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Republicans accused of hypocrisy over gun safety after Nashville shooting – as it happened
That’s it for the US live politics blog. Here’s what happened today:
Earlier today, the Nashville police department gave a press conference about Monday’s shooting at a local elementary school, where three children and three adults were killed.
A federal judge has ordered Mike Pence to testify in a special counsel investigation on Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, though Pence is able to appeal the ruling.
Joe Biden commented on his ability to get gun control passed in the wake of Monday’s mass shooting. Biden said that he is only able to “plead with Congress” to act and pass gun control measures.
Democrats are apparently weighing legislative options in the face of Monday’s shooting, including a discharge petition which could bring legislation to the floor. But Democratic leadership has not provided a timeline to when or if they plan on doing so.
Republicans, including Tennessee governor Bill Lee, have been accused of hypocrisy for providing their condolences following Monday’s shooting but refusing to support gun control measures.
Thank you for reading. Join us tomorrow for more updates!Earlier today, the Nashville police department provided more updates on the shooter who killed three children and three adults at an area elementary school on Monday.According to the police, the 28-year-old shooter had legally purchased seven guns. The firearms were hidden from the shooter’s parents as the shooter resided in the family home.The shooter’s parents believed that the shooter owned one gun that had been sold.The shooter used three of the purchased guns to carry out the massacre on Monday at Covenant school, where they were a former student. The shooter had reportedly been receiving treatment for an “emotional disorder”, reported Reuters.The shooter left behind a detailed map of the school as well as what police are describing as a “manifesto”, which indicated that the shooter may have had plans to target other locations.Before carrying out the shooting, the shooter messaged Averianna Patton, a friend and former basketball teammate, writing: “Something bad is about to happen.”Patton told Nashville’s News Channel 5 that she notified police about the message, but said that police showed a lack of urgency.Here are more highlights from Biden’s remarks from NPR’s Asma Khalid:Biden spoke about yesterday’s mass shooting in Nashville while giving remarks at a semiconductor facility in North Carolina about his Investing in America agenda, his administration’s plan to increase job growth.Biden spoke on the shooting in Nashville, adding that the victims’ families deserve action on gun control and “more than a prayer”, referring to thoughts and prayers that are usually offered after such events.Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer responded to questions about whether an assault weapons ban would come to the floor for a vote.During remarks to the press, Schumer said that legislators were “working hard” to get enough votes for a ban to be passed, but declined to give a timeline on if a vote would happen on the issue soon.“Look, as you know, I care passionately about this. I’m the author of the bill that passed in 1994. And we’re working hard to get enough votes to pass it,” said Schumer.Florida representative Maxwell Frost called Republicans “cowards” for their failure to pass gun control.Discussing the Nashville shooting, Maxwell called out “politicians in this chamber that have been bought and paid for by the NRA” for not addressing the issue of gun violence seriously.“It is likely that at this moment, the next mass shooter is planning their shooting. What will this chamber do about it,” said Frost.Read the Guardian’s September 2022 profile of Frost here.The Georgia Democratic party (GDP) has put out a statement denouncing Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s upcoming speech at a local gun shop following yesterday’s shooting in Nashville.Representative Nikema Williams, who is also chair of the GDP, called on DeSantis to cancel the upcoming stop in Smyrna, Georgia, according to a statement from Williams published Tuesday:Holding a campaign event at a gun store days after another horrific school shooting where innocent children were murdered should be beyond the pale, but Ron DeSantis seems to not care.
DeSantis is showing Georgians exactly where his priorities lie as he advocates for an extreme MAGA agenda that could make it easier for criminals to carry guns in Florida and puts the gun lobby ahead of our children’s lives. DeSantis should cancel this event immediately.DeSantis is scheduled to visit the gun shop on Thursday, 30 March.A federal judge has ordered Mike Pence to testify in a special counsel investigation on Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.The former vice-president has been ordered to testify about conversations he had with Trump leading up to the January 6 insurrection, reported CNN.The judge has said that Pence can decline to answer questions related to his own actions or the insurrection itself.Pence is able to appeal this ruling.Joe Biden has commented on his ability to get gun control passed following Monday’s massacre at a Nashville elementary school, noting that he can only “plead with Congress” for action.Biden spoke to reporters while on his way to Durham, North Carolina.While making his trip, Biden was asked about his ability to enact firearm restrictions.“I can’t do anything except plead with Congress to act,” said Biden.The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly wrote on the latest updates regarding Tuesday’s shooting in Nashville at an elementary school, available here.The Senate chaplain commented on yesterday’s mass shooting, delivering fiery remarks about the need to move beyond thoughts and prayers in response to gun violence.On Tuesday, Senate chaplain Barry Black began his morning prayer for the Senate with a plea on addressing gun violence.“When babies die at a church school, it is time for us to move beyond thoughts and prayers. Remind our lawmakers of the words of the British statesman Edmund Burke: ‘All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing,” said Black during his impassioned prayer.Democrats are now holding a press conference in response to yesterday’s shooting, urging Republicans to work with them and pass gun control legislation.Democrats are apparently weighing legislative options in the face of Monday’s shooting at a Tennessee elementary school, including a discharge petition.Democrats have been critical of Republicans’ responses to the latest mass shooting and are considering potential actions, reports Politico’s Nicholas Wu.“We’re going to have a conversation about all options to deal with the gun violence epidemic in America,” said US House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries to Politico.Tennessee representative Andrew Ogles has responded to criticism he received after yesterday’s Nashville shooting for a 2021 Christmas family photo featuring firearms.Ogles, who represents the district where the shooting took place, did not express regrets on Tuesday over the photo, where Ogles, his wife, and several of his children are holding riffles and smiling.“Why would I regret a photograph with my family exercising my rights to bear arms?” said the representative.An aide to Kentucky senator Rand Paul was stabbed multiple times over the weekend, said the senator in a late Monday statement.A member of Paul’s staff was seriously wounded during the random attack around 5.15 pm eastern time on Saturday, reported ABC News.The assault took place less than two miles outside of the US Capitol building, raising concerns about violence in the capital city.“This past weekend a member of my staff was brutally attacked in broad daylight in Washington, D.C.,” said Paul in a statement to ABC News.“I ask you to join [wife] Kelley and me in praying for a speedy and complete recovery, and thanking the first responders, hospital staff, and police for their diligent actions.”The victim was treated for stab wounds and taken to the hospital for “treatment of life-threatening injuries”, according to a police report obtained by ABC.The suspect was arrested and is being held without bail.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke this morning about yesterday’s shooting, urging Republicans to “show some courage” on passing gun control measures. While speaking on the show Morning Joe, Jean-Pierre spoke about the need for legislation following another mass shooting in a US school.“No other country is dealing with this,” said Jean-Pierre. “No other country is dealing with our kids going to school [and] being slaughtered, being murdered.”“Enough. Enough. Enough,” Jean-Pierre added. “We need Republicans in Congress to show some courage. This is what they owe these parents.Following Monday’s shooting in Nashville, Tennessee governor Bill Lee has come under fire for sharing condolences about the massacre while not supporting gun control in the state. Republican governor Bill Lee shared on Monday that he was “praying for the school, congregation & Nashville community”.But Lee was widely criticized for his comments as Lee refused to pass firearm restrictions in June following a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed.Lee also faced backlash for his comments, as his administration passed a bill in 2021 that allows open carry of handguns without permits in Tennessee.Good morning.Yesterday’s shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, has once again spotlighted the partisan divide on how to address gun violence in schools.Three children and three adults were killed during Monday’s massacre at the Covenant school, a private elementary school, confirmed the Nashville police department. The shooting was carried out by a former student who was shot and killed at the scene.In response to Monday’s tragedy, Democrats have been quick to point out hypocrisy and inaction on gun violence from their Republican counterparts.Tennessee representative Andrew Ogles, who represents the district where the Covenant school is located, said he was “utterly heartbroken” over the shooting in a statement released on Monday, reported the Washington Post.But Democrats and gun control advocates brought up Ogles’ previous defense of guns, including a 2021 Christmas card featuring Ogles’ family smiling and holding riffles.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre similarly accused Republicans of inaction during yesterday’s briefing, stating: “How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress step up and pass the assault weapons ban, to close loopholes in our background check system, or to require the safe storage of guns?” More - in US Politics
Mike Pence must testify before grand jury investigating January 6 – reports
Former US vice-president Mike Pence must testify in front of a grand jury investigating Donald Trump’s election subversion and incitement of the January 6 attack on Congress, a federal judge reportedly ruled on Tuesday.Multiple news outlets reported the ruling, which remained under seal.Trump and Pence himself have both sought to stop Pence from testifying in the justice department investigation of Trump’s attempt to overturn his defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.At issue are conversations between Pence and Trump leading up to January 6 and the attack on the Capitol, which is now linked to nine deaths, more than a thousand arrests and hundreds of convictions.Lawyers for Trump cited executive privilege, the concept that communications between a president and aides are protected.Lawyers for Pence argued he was protected by the separation of powers, via the vice-president’s role as president of the Senate, which he performed on 6 January 2021, the day supporters who were told to “fight like hell” by Trump tried to block certification of Biden’s win.On Tuesday, James E Boasberg, a judge in federal district court in Washington DC, reportedly rejected both arguments.Pence is not expected to have to answer questions about his own actions on 6 January 2021, when he was spirited away from a mob which chanted about hanging him while a makeshift gallows went up outside.Pence has described that experience in a book, So Help Me God, published ahead of an expected run against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. He has also criticised Trump’s actions in public remarks. Trump has said the January 6 Capitol attack was Pence’s fault.On Tuesday, Pence was reportedly considering an appeal. Robert Costa, a CBS correspondent and co-author with Bob Woodward of the bestselling book Peril, about Trump’s attempt to cling onto power, said: “Pence has said he might see this all the way to the supreme court.”The Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe has described Pence’s defence as “meritless”, saying: “Pence needn’t file a foolish appeal just to prove his [pro-Trump] credentials. He’s done enough in that regard. Now he needs to show he’s law-abiding.”Reporting the ruling on Tuesday, the Associated Press said it set up the “extraordinary scenario of a former vice-president potentially testifying against his former boss in a criminal investigation”.Trump faces legal jeopardy on multiple fronts.An indictment is expected in New York, over a hush money payment to an adult film actor. His attempted election subversion is under investigation in Georgia and at the federal level. Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed by the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, is also investigating Trump’s retention of classified material.Authorities in New York have mounted a civil suit over Trump’s business affairs. In the same state, Trump also faces a defamation trial over an allegation of rape from the writer E Jean Carroll.Trump denies all wrongdoing, claiming to be the victim of prosecutors motivated by political and racial animus.He continues to lead polling regarding the Republican nomination for president. More
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Trump’s verbal assaults pose risks to prosecutors and could fuel violence
