Trump news: Kevin McCarthy says ex-president accepted responsibility for Jan 6 in new audio

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McCarthy recorded saying Trump accepted ‘some responsibility’ for Jan 6 riot

A newly released audio recording from January 2021 features House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy telling Republican members that Donald Trump “bears responsibility for his words and actions” around the 6 January riot – and that the then-president told him “he does have some responsibility for what happened”.

Mr McCarthy yesterday denied a New York Times report that said he had considered urging Mr Trump to step down in the aftermath of the riot – but not long after his statement was put out, audio of that conversation was released, confirming that the report was accurate and that Mr McCarthy’s denial was false.

Liz Cheney’s office has denied leaking the earlier recording of a discussion between the congresswoman and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in which the two discussed whether Donald Trump should resign after the events of 6 January 2021.

On the recording, Mr McCarthy tells Ms Cheney – now a member of the 6 January committee – that he would suggest Mr Trump resign from office in the face of a looming impeachment.

Key Points

• Kevin McCarthy’s denial falls flat as Rachel Maddow releases audio
• Trump says Piers Morgan promo was ‘doctored’
• Rudy Giuliani unmasked on ‘The Masked Singer’, sings ‘Bad to the Bone’
• Analysis: What’s behind Marjorie Taylor Greene’s cash flow problem?

[21 April 2022 08:15 · Stuti Mishra]

Poll shows Americans not satisfied with Biden’s stand on Russia

Many Americans still question whether President Joe Biden is showing enough strength in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine, even as most approve of steps the US is already taking and few want American troops to get involved in the conflict.

A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows 54 per cent of Americans think Mr Biden has been “not tough enough” in his response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Here are the findings of the poll:

[21 April 2022 09:00 · Stuti Mishra]

Fans react to Rudy Giuliani reveal on ‘The Masked Singer'

Fans have reacted with surprise to Rudy Giuliani being revealed on The Masked Singer US – and judge Ken Jeong’s subsequent walk-off.

“Wow I can’t believe they actually aired it,” one person said.

The former New York City mayor and Donald Trump advisor was revealed to be the man behind the Jack in the Box mask and was voted off in a single round elimination after his one and only performance of “Bad to the Bone” by George Thorogood & the Destroyers.

Here are all the details from the Wednesday episode and the reactions that followed:

[21 April 2022 09:45 · Stuti Mishra]

Trump was ‘almost foaming at the mouth’ during interview, claims Morgan

Piers Morgan has claimed Donald Trump was “almost foaming at the mouth” ahead of the interview that will launch his new global show next week.

Morgan said that, shortly before the interview, Trump had been handed a three-page document detailing critical comments the journalist had made about him on topics including his “woeful handling” of the coronavirus pandemic and his response to defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

More details here from Alex Green:

[21 April 2022 10:30 · Stuti Mishra]

InfoWars chief offers to speak to Jan 6 investigators

InfoWars chief Alex Jones has offered to speak to the Justice Department’s January 6 prosecutors but wants immunity in return for his cooperation.

Jones, who runs the right-wing conspiracy media outlet that filed for bankruptcy earlier this week, said through his lawyer that he had informed the DOJ of “his desire to speak to federal prosecutors about Jan 6.”

Graeme Massi has more details here:

[21 April 2022 11:04 · Andrew Naughtie]

Trump circulates audio contradicting Morgan interview trailer

After Piers Morgan aired a trailer for his interview with Donald Trump, the former president reacted with a furious statement that included the now-circulating audio clip that shows a far more orderly end to the encounter than the promo clip implies.

Here’s what Mr Trump had to say...

Piers Morgan, like the rest of the Fake News Media, attempted to unlawfully and deceptively edit his long and tedious interview with me. He wanted to make it look like I walked out on the interview when my time limit of 20 minutes went over by an hour. The good news is that the interview was taped by us as a means of keeping him honest. The interview was actually very strong on the 2020 Election Fraud, with me calling him “a fool” if he truly believed those results. The evidence is massive and irrefutable (check out Truth the Vote and the Dinesh D’Souza documentary, which will all be coming out soon). For those who want to make Piers look bad, compare his video promo and how it was doctored to the real thing. Hopefully they will now be doing some big changes to their final product. It just shows, however, what I have to deal with in the Fake News Media. He went out of his way to deceptively edit an interview and got caught. That is a big story, isn’t it?

