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      Pence declines to support Trump if he’s 2024 nominee: ‘I’m confident we’ll have better choices’

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      Pence declines to support Trump if he’s 2024 nominee: ‘I’m confident we’ll have better choices’Former vice-president, expected to run for Republican nominee for president, says ‘different times call for different leadership’Twice given a chance to say he would support Donald Trump if he was the Republican nominee for president in 2024, Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice-president, declined to do so.Ron DeSantis called a ‘tyrant’ as Trump supporters barred from book signingRead more“I’m very confident we’ll have better choices come 2024,” Pence told CBS on Wednesday. “And I’m confident our standard-bearer will win the day in November of that year.”Pence also said “different times call for different leadership”.Trump, the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and author, are the only declared candidates for the Republican nomination. The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, is widely expected to run and is Trump’s only challenger in polling.Pence joins Haley in scoring single digits in most surveys. He told CBS he would make a decision on whether to run “this spring”.Pence’s reluctance to commit to supporting Trump points to a possible outcome feared by Republicans: that Trump will split the party either by winning the nomination without majority support or losing it and refusing to support the winner.Trump has refused to commit to supporting another nominee.Haley has refused to attack Trump personally but she has called for mental competency tests for politicians over the age of 75. Trump is 76.Pence said: “I come from southern Indiana, where people think most politicians should have a competency test. No, I think the American people can sort that out. I really do.”He added: “I really believe that the conservative movement has always been animated by ideas.“We’ve had big personalities, from [Ronald] Reagan all the way to Donald Trump. But I think it’s the ideas – of commitment to a strong national defense, fiscal responsibility, limited government and traditional values – that really I think created this movement and still sustain it.”Pence claimed “the record of the Trump-Pence administration” – four chaotic years which ended with Trump refusing to call off supporters who chanted for Pence to be hanged as they stormed Congress – bore out such Republican values.He also said voters were telling him “they want to see us get back to the kind of civility in politics that the American people show each other every day”.According to testimony before the House January 6 committee, Trump told aides Pence deserved to be hanged, for refusing to block certification of Joe Biden’s win.The Department of Justice is still investigating Trump’s election subversion and incitement of the Capitol attack.Pence has been celebrated for defying Trump but he is now challenging a subpoena from the special counsel, Jack Smith.Pence told CBS: “The notion of compelling a former vice-president to appear in court to testify against the president with whom they served is unprecedented, but I also believe it’s unconstitutional.”TopicsUS elections 2024Mike PenceDonald TrumpRepublicansUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Special counsel seeks to compel Mike Pence to testify about January 6

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      Special counsel seeks to compel Mike Pence to testify about January 6Compulsion motion against former vice-president marks pre-emptive move to rebut executive privilege arguments, sources sayThe special counsel investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election issued a motion to compel testimony from Mike Pence in recent days – after the Trump legal team sought to block his appearance on executive privilege grounds, sources familiar with the matter said.The compulsion motion against Pence marks a pre-emptive move by the special counsel to rebut the executive privilege arguments before Pence had even made an appearance before the federal grand jury in Washington DC pursuant to a subpoena issued last month, the sources said.While Pence has suggested he would contest the subpoena, the Guardian has previously reported that is understood to involve him at least appearing before the grand jury and asserting the so-called speech or debate protection for congressional officials to specific questions.The Trump special counsel Jack Smith, however, appears to have issued the motion to compel – earlier reported by CBS News – not in response to Pence’s expected actions, but in response to a recent executive privilege motion filed in the case by Trump’s legal team seeking to stop Pence testifying in the investigation.Trump’s legal team has reflexively filed executive privilege motions to stop multiple top former Trump White House officials from testifying in the criminal investigation into the January 6 Capitol attack.That has led to protracted litigation with federal prosecutors before the chief US judge in the District of Columbia, Beryl Howell. The executive privilege fight with Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short took at least four months – that is thought to have delayed parts of the investigation.Howell, who has generally ruled in favor of the government on executive privilege disputes, even if they do take months to resolve, is slated to step down on 16 March. She will be replaced as the chief judge by James Boasberg, who previously oversaw the secret foreign surveillance court.The Pence subpoena is more complicated than other legal battles over executive privilege because there are two privilege assertions at play: Pence’s own expected speech or debate assertions, as well as the standard executive privilege fight by the Trump legal team as intervenors in the case.Whether the special counsel filed the motion to compel in response to the Trump legal team, in order to deal with the privilege issues sequentially – executive privilege is also generally a weaker protection than the speech or debate clause – was not clear, and a spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.TopicsMike PenceDonald TrumpJanuary 6 hearingsUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      US confirms ‘high-altitude object’ taken down over Alaska – live

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      John Kirby confirmed that a second “high-altitude object” was taken down over Alaska, during today’s press briefing.Kirby confirmed that the Department of Defense was tracking the flying object, which could be a second balloon, and that the object posed a “reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight”.Kirby said that Biden ordered the military to “down” the object within the last hour.Biden administration to end national Covid emergency in MayThe Biden administration confirmed in a statement on Friday it anticipates ending the national Covid emergency on 11 May. The proclamation had been in place since the president declared a national emergency concerning the Covid-19 pandemic on 13 March 2020.“Today, we are in a different phase of the response to that pandemic than we were in March of 2020, and my Administration is planning for an end to the national emergency, but an orderly transition is critical to the health and safety of the Nation,” Biden said in the statement.Experts have expressed concern that once it is lifted Americans will have less access to the Covid treatments, vaccines, and tests that have been made more widely available under the state of emergency.Once the order is lifted most Americans will still be able to get vaccines at no cost but fewer free tests will be available. See our full story on what health experts are saying about the end of the national state of emergency here.Family of Tyre Nichols urges the United Nations to condemn his killingAttorneys for the family of Tyre Nichols, the man who was fatally beaten by Memphis police last month, have filed an urgent appeal before the United Nations asking it to condemn the killing.Civil rights attorney and international legal counsel Jasmine Rand and Yetunde Asika released the following statement on behalf of the family:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Today, we filed an Urgent Appeal before the United Nations asking it to condemn the tragic killing of Tyre Nichols, to demand transparency from the police department, and to demand that Officer Preston Hemphill and all officers that participated in the incident are criminally charged. The video evidence shows that all who were involved in Tyre’s death committed reprehensible acts that require international condemnation.The family has also urged the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, reform legislation introduced by Democrats that is stuck on Capitol Hill, and made an appearance at Joe Biden’s State of the Union address to the nation on Tuesday night.Hello readers, Kari Paul here on the West Coast taking over the blog for the next couple hours. Stand by for updates.Here’s more information on Biden’s upcoming trip to Poland, from a statement released by the White House..css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}From February 20th – 22nd, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will travel to Poland. He will meet with President Andrzej Duda of Poland to discuss our bilateral cooperation as well as our collective efforts to support Ukraine and bolster NATO’s deterrence.
      He will also meet with the leaders of the Bucharest Nine (B9), a group of our eastern flank NATO Allies, to reaffirm the United States’ unwavering support for the security of the Alliance.
      In addition, President Biden will deliver remarks ahead of the one year anniversary of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, addressing how the United States has rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and democracy, and how we will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes.The FAA closed off an area near Deadhorse, Alaska, in the state’s northern area, as the US military took action against a high-altitude object.From CNN correspondent Jim Sciutto:The Federal Aviation Administration issued a temporary flight restriction Friday in the area around Deadhorse, Alaska, as the military took action against a high-altitude object. The notice tells aircraft to clear airspace the FAA classifies as National Defense Airspace.— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) February 10, 2023
      The Pentagon is now providing more information about the high-altitude object that was shot over US territorial water in Alaska.The object was shot at 1.45 pm eastern time and was at around 40,000ft, said a spokesperson during a Pentagon briefing.A Pentagon spokesperson added that an F22 fighter aircraft assigned to NORTHCOM shot down the “high altitude airborne object”.Pentagon spokesman BGen Pat Ryder: U.S. fighter aircraft assigned to NORTHCOM took down a “high altitude airborne object” over US territorial water in Alaska.— Jennifer Hlad (@jhlad) February 10, 2023
      The Pentagon reiterated that it is unsure about the origin of the object, but is hoping to learn more after assessing any recovered debris.Unidentified object shot down over Alaska by US military, White House saysRead moreThe FBI has removed at least one additional classified document from Mike Pence’s Indiana residence after a five hour search.Pence’s team tweeted about the search and discovery, noting that the search did not require a warrant and was “thorough”.At least one document marked ‘classified’ was removed from Pence’s residence and six additional pages that did not include the marking.Pence has “directed his legal team to continue its cooperation with appropriate authorities and to be fully transparent through the conclusion of the matter,” noted Pence advisor Devin O’Malley.From CBS correspondent Robert Costa:New statement from Pence adviser Devin O’Malley: “Following the discovery and disclosure of a small number of potentially classified documents that had inadvertently been transported to his home in Indiana, Vice President Pence and his legal team have fully cooperated… “— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 10, 2023
      “… with the appropriate authorities and agreed to a consensual search of his residence that took place today. The Department of Justice completed a thorough and unrestricted search of five hours and removed one document with classified markings and six additional pages… “— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 10, 2023
      “…. without such markings that were not discovered in the initial review by the vice president’s counsel.”— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 10, 2023
      “The vice president has directed his legal team to continue its cooperation with appropriate authorities and to be fully transparent through the conclusion of this matter.”— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 10, 2023
