List of All Articles with Tag 'americas'

Donald Trump will face trial for the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case on 20 May 2024, just six months before the presidential election. Judge Aileen Cannon gave the order on Friday morning. Meanwhile, the former president has been busy bullying his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, including Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson, on Truth Social as he braces for an imminent grand jury indictment over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his role in inciting the Capitol riot of 6 January 2021. Mr Trump announced on Tuesday that he had been sent a letter by special prosecutor Jack Smith informing him that he is the “target” of the investigation, citing three statutes under which he could be charged, including conspiracy to commit offence or to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under colour of law and tampering with a witness, victim or informant. That indictment, Mr Trump’s third in four months, could be handed down any day now, The Independent learned. Meanwhile, the latest attorney to join Mr Trump’s legal team says he wants cameras in court when the former president is potentially put on trial over his alleged election interference. Read More What Donald Trump’s trial date means for the 2024 election Trump demands cameras in courtroom for potential election fraud case Trump legal team tries again to block Georgia election interference grand jury probe Trump calls for ‘immediate’ death penalty for child traffickers after watching QAnon-linked movie

Wisconsin's Supreme Court will flip from majority conservative to liberal control in August and Democrats have high hopes the change will lead to the state's abortion ban being overturned and its maps redrawn to weaken GOP control of the Legislature and congressional districts. Democrats in the perennial battleground state focused on abortion to elect a liberal majority to the court for the first time in 15 years. The Democratic Party spent $8 million to tilt the court’s 4-3 conservative majority by one seat with the election of Janet Protasiewicz, who spoke in favor of abortion rights and against the Republican-drawn map in a campaign. Her April victory broke national spending records for a state Supreme Court race. Still, there are no guarantees. Republicans were angered when a conservative candidate they backed in 2019 turned out to sometimes side with liberal justices. While the court is widely expected to weigh in on abortion and redistricting, liberals also are talking about bringing new challenges to school choice, voter ID, the 12-year-old law that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers and other laws backed by Republicans. “When you don’t know the extent of the battle you may have to fight, it’s concerning,” said attorney Rick Esenberg, president of the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. "It’s very concerning.” Some issues could take years to reach the court, said liberal attorney Pester Pines, who like Esenberg has argued numerous times before the state Supreme Court. Unlike under the conservative majority, Pines said the new liberal court will be unlikely to rule on cases before lower courts have heard them. “They're not going to do it," Pines said. There is already a pending case challenging Wisconsin's pre-Civil War era abortion ban, and a circuit court judge ruled earlier this month that it can proceed, while also calling into question whether the law actually bans abortions. The case is expected to reach the Supreme Court within months. Protasiewicz all but promised to overturn the ban by repeatedly speaking out for abortion rights, winning support from Planned Parenthood and others. “When you’re a politician and you’re perceived by the voters as making a promise, and you don’t keep it, they get angry,” Esenberg said. There is no current redistricting lawsuit, but Democrats or their allies are expected to file a new challenge this summer seeking new districts before the 2024 election. The state Supreme Court upheld Republican-drawn maps in 2022. Those maps, widely regarded as among the most gerrymandered in the country, have helped Republicans increase their hold on the Legislature to near supermajority levels, even as Democrats have won statewide elections, including Tony Evers as governor in 2018 and 2022 and Joe Biden in 2020. Protasizewicz declared those maps to be “rigged” and said during the campaign they should be given another look. Democrats also hope for new congressional maps improving their chances in the state’s two most competitive House districts, held by Republicans. “What we want to see is maps that are fair and that represent the will of the people and the actual make up of their state," Democratic strategist Melissa Baldauff said. Four of the past six presidential elections in Wisconsin have been decided by less than a percentage point. The outgoing conservative court came within one vote of overturning Biden's win in 2020. The new court will be in control to hear any challenges leading up to the election and in the months after. That includes voting rules. Courts have repeatedly upheld Wisconsin's voter ID requirement, in place since 2011, but some Democrats see a chance to challenge it again, particularly over what IDs can legally be shown. There is also a looming fight over the state's top elections administrator. “It seems to me that the most consequential topics that could come before the new court would have to do with elections," said Alan Ball, a Marquette University Law School history professor who runs a statistical analysis blog of the court and tendencies of justices. Considering comments Protasiewicz made during the campaign, “it’s really hard for me to imagine she would not side with the liberals on those issues,” Ball said. A national Democratic law firm filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to undo a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling last year banning absentee ballot drop boxes. The case could make its way to the state high court before the 2024 presidential election. Other sticky issues that have garnered bipartisan criticism, including powers of the governor, also could come before the new court. Evers surprised many with a veto this year putting in place a school spending increase for 400 years. Republicans said a challenge was likely. In 2021, the court struck down three of Evers' previous partial vetoes but failed to give clear guidance on what is allowed. A Wisconsin governor's veto power is expansive and used by Republicans and Democrats, but the new court could weigh in on whether it should be scaled back. Esenberg, who brought the previous case challenging Evers' veto powers, said he expected another legal challenge in light of the 400-year veto. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Wisconsin woman's killing, dismemberment trial to begin Monday after jury chosen, judge's ruling Biden is building his reelection bid around an organization Obama shunned What are the 10 largest US lottery jackpots ever won?

Carlee Russell has been fired from the Alabama beauty spa where she was working on the night she claimed to have been kidnapped, according to a new report. Stuart Rome, the owner of the Woodhouse spa in Birmingham, told the New York Post that Ms Russell was no longer employed there and staff were “pissed” about her abduction claims. The 25-year-old told police she was kidnapped while stopping to help a toddler on Interstate 459 on 13 July. However, Alabama police have expressed doubt over Ms Russell’s abduction claims and revealed she appeared to have made suspicious internet searches about kidnappings prior to the incident. Mr Rome said staff had been devastated by Ms Russell’s disappearance, and had passed out flyers in an effort to help find her. “As the information came out that there were some questionable things, we’ve been a little pissed off, mainly because so many people took so much time out to search,” Mr Rome toldthe New York Post. Hoover police chief Nick Derzis said during a press conference on Wednesday that investigators were “unable to verify” most of the 25-year-old’s statements. Read More Carlee Russell sent several bizarre tweets before disappearing Alabama lawyer says police is using ‘every other synonym for lie except saying she lied’ in Carlee Russell case Boyfriend of Carlee Russell deletes social media posts after police cast doubt over her kidnapping story Police doubt Carlee Russell’s kidnapping claims. Could she face consequences?

Tens of thousands of protesters marched on the main highway into Jerusalem on Saturday evening in a last-ditch show of force aimed at blocking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious judicial overhaul. More than 100 of Israel's former security chiefs signed a letter pleading with the Israeli premier to halt the legislation. The arrival of the marchers turned the city's main entrance into a sea of blue and white Israeli flags as they completed the last leg of a four-day, 70 kilometer (45-mile) trek from Tel Aviv to Israel's parliament. The marchers joined forces with hundreds of other protesters and planned to camp outside the Knesset, or parliament, ahead of Monday's expected vote. Netanyahu and his far-right allies claim the overhaul is needed to curb what they say are the excessive powers of unelected judges. But their critics say the plan will destroy the country's system of checks and balances and put it on the path toward authoritarian rule. The proposed overhaul has drawn harsh criticism from business and medical leaders, and a fast-rising number of military reservists in key units have said they will stop reporting for duty if the plan passes, raising concern that the country's security interests could be threatened. Over 100 top former security chiefs, including retired military commanders, police commissioners and heads of intelligence agencies joined those calls on Saturday, signing a letter to Netanyahu blaming him for compromising Israel’s defense, undermining the Israeli Defense Forces and urging him to halt the legislation. The signatories included Ehud Barak, a former Israeli prime minister. “The legislation is crushing those things shared by Israeli society, is tearing the people apart, disintegrating the IDF and inflicting fatal blows on Israel’s security,” they wrote. “The legislative process violates the social contract that has existed for 75 years between the Israeli government and thousands of reserve officers and soldiers from the land, air, sea, and intelligence branches who have volunteered for many years for the reserves to defend the democratic state of Israel, and now announce with a broken heart that they are suspending their volunteer service,” the letter said. After seven straight months of the most sustained and intense demonstrations the country has ever seen, the grassroots protest movement has reached a fever pitch. The parliament is expected to vote Monday on a measure that would prevent the Supreme Court judges from striking down government decisions on the basis that they are “unreasonable.” Proponents