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      Trump should quit 2024 race if indicted in New York, Republican rival says

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      Trump should quit 2024 race if indicted in New York, Republican rival saysEx-Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson: man facing charge over porn star payment should ‘respect institution of the presidency’Donald Trump should quit the race for the Republican nomination in 2024 if he is indicted in New York over a hush money payment to a porn star during his victorious run in 2016, a prospective rival said.Is Fox News finally falling out of love with Trump? It’s complicatedRead more“It doesn’t mean that he’s guilty of it or he should be charged,” said Asa Hutchinson, a former governor of Arkansas. “But it’s just such a distraction that would be unnecessary for somebody who’s seeking the highest office in the land.”Hutchinson has not declared a run. Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor, remains Trump’s only declared opponent from the Republican mainstream. The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, is Trump’s only serious challenger in polling.Like other relative moderates, Hutchinson is a vanishingly small presence in polls regarding the nascent field.He told USA Today: “When you’re looking at Trump, it’s going to be a circus.”Widespread reporting has said an indictment is expected soon in the hush money case, which involves the payment of $130,000 to Stormy Daniels, an adult film maker and actor who says she had an affair with Trump in 2006.Trump denies the claim, often abusing Daniels in misogynistic terms. But the man Trump directed to pay Daniels, his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, is due to testify before a grand jury on Monday.Trump has also been invited to testify, a sign an indictment is near. The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, is reported to be preparing to criminally charge Trump for false accounting business records with an intent to defraud, in relation to New York election law.Mark Pomerantz, a prosecutor who quit Bragg’s team, recently called the Daniels payment a “zombie case” that would not die.But David Shapiro, a former FBI agent who now lectures at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told the Associated Press it could be “especially difficult” for Bragg to prove intent and knowledge of wrongdoing.Trump, Shapiro said, is “loud, he’s brash, so proving that he had specific intent to fraud, one is almost left with the idea that, ‘Well, if he has that specific intent of fraud, he has it all of the time, because that’s his personality.’”Trump claims Bragg is politically motivated, as a Democrat, and racist because he is Black.At CPAC earlier this month, the former president told reporters he “won’t even think about leaving” the race, as an indictment would “probably … enhance my numbers”.Optimistically, Hutchinson told USA Today the man who left office twice impeached, the second time for inciting a deadly attack on Congress in an attempt to stay in power, should withdraw “out of respect for the institution of the presidency of the United States.“And that’s a distraction [and it] is difficult to run for the highest office in the land under those circumstances.Mike Pence: Donald Trump was wrong, history will hold him accountableRead more“I know he’s going to say [the charges are] politically motivated and all of those things, but the fact is, there’s just a lot of turmoil out there with the number of investigations going on.”Trump also faces federal investigation of his election subversion attempts, incitement of the January 6 attack and retention of classified records. A state investigation of his election subversion in Georgia is well advanced.In New York, his business faces a civil fraud suit and his chief financial officer was sentenced on tax charges in January. Trump also faces trial in a defamation suit from a writer who says he raped her.Trump denies all wrongdoing, claiming witch hunts by his political enemies.On Sunday, on NBC’s Meet the Press, Kevin Cramer, a Republican senator from North Dakota, was asked if Trump should step aside if he is indicted in “Manhattan or Atlanta or Washington”.“Donald Trump’s not going to take advice from the party or from me,” Cramer said.“But I think what will happen is, if he’s indicted, that becomes one of the factors in whether he wins primaries or not. The other factor is who else is in the race and who can make the best case.”DeSantis, Cramer said, “has certainly earned the right to be at the head of the class, not just through his political rhetoric but through his successful governing of a very large state.“We’ve seen him out on the stump a little more now doing the things that potential presidential candidates do. I think it will help that debate along. The challenge becomes if there are too many people in the race.”Polling has shown how a split field could hand Trump the nomination without a majority, as happened in 2016.Cramer said: “Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, certainly my friend Tim Scott would all be good candidates who understand the Trump doctrine but have a demeanor that’s probably more suitable to the swing voter.“And at the end of the day, what’s most important for primary voters to think about is not just who they love the most but who can win for the country and who can win for the party. Because we’re in desperate need of some new leadership.”TopicsUS elections 2024Donald TrumpRepublicansUS politicsArkansasNew YorknewsReuse this content More

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      Trump/Steinbrenner: how the Yankees owner fired a president’s ego

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      Trump/Steinbrenner: how the Yankees owner fired a president’s egoDonald Trump is exiled in Florida but he was made in New York – in part by a friendship with a controversial baseball ownerWhen Donald Trump was looking to make his mark in 1980s Manhattan, he found a role model up in the Bronx: the New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Trump was also a professional team owner: his New Jersey Generals competed in the short-lived United States Football League. But though Trump and Steinbrenner would ultimately become good friends, they didn’t get off to the best start.Trump to publish book of letters from Kim Jong-un, Oprah Winfrey and othersRead moreAs Maggie Haberman of the New York Times writes in her bestselling book, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, the two men sat on the board of the New York State Sportsplex Corporation, which was looking into building new stadiums. Trump was eyeing one in Queens, where the Generals could play.“At a press conference following the board’s first meeting, in 1984, Steinbrenner complained that Trump was hogging the microphone. ‘This isn’t going to be a one-man show or I’m not going to stick around,’ he said, raising his arms to obscure Trump so that photographers could not capture them together.“That show of ego, and willingness to set the terms of debate, did not stop the men from becoming friends, and Trump was a constant presence in the owner’s box at Yankee Stadium.”Years later, Steinbrenner provided inspiration for Trump on his hit TV show, The Apprentice.“He ad-libbed the ‘You’re fired’ line used to dispatch each week’s loser as an apparent, and unacknowledged, homage” to Steinbrenner, Haberman writes, describing how the Yankees owner’s “revolving door of managers was one of New York’s great ongoing tragicomedies.“As he was still trying to figure out how to be a boss of a company, Trump looked upon Steinbrenner – and the ease, even glee, with which he fired people – and other members of Steinbrenner’s social circle as examples. When he had to play an executive on television, Trump adopted Steinbrenner’s voice and recast The Apprentice’s spirit as gleefully punitive.”Memorably, Steinbrenner cashed in on the catchphrase in a 1978 Miller Lite commercial, which shows him clashing with manager Billy Martin.Steinbrenner says: “Tastes great.”Martin insists: “Less filling.”“Billy,” Steinbrenner.“Yeah, George?”“You’re fired,” Steinbrenner says, with a grin.“Not again!” Martin replies, as the two men chuckle.In real life, Martin had five stints as Yankees manager.Steinbrenner and Trump became etched into popular culture – as executives who made firing people an art form.In 2010, following Steinbrenner’s death, Jim Caple on ESPN wrote: “During his prime, Steinbrenner single-handedly raised the national unemployment rate by a percent, firing managers so regularly that he made Donald Trump look like the head of a teachers union.”Trump told the writer Mark Leibovich Steinbrenner had been his best friend, calling him a “big time winner”. Those comments were published in 2017, when Trump had taken Steinbrenner’s human resources philosophy to the White House, dispensing with officials the way Steinbrenner fired executives and managers.However, when, in 1973, the syndicate Steinbrenner led bought the Yankees, he gave no indication he would be so involved in personnel matters.“‘I won’t be active in the day-to-day operations of the club at all,” he said, making arguably the least accurate prediction in sports business history.“We plan absentee ownership as far as running the Yankees is concerned,” Steinbrenner added. “We’re not going to pretend we’re something we aren’t. I’ll stick to building ships.”Steinbrenner’s stint with the Yankees did feature one thing more scarce in Trump’s business career: eye-catching financial success. His group bought the team from CBS for a measly $10m. Last year, Forbes pegged the Yankees’ value at $6bn.There was a reason for the bargain price. Steinbrenner, then 42, chairman of the American Ship Building Company and part‐owner of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, purchased the most successful franchise in baseball at close to rock bottom, at least by its standards. The year before, the Yankees finished fourth in the American League East and drew just 966,000 fans: their first time under a million since the second world war, when attendance was down across baseball. Steinbrenner’s group got the Yankees for less than the small-market Cleveland Indians had recently fetched.Around the same time, Steinbrenner and Trump both got into trouble with the US justice department.In 1973, the department sued Trump’s real estate firm for discriminating against Black tenants and thereby violating the Fair Housing Act, a case eventually settled.The following year, the justice department indicted Steinbrenner for illegal contributions to Richard Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign. That case ended in a guilty plea in August 1974, two weeks after Nixon resigned, and Steinbrenner being suspended from running the team. (Trump would also befriend Nixon – he will include 25 letters from the former president in a book due out in April.)Untouchable review: Trump as ‘lawless Houdini’ above US justiceRead moreSteinbrenner wound up returning the Yankees to the pinnacle, spending liberally on star players, especially in the early years of free agency, and winning 11 pennants and seven World Series titles.In 2006, with the Yankees on their way to a ninth straight AL East title, Trump threw out the ceremonial pitch at Fenway Park before a game against the Boston Red Sox. In August 2020, as president, he said he had canceled plans to throw the opening pitch at Yankee Stadium, also against the Red Sox – citing his “strong focus” on the coronavirus pandemic. The Times said no invitation was made for that specific game.We’ll never know how Trump would have been received. But he has weighed in from the peanut gallery himself. In 2013, with the Yankees on their way to a first playoff miss in five seasons, he called out the team.“The Yankees are sure lucky George Steinbrenner is not around,” Trump tweeted, before going back to the firing imagery that marked both men’s careers.“A lot of people would be losing their jobs.”
