Trump news today: Georgia grand jury recommended multiple charges in election probe

The Georgia special grand jury investigating the attempt by former President Donald Trump and his associates to overturn the 2020 election results in the state has recommended indictments against several individuals on multiple charges in its report, only parts of which have been released, the jury’s forewoman has said.

“It is not a short list,” Emily Kohrs told The New York Times. She said the jury appended eight pages of legal code “that we cited at various points in the report”.

She chose not to comment on who the grand jury has recommended for indictment as the judge chose to not release that information when publishing parts of the report last week.

Donald Trump swiped at his presumed 2024 GOP primary rival, Ron DeSantis, in a pair of Truth Social posts late Tuesday morning.

In one, he took a shot at the size of a crowd Mr DeSantis was able to draw in New York this week as the Florida governor visited Staten Island.

“So interesting to watch FoxNews cover the small and unenthusiastic 139 person crowd in Staten Island for DeSantis, but stay as far away as possible from coverage of the thousands of people, many unable to get in, at the Club 47 event in West Palm Beach, Florida,” Mr Trump noted, referring to his own event.

In another, he criticised Mr DeSantis in a more direct manner: “Florida was doing GREAT long before Ron DeSanctus got there. People are fleeing from New York to Florida (and other places) because of high TAXES and out of control CRIME, not because of Governor (thank you President Trump!) DeSanctimonious. Rick Scott did great, and even Charlie Crist had very good numbers. SUNSHINE AND OCEAN, very alluring!!!”

James O’Keefe has resigned from Project Veritas.

Appearing in a tear-filled video, Mr O’Keefe informed his fellows that the board of Project Veritas had removed him as CEO, and that he had stepped down. Mr O’Keefe went on to vow to form another organisation similar in form to the conservative group famous for undercover interviews, some of which have faced allegations of deceptive editing.

On Sunday, Donald Trump congratulated one of his supporters, Kristina Karamo, following her takeover of the Michigan Republican Party. He called her a “fearless election denier” in a Truth Social post.

“If Republicans (and others!) would speak the truth about the Rigged Presidential Election of 2020, like FoxNews should, but doesn’t, they would be far better off,” the ex-president complained.

He then took a victory lap: “The New York Times stated that “This cements the Party’s takeover by Trump loyalists.” I don’t call them loyalists, I call them GREAT AMERICAN PATRIOTS!!!”

Donald Trump’s campaign on Monday announced the hiring of key staff in Iowa, which is currently set to remain the site of the GOP’s first caucus of 2024.

Among the new hirings was Eric Branstad, son of the state’s former governor, Terry Branstad. The younger Branstad is joining the Trump campaign as a senior adviser.

Fox News is facing a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, a Denver-based manufacturer of voting machines, over its coverage of the 2020 presidential election and then-president Donald Trump’s bogus claims that the contest was “rigged” to ensure victory for Joe Biden.

In a 192-page court filing published on Thursday containing private messages from many of Fox’s biggest stars, Dominion argues: “From the top down, Fox knew ‘the Dominion stuff’ was ‘total bs’.”

“Yet despite knowing the truth – or at minimum, recklessly disregarding that truth – Fox spread and endorsed these ‘outlandish voter fraud claims’ about Dominion even as it internally recognised the lies as ‘crazy’, ‘absurd’ and ‘shockingly reckless’,” the filing said.

Attorneys for Fox, however, have argued that Dominion has advanced only “novel defamation theories” and is seeking a “staggering” figure in damages aimed at winning headlines, silencing protected speech and enriching its owner, Staple Street Capital Partners, and its investors.

A Fox spokesperson said in a statement in response to Thursday’s filing: “There will be a lot of noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners, but the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v Sullivan.”

A five-week trial is scheduled to begin on 17 April.

Here, The Independent’s Joe Sommerlad gives a brief overview of some of the most astonishing claims in the new filing, which collects private text messages from prominent anchors like Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham and owner Rupert Murdoch discussing coverage of the 2020 election’s aftermath:

Bernie Sanders has slammed Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley’s suggestion that politicians over the age of 75 should receive a mental competency test – calling it “absurd”.

Haley, 51, made the demand as she launched her campaign to win the GOP nomination and criticised 76-year-old Donald Trump and 80-year-old Joe Biden.

But Mr Sanders, who himself is 81, refuted the idea as he appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday morning.

“Thank you to the Special Grand Jury in the Great State of Georgia for your Patriotism & Courage. Total exoneration. The USA is very proud of you!!!” Mr Trump wrote on Thursday.

“The long awaited important sections of the Georgia report, which do not even mention President Trump’s name, have nothing to do with the President because President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong,” he claimed. “The President participated in two perfect phone calls regarding election integrity in Georgia, which he is entitled to do – in fact, as President, it was President Trump’s Constitutional duty to ensure election safety, security, and integrity.”

“Between the two calls, there were many officials and attorneys on the line, including the Secretary of State of Georgia, and no one objected, even slightly protested, or hung up. President Trump will always keep fighting for true and honest elections in America!” he wrote.

On Monday, the former president dismissed his recent return to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – telling conservative network Real America’s Voice that he has no interest in using the social media platforms.

“I’ve been invited back,” he said.

“It’s waiting, I guess. Twitter has close to 90 million people waiting.”

Mr Trump claimed he can get his message out on his own Truth Social platform.

“But I think I get a very strong word out on Truth, and there’s something very beautiful about it,” he said.

Mr Trump’s accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook were suspended after the January 6 Capitol riot, where a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol to try to overturn the election.

Earlier this month – after two years – his accounts were restored.

He twice voted in favor of convicting former President Donald Trump in impeachment trials. He excoriated his fellow senators who objected to certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. He even scolded New York Rep. George Santos for his audacity in grabbing a prominent seat at the State of the Union speech after admitting to fabricating much of his biography.

After four years in Washington, Republican Mitt Romney has established himself as a rare senator willing to publicly rebuke members of his own party.

But the Utah senator’s outspoken stances, along with his willingness to work with Democrats, have angered some Republicans in the deep-red state he represents and led them to cast about for someone to try to dethrone him a primary race next year.

The 75-year-old said he hasn’t made a decision on whether to run for reelection in 2024 and doesn’t expect to until the start of summer.

“I’m sort of keeping my mind open,” Romney said in an interview. “There’s no particular hurry. I’m doing what I would do if I’m running with staffing and resources, so it’s not like I have to make a formal announcement.”