      The knowledge about the object came last evening, said Kirby.Kirby misspoke at one point, calling the object a balloon. Kirby quickly clarified that officials are not sure of what the object is and that the object’s debris could help get more knowledge on what the object was.In response to questions about if the US has spoken to Chinese officials about the recently discovered object, Kirby said: “We don’t know who owns this object.”Kirby noted that a pilot assessment of the object, prior to it being shot down, found that the object was unmanned.Kirby also added that the the object was at 40,000 ft, noting that the object could have posed a threat to civilian aircrafts.Kirby also said that the object did not appear to have maneuvering capabilities, compared to the Chinese surveillance balloon, and was largely steered by the wind.Unlike the object that was shot down, the Chinese surveillance balloon was on a flight path that took it over sensitive military sites, added Kirby.More details are emerging on the high-altitude object that was taken down within the last hour.Kirby confirmed that Biden ordered the object be taken down at the advice of Pentagon leaders and that a fighter aircraft was used for the operation.The object is being called an “object” as officials are unsure of who owns it. Kirby added that officials are unsure if the object is state owned or private owned, and that the purpose of the object has not been determined.Kirby also noted that the object is “much smaller” than the Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down last week.The object that was taken down within the house is “roughly the size of a car”, said Kirby.John Kirby confirmed that a second “high-altitude object” was taken down over Alaska, during today’s press briefing.Kirby confirmed that the Department of Defense was tracking the flying object, which could be a second balloon, and that the object posed a “reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight”.Kirby said that Biden ordered the military to “down” the object within the last hour.The White House press briefing with press security Karine Jean-Pierre has begun.The briefing opened up with an announcement that Biden will travel to Poland on 20 February to 22 February to meet with Poland president Andrzej Duda and discuss the situation in Ukraine.John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National security council in the White House, is giving remarks ahead of Biden’s visit with Brazil president Lula.Kibry also announced that the US plans to increase aid to support those impacted by the deadly earthquake in Syria and Turkey.Kate Bedingfield, the White House Communications director, will leave her job at the end of February, reported the White House earlier today.In a statement, the White House confirmed Bedingfield’s departure and said that Ben LaBolt will succeed her as Communications director.Biden commented on Bedingfield’s departure in the statement:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Since my time as Vice President, Kate has been a loyal and trusted adviser, through thick and thin…She was a critical strategic voice from the very first day of my presidential campaign in 2019 and has been a key part of advancing my agenda in the White House.
      The country is better off as a result of her hard work and I’m so grateful to her – and to her husband and two young children – for giving so much. Ben has big shoes to fill.Trump has received his 5th Senate endorsement ahead of his 2024 presidential run. Republican senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma endorsed the former president on Friday, calling Trump “the strongest president of my lifetime” in a statement.“Not only am I proud to endorse President Trump, I’m proud to call him my friend,” said Mullin.#NEWS: I’m proud to endorse the strongest president of my lifetime, Donald J. Trump, for a second term in 2024. 🇺🇸Full statement: ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/xXFH61XCvh— Markwayne Mullin (@MarkwayneMullin) February 10, 2023
      Mullin was elected to the Senate through a special election and received Trump’s endorsement, reported NBC News.Four other senators have endorsed Trump, including Ohio senator JD Vance, Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville, and South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has agreed to apologize and pay $3.3m in taxpayer money to four former staffers who accused him of corruption in 2020, igniting an ongoing FBI investigation of the three-term Republican.Under terms of a preliminary lawsuit settlement filed Friday, Paxton made no admission of wrongdoing to accusations of bribery and abuse of office, which he has denied for years and called politically motivated, the Associated Press writes.But Paxton did commit to making a remarkable public apology toward some of his formerly trusted advisers whom he fired or forced out after they reported him to the FBI. He called them “rogue employees” after they accused Paxton of misusing his office to help one of his campaign contributors, who also employed a woman with whom the attorney general acknowledged having an extramarital affair.Both sides signed a mediated agreement that was filed in the Texas Supreme Court and will be followed by a longer, formalized settlement.“Attorney General Ken Paxton accepts that plaintiffs acted in a manner that they thought was right and apologizes for referring to them as ‘rogue employees,’” the final settlement must state, according to court records.In all, eight members of Paxton’s senior staff joined in the extraordinary revolt in 2020, and they either resigned or were fired. The attorney general said he settled with the four who sued under Texas’ whistleblower law to put to rest “this unfortunate sideshow.”“I have chosen this path to save taxpayer dollars and ensure my third term as attorney general is unburdened by unnecessary distractions,” Paxton said in a statement.The $3.3 million payout would not come from Paxton’s own pocket but from state funds, which means it would still require approval by the GOP-controlled Texas Legislature.Settlement of the case, which Paxton’s office fought in court for years, means he will avoid sitting for a civil deposition at a time when a corruption investigation by federal agents and prosecutors remains open. In turn, the attorney general’s office agreed to remove an October 2020 news release from its website that decries Paxton’s accusers and to issue the statement of contrition to former staffers David Maxwell, Ryan Vassar, Mark Penley and James Blake Brickman.Hello again, it’s been a lively day so far with developing and breaking news mainly revolving around former US vice president Mike Pence. Ordinary business is going on at the White House, with Joe Biden meeting US state governors and preparing this afternoon to receive Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva (AKA Lula) to the White House. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is due to brief the media at 1.30pm ET.Here’s where things stand:
      It appears Joe Biden will not do the traditional presidential TV interview with the company airing the Super Bowl, the climax to the football season, given that this year it’s Fox. Who snubbed whom? The politics and media chatterverse is abuzz.
