Trump news today: McConnell dismisses Jan 6 pardons as Donald says committee should probe

The Donald Trump-backed opponent of Liz Cheney finished 2021 with what in any previous year would have been a major fundraising haul for Wyoming but amounted to a small fraction of the over $2 million raised by Cheney for her best quarter yet.

Cheyenne attorney Harriet Hageman raised $443,000 over the last three months of the year, similar to what Cheney raised in her last full quarter before winning a third term in 2020.

Donald Trump is reportedly ready to “burn it all down” as several investigations into his and his family’s conduct begin to close in on him.

Tom Fenton reports on the former president’s reaction.

“Why is it that Rosanne (a Jewish woman) gets canceled for off color remarks but Whoopi’s gets a total pass for antisemitism and downplaying the Holocaust? I can’t help but notice that only people on the right face consequences for their mistakes,” Mr Trump Jr tweeted on Tuesday.

Ms Goldberg, who has said that she’s Jewish, said on The View on Monday that “the Holocaust isn’t about race”, a remark that was strongly criticised.

Thankfully, Senator Luján is expected to make a full recovery from his stroke on Thursday.

With the Senate evenly split, every Democrat vote counts towards the approval of any legislation or nomination, and with a Supreme Court vacancy approaching there is obviously concern as to how long the senator will be away from the chamber.

The Washington Post’s Amy Wang notes that it shouldn’t impact the process as the senator is not on the Judiciary committee and so his absence will not hold up the vetting process of any nominee, nor the confirmation process.

This is expected to last approximately two weeks after the president selects his nominee.

Former President Donald Trump issued a rambling, incoherent statement that was filled with nonsense about the 2020 election, the January 6 committee, and a demand for the panel to investigate Mike Pence, his vice president of four years.

Senator Chuck Schumer tweets: “My thoughts are with Senator Ben Ray Luján and his family. I’m so glad to hear that he will make a full recovery. We look forward to his quick return to the Senate.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she hasn’t discussed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “partygate” scandal with President Joe Biden, but stressed Mr Biden’s continued confidence in the UK as a partner in opposing Russia’s continued build-up of troops along its border with Ukraine.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.

Senator Ben Ray Luján has suffered a stroke and has been hospitalised but is expected to make a full recovery.

The New Mexico Democrat’s chief of staff released a statement on Tuesday afternoon saying that the Senator began to feel dizziness and fatigue early on Thursday morning and checked himself into a hospital in Santa Fe before being transferred to University of New Mexico Hospital at Alberquerque.

He was found to have suffered a stroke in his cerebellum, affecting his balance. He underwent decompressive surgery to ease swelling.

The senator is resting comfortably and expected to make a full recovery.

President Joe Biden spoke with Mitch McConnell today to discuss the Supreme Court vacancy.

“The leader believes the cornerstone of a nominee’s judicial philosophy should be a commitment to originalism and textualism,” a McConnell spokesman says.

Mr McConnell “emphasised the importance of a nominee who believes in judicial independence and will resist all efforts by politicians to bully the Court or to change the structure of the judicial system.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki called on music and podcast streaming giant Spotify to do “more” in the fight against Covid-19 misinformation on Tuesday.

At her daily press briefing, President Joe Biden’s top spokeswoman was asked about a decision by the company to add disclaimers linking to Covid-19 information hubs to any piece of content that includes discussion of the pandemic, vaccines, or Covid-19 itself. She responded that the change was a good step, but that the company could take steps (if it wanted) to actively prohibit content that contained misinformation that experts have warned is prolonging the pandemic and leading to more deaths.