Donald Trump Announces 2016 White House Bid

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Trump bashes New York charges against company, adviser at Florida rally
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Gabriella Borter
Publishing date:Jul 03, 2021 • 20 hours ago • 3 minute read • 65 Comments
Former U.S. president Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 28, 2021.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 28, 2021. PHOTO BY OCTAVIO JONES /REUTERS
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SARASOTA — Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday condemned New York prosecutors for bringing charges against his namesake company and longtime financial adviser, using a campaign-style rally to air a host of grievances.

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“It’s really called prosecutorial misconduct. It’s a terrible, terrible thing,” Trump told thousands of supporters gathered outdoors in Sarasota, Florida.


The Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to what a New York prosecutor called a “sweeping and audacious” tax fraud, arising from a probe into Trump’s business and its practices.

Weisselberg and other executives were accused of receiving perks and benefits such as rent-free apartments and leased cars, without reporting them properly on their tax returns. The outcome of the investigations and other lawsuits facing Trump could impact whether he decides to run again for president in 2024.

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“They’ve mobilized every power of government to come after me, my family, my wonderful employees and my company solely because of politics,” Trump told the crowd.

The rally was billed as a Fourth of July celebration with fireworks, the latest in a series of appearances as the former president tries to keep Republicans’ focus on him.

Trump used his speech to denounce the policies of his successor, Democratic President Joe Biden, and repeat his false claim that he lost the 2020 election due to fraud.

He urged his supporters to back his allies in their midterm campaigns as Republicans fight to take back control of Congress from the Democratic Party next year.

Trump dwelt heavily on Biden’s policies along the U.S. border with Mexico and rising crime, two issues that Republicans hope to use to their advantage in the 2022 midterm elections.

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Trump’s image took a beating after the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters. But some 53% of Republicans believe Trump won last year’s election and blame his loss on illegal voting, and one quarter of the overall public agreed Trump won, a May 17-19 Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

Trump, 75, has dangled the possibility of running for president again in 2024, and his latest rallies mark an effort to keep his base energized and in his camp.

“We are looking at the election, more than looking at it,” said Trump of 2024, prompting cheers from the Sarasota crowd.

Many Republicans see an appealing option for a 2024 party nominee in Florida’s 42-year-old governor, Ron DeSantis. A longtime Trump ally, DeSantis has been at the forefront of Republican-led fights against strict anti-coronavirus lockdowns, racial justice protests and expanded ballot access.

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In a straw poll of potential 2024 candidates at a conservative conference in Denver in June, DeSantis finished ahead of Trump, 74% to 71%.


DeSantis’ office has said the governor is focused on winning re-election in Florida next year, not aspiring to national office.

Lindsay Gordon, a 35-year-old Sarasota resident who works in retail, said it was her third time attending a Trump rally and she was excited to show her support for the former president. She said she hopes Trump runs again, but thought DeSantis might be a better, less-polarizing alternative.

“I think DeSantis would probably have a better opportunity seeing as he’s younger,” Gordon said. “Because he’s still new and fresh there’s still a chance to get people to understand where he’s coming from. There isn’t as much of this negativity.”

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DeSantis did not attend Trump’s rally. A spokesperson said he was spending the weekend in Surfside, Florida, where rescuers have spent more than a week searching the rubble of a condo building collapse that killed at least 24 people and left scores missing.

During his speech at the rally, which lasted about 90 minutes, Trump called out by name a number of Republican politicians who he described as warriors on his behalf, including embattled U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz.

Trump did not mention DeSantis, but told Newsmax in an interview backstage that he and DeSantis had “mutually agreed” that the governor should continue to assist with the rescue and recovery operation in Surfside.

“I told him you should stay there,” said Trump.
 

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Trump sues Facebook, Twitter and Google, claiming censorship
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Jason Lange and Jan Wolfe
Publishing date:Jul 07, 2021 • 1 day ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
In this photo illustration, the Twitter account of U.S. President Donald Trump is displayed on a mobile phone in Arlington, Va., Aug. 10, 2020.
In this photo illustration, the Twitter account of U.S. President Donald Trump is displayed on a mobile phone in Arlington, Va., Aug. 10, 2020. PHOTO BY OLIVIER DOULIERY /AFP via Getty Images / Files
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WASHINGTON — Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday filed lawsuits against Twitter Inc, Facebook Inc, and Alphabet Inc’s Google, as well as their chief executives, alleging they unlawfully silence conservative viewpoints.

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The lawsuits, filed in U.S. District Court in Miami, allege the California-based social media platforms violated the right to freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.


Trump is seeking class action status for the lawsuits, meaning he would represent the interests of other users of Twitter, Facebook, and Google’s YouTube who allege they have been unfairly silenced.

He filed three lawsuits making similar allegations – one against Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, one against Twitter and its CEO Jack Dorsey, and one against Google and its CEO Sundar Pichai.

“We will achieve a historic victory for American freedom and at the same time, freedom of speech,” Trump said at a news conference at his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.

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A Twitter representative declined to comment. Representatives of Facebook and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump lost his social media megaphone this year after the companies said he violated their policies against glorifying violence. Hundreds of his supporters launched a deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 after a Trump speech repeating his false claims that his election defeat was the result of widespread fraud, an assertion rejected by multiple courts, state election officials and members of his own administration.

The lawsuits ask a judge to invalidate Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a law that has been called the backbone of the internet because it provides websites with protections from liability over content posted by users. Trump and others who have attacked Section 230 say it has given big internet companies too much legal protection and allowed them to escape responsibility for their actions.