      Frederic J Frommer’s books include Red Sox vs Yankees: The Great Rivalry and You Gotta Have Heart: Washington Baseball from Walter Johnson to the 2019 World Series Champion Nationals
      TopicsNew York YankeesDonald TrumpMLBBaseballUS sportsUS politicsRepublicansfeaturesReuse this content More

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      Donald Trump ‘not above the law’, New York attorney general says

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      Donald Trump ‘not above the law’, New York attorney general saysLetitia James celebrates court ruling ordering ex-president to pay $110,000 fine for refusing to comply with subpoenas Donald Trump is “not above the law”, the attorney general of New York state said on Tuesday, celebrating an appeals court ruling which said the former president must pay a $110,000 fine for refusing to comply with subpoenas in a fraud investigation of his company and financial affairs.In a statement, Letitia James said: “Once again, the courts have ruled that Donald Trump is not above the law.“For years, he tried to stall and thwart our lawful investigation into his financial dealings, but today’s decision sends a clear message that there are consequences for abusing the legal system. We will not be bullied or dissuaded from pursuing justice.”James, a Democrat, began her investigation while Trump, a Republican, was president. Trump and three of his adult children – Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric – were deposed.Last month, released footage of Trump’s deposition showed that he took the constitution’s fifth amendment against self-incrimination more than 400 times.Trump was fined for contempt in New York state court in April 2022. He appealed. A judge capped the fine at $110,000.In September, James unveiled her wide-ranging civil lawsuit against the four Trumps, alleging false filings in order to enrich themselves and secure loans.The lawsuit seeks to bar the former president and his three children from executive roles in New York and to stop the Trump Organization from acquiring commercial real estate or receiving loans from state-based entities for five years.Trump denies wrongdoing. In November he counter-sued, claiming a “relentless, pernicious, public, and unapologetic crusade” which would cause “great harm” to his company, brand and reputation.It was reported then that Trump’s own lawyers sought to stop him from filing the suit. In January, shortly after he and a lawyer were fined $1m for a “frivolous” suit against Hillary Clinton, whom he beat in the 2016 presidential election, Trump withdrew two suits against James.Trump is now one of two declared candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. Unlike Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador who jumped into the race on Tuesday, Trump is subject to extensive legal jeopardy.In New York, where the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer were recently convicted of tax fraud, prosecutors are also examining a hush money payment made to the porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. New York will also stage a trial over the writer E Jean Carroll’s claim that Trump raped and then defamed her, allegations Trump denies.Prosecutors in Georgia are thought to be close to indicting Trump over his attempts to overturn election results there.In Washington DC, Jack Smith, a special counsel appointed by the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, is investigating Trump’s attempted election subversion, including his incitement of the deadly January 6 Capitol attack, and his retention of classified information.TopicsDonald TrumpUS politicsNew YorknewsReuse this content More

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      George Santos: puppy theft charge news follows Romney’s ‘sick puppy’ barb

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      George Santos: puppy theft charge news follows Romney’s ‘sick puppy’ barbRepublican at centre of string of scandals was charged in Pennsylvania with theft over purchase of puppies in 2017 The New York Republican congressman George Santos, who is at the centre of a bizarre string of scandals and who the Utah senator Mitt Romney this week called a “sick puppy”, was charged with theft in Pennsylvania in 2017 – over a purchase of “puppies”.George Santos is a ‘sociopath’, fellow New York Republican congressman saysRead moreThe scandal, reported by Politico, is not Santos’s first involving dogs and his charity, Friends of Pets United. A New Jersey veteran alleges Santos raised money for an operation for his dog, then absconded with the money.In the Pennsylvania case, in Amish Country, $15,125 in bad checks were made out for “puppies”, Politico reported.Days later, Santos held an adoption event at a Staten Island pet store. Citing court records and a lawyer who helped Santos, Politico said the theft charge was dropped and Santos’s record expunged, after Santos said someone had stolen his checkbook.It is not Santos’s first case involving a checkbook. Prosecutors in Brazil have reopened a case involving the alleged use of a stolen checkbook.Santos denies all alleged wrongdoing and says he will not resign. He did not comment about the Amish Country case. The lawyer, Tiffany Bogosian, told Politico “she now doesn’t believe” his story, given subsequent developments.Bogosian told the New York Times: “I should have never got involved. He should have went to jail. And I wish nothing but bad things for him.”Santos, 34, won in New York’s third district last year. He has since admitted embellishing his résumé.Bizarre claims, including playing volleyball for a college he didn’t attend and being a producer on the Spider-Man musical, have been exposed. Claims about his family, including descent from Holocaust survivors and that 9/11 “claimed” his mother’s life, have been disproven. Santos has denied reports he was a drag queen in Brazil.He has also been accused of sexual harassment, by a former aide. His charity is being investigated.Republicans, Democrats and constituents have called for Santos to quit. But Santos supported Kevin McCarthy through 15 votes for House speaker and the Republican leader, who must work with a narrow majority, has not said Santos should go.McCarthy and other senior Republicans have said they are waiting on investigations of Santos’s campaign finance filings, amid questions about the source of his wealth and activities under a different name, Anthony Devolder.Resignations from Congress are common but expulsions are not. Only five representatives have been expelled – three for fighting for the Confederacy in the civil war. Regardless, on Thursday Democrats filed a resolution for Santos’s expulsion.“We gave him plenty of time to resign and he has chosen not to do so,” said Robert Garcia of California.Santos said again he would not resign voluntarily.00:28Romney’s clash with Santos came at the State of the Union address on Tuesday.Romney said he told Santos he did not belong in Congress. He also called Santos a “sick puppy” and poured scorn on his résumé claims. Santos claimed Romney called him an “ass” and to have called the senator an “asshole”.On Thursday, Santos told Newsmax that the same night, the independent Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema was “very polite, very kindhearted” and said: “Hang in there buddy.”On Friday, a spokesperson for Sinema told CNN: “This is a lie.”TopicsGeorge SantosUS politicsRepublicansUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesUS SenateMitt RomneynewsReuse this content More

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      George Santos is a ‘sociopath’, fellow New York Republican congressman says

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      George Santos is a ‘sociopath’, fellow New York Republican congressman saysNick LaLota is one of a growing number of people from both parties to call on Santos to quit over made-up résumé and investigations00:28George Santos is a “sociopath” who thrives on negative attention, another New York Republican congressman said.‘You don’t belong here’: Romney and Santos in tense State of Union exchangeRead more“He’s a sociopath,” Nick LaLota told CNN on Wednesday, after Santos’s confrontation with Mitt Romney at Joe Biden’s State of the Union address made headlines the night before.“He looks for that attention. Even the negative attention drives him. It’s become an embarrassment and a distraction to the Republicans in the House.“And every time I have to come to something like this and talk about George Santos, I can’t talk about what Republicans ought to be doing instead.”Santos later told reporters Romney’s remarks were “reprehensible” and said the senator’s behaviour “wasn’t very Mormon”.Romney, a senator from Utah, is a member of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints. Santos claimed to have Jewish grandparents who escaped the Holocaust, a lie repeatedly exposed.The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “sociopathic” as “of, relating to, or characterised by asocial or antisocial behavior or exhibiting antisocial personality disorder”.LaLota was elected to Congress in New York’s first district last November, while Santos won in the third.Since then, Santos’s résumé has been shown to be largely made-up, his often bizarre past behaviour exposed and his campaign finance filings investigated.The congressman is also the subject of allegations of criminal behaviour, including a sexual harassment claim leveled by a former congressional aide.The 34-year-old has admitted embellishing his résumé but denied wrongdoing and repeatedly said he will not resign.LaLota is among a growing number of Republicans, Democrats and constituents who have called on Santos to quit. Party leaders accepted Santos’s withdrawal from committee assignments but have not said he should resign.Santos supported the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, through 15 rounds of voting for the position, against a far-right rebellion.Members of Congress often resign amid scandal but very few are reprimanded, censured or expelled. The last of only five members ever expelled was James Traficant Jr, an Ohio Democrat removed in 2002 after being convicted of crimes including obstruction of justice and racketeering.On Tuesday night, ahead of Biden’s speech, Santos positioned himself near the centre aisle of the House chamber as senators entered.He was seen to exchange words with Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who is now a senator from Utah.Romney later told a scrum of reporters: “I didn’t expect that he’d be standing there trying to shake hands with every senator and the president of the United States.“Given the fact that he’s under ethics investigation, he should be sitting in the back row and staying quiet instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room.”Romney called Santos a “sick puppy” and said he told the New Yorker he “shouldn’t be in Congress … if he had any shame at all, he wouldn’t be there”.Asked if he was disappointed McCarthy had not called on Santos to resign, Romney said: “Yes.”New add to George Santos’s résumé: producer on Spider-Man musicalRead moreRomney said he didn’t hear what Santos said to him. Santos claimed Romney told him he was an “ass” and to have retorted that the senator was “a much bigger asshole”. He also taunted Romney, tweeting “a reminder that you will NEVER BE PRESIDENT!”On Wednesday, Santos told reporters: “It’s not the first time in history that I’ve been told to shut up and go to the back of the room, especially by people who come from a privileged background.“I’m never gonna shut up and go to the back of the room. I think it’s reprehensible the senator would say such a thing to me … it wasn’t very Mormon of him.”LaLota told CNN: “Mitt Romney is right on this one. I’ve been clear on George Santos for months now. He does not deserve to be in Congress. He’s all about the rhetoric, he’s all about the drama, and he’s fallen far below the standard that we all should hold ourselves to.”TopicsGeorge SantosRepublicansUS CongressNew YorkUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Millions in US north-east brace for ‘once-in-a-generation’ Arctic blast