Donald Trump’s demagogic attacks on prosecutors investigating criminal charges against him are aimed at riling up his base and could spark violence, but show no signs of letting up as a potential indictment in at least one case looms, say legal experts.At campaign rallies, speeches and on social media Trump has lambasted state and federal prosecutors as “thugs” and claimed that two of them – who are Black – are “racist”, language designed to inflame racial tension.He has also used antisemitic tropes by referring to a conspiracy of “globalists” and the influence of billionaire Jewish financier George Soros.Trump’s drive to undercut four criminal inquiries that he faces is reaching a fever pitch as a Manhattan district attorney’s inquiry looks poised to bring charges against Trump over his key part in a $130,000 hush money payment in 2016 to adult film star Stormy Daniels with whom he allegedly had an affair.In his blitz to deter and obfuscate two of the criminal investigations, Trump has resorted to verbal assaults on two Black district attorneys in Manhattan and Georgia labeling them as “racist”, even as he simultaneously battles to win the White House again.In a broader attack on the four state and federal investigations at a Texas rally on Saturday Trump blasted the “thugs and criminals who are corrupting our justice system”, while on his Truth Social platform last week he warned of “possible death and destruction” if he’s charged in the hush money inquiry.But now Trump’s incendiary attacks against the federal and state inquiries is prompting warnings that Trump’s unrelenting attacks on prosecutors could fuel violence, as he did on January 6 with bogus claims that the 2020 was stolen from him and a mob of his backers attacked the Capitol leading to at least five deaths.“Trump’s incendiary rhetoric, amplified through his social media postings and his high decibel fearmongering in Texas, pose clear physical dangers to prosecutors and investigators,” said former acting chief of the fraud section at the justice department Paul Pelletier. “With Trump’s actions promoting the January 6 insurrection serving as a cautionary tale, the potential for violent reactions to any of his charges cannot be understated.”Ex-prosecutors see Trump reverting to tactics he’s often deployed in legal and political battles.Trump’s invective say experts won’t deter prosecutors as they separately weigh fraud, obstruction and other charges related to January 6 and other issues, but echo scare tactics he’s used before as in his two impeachments, and may help Trump’s chances of becoming the Republican nominee by angering the base which could influence primary outcomes.“None of these accusations about the motives of prosecutors, however, will negate the evidence of Trump’s own crimes. A jury will focus on the facts and the law, and not any of this name calling. The Trump strategy may work in the court of public opinion, but not in a court of law,” said Barbara McQuade, a former US attorney for the eastern district of Michigan.That may explain why Trump has received more political cover from three conservative House committee chairs, who joined his effort to intimidate Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, by launching investigations to obtain his records and testimony, threats that Bragg and legal experts have denounced as political stunts and improper.The legal stakes for Trump are enormous, and unprecedented for a former president, as the criminal inquiries have been gaining momentum with more key witnesses who have past or present ties to Trump testifying before grand juries, and others getting subpoenas.Two investigations led by special counsel Jack Smith are separately looking into possible charges against Trump for obstructing an official proceeding and defrauding the US government as he schemed with top allies to block Joe Biden from taking office, and potential obstruction and other charges tied to Trump’s retention of classified documents after he left office.Further, Fulton county Georgia district attorney, Fani Willis, has said decisions are “imminent” about potentially charging Trump and others who tried to overturn Joe Biden’s win there in 2020 with erroneous claims of fraud.Much of the probe’s work has involved a special grand jury that reportedly has recommended several indictments, with a focus on Trump’s high pressure call on 2 January 2021 to Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger beseeching him to just “find” 11,780 votes to help block Joe Biden’s win there.Trump has denied all wrong doing and denounced the inquiries as “witch hunts”.Little wonder though that Trump’s squadron of lawyers has lately filed a batch of motions in Georgia and Washington DC with mixed success to slow prosecutors as they have moved forward in gathering evidence from key witnesses and mull charges against Trump.“Blustering in court or in the media about the supposed bias or racism of the Fulton county and Manhattan county prosecutors will not convince a court to remove a democratically-elected prosecutor, and certainly the Republicans in the House of Representatives have no legal authority ability to influence the course of criminal justice in New York state proceedings,” said Fordham law professor and ex-prosecutor in New York’s southern district Bruce Green.Green stressed: “None of Trump’s moves, such as calling prosecutors racists, are likely to throw any of the prosecutors off their game: prosecutors tend to be focused, determined and thick-skinned.”Likewise, ex-US attorney in Georgia Michael Moore told the Guardian the Trump attacks on the two black prosecutors are “completely baseless. The charges of racism against the prosecutors is more of an indication of the weakness of his claims than most anything else he has said.”Moore scoffed too at the moves by Trump’s House Republican allies.“It’s rich to me that the Republicans in the House claim to be the party of limited government, but as soon as they get in power and look like they might lose another election, they immediately use their big government power to meddle in a matter that purely belongs to the local jurisdiction.”NYU law professor Stephen Gillers sees similar dynamics at play in Trump’s tactics.“Trump cannot stop the judicial process, although he can try to slow it. But he can undermine its credibility through his charges and by mobilizing his supporters. I see what he’s doing now as aimed at them, just as he tried to discredit the election returns in their eyes and anger them with baseless charges over the “steal”.The weakness of Trump’s legal moves was revealed in two court rulings in DC requiring testimony before grand juries from former top aides including ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in the January 6 inquiry, and one of his current lawyers Evan Corcoran in the classified documents case.The two rulings should give a good boost to the special counsel in his separate investigations of Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 loss on January 6 when Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s win about which Meadows must now testify, and Trump’s retention of classified documents at Mar a Lago after he left the White House about which Corcoran has to testify.As the four investigations intensify, more aggressive moves by Trump and his lawyers to derail potential charges in Georgia, Manhattan and from the special counsel are expected before, as well as after, any charges may be filed.“If I were on the prosecution teams in Manhattan or Georgia, I would expect Trump to assert every defense he can think of, including accusing the prosecutors of misconduct,” McQuade said.A judge on Monday ordered Fani Willis to respond by 1 May to the Trump team’s motion seeking to bar her from further investigating or charging Trump, and wants all testimony from some 75 witnesses, including Meadows and Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, before the special grand jury rejected.The judge’s order was in response to a Trump legal motion that McQuade said “appears to be baseless”.Former Watergate prosecutor Phlip Lacovara told the Guardian that Trump’s lawyers are deploying different legal tactics in the investigations.“The Georgia strategy is partly a strategy of delay,” in which the Trump team is “raising dozens and dozens of objections, many of which are specious, in the hope that one will be sufficient to work on appeal and to keep him out of jail,” Lacovara said.In Manhattan, he added, they’re trying “to create the impression that this is a highly visible political stunt to exclude Trump from running”.That tactic could help in “trying to pollute the jury pool” since a hung jury would be good for Trump. “All he needs is one juror who believes this is all a concocted plot.”Former DoJ officials and experts expect Trump and his lawyers will keep up a frenzied stream of hyperbolic attacks and legal actions.“This is more of what we saw during the election,” said former deputy attorney general Donald Ayer who served in the George HW Bush administration. “He throws up gibberish and obstruction.” More
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Trump lawyer says ex-president based remarks about arrest last week on ‘rumors’
Donald Trump’s lawyer has admitted that the former president based his incendiary and unfounded remarks about his imminent arrest last week on mere speculation prompted by “rumours”.Trump ignited a week of political, media and law enforcement frenzy when he announced on his social media platform Truth Social that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday in the New York criminal investigation relating to hush money payments to the adult film star Stormy Daniels. Security was stepped up at the Manhattan courthouse and around the district attorney leading the case, Alvin Bragg, amid fears of renewed protests by Trump supporters, some of whom staged the deadly attack at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.Now Trump’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, has admitted that his client ignited the firestorm based on nothing more than conjecture. Speaking on Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, he denied that Trump had invented the claim that he was facing imminent arrest only to reveal the flimsy basis of the remarks.“He didn’t make it up, he was reacting to a lot of leaks coming out of the district attorney’s office,” Tacopina said. “And then there was of course a lot of rumours regarding the arraignment being the next day. So I think he just assumed, based on those leaks, that was what was going to happen.”The Daniels hush money case appears to be the most advanced of the multiple legal threats currently bearing down on Trump. While no charges were brought last week, the grand jury could reconvene Monday with an arraignment possible as early as the end of the day.Trump has placed the Manhattan case at the front and centre of his 2024 presidential bid. He has been furiously fundraising on the back of what he has called the “witch-hunt” against him, bombarding his supporters with a blitzkrieg of begging emails.On Saturday night he devoted much of the first big rally of his 2024 campaign to raging against “prosecutorial misconduct by radical left maniacs”. The event was located – some say strategically – in Waco, Texas, scene of the 1993 siege between law enforcement and the Branch Davidians cult in which 76 people died.In his Meet the Press interview, Tacopina declined either to defend or condemn Trump’s rhetoric, insisting he was a lawyer – not a “social media consultant”. The lawyer denounced the Manhattan prosecution as being politically motivated and said that his client was being unfairly hounded for having made a personal payment to protect his family from Daniels’ false claims of an affair.“This was a personal civil settlement that’s done every day in New York City,” Tacopina said. “This had nothing to do with campaign finance.”The $130,000 payment to Daniels came in the dying days of the 2016 presidential election as the adult film star was about to go public with allegations of a sexual encounter with Trump which he has denied. Michael Cohen, Trump’s then fixer who made the initial payment, pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws involving the hush money as well as other tax fraud charges, and served time in prison.Cohen said he had made the payment at Trump’s direction.Trump has stoked fears of renewed violence by deriding Bragg on social media in virulent and racist terms, calling the Black prosecutor a “Soros-backed animal” – a reference to the billionaire liberal philanthropist George Soros – and accusing him of doing the work of “anarchists and the devil”.Trump has also predicted “potential death and destruction” were he to be charged. That inflammatory statement prompted Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, to warn that “if he keeps it up it’s going to get someone killed”.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionMark Warner, the Democratic chair of the Senate intelligence committee, told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that he had been briefed by the FBI that the agency was prepared for any protests. He called Trump’s rhetoric “outrageous”, accusing the former president of having “very little moral compass”.The senator added: “If he spurs on additional violence, it would be one further stain on his already checkered reputation.”Senior Democrats have expressed some jitters that the Manhattan investigation is perhaps the hardest legal case to bring against Trump given the challenges of successfully prosecuting alleged campaign finance breaches. Warner added his voice to those concerns, saying: “Whichever of these prosecutions move forward, I hope whoever moves forward has a rock solid case.”Leading Republicans have rallied around Trump, echoing his claim that the Manhattan case is an example of a politicized and “weaponized” prosecutorial system. Last week, three top House Republicans sent a letter to Bragg demanding that he provide information about his own criminal investigation of Trump – a move that the prosecutor denounced as unlawful interference in a state legal proceeding.One of the signatories of the letter, James Comer, told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that Bragg had opened “a can of worms”, warning it could spark retaliation by Republican prosecutors around the country. “You are going to have county attorneys in red areas, in parts of rural Kentucky where I am, who are going to try to overreach into federal election crime,” he said.As Manhattan remains on tenterhooks, the former president is facing more legal peril on other fronts. Last week, a federal appeals court ordered Trump’s main lawyer Evan Corcoran to appear before the grand jury that is hearing evidence about the unauthorized retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, the former president’s Florida home, intensifying the risk of Trump facing obstruction of justice charges.In a separate ruling last week, another federal judge denied executive privilege to several former Trump officials, including the former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. As a result the former aides, who had a ringside seat to Trump’s increasingly aggressive behaviour in the buildup to the January 6 attack, must testify before the grand jury investigating the Capitol insurrection.