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“This complaint is hard to even make sense of,” said Paul Gowder, a professor of law at Northwestern University.

Trump sought to portray the social media companies as subject to the same First Amendment requirements as government entities when it comes to censorship, but Gowder said nothing in the lawsuits “even comes close to turning social media companies into government actors.”

A federal judge in Florida last week blocked a recently enacted state law that was meant to authorize the state to penalize social media companies when they ban political candidates, with the judge saying the law likely violated free speech rights.

The lawsuit said the bill signed by Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis in May was unconstitutional. It would have made Florida the first state to regulate how social media companies moderate online speech.
 

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U.S. charges 2 men for plotting to blow up Democratic headquarters in California
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Sarah N. Lynch
Publishing date:Jul 17, 2021 • 6 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
In this file photo taken on Sept. 26, 2020, man wears a "Three Percenter" patch as several hundred members of the Proud Boys and other similar groups gathered for a rally at Delta Park in Portland, Ore.
In this file photo taken on Sept. 26, 2020, man wears a "Three Percenter" patch as several hundred members of the Proud Boys and other similar groups gathered for a rally at Delta Park in Portland, Ore. PHOTO BY MARANIE R. STAAB /AFP via Getty Images
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WASHINGTON — Two California men have been indicted on charges they conspired to attack the Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento, the state’s capital city, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.

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According to the unsealed indictment, Ian Benjamin Rogers, 45, of Napa and Jarrod Copeland, 37, of Vallejo started plotting to attack Democratic targets after the 2020 presidential election. They also tried to get support from an anti-government group to further the cause.


The indictment does not name the militia group they contacted, but prosecutors in a different court filing said Copeland emailed the far-right group Proud Boys, trying to “recruit others to join the plot,” and also was a member of a militia group affiliated with the Three Percenters.

Both the Proud Boys and the Three Percenters have come under government scrutiny, after some members were indicted in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

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John Ambrosio, a lawyer for Copeland, said in an email: “We entered a plea of not guilty, denying all allegations and counts. We have no further comments at this time.” An attorney for Rogers declined to comment

In numerous messages they exchanged, the two discussed blowing up buildings, the Justice Department said.

In one exchange in January 2021, for instance, Rogers told Copeland: “I want to blow up a democrat building bad.”

“I agree,” Copeland responded. “Plan attack.”

Federal law enforcement agents executed a search warrant on Jan. 15 at Rogers’ home and seized a stockpile of weapons including 45 to 50 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition and five pipe bombs.

Prosecutors say Copeland tried to destroy evidence during the investigation and communicated with the leader of a militia group who told him to switch communication platforms and delete the evidence.

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Rogers was arrested on the day the search warrant was executed and remains in the custody of the state. Copeland was arrested on Thursday and will appear for a detention hearing on July 20, the Justice Department said.

In the detention memo, prosecutors said Copeland joined the U.S. military in December 2013, but was arrested for desertion in May 2014. He received an “other than honorable discharge” in lieu of being court-martialed.


The memo says Copeland and Rogers were infuriated after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, and they “understood they would be viewed as domestic terrorists” if they carried out their vision to overturn the U.S. government.

Their plot allegedly began on Nov. 25, 2020, as Rogers told Copeland in an encrypted messaging application: “Ok bro we need to hit the enemy in the mouth.”

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Initially, it says, they discussed attacking the California governor’s mansion, though later the Democratic headquarters in California became the target. Other possible targets they discussed included the corporate offices for Twitter and Facebook.

A criminal complaint that charged Rogers in the case also said they discussed attacking Democratic contributor George Soros.

The indictment does not allege that Rogers or Copeland had any involvement in the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol.

The FBI is still searching for an unknown suspect who planted explosive devices near the Democratic and Republican committee headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 5.
 

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U.S. ELECTION: 2020 polls suffered worst performance in decades
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Dan Balz, The Washington Post
Publishing date:Jul 19, 2021 • 5 hours ago • 2 minute read • 17 Comments
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a campaign rally for Republican U.S. senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, ahead of their January runoff elections to determine control of the U.S. Senate, in Valdosta, Georgia, U.S., December 5, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo ORG XMIT: FW1
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a campaign rally for Republican U.S. senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, ahead of their January runoff elections to determine control of the U.S. Senate, in Valdosta, Georgia, U.S., December 5, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo ORG XMIT: FW1 PHOTO BY JONATHAN ERNST /REUTERS
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Public opinion polls in the 2020 presidential election suffered from errors of “unusual magnitude,” the highest in 40 years for surveys estimating the national popular vote and in at least 20 years for state-level polls, according to a study conducted by the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR).

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The AAPOR task force examined 2,858 polls, including 529 national presidential race polls and 1,572 state-level presidential polls. They found that the surveys overstated the margin between President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump by 3.9 points in the national popular vote and 4.3 percentage points in state polls.


Polls understated the support for Trump in nearly every state and by an average of 3.3 percentage points overall. Polls in Senate and gubernatorial races suffered from the same problem.

“There was a systematic error that was found in terms of the overstatement for Democratic support across the board,” said Josh Clinton, a Vanderbilt University political science professor who chaired the 19-member task force. “It didn’t matter what type of poll you were doing, whether you’re interviewing by phone or Internet or whatever. And it didn’t matter what type of race, whether President Trump was on the ballot or was not on the ballot.”

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The polls did a better job of estimating the average support for Biden, with a few exceptions. In general, support for Biden in the polls was 1 percentage point higher than his actual vote.


An AAPOR task force conducted a similar examination after the 2016 election. Then, national polls generally accurately predicted the size of Hillary Clinton’s popular vote victory over Trump, but state polls proved more problematic, causing many analysts at the time to predict wrongly that Clinton also would win an electoral college majority.

In the new study, task force members were able to rule out a series of reasons that might have caused the 2020 polls to show a bigger margin for Biden over Trump than the actual results. That included some of the problems that affected polling in 2016, such as the failure in that year to account for levels of education in the samples of voters.

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But the task force members were not able to reach definitive conclusions on exactly what caused the problems in the most recent election polls and therefore how to correct their methodology ahead of the next elections. “Identifying conclusively why polls overstated the Democratic-Republican margin relative to the certified vote appears to be impossible with the available data,” the report states.

Polling in senatorial and gubernatorial races showed a similar pattern, overstating the margin for Democratic candidates versus their Republican opponents. When state-level presidential polls were removed from the sample, the error level was even higher. For example, polling pointed to possible Democratic gains in House races. Instead, Republicans gained seats.
 

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'QAnon Shaman' in plea negotiations after mental health diagnosis: Lawyer
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Sarah N. Lynch
Publishing date:Jul 23, 2021 • 20 hours ago • 4 minute read • Join the conversation
Jacob Chansley, holding a sign referencing QAnon, speaks as supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather to protest about the early results of the 2020 presidential election, in front of the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC), in Phoenix, Arizona November 5, 2020.
Jacob Chansley, holding a sign referencing QAnon, speaks as supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather to protest about the early results of the 2020 presidential election, in front of the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC), in Phoenix, Arizona November 5, 2020. PHOTO BY CHENEY ORR /REUTERS
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WASHINGTON — The participant in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots nicknamed the “QAnon Shaman” is negotiating a possible plea deal with prosecutors, after prison psychologists found he suffers from a variety of mental illnesses, his attorney said.

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In an interview, defense lawyer Albert Watkins said that officials at the federal Bureau of Prisons, or BOP, have diagnosed his client Jacob Chansley with transient schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety.

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The BOP’s findings, which have not yet been made public, suggest Chansley’s mental condition deteriorated due to the stress of being held in solitary confinement at a jail in Alexandria, Virginia, Watkins said.

“As he spent more time in solitary confinement … the decline in his acuity was noticeable, even to an untrained eye,” Watkins said in an interview on Thursday.

He said Chansley’s 2006 mental health records from his time in the U.S. Navy show a similar diagnosis to the BOP’s.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment on the case.

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Chansley is one of the most recognizable of the hundreds of Donald Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol after the then-president in a fiery speech falsely claimed that his November election defeat was the result of fraud.


Chansley, of Arizona, was photographed inside the Capitol wearing a horned headdress, shirtless and heavily tattooed. He is a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory that casts Trump as a savior figure and elite Democrats as a cabal of Satanist pedophiles and cannibals.

He faces charges including civil disorder and obstructing an official proceeding.

Watkins did not say what Chansley was considering pleading guilty to, but defendants negotiating plea deals typically seek to plead to a less serious charge to reduce their potential prison sentences.

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Watkins said authorities will need to determine how Chansley can get access to the treatment he needs to “actively participate in his own defense.” Pleading guilty to a charge negates the need for a trial, but defendants still have to be declared mentally competent to do so.

Watkins said the BOP’s evaluation of his client did not declare Chansley to be mentally incompetent, and he does not expect Chansley to be ordered to undergo what is known as competency restoration treatment.

‘CHOCOLATE SOUP MESS’

Watkins said his client has expressed some delusions including “believing that he was indeed related directly to Jesus and Buddha.”

“What we’ve done is we’ve taken a guy who is unarmed, harmless, peaceful … with a pre-existing mental vulnerability of significance, and we’ve rendered him a chocolate soup mess,” Watkins said.

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Federal prosecutors have arrested more than 535 people on charges of taking part in the violence, which saw rioters battle police, smash windows and send members of Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence running for safety.

About 20 defendants so far have pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with the attack, according to a government tally.

Chansley is jailed as he awaits trial, after prosecutors convinced a federal judge he remains a danger if released.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in May ordered him to undergo a competency evaluation.

As of July 5, he was one of 188 men and women undergoing an initial mental health evaluation to determine if they are competent to stand trial, according to BOP data.

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The BOP in 2017 was faulted by the Justice Department’s inspector general for its use of special housing units to confine inmates with mental illness, and the BOP agreed to place limits on the amount of time inmates remain in restrictive housing and to ensure they have meaningful human contact.

But the COVID-19 pandemic led the BOP to step up its use of solitary housing units as a way to quarantine inmates to contain the spread of the virus.

A BOP spokeswoman said that inmates are sometimes held alone in a cell, but they are not cut off from human contact or services.

“While we do have a need to place individuals in a single cell for various reasons, such as medical isolation, they have access to staff and programming,” she said.

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These COVID-19 restrictions, Watkins said, is what led the BOP to place Chansley in solitary confinement.

Seeking a competency evaluation for a federal inmate can be a slippery slope for defense attorneys.

On the one hand, incompetent defendants cannot be prosecuted if they cannot understand the charges or assist in their defense.

However, if a judge declares there is a preponderance of evidence to show a defendant is incompetent to stand trial, then the defendant is jailed because federal law requires inmates undergoing competency restoration treatment to be committed to a federal prison hospital.

There are only three federal prison hospitals offering restoration treatment for male inmates, and the average wait time for a bed this year for men has been 84 days, according to BOP data.
 

