Trump news – live: Ex-president shrugs off potential 2024 challenge from Mike Pence

‘Any of my fellow Republicans wanna speak out now’

Trump is writing a book on how presidency was stolen from him

Donald Trump has laughed off the news that Mike Pence might run for president in 2024, shrugging that he “wouldn’t be concerned with that” even as his former deputy stumps for a rival candidate in Georgia.

Mr Pence has kept his public appearances mostly low-key since the end of the Trump administration, but has lately increased his presence on the campaign trail while insisting he was right not to try and overthrow Joe Biden’s victory on 6 January 2021.

Meanwhile, Kellyanne Conway, one of Donald Trump’s longest-standing political confidants and White House aides, has revealed that the ex-president offered her a blanket pardon after the 2020 election.

In her new memoir Here’s the Deal, Ms Conway writes that she asked the president why he thought she needed a pardon at all.

“Because they go after everyone, honey. It doesn’t matter,” Mr Trump allegedly said. Ms Conway claims she “politely declined” the offer.

Key Points

• GOP candidates prepare for primaries
• Giuliani meets with Jan 6 committee
• Michigan official claims Trump called for her execution

[24 May 2022 15:10 · Andrew Naughtie]

NY AG subpoenas Trump’s assistant

As New York Attorney General Letitia James continues her long and winding probe into Donald Trump’s business affairs, her office has subpoenaed Donald Trump’s longtime executive assistant and apparently plans to question her under oath next week.

The subpoena for Rhona Graff was disclosedin court papers opposing Trump's latest bid to rid himself of a contempt of court order for being slow to respond to a subpoena for documents and other evidence.

Mr Trump has long railed against the New York probe as a “witch hunt” and sought to smear Ms James as a “racist”.

[24 May 2022 15:47 · Andrew Naughtie]

Trump shrugs off possibility of a Pence challenge

Mike Pence’s increased activity on the campaign trail was already stirring up rumours he might run for president in 2024 before a New York Times interview published this week confirmed he is thinking about it. What the implications are for Mr Pence’s ex-boss remain unclear, but for now, Mr Trump seems untroubled.

“That's okay if he ran,” he said in an interview with a right-wing outlet yesterday. “I mean, I wouldn't be concerned with that, that’s fine”.

Read more from Andrew Feinberg:

[24 May 2022 16:17 · Andrew Naughtie]

A glimpse at the scale of the 6 January inquiry

As the 6 January select committee prepares for the first of six scheduled public hearings meant to spell out the core details of its findings, NBC has a glimpse of just how much work the panel and its staff have done behind closed doors...

[24 May 2022 16:48 · Andrew Naughtie]

Cohen: Trump wanted anyone who threw pie at him to “end up in the hospital”

Donald Trump was paranoid about getting pied in the face during his presidency, according to his former personal lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen.

Mr Cohen made the claim in a four-hour deposition obtained by The Daily Beast on Monday, saying Mr Trump was so worried about flying pastry that he repeatedly instructed his security detail to “savagely beat” any person who tried.

Speaking under oath, Mr Cohen explained how his former boss became fixated on an event where billionaire Bill Gates was attacked with a pie to the face.

“For some reason that upset Mr Trump terribly,” Mr Cohen testified. “We were all instructed that if somebody was to ever throw anything at him, that if that person didn’t end up in the hospital, we’d all be fired.”

Johanna Chisholm has more.

[24 May 2022 17:15 · Andrew Naughtie]

Report gives more details on Giuliani Jan 6 testimony

The Guardian has obtained new details about Rudy Giuliani’s testimony last week to the 6 January select committee, and reports that the former Trump lawyer refused to offer up any information about the involvement of congressional Republicans in efforts to overturn the 2020 election result.

Read more:

[24 May 2022 18:24 · John Bowden]

ICYMI: Trump headed for major defeat in Georgia

Donald Trump is headed for a serious reckoning of his ability to pick and choose GOP primary winners in Georgia, where voters today appear ready to deliver a defeat to his chosen candidate in the gubernatorial primary.

Mr Trump backed David Perdue, the state’s former senator, after his once-ally Brian Kemp refused to pressure the Georgia state legislature into working to overturn the 2020 election results in the state, where Joe Biden won a surprise victory over the 45th president.

Gov Kemp held a strong lead over Mr Perdue in polls of the race heading into Tuesday, so anything short of a blowout victory for him would be surprising.

[24 May 2022 21:27 · John Bowden]

Meet Herschel Walker, the Trump-backed Senate candidate in Georgia

A three-time Heisman winner with zero experience in elected office isn’t exactly the first person you’d expect to be leading the field of GOP candidates for the US Senate.

But that’s exactly what’s happening in Georgia, where Herschel Walker looks to be on the verge of securing the Republican nomination to battle Rev Raphael Warnock, the incumbent Democratic senator.

Take a look at his journey from the NFL and its short-lived competitor, the USFL, to the realm of politics in The Independent:

[24 May 2022 21:37 · John Bowden]

Will Marjorie Taylor Greene survive Tuesday’s primary election?

One of the least-polled districts in the 2022 primary elections, Georgia’s 14th congressional district is the site of a showdown between conspiracy-spewing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and a handful of Republican challengers.

Ms Greene has the name recognition and other advantages of any incumbent, but has made a name for herself after being stripped of her committee memberships for past remarks about violence against Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi.

Her most well-funded challenger is Jennifer Strahan, who has the backing of the Republican Jewish Coalition and other groups.

The winner of Tuesday’s primary will also face a new challenge in November given that the previously deep-red district was extended in congressional map redrawings following the 2020 census to include some Democrat-leaning areas.

[24 May 2022 22:07 · John Bowden]

Mo Brooks grilled by reporter on January 6 subpoena

Rep Mo Brooks, who is surging in the polls and could be headed to victory or a runoff Tuesday in Alabama’s US Senate primary, battled with an MSNBC reporter over his participation in the January 6 committee’s investigation.

Speaking with the network’s Vaughn Hillyard as the primary concluded on Tuesday, Mr Brooks denied that he had been served with a subpoena by the committee and denounced it as an effort to “affect the 2022 election”.

Watch more, from MSNBC: