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Michael Cohen says Trump kept Mar-a-Lago documents as ‘bargaining chip’
As he considers whether to mount a 2024 presidential campaign, Mike Pence this morning told an audience that he would consider testifying before the 6 January select committee if invited.
“If there’s an invitation to participate, I would consider it,” he reportedly said. “It would be unprecedented in history for a Vice President to be summoned to testify on Capitol Hill, but as I’ve said, I don’t wanna prejudge.”
Mr Pence’s former chief of staff, Marc Short, has already testified to both the select committee and a grand jury convened by the Department of Justice to investigate the attempt to overthrow Joe Biden’s victory.
Tomorrow will see a court hearing on whether or not to unseal the affidavit that provided justification for the search. The Department of Justice has rebuffed demands to release the document, warning that it could “chill” future efforts to secure witness cooperation.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has speculated that his ex-boss may have kept secret documents at Mar-a-Lago to use as a bargaining chip if and when he is arrested for alleged felonies.
A new poll shows the majority of Americans support the FBI’s raid on the Trump Palm Beach estate.
ICYMI: With Trump endorsement, Palin advances to November election for sole Alaska House seat
Sarah Palin, a former Alaska governor who has staged her race for the state’s open congressional seat as a revival of her political career after more than a decade spent out of elected office, will advance to the November general election.
Alaska, whose electorate approved a process being used for the first time in the state, has opted to do away with traditional party primary races in favour of ranked choice voting, which will instead send the top four candidates – regardless of political party – to the general election.
As of Tuesday morning, based on the votes tabulated, the House primary race in November will include Ms Palin, Democrat Mary Peltola and Republican Nick Begich on the ballot. The fourth slot, however, remained too early to call.
Joanna Chisholm is following the results.
Trump-endorsed Sarah Palin advances to November election for sole Alaska House seat
The former vice presidential candidate has staged the Alaska House race as a grand return to politics after being out of elected office for more than a decade
Oliver O’Connell18 August 2022 04:00
Trump resisted advisers’ calls to return White House documents
Donald Trump was warned that the records he was holding on to were illegally retained, but the former president refused to give them back because he disagreed with that assertion, a new report claims.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Mr Trump flat-out refused to return boxes of documents, including some that apparently were marked classified, when approached by his former deputy White House counsel, Patrick Philbin.
‘It’s not theirs, it’s mine’: Trump resisted calls to return White House documents
President ignored advice from counsel to heed National Archives’ demands for records
Oliver O’Connell18 August 2022 03:15
Trump’s angry words spur warnings of real violence
A man armed with an AR-15 dies in a shootout after trying to breach FBI offices in Cincinnati. A Pennsylvania man is arrested after he posts death threats against agents on social media. In cyberspace, calls for armed uprisings and civil war grow stronger.
This could be just the beginning, federal authorities and private extremism monitors warn. A growing number of ardent Donald Trump supporters seem ready to strike back against the FBI or others who they believe go too far in investigating the former president.
Law enforcement officials across the country are warning and being warned about an increase in threats and the potential for violent attacks on federal agents or buildings in the wake of the FBI’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
Trump’s angry words spur warnings of real violence
Federal authorities and experts who study online extremism are warning of a risk of additional attacks on federal law enforcement following the FBI’s search of ex-President Donald Trump’s Florida home
Oliver O’Connell18 August 2022 02:30
Bolton claims Trump tried to ‘sneak’ classified documents out of White House
John Bolton offered more criticism of his ex-boss on Wednesday, asserting that Donald Trump’s White House did not behave like “normal” presidential administrations and admonishing him over the alleged improper removal of classified materials from the West Wing.
The former national security adviser spoke to a gaggle of reporters at the Willard Hotel in Washington DC, where he was attending a conference hosted by Iranian opposition figures.
John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.
John Bolton claims Trump tried to ‘sneak’ classified documents out of White House
Former national security adviser says Trump White House simply didn’t behave like ‘normal’ administrations
Oliver O’Connell18 August 2022 01:45
County prosecutor removed from office by DeSantis over anti-abortion law sues to get his job back
A twice-elected Florida prosecutor is suing to get his job back after Ron DeSantis removed him from office after joining dozens of officials from across the US who refuse to prosecute abortion providers and doctors who provide gender-affirming care to transgender youth.
Andrew Warren, the 13th Judicial Circuit State Attorney, condemned the Republican governor’s “blatant abuse of power” and accused him of violating his First Amendment rights by retaliating against his position on abortion rights, according to a video statement on 17 August
Alex Woodward has the story.
Elected official sues to get his job back after DeSantis suspension over abortion law
County prosecutor Andrew Warren accuses Florida governor of ‘throwing out the results of a free and fair election’ by unjustly removing him from office
Oliver O’Connell18 August 2022 01:00
Trump’s purge of the Republican Party is complete
When Liz Cheney delivered her concession speech after losing the Wyoming Republican primary to Harriet Hageman, she rightly said that she could have easily won. But there would have been a catch.
“The path was clear. But it would’ve required that I go along with President Trump’s lie about the 2020 election,” she said. “It would have required that I enable his ongoing efforts to unravel our democratic system and attack the foundations of our republic. That was a path I could not and would not take.”
Read more from The Independent’s Eric Garcia.
Analysis: Liz Cheney’s loss means Trump’s purge of the Republican Party is complete
All but two Republicans who voted to impeach the former president have lost their bid for re-election thanks to Trump’s army of acolytes, explains Eric Garcia
Oliver O’Connell18 August 2022 00:15
Voices: How former president may have violated the Espionage Act without being a spy
Joseph Ferguson and Thomas A Durkin write:
The federal court-authorized search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate has brought renewed attention to the obscure but infamous law known as the Espionage Act of 1917. A section of the law was listed as one of three potential violations under Justice Department investigation.
The Espionage Act has historically been employed most often by law-and-order conservatives. But the biggest uptick in its use occurred during the Obama administration, which used it as the hammer of choice for national security leakers and whistleblowers. Regardless of whom it is used to prosecute, it unfailingly prompts consternation and outrage.
We are both attorneys who specialize in and teach national security law. While navigating the sound and fury over the Trump search, here are a few things to note about the Espionage Act.
How Trump may have violated the Espionage Act without being a spy
One of the most famous Espionage Act cases is the Wikileaks case, in which Julian Assange was indicted for obtaining and publishing secret military and diplomatic documents in 2010
Oliver O’Connell17 August 2022 23:30
Americans support FBI’s raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home by clear majority, poll says
A new YouGov poll shows that Americans largely approve of the FBI’s search of former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida.
The poll surveyed 1,500 adult citizens of the United States between 13 August and 16 August 2022.
Eric Garcia reports from Washington, DC.
Majority of Americans support FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid
Republicans have claimed the search was politically motivated
Oliver O’Connell17 August 2022 22:45
Kushner memoir received brutal first review
Jared Kushner’s memoir of his time as a senior adviser to Donald Trump has been labelled “earnest and soulless” in a brutal New York Times review.
Breaking History: A White House Memoir was derided as the self-serving, selective musings of a “cocky young real estate heir who happened to unwrap a lot of Big Macs beside his father-in-law” by the Times book critic Dwight Garner.
Mr Kushner talks up his deal-making shrewdness while rolling out a stream of cliches in the tone of a “college admissions essay”, Mr Garner writes.
Jared Kushner’s memoir dubbed ‘soulless’ in brutal first review
‘Kushner looks like a mannequin, and he writes like one,’ says New York Times book critic Dwight Garner
Oliver O’Connell17 August 2022 22:10
Lindsey Graham seeks stay of ruling on Georgia grand jury testimony
Trump ally and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham has requested a stay of the ruling requiring him to testify before the Fulton County grand jury regarding efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
He is scheduled to appear on 23 August and requested a hearing tomorrow on the matter.
Judge Leigh Martin May has granted a hearing for 9am on Friday morning.
Oliver O’Connell17 August 2022 21:40