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Guilty pleas for men who took photos at Pelosi's office on Jan. 6
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Mark Hosenball
Publishing date:Jul 23, 2021 • 15 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
A mob of supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump fight with members of law enforcement at a door they broke open as they storm the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021.
A mob of supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump fight with members of law enforcement at a door they broke open as they storm the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021. PHOTO BY LEAH MILLIS /REUTERS
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WASHINGTON — Two Ohio men face up to six months in prison after pleading guilty on Friday to disorderly conduct during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, where one photographed the other in the offices of House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

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Derek Jancart, 39, of Canal Winchester, Ohio, and fellow Ohioan Erik Rau, 28, are at least the 20th and 21st persons to plead guilty to criminal charges stemming from the Jan. 6 attack, when thousands of supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the building in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.


More than 535 people have been charged with taking part in the violence. Trump falsely claims he lost the election because of widespread electoral fraud.


According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jancart posted pictures on Facebook from the riot, including a photograph taken from outside Pelosi’s conference room showing Rau inside the room which carried the caption “We’re in.”

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During hearings before U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, Jancart and Rau, appearing via video link, both acknowledged that they entered the Capitol during the riot and went to Pelosi’s office. Jancart acknowledged he photographed Rau inside the room.

Jancart and Rau both were initially charged with four riot-related misdemeanors after their arrests. Jancart was arrested in February while Rau was not arrested until earlier this month.

Both men pleaded guilty to single counts of disorderly conduct in the U.S. Capitol building. They face a maximum sentence of six months and a $5,000 fine, though Boasberg could sentence them to probation. Sentencing for both men was set for Sept. 29.
 

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Police recount mayhem and 'attempted coup' in U.S. Capitol riot
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Richard Cowan and Sarah N. Lynch
Publishing date:Jul 27, 2021 • 9 hours ago • 4 minute read • 14 Comments
U.S. Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, wipes his eyes as he watches a video during the Select Committee investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, during their first hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C, on July 27, 2021.
U.S. Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, wipes his eyes as he watches a video during the Select Committee investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, during their first hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C, on July 27, 2021. PHOTO BY JIM BOURG/POOL /AFP via Getty Images
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WASHINGTON — Four police officers on Tuesday told lawmakers they were beaten, taunted with racial insults, heard threats including “kill him with his own gun” and thought they might die as they struggled to defend the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 against a mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters.

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Often tearful, sometimes profane, the officers called the rioters “terrorists” engaged in an “attempted coup” during a 3-1/2 hour congressional hearing in which they also criticized Republican lawmakers who have sought to downplay the attack.


“I feel like I went to hell and back to protect the people in this room,” said District of Columbia police officer Michael Fanone, referring to lawmakers. “The indifference shown to my colleagues is disgraceful,” Fanone added, slamming his hand onto the witness table.

It was a dramatic first hearing for a Democratic-led House of Representatives committee formed despite opposition by Trump’s fellow Republicans to investigate the worst violence at the Capitol since the British invasion in the War of 1812.

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Some Democrats have suggested Trump, who made an incendiary speech to supporters before the riot repeating false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud, be called to testify. The officers recounted how rioters fought on Trump’s behalf, seeking to prevent Congress from formally certifying now-President Joe Biden’s election victory.

“He himself helped create this monstrosity,” Capitol Police Officer Aquilino Gonell said of Trump as he described rioters wielding weapons including police shields, batons, sledgehammers, flag poles, Taser devices, chemical irritants, metal pipes, rocks, broken table legs and metal guard rails.

The officers urged lawmakers to determine what happened, including whether Trump or others helped instigate it.

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“There was an attack carried out on Jan. 6, and a hit man sent them. I want you to get to the bottom of that,” Capitol police officer Harry Dunn said.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson and Republican panel member Liz Cheney warned against “whitewashing” a riot in which more than 535 people now face criminal charges, even as Trump allies portray the panel as politically motivated.

Cheney, stripped of her House Republican leadership post after denouncing Trump’s election falsehoods, said she hopes the nation does not become so blinded by partisanship that “we throw away the miracle” of American democracy.


The committee, expected to explore questions about how the riot was organized and financed as well as law enforcement’s lack of preparedness, heard the most detailed public account to date of what police encountered during the rampage. More than a hundred officers were injured by the hundreds of rioters.

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Fanone said he was pulled into the crowd, beaten, shocked repeatedly with a Taser, robbed of his badge and knocked unconscious, suffering a heart attack. Fanone said he heard a rioter say “kill him with his own gun.”

‘MEDIEVAL BATTLEFIELD’

“What we were subjected to that day was like something from a medieval battlefield,” Gonell said.

Dunn, who is Black, said rioters repeatedly called him a racial slur. Dunn said he challenged their claims that no one had voted for Biden by telling them that he had done so.


Gonell, a naturalized American citizen born in the Dominican Republican who served in the U.S. Army in Iraq, recalled rioters calling him a traitor who should be executed. Gonell said he thought to himself, “This is how I’m going to die.”

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Washington officer Daniel Hodges called the rioters “terrorists,” citing the term’s legal definition. He said they told him: “You will die on your knees!”

Hodges said many rioters appeared to be white nationalists. While his Black and Hispanic colleagues faced racial slurs, Hodges, who is white, said rioters tried to recruit him, asking, “Are you my brother?”

The rioters sent lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence scrambling for safety. Four people died on Jan. 6, including one rioter shot by police and three others who experienced medical emergencies. A policeman who was attacked by rioters died the following day. Two others later committed suicide.

“Some people are trying to deny what happened, to whitewash it, to turn the insurrectionists into martyrs,” Thompson said. “And all of it for a vile, vile lie.”

