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Former Trump administration attorney general Bill Barr gave a devastating analysis of the indictment against Donald Trump, his former boss, in an appearance on Fox News Sunday. Mr Barr said that if even half of what is alleged in the 49-page, 37-count document is true, then the former president is “toast”. Host Shannon Bream asked the former attorney general about the argument from Trump loyalists that the case should have been handled under the Presidential Records Act and not under the Espionage Act. Mr Barr explained that this all began under the Presidential Records Act with the National Archives trying to retrieve the documents that Mr Trump had no right to have. However, it quickly became apparent that the government was particularly worried about how sensitive the classified documents were. He continued by saying that their sensitivity and how many there were shocked him, and that because Mr Trump had wilfully retained those materials that made the counts under the Espionage Act “solid”. “If even half of it is true, he is toast,” the former attorney general told Bream. “I mean, it’s a very detailed indictment, and it’s very, very damning.” Mr Barr also demolished claims that Mr Trump is some kind of victim being politically persecuted in a Democrat-led witch hunt. “This idea of presenting Trump as a victim here or a victim of a witch hunt is ridiculous,” he said. “Yes, he’s been a victim in the past. His adversaries have obsessively pursued him with phony claims. And I’ve been at his side defending against them when he is a victim. But this is much different. He’s not a victim here.” Mr Barr continued: “He was totally wrong that he had the right to have those documents. Those documents are among the most sensitive secrets that the country has. They have to be in the custody of the archivist. He had no right to maintain them and retain them.” The former attorney general then reminded viewers of his history of sticking up for Mr Trump despite the current hostility the former president now has for him. “He’s been angry with me for a while,” Mr Barr told Bream. “But you know, I defended the president on Russiagate. I stood up and called out Alvin Bragg’s politicised hit job. And I have spoken out for 30 years about the abuse of the criminal justice process to influence politics.” He continued: “But this is simply not true. In this particular episode of trying to retrieve those documents, the government acted responsibly. And it was Donald Trump who acted irresponsibly.” Mr Barr had previously drawn the former president’s ire by predicting he would face charges over the classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. He also described it as a crisis of his own making. Mr Trump lashed out at him for those comments calling him “sloppy” and “weak”. The former attorney general has also warned that Mr Trump getting a second term as president would “deliver chaos” to the country. “If you believe in his policies, what he’s advertising as his policies, he’s the last person that could actually execute them and achieve them,” Mr Barr said at a City Club of Cleveland luncheon in Ohio in early May. Read More Jim Jordan rejects Trump’s statement suggesting Mar-a-Lago papers weren’t declassified Trump-appointed judge will stay on Mar-a-Lago documents case unless she recuses Jonathan Turley tells Fox News the Trump indictment is ‘extremely damning’ and a ‘hit below the waterline’

As former President Donald Trump prepares for a momentous court appearance Tuesday on charges related to the hoarding of top-secret documents, Republican allies are amplifying, without evidence, claims that he is the target of a political prosecution. To press their case, Trump's backers are citing the Justice Department's decision in 2016 not to bring charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent in that year's presidential race, over her handling of classified information. His supporters also are invoking a separate classified documents investigation concerning President Joe Biden to allege a two-tier system of justice that is punishing Trump, the undisputed early front-runner for the GOP's 2024 White House nomination, for conduct that Democrats have engaged in. "Is there a different standard for a Democratic secretary of state versus a former Republican president?” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Trump primary rival. “I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country.” But those arguments overlook abundant factual and legal differences — chiefly relating to intent, state of mind and deliberate acts of obstruction — that limit the value of any such comparisons. A look at the Clinton, Biden and Trump investigations and what separates them: WHAT DID CLINTON DO? Clinton relied on a private email system for the sake of convenience during her time as the Obama administration's top diplomat. That decision came back to haunt her when, in 2015, the intelligence agencies' internal watchdog alerted the FBI to the presence of potentially hundreds of emails containing classified information. FBI investigators would ultimately conclude that Clinton sent and received emails containing classified information on that unclassified system, including information classified at the top-secret level. Of