say the current “reasonability” standard gives the judges excessive powers over decision making by elected officials. But critics say that removing the standard, which is invoked only in rare cases, would allow the government to pass arbitrary decisions, make improper appointments or firings and open the door to corruption. Protests were also planned on Saturday evening at the central square of the coastal city of Tel Aviv, Israel's main hub. Monday's vote would mark the first major piece of legislation to be approved. The overhaul also calls for other sweeping changes aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary, from limiting the Supreme Court’s ability to challenge parliamentary decisions, to changing the way judges are selected. Protesters, who make up a wide swath of Israeli society, see the overhaul as a power grab fueled by various personal and political grievances by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, and his partners, who want to deepen Israel’s control of the occupied West Bank and perpetuate controversial draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men. In a speech Thursday, Netanyahu doubled down on the overhaul and dismissed as absurd the accusations that the plan would destroy Israel’s democratic foundations. “This is an attempt to mislead you over something that has no basis in reality,” he said. Alarmed by the growing mass of reservists refusing to serve, the country’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, pushed for a delay in Monday’s vote, according to reports in Israeli media. It was unclear if others would join him. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Fierce protests have been rocking Israel for months. What's fueling them? Thousands march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to protest Israeli government's judicial overhaul plan Ex-Israeli security chief backs reservists' protest as Netanyahu allies advance judicial overhaul

Donald Trump will face trial for the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case on 20 May 2024, just six months before the presidential election. Judge Aileen Cannon gave the order on Friday morning. Meanwhile, the former president has been busy bullying his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, including Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson, on Truth Social as he braces for an imminent grand jury indictment over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his role in inciting the Capitol riot of 6 January 2021. Mr Trump announced on Tuesday that he had been sent a letter by special prosecutor Jack Smith informing him that he is the “target” of the investigation, citing three statutes under which he could be charged, including conspiracy to commit offence or to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under colour of law and tampering with a witness, victim or informant. That indictment, Mr Trump’s third in four months, could be handed down any day now, The Independent learned. Meanwhile, the latest attorney to join Mr Trump’s legal team says he wants cameras in court when the former president is potentially put on trial over his alleged election interference. Read More Trump shares sinister new video issuing apocalyptic threat to anyone who ‘f***s around with us’ Deadline for Trump to give evidence in Jan 6 probe passes as third indictment looms Trump bid to toss E Jean Carroll ruling backfires as judge says ex-president did ‘rape’ columnist DeSantis says he’d accept Trump being prosecuted for a ‘traditional crime’ like ‘robbing a bank’

Donald Trump’s new lawyer will ask a judge to allow cameras in a federal courtroom if the one-term president is indicted with January 6 election fraud charges by the Department of Justice. Mr Trump has said that he received a target letter from special counsel Jack Smith who could be set to bring criminal charges against the GOP front-runner within days. “I would hope that the Department of Justice would join in that effort so that we can take the curtain away and all Americans can see what’s happening,” attorney John Lauro said in an appearance on Fox News. The problem for Mr Lauro is that courtroom photographing and broadcasting are banned in federal court under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. “Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom,” the rule states. Mr Lauro also explained to Fox News why Mr Trump declined Mr Smith’s invitation to appear before the grand jury investigating him. “There’s no need to appear in front of a grand jury right now. Because President Trump did nothing wrong. He’s done nothing criminal,” he insisted. Any indictment, Mr Trump’s third in four months, could be handed down as soon as this week, The Independent has learned. Mr Trump wrote in a lengthy statement delivered via his Truth Social platform that special counsel Jack Smith had notified him via letter on Sunday about the development. “On Sunday night, while I was with my family...HORRIFYING NEWS for our country was given to me by my attorneys,” said Mr Trump. “Deranged Jack Smith...sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment,” he stated. Read More Trump calls for ‘immediate’ death penalty for child traffickers after watching QAnon-linked movie What Donald Trump’s trial date means for the 2024 election Trump classified documents trial will be six months before 2024 election as Jan 6 cases close in - latest Trump and Michael Cohen reach settlement over $1.3m in unpaid legal bills What charges does Donald Trump face in the classified documents case?

