The House ways and means committee confirmed that the former president’s tax records from 2015 to 2021 will be released
Donald Trump’s redacted tax returns will be made public on Friday after a powerful congressional committee voted last week to release them.
A spokesperson for the US House of Representatives ways and means committee confirmed the timing of the release in a statement to Reuters on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Ex-president calls magazine reporter who likened him to Norma Desmond of Sunset Boulevard a ‘shaky and unattractive wack job’
Rejecting a New York Magazine story which said his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 was all but moribund a little more than a month after he announced it, Donald Trump subjected the writer to misogynistic abuse.
Olivia Nuzzi, Trump said, was “a shaky and unattractive wack job”.
Continue reading...America’s top health official, a cult figure for millions, has advised seven US presidents – but will he speak freely about Trump’s response to coronavirus?
Dr Anthony Fauci speaks to the Guardian via Zoom a couple of hours before his leaving do, marking the end of a 54-year career at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
“That’s going to be done according to all public health guidelines,” America’s top public health official, wearing dark suit, blue shirt and blue-and-white polka dot tie, is quick to add. “People with masks and people online and people dialling in through Zoom, so it’s not going to be the classical party.”
Continue reading...Mike Lee of Utah made comment in text message to Trump aide on evening after the Capitol attack
A senator who received a voice message meant for another Republican on January 6 described the caller, Rudy Giuliani, as “walking malpractice”.
The piquant characterisation of the former New York mayor, then Donald Trump’s attorney and a leading proponent of his election fraud lie, was made in a text message sent by Mike Lee of Utah.
Continue reading...According to transcripts, Cassidy was conflicted ahead of the hearing: ‘I felt like Trump was looking over my shoulder’
“I’m about to be fucking nuked,” former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson reportedly told a January 6 committee staff member after meeting with investigators before her bombshell testimony to the committee in June. Her prediction turned out to be accurate.
Within hours of Hutchinson’s surprise appearance, where she testified about a furious president who encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol, tried to grab the steering wheel of a presidential SUV and hurled his lunch against an Oval Office wall, the backlash began.
Continue reading...House committee publishes report three days after recommending criminal charges against ex-president
The congressional panel investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol has published its final report, accusing Donald Trump of a “multi-part conspiracy” to thwart the will of the people and subvert democracy.
Divided into eight chapters, the 845-page report includes findings, interview transcripts and legislative recommendations and represents one of the most damning official portraits of a president in American history.
Continue reading...Panel looking into storming of Capitol accuses Donald Trump of deliberately making false claims and plotting to overturn 2020 election results
The January 6 committee has released its 845-page report on the storming of the US Capitol. The congressional panel conducted more than 1,000 interviews and 10 public hearings before recommending criminal charges against former president Donald Trump.
Trump has said the report is “highly partisan”.
Continue reading...Committee releases closed-door testimony of former White House chief of staff’s aide but full report is still delayed
White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson said she felt she had “Trump himself looking over my shoulder” as she discussed with her attorney her upcoming testimony to the January 6 committee earlier this year.
Hutchinson, an assistant to then-president Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, makes the revelation in a transcript of a deposition to the panel that was released on Thursday morning.
It wasn’t just that I had Stefan sitting next to me; it was almost like I felt like I had Trump looking over my shoulder. Because I knew in some fashion it would get back to him if I said anything that he would find disloyal.
And the prospect of that genuinely scared me. You know, I’d seen this world ruin people’s lives or try to ruin people’s careers. I’d seen how vicious they can be.
Continue reading...Most of 34 witnesses whose transcripts have been released invoked fifth-amendment right against self-incrimination
An 800-page report set to be released on Thursday by House investigators will conclude that Donald Trump criminally plotted to overturn his 2020 election defeat and “provoked his supporters to violence” at the Capitol with false voter fraud claims.
Before the release, on Wednesday night, the January 6 committee released 34 transcripts from 1,000 interviews conducted over 18 months. Most of the interviewees were witnesses who invoked their fifth-amendment right against self-incrimination.
Continue reading...Publication of report after 18-month investigation follows vote to publicly release Trump’s tax returns
Worrying news for Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House minority leader trying to secure the speaker’s gavel but having a hard time satisfying the far right of the party: according to Politico, a plan is forming to have Steve Scalise, currently McCarthy’s righthand man, step in if the Californian cannot seal the deal.
According to the website, “a group of lawmakers has quietly approached” Scalise “about running should McCarthy falter, according to multiple GOP members and aides.
Their message? ‘Steve, just be ready,’ according to one member currently backing McCarthy who spoke to us late last night on condition of anonymity. Scalise was uncontested in his bid for majority leader in the new Congress, the lawmaker noted, and ‘could be a good consensus leader if things don’t go well for Kevin’.
Continue reading...As the House January 6 committee is set to publish its report, here are some of the key standouts
The House January 6 committee is set to publish its report on the attack on the Capitol that shocked both America and the world . After a year of dramatic hearings and bombshell testimony, here are some of the key winners and losers to emerge from its work.
Continue reading...It’s lunchtime, and an opportunity to look at where we stand on a busy Tuesday in US politics. The House ways and means committee will meet shortly to discuss and vote on releasing Donald Trump’s tax returns to the public.
Here’s what else we’ve been looking at:
The fallout continues from Monday’s bombshell criminal referral by the House January 6 panel of former President Trump on charges including insurrection. Some Republicans don’t seem to be happy.
Long-serving Democratic senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont delivered an emotional farewell speech to the chamber, condemning the January 6 Capitol riot as an assault on democracy, and calling on colleagues to return to a more civil age of bipartisanship.
Details have emerged of the $1.7tn omnibus government spending package agreed by congressional leaders in Tuesday’s early hours. The bill includes more financial aid for Ukraine, more visas for Afghans who helped the US, and banning the TikTok app on government devices.
When I arrived here, bipartisan cooperation was the norm, not the exception.
Make no mistake, the Senate of yesterday was far from perfect. [But] the Senate I entered had one remarkable, redeeming quality. The overwhelming majority of senators of both parties believed they were here to do a job.
Continue reading...As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump broke decades of precedent by refusing to release his tax forms to the public
A powerful congressional committee on Tuesday voted to publicly release Donald Trump’s tax returns in a move that is sure to ignite a political row as well as anger among some privacy experts in America.
The Democratic-controlled House ways and means committee decided to release the documents, which the former US president has long tried to shield, after several hours of debate.
Continue reading...House panel concluded investigation and referred Trump to the justice department for criminal prosecution on four counts
Democrats in Congress on Monday praised the House January 6 select committee for referring former president Donald Trump to the justice department for violating at least four criminal statutes, while Republicans called the committee’s work a “political stunt”.
In its last public meeting, the committee chose to refer Trump for charges on obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement, and assisting, aiding or comforting an insurrection. Though the unprecedented criminal referrals are largely symbolic as the justice department will decide whether to prosecute Trump, they will give the justice department a road map should it choose to proceed.
Continue reading...The justice department may find it difficult to obtain a conviction for each charge referred by the January 6 committee
The House January 6 select committee outlined criminal referrals against Donald Trump for charges that experts believe the justice department could definitely pursue should it move forward with prosecuting the former US president over his efforts to stop the congressional certification of the 2020 election.
The panel voted at its final public session on Monday to recommend prosecution for Trump for four possible crimes: obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy to make a false statement and incitement of insurrection.
Continue reading...Four Republicans referred to House ethics committee for refusing to comply with panel’s subpoenas, including Kevin McCarthy
Joe Biden is condemning growing antisemitism, in remarks for a Hanukah reception at the White House that will include a menorah lighting and blessing.
The US president will tell guests at tonight’s event that silence is complicity, according to White House officials, and will add that it’s imperative that hate, violence and antisemitism are condemned, the Associated Press reports.
Continue reading...The referral marks the first time in US history that Congress has taken such action against a former president
The January 6 committee has referred Donald Trump to the justice department to face criminal charges, accusing the former president of fomenting an insurrection and conspiring against the government over his attempt to subvert the outcome of the 2020 election, and the bloody attack on the US Capitol.
The committee’s referrals approved by its members on Monday are the first time in American history that Congress has recommended charges against a former president. They come after 18 months of investigation by the bipartisan House of Representatives panel tasked with understanding Trump’s plot to stop Joe Biden from taking office.
Continue reading...The evidence points to the fact that the former commander-in-chief is likely a criminal who committed a ‘crime against democracy’
Whodunnit? He did it.
Donald Trump – businessman, celebrity president, golfer and digital trading card star – is also a likely criminal, the congressional panel investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol concluded on Monday.
Continue reading...Dramatic statement comes one day before January 6 panel set to release outline of its investigative report on US Capitol attack
California congressman Adam Schiff said Sunday that he believes there is “sufficient evidence” to criminally charge Donald Trump in relation to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Schiff’s dramatic statement on CNN’s State of the Union came one day before the House January 6 select committee to which he belongs is poised to release an outline of its extensive investigative report on the US Capitol attack, which has been linked to nine deaths, including the suicides of traumatized law enforcement officers.
Continue reading...Lawmakers expected to outline findings and vote to issue criminal and civil referrals on Monday
The House January 6 select committee plans at its final meeting on Monday to refer Donald Trump and top advisers to the justice department for criminal conduct connected to the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and release the executive summary of its final report.
The panel is expected to take several conclusive steps at the meeting, announced for 1pm, including outlining its investigative findings and legislative recommendations, voting to formally adopt the report, and then voting to issue criminal and civil referrals.
Continue reading...