the roughly 30,000 emails turned over by Clinton's representatives, the FBI has said, 110 emails in 52 email chains were found to have classified information, including some at the top-secret level. After a roughly yearlong inquiry, the FBI closed out the investigation in July 2016, finding that Clinton did not intend to break the law. The bureau reopened the inquiry months later, 11 days before the presidential election, after discovering a new batch of emails. After reviewing those communications, the FBI again opted against recommending charges. WHAT IS TRUMP ACCUSED OF DOING? The indictment filed by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith alleges that when Trump left the White House after his term ended in January 2021, he took hundreds of classified documents with him to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago — and then repeatedly impeded efforts by the government he once oversaw to get the records back. The material that Trump retained, prosecutors say, related to American nuclear programs, weapons and defense capabilities of the United States and foreign countries and potential vulnerabilities to an attack — information that, if exposed, could jeopardize the safety of the military and human sources. Beyond just the hoarding of documents — in locations including a bathroom, ballroom, shower and his bedroom — the Justice Department says Trump showed highly sensitive material to visitors who without security clearances and obstructed the FBI by, among other things, directing a personal aide who was charged alongside him to move boxes around Mar-a-Lago to conceal them from investigators. Though Trump and his allies have claimed he could do with the documents as he pleased under the Presidential Records Act, the indictment makes short shrift of that argument and does not once reference that statute. All told, the indictment includes 37 felony counts against Trump, most under an Espionage Act pertaining to the willful retention of national defense information. WHAT SEPARATES THE CLINTON AND TRUMP CASES? A lot, but two important differences are in willfulness and obstruction. In an otherwise harshly critical assessment in which he condemned Clinton's email practices as “extremely careless,” then-FBI Director James Comey announced that investigators had found no clear evidence that Clinton or her aides had intended to break laws governing classified information. As a result, he said, “no reasonable prosecutor" would move forward with a case. The relevant Espionage Act cases brought by the Justice Department over the past century, Comey said, all involved factors including efforts to obstruct justice, willful mishandling of classified documents and the exposure of vast quantities of records. None of those factors existed in the Clinton investigation, he said. That is in direct contrast to the allegations against Trump, who prosecutors say was involved in the packing of boxes to go to Mar-a-Lago and then actively took steps to conceal the classified documents from investigators. The indictment accuses him, for instance, of suggesting that a lawyer hide documents demanded by a Justice Department subpoena or falsely represent that all requested records had been turned over, even though more than 100 remained. The indictment repeatedly cites Trump's own words against him to make the case that he understood what he was doing and what the law did and did not permit him to do. It describes a July 2021 meeting at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, which he showed off a Pentagon “plan of attack” to people without the security clearances to view the material and proclaimed that “as president, I could have declassified it.” “Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret,” the indictment quotes him as saying. That conversation, captured by an audio recording, is likely to be a powerful piece of evidence to the extent that it undercuts Trump's oft-repeated claims that he had declassified the documents he brought with him to Mar-a-Lago. WHERE DOES BIDEN FIT IN? The White House disclosed in January that, two months earlier, a lawyer for Biden had located what it said was a “small number” of classified documents from his time as vice president during a search of the Washington office space of Biden's former institute. The documents were turned over to the Justice Department. Lawyers for Biden subsequently located an additional batch of classified documents at Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware, and the FBI found even more during a voluntary search of the property. The revelations were a humbling setback for Biden's efforts to draw a clear contrast between his handling of sensitive information and Trump's. Even so, as with Clinton, there are significant differences in the matters. Though Attorney General Merrick Garland in January named a second special counsel to investigate the Biden documents, no charges have been brought and, so far at least, no evidence has emerged to suggest that anyone intentionally moved classified documents or tried to impede the probe. While the FBI obtained a search warrant last August to recover additional classified documents, each of the Biden searches has been done voluntarily with his team's consent. The Justice Department, meanwhile, notified Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, earlier this month that it would not bring charges after the discovery of classified documents in his Indiana home. That case also involved no allegations of willful retention or obstruction. _____ Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP ___ More on Donald Trump-related investigations: https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump Read More Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement Jim Jordan rejects Trump statement suggesting Mar-a-Lago papers weren’t declassified Kimberly Guilfoyle posts chilling warning over Trump indictment Trump-appointed judge will stay on Mar-a-Lago documents case unless she recuses

One of Donald Trump’s most loyal champions in the House of Representatives battled a CNN reporter on Sunday over whether all the documents retained without the consent of the National Archives at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate were declassified. Jim Jordan, chair of the House Oversight Committee, appeared on CNN’s State of the Union for an interview with Dana Bash. During the interview, the two disagreed over whether Mr Trump himself had admitted that some of the documents he retained were still classified, which statements cited by the Justice Department in his indictment suggest was the case. “In this indictment, he states on at least one occasion that he did not declassify the information,” Bash told the Republican congressman in the interview. Mr Jordan responded, however, by pointing to numerous public statements by the former president insisting otherwise, an apparent contradiction of the statements cited by the DoJ in the agency’s investigation. “Dana, he has said time and time again that he declassified all this material,” Mr Jordand responded. He later added: “I go on the president's word and he said he did.” It’s an interesting defence of the former president’s remarks, given that Mr Trump has a long and well-documented history of spreading false claims and misinformation. Most recently, the twice-impeached ex-president has been reported, according to The New York Times, to have told supporters at his events at Mar-a-Lago that he will be reinstated as president in some sort of vindication of his (also false) claims that the 2020 election was rigged. Mr Jordan has long been a defender of the former president amid his various legal escapades, a role more establishment-aligned Republicans (especially those in the Senate) have shunned. In recent weeks he has sought to use his powerful chairmanship of the Oversight Committee to impose an investigation on the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in response to that office’s prosecution of Mr Trump for falsifying business records in connection to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Mr Trump was charged with 34 criminal counts in that case earlier this year; he now additionally faces 37 felony counts brought by the US Department of Justice. Read More Trump news – latest: Trump defiant at post-indictment speeches as Florida judge he appointed set to keep case Kimberly Guilfoyle joins chorus of violent rhetoric over Trump indictment Trump-appointed judge will stay on Mar-a-Lago documents case unless she recuses What is an indictment? Here’s what Donald Trump is facing Jonathan Turley tells Fox News the Trump indictment is ‘extremely damning’ and a ‘hit below the waterline’ Fox host Mark Levin screams at camera in outrage at Trump indictment over secret papers

Kimberly Guilfoyle, former Fox News host and Trump adviser — and also fiancé to Donald Trump Jr — has joined the chorus of violent rhetoric that has erupted from the right following the indictment of the former president. Known for her bombastic presentation style, Ms Guilfoyle is often one of the most vocal supporters of Donald Trump. After the indictment of the former president on 37 charges relating to the trove of classified documents he retained following his time in office and refused to return to the federal government, Ms Guilfoyle did not hold back. On Instagram, she posted a picture of Mr Trump at his arraignment in New York after his first indictment with the ominous words: “Retribution is coming.” She captioned the picture: “The compromised DOJ and the corrupt FBI will not stop President Trump from Making America GREAT once Again! 🇺🇸” Further parts of the post included screenshots of tweets from other Trump loyalist personalities including her fiancé, as well as Elon Musk. Another picture of the former president is included in the post and shows him dramatically pointing toward the camera with text reading: “In reality they’re not after me they’re after you,” followed by: “I’m just in the way.” Among the other rightwing personalities issuing threats over the indictment of Mr Trump is Kari Lake, the GOP nominee and election denier who lost the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election. She issued an incendiary warning to the Biden administration on Friday that those wishing to go after Mr Trump would have to go through her and all those who supported Mr Trump in the 2020 election – 75 million people. Ms Guilfoyle’s most notorious moment in her time advising then-president Trump was at the 2020 Republican National Convention when she gave a recorded speech that was widely lampooned for rising to a crescendo in which she exclaimed with arms outstretched: “The best is yet to come!” In much of the speech she denounced Democrat-run California — notable because she was previously married to Gavin Newsom, then Mayor of San Francisco, now the current governor of the state. Read More ‘This will escalate’: Kari Lake called out over incendiary threat to Biden admin after Trump indictment Some in Georgia GOP seek purity test as Trump appears at convention in aftermath of indictment Fox host Mark Levin screams at camera in outrage at Trump indictment over secret papers Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