You can listen to the audio below.

[21 April 2022 11:40 · Andrew Naughtie]

Rudy Giuliani sings on ‘The Masked Singer’

Here’s a video of Rudy Giuliani being revealed on The Masked Singer US and his unique performance of “Bad to the Bone” by George Thorogood & the Destroyers.

[21 April 2022 12:15 · Andrew Naughtie]

ICYMI: Biden heading to White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Some of Joe Biden’s differences with Donald Trump are more profound than others. Among those that sits somewhere in the middle of the trivial-serious continuum is his decision to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, a Washington, DC linchpin whose rituals involve the sitting president delivering a comical speech while sitting by as an established comedian roasts them in front of a room of journalists and other luminaries.

Donald Trump, not known for putting up with mockery, spurned the event entirely as his relationship with the press hit Antarctic temperatures – and now, after a year off thanks to Covid-19, Joe Biden will be returning in person, another gesture of comity towards both the media establishment and the US’s normal political culture.

Eric Garcia has more:

[21 April 2022 12:50 · Andrew Naughtie]

Ingraham: Biden just wants to make his family rich “before he leaves this earth"

In a segment laying into Joe Biden’s economic policies last night, hardline Fox News host Laura Ingraham managed to cram into one sentence the right’s two top allegations about the president: that he’s senile, and that he’s corrupt.

It’s worth remembering that Donald Trump and his family have been investigated for multiple alleged conflicts of interest that sent money their way during Mr Trump’s time in office – and that the former president has charged high rates to host his Secret Service detail at properties owned by his company, effectively making revenue out of taxpayer dollars.

[21 April 2022 13:11 · Andrew Naughtie]

Report: GOP leaders’ rage at Trump after Jan 6 was more intense than known

The New York Times has put out a new report detailing exchanges among top congressional Republicans after 6 January as they debated what consequences Donald Trump should face – and the quotes it includes are something to behold.

Pulled from the upcoming book This Shall Not Pass, which looks at the Trump-Biden transitional period and the effort to overturn the 2020 election, the account includes especially intriguing details about the changing views of Kevin McCarthy, the now devoutly pro-Trump House Minority Leader who briefly turned on the president over the insurrection.

In public after Jan. 6, Mr. McCarthy issued a careful rebuke of Mr. Trump, saying that he “bears responsibility” for the mob that tried to stop Congress from officially certifying the president’s loss. But he declined to condemn him in sterner language.

In private, Mr. McCarthy went much further.

On a phone call with several other top House Republicans on Jan. 8, Mr. McCarthy said Mr. Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6 had been “atrocious and totally wrong.” He faulted the president for “inciting people” to attack the Capitol, saying that Mr. Trump’s remarks at a rally on the National Mall that day were “not right by any shape or any form.”

During that conversation, Mr. McCarthy inquired about the mechanism for invoking the 25th Amendment — the process whereby the vice president and members of the cabinet can remove a president from office — before concluding that was not a viable option. Mr. McCarthy, who was among those who objected to the election results, was uncertain and indecisive, fretting that the Democratic drive to impeach Mr. Trump would “put more fuel on the fire” of the country’s divisions.

But Mr. McCarthy’s resolve seemed to harden as the gravity of the attack — and the potential political fallout for his party — sank in.

Read the story here.

Kevin McCarthy (Getty Images)

[21 April 2022 13:45 · Andrew Naughtie]

Hillary Clinton moves to get Trump lawsuit thrown out

Always one to hold on to a grievance, Donald Trump is trying to sue Hillary Clinton for $24m, alleging that she and the Democratic National Committee engaged in a syping effort and smear camapaign against him and his 2016 presidential campaign. His claims have been debunked in public and the suit is thought to have no chance of success – and now, Ms Clinton and her team are seeking to have it thrown out in court.

Pointing out that even if Mr Trump’s claims were true, the statute of limitations on many of them would have expired, Ms Clinton’s representatives write that “Whatever the utility of Plaintiff’s Complaint as a fundraising tool, a press release, or a list of political grievances, it has no merit as a lawsuit and should be dismissed with prejudice.”

Read more here from the New York Post.

Hillary Clinton (REUTERS)