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Democrats created the panel after congressional Republicans blocked formation of an independent bipartisan commission to investigate the riot. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy acted to prevent fellow Republicans from joining the panel after Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to seat two of his choices amid concerns they would undermine its integrity. Two Republicans picked by Pelosi are serving.

The Senate on Tuesday inched closer to approving around $900 million in emergency aid to bolster Capitol police funding and establish a “quick-reaction force” to respond to any future attacks, among other things.

During the hearing, Democrat Stephanie Murphy asked Hodges what he was fighting for as he confronted the rioters.

“Democracy,” Hodges replied.
 

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California man accused of using bear spray on police pleads not guilty in U.S. Capitol riot
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Mark Hosenball
Publishing date:Jul 28, 2021 • 9 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
Court documents from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia include an image from a video that captured Sean McHugh shooting officers with a yellow spray during the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot.
Court documents from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia include an image from a video that captured Sean McHugh shooting officers with a yellow spray during the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot. PHOTO BY U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA /supplied
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WASHINGTON — A California man accused of attacking police with bear spray and a large metal sign during the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol assault by supporters of then-President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to federal charges including riot-related felonies.

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Maria Jacob, a lawyer for accused rioter Sean McHugh, told U.S. District Judge John Bates during a video hearing that her client was entering not guilty pleas to all charges against him including assaulting police using a dangerous weapon and engaging in violence on the Capitol grounds or in the building.


McHugh, 34, is being held in pre-trial detention. McHugh listed an Auburn, California address on an airplane reservation he made for a Jan. 5 flight to Washington.

More than 535 people face charges arising from the riot in which Trump supporters sought to block Congress from formally certifying now-President Joe Biden’s election victory. Before the riot, Trump delivered a speech to supporters repeating his false claims that the election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.

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Federal prosecutor Jacob Strain told the judge the government would be willing to engage in plea negotiations in McHugh’s case. Bates set a further hearing for Sept. 30.

In an affidavit describing the grounds for McHugh’s arrest, an FBI agent said that videos showed McHugh “assaulting” Capitol Police officers by shoving a large metal sign at them and spraying them with what the affidavit described as an “unknown chemical.” A July 7 indictment stated McHugh attacked police with bear spray.

Police have said the hundreds of rioters attacked them with a variety of weapons including chemical irritants.


The FBI said McHugh was on probation following a 2018 conviction for driving under the influence. A Superior Court official in California’s Placer County said McHugh in 2010 pleaded guilty to engaging in unlawful sex with a minor.

In another case, a federal judge approved the release on bail of Daniel Christmann, a New York City plumber facing misdemeanor riot charges. Christmann, who last year ran unsuccessfully for a New York State Senate seat, posted videos taken inside the Capitol on a website called “dannyforsenate.”
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In one-two punch to Trump, Justice Dept OK's release of taxes, memo
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Sarah N. Lynch
Publishing date:Jul 30, 2021 • 7 hours ago • 4 minute read • 36 Comments
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media after signing a bill for border funding in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., July 1, 2019.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media after signing a bill for border funding in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., July 1, 2019. PHOTO BY MARK WILSON /Getty Images / Files
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WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump suffered twin setbacks on Friday when the Justice Department cleared the way to release his tax records and disclosed a memo showing he had urged top officials last year to falsely claim his election defeat was “corrupt.”

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The department, reversing course from the stance it took when Trump was in office, told the Internal Revenue Service to provide the Republican businessman-turned-politician’s tax records to congressional investigators – a move he has long fought.


Trump was the first president in 40 years to not release his tax returns, as well as other documents, as he aimed to keep secret the details on his wealth and activities of his family company, the Trump Organization. The Democratic-led House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee has said it wants the tax data in part to examine whether Trump had taken inappropriate advantage of U.S. tax laws.

Handwritten notes taken by Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue in December and released on Friday by the House Oversight and Reform Committee painted a damning picture of Trump as he desperately sought to get the Justice Department to take the unprecedented step of intervening to try to upend his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.

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The fact that the Justice Department let congressional investigators obtain the notes marked a dramatic shift from the Trump administration’s repeated assertion of executive privilege to skirt congressional scrutiny.

“Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the R. Congressmen,” Trump told Jeffrey Rosen, referring to Republicans, in a Dec. 27 phone call days before Rosen was appointed acting attorney general.

The notes showed Rosen told Trump the department could not and would not “change the outcome of the election.”

Trump’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

The Justice Department ordered the IRS to provide Trump’s tax returns to the House panel, saying the panel has invoked “sufficient reasons” for requesting it.

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The department’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded it had erred in 2019 when it found the committee’s request for Trump’s taxes to be based on a “disingenuous” objective aimed at exposing them to the public. The committee engaged in a two-year legal battle with the Treasury Department after then-Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin defied a subpoena for Trump’s taxes.

In a court filing late on Friday, the Treasury Department said it was prepared to hand over Trump’s tax returns to the committee and would not object to giving him 72 hours’ notice before the documents are handed over.

After another legal fight, the Manhattan district attorney’s office in February separately obtained Trump tax and financial records in a criminal investigation centering on his company, though the material was not publicly disclosed.

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During Trump’s presidency, the Justice Department was accused by Democrats of bending to his personal and political goals. Its recent actions illustrate a different approach under Biden.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, welcomed the department’s action, saying access to the documents represents “a matter of national security.”


‘CRITICALLY IMPORTANT’

The department “is no longer going to simply kowtow to Donald Trump,” said University of Minnesota law professor Richard Painter, who was ethics counsel to former President George W. Bush.