A federal judge appointed to the bench by Donald Trump and previously scrutinised for rulings that were solidly in Mr Trump’s favour was assigned to preside over his prosecution in a Florida court under normal procedures, denying the possibility that the case will be reassigned. That was the explanation from the chief clerk of the court in a statement to The New York Times this weekend as many raised their eyebrows and speculated about the effect that Ms Cannon’s rulings could have in the upcoming criminal trial of the former president. Mr Trump is charged with 37 felony counts related to mishandling of presidential records, including national defence information. He has claimed innocence in postings on social media, though images have been released purporting to show records stacked in boxes and crammed into a Mar-a-Lago bathroom. In emailed correspondence with the Times, chief clerk Angela Noble explained that Ms Cannon was randomly assigned to the case under the court’s normal procedures, meaning that the case would only be assigned to a different judge were Ms Cannon to recuse herself voluntarily. “Normal procedures were followed,” Ms Noble told the Times. But those “random” assignments are far from a mathemetician’s definition of the word. Different judges at the US Court for the Southern District of Florida take cases from different areas in the state, and according to Ms Noble, Ms Cannon “draws 50 per cent of her cases from West Palm Beach, increasing her odds.” Two other judges on the court are also not accepting new assignments from that part of the state, further raising the likelihood that Ms Cannon would have been assigned the case. All in all, it’s as favourable a situation as the former president could reasonably hope for as his second criminal proceeding begins. Ms Cannon previously oversaw another iteration of the Justice Department’s investigation into Mr Trump’s handling of classified records when she was appointed to preside over the dispute that arose as a result of the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago. At the time, Ms Cannon ruled that a special master be appointed to review the documents and temporarily forbade the DoJ from viewing the classified materials seized from Mar-a-Lago; that latter ruling was overturned by an appeals court. Read More Trump delivers defiant speech after indictment in North Carolina DeSantis argues he's top Trump alternative even as ex-president's indictment overshadows 2024 race Trump attacks special counsel Jack Smith in post-indictment speech with bizarre claim ‘This will escalate’: Kari Lake called out over incendiary threat to Biden admin after Trump indictment Jonathan Turley tells Fox News the Trump indictment is ‘extremely damning’ and a ‘hit below the waterline’ Fox host Mark Levin screams at camera in outrage at Trump indictment over secret papers

Former president Donald Trump spoke at two Republican state conventions on Saturday in Georgia and North Carolina, just one day after he was indicted for keeping highly-classified information at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. The 49-page, 38-count indictment was unsealed on Friday after Mr Trump released a series of social media posts revealing that he has been indicted by a grand jury under the supervision of Special Counsel Jack Smith. The indictment details the charges against Mr Trump and Walt Nauta, a former US Navy noncommissioned officer who left government service to work for Mr Trump after his term ended in January 2021. The former president has fumed online about the charges and lashed out at Mr Smith calling him a “deranged lunatic”. The special counsel for his part gave a brief explanation of the sweeping indictment and reiterated that in America, the law applies to everyone. Mr Trump repeated his attacks on Mr Smith onstage in Georgia before flying up to his second event. On the flight, he told Politico he would not quit the 2024 primary race even if convicted. Read More What is an indictment? Here’s what Donald Trump is facing Trump indicted in classified documents case in a historic first for a former president Conspiracy, false statements and retaining national defence documents: The federal charges against Donald Trump Trump has been caught on tape. Congratulations, Donald – you played yourself Trump lashes out at ‘deranged lunatic’ and ‘psycho’ Jack Smith as startling secret papers charges revealed

Oxford University Press has announced a large-scale study that will culminate in the Oxford Dictionary of African American English, the brainchild of historian Henry Louis Gates that will focus on the contributions that African Americans have made to the English language.

