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Trump news – live: Jan 6 committee ‘aware’ of White House call to rioter as ex-president facing legal peril

New excerpts from Maggie Haberman’s interviews with Donald Trump reveal the former president’s thoughts on spurious voter fraud lawsuits, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Senator Mitch McConnell and what he was doing as a mob of his supporters breached the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021.

The House select committee investigating the attack will reconvene for its first public hearing since July on 28 September.

Congressman Jamie Raskin said the panel is “aware” of allegations that a White House switchboard patched a call from a rioter as the attack was underway, among “thousands of details” that the committee is investigating.

US Rep Adam Schiff has also has rebuked Mr Trump’s claim that he could declassify documents at the centre of a separate probe led by the US Department of Justice into his Mar-a-Lago estate simply by saying so, claims that “don’t demonstrate much intelligence of any kind,” according to the congressman.

Legal analysts have argued that the former president has put his lawyers in a precarious legal situation, after a federal judge demanded proof of Mr Trump’s dubious claims.

Key points

  • Jan 6 committee ‘aware’ that White House connected switchboard to Capitol rioter during attack

  • Liz Cheney will leave Republican Party is Trump is 2024 nominee

  • How Trump speaks about DeSantis in private, according to a new book

  • Republicans ‘considering’ impeachment vote against Joe Biden

  • What has Trump said about the Mar-a-Lago investigation so far?

Trump loyalist Kash Patel wrote 'QAnon slogans' while signing children’s book

07:45 , Shweta Sharma

Kash Patel, who was appointed by Donald Trump to be his representative to the National Archives and one of his strongest allies, is signing copies of his children’s book – which paints the former president as “the King” – with a cryptic QAnon slogan.

The book appears to glorify the fake story about 2020 voter fraud taking away “the King’s” power unfairly, and has been praised by Mr Trump who previously said “every school in America” should have it.

Mr Patel shared on Truth Social that the first 10 buyers of his book at a recent signing will get a copy of the book with a special message.

The “special message” is apparently an abbreviation “WWG1WGA!” — which is an acronym of the QAnon slogan “Where we go one, we go all”. The pictures of the messages were shared by those who got the books on Truth Social.

Mr Trump last week again signalled his affinity with believers of the QAnon conspiracies by reposting a video originally shared by a QAnon follower which shows a playing card with a “Q” on it.

It also showed a slide with the QAnon slogan “WWG1WGA” and a man wearing Mr Trump’s signature red tie with a “Q” pin on his lapel.

Adam Schiff mocks Trump’s intelligence over declassification comments

07:00 , Shweta Sharma

Congressman Adam Schiff responded with derision on Sunday to Donald Trump’s assertion that the president of the United States can declassify top-secret materials “just by thinking about it”, without going through a formal review process.

Asked by host Jake Tapper to respond to comments the former president made to Fox’s Sean Hannity last week, Mr Schiff quipped that Mr Trump’s remarks “don’t demonstrate much intelligence of any kind”.

Adam Schiff mocks Trump’s intelligence over declassification comments

The January 6 committee returns for a public hearing this week. What you need to know

06:00 , Alex Woodward

The House select committee investigating the events leading up to and surrounding the attack on the US Capitol, fuelled by Trump’s election lies, will return for a public hearing on Wednesday.

In a series of hearings this summer, lawmakers on the panel presented a public account of the extent of the efforts to overturn the 2020 election even as a massive crowd prepared for violence.

The testimony of witnesses and records obtained by the panel illustrated the far-reaching Republican effort to subvert the lawful 2020 election results and stir up anger on the right against Democrats and members of their own party who refused to go along.

In a piece earlier this month,The Independent’s John Bowden explains how far the commitee has come and the political environment it now finds itself in just weeks after its last hearing:

Jan 6 committee planning more public hearings later this month

Former GOP lawmaker says shocking text messages reveal ‘roadmap to an attempted coup’

05:37 , Shweta Sharma

Former US representative Denver Riggleman said some 2000 text messages exchanged with Mark Meadows revealed what he called a “roadmap to an attempted coup” and that how QAnon conspiracy theories overshadowed the Trump administration.

Mr Riggleman, who led a data analyst team for the Jan 6 committee, told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that messages to and sent by then-White House Chief included messages traced to Trump allies like Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

“It sounded like, honestly, the way that they talked, and the way that they referred to this, this ‘epic struggle,’ almost sounded like me looking at foreign terrorist groups in my past,” he said.

“The Meadows text messages show you an administration that was completely eaten up with a digital virus called QAnon conspiracy theories,” he added.

“You can look at text messages as a roadmap, but it’s also a look into the psyche of the Republican party today.”

He said what “shook me was the fact that if Clarence agreed with or was even aware of his wife’s efforts, all three branches of government would be tied to the stop the steal movement.”

Adam Schiff says he will likely support criminal referrals in Jan 6 probe

05:03 , Shweta Sharma

US representative Adam Schiff said he would likely support approving criminal referrals against those involved in the violence during the 6 January riots on the Capitol last year.

But he added that any criminal referral for the former president should be a unanimous decision from the panel.

“We operate with a high degree of consensus and unanimity,” Mr Schiff said on CNN’s “State of the Union”.

“It will be, certainly, I think, my recommendation, my feeling, that we should make referrals. But we will get to a decision as a committee, and we will all abide by that decision, and I will join our committee members if they feel differently.”

What you need to know about the lawsuit against Trump

05:00 , Alex Woodward

Donald Trump and his business empire, including his close associates and three adult children, could faces serious consequences following a sweeping lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James, filed last week.

A bombshell 222-page civil suit alleges that Mr Trump inflated his net worth to “deceive banks and the people of the great state of New York,” Ms James told reporters on 21 September.

She described the multiple “statements of financial condition” prepared by his former accounting firm for nearly all of Mr Trump’s marquee properties as “exaggerated, grossly inflated, objectively false, and therefore fraudulent, and illegal”.

The highlights:

  • The lawsuit cites the financial histories of more than 20 properties and assetts allegedly involved in the scheme.

  • It alleges that Trump and other falsified financial statements and property values and used those inflated statements to get loans,

  • The suit seeks to recover $250m in lost state revenue and penalties

  • Trump and Donald Jr, Eric and Ivanka could be barred from holding any office with a business in the state and barred from any real estate transactions for up to five years

Eric Garcia: ‘AOC sparked the Trump lawsuit. She’s a better politician than you think'

04:00 , Alex Woodward

Not only did her questioning of [Michael] Cohen lead to [New York Attorney General Letitia James’s] lawsuit, but the specific allegations — that Trump inflated his worth and lied about his wealth — did a particular wound to the former president. Trump projects an image — one beloved by his fans — of a highly competent emperor of New York business. That image is now being dismantled, and he’s starting to look like he could be a con artist, just in time for the midterms and the runup to the 2024 presidential election.

AOC sparked the Trump lawsuit. She’s a better politician than you think

Trump took ‘nothing of great urgency’ from the White House. Then came the Mar-a-Lago raid

03:00 , Alex Woodward

Months before federal law enforcement recovered boxes of classified documents from his Florida home, Trump told Maggie Haberman that he took “nothing of urgency” with him when he left the White House.

The former president sat down with The New York Times journalist in the summer of 2021 for an interview for her upcoming book Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.

In an adapted excerpt from the book, published in The Atlantic on Sunday, Ms Haberman details the moment that Mr Trump denied removing documents from the White House when he left office.

Trump claimed he took ‘nothing of great urgency’ from White House, new book reveals

Chris Christie: Trump’s ‘self-inflicted wounds’ will be a legal liability

02:00 , Alex Woodward

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie said Trump’s dismissals of the many allegations against him are pushing him closer to “self-indictment”.

His comments to ABC’s This Week on Sunday come as the former president falsely claimed to Fox News personality Sean Hannity that “you can declassify just by saying it’s declassified, even by thinking about it” and that declassification “doesn’t have to be a process” as his lawyers and federal prosecutors kick off a legal battle over top secret documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago.

“These are all self-inflicted wounds,” Mr Christie said. “His lawyers aren’t fighting any of this in court. They’re really not. They’re not putting forward any of these arguments. He’s putting forward all these arguments on television.”

QAnon, the Big Lie and misogyny: What we learned from Trump’s latest rally

01:00 , Alex Woodward

Trump rallied in North Carolina on Friday night, days after he faced a bombshell lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James, and while he’s mired in legal battles and investigations on multiple fronts.

The Independent’s Eric Garcia has the highlights:

QAnon, the Big Lie and misogyny: Inside Trump’s Wilmington rally

ICYMI: Man charged with assault for tapping Giuliani on the back signals potential $2m lawsuit for false arrest

Monday 26 September 2022 00:30 , Alex Woodward

A man charged with assault and jailed for more than 24 hours in June for touching Rudy Giuliani’s back in a Staten Island supermarket has signalled a potential lawsuit against New York City for $2m for his false arrest.

Video captured Daniel Gill, then an employee of the store, touching Mr Giuliani on the back with his hand inside a ShopRite market while the former mayor was supporting his son Andrew’s unsuccessful run for the Republican nomination for governor.

“What’s up, scumbag?” Mr Gill said, according to a notice of a claim that was filed on 22 September.

Man charged with assault for tapping Giuliani signals $2m wrongful arrest lawsuit

Trump fans raise their fingers in a QAnon salute at his latest rally. Security tried to stop them

Monday 26 September 2022 00:00 , Alex Woodward

The Independent’s Eric Garcia was on the ground in North Carolina as Trump’s supporters raised their fingers in an apparent reference to QAnon’s “where we go one, we go all” slogan – the second time this has happened at one of his campaign-style rallies.

QAnon – a far-right, wide-ranging conspiracy theory movement that embraces Mr Trump’s baseless claims about election fraud, among other beliefs – has centred Mr Trump as a heroic figure battling a “deep state” and Democratic officials and other figures who will face violent retribution with his election and return to power.

Lisa Pyle, who wore a hat with the Q symbol, told The Independent that she appreciated his use of Q symbolism.

“I think it’s wonderful,” she said, but added she likely would not vote in 2022. “Would you vote in a broken election if you knew? If you knew the truth?”

Trump fans do QAnon symbol again at rally despite security trying to stop them

Trump claims he wasn’t watching Capitol attack on television, despite witness testimony

Sunday 25 September 2022 23:30 , Alex Woodward

Trump told New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman that he was “having meetings” and “not watching television” while a mob of his supporters breached the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021.

But former White House officials have repeatedly testified to the House select committee investigating the attack that then-President Trump was in the dining room next to the Oval Office and watching it unfold on screen.

Trump claims he wasn’t watching Capitol attack on TV, despite witness testimony

ICYMI: Mike Lindell under investigation over identity theft and damage to computer connected to voting machine

Sunday 25 September 2022 23:01 , Alex Woodward

MyPillow founder and prominent, prolific election fraud conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell is under federal investigation for a number of alleged crimes related to his efforts to upend the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The Independent’s John Bowden reports:

Mike Lindell under investigation over damaging voting machine computer

Trump claimed he took ‘nothing of great urgency’ from White House – months before Mar-a-Lago raid

Sunday 25 September 2022 22:30 , Alex Woodward

Trump told New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman he took “nothing of great urgency” with him when he left the White House, months before 11 boxes of classified documents were seized by federal law enforcement at Mar-a-Lago.

In an adapted excerpt from her book book, published in The Atlantic on Sunday, Ms Haberman details the moment that Mr Trump denied removing documents from the White House when he left office:

“He demurred when I asked if he had taken any documents of note upon departing the White House— ‘nothing of great urgency, no,’ he said,” she writes.

Mr Trump then proceeded to contradict himself by mentioning letters sent by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un which he had taken from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, she writes.

Trump claimed he took ‘nothing of great urgency’ from White House, new book reveals

Chris Christie: Trump pushing himself closer to ‘self-indictment’ with incriminating TV statements

Sunday 25 September 2022 22:00 , Alex Woodward

Former New Jersey governor and one-time GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie said Trump’s ongoing, very public dismissals of the mounting allegations against him are pushing him closer to “self-indictment”.

“The more you absolutely antagonize with nonsense arguments on television that your lawyers won’t make in court – because they’re afraid they’ll be sanctioned if they do because they have no evidence – you’re pushing yourself closer to a self-inflicted indictment,” he told ABC’s This Week on Sunday.

“And I don’t want to see that happen just because I don’t think it’s good for our country, but he’s pushing himself in that direction,” he said.

His comments come as the former president lost his legal battle to block the US Department of Justice from reviewing classified materials recovered at Mar-a-Lago last month.

Trump falsely claimed to Fox News personality Sean Hannity this week that “you can declassify just by saying it’s declassified, even by thinking about it” and that declassification “doesn’t have to be a process.”

“These are all self-inflicted wounds,” Mr Christie said. “His lawyers aren’t fighting any of this in court. They’re really not. They’re not putting forward any of these arguments. He’s putting forward all these arguments on television.”

Trump ran for president because ‘nobody knows’ his ‘rich friends’, new book reveals

Sunday 25 September 2022 21:30 , Alex Woodward

Trump suggested that the reason he ran for president was because “nobody knows” his “rich friends,” according to an adapted excerpt from Maggie Haberman’s new book.

The New York Times journalist sat down with Mr Trump three times for her upcoming book Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, which chronicles his path from New York businessman to president.

In one candid moment, detailed in an excerpt published in The Atlantic on Sunday, Mr Trump appeared to admit that it was his desire for fame that ultimately led him to enter the White House race.

Trump ran for president because ‘nobody knows’ his ‘rich friends’, new book reveals

Former DOJ spokesperson: Trump’s legal team is now forced to ‘put up or shut up’ after ex-president’s claims

Sunday 25 September 2022 21:00 , Alex Woodward

Sarah Isgur, a former Trump-era Justice Department spokesperson, said the former president has put his lawyers in a precarious legal situation, after he argued that he declassified documents that he has pressed for a “special master” to review after federal law enforcement searched his Mar-a-Lago home.

US District Judge Raymond J Dearie is demanding proof that the documents were declassified, while Trump publicly says that he can declassify documents just by saying so, or thinking so.

His legal team also must provide his spurious claim that the FBI planted incriminating documents.

“All the things that Trump has said publicly, this judge is saying, ‘Put up or shut up,’” Ms Isgur told ABC’s This Week on Sunday.

Missing Secret Service texts not among thousands of documents turned over to Jan 6 committee

Sunday 25 September 2022 20:30 , Alex Woodward

US Rep Pete Aguilar says missing Secret Service text messages related to the attack on the Capitol are not among thousands of messages have been handed to the committee investigating the assault.

Missing texts include messages from agents who were on the ground with Trump as well as texts from top officials that oversee the agency

“We appreciate that we have finally started to get the documents that we asked for a year ago,” Mr Aguilar told CBS News Face the Nation on Sunday.

“These are still not the text messages that were discussed before, but these seem to be communications internally amongst staff members,” he saidd. “So, there’s a lot of information that our investigative team has been going through. We will detail all of it on Wednesday, but it’s important that they are providing the information and that it continues to help in our investigative work to understand what exactly was happening on January 5 and January 6 as this rally was happening and as the president was directing the mob to go to the Capitol.”

Trump: Zuckerberg’s net worth will plummet because social media platforms ‘have become very boring and unimportant’

Sunday 25 September 2022 20:16 , Alex Woodward

After investors pulled nearly $140m out of an investment deal to acquire his Truth Social platform, Trump claims on his app that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth “will continue to go down because Facebook, Twitter and all of them have become very boring and unimportant” without the millions of “like-minded” people kicked off the social media networks.

Digital World Acquisition, which had previously announced $1bn in funding committments, reported in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Friday that some investors were pulling $139m out of an acquisition deal.

ICYMI: White House switchboard connected phone call to rioter during Capitol insurrection

Sunday 25 September 2022 20:00 , Alex Woodward

While a mob of Trump supporters stormed the hall of Congress, the White House switchboard reportedly connected a phone call to one of the rioters.

“I only know one end of that call,” Denver Riggleman, a technical adviser who worked with the congressional, told 60 Minutes. “I don’t know the White House end, which I believe is more important. But the thing is the American people need to know that there are link connections that need to be explored more.”

Mr Riggleman, a former military intelligence officer and Republican congressman from Virginia, is the author of a forthcoming book which argues the January 6 committee needed to further investigate communication records like the alleged White House call.

January 6 committee advisor says White House called rioter during Capitol attack

The 60 Minutes interview will air tonight.

Congressman Jamie Raskin, who sits on the committee, said the member are “aware” of the allegations.

GOP congresswoman says Republicans are considering a vote to impeach Biden

Sunday 25 September 2022 19:35 , Alex Woodward

Republicans may vote to impeach Joe Biden if they take the House in November, a South Carolina congresswoman revealed on Sunday.

Nancy Mace said as much during an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, evoking a “wow” from a surprised Chuck Todd.

“I believe here’s a lot of pressure on Republicans to have that vote,” she said. “I think that is something that some folks are considering.”

The congresswoman did not, however, suggest that she would be supportive of such a measure. Ms Mace suggested the opposite, actually, telling Mr Todd that her focus under a GOP-controlled House would be “waste, fraud, and abuse” — typical issues under Congress’s oversight purview.

John Bowden reports:

GOP congresswoman says Republicans are considering a vote to impeach Biden

Jan 6 committee ‘deeply’ wants to hear from Trump’s Secret Service detail

Sunday 25 September 2022 19:00 , Alex Woodward

US Rep Pete Aguilar said the House select committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol “deeply” wants to hear from recently retired Secret Service officer Tony Ornato, who was on Trump’s detail during the assault.

His retirement came two months after bombshell testimony from former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified to the committee that Mr Ornato told her that the former president launged at a member of his detail while demanding that his car take him to the Capitol during the breach.

How Trump speaks about DeSantis in private, according to a new book

Sunday 25 September 2022 18:35 , Alex Woodward

Trump has reportedly described Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, expected among political analysts as a likely contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, as “fat,” “phony,” and “whiny,” according to New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman.

The governor has not publicly announced any designs to run for president in 2024, and he has repeatedly said that he intends to run for and remain Florida’s governor. But his rising national profile has reportedly irked Mr Trump as he sets his sights on returning to the White House.

‘Fat, phony, whiny’: How Trump describes DeSantis in private, according to new book

ICYMI: Newt Gingrich tells reporter ‘you have a learning disability’ in exchange over Jan 6 probe

Sunday 25 September 2022 18:30 , Alex Woodward

The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol is seeking information from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who remains an influential figure among Republican politics and a close ally to former President Donald Trump.

But when asked by a reporter at the Capitol on 22 September whether he has any thoughts about the committee’s work, Mr Gingrich said “I think you have a learning disability.”

The committee told Mr Gingrich in a letter on 1 September that the panel obtained emails he reportedly exchanged with Mr Trump’s advisers about television advertisements that amplified baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, a narrative that fuelled a mob of hissupporters to breach the halls of Congress.

He also floated the bogus “fake” elector scheme to Mark Meadows the night of the attack, according to messages obtained by the committee.

Newt Gingrich tells reporter ‘you have a learning disability’ in exchange over Jan 6

The Jan 6 committee could be hearing from Mike Pence

Sunday 25 September 2022 18:19 , Alex Woodward

The January 6 committee will hold its first public hearing since July on Wednesday.

US Rep Pete Aguilar told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday that it’s “important’ that the committee hear from former vice presdient Mike Pence, but “we haven’t made a determination on where we go with the vice president specifically.”

“Those continue to be evolving discussions,” he said. “The pressure that the vice president faced [to reject the certifiation of electora votes] ... that was a key focal point of the committee’s work.”

Nancy Mace: There is ‘a lot of pressure’ among Republicans to impeach Biden

Sunday 25 September 2022 17:48 , Alex Woodward

If Republicans take control of the House of Representatives in midterm elections this fall, GOP US Rep Nancy Mace said there there is “a lot of pressure on Republicans to have that vote” to impeach President Biden.

“I think that is something that some folks are considering,” she told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.

The congresswoman did not vote to impeach Trump, claiming that “due process was stripped away” during House debate.

Adam Schiff mocks Trump’s intelligence over declassification comments

Sunday 25 September 2022 17:30 , Alex Woodward

US Rep Adam Schiff mocked Trump’s assertion that the president can declassify top-secret materials “just by thinking about it”, without going through a formal review process.

Asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper to respond, Mr Schiff quipped that Mr Trump’s remarks “don’t demonstrate much intelligence of any kind”.

He added that if they truly represented the former president’s beliefs, it made him “more dangerous” than Democrats and his other critics previously believed.

Adam Schiff mocks Trump’s intelligence over declassification comments

Trump claims he wasn’t watching Capitol attack on television, despite witness testimony

Sunday 25 September 2022 17:00 , Alex Woodward

Trump claims that he was not watching television while a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol, despite witness testimony and multiple accounts from people in his administration revealing that he was doing exactly that.

Maggie Haberman, White House correspondent for The New York Times, said she pressed the former president about his actions during the assault on a joint session of Congress as lawmakers convened to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

“I didn’t usually have the television on. I’d have it on if there was something. I then later turned it on and I saw what was happening,” he said, according to Ms Haberman, writing in The Atlantic in an article adapted from her book Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.

But former White House officials have repeatedly testified to the House select committee investigating the attack that then-President Trump was in the dining room next to the Oval Office and watching it unfold on screen.

Trump claims he wasn’t watching Capitol attack on TV, despite witness testimony

‘The Old Crow’s a piece of s***'

Sunday 25 September 2022 16:30 , Alex Woodward

What does Donald Trump think about Mitch McConnell?

According to Maggie Haberman, in an article adapted from a book based on her interviews with the former president, Mr Trump has a nickname for him: “The Old Crow’s a piece of s***.”

Another recent book, chronicling the Senate’s two failed attempts to convict Trump after he was impeached in the House, reports that the GOP senate leader called him “crazy” wanted his party to “ignore” him.

“We’ve all known that Trump is crazy,” he had said. “I’m done with him. I will never speak to him again.”

GOP senator says Trump can’t declassify documents by just saying or thinking about it

Sunday 25 September 2022 16:07 , Alex Woodward

US Sen John Barrasso told ABC’s This Week on Sunday that a president cannot “declassify documents by saying so, by thinking about it.”

“I’ve not heard that one before,” he said. “In terms of national security documents, we have to always use extreme caution.”

Earlier this week, Trump, defending possession of White House documents at Mar-a-Lago, told Sean Hannity that he can declassify sensitive materials by saying or thinking about it.”

Trump’s claims that he can declassify documents by thinking of them ‘don’t demonstrate much intelligence of any kind'

Sunday 25 September 2022 15:45 , Alex Woodward

US Rep Adam Schiff said Trump’s comment in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News in which he claimed that he can declassify documents by just saying or thinking about it is “not how it works.”

“Those comments don’t demonstrate much intelligence of any kind,” he told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. If that’s his view, he’s even more dangerous than we have thought.

Nancy Mace will support ‘whomever Republicans nominate’ in 2024 election

Sunday 25 September 2022 15:30 , Alex Woodward

South Carolina US Rep Nancy Mace, who has criticised Trump and won a GOP primary against her Trump-backed opponent, did not say whether she would support him if he is the presidential nominee in 2024.

She said she will support “whomever Republicans nominate” in 2024.

Jan 6 committee ‘aware’ of new detail that White House connected switchboard to Capitol rioter during attack

Sunday 25 September 2022 15:00 , Alex Woodward

A former congressman alleges in a forthcoming CBS 60 Minutes interview the White House switchboard connected a phone call to a Capitol rioter while the attack was under way.

US Rep Jamie Raskin told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that the allegations are “one of thousands of details” that the committee is “aware” of.

“Our job is to put everything into a comprehensive portrait and narrative timeline of what took place,” he said. “To me, it’s interesting, but less interesting that [Trump] told the crowd in public that you got to fight like hell ... We’re interseted in telling the big story, which this was an organised, premediated, deliberate hit against the vice president and the Congress to overthrow the 2020 election.”

More on that alleged phone call from the White House:

January 6 committee advisor says White House called rioter during Capitol attack

Republicans are ‘going through contortions’ to defend Trump after Mar-a-Lago raid

Sunday 25 September 2022 14:45 , Alex Woodward

US Rep Liz Cheney said members of her party are “going through contortions” to defend the former president after taking sensitive and top secret documents from the White House to his home at Mar-a-Lago.

The GOP’s response is “the latest example of how fundamentally destructive Donald Trump has been,” she said at a Texas Tribune event on Saturday.

Cheney will do ‘everything’ she can to prevent Trump’s GOP nomination if he runs in 2024. Or she wont be a Republican

Sunday 25 September 2022 14:32 , Alex Woodward

US Rep Liz Cheney, who recently lost her seat in the House after losing Republican primary in Wyoming to a Trump-backed candidate, told a Texas Tribune event on Saturday that she will drop out of the party if the former president is the GOP’s presidential nominee in 2024.

“I’m going to make sure Donald Trump – I’m going to do everything I can to make sure he is not the nominee,” Ms Cheney said. “And if he is the nominee, I won’t be a Republican.”

She also said she will campaign for Democrats to ensure candidates like Kari Lake – the GOP nominee for the Arizona governor’s race – are not elected in 2022.

“I think it’s really important though, as voters are going to vote, that they recognize and understand what the Republican Conference consists of in the House of Representatives today,” she added.

Cheney: ‘Any interaction that Donald Trump has with the committee will be under oath and subject to penalties of perjury'

Sunday 25 September 2022 14:23 , Alex Woodward

Good morning from the US.

The January 6 committee will resume public hearings on Wednesday, what could be the final public review of findings from House lawmakers investigating the events leading up to and surrounding the attack on the US Capitol fuelled by Trump’s election lies.

In conversation at a Texas Tribune event on Saturday, committee co-chair Liz Cheney was asked whether she wants Trump himself to testify.

Her answer: “Any interaction that Donald Trump has with the committee will be under oath and subject to penalties of perjury.”

Breyer says leak of Supreme Court draft to overturn Roe v Wade was ‘very damaging’ as leaker remains unknown

Sunday 25 September 2022 13:00 , Alex Woodward

Now-retired US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, among three justices who opposed the conservative majority’s decision to strike down the constitutional right to abortion, said a leaked draft of the opinion in the landmark case was a “very damaging” breach of the high court’s protocol.

“Was I happy about it? Not for an instant,” he told CNN of the 24 June decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization. “Did I do everything I could to persuade people? Of course, of course. But there we are and now we go on. We try to work together.”

Breyer says leak of Supreme Court draft to overturn Roe v Wade was ‘very damaging’

ICYMI: Security tells Trump fans to stop making QAnon salute at his latest rally

Sunday 25 September 2022 12:00 , Alex Woodward

Like at his rally in Youngstown, Ohio last week, supporters in North Carolina on Friday night began to raise up their index fingers – which some have speculated might be a QAnon salute reflecting the slogan “Where we go one we go all” – as a song that sounds a lot like a QAnon anthem played on the loudspeakers.

Lisa Pyle, who wore a hat with the Q symbol, told The Independent that she appreciated his use of Q symbolism.

“I think it’s wonderful,” she said, but added she likely would not vote in 2022. “Would you vote in a broken election if you knew? If you knew the truth?”

Trump fans do QAnon symbol again at rally despite security trying to stop them

ICYMI: QAnon supporters are thriving on Truth Social

Sunday 25 September 2022 11:00 , Alex Woodward

As The Independent previously reported following the platform’s formal launch, hashtags related to the QAnon slogan “where we go one we go all” were easily found among hundreds of recent posts on Trump’s Truth Social platform, and profiles dedicated to “the great awakening” – the ascendance of a far-right renaissance with Trump at the helm, jailing or killing his political enemies – and other QAnon-referencing accounts were easily searchable through the platform’s account search function.

In the months since its launch, at least 88 accounts embedded within the QAnon delusion with more than 10,000 followers are promoting Q-related slogans, graphics and messages widely across the platform. More than one third of those accounts were previously banned on Twitter.

QAnon followers are thriving on Donald Trump’s Truth Social

ICYMI: Breyer refuses to condemn Ginni Thomas’s efforts to overturn election

Sunday 25 September 2022 09:00 , Alex Woodward

Former US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has refused to weigh in on the controversy surrounding Ginni Thomas’s involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The now-retired Breyer told CNN that the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas can make her own decisions about her political activity and whether it could impact the nation’s highest court – as he insisted that he “likes” both her and his conservative counterpart.

“I don’t go through that in that I strongly believe that women who are wives, including wives of Supreme Court justices, have to make the decisions about how to lead their lives, careers, what kind of career, etc., for themselves,” he said.

Ex-Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer refuses to condemn Ginni Thomas

Trump opens rally with crude insults about ‘raging maniac’ New York attorney general after she sues him

Sunday 25 September 2022 08:00 , Alex Woodward

Trump was not 10 minutes into his remarks at a North Carolina rally to boost Republican candidates in the state when he turned his attention to a candidate who will appear on a ballot 437 miles away in the state he once called home.

Two days after New York Attorney General Letitia James accused Trump of engaging in a years-long scheme to inflate his net work, the former president derided her efforts as “gross prosecutorial misconduct” that is he claims is a Democratic-led plot to destroy him and his extremist political movement.

Trump opens rally with crude rant about ‘raging maniac’ New York attorney general

Five takeaways from the lawsuit against Trump and what it means for 2024

Sunday 25 September 2022 07:00 , Alex Woodward

A sweeping lawsuit against the Trump empire comes as the former president weighs another run for president in 2024 after he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020.

After the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago last month, one poll showed that he bolted even further ahead of other potential Republican challengers in a primary. Similarly, the former president’s supporters have shown little sign of abandoning him, and it’s unlikely the latest lawsuit will push his followers away.

Five major allegations from New York’s $250m lawsuit against Trump

These are the 20 properties in Donald Trump’s alleged fraud scheme

Sunday 25 September 2022 06:00 , Alex Woodward

The New York Attorney General’s lawsuit against Trump and his business empire follows a three-year civil investigation into at least 23 of his properties and assets, from his Mar-a-Lago resort home in Florida to his namesake tower in Manhattan and golf courses in Scotland.

Ms James’s office found that at least 11 of Mr Trump’s annual financial statements included more than 200 false and misleading asset valuations.

“The number of grossly inflated asset values is staggering, affecting most if not all of the real estate holdings in any given year,” according to the lawsuit.

These are the 20 properties in Donald Trump’s alleged fraud scheme

Man charged with assault for tapping Giuliani on the back signals potential $2m lawsuit for false arrest

Sunday 25 September 2022 05:00 , Alex Woodward

A man charged with assault and jailed for more than 24 hours in June for touching Rudy Giuliani’s back in a Staten Island supermarket has signalled a potential lawsuit against New York City for $2m for his false arrest.

Video captured Daniel Gill, then an employee of the store, touching Mr Giuliani on the back with his hand inside a ShopRite market while the former mayor and Donald Trump attorney was supporting his son Andrew’s unsuccessful run for the Republican nomination for governor.

“What’s up, scumbag?” Mr Gill said, according to a notice of a claim that was filed on 22 September.

“I believe you let Mr Gill go, a lot more of these crazy pro-choice people are going to start attacking people,” Mr Giuliani said on a Facebook Live video in June addressing the incident.

Man charged with assault for tapping Giuliani signals $2m wrongful arrest lawsuit

ICYMI: Trump shares Truth Social photo declaring himself second only to Jesus

Sunday 25 September 2022 04:00 , Alex Woodward

Using his own Truth Social platform (he remains banned from Twitter and Facebook), Trump “re-truthed” a post by another Truth Social user which read: “Jesus is the Greatest. President @realDonaldTrump is the second greatest”.

Trump shares Truth Social photo declaring himself second only to Jesus

Eric Garcia: These are the Senate seats most likely to flip in November

Sunday 25 September 2022 03:00 , Alex Woodward

The Independent’s Washington bureau chief Eric Garcia has his updated ranking of Senate seats most likely to flip in November elections.

Plenty has changed in recent month. Troughout the summer, polling showed Democrats had a significant advantage after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade. Republicans struggled throughout the summer to find a counter-narrative and have already begun triaging some Senate races.

But voters typically begin to pay attention in the fall and the airwaves are about to be bombarded with ads.

These are the Senate seats most likely to flip in November

Ahmed Baba: ‘Trump and his children are in a lot of trouble – more than we ever expected'

Sunday 25 September 2022 02:00 , Alex Woodward

Trump and his family can cry “witch hunt” all they want, but anyone who watches a video of [Wednesday’s] Letitia James press conference or reads this massive lawsuit with an objective eye will see that the evidence is overwhelming.

Ahmed Baba

Trump and his kids are in a lot of trouble — more than we ever expected

Trumps could face $250m penalty and ban from doing business in New York in fraud suit

Sunday 25 September 2022 01:00 , Alex Woodward

The former president, his business empire, associates and three adult children are facing serious consequences for an alleged fraud scheme outlined in a sweeping lawsuit from the New York Attorney General.

Letitia James is also seeking to appoint an independent monitor to oversee the Trump Organization’s finances, and wants to oust the Trumps from their positions in the organization.

But the suit goes even further than that. She is asking that Mr Trump and his adult children be barred from serving as officers or directors in a New York company, effectively running them out of the state.

Trumps could face $250m penalty and ban from doing business in NY in fraud lawsuit

ICYMI: Rioter who pursued Eugene Goodman found guilty on all counts in Capitol riot case

Sunday 25 September 2022 00:00 , Alex Woodward

Doug Jensen, who stormed the US Capitol wearing a QAnon T-shirt and chased after the lauded US Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman, was found guilty on Friday of all seven counts he was facing.

Jan 6 rioter Doug Jensen who pursued Eugene Goodman found guilty on all counts

QAnon, the Big Lie and misogyny: Inside Trump’s Wilmington rally

Saturday 24 September 2022 23:13 , Alex Woodward

Days after he was hit with a bombshell lawsuit by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Trump returned to his comfort zone: in front of an adoring crowd, where he can revel in his disdain for his political opponents and whoop up support against the multiple investigations closing in on him.

His latest rally in North Carolina was also the former president’s chance to return a conquering hero, since most of the candidates he endorsed in the state won their primaries.

The Independent’s Eric Garcia reports from Wilmington:

QAnon, the Big Lie and misogyny: Inside Trump’s Wilmington rally

Judge dismisses Arizona GOP chair’s lawsuit against Jan 6 committee, clearing way for access to her phone records

Saturday 24 September 2022 22:28 , Alex Woodward

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit from Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward seeking to block a subpoena from the January 6 committee for access to her phone records.

US District Judge Diane Humetewa said in her ruling issued late on Thursday that the committee has a legitimite reason to review calls made in the days between Election Day 2020 and the end of Trump’s term in office, during which Ms Ward – a prominent election denier in the state – sought to organise “alternate” electors to reject Joe Biden’s certification.

“That three-month period is plainly relevant to [the committee’s] investigation into the causes” of the attack at the US Capitol, the judge rule.

Newt Gingrich tells reporter ‘you have a learning disability’ in exchange over Jan 6 probe

Saturday 24 September 2022 22:00 , Alex Woodward

The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol is seeking information from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who remains an influential figure among Republican politics and a close ally to the former president.

But when asked by a reporter at the Capitol on 22 September whether he has any thoughts about the committee’s work, Mr Gingrich said “I think you have a learning disability.”

Watch the exchange and learn why the committee is demanding his cooperation:

Newt Gingrich tells reporter ‘you have a learning disability’ in exchange over Jan 6

Matt Gaetz unlikely to be charged in sex trafficking probe but investigation’s future unclear, report says

Saturday 24 September 2022 21:30 , Alex Woodward

Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, who has been tied to a sex trafficking probe as part of a long-running Justice Department investigation, is reportedly unlikely to face charges because career prosecutors believe they will be unlikely to obtain a conviction.

A report from The Washington Post says that senior officials have not yet decided whether to seek an indictment, but prosecutors are recommending that they not do so because of “of credibility questions with the two central witnesses”.

The Post reported that “people familiar with the matter” say it is possible that “additional evidence” could change prosecutors’ “understanding of the case” but as of now it is unlikely that he will ever face an indictment.

Matt Gaetz unlikely to be charged in sex trafficking probe, report says

ICYMI: Trump lawyers fighting to keep January 6 testimony from grand jury

Saturday 24 September 2022 21:00 , Alex Woodward

Trump’s legal team is reportedly engaged in a closed-door court fight to keep a federal grand jury from hearing testimony from his White House advisers as part of a probe into the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

The former president’s lawyers have reportedly asserted executive and attorney-client privilege to block some witnesses, such as ex-White House aide and attorney Eric Herschmann, from complying with subpoenas to appear before the grand jury.

A trio of Trump lawyers were at a Washington, DC courthouse on Thursday, reportedly to present arguments on the matter to a federal judge.

Trump lawyers fighting to keep January 6 testimony from grand jury, report says

Adam Schiff: DOJ made ‘breathtaking’ request for Jan 6 committee’s files

Saturday 24 September 2022 20:30 , Alex Woodward

US Rep Adam Schiff, who sits on the House selecte committee investigating the Capitol attack, said that the US Department of Justice requested documents from the committee, what he called a “breathtaking” request.

“My first reaction was ... why don’t you have your own damn files?” he said on Saturday, according to NBC News’s Ali Vitali. “Why haven’t you been conducting your own investigation?”

Writer behind Trump rally song compared to QAnon theme rejects association with conspiracy theory movement

Saturday 24 September 2022 20:00 , Alex Woodward

Trump aides were quick to deny that a song that has played at Trump rallies is a QAnon theme after playing a royalty-free track called “Mirrors” by composer Will Van De Crommert.

The song bears some resemblance to the song “Wwg1wga”, an abbreviation for the QAnon slogan “Where we go one, we go all.”

