List of All Articles with Tag 'politics'

Former Trump administration attorney general Bill Barr gave a devastating analysis of the indictment against Donald Trump, his former boss, in an appearance on Fox News Sunday. Mr Barr said that if even half of what is alleged in the 49-page, 37-count document is true, then the former president is “toast”. Host Shannon Bream asked the former attorney general about the argument from Trump loyalists that the case should have been handled under the Presidential Records Act and not under the Espionage Act. Mr Barr explained that this all began under the Presidential Records Act with the National Archives trying to retrieve the documents that Mr Trump had no right to have. However, it quickly became apparent that the government was particularly worried about how sensitive the classified documents were. He continued by saying that their sensitivity and how many there were shocked him, and that because Mr Trump had wilfully retained those materials that made the counts under the Espionage Act “solid”. “If even half of it is true, he is toast,” the former attorney general told Bream. “I mean, it’s a very detailed indictment, and it’s very, very damning.” Mr Barr also demolished claims that Mr Trump is some kind of victim being politically persecuted in a Democrat-led witch hunt. “This idea of presenting Trump as a victim here or a victim of a witch hunt is ridiculous,” he said. “Yes, he’s been a victim in the past. His adversaries have obsessively pursued him with phony claims. And I’ve been at his side defending against them when he is a victim. But this is much different. He’s not a victim here.” Mr Barr continued: “He was totally wrong that he had the right to have those documents. Those documents are among the most sensitive secrets that the country has. They have to be in the custody of the archivist. He had no right to maintain them and retain them.” The former attorney general then reminded viewers of his history of sticking up for Mr Trump despite the current hostility the former president now has for him. “He’s been angry with me for a while,” Mr Barr told Bream. “But you know, I defended the president on Russiagate. I stood up and called out Alvin Bragg’s politicised hit job. And I have spoken out for 30 years about the abuse of the criminal justice process to influence politics.” He continued: “But this is simply not true. In this particular episode of trying to retrieve those documents, the government acted responsibly. And it was Donald Trump who acted irresponsibly.” In further remarks, he said that the entire classified documents case came about because of the reckless conduct of the former president, something he has said before. Mr Barr also noted: “There are two big lies that are out there right now. One is that: ‘oh, these other presidents took all these documents’ ... and the second thing is this idea that the president has complete authority to declare any document personal is facially ridiculous.” The former attorney general’s remarks did not go unnoticed by his former boss, who took to Truth Social calling him a “gutless pig” and telling his followers to turn off Fox News whenever Mr Barr is on as a guest. Virtually everyone is saying that the Indictment is about Election Interference & should not have been brought, except Bill Barr, a “disgruntled former employee” & lazy Attorney General who was weak & totally ineffective. He doesn’t mean what he’s saying, it’s just MISINFORMATION. Barr’s doing it because he hates “TRUMP” for firing him. He was deathly afraid of the Radical Left when they said they would Impeach him. He knows the Indictment is Bull…. Turn off FoxNews when that “Gutless Pig” is on! @realDonaldTrump Mr Barr had previously drawn the former president’s ire by predicting he would face charges over the classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. He also described it as a crisis of his own making. Mr Trump lashed out at him for those comments calling him “sloppy” and “weak”. The former attorney general has also warned that Mr Trump getting a second term as president would “deliver chaos” to the country. “If you believe in his policies, what he’s advertising as his policies, he’s the last person that could actually execute them and achieve them,” Mr Barr said at a City Club of Cleveland luncheon in Ohio in early May. Read More Trump news – latest: Trump heads to Miami ahead of arraignment as Bill Barr says ex-president is ‘toast’ Trump savages Bill Barr three times in sprawling interview with Roger Stone Trump’s favourability rises in poll despite indictment Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie barged into the Republican presidential primary last week with a scathing rebuke of front-runner and former President Donald Trump. At a CNN town hall Monday, he will have another opportunity in front of a national audience to make the political case against Trump -- and for himself.

The ex-attorney general criticises Mr Trump after he was charged with mishandling classified files.

Civil rights advocates and election attorneys are preparing for a new flood of redistricting litigation lawsuits

A GOP senator used a bit of alternative history to paint the Justice Department’s decision to prosecute Donald Trump as improper and politically motivated on Sunday. Ron Johnson was speaking on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with host Maria Bartiromo when he made the claim that the twice-impeached former Republican president had, in fact, decided against directing the Justice Department to prosecute Hillary Clinton, the opponent he famously vowed to “lock up” countless times on the campaign trail. "[President Gerald] Ford decided it was best for America to not pursue prosecution against [President Richard] Nixon. President Trump pretty much made the same decision, decided not to pursue any kind of prosecution of Hillary Clinton,” said Mr Johnson. “Joe Biden could have made the same decision. He didn't,” added the senator. There were a couple of important issues with Mr Johnson’s assertion, however. Number one, Mr Ford did not direct the Justice Department to end a criminal investigation into his predecessor; instead, he pardoned Mr Nixon for any crimes he committed while in office, making a prosecution moot. Mr Trump hardly extended that same gesture to Ms Clinton. In fact, the Department of Justice closed the investigation into the Democratic secretary of State on two separate occasions, both before Mr Trump ever took office. The final end to that probe occurred two days before Mr Trump’s 2016 election victory, after the FBI had made the controversial decision to reopen the investigation with just days to go in the race. Mr Johnson’s apparent assertion that Mr Biden should consider pardoning Mr Trump for crimes he may have committed is the latest in an emerging line of half-hearted defences of the former president by Republicans aligned with the party’s establishment. Others, like Ohio’s new senator, JD Vance, have rejected the idea that any crimes could have been committed at all. Those more forceful arguments align more closely with the former president’s own; Mr Trump has loudly insisted that he is not guilty of the numerous allegations levied against him in the DoJ’s indictment, including witness tampering and violations of the Espionage Act. He also faces a separate set of criminal charges in New York stemming from a scheme to pay hush money to an adult film star, Stormy Daniels. Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty in that case. Read More Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement Lindsey Graham ties himself in knots trying to defend Trump over classified documents indictment ‘It’s making them angrier’: North Carolina Republicans rally around Trump after indictment Trump allies cite Clinton email probe to attack classified records case. There are big differences

After attacking his former attorney general on Truth Social earlier in the day for his assessment that he is “toast” following his federal indictment, Donald Trump lashed out at Bill Barr three times during a sprawling interview on Roger Stone’s first radio show. Having called him a “gutless pig” online and told his followers to switch off Fox News anytime Mr Barr is a guest, the former president kept the attacks going during his chat with Mr Stone on WABC. Mr Barr gave a devastating assessment of the indictment of the president in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case during an appearance on Fox News earlier on Sunday 11 June. Speaking about the indictment, the former president took his first shot at Mr Barr: “This thing is a disgrace and virtually everybody other than a lowlife like Bill Barr, who, as you know, I terminated because he was gutless. He wouldn’t do what you’re supposed to do. But everybody says this is a disgraceful indictment.” Mr Stone asked a little later in the interview: “Do you believe that former Attorney General Bill Barr is in fact part of the Deep State?” Mr Trump demurred from calling his former attorney general that, but said: “I think he’s a coward who didn’t do his job.” He added: “We had unbelievable people, as you know, in the administration. But we also had some that we got wrong. And Bill Barr was a mistake.” As usual, Mr Trump got personal with his criticism of one of his chief detractors who made a point of noting in his interview on Fox News Sunday that he had defended the former president on numerous occasions. Said Mr Trump: “And now he goes and he sits down — if they can find a chair for him, because it’s not that easy — and he sits down and he just bloviates and it’s disgraceful.” “It’s actually unpatriotic. It’s so bad for our country, just so bad. But, you know, he’s got a lot of hatred,” he added. Before the end of the 45-minute interview, which covered a wide range of topics from UFOs to Melania Trump to Ron DeSantis, in addition to the indictment, the former president got one more shot in. He said: “When I talk about a slob like Bill Barr, just a stupid person in a lot of ways, this is really not the standard. We’ve had tremendously successful people. But some we haven’t and you know, we cannot afford to have cowards. We need strong people, because our country is going to hell.” Mr Stone and Mr Trump both made a point of telling the former president’s supporters to protest peacefully if they come to the courthouse on Tuesday for his first hearing. Read More ‘If even half of it is true, he is toast’: Bill Barr gives devastating view of Trump indictment on Fox News Trump allies cite Clinton email probe to attack classified records case. There are big differences Jim Jordan rejects Trump’s statement suggesting Mar-a-Lago papers weren’t declassified Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

CNN spoke to more than a dozen current and former White House and administration officials, lawmakers and Democratic strategists who paint a picture of Anita Dunn as a deeply loyal aide with a big-picture view of President Joe Biden's strategy -- with a hand in nearly all aspects of his political life.