A US citizen has been detained in Russia on drug trafficking charges, local reports said. According to Moscow’s courts of general jurisdiction, the man was detained on Saturday when “the Khamovniki District Court of Moscow took a preventive measure against an American citizen”. In a statement on Telegram, the court described the man as a “former paratrooper and musician” who is now “accused of engaging in the narcotics business through attracting young people”. “A preventative measure in the form of detention was taken,” the statement added, according to CNN. Russia’s TASS news agency quoted a US State Department spokesperson as saying that the US was aware of the reports that an American had been detained in Moscow. “The Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens abroad. We are aware of reports of the recent arrest of a US citizen in Moscow,” the spokesperson said. “When a US citizen is detained overseas, the Department pursues consular access as soon as possible and works to provide all appropriate consular assistance. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.” The man will reportedly remain in custody in Moscow until 6 August 2023. Russian media reported that the US citizen is charged with large-scale illegal production, sale or trafficking of narcotic drugs. The US state department reportedly declined to identify the man citing privacy considerations but the Russian local media revealed the identity of the American. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

Former president Donald Trump delivered a defiant speech in North Carolina on Saturday night despite being indicted just days before, taking swipes at the Justice Department, the investigation that led to the indictment and even his Republican opponents. Mr Trump took the stage at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro for the North Carolina GOP Convention, where he received an overwhelming reception despite his increasing legal woes. The Independent first reported that the Justice Department was ready to seek an indictment agianst Mr Trump, who now faces 37 charges related to his improper handling of classified materials. A federal grand jury under the supervision of special c ounsel Jack Smith indicted Mr Trump on on a slew of charges, including showing highly classified information to unauthorised people on two separate occasions. Mr Trump proclaimed his innocence onstage in North Carolina, calling the indictment a plot by “the radical left Democrats” and their “lawless partisan prosecutors.” “They say, well, we want to run against Trump, in the meantime, we got 5,000 prosecutors after us because they don’t want to run against us,” he said. “We beat them the first time, we did much better the second time.” The speech was Mr Trump’s second in the day at a state party convention. Earlier in the day, he spoke at Georgia’s state party convention, where he excoriated Mr Smith and the probe that led to the former president’s second criminal indictment. Mr Trump called the indictment a “witch hunt,” like the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election as well as his first and second impeachment. “It’s called election interference,” he said. “Remember, it’s not me they’re going to go after when you think of it.” Mr Trump then used his indictment to make the case that he is the best-qualified Republican because he’s able to absorb the blows and scrutiny, arguing that other GOP hopefuls would not be able to stand the onslaught. “That person will not be able to withstand the fire,” he said. “And they come to me, ‘How do you stand this?’ And I usually look at them and say, ‘In a sick way I sort of enjoy it.” The former president criticised the media for not focusing on supposed corruption from President Joe Biden and his administration or the fact that President Joe Biden president found classified documents at the Biden Centre at the University of Pennsylvania and his private residence in Delaware. The difference between the incumbent president and his predecessor is that Mr Biden and his legal team quickly alerted the US government of the records and expedited their return. Mr Trump, according to prosecutors, went to great lengths to prevent the handover of classified material in his possession. As the 2024 GOP races comes into focus, Mr Trump also used the speech to attack his main rival for the Republican nomination, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, whom he has taken to calling “Ron DeSanctimonious” or DeSantus for short. “We are leading Desanctimonious by massive numbers,” he said. “He’s heading south quickly. No personality. You gotta have a personality to win. He’s got no personality.” The former president credited himself with getting Mr DeSantis elected governor in 2018 as he endorsed the then-congressman in the Republican gubernatorial primary that year. Mr Trump’s words came despite the fact that Mr DeSantis decried the indictment of the former president, arguing that it showed a two-tiered system of justice. Earlier in the day, former president Mike Pence addressed a much smaller ballroom here, accusing Mr Trump of backing down from the fight against abortion despite the fact he nominated the justices who overturned Roe v Wade. But Mr Trump took credit for the victory of the conservative and anti-abortion movement. “What I did by killing Roe v Wade, which everyone said was impossible,” he said. “Number one, we got it sent back to the states. And number two, and very importantly, I gave you power to negotiate. You had no power before.” The former president repeated some of his more popular lines such as banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth and railing against vaccine mandates in schools. Mr Trump ended his speech with a defiant tone ahead of his court date in Miami next week. “These radical left lunatics want to interfere with our elections using law enforcement,” he said. “It’s totally corrupt and we can’t let it happen. This is the final battle.” Read More Trump news – latest: Trump rages at ‘joke’ indictment and says DeSantis can’t win 2024 with ‘no personality’ Trump attacks special counsel Jack Smith in post-indictment speech with bizarre claim Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