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      Millions in US north-east brace for ‘once-in-a-generation’ Arctic blastMeteorologists warn frigid weather could bring record-breaking low temperatures to New York, New Jersey and New England More than 15 million people in the US north-east were bracing for “once-in-a-generation” Arctic blast on Friday and Saturday, as meteorologists warned frigid weather could bring record-breaking low temperatures.An Arctic cold front is expected to bring wind chills of -50F (-45C) in parts of northern New England, and the National Weather Service (NWS) warned dangerous wind chills were likely in an area stretching from northern Pennsylvania to Maine.Trump campaign promised to ‘fan the flame’ of 2020 election lie, audio reveals – liveRead moreThe frigid weather will continue through Saturday evening, the NWS said. The icy blast in the north-east comes after a winter storm left hundreds of thousands of Texans without power on Thursday, after ice storms killed at least 10.“The wind chills have the potential to be once-in-a-generation cold,” the NWS said, urging people to either stay indoors or take precautions against swiftly striking frostbite and hypothermia. The wind chill factor describes the combined effect of wind and cold temperatures on exposed skin.In Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu declared a cold emergency for Friday through Sunday and has opened warming centers so people can get out of the cold.In an advisory, the city suggested people wear several layers of loose-fitting lightweight, warm clothing.“Wear mittens over gloves; layering works for your hands as well,” the advisory said. “Always wear a hat and cover your mouth with a scarf to protect your lungs.”Record low temperatures could be set in the city, as well as in New York City, where wind gusts of 50mph were expected, and Providence, the NWS suggested in a tweet. It described the cold front as “a short-lived but impressive Arctic blast”.In New Hampshire’s Mount Washington state park, atop the north-east’s highest peak, record-breaking wind chills of -110F (-79C) and wind speeds topping 100mph were expected.“It’s definitely wicked cold, you can say that,” Frances Tarasiewicz, a weather observer for the park, told Reuters.“Today it’s a seasonal 5F, but it’s coming at us quick,” he said of the cold blast headed for the Mount Washington observatory, where staff members live on the mountain in eight-day shifts.Chris Sununu, the governor of New Hampshire, said the state could be facing “the coldest air that we’ve seen in years”. He advised people to stay indoors as much as possible, and to check on neighbors, relatives and the elderly.The state warned that frostbite is possible within 15 minutes at the expected temperatures, and said hypothermia can occur within 10 minutes at -30F (-34C).“This is an epic, generational Arctic outbreak,” said the National Weather Service in Caribou, Maine. It said the weather front will create a wind chill “rarely seen in northern and eastern Maine”.“Temperatures this weekend will be extremely – and dangerously – cold across the state,” said Maine’s governor, Janet Mills.“Please take extra precautions, be careful if you go outside, and be sure to check on your family, friends, and neighbors to make sure they are OK.”Maine will open warming and charging centers across communities across the state, the governor’s office said.In better news, the icy weather is expected to depart swiftly.“T​his is about as short-lived a cold snap as you can get this time of year. The cold will already start to ease Saturday night,” the Weather Channel said.As people in the north-east braced themselves for the cold, in the south temperatures began to rise on Friday after freezing weather left 430,000 people without power on Thursday.The failures were most widespread in Austin, where impatience was rising among 150,000 customers nearly two days after the electricity first went out, which for many also means no heat. Power failures have affected about 30% of customers in the city of nearly a million at any given time since Wednesday.Unlike the 2021 blackouts in Texas, when hundreds of people died after the state’s electricity grid was pushed to the brink of total failure, the outages in Austin this time were largely the result of frozen equipment and ice-burdened trees and limbs falling on power lines.The freeze has been blamed for at least 10 traffic deaths on slick roads this week in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.TopicsUS newsUS politicsUS weatherMassachusettsNew YorknewsReuse this content More

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      Trump says in video ‘anyone in my position not taking the fifth would be an absolute fool’ – as it happened

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      What does Trump think of those who would answer questions in a deposition, like the one he sat for with New York’s attorney general?“Anyone in my position not taking the Fifth Amendment would be a fool, an absolute fool,” he said in the interview.Meanwhile, on his Truth social network, which stands in for his inactive-but-no-longer-banned Twitter account, the former president was doing his usual thing.“The Democrat D.A.’s, Attorney Generals, and Prosecutors are very DANGEROUS to the well being of our Country. Many are deranged and only interested in pleasing the Fake News Media and the Democrat Party. Fair and True Justice means NOTHING in our Country anymore,” he wrote in a post released shortly after CBS News aired video of his deposition today.“I am being hit by so many DEMOCRAT Prosecutors, LOCAL, STATE, & FEDERAL, all to keep me from “running,” and all because I am leading by sooo much. The great people of our Country aren’t going to take it. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”“Witch-hunt”. “Unfair”. “Anyone in my position not taking the fifth would be a fool”. It was Donald Trump at his finest, or perhaps most exhausting, in video of his summer deposition before the New York attorney general obtained by CBS News. Besides bashing Letitia James and her inquiry – which alleges he and his children conspired to inflate his net worth in order to get better loan terms – Trump doesn’t say much, instead refusing to answer questions more than 400 times. Meanwhile, in Washington, lawmakers have plenty of questions of their own in the ongoing saga of the classified documents discovered in the possession of former White House occupants, with a top Democrat demanding information on Trump and Mike Pence’s visitors from the Secret Service.Here’s what else happened today:
      George Santos announced he will not serve on any House committees, even though Republican speaker Kevin McCarthy said he would be willing to seat him.