“Every other president has disclosed their tax returns, and finding out what the conflicts of interest are on the president or a former president who may have made decisions that now have to be revisited – that’s critically important,” Painter added.

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It has been a tough week for Trump. Four police officers on Tuesday testified to a House panel about the violence of his supporters during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

That same night, the Justice Department revealed it would not defend a Republican congressman named along with Trump in a civil lawsuit accusing them of helping incite the riot, while a U.S. congressional candidate he endorsed in Texas lost her run-off election. Trump also fumed as a bipartisan agreement on Biden’s massive infrastructure bill advanced in the Senate, a feat Trump failed to achieve.

The Justice Department this week cited “compelling legislative interests” as it authorized six former Trump administration officials to be interviewed by the House oversight panel. Among them were Rosen, Donoghue, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark.

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Clark is at the heart of a Justice Department inspector general’s office inquiry after news surfaced that he had plotted with Trump to try to oust Rosen so he could launch an investigation into alleged voter fraud in Georgia. Clark did not respond to a request for comment.

In the Dec. 27 call with Rosen, Trump threatened to put Clark in charge, the notes showed. Throughout the call, Trump pushed his false election claims. “You guys may not be following the internet the way I do,” Trump said.

Rosen and Donoghue tried multiple times to tell Trump his information was incorrect.

“We are doing our job,” the notes stated. “Much of the info you’re getting is false.”
 

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Four cops who responded to U.S. Capitol attack have died by suicide
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Jan Wolfe
Publishing date:Aug 02, 2021 • 2 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Pro-Trump protesters storm into the U.S. Capitol during clashes with police in Washington January 6, 2021.
Pro-Trump protesters storm into the U.S. Capitol during clashes with police in Washington January 6, 2021. PHOTO BY SHANNON STAPLETON /REUTERS
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The District of Columbia’s police department on Monday said two more police officers who responded to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol have died by suicide, bringing to four the number of known suicides by officers who guarded the building that day.

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Metropolitan Police Officer Gunther Hashida was found dead in his home Thursday, department spokesman Hugh Carew said in a statement.

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Hashida joined the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in May 2003.


Another MPD officer who responded to the Capitol on Jan. 6, Kyle DeFreytag, was found dead on July 10, Carew said. DeFreytag’s cause of death was also suicide, Carew said.

He had been with the police department since November 2016.

MPD Officer Jeffrey Smith and U.S. Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood also responded to the Capitol riot and later died by suicide.


Hundreds of then-President Donald Trump supporters stormed the building that day in an unsuccessful attempt to stop Congress from certifying Democratic President Joe Biden’s election win.

Four people died on the day of the violence.

A Capitol Police officer who had been attacked by protesters died the following day. More than 100 police officers were injured.

The mayhem led to Trump’s second impeachment trial. More than 500 people have been arrested for their roles in the violence.

During emotional testimony last week, four police officers told a House of Representatives special committee that they were beaten, threatened, taunted with racial insults, and thought they might die as they struggled to defend the Capitol against the mob.
 

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Donald Trump fires back at U.S. Justice Dept. in bid to keep tax returns secret
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Jan Wolfe
Publishing date:Aug 04, 2021 • 15 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during his first post-presidency campaign rally at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington, Ohio, June 26, 2021.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during his first post-presidency campaign rally at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington, Ohio, June 26, 2021. PHOTO BY SHANNON STAPLETON /REUTERS
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Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday challenged in court last week’s U.S. Justice Department order that his tax returns should be turned over to a House of Representatives committee.

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In a filing in federal court in the District of Columbia, Trump’s lawyers said the House Ways and Means Committee lacks a legitimate basis for seeking his federal tax returns, and that the Justice Department erred when it backed the committee’s request.


The department, reversing course from the stance it took when Trump was in office, on Friday told the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide the Republican businessman-turned-politician’s tax records to congressional investigators – a move he has long fought.

Trump was the first president in 40 years to not release his tax returns, as well as other documents, as he aimed to keep secret the details of his wealth and activities of his family company, the Trump Organization.

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The Democratic-led Ways and Means Committee has said it wants the tax data to determine whether the IRS is properly auditing presidential tax returns in general and to assess whether new legislation is needed.

Trump’s lawyers called that a “pretextual” rationalization.

“The requests are tailored to, and in practical operation will affect, only President Trump,” they said in Wednesday’s court filing. “The requests single out President Trump because he is a Republican and a political opponent.”

Critics accused Trump of using the Justice Department to advance his personal and political interests during his four years in office, and the department has moved to reassert its independence since Democratic President Joe Biden took office.

After another legal fight, the Manhattan district attorney’s office in February separately obtained Trump tax and financial records in a criminal investigation centring on his company, though the material was not publicly disclosed.
 

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Trump says 'left-wing maniacs' on women's soccer team cost U.S. gold
"The woman with the purple hair (Megan Rapinoe) played terribly," the former prez said in a statement

Author of the article:Brad Hunter
Publishing date:Aug 06, 2021 • 23 hours ago • 1 minute read • 138 Comments
Megan Rapinoe of Team United States smiles during a training session on day 3 of the Tokyo Olympic Games at Nakata Sports Center on July 26, 2021 in Chiba, Japan.
Megan Rapinoe of Team United States smiles during a training session on day 3 of the Tokyo Olympic Games at Nakata Sports Center on July 26, 2021 in Chiba, Japan. PHOTO BY ATSUSHI TOMURA /Getty Images
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump is asking for a red card.

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The bombastic businessman blasted the U.S. Women’s Olympic soccer team after they won bronze at Tokyo 2020.

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Canada punted the Americans out of the gold medal race with a 1-0 win earlier in the week. The U.S. beat Australia for the bronze medal.

This did not please Trump, who refused to offer congratulations and slammed the team as “wokesters.”

Trump said in a statement: “If our soccer team, headed by a radical group of leftist maniacs, wasn’t woke, they would have won the gold medal instead of the bronze.

“Woke means you lose, everything that is woke goes bad, and our soccer team certainly has. There were, however, a few patriots standing.

Donald Trump blamed “left-wing maniacs” on the U.S. women’s soccer team for them missing out on gold. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Donald Trump blamed “left-wing maniacs” on the U.S. women’s soccer team for them missing out on gold. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
“Unfortunately, they need more than that respecting our country and national anthem. They should replace the wokesters with patriots and start winning again.

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“The woman with the purple hair (Megan Rapinoe) played terribly and spends too much time thinking about radical left politics and not doing her job!”

The U.S. team and Sweden took a knee before their July 21 game to protest racism but stood during the national anthem.

The soccer team in general — and Rapinoe in particular — have long been a sore spot for Trump. Rapinoe has refused to sing the national anthem in the past and his described herself as a “walking protest” against Trump and his policies.

The players themselves seemed delighted at snagging the bronze.

Star Alex Morgan wrote on Twitter: “Coming home with that fresh bronze and couldn’t be more proud of this team! Battling until the end it’s been 40 days on the road and ending on a high makes it all worth it!”

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Captain Becky Sauerbrunn added: “That bronze means so much. It feels like we really had to earn that thing. And we’re very proud of it.”

bhunter@postmedia.com

@HunterTOSun
 

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Ex-boxer who punched cop faces longest sentence yet in U.S. Capitol riot
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Mark Hosenball
Publishing date:Aug 06, 2021 • 14 hours ago • 1 minute read • 10 Comments
Riot police push back a crowd of supporters of President Donald Trump after they stormed the Capitol building on January 6, 2021 in Washington.
Riot police push back a crowd of supporters of President Donald Trump after they stormed the Capitol building on January 6, 2021 in Washington. PHOTO BY ROBERTO SCHMIDT /AFP via Getty Images
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WASHINGTON — A former boxer charged with punching a Washington police officer in the head during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol faces a sentence of up to 51 months in prison after pleading guilty on Friday to two felony charges.

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Scott Fairlamb, 44, of Stockholm, New Jersey, entered guilty pleas to charges of assaulting police and obstructing an official proceeding during the attack on the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters trying to overturn his election defeat.

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Prosecutors asked for a sentence of 41 to 51 months in prison. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said he would not sentence Fairlamb until he receives a pre-sentence report.

So far, one other Capitol riot defendant who pleaded guilty has been sentenced to serve an eight-month prison term, a law enforcement official said. A handful of defendants were sentenced to time served in pre-trial detention after pleading guilty.

In late July, Beryl Howell, chief federal judge in Washington, asked prosecutors to explain why a riot defendant was allowed to plead to a misdemeanor charge carrying a short prison sentence.

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Harley Breite, Fairlamb’s defense lawyer, told Lamberth that Fairlamb was willing to talk with FBI investigators, but had not yet done so.

Breite told Reuters that after his arrest, Fairlamb had lost a gym business which he operated.


An FBI affidavit said a concerned citizen submitted a video showing Fairlamb “shove and punch” a police officer during the riot. Video submitted by another member of the public showed Fairlamb climbing on a metal scaffolding outside the building.

More than 535 people have been charged with taking part in violence when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Democratic President Joe Biden’s election victory.

Trump falsely claimed he lost the election because of widespread electoral fraud.
 

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Birthday wishes from Rudy Giuliani? That will cost you
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Jan Wolfe
Publishing date:Aug 11, 2021 • 5 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani PHOTO BY JIM BOURG /REUTERS
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For US$325, Rudy Giuliani will tell you a story or wish you a happy birthday.

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The longtime Donald Trump adviser, facing mounting legal bills and a criminal investigation, said on Tuesday he had signed up for Cameo, a website that lets celebrities sell video greetings to fans.

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“Hi, it’s Rudy Giuliani, and I’m on Cameo,” Giuliani says in a welcome video posted to his page. “If there’s an issue of concern you would like to discuss, or a story you would like to hear or share with me, or a greeting that I could bring to someone that would bring happiness to their day, I would be delighted to do it. It can be arranged, and we can talk through the magic of Cameo.”


Giuliani’s page on Cameo initially listed the price of a video message as $199. But sometime on Wednesday, the price was changed to $325.

Giuliani did not respond to a request for comment. His lawyer, Bob Costello, declined to comment.

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In June, Giuliani’s allies created a “Freedom Fund” for public donations to help the former New York mayor and Manhattan U.S. attorney with his legal woes.

Giuliani’s business dealings with Ukrainian oligarchs while he was working as a lawyer for Trump, the former president, are the subject of a probe by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. Federal agents searched his home and office in April, seizing phones and computers.

Giuliani has denied claims of wrongdoing, and his lawyers have suggested the investigation is politically motivated.


He also faces a $1.3 billion lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems, the equipment maker he falsely asserted stole the 2020 presidential election from Trump by flipping votes. He has argued his statements were free speech protected by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

On Wednesday, a judge denied a request by Giuliani to dismiss the case on technical grounds. Giuliani is expected to make another attempt to dismiss the lawsuit.

A New York court suspended Giuliani from practicing law in June, finding that he had made “demonstrably false and misleading” statements against the integrity of the election.
 

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Trump rips Twitter for banning him, but allowing Taliban to provide updates
Author of the article:postmedia News
Publishing date:Aug 19, 2021 • 12 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Donald Trump is mad at Twitter again.
Donald Trump is mad at Twitter again. PHOTO BY OLIVIER DOULIERY /AFP via Getty Images
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Donald Trump is not amused at what he sees as the hypocrisy of Twitter allowing the Taliban to use their platform, but not him.

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The former American president ripped the social media platform for letting the Taliban provide updates on their retaking of Afghanistan.


“It’s disgraceful when you think that you have killers and muggers and dictators and horrible — some horrible dictators and countries, and they’re all on but the president of the United States, who had hundreds of millions of people, by the way, he gets taken off,” Trump told Newsmax Wednesday.

Trump has remained banned from the platform since the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, but Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid has been allowed to post updates freely on the platform.

Mujahid’s unverified account now has more than 300,000 followers. Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, another Taliban spokesperson, has more than 66,000 followers.

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Twitter ducked Trump, but put up a general statement about the Taliban.


“The situation in Afghanistan is rapidly evolving,” the statement said. “We’re also witnessing people in the country using Twitter to seek help and assistance. Twitter’s top priority is keeping people safe, and we remain vigilant.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC

Former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during his first post-presidency campaign rally at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington, Ohio, June 26, 2021.
Donald Trump fires back at U.S. Justice Dept. in bid to keep tax returns secret
Megan Rapinoe of Team United States smiles during a training session on day 3 of the Tokyo Olympic Games at Nakata Sports Center on July 26, 2021 in Chiba, Japan.
Trump says 'left-wing maniacs' on women's soccer team cost U.S. gold
U.S. President Joe Biden reacts to a quip from Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady during a reception for the team at the White House in Washington July 20, 2021.
Tom Brady jokes with Biden about Trump's false election claims

“We will continue to proactively enforce our rules and review content that may violate Twitter Rules, specifically policies against the glorification of violence, platform manipulation and spam.”

Trump sued Twitter, Facebook and YouTube last month for shutting down his accounts.
 

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'BOTCHED EXIT': Trump assails Biden for Afghanistan 'humiliation'
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Lawrence Hurley and David Morgan
Publishing date:Aug 21, 2021 • 4 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during his first post-presidency campaign rally at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington, Ohio, June 26, 2021.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during his first post-presidency campaign rally at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington, Ohio, June 26, 2021. PHOTO BY SHANNON STAPLETON /REUTERS
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WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump launched on Saturday a sustained attack on President Joe Biden’s handling of the retreat of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, which he called “the greatest foreign policy humiliation” in U.S. history.

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Trump, a Republican who has dangled the possibility of running again for president in 2024, has repeatedly blamed Biden, a Democrat, for Afghanistan’s fall to the Islamist militant Taliban, even though the U.S. withdrawal that triggered the collapse was negotiated by his own administration.


“Biden’s botched exit from Afghanistan is the most astonishing display of gross incompetence by a nation’s leader, perhaps at any time,” Trump said at a boisterous rally packed with his supporters near Cullman, Alabama.

Taliban leaders are trying to hammer out a new government after their forces swept across the country as U.S.-led forces pulled out after two decades, with the Western-backed government and military crumbling.

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For his part, Biden has criticized the Afghan military for refusing to fight, denounced the now-ousted Afghan government and declared he inherited a bad withdrawal agreement from Trump.


At the rally, Trump blamed the situation on Biden not having followed the plan his administration came up with and bemoaned U.S. personnel and equipment being left behind as troops withdrew.

“This is not a withdrawal. This was a total a surrender,” he said.

Trump said the Taliban, with whom he had negotiated, respected him. He suggested the quick takeover of Afghanistan would not have happened if he was still in office.

“We could have gotten out with honour,” Trump added. “We should have gotten out with honour. And instead we got out with the exact opposite of honour.”
 

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Seven U.S. Capitol police sue Trump, say he incited deadly attack
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Jan Wolfe
Publishing date:Aug 26, 2021 • 11 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Former U.S. president Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 28, 2021.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 28, 2021. PHOTO BY OCTAVIO JONES /REUTERS
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WASHINGTON — Seven U.S. Capitol Police officers on Thursday sued former president Donald Trump, alleging that he conspired with far-right extremist groups to provoke the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Congress.

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The officers in a lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C. federal court allege the attack was culmination of months of rhetoric from Trump, who they say knew of the potential for violence on and actively encouraged it in hopes of halting the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory.


The lawsuit alleges Trump conspired with the extremist groups The Proud Boys and The Oathkeepers, as well as far-right political operatives including Roger Stone and Ali Alexander, who promoted Trump’s speech near the White House right before the Capitol attack.

“Trump, in concert with other Defendants, deliberately and persistently made and encouraged false claims of election fraud to discredit the outcome of the election and disingenuously incite outrage among his supporters,” the lawsuit alleged.

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The case is the latest in a string of civil lawsuits seeking to hold Trump accountable for the siege of the Capitol by a mob of his supporters.

Four people died on the day of the violence, one shot dead by police and the other three of natural causes. A Capitol Police officer who had been attacked by protesters died the following day. Four police officers who took part in the defense of the Capitol later took their own lives. More than a hundred police officers were injured.

Ron Fischetti, a personal lawyer for Trump, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a similar lawsuit filed by Democratic U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell, Trump has argued that his actions were free speech protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and that he cannot be held liable under U.S. civil law because he was acting within his capacity as president on Jan. 6.