The production company of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck has asked the Trump campaign to stop using their work in the fundraising videos. Former President Donald Trump posted a video on Saturday on his Truth Social platform that included a monologue from the Amazon movie Air in which Mr Damon plays the Nike marketing and sales representative Sonny Vaccaro, a film directed by Mr Affleck. The film depicts the story of Nike’s rise as a brand. “Money can buy you almost anything,” Mr Damon can be heard saying in the video as footage of Mr Trump is shown. “It can’t buy you immortality – that you have to earn.” The caption states “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN” and also has a link where supporters can donate to the campaign. The video was posted after an indictment of Mr Trump was unsealed on Friday afternoon, revealing that the ex-president has been charged on 37 counts in relation to his handling of classified national defence information after he left the White House in January 2021. A spokesperson for Mr Damon’s and Mr Affleck’s production company Artists Equity told Axios that “We had no foreknowledge of, did not consent to and do not endorse or approve any footage or audio from Air being repurposed by the Trump campaign as a political advertisement or for any other use”. “Specifically in terms of any and all rights available to us under US copyright law, we hereby, expressly give notice that in the case of any use of material from Air by the Trump campaign where approval or consent is required, we do not grant such consent,” the spokesperson added. “No matter how viciously they attack me, I will NEVER, EVER SURRENDER,” Mr Trump said in a statement alongside the video. “With your support, we will once again surge even higher and prove that our America First movement truly is UNSTOPPABLE.” Mr Damon supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, later calling Mr Trump’s response to the riots in Charlotteville, Virginia, which included white nationalists, “absolutely abhorrent” in scathing comments to The Hollywood Reporter. “A lot of people, myself included, are really waking up to the extent of the existing racism, and it’s so much worse than I naively thought. I just feel naive at this point. It was shocking to see those kids — they looked 20 and 30 years old — in button-down shirts, with Tiki torches, walking down the street,” he said at the time in 2017. “I thought, ‘Those people are a lot younger than me. Who raised them?’ Again, I naively thought that, behind our generation, [another one] was coming with more awareness and inclusiveness, and that everything was getting better with each generation. And to see these young, aggrieved, white boys walking with their torches and screaming ‘Jews will not replace us!’ It was just shocking. Then the night that the president [made his] ‘many sides’ comment was absolutely abhorrent,” Mr Damon said about Mr Trump, who had claimed there were good people on “both sides”. In the monologue in Air used by the Trump team, Mr Damon says: “People are going to build you up ... Because you’re great. And new. We love you. Man, we’ll build you into something that doesn’t even exist ... But you know what? Once they’ve built you as high as they possibly can, they’re going to tear you back down.” Read More Trump attacks special counsel Jack Smith in post-indictment speech with bizarre claim Kari Lake issues incendiary threat to Biden admin over Trump indictment Trump news – latest: Trump rages at ‘joke’ indictment and ‘deranged’ Jack Smith in first public remarks Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

During his first public remarks since the unsealing of the 49-page, 37-charge indictment against him, Donald Trump again lashed out at special counsel Jack Smith the lead prosecutor in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe. Speaking at the state Republican Party convention in Columbus, Georgia, the former president and current presidential candidate gave a meandering stump speech weaving in his apparent incredulity regarding the charges levied against him. As with all of his foes, political or judicial, Mr Trump has already veered into personal attacks against the individuals concerned on his social media platform Truth Social but relished his first opportunity to talk to a large, enraptured crowd of followers. After calling the indictment a “political hit job” and claiming “Republicans are treated far differently at the Justice Department than Democrats”, Mr Trump pondered whether Mr Smith had changed his name. “You know I’m talking about Jack Smith. What do you think his name used to be? I don’t know … Sounds so innocent. He’s deranged.” The former president didn’t stop there. He continued: “Deranged Jack Smith and I watched him yesterday go up and talk. He talked for about two and a half minutes. He was shaking. He was so scared. He didn’t want to be there. Because ultimately, these are cowards. They’re cowards.” He added: “And he’s a big Trump hater, openly he’s a Trump hater. And