      The FBI is searching former VP Mike Pence’s Indiana home for any more classified documents, after Donald Trump’s former sidekick and possible 2024 rival for the Republican presidential nomination previously acknowledged that he had some classified docs at home. Biden’s in similar bind, whereas Trump is under criminal investigation for something on a much larger scale – boxes of secret government documents hoarded at Mar-a-Lago that he refused to hand over.
      Jill Biden has cancelled her events for the day, with a White House official reporting that Biden is not feeling well but has tested negative for Covid. Let’s hope the first lady is shipshape by Sunday, as she’s a big Philadelphia Eagles fan, apparently, as they take on the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
      Donald Trump and writer E Jean Carroll have jointly filed a plan for the April civil trial in the case where Carroll is suing Trump for rape and defamation.
      Mike Pence and his legal team are weighing the subpoena issued to the former-veep by special counsel Jack Smith who is, on the request of the Department of Justice, investigating Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol by thousands of the-then president’s most extreme supporters who wanted Pence to block the Congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
      It looks as though Joe Biden won’t be doing the traditional presidential pre-Super Bowl TV interview.The President was looking forward to an interview with Fox Soul to discuss the Super Bowl, the State of the Union, and critical issues impacting the everyday lives of Black Americans. We’ve been informed that Fox Corp has asked for the interview to be cancelled.— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) February 10, 2023
      There has been much chatter about the annual interview between the US president and the channel airing the Super Bowl. Fox is broadcasting the Super Bowl, so some people had assumed the interview would be with Fox News, likely Brett Baier.But now the White House press secretary has tweeted that Biden will not be doing an interview – and it looks like it was supposed to be with Fox Soul, a Fox streaming service.Last night and this morning, various outlets were abuzz with chatter about how the US president had been “ghosting” Fox News, as, if the traditional interview was going ahead they would have been making arrangements ages ago, but were experiencing radio silence. Variety magazine did a story yesterday afternoon, headlined “Fox news believes interview with President Biden won’t take place.”CNN’s Reliable Sources news letter chimed in, quoting “a source at Fox News” who told the outlet that they had “not heard back on whether Biden will grant it the traditional pre-Super Bowl interview, and that at this point the outlet is proceeding as if it is not going to take place. ‘We don’t have a formal no, but we are operating like it’s not happening’,” the source explained to CNN, which goes on: “Bret Baier first hinted at the possibility of a potential Biden rebuff during State of the Union coverage on Tuesday, telling viewers that Biden had yet to commit to an interview. At the time, he had signaled that he hoped the White House would ultimately agree to a sit-down.“Biden has sat down for at least two interviews this week, one with PBS NewsHour and another with Telemundo, which would make the possible snub all the more notable. It goes without saying that Biden has had a frosty relationship with Fox News … If Biden were to agree to an interview with Fox News, it would almost certainly be conducted by Baier.”We’ll no doubt hear more from Jean-Pierre at the White House press briefing due at 1.30pm. Fox Soul is the Fox Corp-owned streaming service geared towards a Black audience, and we assume if the interview had gone ahead it would be with a Black anchor, not Baier. Eagerly awaiting clarifying details!Biden and Harris are currently in a meeting with several governors as apart of the annual National Governors Association meeting, which includes a bipartisan group of governors.⁦@POTUS⁩ arrives at a gathering of state governors from around the nation – not including the governors of Florida, Texas or indeed Arkansas (whose governor says Biden’s Democrats are all “crazy”) pic.twitter.com/0TWSPgbjyh— Sebastian Smith (@SebastianAFP) February 10, 2023
      In meeting with governors, Biden is pressing what the infrastructure bill, CHIPS act and other priorities have meant for states — lots of money for improvements.— Elizabeth Crisp 🦩 (@elizabethcrisp) February 10, 2023
      A stream of the meeting is available here. More

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      FBI search of Pence’s Indiana residence finds new classified document

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      FBI search of Pence’s Indiana residence finds new classified documentLawyer for Trump’s former vice-president reportedly present for search, which followed discovery of documents there last month FBI agents searched an Indiana property belonging to Mike Pence on Friday and found new official papers, including one with classified markings. The search was the latest step in a saga over the improper retention of classified documents by Pence, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.The Washington Post reported that Pence, Trump’s former vice-president, was in California while the search was carried out at his home in Carmel, north of Indianapolis. A Pence lawyer was present, the paper said.Biden and Pence documents reveal US crisis of ‘overclassification’, expert saysRead moreThe US justice department did not immediately comment. Pence issued a statement.Since the discovery of classified records at the Carmel property last month, a spokesperson said, Pence and his lawyers had “fully cooperated with the appropriate authorities and agreed to a consensual search of his residence that took place today.“The Department of Justice completed a thorough and unrestricted search of five hours and removed one document with classified markings and six additional pages without such markings that were not discovered in the initial review by the vice-president’s counsel.”Similar discoveries were made at Delaware properties owned by Biden and an office in Washington DC the president used after his time as VP to Barack Obama.Last August, a much larger number of documents were discovered at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida residence.Amid strenuous attempts by Trump to obstruct authorities seeking retrieval, the Mar-a-Lago search was carried out via a search warrant. Trump and his supporters have since characterised the search as a “raid”, part of supposed victimisation by the former president’s political enemies.In stark contrast, Biden and Pence have cooperated with authorities.A lawyer for Pence, Greg Jacob, previously told the National Archives a “small number of documents” were “inadvertently boxed and transported” to Pence’s home after the end of the Trump administration in January 2021.“Vice-President Pence immediately secured those documents in a locked safe pending further direction on proper handling,” Jacob wrote.In Florida recently, Pence said: “Let me be clear: those classified documents should not have been in my personal residence.“Mistakes were made, and I take full responsibility. We acted above politics and put national interests first.”For the attorney general, Merrick Garland, cooperation and eager mea culpas do not lessen the political danger of the documents issue.Biden, who nominated Garland, is expected to run for re-election in 2024. Trump is still the only declared candidate for the Republican nomination, but Pence is thought likely to run.Special counsels appointed by Garland but operating independently of him are investigating Biden and Trump.Robert Hur is investigating Biden’s retention of classified records. Jack Smith is investigating Trump’s retention of records and other matters, including his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.Garland has not commented on the Pence document discoveries.But it emerged this week that Smith has served Pence a subpoena in relation to the investigation of Trump’s incitement of the deadly attack on Congress on 6 January 2021.That was the day Pence presided over the certification of Biden’s victory over Trump, having rejected pleas to block it from Trump and his advisers.In November, in an interview with NBC, Pence was asked if by fomenting an insurrection, Trump had committed a criminal act.Pence said he did not “know if it is criminal to listen to bad advice from lawyers”, alleged malpractice at the justice department in its investigations of Trump, criticised the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago and said: “I think the American people join me in hoping we can move past this.”Pressed on the matter, he conceded: “No one’s above the law.”On Friday, commenting on the former vice-president’s extreme predicament, Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman turned anti-Trump conservative, said: “Mike Pence did this to himself. For six years, he encouraged, enabled and fed the monster.“Then for one day he did his job, and the monster got really angry. And now, nobody wants him. The monster’s fans don’t want him, and the monster’s opponents don’t want him. He did this to himself.”TopicsMike PenceUS politicsFBInewsReuse this content More

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      Federal investigators arrive at Mike Pence’s Indiana home – live

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      Mike Pence is weighting a response to a subpoena he received related to January 6, ABC News first reported.Jack Smith was appointed in 2020 to lead the January 6 investigation. Smith is also leading a separate inquiry into classified documents that were found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.The issued subpoena related to January 6 is viewed by many as an escalation in the investigation on Trump and his allies’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election.The subpoena was reported by at least two people on the matter, both who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to discuss investigation proceedings publicly.It is unclear if Pence will attempt to resist the subpoena or invoke executive privilege, which could trigger a lengthy legal battle, reported ABC.The subpoena came after months of negotiation between Pence’s team and the Department of Justice, suggesting to many that negotiations had reached a breaking point.We know that the subpoena issued after months of negotiation b/t Pence team and DOJ. So eventually Smith just said screw it, see you at the Grand Jury or in court. Compare Mueller and his timidity with subpoenaing Trump, which he never did.— Harry Litman (@harrylitman) February 10, 2023
      Federal investigators have arrived at the Indiana home of Pence, blocking off his driveway.Carmel Police have blocked off the driveway to the home of former Vice President Mike Pence. @Mike_Pence We have been reporting the FBI was expected to search his home this week for any other classified documents. He turned over about a dozen already. @FOX59— Angela Ganote (@angelaganote) February 10, 2023
      It is unclear what this is related to, but an FBI search of his home was expected in relation to other classified documents.More on this as the situation develops.Meanwhile, a number of investigations related to Trump are underway.Trump faces probes into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago residence.Trump also could soon face criminal charges in Georgia related to interfering with the 2020 election, with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis saying on Monday that her decision is “imminent” on whether to indict Trump, reported Bloomberg.Here’s more on Willis’ decision to pursue criminal charges and its potential impact from Bloomberg..css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}That decision will have a ripple effect on the Justice Department’s special counsel probe and other investigations circling Trump.
      If Willis goes first, that case would road-test possible testimony, helping to determine what evidence holds up in court and providing a blueprint for prosecutions involving other battleground states where Trump and his supporters tried to undermine President Joe Biden’s win.
      Legal experts say nothing stops a US special counsel overseeing the federal Trump probe from pursuing similar charges at the federal level, regardless of what Willis ultimately does.Read the full article here (paywall).Pence faces limited options on how to respond to a subpoena issued in relation to January 6 but may evoke executive privilege, experts say.CNN reported that Pence’s team may choose to argue that at least some of the sought testimony is covered by executive privilege:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Pence’s attorney Emmet Flood is known as a hawk on executive privilege, and people familiar with the discussions have said Pence was expected to claim at least some limits on providing details of his direct conversations with Trump. Depending on his responses, prosecutors have the option to ask a judge to compel him to answer additional questions and override Trump’s executive privilege claims.But others have pointed out that Pence has already divulged privileged information in his book, “So Help Me God”.From the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell:On the VP Pence subpoena: worth noting that he pierced what would have otherwise been executive privileged when he discussed key moments with Trump in his book — including Dec. 19 chat about Jan. 6 rally, Jan. 5 chat with Eastman, Jan. 6 call with Trump— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) February 10, 2023
      Notable that VP Pence made public privileged material with Trump in his book some of the key moments right before Jan. 6 — but also notable what he mostly left out, including details about the Dec. 21 WH meeting with Trump and GOP members about plans for stopping certification— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) February 10, 2023
      Read the full article here.Mike Pence is weighting a response to a subpoena he received related to January 6, ABC News first reported.Jack Smith was appointed in 2020 to lead the January 6 investigation. Smith is also leading a separate inquiry into classified documents that were found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.The issued subpoena related to January 6 is viewed by many as an escalation in the investigation on Trump and his allies’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election.The subpoena was reported by at least two people on the matter, both who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to discuss investigation proceedings publicly.It is unclear if Pence will attempt to resist the subpoena or invoke executive privilege, which could trigger a lengthy legal battle, reported ABC.The subpoena came after months of negotiation between Pence’s team and the Department of Justice, suggesting to many that negotiations had reached a breaking point.We know that the subpoena issued after months of negotiation b/t Pence team and DOJ. So eventually Smith just said screw it, see you at the Grand Jury or in court. Compare Mueller and his timidity with subpoenaing Trump, which he never did.— Harry Litman (@harrylitman) February 10, 2023
      Good morning!Former vice-president Mike Pence is weighting his response to a subpoena he received related to an investigation into the January 6 insurrection and Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to a person familiar with the matter.Jack Smith, the special counsel in charge of the January 6 investigation, is also leading a separate inquiry into classified documents that were found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.But an unnamed person reports that Pence’s subpoena is related to 6 January and follows months of discussion between Pence and the Department of Justice, ABC first reported.The individual spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.Here’s what else is happening today:
      Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will host US governors at the White House this morning. The governors are joining for the annual National Governors Association meeting, where the president will revisit economic initiatives from Thursday’s State of the Union address.
      The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, is due to brief at 1.30pm eastern time.
      Biden will meet with Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, at 3.30 pm. The meeting comes as Brazil attempts to revive US-Brazil relations after the presidency of rightwinger Jair Bolsonaro. More

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      Mike Pence subpoenaed in Trump special counsel investigations – reports

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      Mike Pence subpoenaed in Trump special counsel investigations – reportsFormer vice-president and former Trump official Robert O’Brien issued subpoena though nature of requests is not known Former US vice-president Mike Pence and the former national security adviser Robert O’Brien have been subpoenaed by the special counsel leading investigations into classified documents found at former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and efforts to overturn the 2020 election result, according to media reports on Thursday.Pence was issued a subpoena by special counsel Jack Smith, though the nature of the request was not immediately known, ABC News reported, citing sources. The action follows months of negotiations involving federal prosecutors and Pence’s lawyers.Judge who told Pence not to overturn election predicts ‘beginning of end of Trump’Read moreO’Brien has been asserting executive privilege in declining to provide some of the information that prosecutors are seeking from him, according to CNN.Pence’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Smith’s office declined to comment on both reports from CNN and ABC.Trump’s former acting Department of Homeland Security secretary, Chad Wolf, was interviewed by justice department lawyers in recent weeks as part of the ongoing special counsel investigation related to 2020 election interference, the report added, citing sources.The US attorney general, Merrick Garland, named Smith as special counsel in November to oversee investigations of Trump, shortly after Trump said he would seek the Republican nomination for president again in 2024.The first investigation involves Trump’s handling of highly sensitive classified documents he retained at his Florida resort after leaving the White House in January 2021.The second investigation is looking at efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election’s results, including a plot to submit phony slates of electors to block Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s victory.Grand juries in Washington have been hearing testimony in recent months for both investigations from many former top Trump administration officials.Last month, Garland named a separate special counsel, Robert Hur, to probe the improper storage of classified documents at Biden’s home and former office.In late January, Pence said he was not aware though he takes “full responsibility” after classified documents were found at his Indiana home.The documents were discovered after a review of his personal records was conducted in the wake of classified material being found at Biden’s home in Delaware.TopicsUS newsMike PenceDonald TrumpMar-a-LagoLaw (US)US politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      The race for the 2024 election is on. But who will take on Trump?

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      The race for the 2024 election is on. But who will take on Trump?The ex-president is daring Republican challengers to make the first move – and some are preparing to attack The starting gun has been fired and the race for the White House is under way. But in Iowa, where the first-in-the-nation Republican caucuses are just a year off, the landscape is icy and snowy and eerily silent.There is no great mystery why: the Donald Trump effect.Sarah Huckabee Sanders to give Republican State of the Union responseRead more“These folks must be watching Trump’s poll numbers and that’s why there’s a delay,” said Art Cullen, editor of Iowa’s Storm Lake Times. “Trump and [Florida governor Ron] DeSantis are doing this sparring around the ring. Others are watching to see if somebody takes a blow and gives them an opening.”At the same stage in 2019, at least a dozen Democratic contenders for the presidency had either been to Iowa or announced plans to visit soon. “We were getting one every other week,” recalled Cullen, noting that the first major candidate forum took place in March.But among potential Republican hopefuls for 2024 only the former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson has visited so far this year while Tim Scott, a senator for South Carolina, and Kari Lake, a former candidate for governor of Arizona, seen as a possible Trump running mate, have lined up appearances later this month.Trump, the only declared candidate so far, has not yet been to Iowa but his campaign is finally moving up a gear. Last weekend the former US president addressed Republicans at small-scale events in two other early voting states, New Hampshire and South Carolina, vowing to “complete the unfinished business of making America great again”. He is issuing policy statements, building infrastructure and unveiling endorsements that signal: catch me if you can.It is a surprisingly orthodox approach from the most unconventional of candidates. The 76-year-old was twice impeached, was blamed for thousands of deaths in the coronavirus pandemic and encouraged a violent coup on 6 January 2021. He is facing multiple criminal investigations and yet, with remarkable insouciance, styling himself as incumbent in all but name and betting on voters’ short memories.He is also throwing down the gauntlet to would-be challengers, daring them to make the first move. While there are signs that some are preparing to take him on, none has yet launched a full-frontal attack on Trump or Trumpism, apparently wary of earning his wrath and alienating his base.Bill Whalen, a former media consultant for California politicians including former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, said: “I don’t think anybody wants to run and be a bad guy wrestler, be seen as the heel whose one purpose is just to attack Donald Trump. It’s not a ticket to success and it’s grinding because Trump will return fire. What’s the old saying about wrestling with the pig in the mud: you get dirty and the pig enjoys it more than you do.”It emerged this week that Nikki Haley, 51, who was South Carolina’s governor before serving as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, is planning to announce her candidacy in Charleston on 15 February. In 2021 Haley told the Associated Press that she “would not run if President Trump ran”, but she has since changed her mind, telling Fox News that she could be part of “new generational change”.In South Carolina last Saturday Trump told WIS-TV that Haley had called him several days earlier to seek his opinion. “She said she would never run against me because I was the greatest president, but people change their opinions, and they change what’s in their hearts,” he said. “So I said, if your heart wants to do it, you have to go do it.”Trump appears more threatened by – and less courteous towards – DeSantis, who won re-election in a landslide in Florida and is beating him in some opinion polls. Trump, who helped elevate DeSantis in the past, has dubbed him “Ron DeSanctimonious” and said a DeSantis challenge for the 2024 nomination would be “a great act of disloyalty”.But even DeSantis – who is not expected to declare until the Florida legislature adjourns in the spring – has pulled his punches so far. He responded to Trump’s attack with only a coded rebuke, drawing a contrast between his own success and Trump’s failure at the ballot box in 2020: “Not only did we win re-election, we won with the highest percentage of the vote that any Republican governor candidate has in the history of the state of Florida.”Other possible candidates such as Trump’s former vice-president Mike Pence and his ex-secretary of state Mike Pompeo have been similarly circumspect in critiquing their former boss, taking the odd swipe while also praising his administration and their parts in it. Taking on Trump directly carries huge political risks, as rivals such as Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio discovered via name calling, insults and humiliation in 2016.John Zogby, an author and pollster, said: “There is the the sense that alienating Donald Trump is a very thankless task. Trump comes down with a hammer, an anvil and a safe from the sky. Even though it is clear that a lot of the magic is gone from Trump, by the same token he can do extensive damage. He still has his own forum and he still has his own loyal following and he can suck up all the negative oxygen. Whether Trump wins or loses, he blocks.”Even so, Trump could soon have company on the campaign trail, not least because primaries often draw long-shot candidates who would welcome the consolation prize of a book deal, radio show, TV pundit gig or slot as winner’s running mate.State governors who might seek to build their brand nationally include Greg Abbott of Texas, Brian Kemp of Georgia, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Chris Sununu of New Hampshire and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia.It remains to be seen if forthright Trump critics such as Liz Cheney, a former congresswoman from Wyoming, and Larry Hogan, the ex-governor of Maryland, will throw their hats in the ring. Few observers expect such a candidate to win a primary more likely to offer voters different flavors of “Make America great again” (Maga), with culture warrior DeSantis aiming to prove himself a younger, more dynamic version of the brand than the Trump original.Drexel Heard, a Democratic strategist, said: “It’s going to be very interesting to see how Maga Nikki Haley becomes in the primary. I find Nikki Haley to be intelligent but she is going to have to go full tilt Maga to get through this primary because she’s up against somebody like Ron DeSantis, who is already coming out of the gate with red meat.”With a fiercely loyal base, Trump stands to benefit from a divided field, just as he did in 2016. In South Carolina he has already bagged the endorsements of Governor Henry McMaster and Senator Lindsey Graham, stealing a march on Haley and Scott within the state. But as Trump seeks to normalise himself with a traditional campaign so far, there are also important differences from seven years ago.Whalen, the former California consultant who is now a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in Palo Alto, said: “First, there are legal issues. Now, some are more serious than others but if you’re running for president and you’re taking the fifth amendment 400 times, it’s not a good look for a candidate.“Second, he has a record to deal with that he didn’t have. Donald Trump was a hypothetical in 2015 and 2016, a tabula rasa when it came to holding office. Now he has four years in office which he has to explain. He’s not a hypothetical, he’s somebody who has had the job before, so voters have to make the calculation: do they want him in office again?“Third, there was not a Ron DeSantis-like figure in 2016. There was nobody quite in the same position as DeSantis in terms of the ability to do three things at once: monetise, point to a very successful record in his state and play the game that Trump plays. That is what makes DeSantis an option that wasn’t there for Republicans in 2016. In 2024, there is someone potentially who could fight fire with fire.”Other commentators agree that, despite the slow start in Iowa, the Republican primary looks set to be far more competitive than anyone imagined a year ago. The party was willing to overlook any number of Trump’s lies and misdemeanors but not the miserable performance of his handpicked candidates in last November’s midterm elections. The self-proclaimed winner has become a serial loser: his fundraising numbers so far have been relatively disappointing.Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, said: “I’m not seeing a whole lot of Trump fear. It looks to me that there has been a truly wide agreement in Republican circles that Trump is weak and that he’s beatable. Moreover, he may be even weaker with the coming indictments. To me what’s going on right now is just confirmation that Trump’s hold on the Republican party is loosening.“I would say it’s pretty open. Trump is a favourite but he’s got some very serious long-term viability issues in the field that is obviously no longer intimidated by him. Republicans are tired of losing.”TopicsDonald TrumpUS politicsRepublicansRon DeSantisIowaMike PenceNikki HaleyfeaturesReuse this content More

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      Judge who told Pence not to overturn election predicts ‘beginning of end of Trump’

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      Judge who told Pence not to overturn election predicts ‘beginning of end of Trump’‘What Trump has done is quite arguably the worst crime against the US that a president could commit,’ says J Michael Luttig The conservative judge who convinced Mike Pence he could not overturn the 2020 election has predicted “the beginning of the end of Donald Trump” – the former president who incited the January 6 insurrection but is now trying to return to the White House.Trump pleads the fifth more than 400 times in fraud deposition, video showsRead moreSpeaking to the Washington Post, J Michael Luttig also made a common comparison to another notorious former president, Richard Nixon, who resigned in 1974 over the Watergate scandal.“What Nixon did was just an ordinary crime,” Luttig said, referring to the cover-up of a break-in at Democratic headquarters. “What Trump has done is quite arguably the worst crime against the United States that a president could commit.”Luttig was a staffer for Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, who put him on the federal bench in 1991. Now 68, he is a retired conservative jurist widely deemed unlucky not to have made the supreme court. He came to national attention last June, when he appeared before the House January 6 committee.In a televised hearing, using precise and powerful words, Luttig explained why on 4 January 2021 he told Pence he could not do as Trump wished and block certification of Joe Biden’s election win, an argument Luttig also published on Twitter.Luttig went on to paint a stark picture of America “at war against herself” and warned that a year and a half after the deadly Capitol riot, Trump and his supporters still posed “a clear and present danger to American democracy”.Another six months on, Trump is in legal jeopardy amid investigations of his election subversion, his financial and campaign finance affairs and his retention of classified records, and a lawsuit brought by a writer who says he raped her, an allegation Trump denies.But Trump is still the only declared major candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, dominating polls of the notional field.In a lengthy profile published by the Post on Tuesday, Luttig said he had seen “ample evidence” of criminal activity and believed Trump would be indicted. He also cautioned that any decision about indicting the former president should consider how it might “split the nation”, given the inevitable “spectacle” of Trump’s fight to beat any charges.But the Post said Luttig also thought Trump’s political future had been “dealt triple blows … by his recent assertion that parts of the constitution should be ‘terminated’ to return him to office, the criminal referrals by the January 6 committee and the failure of his favored candidates in the 2022 midterm elections”.Donald Trump sues Bob Woodward over The Trump Tapes for $50mRead moreTrump made his remark about the constitution in a social media post in December. The Biden White House rebuked him for remarks it said were “anathema to the soul of our nation”.The January 6 committee made four criminal referrals to the Department of Justice. The justice department investigation of Trump’s election subversion and incitement of the Capitol attack continues.High-profile Trump candidates were beaten at the polls in November, costing Republicans control of the Senate and, arguably, a healthier House majority.Luttig, the Post said, saw in the cumulative effect of such factors “the beginning of the end of Donald Trump”. But he added that Trump had not yet been stopped, and it might be down to the courts to do so.“Donald Trump has proven that the only thing that can stop him is the law,” Luttig warned.TopicsDonald TrumpUS Capitol attackMike PenceUS politicsUS elections 2020US elections 2024newsReuse this content More