Trump says lawyers had a “productive” meeting with the DOJ during the Jan. 6 investigation
Donald Trump vowed to continue his 2024 presidential campaign from prison if necessary after the Mar-a-Lago box case became the subject of a superseding indictment late Thursday.
Former president and aide Walt Nauta were hit with a a new set of federal fees related to alleged misuse of classified information after leaving the White House.
Federal prosecutors accuse him of withholding information for the defense and conspiring with club official Carlos De Oliveira to delete security footage to hide evidence of misconduct.
on friday morning radio host John Fredericks asked Mr. Trump if a conviction and sentence in one of the cases against him would halt his campaign for the White House.
The former president assured him that he would continue to run even while in prison, adding that there was nothing in the constitution to stop him.
Meanwhile, a separate federal grand jury is considering indicting Mr. Trump on charges of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Last week, Mr Trump received a letter from the office of special counsel Jack Smith saying he was the subject of their investigation. The former president’s legal team met with prosecutors Thursday morning in preparation for the expected indictment.
Analysis: The latest accusations against Trump answer one question and raise several more
The Independent‘c Andrew Feinberg write:
The new charges revealed in the superseding indictment show the extent of Mr Trump’s efforts to cover up what he was doing from the government he once led, but also make it clear that Mr Smith’s team took up the investigation of former president and his co-defendants are one step above what was previously known.
Oliver O’ConnellJuly 28, 2023 9:40 p.m
Votes: The allegations in the document show how Trump has hijacked the Republican Party
Former President Donald Trump hijacked the Republican Party. It is now his personal ATM and propaganda network. In their spare time, the Republican Party is still pushing ultraconservative policies and still trying to win elections. But every time Trump decides to commit a crime, no matter how egregious, gratuitous, or disconnected from advancing Republican goals, the GOP drops everything to humiliate itself in the name of licking his boots.
Oliver O’ConnellJuly 28, 2023 9:30 p.m
Trump continues to complain about alleged double standards
The former president wrote on Truth Social:
Crazy Nancy Pelosi didn’t have an “Impeachment Inquiry” against me for making a PERFECT phone call, Radical Leftist lunatics just “Impeached”. Crooked Joe Biden has stolen millions and millions of dollars from China and many other countries, and the Republicans in Congress are just TALKING – Nothing will happen. Some actually say they “have other things to do.” What a difference!
Oliver O’ConnellJuly 28, 2023 9:18 pm
Trump railed against ‘textbook Third World intimidation by rabid, lawless prosecutors’
Donald Trump broke his social media silence following the new charges and superseding indictment against him in the Mar-a-Lago documents case around 11.30am on Friday.
First, he thanked RNC Chairwoman Elise Stefanik for her defense of him Fox and Friends this morning.
Elise Stefanik was incredible this morning in her defense of the Marxists, fascists and communists on the radical left who are doing everything in their power to interfere in our 2024 presidential election through the weaponry of the DOJ and the FBI. She is smart, strong and tough, there are few like her. Thank you Elise!
He then attacked “Crooked Joe Biden” and “Crazy Jack Smith” for “trying to destroy the lives of two good people who have worked for me (and done a great job!) for a long time.”
He claimed their actions were “textbook Third World intimidation by rabid, lawless prosecutors.”
Under the direction of Crooked Joe Biden and his weaponized Department of Justice, Deranged Jack Smith is trying to destroy the lives of two good people who have worked for me (and done a great job!) for a long time. They are being hunted for one purpose, to “catch Trump”. This is textbook Third World intimidation by rabid, lawless prosecutors. These same cowardly tactics were used and failed during the Russia Russia Russia witch hunt and other scams. We will not allow radical lunatics to destroy our country!
Oliver O’ConnellJuly 28, 2023 9:10 p.m
Justice Department condemns Trump’s request for ‘extraordinary authority’ to talk about classified matters at Mar-a-Lago
In court filings late Thursday, prosecutors said Mr. Trump’s lawyers made the request for “extraordinary powers” as part of negotiations over a legally mandated protective order that Judge Eileen Cannon must issue before they and their client to have access to classified material that the government plans to use as evidence when Mr. Trump goes on trial next May.
Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.
Oliver O’ConnellJuly 28, 2023 9:00 p.m
Bolton says America will suffer needlessly because of Trump’s selfishness and self-interest
In response to the news of additional charges in the second impeachment against Donald Trump, former UN Ambassador John Bolton tweeted:
I urged Trump to end his run for president after the first federal indictment and to do so again after the second. It’s more “obstruction of justice as a way of life”: Trump’s sheer selfishness and self-interest – without regard for principle or country. America will suffer needlessly.
Oliver O’ConnellJuly 28, 2023 8:50 p.m
Watch: Christie says Trump is a ‘one-man crime wave’
In appearance of Pod Save America This week, former New Jersey governor, former prosecutor and current GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie said front-runner Donald Trump has won every single one of his self-inflicted legal problems.
He also called the former president a “one-man crime wave” and urged people to look at Mr Trump’s covert behavior against the prosecutors’ possible motivations “because that’s what he did”.
Oliver O’ConnellJuly 28, 2023 8:40 p.m
Trump claims he has already won the Jack Smith impeachment case
More from the former president at Truth Social:
How can Crazy Jack Smith file a lawsuit on January 6th, ridiculous as it is, when I’ve already won such a lawsuit and been fully vindicated in the US Senate? In other words, I was charged for it and I WON!!! ELECTION INTERFERENCE AND PROSECUTOR MISCONDUCT all rolled into one. We truly are a nation in decline!
I expect NOTHING from the meeting with my lawyers and the Lunatics at the DOJ about January 6th. They just want to interfere in the 2024 presidential election. This is their new form of FRAUD, but we will WIN !!!
Oliver O’ConnellJuly 28, 2023 8:33 pm
A former Trump intelligence official stresses that lives can be lost when classified documents are leaked
On her CNN show Thursday night, Caitlan Collins asked Trump’s former director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, if he was concerned or surprised by Donald Trump’s handling of classified information.
Their interview came shortly after additional charges were added to the indictment against the former president.
Mr Coates replied: “A lot of times people say, well, what’s the big deal? If you walk into the CIA lobby and look at the right wall, you’ll see a bunch of stars. Their names are not there because they were disguised. But they are dead because someone leaked their names, perhaps in a classified document.
He continued: “We’re putting millions of dollars into intelligence gathering technology. And if that gets breached because somebody gets a classified document floating around or knows about it, we lose that information that we’re grabbing. So, it’s more than just a bunch of paperwork and what a big deal it is and so on.
The former director of national intelligence added: “Lives can be lost. The money can be misused … our adversaries are looking for, trying to get that kind of information because they want to undermine us.”
He confirmed that there are deadly consequences to such behavior as demonstrated by Mr Trump, later adding that documents are classified for a reason and there are people in prison right now for taking home things they shouldn’t have to wear.
Oliver O’ConnellJuly 28, 2023 8:29 pm
Trump has a one-in-three chance of facing a federal judge appointed by him in a federal case
If that happens and he is tried in Washington, Mr. Trump will appear before a judge chosen at random to oversee the case in accordance with local rules.
However, because he was the 45th president of the United States, Mr. Trump has a one-in-three chance of facing a lawyer appointed by him personally.
Oliver O’ConnellJuly 28, 2023 7:50 p.m