his wife is even more of a Trump hater. I wish her a lot of luck. But he’s a bad Trump hater and she’s a Trump hater.” Mr Trump returned to the topic of his indictments a couple of times during the speech which went on for much longer than expected as he revelled in the applause from the crowd, who booed and jeered at the mention of his political opponents. The federal indictment against the former president outlines 37 counts related to retaining classified information, willfully retaining national defence information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and more. The indictment was unsealed on Friday afternoon (9 June), revealing the Department of Justice’s findings after a nearly year-long investigation into Mr Trump retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Last August, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized boxes of documents from Mr Trump’s home, some of which included top-secret records detailing a foreign nation’s nuclear capabilities. As the former president raged against the indictment online on Friday, Mr Smith gave a televised speech from the Justice Department — as referenced by Mr Trump in Saturday’s remarks. Mr Smith stressed that laws intended to “protect national defence information are critical to the safety and security of the United States. And they must be enforced.” “Violations of those laws put our country at risk. Adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principle of the Department of Justice and our nation’s commitment to the rule of law sets an example for the world,” he added. “We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone.” Read More Trump kept classified documents from seven agencies including CIA, DoD, and NSA Trump lashes out at ‘deranged lunatic’ and ‘psycho’ Jack Smith as startling secret papers charges revealed Pence won’t say whether he’s read Trump indictment after calling for its release Trump indictment: Ex-president kept nuclear and military papers and showed some to unauthorised people A timeline of events leading to Donald Trump's indictment in the classified documents case Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

Kari Lake, the GOP nominee and election denier who lost the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election, has issued an incendiary warning to the Biden administration over the indictment of Donald Trump. The former president has been indicted on 37 counts in relation to his allegedly illegal retention of classified national security information that he’s reported to have taken with him to his Palm Beach, Florida club Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House in January 2021. The consensus among legal experts appears to be that Mr Trump is in serious legal jeopardy that may end in a decades-long prison sentence. That hasn’t stopped many Republicans, including Ms Lake, to come to his defence as they attempt to portray the legal action taken by Special Counsel Jack Smith as politically motivated. Ms Lake said on Friday that those wishing to go after Mr Trump would have to go through her and all those who supported Mr Trump in the 2020 election – 75 million people. She then went on to falsely say that “most of us are card-carrying members” of the National Rifle Association (NRA). The organisation reportedly has around 4.3 million members. She specifically called out Mr Smith, President Joe Biden, and Attorney General Merrick Garland. “I have a message tonight for Merrick Garland, and Jack Smith, and Joe Biden,” Ms Lake said as she was speaking at the Georgia Republican Party convention. “And the guys back there in the fake news media, you should listen up as well, this one’s for you.” “If you wanna get to President Trump, you’re gonna have to go through me, and you’re gonna have to go through 75 million Americans just like me,” she claimed. “And I’m gonna tell you, most of us are card-carrying members of the NRA,” she added to cheers from the crowd. “That’s not a threat, that’s a public service announcement.” Washington Post reporter Isaac Arnsdorf quoted Ms Lake on Twitter and noted that she received a standing ovation. Responding to Mr Arnsdorf, Ms Lake wrote: “I meant what I said.” Ms Lake was replacing former vice president and GOP presidential candidate Mike Pence after he dropped out of his planned speech at the Georgia convention, according to Mediaite. Ms Lake has been an aggressive supporter of Mr Trump and in January it was reported that she was one of the candidates the ex-president was considering as a possible running mate in 2024. Reed Galen of the Lincoln Project said Ms Lake’s kind of rhetoric had sparked violence in the past, listing a number of mass shootings. “This will escalate. We’ve seen the results of these words: El Paso, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Allen, N. Charleston, Christchurch,” he tweeted. “How does this not warrant at least a visit by Secret Service?” Nicky Frank asked. “Congrats to all the wise consultants out there who decided that Trumpism would fade away. Take a f***ing bow folks, you negotiated with the terrorists and it worked out great,” one Twitter user added. “This is shocking. Kari Lake should issue a retraction and apology. This is not even a veiled threat of a violent war in America. It is a call to arms,” Jon Hinck said. Read More Some in Georgia GOP seek purity test as Trump appears at convention in aftermath of indictment Republican Karrin Taylor Robson says she won't run for Sinema's Senate seat in Arizona Kari Lake suffers final defeat in bid to overturn Arizona governor’s race that she lost Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement