing the lower court ruling, as it seeks to determine whether the misrepresented values shown to lenders, taxing authorities, and other business interests constituted fraud and, if so, who committed that fraud.

[29 March 2022 21:25 · Oliver O'Connell]

What we still don’t know about the Trump White House call logs from Jan 6

Bombshell reporting from CBS News and The Washington Post published this week revealed that a mysterious gap exists in the Trump White House call logs from the day of the Captiol riot on 6 January 2021.

While rioters attempted to sack the US Capitol, chanted “hang Mike Pence”, and delayed the certification of Joe Biden’s victory, Donald Trump was holed up in the White House with his staff. We now know that several top officials, including chief of staff Mark Meadows, were fielding calls and texts from desperate lawmakers on Capitol Hill who were insistent that the president needed to call off his supporters before the violence got worse.

There is no mention of that in the White House call logs, however, which contain a more than seven-hour gap during the riot where no calls were recorded. The logs are not a complete picture of the communications that White House officials, including the president, had during the riot, given their use of personal cell phones, but the logs are still a point of interest for the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot.

John Bowden in Washington, DC has more details.