Defiant Donald Trump attacks ‘nasty’ Pence and ‘deranged’ special consul Jack Smith
Former president Donald Trump gave defiant speeches at two Republican state conventions on Saturday in Georgia and North Carolina, just one day after he was indicted for keeping highly-classified information at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago.
The 49-page, 38-count indictment was unsealed after Mr Trump released a series of social media posts revealing that he has been indicted by a grand jury under the supervision of Special Counsel Jack Smith.
The former president has fumed online about the charges and lashed out at Mr Smith calling him a “deranged lunatic”. The special counsel for his part gave a brief explanation of the sweeping indictment and reiterated that in America, the law applies to everyone. It appears Trump-appointed judge Aileen Cannon will remain on the case unless she recuses herself.
Mr Trump repeated his attacks on Mr Smith onstage over the weekend and on Roger Stone’s radio show. He also told Politico he would not quit the 2024 primary race even if convicted.
Meanwhile, the Sunday morning political talk shows were stacked with both Mr Trump’s defenders and detractors, with notable appearances by Jim Jordan and Lindsey Graham, and a particularly devastating analysis by former attorney general Bill Barr.
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Former president’s indictment overshadows DeSantis in North Carolina
In another era, a Republican frontrunner facing his second indictment in three months would mean that primary voters would actively be shopping for other candidates to put up against a president as unpopular as President Joe Biden.
Instead, former president Donald Trump’s indictment, which he announced on Thursday evening and which was unsealed on Friday, calcified his support among Republican voters at the North Carolina Republican Convention in Greensboro. If anything, the 37-count indictment accusing Mr Trump of showing highly classified information to unauthorised persons on two separate occasions made Republicans in the Tar Heel State more likely to support him.
Oliver O’Connell11 June 2023 22:00
Boebert claims she’s considered a ‘security threat’ by Pentagon
“Apparently the Pentagon thinks I’m a security threat because I oppose Biden’s plans for a woke military. Call me whatever you want, but I’m not backing down today or ever,” she tweeted on Saturday.
Gustaf Kilander has the story and the mocking responses she received.
Oliver O’Connell11 June 2023 21:45
What are the differences between Trump’s indictment and the Clinton email probe?
As former President Donald Trump prepares for a momentous court appearance Tuesday on charges related to the hoarding of top-secret documents, Republican allies are amplifying, without evidence, claims that he is the target of a political prosecution.
To press their case, Trump’s backers are citing the Justice Department‘s decision in 2016 not to bring charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent in that year’s presidential race, over her handling of classified information. His supporters also are invoking a separate classified documents investigation concerning President Joe Biden to allege a two-tier system of justice that is punishing Trump, the undisputed early front-runner for the GOP’s 2024 White House nomination, for conduct that Democrats have engaged in.
“Is there a different standard for a Democratic secretary of state versus a former Republican president?” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Trump primary rival. “I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country.”
But those arguments overlook abundant factual and legal differences — chiefly relating to intent, state of mind and deliberate acts of obstruction — that limit the value of any such comparisons.
A look at the Clinton, Biden and Trump investigations and what separates them:
Oliver O’Connell11 June 2023 21:30
Water: Maggie Haberman calls Trump indictment ‘one of the most devastating’ she has ever read
Oliver O’Connell11 June 2023 21:22
Lindsey Graham ties himself in knots trying to defend Trump
Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again ally in the Senate issued a half-hearted defence of the former president on Sunday as Republicans across Washington issued varied responses to the federal indictment against the former president.
Sen Lindsey Graham was on ABC’s This Week, where he received a grilling by host George Stephanopoulos about the allegations in the Justice Department’s 37-count indictment, unsealed last week.
Oliver O’Connell11 June 2023 21:15
Trump kept classified documents from seven agencies
Gustaf Kilander has the details.
Oliver O’Connell11 June 2023 21:00
Trump to speak from golf club after Tuesday night
Donald Trump says he’ll speak from Bedminster, New Jersey at 815pm on Tuesday, just five hours after he becomes the first ever former US President arraigned on federal criminal charges.
Oliver O’Connell11 June 2023 20:57
Barr’s comments don’t go unnoticed by Trump
In response to his attorney general’s comments on Fox News, former president Donald Trump posted on Truth Social:
Virtually everyone is saying that the Indictment is about Election Interference & should not have been brought, except Bill Barr, a “disgruntled former employee” & lazy Attorney General who was weak & totally ineffective. He doesn’t mean what he’s saying, it’s just MISINFORMATION. Barr’s doing it because he hates “TRUMP” for firing him. He was deathly afraid of the Radical Left when they said they would Impeach him. He knows the Indictment is Bull…. Turn off FoxNews when that “Gutless Pig” is on!
Oliver O’Connell11 June 2023 20:52
Watch: Bill Barr dismantles GOP talking points
Bill Barr also told Fox News Sunday this morning that the entire classified documents case came about because of the reckless conduct of the former president, something he has said before.
However, he also noted: “There are two big lies that are out there right now. One is that: ‘oh, these other presidents took all these documents’ … and the second thing is this idea that the president has complete authority to declare any document personal is facially ridiculous.”
Oliver O’Connell11 June 2023 20:45
North Carolina Republicans rally around Trump after indictment
Eric Garcia reports from Greensboro, North Carolina:
Any thought that Donald Trump’s latest would dampen Republican primary voters’ enthusiasm for his candidacy was quickly dispelled by the overwhelming reception the former president received at the North Carolina Republican Convention.
Oliver O’Connell11 June 2023 20:30