Donald Trump has used an interview to hardcore right-wing outlet Newsmax to tear into former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who gave devastating testimony about him to the 6 January committee this week. “The woman is living in fantasy land,” he told the network. “She’s a social climber.” Ms Hutchinson’s testimony has been received with both horror and admiration, and critics have struggled to dislodge the perception that it makes a criminal conviction of Mr Trump much more likely. Meanwhile, committee vice chair Liz Cheney delivered a fiery speech last night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Wednesday night, receiving thunderous applause from an audience of relatively mainstream Republicans and Trump critics. In excoriating remarks, Ms Cheney said Mr Trump’s efforts have turned out to be “more chilling and more threatening” than first imagined. “Republicans cannot both be loyal to Donald Trump and loyal to the Constitution,” she said, to a round of applause. Meanwhile, fellow Republican committee member Adam Kinzinger has hailed Ms Hutchinson as a ‘hero’ and ‘true patriot’ for her testimony, and revealed since then others have come forward to clarify their statements and recall other events.
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Oath Keepers to tell jury they believed former president would federalise them
The Oath Keepers will tell a jury they really believed former president Donald Trump would turn them into his own, personal militia on 6 January last year. It was reported that lawyers for Elmer Stewart Rhodes will tell jurors that the far-right group believed Mr Trump would federalise them. They will argue at their 28 September trial that this, and not sedition, was their lawful reason to be at the Capitol on 6 January. The jurors will be told that the far-right extremists believed that the former president would invoke the Insurrection Act as they gathered at the Capitol and turn them into his own, ultra-loyal federal militia. Maroosha Muzaffar1 July 2022 07:26 1656655942
Supreme Court says Biden can end Trump-era immigration policy
The US Supreme Court on Thursday said that Joe Biden can end the controversial Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” immigration policy. This is a big win for the Biden immigration agenda as the administration has suffered several losses in lower courts in its efforts to reverse Trump’s policies related to immigration. Maroosha Muzaffar1 July 2022 07:12 1656654300
Lawyer: Ginni Thomas has ‘serious concerns’ about testifying to Jan 6 committee
The lawyer for Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, said the conservative activist has “serious concerns” about testifying before the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. Oliver O’Connell1 July 2022 06:45 1656650700
Donald Trump Jr calls Cassidy Hutchinson ‘coffee girl’
Oliver O’Connell1 July 2022 05:45 1656647144
In deleted tweet, Giuliani appears to admit asking Trump for pardon before claiming he never did
Former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s attempt at joining his Trumpworld compatriots in attacking House January 6 select committee witness Cassidy Hutchinson on Tuesday went awry. He posted a tweet denying allegations that he’d asked for a presidential pardon, which was worded in a way that seemed to confirm the claim. Andrew Feinberg reports on what the former president’s lawyer said: Oliver O’Connell1 July 2022 04:45 1656645845
Former Trump aides accuse Secret Service agent who denied Jan 6 claims of having lied
Two former officials in the Trump White House are casting doubt on the trustworthiness of Tony Ornato, the Secret Service official who this week denied that then-President Donald Trump physically lunged at an agent or attempted to grab the steering wheel of the presidential vehicle during a confrontation that occurred on January 6. Mr Ornato, currently the assistant director of the Secret Service’s Office of Training, vaulted into political relevance this week after a former aide to ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows testified to the Jan 6 committee that she had been told by the agent on the day of the attack on Congress about the confrontation. It apparently erupted in an SUV transporting Mr Trump after the president grew enraged at his agents’ refusal to take him to the US Capitol, where thousands of his supporters would soon riot and storm the building. Read the full story by John Bowden here: Maroosha Muzaffar1 July 2022 04:24 1656644444
Will Trump face criminal charges from ‘smoking gun’ Cassidy Hutchinson testimony?
Former president Donald Trump has been the subject of a criminal investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, two impeachment inquiries led by House Democrats, and a two-year special counsel probe led by a legendary former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. His eponymous real estate company, the Trump Organization, currently awaits trial on tax fraud charges, and more than a few of his former close associates have spent time in federal prison for things done while in his employ. But after each one, the former president has emerged unscathed, often claiming that the lack of consequences for him means he has been exonerated. His response to facing the scrutiny of any governmental authority has been remarkably consistent. No matter the subject under investigation, he describes it as a “witch hunt”, tells his followers that the investigators are biased against him and convinces himself that the results, no matter how much wrongdoing might come to light, are illegitimate. The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg looks at whether his luck may have run out… Oliver O’Connell1 July 2022 04:00 1656641744
Trump begs Newsmax to not cut him off and broadcast his election lies
Former President Donald Trump took a Newsmax reporter to task during an interview that aired Thursday on the right-wing network over his boss’s refusal, like Fox News, to continue platforming lies about the 2020 election. The ex-president was being interviewed by Rob Finnerty when he posited that news networks including Newsmax itself were “afraid of getting sued” if they platformed the long-debunked conspiracies about voter fraud, foreign interference, and other falsehoods spread by the Trump campaign after the 2020 election. Oliver O’Connell1 July 2022 03:15 1656639044
Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock with strong Georgia lead
Senator Raphael Warnock has a strong lead in Georgia as voters come to terms with the repeal of federal abortion protections by the Supreme Court and the GOP dream of retaking the Senate appears to be getting further away. A Quinnipiac poll of registered voters puts the reverend at 54 per cent in the state, a whopping 10 points above his GOP challenger Herschel Walker. John Bowden has the story. Oliver O’Connell1 July 2022 02:30 1656636344
Jan 6 filmmaker forced to hire armed security
British documentary filmmaker Alex Holder, whose testimony to the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot made him a household name in US politics last week, told the BBC on Wednesday night that he now needs multiple armed guards to protect his safety. “My life changed about a week ago and I now literally have two armed guards outside this studio right now that follow me around everywhere,” Mr Holder said on the programme. Oliver O’Connell1 July 2022 01:45
