Jen Psaki says Democrats ‘love being up against’ Donald Trump ahead of midterms
A Florida judge has appointed Donald Trump’s nominee as special master in the FBI’s investigation into top-secret documents seized by agents from his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Judge Raymond Dearie will now review documents seized during the raid on the former president’s property after Mr Trump successfully requested someone be named.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon also denied the Justice Department’s request to resume its criminal investigation into the classified documents. Judge Cannon said she was unwilling to accept government claims that nearly 100 documents from Mr Trump’s estate were classified.
“The court does not find it appropriate to accept the government’s conclusions on these important and disputed issues without further review by a neutral third party in a timely and orderly manner,” she ruled.
Earlier, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows reportedly complied with a Justice Department subpoena related to the investigation into the events surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. He is the longest-serving member of the Trump administration to comply with such an order.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump took the time to issue a statement attacking ‘absolute loser’ Mitch McConnell for being the Democrats’ ‘pocket dog’.
Marjorie Taylor Greene accused of kicking gun control activist
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared to kick a young gun control activist outside the Capitol when the pro-gun Republican faced mass shootings across the United States.
Ms Greene also asked another activist to quiz her on gun safety for moving to another country.
reports Alisha Rahaman Sarkar.
Marjorie Taylor Greene appears to kick gun control activist
Activist Marianna Pecorra says MP ‘literally walked on my heels’
Olivier O’ConnellSeptember 16, 2022 4:40 p.m.
Trump oversaw ‘a coordinated, multi-step effort to cancel an election’
House Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson: ‘There is no question that there was a coordinated, multi-step effort to nullify an election overseen and directed by Donald Trump… And so there must be accountability . Liability under the law. Responsibility to the American people.
Olivier O’ConnellSeptember 16, 2022 4:20 p.m.
Martha’s Vineyard community galvanized to help migrants sent in DeSantis stunt
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has faced international condemnation and scrutiny as the last GOP governor stepping up the party’s widely derided plan to ship vulnerable groups of migrants out of their states as a sign of cold protest against President Joe Biden.
But the arrival of 50 migrants on Martha’s Vineyard – known as a summer getaway for America’s wealthiest – has galvanized communities across the small island off the coast of Massachusetts, providing immediate shelter and relief to a group of people and families deceptively herded on planes out of Texas more than 2,000 miles away at taxpayer expense.
Alex Woodward shares how a community came together to help newcomers.
The GOP sent migrants to Martha’s Vineyard to sow panic. It did not work
The arrival of 50 migrants has galvanized communities on the island as Republican governors ‘manufacture chaos’ and ignore asylum seekers in a broken immigration system, advocates tell Alex Woodward
Olivier O’ConnellSeptember 16, 2022 4:10 p.m.
Trump and his aides pushed AT&T to sell CNN to Rupert Murdoch
Former President Donald Trump and his aides pushed AT&T to sell CNN to Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch as the then-president pushed to block the telecommunications company’s merger with Time Warner early in his presidency.
According to an advance copy of the book by authors Peter Baker and Susan Glasser The divider who The Independent obtained before his Sept. 20 release date, Mr. Murdoch twice offered to buy CNN to pave the way for the merger by taking over an independent media outlet that Mr. Trump viewed as an enemy.
Andrew Feinberg has the details.
Trump tried to get AT&T to sell CNN to Rupert Murdoch, book reveals
New book reveals AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson was ‘beyond pissed off’ by Mr Trump’s interference in the telecoms company’s merger with Time Warner
Olivier O’ConnellSeptember 16, 2022 3:40 p.m.
Trump Helped Free Drug Prisoners…Now He Wants To Execute Them
After helping to free people convicted of drug-related crimes, Donald Trump now wants the death penalty for those same offences.
Experts and the people who were given a reprieve by the former president warn The Independent‘s Josh Marcus and Alex Woodward against the dangers of his rhetoric.
Donald Trump helped free drug addicts. Now he wants to run them
After helping free people convicted of drug-related crimes, Trump now wants the death penalty for those same offences. Experts and people the former president granted reprieve warn Josh Marcus and Alex Woodward of the dangers of his rhetoric
Olivier O’ConnellSeptember 16, 2022 3:26 p.m.
