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Donald Trump has claimed that he has “effectively” been indicted on charges for a third time – this time over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The former president took to Truth Social on Tuesday morning to claim that he had been informed that he is the “target” of a grand jury investigation by special prosecutor Jack Smith. “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.” His announcement came on the same day Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced criminal charges against 16 people who signed certificates falsely declaring that Mr Trump won the 2020 presidential election, part of a nationwide scheme to upend the results in states that the former president lost to Joe Biden. In addition, the first hearing took place in the federal classified documents case. A trial date is still to be set. Read More Donald Trump brands US a ‘third-world hellhole’ run by ‘perverts’ and ‘thugs’ Ron DeSantis campaign fires staff as Florida governor trails Trump in the polls Fundraising takeaways: Trump and DeSantis in their own tier as Pence and other Republicans struggle RFK Jr revives antisemitic conspiracy theory that Covid-19 was ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Jewish people

The Republican attorney general of Kentucky, Daniel Cameron, has reportedly not used his key fob to enter the state capitol building in Frankfurt even once in the last three years. According to records obtained by HuffPost, Mr Cameron’s key fob and security card logs from the Capitol show that he has not used his own credentials to enter the building where his office is located since January of 2020. Mr Cameron was first elected to the job in November of 2019. There are, as HuffPost notes in its story, several potential ways to explain why the attorney general hasn’t shown up for work at his main office in more than three years. One possibility is that Mr Cameron has spent much of his time since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic working remotely. Another is that he has had a staff member or Capitol official swipe him into the building, or that he’s used an entrance that does not require him to use his key fob or security card. Still another explanation is that he’s instead choosing to work out of one of the attorney general’s five satellite offices scattered around the state. But Mr Cameron’s office did not offer any of those explanations for HuffPost’s reporting, instead choosing to contest the data revealed by the open records request. “This is not correct,” Atley Smedley, Mr Cameron’s deputy communications director, told HuffPost of the notion that his boss isn’t going to his office. “Attorney General Cameron has regularly come to his office since he assumed the position of Attorney General in December 2019.” There are several other factors complicating the narrative about Mr Cameron’s whereabouts. One is that Mr Cameron has been photographed in the Capitol building on multiple occassions since 2020, suggesting that the key fob records are not in fact wholly reflective of his presence or lack thereof in the building. Another records request from HuffPost revealed that Mr Cameron did use his key fob to enter the Capitol 11 times between May 2019 and January 2020. In a statement to The Independent, Mr Cameron’s communications director Shellie May wrote the key fob records “do not accurately reflect the comings and goings of General Cameron or any elected official.” “Attorney General Cameron has regularly come to his office since he assumed the position of Attorney General in December 2019, and he works tirelessly advocating for the men, women, and children of all 120 Kentucky counties,” she wrote. “Due to security concerns, the Office cannot provide any additional information.” Mr Cameron, a former aide to Sen Mitch McConnell, has been under a newly intense spotlight since he won the Republican primary for governor in May. Mr Cameron will face incumbent Democrat Andy Beshear in November, with Mr Beshear seeking re-election after he beat former Gov Matt Bevin by less than single percentage point in 2019. Read More Troubled US soldier Travis King seized by North Korea after fleeing across border disguised as tourist Chris Christie mocks Trump’s ‘top secret’ plan for ending Ukraine war: ‘Move over Churchill’ Donald Trump Jr says he wouldn’t have got away with having cocaine at White House: ‘Luckily it’s not my thing’ Editorial cartoonists' firings point to steady decline of opinion pages in newspapers Kentucky's ban on gender-affirming care takes effect as federal judge lifts injunction Cameron bows out of Kentucky political event hosted by possible Rep. Massie challenger

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has announced criminal charges against 16 people who signed certificates falsely declaring that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election, part of a nationwide scheme to upend the results in states that the former president lost to Joe Biden. The outcomes of presidential elections rest on slates of electors who decide their votes based on the outcome of their states’ popular vote. As then-President Trump sought a spurious legal effort to reject the outcome, his allies arranged slates of “alternate” electors in several states to cast their votes for him, despite his loss. Ms Nessel’s announcement arrived the same day that the former president said he has received a target letter from federal prosecutors indicating that he is the subject of an investigation into his efforts to overturn election results, suggesting that he could imminently be facing charges. The criminal charges in Michigan against the so-called “fake” electors appear to be the first. They each face eight felony counts, including election law forgery and conspiracy. Her office also has not ruled out charges against other potential defendants, she said. Those 16 people met in the basement of the state’s Republican Party headquarters and signed certificates falsely claiming that they were “the duly elected and qualified electors for president and vice president of the United States of America for the state of Michigan,” Ms Nessel said in prepared remarks on 18 July. “That was a lie,” she said. “They weren’t the duly elected and qualified electors, and each of the defendants knew it.” Those electors then attempted to deliver those documents to the state Senate and to the US Senate, where Vice President Mike Pence presided over the congressional certification of electoral college votes, and where Mr Trump and his allies allegedly pressured him to use those false slates of electors to overturn the election’s outcome and keep Mr Trump in office. “This plan – to reject the will of the voters and undermine democracy – was fraudulent and legally baseless,” Ms Nessel said. “The false electors’ actions undermine the public’s faith in the integrity of our election, and not only violate the spirt of the laws enshrining and defending our democracy, but, we believe, also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan and peaceably transfer power in America.” Ms Nessel, an elected Democratic official, dismissed arguments that the prosecutions are politically motivated. “But where there is overwhelming evidence of guilt, in respect to multiple crimes, the most political act I can engage in as a prosecutor is to take no action at all,” she said. Ms Nessel’s office had previously referred the cases to the US Department of Justice but indicated earlier this year that she was reopening the “parallel investigation” into election crimes in the state, citing “clear evidence” for a prosecution. Prosecutors in Georgia have also indicated that fake electors from that state may also face criminal charges, as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis pursues a separate investigation into the former president’s efforts to reject election results in that state. “Every serious challenge to the election had been denied, dismissed, or otherwise rejected by the time the false electors convened. There was no legitimate legal avenue or plausible use of such a document or an alternative slate of electors,” Ms Nessel said in a statement accompanying the announcement of charges. “There was only the desperate effort of these defendants, who we have charged with deliberately attempting to interfere with and overturn our free and fair election process, and along with it, the will of millions of Michigan voters,” she added. “That the effort failed and democracy prevailed does not erase the crimes of those who enacted the false electors plot.” Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has focused his office’s attention in several states, including interviews with the office of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who provided a tranche of documents that included communications between the state’s election officials and Mr Trump’s former lawyers and members of his campaign as the former president’s allies targeted the critical battleground state. Mr Smith is investigating an array of schemes pursued by Mr Trump and his allies to reject 2020 results, including the fake electors plot. This is a developing story Read More Trump news – live: Trump could be indicted for a third time as soon as this week in Jan 6 probe Trump says he is about to be arrested again after letter confirms he’s target of Jan 6 grand jury