Advertisement

Trump news - live: Jan 6 panel to screen clips of Roger Stone documentary as filmmakers comply with subpoena

The January 6 House select committee will likely screen video footage of Trump-ally Roger Stone this week during what could be their final public hearing, The Washington Post reported.

Danish filmmakers told the news outlet that though they were initially hesitant to cooperate with the congressional investigation, they decided this week to comply with a subpoena from the committee.

Meanwhile, a Capitol rioter who received a call from the White House during the January 6 insurrection has been publicly named for the first time as text messages emerged shedding new light on then-chief of staff Mark Meadows’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Anton Lunyk, a 26-year-old supporter of former president Donald Trump who travelled to Washington from Brooklyn, was named Monday by CNN as the recipient of an outgoing phone call made from the White House switchboard on 6 January.

Text messages obtained by CNN showed Phil Waldron, one of the key players behind the bid to overturn the election, briefed Mr Meadows about his efforts to gain access to voting systems in crucial battleground states in late December of 2020.

Key points

  • Jan 6 panel hearing will screen clips from Roger Stone documentary, report says

  • Capitol rioter who received call from White House on Jan 6 is identified

  • Meadows communicated with election conspiracy theorist, report says

  • What has Trump said about the Mar-a-Lago investigation so far?

Jan 6 panel hearing will screen clips from Roger Stone documentary, report says

11:40 , Johanna Chisholm

The Washington Post reported that during this week’s January 6 public hearing panel members are likely going to screen clips of Trump-ally Roger Stone which were collected by filmmakers in the weeks and days before the violent mob descended on the Capitol in 2021.

Citing sources who were familiar with the matter, the outlet noted how the Danish filmmakers, who had previously been subpoenaed by the congressional investigation and were hesitant about sharing their material, had said this week that they would comply with the committee’s request.

In August, Politico reported that committee investigators had travelled to Denmark to review their material and interview the filmmakers.

Jen Psaki says Democrats know they’re doomed if midterms are a vote about Biden

09:00 , John Bowden

President Joe Biden’s former press secretary has an odd prediction: If Democrats make the midterms a battle over her former boss’s performance, they will lose.

Ms Psaki, who left the Biden administration earlier this year, is now a contributor to NBC and will soon be a host for MSNBC. Appearing on “Meet the Press” on Sunday, she said that Democrats feel that if the election is about who is more extreme, then they can win, specifically citing Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

Read more from The Independent’s Eric Garcia:

Psaki says Democrats know they’re doomed if midterms are a vote about Biden

Sen Kyrsten Sinema defends filibuster at event where Mitch McConnell praises her

07:00 , John Bowden

Kyrsten Sinema is back riling up members of her own party with an appearance at the McConnell Institute, a political foundation set up by Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

And bizarrely, she called for the filibuster to be strengthened during her appearance — despite Mr McConnell famously gutting it to secure GOP nominations to the Supreme Court.

“I’ve only known Kyrsten for four years but she is, in my view, and I told her this, one of the most effective first-term senators I’ve seen in the Senate,” Mr McConnell said to applause. “She is today what we have too few of in the Democratic Party – a genuine moderate and a dealmaker.”

Read more from Eric Garcia:

Sinema mocked for trading compliments with Mitch McConnell and defending filibuster

Matt Gaetz draws only six viewers to his inaugural Twitch stream

05:05 , John Bowden

Trump ally Matt Gaetz saw a less-than-warm welcome on Twitch when he launched his channel last week.

According to new reporting from The Independent’s Greg Graziosi, Mr Gaetz has only seen a peak viewership count of six people since launching.

Mr Gaetz has 1.7m followers on Twitter, but it appears that very few — at least at this point — have followed him onto Twitch. He has 1,600 followers on the platform, but anyone can follow an account — subscriptions and viewers are what counts toward monetisation on Twitch.

The showing is far fewer than the thousands who poured online to watch Reps Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar play Among Us with Twitch stars Hasan Piker and others.

Read more:

Matt Gaetz draws only six viewers to his inaugural Twitch stream

When is the next Jan 6 committee hearing?

04:05 , John Bowden

The timing of the ninth January 6 committee hearing of this year, possibly the last for the committee, has been announced.

The panel, which will release a report on its findings before the end of the year, is set for one more meeting before September comes to an end.

California Democrat and panel member Adam Schiff told CNN on Sunday that “we’re not disclosing yet what the focus will be. I can say that, as this may be the last hearing of this nature – that is, one that is focused on sort of the factual record – I think it’ll be potentially more sweeping than some of the other hearings”.

Read more from The Independent:

When is the next Jan 6 committee hearing?

