List of All Articles with Tag 'politics'

Kevin McCarthy launched an aggressive defence of Donald Trump after his indictment on 37 counts of mishandling top secret documents. “This is going to disrupt this nation because it goes to the core of equal justice for all which is not being seen today,” the Republican House Speaker told Fox News on Friday. “And we're not going to stand for it.” Mr McCarthy’s comments came after the Department of Justice unsealed a 49-page indictment which laid out in extraordinary detail Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 15-month investigation into Mr Trump’s “willful defiance” of efforts to retrieve the materials. The indictment painted a damning picture of Mr Trump’s reckless storage of top secret material he took to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House, and his efforts to obstruct investigators. The classified material included nuclear secrets, war plans, and vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies. Mr Trump told lawyers tasked with complying with a DOJ subpoena that he didn’t want “anyone going through my boxes”, according to the indictment. Mr McCarthy, who is struggling to hold on to the House leadership, called the indictment a “dark day for America”. “You've got a sitting president right now in the exact same situation. You have a former first lady, senator, secretary of state, that had the same situation that nothing was done to,” he told Fox News. Republicans also rushed to defend Mr Trump despite the seemingly overwhelming evidence presented in the 49-page indictment. “We have now reached a war phase. Eye for an eye,” Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs wrote on Twitter. Elise Stefanik, the number three House Republican, tweeted that she was committed to “holding government officials accountable for their endless illegal witch hunt against President Trump”. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley wrote: “If the people in power can jail their political opponents at will, we don’t have a republic.” And Marco Rubio, the Florida senator, said: “There is no limit to what these people will do to protect their power & destroy those who threaten it, even if it means ripping our country apart & shredding public faith in the institutions that hold our republic together.” However, the indictment comes not from political rivals or even from prosecutors but from a grand jury. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was investigated by the FBI in 2016 for her handling of classified material, who opted not to charge her after saying she had been “extremely careless”. President Joe Biden and Trump’s vice president Mike Pence were found to have retained classified materials, but complied with efforts by the National Archive to return them. Read More Trump news — latest: Trump ‘plotted to hide documents from FBI after showing military docs to visitors’ Jonathan Turley tells Fox News the Trump indictment is ‘extremely damning’ and a ‘hit below the waterline’ Trump praised attorney for deleting Hillary Clinton’s 30,000 emails, indictment shows Trump described Pentagon ‘plan of attack’ and shared classified military map with PAC member, indictment shows 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 federal indictment against Donald Trump 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 (9 June) afternoon, 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, via a search warrant. The search warrant was executed after the National Archives made multiple attempts to obtain classified documents that Mr Trump allegedly took with him when he left office in 2021. The indictment lays out various allegations against Mr Trump and names his aide Walt Nauta as a co-conspirator. Here are key points from the indictment: Trump allegedly kept documents containing top secrets of US military and other national defence information The indictment outlines 31 pieces of national defence information, labelled as “Top Secret” and “Secret”, that contained information about the military and nuclear capabilities of other countries, as well as the US military. One document, dated from June 2020, contained information “concerning nuclear capabilities of a foreign country.” Another, from an unknown date, had information “concerning nuclear weaponry of the United States.” The indictment includes that the 31 documents are “all in violation of Title 18, US Code Section 793(e)” otherwise known as the Espionage Act. Trump allegedly kept classified documents in his bathroom, bedroom and more Photos included in the indictment show several rooms in Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home where he allegedly kept boxes containing classified documents. This includes the bathroom and shower at the Mar-a-Lago Club’s Lake Room, the White and Gold Ballroom where events took place, the business center at Mar-a-Lago, a storage room and his residence at The Bedminster Club. Trump allegedly described a Pentagon classified ‘plan of attack’ to a book writer and staff The indictment alleges the former president told a writer and publication “in connection with a then-forthcoming book” about a senior military official’s plan of attack against a foreign country. Mr Trump allegedly showed the writer the supposed plan of attack with two other staffers in the room. The interview was also recorded with Mr Trump’s knowledge and consent. Trump allegedly showed a classified map of a country to a PAC representative According to the indictment, Mr Trump commented on an “ongoing military operation” in a country while meeting with a representative of his political action committee at The Bedminster Club. Mr Trump then showed the PAC representative a classified map of the country. Trump allegedly suggested lawyers ignore a federal subpoena When issued with a federal subpoena in May 2022 to hand over documents with classification markings, Mr Trump allegedly suggested to his lawyers to ignore the subpoena or tell the government there were no documents. Mr Trump allegedly said he did not want “anybody looking through my boxes,” according to one of Mr Trump’s attorneys who remembered the statement in summary. Instead, Mr Trump allegedly suggested: “What happens if we just don’t respond at all or don’t play ball with them” in response to the federal subpoena by a grand jury. He also allegedly said: “Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?” and “Isn’t it better if there are no documents?” Trump allegedly directed Mr Nauta to remove boxes before an attorney could search them After the subpoena, an attorney for Mr Trump “made it clear” to the former president that he would search boxes at Mar-a-Lago for classified documents to hand over to the government. The two coordinated a specific date and time to do so. But when the attorney went to search the boxes, stored in the Mar-a-Lago storage room, 64 were gone and allegedly removed by Mr Nauta – at Mr Trump’s direction Mr Nauta allegedly brought the boxes to Mr Trump’s residence and later loaded them onto a plane to fly with Mr Trump to The Bedminster Club. Nauta allegedly made false statements to the FBI about the boxes at Mr Trump’s home During an interview with the FBI in May 2022, Mr Nauta allegedly made false statements to agents, claiming he did not know where boxes were being stored at Mar-a-Lago and did not know they were being stored in storage before moving them to Mr Trump’s room. Each one of Mr Trump’s 37 counts carries a $250,000 fine and potential prison sentence Mr Trump was indicted on 31 hours of willful retention of national defence information, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of withholding a document or record, one count of corruptly concealing a document or record, one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation, one count of scheming to conceal and one count of false statements and representations. Each one carries a fine of $250,000 as well as maximum sentences ranging from five years to 20 years in prison. Read More Trump indictment: Ex-president kept nuclear and military papers and showed some to unauthorised people Trump indictment — latest: Trump ‘plotted to hide documents from FBI after showing military docs to visitors’ Conspiracy, false statements and retaining national defence documents: The federal charges against Donald Trump What is an indictment? Here’s what Donald Trump is facing

The National Archives is pushing back on claims made by former President Donald Trump, his lawyers and his allies over his retention of classified documents, for which he now faces a federal indictment.

In the weeks before Donald Trump was indicted over his alleged mishandling of classified defense documents and alleged attempt to cover it up, the former president kept arguing that it would be unfair to prosecute him given that President Joe Biden took "1,850 boxes" of documents to the University of Delaware.

Trump's critics in political fundraising circles fear that the 2024 contest is shaping up as a repeat of 2016 when he seized on GOP divisions to clear a path through 16 rivals on his way to the nomination and the White House.

Former president Donald Trump showed highly-classified information to unauthorised persons on two separate occasions, according to a copy of the indictment against him that has been obtained by The Independent. The 49-page, 37-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 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. According to the indictment, the 37 charges against Mr Trump and Mr Nauta include willful retention of national defence information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and false statements and representations. The former president has lashed out on Truth Social at Mr Smith calling him a “deranged lunatic”. The special counsel for his part gave a brief and dignified explanation of the sweeping indictment and the law applies to everyone. 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

BOGOTA Colombia's attorney general's office has launched an investigation into reports of the illegal financing of President Gustavo

LONDON Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is stepping down as a member of parliament with immediate effect,

By Brad Brooks Federal prosecutors on Friday leveled charges of making false statements to financial institutions against a

Former President Donald Trump allegedly kept classified documents at various places in his Mar-a-Lago resort, including a public ballroom, bathroom and a bedroom.

Defenders of former President Donald Trump have responded to news of his indictment by the US Department of Justice with deflection: Why is Trump being charged but not President Joe Biden's son Hunter?

Donald Trump described a “plan of attack” devised by the Pentagon and shared a classified military map with a member of his political action committee who didn’t have a security clearance, the 37-count indictment against the former president shows. The indictment was unsealed on Friday afternoon. More follows...