Five members of a neo-fascist hate group that planned to disrupt a Pride event in Idaho last year will spend three days in jail after a jury convicted them of conspiracy to riot. The men – Devin Center, Forrest Rankin, Robert Whitted, James Johnson and Derek Smith – were found guilty by a six-person jury on 20 July after an hour of deliberation following a three-day trial. On 11 June, 2022, police arrested 31 members of Patriot Front blocks away from the annual Pride in the Park event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, after calls to 911 identified a group of people coming out of a UHaul box truck in a military-like formation. They carried shields, metal flag poles, shin guards and at least one smoke grenade. Paperwork inside the truck appeared to show plans for a riot, according to police, and the men came from more than a dozen states, including some as far as Colorado and Texas. The men were arrested on charges of conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor punishable up to one year in prison with fines of $5,000. They pleaded not guilty. Under the sentence imposed on 21 July, the men will spend three days in jail and will have one year of unsupervised probation. They are also not allowed to go within two miles of the Coeur d’Alene City Park in that time. Because the probation is unsupervised, those men are able to leave the state. Despite the mass arrests of its members in Idaho, Patriot Front’s presence across the US has not diminished. The group, which first emerged from the splintering of another white nationalist group in the aftermath of the lethal rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, was responsible for the vast majority of “hateful propaganda” efforts in the years that followed, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which designates Patriot Front as a hate group. Over the last few years, Patriot Front have made their physical presence known at demonstrations and rallies across the country. A month after the arrests in Coeur d’Alene, a Black artist was attacked during a Patriot Front march in Boston. This year, members have marched in Indianapolis, protested a drag brunch in Tennessee, and, in a grim display in the nation’s capital, marched in Washington DC. A report from the Anti-Defamation League and GLAAD discovered more than 350 targeted threats against LGBT+ people within the last year from a wide array of anti-LGBT+ groups, including online harassment as well as armed protests at drag performances, bomb scares against hospitals that provide gender-affirming healthcare, and other acts of violence, including a mass shooting inside a Colorado Springs LGBT+ nightclub. Incidents targeting drag performers and the people and venues that host them have accelerated across the US, with similar threats surfacing in the UK, according to a separate recent report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. The group collected 203 on- and offline threatening incidents specifically targeting drag events within the last year. Read More Patriot Front planned to disrupt a Pride event in Idaho. One year later, members are on trial Montana LGBT+ advocates sue state over ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ drag ban

Alabama police have expressed doubt over Carlee Russell’s claim that she was abducted from the side of an interstate highway last week, saying she appears to have made internet searches relating to kidnappings prior to the incident. Hoover police chief Nick Derzis said during a press conference that investigators were “unable to verify” most of the 25-year-old’s statements relating to the events. Mr Derzis detailed Ms Russell’s peculiar search history on Wednesday, saying she had searched for the movie Taken and Amber Alerts, raising the possibility she may have faked her alleged ordeal. Before she disappeared for a mysterious 49 hours, she posted a series of bizarre tweets. On the day she went missing on 13 July, she tweeted at 8.55pm: “today was a GREAT day God be looking out im telling you!!” One minute later, Ms Russell wrote: “someone to tell you ‘i love you’ and don’t got a reason.” Finally, she tweeted, “yeah i want a family now” at 9.19pm. Just moments later, around 9.30pm, the Alabama woman called 911 and told detectives that she was following a lost toddler along the interstate. Read More Carlee Russell claimed she was kidnapped by a man with orange hair. Police say they can’t verify any of it Boyfriend of Carlee Russell deletes social media posts after police cast doubt over her kidnapping story Police doubt Carlee Russell’s kidnapping claims. Could she face consequences? Carlee Russell searched for Amber Alerts and the movie ‘Taken’ before disappearing, say police