Not just Dr. Oz… Mastriano was registered to vote in New Jersey in 2021 despite running in Pennsylvania
Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, was registered to vote in neighboring New Jersey until he launched his gubernatorial campaign last year, New Jersey Globe reported.
Pennsylvania GOP candidate Mastriano was registered to vote in New Jersey through 2021
Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, was registered to vote in neighboring New Jersey until he launched his gubernatorial campaign last year, the New Jersey Globe reported.
Olivier O’ConnellSeptember 16, 2022 3:10 p.m.
Lindsey Graham called Trump a ‘fucking liar’ during impeachment in Ukraine, book reveals
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham tried to defend his defense of then-President Donald Trump’s conduct during his first impeachment, describing him to two veteran Washington reporters as a liar and using swear words .
In their next book The Divider: Trump in the White House 2017-2021, authors Peter Baker and Susan Glasser recall how they met Mr Graham outside a Washington DC steakhouse less than 48 hours after Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry into whether Mr Trump extorted the president of Ukraine in a now infamous July 2019 phone call. The Independent obtained a copy before its publication date of September 20.
Andrew Feinberg has the story of what Mr. Graham told the authors.
Lindsey Graham called Trump a ‘bastard liar’ over Ukraine impeachment
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham tried to defend his defense of then-President Donald Trump’s conduct during his first impeachment, describing him to two veteran Washington reporters as a liar and using swear words .
Olivier O’ConnellSeptember 16, 2022 2:54 p.m.
QAnon adopted by Trump, analysis shows
Rather than stray from the fringes of his American conservatism, Donald Trump appeared to embrace it after the presidency, according to an Associated Press report on Friday.
The analysis found that more than a third of the nearly 75 accounts ‘reTruthed’ by the former president on his Truth Social profile over the past month promoted QAnon, the fringe conspiracy theory about a secret cabal of abusers of children who conspired against Mr. Trump while he was in office.
By sharing the movement’s slogans, videos or images, the report suggested Mr Trump was seeking support from some of his most loyal supporters – no matter how absurd or previous attempts to distance himself from QAnon.
Trump openly embraces and amplifies QAnon conspiracy theories
Donald Trump increasingly embraces and endorses the QAnon conspiracy theory, even as the number of scary real-world events linked to the movement increases
Gino SpocchiaSeptember 16, 2022 2:40 p.m.
New York could sue the former president
Donald Trump could soon face a civil lawsuit in New York over a fraud investigation at his real estate and licensing conglomerate, the Trump Organization, which ended in disagreement over a settlement.
Quoting three sources “knowing the subject”, The New York Times reported on Thursday that New York State Attorney General Letitia James had rejected an offer to settle the longstanding fraud investigation – a strong indicator that Ms James intends to pursue.
Andrew Feinberg has more:
New York attorney general may take legal action after rejecting offer to settle Trump fraud investigation
Mr Trump’s company will go on trial for tax offenses next month in an unrelated case
Gino SpocchiaSeptember 16, 2022 1:55 p.m.
The special master was what Trump’s lawyers were ‘looking for’
The judge appointed to review the documents pulled from Mar-a-Lago was described as being “unusually slow in his pace” after his appointment was announced on Thursday.
Maggie Haberman, of The New York Times, tweeted that Judge Raymond Dearie was known for his steady hand and that Mr. Trump’s lawyers were “looking” for such a person to serve as special counsel in the Justice Department’s case against the former president.
“An agent in New York reminds me of a key fact about Dearie, whose courthouse I covered two decades ago: He is known to be exceptionally slow in his pace. That’s what the team Trump is looking for,” she wrote.
Judge Dearie has until November 30 to review documents seized by FBI agents at Mar-a-Lago.
Judge appoints Trump nominee as special master to oversee secret files
Judge Raymond Dearie was appointed by President Ronald Reagan and has served as a federal judge in New York since the 1980s
Gino SpocchiaSeptember 16, 2022 1:10 p.m.