This article was amended on 26 March 2023 to clarify the relationship between Donald Trump and Joseph Tacopina. More - in US Politics
Trump says he’s not upset over possible indictment while attacking ‘fake’ case
Donald Trump repeatedly insisted on Saturday night he was not upset by expected criminal charges that might arise from the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into his role in paying hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels as he returned from a campaign rally in Waco, Texas.But the manner of Trump’s responses to questions suggested worries about potential damage to his image, and he came across as someone angry that his good vibrations with his “Make American great again” base in Texas could be interrupted by the reality of a possible indictment as soon as this week.Travelling back from his first rally as a 2024 presidential candidate, Trump claimed during a recorded interview with four reporters aboard his Trump Force One plane that he was unafraid about the investigation even as he attacked the case and attacked media reporting about the case.“I’m not frustrated by it. It’s a fake investigation. We did nothing wrong – I told you that,” the former president said before proceeding to lash out at the NBC News reporter on the plane who asked if he was frustrated. “This is fake news, and NBC is one of the worst. Don’t ask me any more questions.”Trump also acknowledged during the interview that he had no actual insight into the investigation. He said “I have no idea what’s going to happen” – before deciding that he supposedly knew what would happen anyway and claiming, “They’ve already dropped the case, from what I understand.”Trump then settled on attacking the investigation, insisting the case is over while making various assertions not supported by concrete evidence and mainly based on speculation that has circulated among his allies and the campaign.“If anything ever happened with the case, it’s a fake case. This is a fake case. They have absolutely nothing. They have it in reverse. They should indict Michael Cohen for all the lies that he told,” Trump said, referring to the attorney who made the hush money payment to Daniels. “They may not do that, but that’s what should be happening.”The case centers on $130,000 that Trump paid to Daniels through Cohen in the final days of the 2016 campaign. Trump later reimbursed Cohen with $35,000 checks using his personal funds, which were recorded as legal expenses. Cohen later pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal crimes.It remains unclear what charges the district attorney Alvin Bragg might seek against Trump, though some members of his legal team believe the most likely scenario involves a base charge of falsifying business records coupled with potential tax fraud because Trump would not have paid taxes on the payments.The remarks from Trump on the flight came during an interview with four reporters. The Guardian obtained the recording after this reporter, confirmed to travel with the former president, was bumped off the manifest the day before the trip over recent reporting that the campaign disliked.The former president also said during the interview that the previous week had buoyed him, at least from a 2024 campaign perspective, correctly noting how he has surged in recent polls amid news of an expected indictment and the Republican base’s clamoring to his defense.“We’ve had the best polls we’ve ever had,” Trump said. Using a derisive nickname for Florida governor and expected 2024 candidate Ron DeSantis, Trump added: “Ron DeSanctimonious is crashing. They’re already looking for somebody to take his place.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“You know where he would be right now [if he wasn’t the governor]? Probably working either at a cigar store or a law firm.”Trump’s rhetoric about the hush money investigation has turned increasingly bitter in recent days as he has gone from lashing out at the prospect of criminal charges, to insisting he wanted to be handcuffed and arrested, back to once again attacking the matter with vehemence.The former president’s attacks on Bragg took a turn on Friday when he predicted in an overnight post on his Truth Social website that “death and destruction” could come should the grand jury in New York return an indictment against him.Returning from the Texas rally on Saturday, where he used his speech to repeatedly air grievances about the investigation, Trump sought to distance himself from his darkest comments that had come as Bragg’s office discovered a threatening letter and white powder in its mailroom.“No – I don’t like violence and I’m not for violence,” Trump said.Then, repeating his lie that electoral fraudsters stole victory from him over Joe Biden in 2020, he said: “But a lot of people are upset and you know they rigged the election, they stole an election, they spied on my campaign. They did many bad things.” More
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Trump describes 2024 election as ‘the final battle’ from podium in Waco
Donald Trump, the former US president, continued to invoke retribution and violence on Saturday when he used the first rally of his 2024 election campaign to rail against prosecutors weighing a criminal charge against him.Efforts by Trump’s team to steer a more conventional, disciplined candidacy have wilted in recent days as the 76-year-old unleashed words and images that – even by his provocative standards – are unusually dehumanising, menacing and dangerous.He opened the rally by playing a song, “Justice for All”, that features a choir of men imprisoned for their role in the January 6 insurrection singing the national anthem intercut with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.Trump stood solemnly on a podium with hand on heart and footage from the Capitol riot was shown on big screens and US flags billowed in the wind. “That song tells you a lot because it’s number one in every single category,” he told a crowd of thousands. “Number two was Taylor Swift, number three was Miley Cyrus.”The choice of location for the rally was also striking: Waco, a city in Texas, exactly 30 years after a 51-day standoff and deadly siege between law enforcement and the Branch Davidians that resulted in the deaths of more than 80 members of the religious cult and four federal agents.It came with Trump facing the prospect of becoming the first president in US history to be indicted. A grand jury in New York investigating a hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, who alleged a sexual encounter with Trump, a claim he denies.Trump falsely predicted his own arrest on Tuesday last week and called for protests without adding that they should be peaceful. On his Truth Social platform he warned of “potential death & destruction” if he is eventually charged.He also used increasingly racist rhetoric as he launched ever more personal attacks against Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, raising fears that supporters could try to lash out on his behalf. Trump even shared an image of himself holding a baseball bat next to a picture of Bragg.Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the House of Representatives, said: “The twice-impeached former president’s rhetoric is reckless, reprehensible and irresponsible. It’s dangerous, and if he keeps it up he’s going to get someone killed.”On Friday a powdery substance was found with a threatening letter in a mailroom at Bragg’s offices; officials later determined the substance was harmless.Yet at Saturday’s rally at Waco airport, there was little sign of Trump heeding the warnings and cooling off. Behind him supporters held signs that said, “Witch hunt”, “I stand with Trump” and “Trump 2024”.The 45th president repeated his false claim that the the 2020 presidential election was “rigged”, praised the rioters of January 6 and raged against the “weaponization of law enforcement”, branding the prosecutors overseeing multiple investigations into his conduct as “absolute human scum”.Wearing a dark jacket, white shirt and no tie, he said: “I got bad publicity and my poll numbers have gone through the roof – would you explain this to me … It gets so much publicity that the case actually gets adjudicated in the press and people see it’s bullshit.”Trump claim that his personal life “has been turned upside down” because of “prosecutorial misconduct by radical left maniacs” and framed the various investigations as political attacks coordinated by Democrats in Washington.He said: “You will be vindicated and proud. The thugs and criminals who are corrupting our justice system will be defeated, discredited and totally disgraced.”He declared that his “enemies are desperate to stop us”, and “our opponents have done everything they can to crush our spirit and to break our will. But they failed. They’ve only made us stronger. And 2024 is the final battle, it’s going to be the big one. You put me back in the White House, their reign will be over and America will be a free nation once again.”Trump also launched his most sweeping attack yet on Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, seen as his strongest challenger for the Republican presidential nomination.“He’s dropping like a rock and I wonder why,” Trump said of DeSantis’s recent slippage in opinion polls. He went to repeat his claim that DeSantis had begged for Trump’s endorsement with “tears in his eyes” when he was running for governor. “I did rallies for Ron that were massive rallies.”Trump claimed that Florida had been successful for “decades” before DeSantis took office and accused him of disloyalty. “But when a man, you know, you get him elected and there’s no quid pro quo … He gets the nomination because of you, he wins the election because of you. Two years later, the fake news is up there saying, ‘Will you run against the president? Will you run?’ And he says, ‘I have no comment.’ I say, that’s not supposed to happen. ‘I have no comment.’ No. So I’m not a big fan.”Trump’s critics described the rally as anti-democratic and un-American. The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group, said in a statement: “Trump doubled down on his usual violent rhetoric and threats against his political enemies. After spending this week threatening the New York City district attorney Alvin Bragg and calling for ‘protests’, he talked about the ‘final battle’, ‘weaponization’ of the office, and how he would be the ‘justice’ for his supporters.“His choice of Waco on the anniversary of the Branch Davidian standoff was to embrace the rightwing extremists who gave him the violent protests he craves. His followers got the message, loud and clear.”The grand jury investigating Trump’s alleged hush money payment is expected to meet again Monday in New York. More