Tucker Carlson left red faced after trying to insult Fetterman on tattoos

03:05 , John Bowden

John Fetterman fired back at Tucker Carlson’s “fake” tattoos insult as he explained that they each represent a victim killed by violent crime while he was a Pennsylvania mayor.

The right-wing Fox News host had mocked Mr Fetterman’s tattoos as he tried to portray the Democratic candidate for US Senate as weak on crime.

Mr Fetterman, who leads Donald Trump’s pick Dr Mehmet Oz in polling ahead of the November election, fired back in an op-ed for NBC News explaining how his tattoos memorialised murders from gun violence in his city, Braddock.

Read more from The Independent’s Graeme Massie:

Tucker Carlson left red faced after trying to insult Fetterman on tattoos

How likely is it that Biden will be impeached if the GOP retakes the House?

02:05 , John Bowden

When President Joe Biden returns to work in Washington next January, he could be facing a starkly different reality on Capitol Hill.

Buoyed by Mr Biden’s low approval ratings, pro-Trump Republicans are mounting bids to take control of both the House and Senate from their Democratic rivals. Winning a majority in one or both chambers would be a massive impediment to passing further legislation meant to enact Mr Biden’s political agenda, and could have further-reaching consequences for the White House as well.

Donald Trump’s allies in Congress are frothing at the idea that they will have the chance to enact revenge on Democrats for two unsuccessful impeachment efforts against the former president, including the effort in 2021 to hold him accountable for the January 6 attack on Congress.

Read more from The Independent’s John Bowden:

Is Biden really going to be impeached?

The 20 major lawsuits and investigations Trump is facing

Monday 26 September 2022 23:59 , Gino Spocchia

Lawsuits and investigations have hung over Donald Trump throughout his business career and his presidency, and have continued as he seeks the 2024 Republican notation – a decision he has been expected to announce following the 2022 midterms.

Now with a Department of Justice investigation into his alleged mishandling of classified documents, and a lawsuit filed last week by New York’s Attorney General, the legal turmoil facing the former president seems to be ever-growing.

Josh Marcus has a rundown of the 20 major legal challenges facing Mr Trump below:

Here are all 20 major lawsuits and investigations Trump is facing

Majority of Democrats say Biden should step aside in 2024, poll finds

Monday 26 September 2022 23:30 , Gino Spocchia

A new poll confirms that a solid majority of Democrats still want President Joe Biden to step aside in 2024 and let someone else run for the Democratic Party’s nomination — even as his approval numbers continue to rise.

The survey from ABC News and the Washington Post found that 56 per cent of Democrats would prefer another candidate take their party’s mantle in the next election cycle, compared to just over a third who want Mr Biden to be the standard-bearer once again and run for reelection.

John Bowden has the details:

Majority of Democrats say Biden should step aside in 2024, poll finds

Text messages show Mark Meadows communicated directly with pro-Trump operative

Monday 26 September 2022 23:00 , Gino Spocchia

Text messages obtained by CNN showed that one of the operatives behind efforts to seize voting machines communicated directly with former president Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Phil Waldron, who had promoted election-related conspiracy theories, reportedly texted Mr Meadows on 23 December saying that a judge in Arizona dismissed a lawsuit by Republicans.

Mr Waldron reportedly told Mr Meadows it would allow their opponents to engage in “delay tactics” that would prevent Mr Waldron and his allies from accessing the voting machines, to which Mr Meadows replied, “Pathetic.”

Eric Garcia has the details:

Texts show Mark Meadows spoke with pro-Trump operative to seize voting machines

Capitol rioter who received call from White House on Jan 6 is identified

Monday 26 September 2022 22:30 , Gino Spocchia

The recipient of an outgoing phone call made from the White House switchboard to a January 6 rioter was a New York man who spent approximately ten minutes inside the Capitol that day.

According to CNN, the nine-second call was placed to a mobile phone belonging to Anton Lunyk, a 26-year-old supporter of former president Donald Trump who travelled to Washington from Brooklyn, New York and attended the “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse which immediately preceded the attack on the Capitol.

In April, Lunyk was sentenced on charges that he’d entered and illegally demonstrated inside the Capitol, which had been filed based on video surveillance.

Andrew Feinberg has more:

Capitol rioter who received call from White House on Jan 6 is identified

Clinton compares Trump fans doing straight-arm ‘QAnon salutes’ to Nazis

Monday 26 September 2022 22:00 , Gino Spocchia

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has slammed the hand gestures made by supporters of Donald Trump at his Ohio rally, comparing them to the Nazis.

Ms Clinton, who was speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Friday, said her reaction to the index finger salute seen at the rally was similar to how she used to feel about Nazis, adding: “What’s going on?”

The former US secretary of state talked about her years as a student when she would spend time thinking about how people could be drawn to Hitler.

Stuti Mishra has the report:

Hillary Clinton compares Trump fans doing straight-arm ‘QAnon salutes’ to Nazis

When will January 6 committee release final report?

Monday 26 September 2022 21:30 , Gino Spocchia

The House select committee investigating the riot on January 6 will likely not release its report about the attempted insurrection before the election, Axios reported earlier this month. But that doesn’t mean it could not make news before 8 November.

Chairman Bennie Thompson told reporters that he didn’t want the committee to be “perceived as a partisan committee ... we’ve been fairly free of those kind of complaints, and we would not want to interfere with the election.”

Eric Garcia has more:

January 6 committee could bring October surprise for the midterms

Election denier who messaged Meadows drafted 36-page Power Point

Monday 26 September 2022 21:00 , Gino Spocchia

Phil Waldron was responsible for helping draft language for an executive order as well as a Power Point presentation about how to overthrow the election, the January 6 committee said earlier this year.

That order – if signed by the former president – would have enabled the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security to seize voting machines on behalf of the White House over false claims of election fraud in 2020.

On Monday, CNN revealed how Mr Waldron had messaged former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about a plot to seize voting machines,

Here’s an earlier report by Andrew Feinberg on the allegations and investigation against Mr Waldron...

Capitol riot committee subpoenas Phil Waldron

Trump claimed he took ‘nothing of great urgency’ from White House – months before Mar-a-Lago raid

Monday 26 September 2022 20:30 , Gino Spocchia

Trump told The New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman he took “nothing of great urgency” with him when he left the White House, months before 11 boxes of classified documents were seized by federal law enforcement at Mar-a-Lago.

In an adapted excerpt from her book book, published in The Atlantic on Sunday, Ms Haberman details the moment that Mr Trump denied removing documents from the White House when he left office:

Rachel Sharp has more:

Trump claimed he took ‘nothing of great urgency’ from White House, new book reveals

Haberman ‘like my psychiatrist’, Trump reportedly says

Monday 26 September 2022 19:55 , Gino Spocchia

Donald Trump told New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman she was “like my psychiatrist” during a post-presidency interview for her new book Confidence Man.

According to an excerpt published in The Atlantic, the former president turned to two aides during their interview at Mar-a-Lago and said: “I love being with her; she’s like my psychiatrist.”

Ms Haberman cultivated a lengthy and fruitful relationship with the former president dating back to when she covered his business empire for the New York Post and New York Daily News.

Bevan Hurley has more:

Trump told Maggie Haberman she was ‘like his psychiatrist’

Jen Psaki comments on midterms, Biden and Rep Greene

Monday 26 September 2022 19:20 , Gino Spocchia

Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said Democrats know that they will lose the 2022 midterm elections if the focus is on Joe Biden’s record as president, instead of pointing to the extreme far right threat from inside the GOP.

Ms Psaki, who left the Biden administration earlier this year, said: “If it is a referendum on the president, they will lose and they know that”.

Citing Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ms Psaki added that Democrats can win if the election is about who is more extreme, as Eric Garcia reports:

Psaki says Democrats know they’re doomed if midterms are a vote about Biden

Where was Andrew Lunyk on January 6?

Monday 26 September 2022 18:50 , Gino Spocchia

Lunyk and his friends were convicted and sentenced for breaching the Capitol on January 6 after they were seen in a livestream of the attack entering a “hideaway” office of Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon.

Surveillance footage also showed Lunyk and two others leaving the Capitol through an open window at approximately 3.12 pm that day – before the alleged call from inside the White House.

As Andrew Feinberg reports, the call was not mentioned in the Justice Department’s case against Mr Lunyak...

Capitol rioter who received call from White House on Jan 6 is identified

Remains unclear who was on ‘White House end’ of phone call

Monday 26 September 2022 18:15 , Gino Spocchia

While the recipient of a nine-second phone call from inside the White House on January 6 to a rioter has been identified by CNN, the person who made that call remains unknown.

Denver Riggleman, a former GOP congressman who served on the January 6 committee’s staff, said on NBC’s Meet the Press that he did not know who was at “the White House end of the call”.

It remains unclear if the call was a mistake or for what purposes the call to Anton Lunyk, 26, was for.

Clinton’s Nazi comparison follows other criticism of Trump

Monday 26 September 2022 17:40 , Gino Spocchia

Hillary Clinton is not the only high profile figure to have issued condemnation of Donald Trump for inspiring a QAnon salute at his latest rallies, which many say echoes those seen during the Nazi era.

Taking to Twitter last week, Walter Shaub wrote: ”If you missed it last night, you should know that the fascists adopted a straight-arm salute reminiscent of the nazi salute at a Trump rally last night.”

Mr Shuab is a former director of the government watchdog, the director of the United States Office of Government Ethics.

What has January 6 committee said about rioter phone call?

Monday 26 September 2022 17:15 , Gino Spocchia

Speaking with NBC’S Meet the Press on Sunday, congressman Jamie Raskin said the House select committee on January 6 was “aware” of the phone call from a White House switchboard to a rioter during the attack.

Mr Raskin said the panel had become aware of a call between a convicted rioter and a switchboard inside the White House, and that it was among “thousands of details” that the January 6 committee is investigating as it prepares for a final hearing on Wednesday.

Biden just ahead of Trump in 2024 rematch, poll says

Monday 26 September 2022 16:45 , Gino Spocchia

Donald Trump and Joe Biden are almost tied when it comes to a 2024 rematch, a new poll from ABC News/Washington Post, which was released Sunday, has found.

While the Democrat was on 48 per cent favourability, Mr Trump was on 46 per cent – about two points lower for the hypothetical 2024 contest among all voters.

It comes as neither of the pair confirms a 2024 run and mounting legal trouble for Mr Trump, who lost in 2020 by about four per cent of the popular vote.

Meadows communicated with election conspiracy theorist, report says

Monday 26 September 2022 16:25 , Gino Spocchia

Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff was reportedly communicating with a vocal supporter of election-related conspiracy theories in the aftermath of Mr Trump’s defeat in late 2020, CNN reported on Monday.

Mark Meadows was said to have communicated by text messages with Phil Waldron in December 2020 about an attempted plan to seize voting machines in Arizona amid allegations by Mr Trump and his allies of election fraud, which were baseless.

Mr Waldron reported to Mr Meadows that those efforts would be hindered by an Arizona judge’s dismissal of an election-related lawsuit, to which Mr Meadows replied: “Pathetic.”

Criminal prosecutors in Georgia are currently demanding Mr Waldron and Mr Meadows testify in front of a jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 results in the state, which like Arizona was a key battleground state in 2020.

The messages indicate how figures inside Mr Trump’s inner circle were closely with connected election conspiracy theorists and attempts at overturning the Trump defeat, the report argued.

Capitol rioter who received call from White House on Jan 6 is identified

Monday 26 September 2022 15:55 , Gino Spocchia

The recipient of an outgoing phone call made from the White House switchboard to a January 6 rioter was a New York man who spent approximately ten minutes inside the Capitol that day.

According to CNN, the nine-second call was placed to a mobile phone belonging to Anton Lunyk, a 26-year-old supporter of former president Donald Trump who travelled to Washington from Brooklyn, New York and attended the “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse which immediately preceded the attack on the Capitol.

In April, Lunyk was sentenced on charges that he’d entered and illegally demonstrated inside the Capitol, which had been filed based on video surveillance.

Andrew Feinberg has more:

Capitol rioter who received call from White House on Jan 6 is identified

The 20 major lawsuits and investigations Trump is facing

Monday 26 September 2022 15:40 , Gino Spocchia

Lawsuits and investigations have hung over Donald Trump throughout his business career and his presidency, and have continued as he seeks the 2024 Republican notation – a decision he has been expected to announce following the 2022 midterms.

Now with a Department of Justice investigation into his alleged mishandling of classified documents, and a lawsuit filed last week by New York’s Attorney General, the legal turmoil facing the former president seems to be ever-growing.

Josh Marcus has a rundown of the 20 major legal challenges facing Mr Trump below:

Here are all 20 major lawsuits and investigations Trump is facing

How Trump speaks about DeSantis in private...

Monday 26 September 2022 15:10 , Gino Spocchia

Donald Trump has reportedly described Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, expected among political analysts as a likely contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, as “fat,” “phony,” and “whiny,” according to New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman.

Alex Woodward has the details:

Man charged with assault for tapping Giuliani signals $2m wrongful arrest lawsuit

QAnon salute appears at another Trump rally

Monday 26 September 2022 14:40 , Gino Spocchia

Supporters of former president Donald Trump at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina on Friday revived the one-finger salute – that some see as a symbol for QAnon – that had previously occurred at an event in Ohio the previous week.

The salute happened toward the end of Mr Trump’s rally for Republican candidates in the state at the Aero Center in Wilmington as dramatic music played in the background while the video screens on both ends of the stage played an image of the American flag.

The salute has since been criticised by Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump’s 2016 opponent, as reminding her of the Nazi party.

Eric Garcia reports from North Carolina:

Trump fans do QAnon symbol again at rally despite security trying to stop them

Trump claimed he took ‘nothing of great urgency’ from White House – months before Mar-a-Lago raid

Monday 26 September 2022 14:05 , Gino Spocchia

Trump told The New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman he took “nothing of great urgency” with him when he left the White House, months before 11 boxes of classified documents were seized by federal law enforcement at Mar-a-Lago.

In an adapted excerpt from her book book, published in The Atlantic on Sunday, Ms Haberman details the moment that Mr Trump denied removing documents from the White House when he left office:

Rachel Sharp has more:

Trump claimed he took ‘nothing of great urgency’ from White House, new book reveals

Wednesday's January 6 hearing will be ‘more sweeping’

Monday 26 September 2022 13:35 , Gino Spocchia

Speaking ahead of what will likely be the final hearing held by the House Select Committee investigating January 6, Democrat Rep Adam Schiff told CNN on Sunday that this week’s event will be more vast than other hearings.

He said: “I think it’ll be potentially more sweeping than some of the other hearings, but it too will be in a very thematic – it will tell the story about a key element of Donald Trump’s plot to overturn the election”.

Andrew Feinberg has a reminder of what we’ve already learned from the other hearings so far, here:

Jan 6 hearings: What have we learned from the committee so far?

Jan 6 committee member says he supports criminal referrals for Trump

Monday 26 September 2022 12:55 , Gino Spocchia

US Rep Adam Schiff has said ahead of Wednesday’s January 6 hearing that his panel will come to a unanimous decision on whether or not it refers Mr Trump for criminal charges.

The California Democrat told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. “It will be certainly, I think, my recommendation, my feeling, that we should make referrals, but we will get to a decision as a committee, and we will all abide by that decision, and I will join our committee members if they feel differently.”

Any charges against Mr Trump will come on top of a number of ongoing lawsuits facing the one term president.

Trump claims he wasn’t watching Capitol attack on television, despite witness testimony

Monday 26 September 2022 12:15 , Gino Spocchia

Donald Trump claims that he was not watching television while a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol, despite witness testimony and multiple accounts from people in his administration revealing that he was doing exactly that.

Maggie Haberman, White House correspondent for The New York Times, said she pressed the former president about his actions during the assault on a joint session of Congress as lawmakers convened to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

“I didn’t usually have the television on,” he said, according to Ms Haberman, writing in The Atlantic in an article adapted from her book Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.

Alex Woodard has more:

Trump claims he wasn’t watching Capitol attack on TV, despite witness testimony

Clinton compares Trump fans doing straight-arm ‘QAnon salutes’ to Nazis

Monday 26 September 2022 11:30 , Gino Spocchia

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has slammed the hand gestures made by supporters of Donald Trump at his Ohio rally, comparing them to the Nazis.

Ms Clinton, who was speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Friday, said her reaction to the index finger salute seen at the rally was similar to how she used to feel about Nazis, adding: “What’s going on?”

The former US secretary of state talked about her years as a student when she would spend time thinking about how people could be drawn to Hitler.

Stuti Mishra has the report:

Clinton compares Trump fans doing straight-arm ‘QAnon salutes’ to Nazis

QAnon, the Big Lie and misogyny: Inside Trump’s Wilmington rally

Monday 26 September 2022 10:45 , Shweta Sharma

Former president Donald Trump held a rally in Wilmington on Friday, his first since New York attorney general Letitia James announced her civil lawsuit against him, his three eldest children, his business associates, and the Trump Organization this week.

Not surprisingly, his complaints about that lawsuit occupied the majority of his speech, followed immediately by the FBI executing the raid on his Mar-a-Lago home.

But the rally was also the former president’s chance to return as a conquering hero, since most of the candidates he endorsed in the state won their primaries.

Read Eric Garcia’s full report:

QAnon, the Big Lie and misogyny: Inside Trump’s Wilmington rally

Liz Cheney says she won’t be a Republican if Trump is 2024 GOP presidential nominee

Monday 26 September 2022 10:00 , Shweta Sharma

Congresswoman Liz Cheney has hinted publicly that she could run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, but now says that she may not be in the GOP past that point at all.

The Wyoming Republican told an interviewer at the Texas Tribune festival over the weekend that she would not be likely to remain in the Republican Party should its voters once again select Donald Trump as its standard-bearer in 2024.

John Bowden writes:

Liz Cheney says she won’t be a Republican if Trump is 2024 GOP presidential nominee