Related: The competition squaring up to Donald Trump
The Department of Justice is preparing to ask a Washington DC grand jury to indict Donald Trump for violating the Espionage Act and for obstruction of justice over the discovery of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, the latest setback to hit his 2024 presidential campaign.
The Independent has learned that prosecutors are ready to ask grand jurors to approve an indictment as soon as Thursday accusing the former president of violating a portion of the US criminal code known as Section 793, which prohibits “gathering, transmitting or losing” any “information respecting the national defence”.
Mr Trump reacted angrily to the news on Wednesday, insisting: “No one has told me I’m being indicted, and I shouldn’t be because I’ve done NOTHING wrong.”
The dramatic development comes as Mark Meadows, Mr Trump’s former White House chief of staff, has reportedly agreed to plead guilty to several federal charges.
Meanwhile, the Republican front-runner is facing further competition in his quest to return to the White House in 2024 as his estanged vice president Mike Pence and ex-New Jersey governor Chris Christie join an increasingly crowded field.
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That furious Trump rant about Mark Meadows you saw? It’s fake
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar has the story.
Oliver O’Connell9 June 2023 00:15
Newsom suggests kidnap charges over Ron DeSantis’s migrant flights
Mr Newsom called Mr DeSantis a “small, pathetic man” in a tweet on Monday, and then provided a snippet of the state’s laws regarding kidnapping.
Oliver O’Connell8 June 2023 23:30
Trump advisers want to put ‘Tiny D’ at centre of DeSantis attacks
No, really. It is what you’re thinking.
Oliver O’Connell8 June 2023 23:00
Trump’s lawyers seek to cut sex abuse jury award
The $5 million awarded to a columnist by a jury that concluded she was sexually abused in the 1990s by Donald Trump in a New York luxury department store should be reduced to less than $1 million, the former president’s lawyers told a judge Thursday, saying the award was grossly excessive and based on “pure speculation.”
Oliver O’Connell8 June 2023 22:45
Watch: Pence asked about GOP voters being angry with him over Trump
Oliver O’Connell8 June 2023 22:30
Voices: The folly of trusting Trump claims two more victims. Why do they do it?
This week, CNN’s CEO Chris Licht was ousted after 16 months on the job and a brutal expose in The Atlantic. On Wednesday evening, it was reported that former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has been testifying before the grand jury investigating Trump. Some sources suggested he might be taking a plea deal, though his lawyer denied it.
Licht and Meadows both put their faith and trust in Donald Trump. They both attached themselves to him in the hope that his fame and power would boost their own fortunes. And they both, in quick order, ended up miserable and humiliated.
Oliver O’Connell8 June 2023 22:15
Ex-Trump official slammed by lawmaker for linking trans issues to sustainable investing
Rep Becca Balint of Vermont strongly criticised former Trump administration official Mandy Gunasekara in a congressional hearing on Tuesday for asserting that sustainable investment strategies by companies promote gender transitions for children.
Abe Asher has the details.
Oliver O’Connell8 June 2023 22:00
DeSantis campaign accused of using fake AI images of Trump
Abe Asher has the details.
Oliver O’Connell8 June 2023 21:45
Trump supporting billionaire offers to buy CNN
A Donald Trump-supporting New York billionaire says that he wants to buy embattled CNN from Warner Bros. Discovery.
Grocery mogul John Catsimatidis told The New York Post that he would “go run the place tomorrow morning and all I’d want is $1 per year.”
Graeme Massie has the story.
Oliver O’Connell8 June 2023 21:30
Trump properties charged Defense Dept $1m during term in office, report says
Newly released documents reveal that Donald Trump’s businesses charged his Department of Defense $976,000 during the first three years of his presidency, an amount that appears far greater than previously reported.
The Pentagon produced the documents in May, more than two years after Trump left the White House, in response to a November 2019 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from ethics watchdog American Oversight. The previous publicly known high for Defense Department spending at Trump properties appears to be $300,000, which CNN reported in April 2019.
Donald Trump alongside the ex-US Navy secretary Thomas Modly during the Army v Navy Football game in 2019
(AFP via Getty Images)
Oliver O’Connell8 June 2023 21:27