Donald Trump was spotted arriving at Dulles Airport, just outside Washington, DC, on an unexplained trip from his New Jersey residence. Filmed from a distance in indistinct footage, he arrived in casual clothes and golf shoes along with his Secret Service detail. Speculation about the visit abounds, but no clear explanation has been given. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump’s legal team has asked taxpayers to foot half the bill for the special master they asked to review the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago. The Ministry of Justice, on the other hand, is proposing to the President to pay for the process himself since he requested it. A new book about his presidency by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman claims that after the 2020 election, Mr Trump repeatedly insisted to aides that he would “never leave” the White House. “How can you leave when you won an election?” he is reported to say.
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More attempts to explain Trump’s DC visit…
There’s still no clear explanation for why Donald Trump crashed at Dulles Airport last night, but one theory has emerged: a surprise appearance at an event headlined by Jared Kushner to celebrate the Abraham Accords signed during his presidency Trump. However, cold water is already being poured on this particular theory: There is no indication that Mr. Trump is expected in the capital’s main courthouse, but according to NBC’s Ryan Riley, people are on alert anyway…
Trump makes surprise landing in DC sparking growing speculation about FBI probe
“Look, it’s kind of weird that Trump flew into DC tonight and nobody seems to know why,” says government ethics watchdog amid radio silence on Truth Social Andrew Naughtie12 September 2022 15:15 1662990806
Trump’s lawyers are opposing the Justice Department’s special lead motion
Donald Trump’s legal team has filed its response to the Justice Department’s motion to partially suspend the order appointing a special master to review documents found at Mar-a-Lago in August. You can read the full filing here, but here’s an important point where the lawyers invoke the Presidential Records Act (PRA): The Government’s position wrongly presupposes the result – that the separation of these documents is inviolable and not subject to challenge by the Court or anyone else. Second, the administration’s position assumes that if a document is classified, it remains classified regardless of actions taken during President Trump’s tenure. Third, as noted above, the government continues to ignore the importance of the PRA. Indeed, if any seized documents (including any purported “classified records”) are presidential records, President Trump (or his designee, including a neutral designee such as a special master) has an absolute right of access to them under the PRA. 44 USC § 2205(3). Therefore, President Trump (and, by extension, the special master requested) cannot deny access to these documents. The problem for the Trump team is that PRA violations aren’t the only alleged crime the Justice Department is investigating. The filing does not mention the Espionage Act, one of the laws cited in the warrant that authorized the search — under the provisions of which Trump could be barred from ever again holding elected office. Andrew Naughtie September 12, 2022 2:53 p.m 1662988815
GOP Congressman Gives Flag to Jan. 6 Rioter
A Republican congressman from Texas has donated a flag that had previously flown over the US Capitol to a convicted participant in the violent attack on the same institution. Louis Gohmert, a far-right spokesman who previously helped spread Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, called Dr. Simone Gold a “political prisoner” despite her relatively light sentence and admitted to participating in the rebellion. Gold pleaded guilty earlier this year to his involvement in the riots and was sentenced to 60 days in jail for trespassing. Her sentence was much lighter than those given to other participants found to have fought with police or committed acts of vandalism. But Mr. Gohmert argued that she had been treated unfairly in a statement his office issued on Friday.
GOP Rep. Gohmert presents the Capitol flag to a rioter Jan. 6 after her release from prison
Texas Republican says ‘political prisoner’ treated unfairly despite conviction Andrew Naughtie September 12, 2022 2:20 p.m 1662987015
DOJ numbers for January 6th prosecutions
To mark 20 months since the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, the Justice Department has released some evidence covering its effort to arrest and charge those involved in the riot. The full update is here, but here are some of the key numbers:
More than 870 defendants have been arrested in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia. About 269 defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing officers or employees, including about 96 people charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer. About 140 police officers were attacked on January 6 at the Capitol, including about 80 from the US Capitol Police and about 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department. About 380 people have pleaded guilty to a variety of federal charges, many of whom faced or will face prison time upon sentencing. 13 people have been found guilty in contested trials, while another 5 have been convicted after an agreed set of facts.
Andrew Naughtie September 12, 2022 1:50 p.m 1662985215
Are Democrats’ Senate hopes in jeopardy?
Given the galvanizing effect of overturning Roe v Wade and the GOP’s selection of a bevy of problematic nominees, Democrats have become genuinely optimistic about their chances of holding onto the Senate in November, however slim. But as the New York Times points out, it’s worth reflecting on the fact that in 2020, crucial Senate races that the party was expected to win took them much shorter than expected, with polls turning out badly in several states . Here’s a sample of where they can go wrong: Andrew Naughtie September 12, 2022 1:20 p.m 1662983415
Warner: Review of Mar-a-Lago documents ‘essential’ to intelligence committee
As controversy continues over the proposed special master review of documents amassed by Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Sen. Mark Warner, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it was necessary for his committee to be briefed on what was actually found. at the president’s house. Some of the documents were at the highest level of classification and allegedly included information about a foreign country’s nuclear defenses as well as information about human sources – people Mr Warner warned could be killed if the documents fell into the wrong hands. “Remember, what’s at stake here is the fact that if any of these documents contained human intelligence and that information was released, people would die,” he told CBS News. “If there are infiltrations of our signal intelligence, literally years of work could be destroyed. If there is information that allies have shared with us and mishandled, all of that could be compromised.” Andrew Naughtie September 12, 2022 12:50 p.m 1662981615
ICYMI: Footage shows boxes being transported from Mar-a-Lago to Bedminster
In the wake of the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago investigation, questions are being raised after a May 2021 video resurfaced showing Donald Trump rehabbing from Palm Beach, Florida to the New Jersey golf club for the summer. In the video, originally shot for The Daily Mailthe former president is seen next to a private jet as up to nine cardboard storage boxes are loaded onto the aircraft. Oliver O’Connell reports.
Questions are being raised about footage of Trump taking boxes from Mar-a-Lago to Bedminster
“This could be nothing, but then again, it could be very important” Andrew Naughtie September 12, 2022 12:20 p.m 1662979815
Watch: Former Pence chief of staff on Mar-a-Lago documents
Marc Short, Mike Pence’s former chief of staff, appeared on Fox News yesterday to discuss the Mar-a-Lago situation — even for someone who said Mr. Trump bears responsibility for the 6 January. his comments were amazingly vulgar. “It’s certainly confusing why many of these documents are at Mar-a-Lago,” he said. “It doesn’t seem like the safest environment. And I think there’s also a question about why Trump’s lawyers, apparently, were so deceptive — they probably lied in the affidavit saying they had returned all the information. I think there’s a difference between playing a lawyer on TV and actually having legal counsel.” Andrew Naughtie September 12, 2022 11:50 am 1662978054
Book claims Trump refused to leave White House
CNN has an exclusive report from Maggie Haberman’s upcoming book Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, and it includes one of the juiciest excerpts from the soon-to-be-released tome. According to the author, Mr Trump told an aide after the 2020 election that “I’m just not going to leave”. To another he apparently said: “We will never leave. How can you leave when you won an election?’ The book will be released on October 4. Read the full report here. Andrew Naughtie September 12, 2022 11:20 am 1662976316
Why is Trump in the DC area?
The shaky, blurry footage of Donald Trump landing at Dulles Airport in Washington yesterday is fueling rampant speculation as to why the former president might have appeared in DC – with speculators shooting down each other’s theories at a rapid clip: Andrew Naughtie September 12, 2022 10:51 am