From the halls of Congress to the dark corners of the internet, charged and violent rhetoric is echoing among some Donald Trump sympathizers ahead of the former president's appearance in a Miami court on Tuesday

Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again ally in the Senate issued a half-hearted defence of the former president on Sunday as Republicans across Washington issued varied responses to the federal indictment against the former president. Sen Lindsey Graham was on ABC’s This Week, where he received a grilling by host George Stephanopoulos about the allegations in the Justice Department’s 37-count indictment, unsealed last week. In one exchange, the South Carolina senator blew up and demanded that he be allowed to finish his remark after Stephanopoulos, attempting to get him back on track, interrupted his spiel about Hillary Clinton and a private email server she used to store data during her time as secretary of State, in violation of federal rules. “You didn't answer the question," Stephanopoulos shot back. "Well, yeah, I'm trying to answer the question from a Republican point of view. That may not be acceptable on this show,” Mr Graham complained in response. He would go on to argue that many Republicans, including apparently Mr Graham himself, see the Justice Department as applying two different standards to Donald Trump and his Democratic rivals like Joe Biden, who was found to have a small trove of classified documents dating back to his time as vice president at his home and office, as well as Ms Clinton, who was investigated by the FBI for her use of the private server. "Most Republicans believe we live in a country where Hillary Clinton did very similar things, and nothing happened to her,” he argued. "Whether you like Trump or not, he did not commit espionage," Mr Graham continued. "He is not a spy. He's overcharged. Did he do things wrong? Yes, he may have. He will be tried about that. But Hillary Clinton wasn't." There are a few facts that undermine the assertion that Mr Trump and his Democratic allies are (or should be) on the same playing field. For one, all indications point to the idea that Mr Trump and his team delayed and fought federal authorities for months after the trove of documents was discovered, only yielding the bulk of them during an FBI raid. Secondly, as secretary of state, Ms Clinton’s records would not fall under the authority of the Presidential Records Act. And thirdly, the FBI investigated Ms Clinton for months in a politically damaging probe that is widely thought to have contributed to her defeat to Donald Trump in 2016, even if it did not eventually end in criminal charges. There are also the other serious allegations that Mr Graham did not discuss, including witness tampering, which only tangentially relate to the ex-president’s choice to retain records and documents from his administration. Mr Graham went on in the interview to reassert that he was still supporting Mr Trump’s third bid for the presidency, even though he would not defend the specific behaviour alleged in the Justice Department’s indictment which he appeared to dismiss entirely as a hit job. His comments are just the latest in a long line of defences for Mr Trump, whose political future he has also vocally opposed on at least two separate occasions, including in the runup to the 2016 Republican nominating convention as well as the immediate aftermath of January 6. The South Carolina senator is considered a case study of the Republican Party’s evolution under Mr Trump, which continues to force many of the ex-president’s former detractors to return to his embrace in order to protect their political futures. Read More What is an indictment? Here’s what Donald Trump is facing ‘If even half of it is true, he is toast’: Bill Barr gives devastating view of Trump indictment on Fox News Trump allies cite Clinton email probe to attack classified records case. There are big differences

By Khalid Abdelaziz and Mohamed Nureldin KHARTOUM (Reuters) -Heavy clashes and artillery fire erupted across Sudan's capital Khartoum on Sunday

Republican presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson Sunday articulated vastly different plans for how they'd approach the federal indictment against former President Donald Trump should either capture the White House in 2024.

Any thought that Donald Trump’s latest would dampen Republican primary voters’ enthusiasm for his candidacy was quickly dispelled by the overwhelming reception the former president received at the North Carolina Republican Convention in Greensboro. Before Mr Trump took to the stage, a video montage highlighted how the former president had faced multiple investigations, which it called persecution. When he took the stage at the Koury Convention Center on Saturday evening, he received a standing ovation. And rather than waving to the crowd or giving a thumbs up as he normally does, Mr Trump seemed to stand still as if to take in the wellspring of support from the GOP faithful. More tables were added to the ballroom for his speech than the night before, when Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, his chief 2024 GOP rival, spoke at the same event. Mr Trump has been on a pre-arraignment tour of sorts, having spoken in Georgia earlier on Saturday before his appearance in North Carolina. Mr Trump baselessly argued that Joe Biden’s administration indicted him because Democrats do not want the current to run against him, despite the fact Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to independently lead the investigation of Mr Trump specifically because he would be a future political candidate. “They say well, we want to run against Trump,” Mr Trump said. “In the meantime, we got 5,000 prosecutors after us, because they don’t want to run against me.” The speech came days after a federal grand jury voted to indict the former president. The unsealed indictment accused Mr Trump of showing highly classified information to unauthorised people on two separate occasions – first with a author and publisher who was writing a book with his former chief of staff, and a second time involving a map of an unnamed country and staff for his political action committee. But throughout the weekend, Mr Trump’s supporters said the indictment made them all the more likely to rally around him, just as the earlier indictment in New York City energised his base. “It’s the same old racket the Democrats have been pulling for him,” Jim Forster told The Independent. “They have never had a good thing to say about anybody.” Patricia Koluch of Pender County told The Independent that she already supported Mr Trump but the indictment would make her more likely to get behind him. “Oh, absolutely, 110 per cent now,” she said and said it would get more Republicans behind him. “It already has.” So far, Mr Trump’s numerous legal troubles have weighed down his political prospects. After the federal indictment, scores of Republican lawmakers attacked the Justice Department and crowed about a two-tiered system of justice. Mr Trump’s poll numbers did not drop after his arraignment in Manhattan in April for charges related to his payment of hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Nor did they deflate after a jury in New York found him liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of writer E Jean Carroll last month. Mr Trump on Saturday decried the investigation as tampering with elections. “They just tried to stop our movement, they want to do anything they can to thwart the will of the American people – it’s called election interference,” Mr Trump told the crowd. Telia Kivett, the chairwoman of the Sampson County Republican Party, told The Independent that as a county party leader, she had to be neutral but she loved both Mr Trump and Florida Gov Ron DeSantis. But she said that the indictment if anything made Republicans more likely to support Mr Trump. “The Democrats think that this is going to suppress voters, but it actually will embolden them,” she said. “It’s making them angrier. It’s making them see the government for what it really is.” Ms Kivett said she thought that Mr Trump would be the next president. “That’s why they’re so against Trump, that he’s put out everything, you know, as far as what was going on with the FBI, the Department of Justice, CIA, all of that,” she said. “That’s why they do not want Trump to run.” Other elected officials threw their support behind Mr Trump. Rep Richard Hudson, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he endorsed the former president, citing the fact that his wife worked in Mr Trump’s administration. Similarly, the two other presidential candidates who appeared at the convention, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis and former vice president Mike Pence, criticised the Justice Department for their pursuit of Mr Trump. “Is there a different standard for a Democrat secretary of state versus a former Republican president,” Mr DeSantis said during his speech on Friday evening. “I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country.” Meanwhile, despite the fact Mr Pence attempted to draw a line between himself and Mr Trump, particularly when it came to Mr Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, Mr Pence criticised the Justice Department and Mr Smith’s prosecution. “Now, as I said earlier this week, I had hoped the Department of Justice would see its way clear to resolve the issues involving the former president without an indictment and I’m deeply troubled to see this indictment move forward,” he said, warning about “its capacity to further divide our country at a time when the American people are stronger as never before.” Throughout the weekend, many attendees continued to wear Trump memorabilia, and Mr Trump’s endorsement continues to be coveted, as he said he planned to endorse Lt Gov Mark Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign at a later date. Mr Trump’s indictment also comes as a number of other Republicans have announced their candidacies. This week, Mr Pence, North Dakota Gov Doug Burgum and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie all announced their campaigns for president of the United States, adding to an already crowded GOP field. But few voters seemed to express interest in other candidates and Mr Trump was introduced as the next president of the United States at the North Carolina event, despite the fact that several of his challengers also appeared over the weekend. Read More Trump indictment: Ex-president kept nuclear and military papers and showed some to unauthorised people ‘Everybody needs to support Trump’: Ex-president’s indictment overshadows DeSantis in North Carolina Pence won’t say whether he’s read Trump indictment after calling for its release