Mr Van De Crommert is not pleased with the association and has sought to distance himself from the campaign and conspiracy theorist movement

Writer behind song used in Trump rally and similar to QAnon theme hits out at its use

Breyer refuses to condemn Ginni Thomas’s efforts to overturn election

Saturday 24 September 2022 19:45 , Alex Woodward

Former US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has refused to weigh in on the controversy surrounding Ginni Thomas’s involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The now-retired Breyer told CNN that the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas can make her own decisions about her political activity and whether it could impact the nation’s highest court – as he insisted that he “likes” both her and his conservative counterpart.

“I don’t go through that in that I strongly believe that women who are wives, including wives of Supreme Court justices, have to make the decisions about how to lead their lives, careers, what kind of career, etc., for themselves,” he said.

Ex-Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer refuses to condemn Ginni Thomas

White House condemns ‘catastrophic’ decision allowing Arizona’s 1864 anti-abortion law to take effect

Saturday 24 September 2022 19:30 , Alex Woodward

The White House has warned of “catastrophic, dangerous and unacceptable” consequences to follow a judge’s decision upholding Arizona’s 158-year-old anti-abortion law, initially drafted 48 years before Arizona was even a state.

In a statement on 24 September, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre warned the judge’s decision will “set Arizona women back more than a century.”

White House condemns Arizona’s 150-year-old abortion ban allowed to take effect

Trump-backed Ohio congressional candidate can’t explain disputes over his military service records

Saturday 24 September 2022 19:15 , Alex Woodward

Ohio Republican congressional candidate JR Majewski wildly exaggerated his military and professional background, including record as a “combat veteran” in Afghanistan despite only serving six months loading planes far from any frontline battles.

During a press conference addressing the report on Friday, the Trump-backed GOP candidate insisted his military records are “classified”.

“The military record I have been able to obtain, from my personal files, shows that all of my deployments are listed as classified,” he said.

He claimed that the Associated Press report debunking his claims was an attempt to “defame” him with a “fake hit piece.”

The report says Mr Majrewski’s post-military career “has been defined by exaggerations, conspiracy theories, talk of violent action against the US government and occasional financial duress.”

Investors pulled millions out of Truth Social acquisition deal

Saturday 24 September 2022 19:00 , Alex Woodward

Investors are pulling out of a plan from Digital World Acquisition Corp to acquire Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, according to the firm’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Digital World announce on Friday that it received termination notices from private investment in public equity investors ending nearly $139m in investments out of the $1bn commitment it had previously announced, according to Reuters.

ICYMI: QAnon supporters are thriving on Truth Social

Saturday 24 September 2022 18:30 , Alex Woodward

Within the first few months of Trump’s Truth Social, the former president himself has shared 30 different QAnon-affiliated accounts dozens of times to his more than 4 million followers.

At least 88 accounts embedded within the sprawling QAnon delusion with more than 10,000 followers each are promoting Q-related slogans, graphics and messages widely across the platform. More than one third of those accounts were previously banned on Twitter.

From our report in August:

QAnon followers are thriving on Donald Trump’s Truth Social

QAnon, the Big Lie and misogyny: Inside Trump’s Wilmington rally

Saturday 24 September 2022 18:00 , Alex Woodward

Trump’s ongoing baseless narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him continues to dominate his public appearances and social media posts stringing together lies about voter fraud.

His latest rally was no exception, while also digging into his misogynistic disdain for women who have challenged him and openly courting QAnon conspiracy theorists who fuel his Truth Social platform.

The Independent’s Eric Garcia has the big takeaways from on the ground in North Carolina:

QAnon, the Big Lie and misogyny: Inside Trump’s Wilmington rally

Trump fans do QAnon symbol again at rally despite security trying to stop them

Saturday 24 September 2022 17:30 , Alex Woodward

Donald Trump has openly courted QAnon influencers and supporters, who are raising their fingers in the air in an apparent salute referencing the sprawling conspiracy theory that baselessly asserts the 2020 presidential election was rigged, among other claims.

Lisa Pyle, who wore a hat with the Q symbol, told The Independent that she appreciated his use of QAnon symbolism.

“I think it’s wonderful,” she said.

She told The Independent’s chief Washington correspondent Eric Garcia that she likely would not vote in 2022: “Would you vote in a broken election if you knew? If you knew the truth?”

Trump fans do QAnon symbol again at rally despite security trying to stop them

January 6 committee adviser says White House called rioter during Capitol insurrection

Saturday 24 September 2022 17:00 , Alex Woodward

While a mob of Trump supporters stormed the hall of Congress, the White House switchboard reportedly connected a phone call to one of the rioters.

“I only know one end of that call,” Denver Riggleman, a technical adviser who worked with the congressional, told 60 Minutes. “I don’t know the White House end, which I believe is more important. But the thing is the American people need to know that there are link connections that need to be explored more.”

Mr Riggleman, a former military intelligence officer and Republican congressman from Virginia, is the author of a forthcoming book which argues the January 6 committee needed to further investigate communication records like the alleged White House call.

January 6 committee advisor says White House called rioter during Capitol attack

January 6 rioter who pursued Eugene Goodman found guilty on all counts in Capitol riot case

Saturday 24 September 2022 16:00 , Alex Woodward

Doug Jensen, a January 6 rioter who stormed the US Capitol wearing a QAnon T-shirt while chasing after the lauded US Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman, was found guilty on Friday of all seven counts he was facing.

The Iowa man was one of the first rioters to enter the Capitol building, according to the government.

Federal prosecutors said he “would not be stopped on January 6 until he got what he came for: to stop the peaceful transfer of power.”

Jan 6 rioter Doug Jensen who pursued Eugene Goodman found guilty on all counts