Ron DeSantis presented himself as a political fighter emphasizing conservative achievements in Florida and differing from the chaotic Donald Trump era

UBS Global Wealth Management expects Japan’s cheaply valued stocks to extend their outperformance into 2024 amid a revival

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A judge has rejected a request by former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark to move the Georgia election subversion charges against him from state court to federal court

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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. The former president has repeatedly characterised the multiple investigations against him, including the January 6 probe, as a politically motivated “hoax” and an attempt to “steal” the 2024 election from him. On 23 July, Mr Trump published several posts on his social network Truth Social, once again calling the special prosecutor “deranged”. He claimed that investigations into him were a “coordinated HOAX,” pointing to the probe into allegations of collusion between the Trump 2016 campaign and Russia. Mr Trump also went after President Joe Biden, claiming without providing evidence that he’s a “criminal” before going on to call him “the most corrupt and incompetent President in United States history”. “Get smart, Republicans, they are trying to steal the Election from you!” he wrote before referring to Democrats and federal and state prosecutors as “monsters” who are “destroying our country”. 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

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President Joe Biden said he was proud of his son Hunter Biden, after the younger Mr Biden reached a plea deal with the Department of Justice, agreeing to plead guilty to federal charges following an investigation into his taxes. The president responded to shouted questions from reporters in San Francisco, who asked if he had spoken to his son. “I’m very proud of my son,” he said. He did not respond to a question about if he encouraged his son to take a guilty plea. The president’s son will plead guilty to two federal charges, the Justice Department said in a court filing on Tuesday morning. Mr Biden has been the subject of not only the ongoing federal investigation but a focus of Republicans’ probe into the Biden administration. A court filing from David Weiss, the US Attorney for District of Delaware, said that the president’s only living son will plea guilty to two federal charges of willful failure to pay federal income tax one charge of a firearm by a person who is “an unlawful user or addicted to a controlled substance.” At the time, Mr Biden, the sole surviving son of the president’s first marriage, was actively addicted to drugs. “The parties jointly request that the Court schedule a consolidated Initial Appearance on the firearm Inform and an Initial Appearance and Change of Plea Hearing on the tax charges,” the filing said. Mr Weiss was appointed by former president Donald Trump and has been in charge of the probe into Mr Biden. The case says that in 2017, Mr Biden had received taxable income in excess of $1.5m, $100,000 of which was taxable to the federal government, but he failed the pay it to the Internal Revenue Service by 17 April 2018. He reportedly failed to do the same the following year. Mr Biden also agreed to a pretrial diversion agreement to regarding the firearm charge. According to the legal filing, Mr Biden knew he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance and possessed a Colt Cobra 38SPL firearm, which was shipped through interstate commerce. White House Spokesman Iam Sams put out a statement after the charges were made public. “The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life,” he said. “We will have no further comment.” Mr Biden’s attorney Christopher Clark said in a statement that the announcement of the two agreements meant that the investigation that began five years ago was concluded. “Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement,” he said. “A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward.” But a statement from Mr Weiss to Fox News said “The investigation is ongoing.” The charges come days after former president Donald Trump’s indictment and arraigment related to his alleged mishandling of documents related to national security. The former president criticised Mr Biden’s agreement with the federal government. "Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere 'traffic ticket,'” Mr Trump posted on Truth Social. “Our system is BROKEN!” Mr Trump attacked the younger Mr Biden for his addictions in his debate with his father in September of 2020. Mr Biden has discussed his addictions in the past and his father addressed them in that debate. “My son like a lot of people, like a lot of people we know at home had a drug problem,” the then-Democratic nominee for president said. “He’s overtaken it. He’s, he’s fixed it. He’s worked on it. And I’m proud of him. I’m proud of my son.” Mr Biden is the sole surviving son of the president’s first marriage to Nelia Hunter Biden. Shortly after his father’s election to the Senate in 1972, his mother and his sister Naomi were killed in a car crash that left him and his elder brother Beau severely injured. Beau Biden, who later served as attorney general of Delaware, died of brain cancer in 2015. The elder Mr Biden later remarried Jill Biden, the current first lady, and the two had a daughter Ashley Biden. Since taking back the House majority in November, Republicans have made Mr Biden the chief focus of many of their investigations and have attempted to show a link between his business dealings and his father’s work as vice president. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer intimated that this would not deter the committee. “Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery,” he said. Rep Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the committee, said that the charges were a sign of an equal justice system. “This development reflects the Justice Department’s continued institutional independence in following the evidence of actual crimes and enforcing the rule of law even in the face of constant criticism and heckling by my GOP colleagues who think that the system of justice should only follow their partisan wishes,” he said. “ Oversight Committee Republicans have advanced debunked conspiracy theories about President Biden and are now, again, wailing about the work of a Trump appointed U.S. Attorney. Meanwhile, our colleagues have refused to investigate Jared Kushner and Donald Trump’s receipt of billions of dollars from autocratic regimes after handing them a string of outrageous policy favors and concessions.” So far, the House Oversight Committee has not been able to produce clear evidence of a link between Mr Biden’s actions and his father’s work as either vice president or president. -Andrew Feinberg and John Bowden contributed to this report Read More Donald Trump and GOP fume over Hunter Biden’s ‘traffic ticket’ indictment as House investigation sputters Democratic lawmaker Stacey Plaskett accidentally says Trump ‘needs to be shot’ in slip-up on live TV Trump-appointed judge sets trial date in classified documents case Donald Trump and GOP fume over Hunter Biden’s ‘traffic ticket’ indictment as House investigation sputters Fox News host rips ‘incoherent’ Trump after Bret Baier interview

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