The Georgia prosecutor investigating Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in that state is reportedly weighing a racketeering indictment against the former president and others. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could rely on evidence tied to Mr Trump’s infamous call to the state’s top elections official to “find” votes for him, as well as the breach of voting machines by a group of Trump-connected operatives, according to The Guardian, citing two people briefed on the matter. Prosecutors are reportedly reviewing a racketeering indictment including statutes related to influencing witnesses and computer trespass. An indictment is expected within the first two weeks of August. The office has been investigating efforts to overturn election results in the state and the baseless allegations of widespread election fraud that fuelled them, adding to a long list of investigations and other legal consequences facing the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination for president and his allies who rejected 2020 results. Ms Willis’s investigation is separate from the federal probe under US Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating a broader effort from Mr Trump and his allies to reverse election results in states Mr Trump lost to Joe Biden, culminating in a pressure campaign around Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify electoral college results during a joint session of Congress on 6 January, 2021. A grand jury in the Fulton County case was seated on 11 July. Ms Willis has made a career out of high-profile cases involving charges of racketeering– typically used to break up organised crime – including indictments against more than two dozen people connected to a sprawling Atlanta hip-hop empire, 38 alleged gang members, and 25 educators accused of cheating Atlanta’s public school system. Georgia’s racketeering statute requires prosecutors to show the existence of an “enterprise” with a pattern predicated on at least two other “qualifying” crimes. Evidence in the case is unlikely to be revealed until an indictment is unsealed, but a charge involving influences witnesses could look to Mr Trump’s phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Mr Trump suggested that he “find” him 11,780 votes – enough to swing the election in the state. For the computer trespass charge, in which prosecutors would need to show that defendants used a computer or network without permission to interfere with a program or data, prosecutors could turn to the breach of voting machines in Coffee County. That breach involved a group of people working under former Trump-connected attorney Sidney Powell to copy voting machine data at the county’s election office. That data from Dominion Voting Systems machines was uploaded to a password-protected website in a spurious, failed effort to prove that the 2020 election was rigged against Mr Trump. The Independent has requested comment from the Fulton County District Attorney’s office. Roughly one year into her investigation, Ms Willis took the unusual step of asking for a special grand jury to rely on its subpoena power to compel testimony from witnesses who otherwise would not be willing to talk with prosecutors. That special grand jury was seated in May 2022 and concluded its work in January 2022 after hearing from roughly 75 witnesses before dissolving in January. A partially released report from the special grand jury shows that jurors unanimously agreed that “no widespread fraud took place” in Georgia’s election following interviews with election officials, analysis and poll workers. Mr Trump also faces criminal charges in Manhattan stemming from hush money payments allegedly made to silence stories about his alleged affairs in the lead up to the 2016 election. Mr Trump and his adult children also face a likely trial from a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed by the New York Attorney General’s office alleging a years-long fraud operation. A federal judge in Florida has also set a trial date of 20 May, 2024 on charges surrounding the alleged mishandling and illegal retention of dozens of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property. Read More Trump classified documents trial will be six months before 2024 election as Jan 6 cases close in - latest Who is Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who could take down Trump Georgia grand jury sworn in to consider Trump charges over attempts to upend 2020 election Trump, January 6 and a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election: The federal investigation, explained

The Florida federal judge overseeing the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice case against former president Donald Trump has rejected the disgraced ex-president’s bid to delay his trial until after the 2024 election. US District Judge Aileen Cannon on Friday issued an order granting the government’s request to set a speedy trial date and schedule for pretrial motions, with a start date of 20 May 2024. More follows...

A midnight deadline for Donald Trump to signal his intent to testify before a Washington, DC grand jury hearing evidence against him has come and gone, moving the twice-indicted ex-president a step closer to facing yet another set of criminal charges stemming from his effort to remain in office against the will of voters after losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden. On Tuesday, Mr Trump publicly acknowledged receipt of a so-called “target letter” from the office of Jack Smith, the Department of Justice special counsel who is charged with overseeing multiple investigations into the former president’s conduct. Mr Smith, who in June obtained a 38-count indictment against Mr Trump and longtime aide Walt Nauta arising out of a probe into the ex-president’s alleged unlawful retention of national defence information at his Palm Beach, Florida home, has also been presenting evidence to a grand jury in the nation’s capital that has been focused on the events leading up to the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol, including Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn his loss to Mr Biden. According to sources familiar with the matter, the letter to Mr Trump informed him that the department is considering charging him with conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding and deprivation of civil rights under colour of law, and set a midnight Thursday deadline for the ex-president to say whether he would appear before the grand jury to give evidence on his own behalf. While the first two potential charges are brought frequently in federal court and have been used against a significant number of the hundreds of defendants who’ve faced charges for participating in the Capitol attack, the third potential charge – deprivation of civil rights under colour of law – would be brought under an 1871 statute first enacted for use against the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction. While that century-old statute was first enacted to give the government tools to fight the Klan’s racist terrorism in the post-Civil War era, in modern times it has routinely been deployed by prosecutors in cases of voter suppression or election fraud. A member of the ex-president’s legal team contacted by The Independent did not say whether Mr Trump would indeed testify, but it is highly unlikely that he would do so since his answers before the grand jury could be used against him. Grand jury probe examines Trump’s involvement in fake elector scheme and pressure campaign against Mike Pence The deadline for Mr Trump to avail himself of the invitation to appear before the grand jury, that could soon add significantly to the legal burden he is facing as he seeks his party’s nomination in next year’s election, comes as prosecutors have continued to present evidence pertaining to the ex-president’s actions before and during the Capitol attack. A crowd of Trump supporters temporarily interrupted the joint session of Congress at which the electoral votes cast in line with voters’ preferences were opened and counted under the supervision of then-vice president Mike Pence. Mr Pence, who was forced to retreat to an underground parking area while a riotous mob rampaged through the building and called for him to be hanged, is one of the numerous witnesses who have given evidence under questioning from Mr Smith’s team. In April, he testified for more than five hours regarding his interactions with Mr Trump in the period leading up to the joint session, though a federal judge ruled that he did not have to give evidence on anything pertaining to his actions while presiding over the Senate or the January 2021 joint session. Prosecutors have been questioning witnesses and gathering evidence to shed light on what Mr Trump knew, said and did in the period between the 3 November 2020 general election and the January 2021 Capitol attack. In particular, they have been attempting to elicit answers from witnesses regarding what Mr Trump knew about efforts being made on his behalf to submit forged electoral college certificates indicating he had prevailed in swing states that were actually won by Mr Biden to the National Archives and to Mr Pence in his role as president of the Senate. They have also been investigating the pressure campaign the former president mounted to convince the then-vice president that he had the power to unilaterally disregard the legitimate electoral certificates in favour of the fake ones as a way to declare himself and Mr Trump victorious even though they had not won the election. Prosecutors have also reportedly questioned multiple elected officials from swing states won by Mr Biden, including Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, who Mr Trump infamously pressured to “find” enough non-existent votes to reverse his loss in a recorded phone call that was first reported by The Washington Post. A subpoena to Mr Raffensperger’s office demanded that he turn over election-related CCTV footage from State Farm Arena, the Atlanta sports venue that was used as a polling location and ballot counting site. Prosecutors sought testimony from Trump’s inner circle in Jan 6 probe In addition to Mr Pence, Mr Smith’s team has also questioned multiple former Trump administration officials who served at the highest levels. The former senior Trump White House officials who’ve been called before the grand jury include Marc Short, a longtime aide to and confidante of Mr Pence who served as the ex-vice president’s chief of staff during the time period at issue, former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Mr Pence’s former counsel, Greg Jacob, and ex-Trump senior policy adviser Stephen Miller. Mr Smith’s team has also compelled testimony from Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law who served in the White House and on Mr Trump’s 2020 campaign as a senior adviser, former counsellor to the president Hope Hicks and Mark Meadows, the ex-North Carolina congressman who served as Mr Trump’s final White House chief of staff from April 2020 through January 2021. The Independent has previously reported that Mr Meadows has been testifying pursuant to a cooperation agreement with prosecutors. Even as recently as Thursday afternoon, Mr Smith’s team was still questioning one ex-White House staffer, ex-special assistant to the president and deputy advance director William Russell. Mr Russell, who still serves as one of Mr Trump’s personal aides, was making a repeat appearance before the grand jury, according to sources familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because grand jury proceedings are secret. It is understood that prosecutors also intended to spend part of Thursday questioning a former Trump campaign staffer who specialised in election data analysis. Although prosecutors could have asked grand jurors to vote on whether to approve an indictment of the ex-president this week, it is understood that prosecutors are more likely to take that final step on either Tuesday or Thursday of next week, the two days on which the grand jury is scheduled to meet. Read More Trump shares sinister new video issuing apocalyptic threat to anyone who ‘f***s around with us’ Trump bid to toss E Jean Carroll ruling backfires as judge says ex-president did ‘rape’ columnist DeSantis says he’d accept Trump being prosecuted for a ‘traditional crime’ like ‘robbing a bank’ Trump, January 6 and a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election: The federal investigation, explained Former Trump State Department official convicted for attacking police during Capitol riot

Actor Jim Caviezel has proclaimed Donald Trump “the new Moses” after visiting him in New Jersey. Caviezel, who played Jesus in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, made the biblical comparison to the twice-indicted and twice-impeached one-term president on Fox News. The conservative actor appeared on Fox & Friends on Fox News on Thursday to promote his new anti-trafficking movie Sound of Freedom. The move has already made more than $100m at the box office despite costing only $4.5m to make. Caviezel told host Brian Kilmeade that Mr Trump, who is leading GOP 2024 presidential hopefuls, had to be returned to the White Office as a matter of urgency. “Well, he’s got to be in there because he’s going to go after the traffickers,” he insisted. The actor said that he and producer Eduardo Verástegui had screened the film for Mr Trump the previous night at his private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. “This is the new Moses,” Caviezel said. “I mean, I’m still Jesus, but he’s the new Moses. Pharaoh, let my children go free.” The movie is loosely the work of anti-trafficking activist Tim Ballard, and in the fictional story, he sets out to rescue children from sex traffickers in Colombia. Between late 2019 and 2020, Mr Ballard served on an anti-trafficking White House advisory council while Mr Trump was president. Caviezel has been accused of referencing baseless claims by the QAnon conspiracy movement, which has claimed that Mr Trump is a saviour figure. While promoting the movie, he told Steve Bannon on his podcast that children were trafficked for their blood, which is a QAnon claim, and in the past has referenced “the storm”, a QAnon theory that Mr Trump would release a secret plan to defeat the deep state, his opponents and sweep back into power. Read More Poll suggests third-party bid wouldn’t derail Biden’s shot at re-election Trump shares sinister new video issuing apocalyptic threat to anyone who ‘f***s around with us’ Buoys, razor wire, and a Trump-y wall: How Greg Abbott turned the Rio Grande into an immigration ‘war zone’ Trump bid to toss E Jean Carroll ruling backfires as judge says ex-president did ‘rape’ columnist SEC announces settlement with merger partner of Trump’s Truth Social app Marjorie Taylor Greene roasted for claiming ‘prayer’ can end child sex trafficking Heat is biggest weather-related killer, but US officials won’t declare disaster Poll suggests third-party bid wouldn’t derail Biden’s shot at re-election