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      Trump defended rioters who threatened to ‘hang Mike Pence’, audio reveals

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      Trump defended rioters who threatened to ‘hang Mike Pence’, audio reveals‘It’s common sense,’ said ex-president when asked about chantsRecording of remarks with Jonathan Karl released by Axios Donald Trump defended rioters at the Capitol on 6 January who threatened to “hang Mike Pence”, his vice-president, according to recorded remarks released on Friday.‘A roadmap for a coup’: inside Trump’s plot to steal the presidencyRead moreTrump said it was “common sense” when asked about the chants.Trump was speaking to the ABC chief Washington correspondent, Jonathan Karl, for his book Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show, which will be published on Tuesday. The recording was released by Axios.Karl asked Trump if he was worried about Pence during the attack on the Capitol by rioters who aimed to stop the certification of electoral college results and thereby overturn Trump’s defeat by Joe Biden.“No,” Trump said. “I thought he was well-protected, and I had heard that he was in good shape. No. Because I had heard he was in very good shape. But, but, no, I think – ”Karl interjected: “Because you heard those chants – that was terrible. I mean – ”Trump said: “He could have – well, the people were very angry.”Karl said: “They were saying ‘hang Mike Pence’.”“Because it’s common sense, Jon,” Trump said, repeating baseless claims about election fraud. “It’s common sense that you’re supposed to protect. How can you – if you know a vote is fraudulent, right? – how can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress? How can you do that?”The 2020 election was not subject to widespread electoral fraud, an opinion which was relayed to Trump by his own attorney general, William Barr.Trump continued: “And I’m telling you: 50/50, it’s right down the middle for the top constitutional scholars when I speak to them. Anybody I spoke to – almost all of them at least pretty much agree, and some very much agree with me – because he’s passing on a vote that he knows is fraudulent. How can you pass a vote that you know is fraudulent?”“Top constitutional scholars” do not agree the 2020 election was subject to electoral fraud.One scholar, John Eastman, provided Pence with a memo outlining how he said the vice-president might reject slates of electors from key states and thus throw the election back to the House of Representatives, where a Republican majority in state delegations would hand victory to Trump.Pence considered the memo and then, on the advice of others, including the former vice-president Dan Quayle, rejected it.Five people died in or following the attack on the Capitol. Pence and his family were hidden in an underground loading bay during the insurrection, and then duly presided over the certification of Biden’s win.In a Republican party dominated by Trump, however, anyone with ambitions of running for president in 2024 has a stark choice to make. In trips to early voting states, Pence has sought to downplay the Capitol attack.Unlike Trump, Pence is not in legal jeopardy over attempts to overturn the election. But Eastman is, as one of many subjects of subpoenas from the House select committee investigating 6 January.Trump and other aides are contesting such summonses on grounds of presidential privilege, which Biden has largely declined to invoke. This week, a judge denied Trump’s claim, writing: “Presidents are not kings, and plaintiff is not president.” Another judge issued a temporary stay.’It’s an exhausting story’: Jonathan Karl on his up-close view of TrumpRead moreIn Betrayal, his second Trump book, Karl also reports that the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, decided Trump should not attend Biden’s inauguration on 20 January.It was a grave step, given it would make Trump the first president to miss the inauguration of his successor since Andrew Johnson, the first president to be impeached, skipped ceremonies for Ulysses S Grant in 1869. Trump is the only US president to have been impeached twice.The House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, reportedly opposed the idea and told Trump what was afoot. Trump, Karl reports, quickly said he would not attend. On 20 January, Pence took his place on the inauguration stand.TopicsDonald TrumpUS Capitol attackUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Appear before 6 January panel or risk prosecution, ex-Trump chief of staff told

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      Appear before 6 January panel or risk prosecution, ex-Trump chief of staff toldMark Meadows threatened with criminal contempt referral to DoJ should he refuse to show for deposition on Friday morning Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows is facing a criminal referral to the justice department for contempt of Congress should he refuse to appear for an immediate deposition on Friday morning before the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack.Republican lawsuits unlikely to halt US worker vaccine mandates, experts sayRead moreThe move to threaten criminal prosecution for Meadows amounts to an abrupt and sharp escalation for the select committee as it seeks to enforce its subpoena against one of Donald Trump’s closest aides first issued in September.Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the select committee, said in a letter to Meadows’s attorney on Thursday that the panel had exhausted its patience with Meadows, and his failure to appear at the deposition would be viewed as an instance of willful noncompliance.The chairman said that would force the select committee to “consider invoking contempt of Congress procedures” that could result in a criminal referral to the justice department, as well as the possibility of a civil action to enforce the subpoena.But despite the threat of criminal prosecution, Meadows was not expected to attend his deposition, scheduled to take place with select committee counsel in a nondescript House office building on Capitol Hill, according to a source familiar with the matter.The select committee is targeting Meadows since his role as Trump’s former White House chief of staff means he is likely to hold the key to uncover Trump’s involvement in efforts on 6 January to stop the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.The select committee also believes that Meadows remained by Trump’s side for most of 6 January, and was therefore in a unique position to know what the former president was privately thinking and doing at the White House as the deadly attack on the Capitol unfolded.But after Trump instructed his former aides to defy the subpoenas on grounds of executive privilege, Meadows moved to negotiate with the select committee about the scope of his cooperation – which members on the panel suspect was an effort to stall the inquiry.Those suspicions among members on the select committee appeared to be bolstered on Thursday after Meadows’s attorney, George Terwilliger, said in a statement that Meadows was “immune” from congressional testimony under justice department opinions.“Mr Meadows remains under the instructions of former President Trump to respect long-standing principles of executive privilege. It now appears the courts will have to resolve this conflict,” Terwilliger added.Thompson said in the letter that rejected the notion that Meadows was immune from testifying to the select committee, noting that every federal court has ruled that presidential aides have no such protections in spite of the justice department opinions.The chairman also noted that Meadows had not produced any materials demanded in his subpoena – including those not covered by executive privilege – though weeks had passed since Terwilliger indicated he would review which records to release.Thompson said in the letter that his patience had expired and demanded that Meadows appear with the requested documents at a deposition on Friday. Noncompliance by Meadows would force the select committee to pursue contempt proceedings, he added.The White House on Thursday backed Thompson, notifying Terwilliger in a separate letter that Biden would not assert executive privilege – a power wielded by sitting presidents – or immunity over the documents and deposition requested by the select committee.“President Biden has determined that he will not assert immunity to preclude your client from testifying before the select committee,” deputy White House counsel Jonathan Su said in an office of legal counsel letter first reported by the Washington Post.Thompson’s warning on Thursday was his third threat against a recalcitrant witness since House investigators starting issuing subpoenas to dozens of top former Trump administration officials and pro-Trump activists connected to the 6 January insurrection.The chairman last week raised the possibility of holding former Trump justice department official Jeffrey Clark in contempt of Congress after he appeared for a deposition pursuant to a subpoena but refused to answer any questions, citing attorney-client privilege.Last month, the House voted to refer Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon to the justice department for prosecution after the select committee unanimously recommended his referral after he ignored his September subpoena in its entirety.TopicsUS Capitol attackRepublicansUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Donald Trump makes last-ditch effort to keep White House records secret

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      Donald Trump makes last-ditch effort to keep White House records secretThe former president is asking a court to block release of material related to the House investigation into the attack on the Capitol Donald Trump, the former US president, has been scrambling this week to make a last-ditch legal bid to block the release on Friday of sensitive White House records related to the deadly 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol.The National Archives, a federal agency that holds presidential files, is poised to give congressional investigators hundreds of pages and other material, such as video clips, that Trump wants to keep secret.Trump White House records can be given to Capitol attack panel, judge rules Read moreThe ex-president’s lawyers this week tried and failed to persuade district judge Tanya Chutkan to put on hold her ruling that allows a House of Representatives committee investigating the attack to access phone records, visitor logs and other documents.Now, with time running out, Trump’s hopes are pinned on the influential US court of appeals for the District of Columbia in Washington. His legal team have asked it to overturn Chutkan’s ruling and stop the National Archives handing over the first documents on Friday.As is customary, the DC circuit court will randomly assign three judges to a panel to consider the appeal. If they decline to issue a preliminary injunction, Trump is expected to appeal to the supreme court through its “shadow docket”, which allows justices to quickly decide emergency matters without full briefs and arguments.It is not the first time in a long business and political career that he has used delaying tactics in the legal process to his own advantage. The Democratic-led bipartisan committee faces a potential deadline of winding up its investigation before next November’s midterm elections in which Republicans are tipped to win back control of the House of Representatives.Trump has argued that the materials requested by the committee were covered by a legal doctrine known as executive privilege that protects the confidentiality of some White House communications.He called the House committee’s request a “vexatious, illegal fishing expedition” that was “untethered from any legitimate legislative purpose”.But Chutkan, in her Tuesday ruling, rejected that argument, in a clear win for congressional oversight powers. “Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President,” she said of Trump.The House select committee has said it needs the requested materials to understand the role Trump may have played in fomenting the riot in which his supporters aimed to block members of Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential win, despite the 2020 contest being widely declared the most secure election in US history.According to an earlier court filing from the archives, the records include call logs, drafts of remarks and speeches and handwritten notes from Trump’s then chief of staff, Mark Meadows. There are also copies of talking points from the then press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, and “a draft Executive Order on the topic of election integrity”, the National Archives has said.Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who leads the House committee, said in a statement after Tuesday’s ruling that the records were crucial for understanding the attack and “in my view, there couldn’t be a more compelling public interest than getting answers about an attack on our democracy”.The committee has already interviewed more than 150 witnesses and issued more than 30 subpoenas, including on Tuesday to McEnany and the former White House senior adviser Stephen Miller.Four people died during the 6 January attack on the Capitol by extremist Trump supporters – one shot dead by police and the other three of natural causes, including one trampled by the mob – and more than a hundred police officers were injured.A Capitol Police officer who had been attacked by protesters died the next day and four other police officers who defended the Capitol later died by suicide.About 700 people have been arrested for their involvement in the attack and many of the cases are still working their way through the courts.Carl Tobias, Williams chair in law at the University of Richmond, Virginia, said: “Trump’s entire effort appears to be right out of his playbook. Trump obstructs and delays in apparent attempts to prevent the Congress and the courts from discharging their constitutional duties.”He added: “In this, as in so many other prior gambits, Trump apparently wants to run out the clock in the hopes that the 2022 elections will yield GOP House and Senate majorities that will halt congressional investigation of his role in the January 6 insurrection.”After leaving office, Trump was impeached for a historic second time, charged with inciting the insurrection. He was acquitted by the US Senate but seven Republican senators were among the majority who voted to convict but fell short of the two-thirds required.TopicsUS Capitol attackDonald TrumpHouse of RepresentativesUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Prosecutors seek strongest sentences yet for US Capitol insurrectionists

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      US Capitol attackProsecutors seek strongest sentences yet for US Capitol insurrectionistsA judge will decide on Wednesday if Scott Fairlamb should serve 44 months, as prosecutors seek a 51-month term for Jacob Chansley Guardian staff and agenciesWed 10 Nov 2021 09.38 ESTLast modified on Wed 10 Nov 2021 10.00 ESTUS prosecutors are seeking the stiffest punishments yet for participants in the deadly 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol by extremist supporters of Donald Trump, urging judges to make an example out of a man filmed punching a police officer and another who stormed the Senate chamber wearing a horned headdress.At a court hearing on Wednesday, government lawyers will ask a judge to hand down a 44-month prison sentence for Scott Fairlamb, a former mixed martial arts fighter from New Jersey, who pleaded guilty in August to assaulting a police officer.White supremacists declare war on democracy and walk away unscathed | Carol AndersonRead moreHe was screaming at officers, in footage caught by their body-worn cameras, before shoving one and then punching him in the face.He is to be sentenced by federal judge Royce Lamberth in Washington DC on Wednesday morning.Separately, prosecutors in a late-night court filing recommended a four-year, three-month sentence for Jacob Chansley, the intruder at the Capitol attack who was seen around the world invading Congress, shirtless, wearing a horned headdress and furs, and heavily tattooed.Chansley, of Phoenix, Arizona, was known to some at the time as the so-called “QAnon Shaman”.He pleaded guilty in September to obstructing an official proceeding when he took part in the assault.Lamberth, who is also handling Chansley’s case, will sentence him on 17 November.In a court filing, Fairlamb’s defense lawyer asked the judge to “take into consideration the approximate 11 months the defendant has already served in custody” and not add additional time.Attorney Harley Breite said his client had accepted responsibility for his actions.Chansley’s attorney, Albert Watkins, said in a Tuesday court filing that Chansley should be released “as soon as possible”, noting that Chansley will have spent more than 10 months in pre-trial detention.“I can say with confidence that Mr Chansley is in dire need of mental health treatment,” Watkins stated.About 700 people have been arrested over the attack on the Capitol where Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden’s November 2020 victory over Trump in the presidential election.So far, about 120 people have pleaded guilty and two dozen have been sentenced. Most of the guilty pleas have involved non-violent misdemeanor offenses carrying short jail sentences or probationary sentences.TopicsUS Capitol attacknewsReuse this content More

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      Prince Harry says he warned Twitter boss a day before Capitol riot

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      Prince HarryPrince Harry says he warned Twitter boss a day before Capitol riot‘I warned him his platform was allowing a coup to be staged. I haven’t heard from him since,’ Harry says01:18Sarah Marsh@sloumarshWed 10 Nov 2021 06.24 ESTLast modified on Wed 10 Nov 2021 08.55 ESTPrince Harry has said he warned Twitter’s boss Jack Dorsey about his platform allowing political unrest a day before the Capitol riot that led to five deaths.The Duke of Sussex made the comments at the RE:WIRED tech forum in the US. He said: “I warned him his platform was allowing a coup to be staged. That email was sent the day before. And then it happened and I haven’t heard from him since.”On the day of the 6 January riots, Donald Trump tweeted allegations of vote fraud before a rally in Washington DC. Members of the Proud Boy movement, a rightwing militia, stormed the Capitol to disrupt the official certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the White House race, as part of an attempt to overturn the election result.Harry was speaking via video chat at a session discussing whether social media was contributing to misinformation and online hatred. Dorsey, who is Twitter’s chief executive, has so far not commented.A study released in October by the social media analytics service Bot Sentinel identified 83 accounts on Twitter that it said were responsible for 70% of hateful content and misinformation aimed at Harry and his wife, Meghan.Harry said that “perhaps the most disturbing part of this [study] was the number of British journalists who were interacting with them and amplifying the lies. But they regurgitate these lies as truth.”He said social media companies were not doing enough to stop the spread of misinformation, and the internet was “being defined by hate, division and lies”.He also argued that the word “Megxit”, used by the British press to describe the couple’s decision to quit their royal duties, was misogynistic.Harry said the word was an example of online and media hatred. “Maybe people know this and maybe they don’t, but the term ‘Megxit’ was or is a misogynistic term, and it was created by a troll, amplified by royal correspondents, and it grew and grew and grew into mainstream media. But it began with a troll,” he said. He did not elaborate.Harry and Meghan moved to California last year to lead a more independent life. He has said that part of the reason for their departure was the racist treatment of Meghan, whose mother is black and whose father is white, by the British tabloid media.TopicsPrince HarryTwitterJack DorseyUS Capitol attacknewsReuse this content More