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Trump latest news: Ivanka subpoena being considered by Jan 6 panel


Stormy Daniels obliquely denies having written statement on Trump affair

A new report claims that the 6 January select committee is considering issuing a subpoena to Ivanka Trump if she does not co-operate with its inquiry voluntarily. The news comes after Joe Biden cleared the release of White House visitor logs dating from around the events of 6 January 2021 – and just after the Trump Organization’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, droped the ex-president and essentially disowned years of his financial statements. The company’s move is a major turn in the New York authorities’ long-running investigation into Mr Trump’s affairs, a probe he has described as “racist” and a “political witch hunt”.

But as far as the right-wing media and much of the GOP are concerned, the real scandal is a debunked story that Hillary Clinton “spied” on Donald Trump. Some Republicans have once again begun calling for the former secretary of state to face criminal consequences. Among those pushing the idea is Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, who said last night that “The 2016 Clinton campaign was as crooked as they come. Someone should go to jail for this – and Hillary is a good place to start”.

Ms Clinton has hit back mocking the “fake scandal”, which she (like many others) said has been amplified to distract from the former president’s own legal problems.

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ICYMI: Clinton mocks Trump’s “spying” claims

Hillary Clinton has pushed back hard against false claims that she ordered a spying operation that targeted Donald Trump – a story that is running strong on right-wing outlets but which has been debunked elsewhere.

Andrew Naughtie17 February 2022 15:16

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Republicans speak out against “no-fly” list for unruly anti-maskers

With thousands of people already banned by individual airlines for refusing to abide by masking rules during the Covid-19 pandemic – and in many cases for abusing staff and other passengers who asked them to comply – there are new proposals to establish a single TSA “no-fly” list for serious offenders.

But several congressional Republicans have now voiced their displeasure at the idea, with one group of senators writing that “Creating a federal ‘no-fly’ list for unruly passengers … would seemingly equate them to terrorists who seek to actively take the lives of Americans and perpetrate attacks on the homeland.

“The TSA was created in the wake of 9/11 to protect Americans from future horrific attacks, not to regulate human behavior onboard flights.”

Andrew Naughtie17 February 2022 14:51

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Melania Trump suspected of buying own artwork at NFT auction

Jumping on a trend that has swept the internet and concerned many onlookers, Melania Trump has begun selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for the benefit of her nebulous anti-bullying initiative Be Best. But according to an analysis of transactions recorded in a blockchain, the cryptocurrency used to purchase Ms Trump’s first NFT came from a wallet that belonged to the entity that originally listed the project for sale.

Andrew Naughtie17 February 2022 14:22

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ICYMI: The launch of Truth Social approaches

Donald Trump Jr has been excitedly sharing a screenshot of what puports to be his father’s first post on Truth Social, the bespoke social network created for Mr Trump and his followers as a “free speech” alternative to Twitter.

Yet as soon as he shared the image, the ex-president’s son found himself being ridiculed not just for the site’s extraordinary resemblance to the Twitter interface, but for the fact he was having to promote it on Twitter at all.

Andrew Naughtie17 February 2022 13:55

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Trump endorsee struggles in Georgia

The Georgia gubernatorial primary has seen Donald Trump endorse his own challenger candidate, former Senator David Perdue, in an attempt to unseat incumbent Brian Kemp – a Republican who refused to bow to Mr Trump’s demands that he “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state.

Yet even as Mr Trump dominates his party and exerts serious political and financial heft on behalf of his allies, Mr Perdue is making little headway, raising the question of how much of a difference Mr Trump’s backing can really make.

Andrew Naughtie17 February 2022 13:23

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Report: Ivanka Trump may face subpoena from Jan 6 panel

According to the Guardian, the 6 January select committee is considering what would be a dramatic step: issuing a subpoena to Ivanka Trump, who would be the first member of the ex-president’s family to be personally targeted by the investigation.

The paper cites a source who claims the panel will not be subpoenaing her imminently, but that the move is under serious discussion as the committee’s members wait to see if Ms Trump will co-operate with its inquiry without legal pressure.

Ms Trump is one of numerous figures who is thought to have spoken to Mr Trump during the riot and attempted to persuade him to call his supporters off.

Andrew Naughtie17 February 2022 12:41

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Swamp creature: Trump administration official flouted ethics rules

It was relatively late in the 2016 election campaign that Donald Trump made corruption in Washington, DC one of his main campaign themes, making “drain the swamp” one of his most recognisable slogans. But his presidency was consistently dogged by allegations that he, his family and various of his administration’s staff were profiting from their positions and brazenly benefiting from conflicts of interest – and now another Trump-era figure has been caught out.

The House Oversight Committee has concluded that Ryan Zinke, who served as secretary of the interior under the 45th president, “failed to abide by his ethics obligations in which he committed not to manage or provide any other services”. Specifically, he continued to work on real estate negotiations for a private business venture and even directed his subordinates to assist him in the project.

John Bowden has the story:

Andrew Naughtie17 February 2022 12:34

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How worried should Trump be about his accounting firm dropping him?

Despite its potentially ruinous implications, the New York authorities’ investigation into Donald Trump’s finances has burned so slowly that it’s sometimes been all but drowned out by other scandals. But the news that the Trump Organization has been disowned by its accounting firm, Mazars USA, has sent a shockwave through Trumpworld – and as the Daily Beast reports, some in the ex-president’s inner circle are extremely rattled.



“I’ll be honest with you: I have said for years that this whole thing is one big fishing expedition,” one of the sources said. “I’ve expected it to just fizzle at some point, or to turn up ticky tacky s**t that can score prosecutors big headlines. The Mazars news was the first time I started thinking, ‘Hey, this might be serious.’ Could Donald Trump [and his business] be screwed? I don’t know, but I’m not as confident as I once was in saying, ‘No.’”

The question now facing the Trump Organization—which is already in hot water after being indicted in Manhattan for criminal tax fraud last summer—is whether the pillars propping up his business empire will now crumble.

Andrew Naughtie17 February 2022 12:02

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Trumped-up Clinton “infiltration” scandal revives calls to “lock her up”

Once again, pro-Trump Republicans are insisting that Hillary Clinton deserves jail time for her alleged crimes. This time it’s because of the recent court filing from John Durham, which – as explained in detail by various non-right-wing outlets including The Independent – does not implicate Ms Clinton in any crimes.

Nonetheless, here’s Missouri Senator and 2020 election objector Josh Hawley banging the drum on Fox News.

Andrew Naughtie17 February 2022 11:31

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“Legitimate political discourse”? Not quite…

The Republican Party’s recent decision to censure Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for daring to take part in the 6 January investigation was not well received, to put it mildly, with a reference to “legitimate political discourse” going down particularly badly with those who accuse the party of downplaying the violent attack on the Capitol.

But it seems it’s not just Democrats and out-and-proud Trump critics who take exception to the language. According to new polling, only 33 per cent of Republican voters agree that the events of 6 January qualify for that definition.

Andrew Naughtie17 February 2022 11:15



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