      The Biden administration will let the emergencies declared over Covid-19 expire, but is considering declaring a new crisis to allow Americans to obtain access to abortions.
      Kamala Harris will attend Tyre Nichols’s funeral in Memphis on Wednesday, her office announced.
      Minnesota’s governor Tim Walz signed into law a measure protecting abortion rights, making the state’s legislature the first to enshrine access to the procedure since the end of Roe v Wade last year.
      Boris Johnson paid a visit to the US Capitol in search of support for Ukraine and perhaps also political relevance.
      Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister, has brought his quest for political relevance to Washington, holding talks with Republican members of Congress in an effort to shore up support for Ukraine.Johnson left office last September amid a Trumpian cascade of scandals but, far from fading into retirement, may be hoping that the war with Russia offers a shot at redemption and chance to emulate his hero Winston Churchill as a global statesman.The 58-year-old visited Ukraine earlier this month and, on Tuesday, was seen entering the office of House speaker Kevin McCarthy, who ruffled feathers last year by warning that Republicans will not write a “blank check” for Ukraine if they win back the majority.Reporters also spotted Johnson heading to the office of Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader and staunch supporter of Ukraine who has urged Joe Biden to act faster, as well as Congressman Jim Banks, a veteran of the Afghanistan war.Cristina Maza, a journalist at the National Journal, tweeted that Johnson told her that he is on Capitol Hill to thank Americans for backing Ukraine and called Republican support for Kyiv “very robust”. The ex-PM also met Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the US, and took questions from Ukrainian journalists.Johnson has penned an opinion column for the Washington Post, arguing that years of “diplomatic doublespeak” about Ukraine joining Nato ended in disaster. “Ukrainians should be given everything they need to finish this war, as quickly as possible, and we should begin the process of admitting Ukraine to NATO, and begin it now,” he writes.The former PM is set to speak at a private Republican club on Tuesday evening and take part in a virtual conversation about sustaining support to Ukraine with the Atlantic Council think tank at 11.30am on Wednesday.Here’s a statement from Ben Crump, attorney for the parents of Tyre Nichols, regarding Vice-President Kamala Harris’s attendance at his funeral tomorrow:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}This morning, Ms. RowVaughn Wells, Mr. Rodney Wells, and I spoke on the phone with Vice President Kamala Harris for over thirty minutes about the tragic loss of Tyre. Vice President Harris and Ms. Wells spoke exclusively, and during this emotional time, the Vice President was able to console Ms. Wells and even help her smile. Tyre’s parents invited Vice President Harris to the funeral tomorrow, and were pleased that she accepted their invitation. Mr. and Mrs. Wells are grateful for Vice President Harris reaching out to them during this heartbreaking time and for her sensitivity on the call.Vice-President Kamala Harris will travel to Memphis tomorrow to attend Tyre Nichols’s funeral, her office has announced.Last week, Joe Biden spoke with Nichols’s mother and stepfather after the 29-year-old was beaten by Memphis police following a traffic stop, and died three days later.Minnesota’s Democratic governor Tim Walz has signed into law the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act, which creates a “fundamental right” to abortion under the state’s laws:Today, I signed the PRO Act into law. Your reproductive freedom will stay protected in Minnesota.— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) January 31, 2023
      Abortion access is already protected under a state supreme court ruling, but the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports Democrats controlling the state legislature passed the PRO Act to guard against the possibility that the precedent gets overturned.With the law, Minnesota has become the first state to add abortion protections to its statutes since the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade last June and allowed states to ban the procedure entirely. Voters elsewhere in the country have approved ballot measures protecting abortion access in reaction to the ruling from the supreme court’s conservative majority.In the wake of Tyre Nichols’s death, Joe Biden will meet with Black lawmakers on Thursday in a bid to revive stalled talks on a federal police reform bill, the Associated Press reports: >@POTUS will meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Thursday to discuss police reform in light of Tyre Nichols’ death, @ODalton46 tells reporters on AF1 en route to NYC— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) January 31, 2023
      Spurred by the death of George Floyd in 2020 and the nationwide protests that followed, negotiations over passing some kind of reform measure dragged on for months in 2021, but ultimately proved fruitless. The Washington Post reports that despite the outrage over Nichols’s death following a beating by Memphis police officers – five of whom have been charged with murder – the chances of passing such a measure have only worsened.“I don’t know what the space is for that,” Senator Lindsey Graham, who is the top Republican on the judiciary committee that would probably consider any such bill.Previous talks were held while Democrats controlled both the House and Senate, and negotiators were trying to find a compromise that could overcome a Republican filibuster in the upper chamber. Now, the GOP controls the House, and John Cornyn, a Republican who played a part in passing a bill to help police departments implement de-escalation training, doubts such a measure is feasible.“I think it’s probably less likely to happen now with divided government,” Cornyn said, according to the Post.George Santos has elaborated on his decision to recuse himself from the House committees on small business and science, space and technology.Here’s a statement from the New York Republican lawmaker and fabulist:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}With the ongoing attention surrounding both my personal and campaign financial investigations, I have submitted a request to Speaker McCarthy that I be temporarily recused from my committee assignments until I am cleared. This was a decision that I take very seriously. The business of the 118th Congress must continue without media fanfare. It is important that I primarily focus on serving the constituents of New York’s Third Congressional District and providing federal level representation without distraction.
      I want to personally thank Speaker McCarthy for meeting with me to discuss the matter and allowing me to take time to properly clear my name before returning to my committees. To my constituents, I remain committed to serving the district, and delivering results for both New York’s Third Congressional District and for the American people.Most of Santos’s constituents would like him to resign, a recent survey said.Far-right commentators who joked or cast doubt about the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, are having to eat their words, now that video of assault has been released, the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly reports:Conservative commentators were forced to backtrack over conspiracy theories and jokes about the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, after the release of police video and audio last week.One Fox News commentator had to retreat from his claim there was no “evidence of a breaking and entering” when his host pointed out that footage of the attacker breaking into Pelosi’s home was playing on screen at the time.“Got it,” Brian Claypool said. “Yeah. OK. Can’t we talk more about what is the DoJ doing?”The Department of Justice has charged Pelosi’s attacker, David DePape, with assault and attempted kidnapping. The 42-year-old also faces state charges including attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty.Pelosi, 82, was attacked in his San Francisco home in late October, a time when his wife, Nancy Pelosi, was still speaker of the US House. According to tapes released by the police, the attacker said he was looking for her. She was not present. Her husband suffered a fractured skull and injuries to his hand and arm.Republican leaders including Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell condemned the attack.But prominent rightwingers including Donald Trump Jr, the Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the Tesla and Twitter owner Elon Musk and Republican members of Congress including Ted Cruz and Marjorie Taylor Greene eagerly spread jokes, misinformation and conspiracy theories.Paul Pelosi attack: rightwing pundits backtrack after release of police videoRead more“Witch-hunt”. “Unfair”. “Anyone in my position not taking the fifth would be a fool”. It was Donald Trump at his finest, or perhaps most exhausting, in video of his summer deposition before the New York attorney general obtained by CBS News. Besides bashing Letitia James and her inquiry – which alleges he and his children conspired to inflate his net worth in order to get better loan terms – Trump doesn’t say much, instead refusing to answer questions more than 400 times. In Washington, lawmakers have plenty of questions of their own in the ongoing saga of the classified documents found in the possession of former White House occupants, with a top Democrat demanding information on Trump and Mike Pence’s visitors from the Secret Service.Here’s what else has happened today so far:
      George Santos announced he will not serve on any House committees, even though Republican speaker Kevin McCarthy said he would be willing to seat him.
      The Biden administration will allow the emergencies declared over Covid-19 to expire, but is considering declaring a new crisis to allow Americans to obtain access to abortions.
      The fallout from the police killing of Tyre Nichols continues in Memphis.
      What does Trump think of those who would answer questions in a deposition, like the one he sat for with New York’s attorney general?“Anyone in my position not taking the Fifth Amendment would be a fool, an absolute fool,” he said in the interview.Meanwhile, on his Truth social network, which stands in for his inactive-but-no-longer-banned Twitter account, the former president was doing his usual thing.“The Democrat D.A.’s, Attorney Generals, and Prosecutors are very DANGEROUS to the well being of our Country. Many are deranged and only interested in pleasing the Fake News Media and the Democrat Party. Fair and True Justice means NOTHING in our Country anymore,” he wrote in a post released shortly after CBS News aired video of his deposition today.“I am being hit by so many DEMOCRAT Prosecutors, LOCAL, STATE, & FEDERAL, all to keep me from “running,” and all because I am leading by sooo much. The great people of our Country aren’t going to take it. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”The top Democrat on the House oversight committee has sent the director of the Secret Service a letter asking for information on all visitors to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and Mike Pence’s Indiana home since they left office two years ago.Jamie Raskin, the ranking member on the Republican-led committee that is playing a major role in investigating Joe Biden, cited the FBI’s discovery of classified materials at Pence and Trump’s properties.“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating former President Donald Trump’s and former Vice President Mike Pence’s mishandling of sensitive, highly classified documents,” Raskin wrote in the letter to director Kimberly Cheatle.“Given that the U.S. Secret Service provided protection for Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence during the time they stored classified materials at their respective residences, the Committee is seeking information from your agency regarding who had access to former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club and former Vice President Pence’s personal residence since leaving office.”Led by James Comer, Republicans on the oversight committee are investigating Biden over a number of matters, including his improper possession of classified documents. Comer has requested from the Secret Service information regarding visitors to Biden’s Delaware residence, where some of his classified documents were found. In a statement, Raskin said he asked Comer to join in his letter about Trump and Pence’s properties, but received no reply.Donald Trump invoked his fifth amendment right to refuse to answer questions more than 400 times last summer during his deposition in the New York attorney general’s fraud investigation, CBS News reports.The network obtained video of the interview, which starts with the former president accusing attorney general Letitia James of conducting an “unfair” investigation that amounted to a “witch hunt” – familiar words for anyone who has heard Trump talk about the many inquiries he has faced, and is facing.He then states that on the advice of his lawyers, “I respectfully decline to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States constitution. This will be my answer to any further questions.”An investigator for the attorney general’s office tells Trump that he can just say “same answer” for all the questions put to him, which Trump does throughout the deposition.Weeks after Trump’s August deposition, James announced she was suing the former president and three of his children for what she called a fraud scheme of “staggering” scale in which they falsely inflated his net worth to win more favorable loan terms.Here’s the full report and footage of the deposition, from CBS: More

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      Trump pleaded the fifth more than 400 times in fraud deposition, video shows

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      Trump pleaded the fifth more than 400 times in fraud deposition, video showsFormer president repeatedly invoked constitutional right against self-incrimination in New York footage from late last summer Video released on Tuesday showed Donald Trump answering questions from the New York state attorney general, Letitia James, in a deposition in a civil fraud case late last summer.Video shows Trump taking the fifth 400 times in New York fraud deposition – liveRead moreQuestioned about his financial affairs, the former president repeatedly invoked his fifth-amendment right against self-incrimination – part of a refusal to answer he repeated more than 400 times.“Anyone in my position not taking the fifth amendment would be a fool, an absolute fool,” Trump said.On the advice of counsel, Trump said, he “respectfully decline[d] to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States constitution”.The footage was obtained and reported by CBS News.Three of Trump’s children – Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump – were also deposed by James during an investigation which lasted for three years.In his deposition, Trump repeatedly claimed to have been treated unfairly.James told him: “Anything you say in this examination may be used in a civil proceeding, and that can include a civil enforcement proceeding or a criminal action. Do you understand that?”Trump replied: “I think.”James asked: “Is that yes?”Trump said: “I don’t know what I did wrong, but the answer is yes, I do understand.”Trump was also warned about the risk of perjury.Reading a prepared statement, he complained of “the greatest witch-hunt in the history of our country” and called James “a renegade and out of control prosecutor”.He added: “This whole thing is very unfair.”Trump acknowledged the deposition and his refusal to answer questions at the time, saying in a statement: “I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the fifth amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question.“When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated witch-hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice.”The deposition took place on 10 August, two days after Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, was raided by FBI agents looking for classified documents.In his statement, Trump said the raid “wiped out any uncertainty” about whether he should take the fifth in his deposition by James.“I have absolutely no choice because the current administration and many prosecutors in this country have lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency,” he said.In late September 2022, James announced a wide-ranging civil suit against Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and the Trump Organization.01:13James said Trump “falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself and to cheat the system, thereby cheating all of us. He did this with the help of the other defendants.”Saying “the number of grossly inflated asset values is staggering”, the suit seeks to bar the Trumps from serving as executives in New York and to prohibit the company from acquiring commercial real estate or receiving loans from New York-based entities for five years.In November, Trump sued James, over what he called a “relentless, pernicious, public, and unapologetic crusade” against him.Trump dropped the suit this month, a day after a suit against Hillary Clinton was thrown out and Trump and his lawyer were hit with a near-$1m sanction.Ever litigious, on Monday Trump announced a near-$50m lawsuit against the Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward and the publisher Simon & Schuster, over an audio book, The Trump Tapes, for which Trump says he did not give permission.Woodward and Simon & Schuster said the suit was “without merit and we will aggressively defend against it”.Donald Trump sues Bob Woodward over The Trump Tapes for $50mRead moreEven as he steps up the pace in his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, Trump faces legal jeopardy on numerous fronts aside from the New York state civil suit.Prosecutors in New York City who secured a conviction against Trump’s chief financial officer on tax offences have said they are looking again at a hush money payment to a porn star, made in 2016.Also in New York, Trump faces lawsuits from E Jean Carroll, a writer who says he raped her in the mid-1990s, an allegation Trump denies.The Department of Justice and state authorities are investigating Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election and his incitement of the US Capitol attack, regarding which the House January 6 committee made four criminal referrals.The justice department also continues to investigate Trump’s retention of classified documents.On Monday, in a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump complained of “Democrat D.A.’s [sic], attorney generals and prosecutors” who he said were “very DANGEROUS to the well being of our country”.He also said he was being “hit” to keep him from running for the White House, “and all because I am leading by sooo much”.Trump is the only declared major candidate for the Republican nomination in 2024. His only close rival in polling of the notional field, the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, has led some surveys.TopicsDonald TrumpNew YorkUS politicsnewsReuse this content More